Fitzwilliam had a problem: a 6 foot tall (without heels) bleach blonde type of problem. The first time he met Caroline Bingley, she had been the older woman, 22 to his 17 and it was a heady experience. An older woman giving flirtatious glances and the "accidental" touches were enough to make him hot and bothered. Fortuitously, his dad had seen it all and was able to see what the inexperienced 17 year old hadn't, a true gold digger. After the funeral of George Darcy, Fitzwilliam found out that George had had a conversation with Charles Bingley Sr that resulted in Caroline being sent to Europe for a few years to "study fashion".
Those few years apart were enough to give the young Fitzwilliam Darcy time to grow up and see what he hadn't seen when he was a teenager. What he had taken as flirtations were really calculations and what she was calculating was his bank statement. Unfortunately, Caroline had not had the same type of epiphany while in Europe that he had. She had come back from Europe with tastes that included gaudy, inappropriate-for-anywhere-but-the-runway clothes and a sense of entitlement where he was concerned. She believed he was all hers, but since he was younger, she could wait a few years for him to sow his wild oats. After all, that's what she did in Europe.
Darcy cursed under his breath. Caroline had managed to get his cell number, again! This was the 3rd time this quarter he'd have to change his number. To make matters worse, she'd called him 5 times today and it was only 11 am! He could only imagine that loveable, air headed Charles had left his phone out where she could see it and she managed to snag the number from him. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done something like that. "You'd think Charles would have learned to put a password on his phone" Darcy grumbled under his breath.
He cursed again. She was getting worse. In the 10 years that he had known her, she had held onto the belief that they were soul mates, made for each other. No matter how many times he, politely, told her he wasn't interested (and really, no man likes to cuddle up to a skeleton, a man needs curves), she just wouldn't take the hint. He'd warned Charles that she was going to cross the point of no return soon and he'd have no choice but to take legal action against her.
As he paid the cabbie, he thought back 5 years ago when she had dated that Count Whatshisface in France. It was a blissful time. He didn't have to worry about being photographed with women and receiving an angry phone call the next day. "Are you sleeping with that whore?" Or emails telling him that she could hear her biological clock ticking. The Sexts were the worst. No one really needs to see a naked Caroline Bingley. Then, as soon as the relationship started, it was over. Then he had to deal with crying, sobbing Caroline begging him to forgive her and to take her back (Darcy later learned the "Count" was a broke fortune hunter).
As he pulled the keys out of his suit coat pocket, Darcy noticed his door was slightly ajar. Cautiously, he pushed open the door and silently eased himself in. He shut the door as quietly as possible while trying to take stock of the situation. He suddenly heard water come on from upstairs and wondered who would be taking a shower.
The answer wasn't long coming. The door to the formal sitting room was open. As this was a room very rarely used, the door was rarely open. Sitting on the ornate and intimidating Victorian sofa was a neon yellow, fringed purse. Darcy's kid sister Gee had explained to him that neon was now the "it" color in fashion, even though it gave her headaches. Darcy knew only one person in his acquaintance who would insist on carrying a fashionable, but always tacky accessory: Caroline Bingley.
"This is it" he thought to himself as he quickly went to his office to grab the paperwork that was the reason for him coming home in the middle of the day. "I'm not going to deal with her ruining my life anymore, screw Charles!" he grumbled as he dialed 911.
More than a year had passed since Darcy had called the police. The police entered to find Caroline Bingley in his bed wearing nothing but a bright, neon bow waiting for him. She tried to tell the officers that she and Darcy were engaged and even showed them the huge, fake canary yellow diamond she was wearing on her all-important finger.
Much had happened in that year. He had (with the support of Charles) pressed charges against Caroline. Using all the meticulous records his secretary kept, he was able to establish a pattern of stalking as well as the breaking and entering. Almost exactly one year to the day, Caroline was sentenced to 5 -10 years in prison with an order to avoid Darcy after she was released. To Darcy, it felt very appropriate to have the trial end so close to when the situation had started. Now all he had to do was move forward.
The first step in his mind toward moving forward was redecorating. He hadn't slept in his bed since he had called the police, he didn't want to be anywhere near naked Caroline cooties. He had called a redecorator, donated all his furniture to charity and had his bedroom/bathroom redone. He'd also had the formal sitting room redone into a "man cave". The next, an alarm system was installed and used. He had needed one for a while, but had put it off, feeling it was too extreme. Having Caroline break into his house had shock him out of his sense of safety. The alarm made him feel more secure and safe in his own home.
The last step towards moving forward was getting Charles to stop feeling guilty. It really wasn't his fault that his older sister was cracked. Charles kept pushing him to do things, get him out of his office (where he truly felt safe) and to get him dating again. Blind dates where the girl was disappointed that it wasn't the chatty Charles that ended in disaster, or group dates where Charles would mention Darcy, Inc. and he could see the dollar signs light up in the girl's eyes. Darcy still felt he had to be on his guard at all times, waiting for Caroline to jump him and attack. He was just sick of it. "Your sister being crazy is not your fault" was the most common thing Darcy said to Charles. To make it worse, Charles really wanted him to meet his newest flame. He could just imagine the vapid bland conversations he would have to endure all night. He was not going to go. There was nothing Charles could do that would make him go.
Darcy needed some air. He had successfully avoided meeting the new girl (Jane, Charles said her name was Jane), but he knew it wasn't going to be a long reprieve. Gee was slowly inching her way towards the Dark Side. Just the other day she was saying something about falling, horses and saddles. He stopped paying attention when she pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of one of her friend's older sisters.
While he was thinking of Gee, he might as well walk down to the used bookstore he had seen open up a few blocks from his office. He had walked past it a few times and the last time he looked in the window, he noticed the store had vintage opera librettos. Gee collected them and he was hopeful he could find one she didn't currently own for her birthday next month.
The door made a pleasant tinkling sound as Darcy pushed the door open. He stopped for a moment to appreciate the smell of old books and to get a feel for the lay of the land. A voice from the back of the store assured him that someone would be out to help him in a minute. While he was waiting, he looked over the section that proclaimed, "First Editions!" in a neat, feminine handwriting. There were several there that were in good condition that he had been on the lookout for a while. "I wonder if Richard is still looking for that Mark Twain?" he mused aloud.
"Mark Twain is a popular author, we have a hard time keeping him on our shelves, let alone finding first editions that are in good enough shape" said a lyrical voice from behind him.
Darcy turned around and was immediately hit by a pair of beautiful green eyes that shone with intelligence. He started as he hadn't realized that someone was standing so close to him, let alone a female someone.
"May I help you with something?" the sales clerk asked.
Darcy dumbly nodded his head, speechless for a moment due to the intelligence shining in her eyes. It took him a few minutes to collect himself, but he managed to nod. Motioning toward the musical section, he asked about the libretto selection.
"My sister's birthday is coming up and she collects. I normally have to order them off of eBay, but that just feels too impersonal" he explained.
"I can understand, I do some business online, but it feels so cold. With a shop, you can see people, talk to them and get a feel for what they are really looking for, not just what they say they're looking for."
The rest of the transaction went by as they both chatted about books and running a business. It was only that night that Darcy realized he didn't get the clerk's number, let alone her name. Feeling like an idiot, he tried to go out of his way to walk past the store, but the clerk with the intelligent green eyes was never there when he was.
Charles had finally managed to wear Darcy down, it had only taken him a month. "You are going to love Jane" he kept telling him. They had agreed to a quiet dinner at Jane and her sister's house. This suited Darcy more than fine. Even though Caroline was in jail, he was still very gun shy about being seen in public with women. Luckily, Caroline was prohibited from contacting him, but it would take more than a year of freedom to get over how he had been programmed.
He was increasingly nervous as the time for dinner arrived. Would the sister have unrealistic expectations? Would he be able to be charming? Would he be Wooden Fitzwilliam, the nickname his cousin Richard gave him after seeing him during business functions or would he be Flirty Will, someone who had been in hiding a long time.
Wiping his hand on his slacks, he shifted the cake platter to the other hand so he could wipe it and ring the doorbell. He had chosen to bring his housekeeper's famous Death By Triple Chocolate Cake instead of wine. He wanted to be able to keep his wits about him as he forged into the unknown.
Charles opened the door with a smile, "Darce! I'm so glad you're here. The girls are just putting the finishing touches on dinner, so I thought I'd get the door for them. Ohh, is that Mrs. Reynolds's chocolate cake?" Charles finally was able to breath, but spent most of it trying to inhale the cake Darcy was holding in his hand. Pushing his way past Charles, he went into the house.
The house was homey. It did not have the fine furnishings his townhouse used to have, but it felt like it was home. He looked around and saw lots of pictures of who he assumed were family members, some of them were older pictures.
Charles noticed Darcy's line of sight and decided to enlighten him. "Jane is a professional genealogist. She says she'd be a hypocrite if she didn't at least know something about her family."
"I find it interesting to see how and where people lived. I'm a bit of a history geek, but at least I'm not a bookworm like Lizzy!"
Darcy turned to the speaker, whom he assumed was Jane. She was attractive, but in no way his type. After Caroline, Darcy was really turned off blondes. She had a pleasant smile on her face and was attractive without looking like she had spent 3 hours trying to look like she had spent 5 minutes on her makeup and hair.
He smiled and took a step closer to a cluster of black and whites. "These aren't family, but are old tin types and daguerreotypes I've managed to find along the way" Jane mentioned. She pointed out her favorites and mentioned what about the picture drew her to it.
While Jane was showing off her collection, the door to the dining room swung open, "Ok everybody, get it while it's hot!" announced Jane's sister.
Darcy turned around and froze. There was the bookstore clerk! It had been a month since that day he had seen her, but he was unable to get her eyes out of his mind.
"Lizzy, this is my friend, Will Darcy, Will, this is Lizzy, Jane's sister" Charles piped up. He also elbowed him, hard, in the ribs to reboot his mental processors. He managed to smile and shake her hand. Inside he was reeling, here was his bookstore clerk!
Dinner went smoothly. Wooden Fitzwilliam was nowhere in sight and there was plenty of Flirty Will. Darcy could see the shock in Charles's face. This was not a side of Will Darcy that was often seen. Charles had seen how much his sister had scarred his best friend. Caroline had always embarrassed him.
Charles shook his head and decided to just enjoy the night as it is, not think about his sister. Life was good, a good woman, his sister in jail, and his best friend finally coming out of his shell. What could be better?
Life did get better. Darcy learned that Lizzy wasn't a store clerk, she was the owner. He also discovered she wasn't interested in him for his money. She was into Will Darcy, the man and not Fitzwilliam Darcy the multibillionaire. In an unusual twist, they ended up talking for 4 hours before Charles made him leave, but not before getting her number, this time.
Eighteen months later, Lizzy became a Darcy. Both preferred a quiet, small ceremony that was intimate and beautiful, even if Lizzy's mom, Mrs. Bennet, complained about the lack of lace and pomp.
Caroline during her time in jail learned a thing or two about love. Her obsession with Fitzwilliam Darcy blinded her to what was really important to her: power. Power brings money; money doesn't always bring power. While serving her time, she found someone who was more powerful than any of the men she had ever met. Big Mama, as she was called, enjoyed having someone always at her beck and call. That Caroline was adept at making her beautiful, even in the prison system was a bonus. Ultimately Caroline's inability to read subtitles became her downfall. When powerful mob boss, Lewis de Bourgh learned that his wife Cat was sleeping with Caroline Bingley, he put a hit out on her. Lewis de Bourgh never liked to share.
After receiving the phone call from Charles that Caroline had been killed in a prison fight, Darcy finally felt a freedom he hadn't felt since he was 17 years old. The joyful feeling went through the rest of the day and only got stronger when his wife handed him a positive pregnancy test.