"I love weddings!" Bing Lee declared, straightening the grey vest of his suit and adjusting his tie in the gold framed foyer mirror. "Isn't this great? A chance for us to meet the whole neighborhood in one day! It was great of Stu to invite us, seems like ages since our Harvard days."

"Y-yes." Darcy hesitantly agreed from beside him, fixing his cufflinks then tugging nervously at his blue bow tie. He pushed his chin to his neck as he surveyed his appearance, lips twitching as he contemplated if his tweed paperboy cap worked with his attire. Bing clasped a hand on his friend's shoulder, his grin widening.

"Don't be nervous, man! It's going to be great. Look, I know you don't like being around too many people you don't know, but trust me, the people in this town are the nicest! Just the other day—"

"Well boys," Caroline announced her presence from the spiral staircase, one hand on the railing while she beamed with confidence. "How many hometown hearts do you think I'm going to break today?"

The boys glance up at her and both pairs of eyes widened slightly, Bing's face falling. Caroline gathered her hair to one shoulder and struck a pose. She was dressed in a glittering gold and silver cocktail dress, her bronze skin glowing.

"You know we're going to a day wedding Caroline, not an evening gala." Darcy said flatly. "You're not supposed to out-dress the bride."

"I'll take that as a compliment, William Darcy!" Caroline grinned cheekily as she began stepping down to meet them in the foyer.

"Darcy's right, sis." Bing scratched his cheek, considering her. "You should dress a little more, uh, appropriately for the occasion-"

"What?" Caroline interrupted, affronted. She crossed her arms near the bottom steps, tapped her heel irritably and rolled her eyes upward. "This dress is fabulous! If this was an L.A wedding, this would be more than appropriate."

"Yes, but we're not in L.A." Darcy reminded her, scoffing with a slight smirk.

"You have a ton of nice dresses." Bing assured her "maybe just choose one that's a little more modest?"

"Oooh!" Caroline fumed. She uncrossed her arms and balled her hands into fists at her sides. "Fine! I'll change into something little Suzie Small-town would wear to church!" She whipped her hair around and stormed up the stairs. "But now I have to change my make up!" She called down angrily. "And my accessories!"

"Oh jeez…" Bing groaned, pulling a hand down his face. "I hope she doesn't take too long to spite us. I would hate to show up late for the wedding…I want us to make a good impression…"

"Don't worry," It was Darcy's turn to calm his friend's nerves, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to charm the whole neighborhood. You tend to thrive in these…er…social situations."

"And hey man, you will too!" Bing put his arm around Darcy's shoulder and the two turned to look at their conjoined reflection in the mirror. "Just uh, pretend you're in a board room or something. You know, somewhere you're confident and comfortable talking to people."

"Uh yes…" Darcy shook himself free of his friend to readjust his bow tie. He bore into his dark eye's reflection, brow knitting together with discomfort. "I'll um…try that."


"What a, uh…quaint affair" Caroline observed, dressed appropriately in a knee-length floral blue dress. The trio stood outside the white rental reception tent watching as small children in pastel attire giggled and ducked beneath fold out tables draped in thick white linen. Potted herb plants and sunflowers dotted each table as centerpieces doubling as party favors. There were no visible name cards or arrangements made to assign guests, rather, people seemed to cluster at random to the seats of their choosing. A vast majority of the guests chatted animatedly in line at the far side of the tent for the self-serving buffet while the rest surrounded the bride and groom to wish them happiness and a lifelong marriage.

"We should go congratulate the couple," Bing said, stepping forth on the grass.

"You go ahead," Caroline replied, barring her teeth in a pretty smile. "I'd like to wait for the crowd to die down." She fanned herself with her white designer clutch. "You know, give them room to breathe, take it all in." Bing shrugged and smiled, giving a half-wave parting solute as he made his way over to the newlyweds.

"I wonder when the greased up pig hunt will be…" Caroline mused aloud, glancing sideways at Darcy with a wry smile. "Probably after the apple bobbing for wedding favors, don't you think?"

"Caroline…" Darcy warned, his voice low with impatience. He glanced around nervously to make sure no one had heard.

"Oh come on, Darcy! Let me have my fun." She bit her lip to suppress a laugh as a small boy crawled out from underneath a fold out chair, face covered in mud. Darcy ignored her and made his way to a make shift tent wall, pulling out his phone as he did. She followed after him, stumbling a bit as her heels caught in the grass flooring.

"Had I known this was going to be a backyard barbeque I wouldn't have worn my Jimmy Choos" Caroline complained. "Ugh, ruined." She muttered under her breath. Darcy, whose attention was captured by his device continued to ignore her.

"You're not going to stand here and fake text all night, are you?" Caroline whined with an agitated laugh.

"I have to make a few business arrangements." He responded evenly, not even so much as glancing toward her. She sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry I made fun of the reception and our new, uh, neighbors. I know how twitchy you get at these events." Darcy flicked his eyes toward her as she continued. "I'm sure budget wedding planning is a true art form. I bet TLC even has a show about it. Do you forgive me yet, or should I keep going?" Darcy let out a breath that sounded a bit like a laugh, which satisfied Caroline. "Good! I'm famished; all I've had today was an organic herbal tea and a low-fat scone. What do you think my chances are that the buffet has an all-natural ingredient Greek salad?"

"Not good." Was Darcy's simple reply.

"Figures." Her voice was airy. "Wish me luck"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine with luck Caroline."

She smiled at him and did a curtsy to excuse herself which executed awkwardly do to the uneven lawn's flooring. Only a moment after she departed did Bing appear at Darcy's side.

"Darcy! Man, oh man…!" Bing was out of breath from jogging over, brimming with excitement. "I just laid eyes on the most beautiful woman; I swear she must be an angel. She literally stole my breath! Cheesy, I know, but…wow." Darcy smiled slightly, his brow knitting at his friend's love-struck expression.

"May I inquire who she is?"

"Her," Bing obliged eagerly, pointing across the wood panel dance floor to a young woman chatting with the bride. She was slender, with a classically pretty face framed with auburn locks, large wishful blue eyes and a sweet, timid smile. She wore a modest tan shirt dress with lips painted red to match a beaded necklace on her breast. One hand was on the bride's arm, the other hand dabbing a tissue at her eyes despite her smiles. Must be a dear friend of the couple, Darcy thought to himself, for no ordinary guest who exhibit such tearful joy for a mere friendly neighbor's nuptials.

"I have to introduce myself. Come with me? And where's Caroline?"

Darcy lifted his chin toward the buffet line where the bronze beauty stood, French nails tapping anxiously on the ceramic plate in her hands. "She's seeking out an organic Greek cuisine as we speak."

"That will have to wait!" Bing's eyes ablaze. He was on a mission. "C'mon!" Together the pair made their way past wedding guests, weaving around tables to where Caroline stood.

"Sis!" Bing called but before he could state his plan an ear-splitting screech of a microphone caused them all to cringe and groan. The energetic voice of the hired DJ boomed over the noise of the crowd

"Hello, Hello! Let's all give a hearty round of applause to the new-lee-weh-UHds!" His mantra was greeting with catcalls, whistles, claps and shouts of glee from the guests.

"What are we at, a public school dance?" Caroline murmured but it went unheard due to the DJ's amplified voice.

"Now, don't worry folks we are going to get this party started in a few minutes or so, but first grab yourself a plate of the delicious spread thanks to the Deed's brother's catering! And remember that for all your catering needs, call the brother Deeds downtown at 71 Main Stah-reet!"

"I wonder if they got a discount for allowing advertisements to be announced during the reception. Very economical. I bet that's a new one for TLC!" Darcy and Caroline caught eyes as she joked.

"Caroline, you have to come with me as I introduce myself to this…this goddess." Bing put his arm around his sister and directed her gaze to where the girl of his sudden affections stood, now chatting with what appeared to be the mother of the bride.

Caroline raised her eyebrows, pursed her lips and gave the woman the once over before nodding her head, impressed. "Wow, Bing. You actually found a girl here with a bit of class." Bing, who was too captivated by his mystery girl, did not notice the double-edged compliment. The three watched as the auburn haired young lady gave a parting smile to the bride's mother before excusing herself to sit at an already crowded table near the stand of brightly wrapped wedding presents.

"I suppose we'll have to wait to meet her…" Bing sighed gloomily. "I wouldn't want to be rude and interrupt her supper."

"Well that's settled then," Caroline replied. "We'll introduce ourselves after we um…" She pinched a serving fork through an aluminum tin of lasagna then shuttered, moving over to a large salad bowl to fill her plate with three cherry tomatoes and a few withered pieces of spinach. She finished her sentence with a weak voice, her expression comparable to someone who had just swallowed something unpleasant. "…after we eat."

Be sure to follow the story to get alerted for next Thursday's update, Chapter 3: The Lovely Jane Bennet. As always, comments and reviews appreciated!