"To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either." (chapter 10)

Chapter 4- What a nice body- I mean, Audi

For next couple weeks she didn't see Darcy. She barely saw Jane. She would catch her when she was leaving or just popped in to get some things. Once she went to lunch with Jane and Charlie, Darcy was apparently not invited…or busy. Actually, she didn't even notice his lack of presence. Okay, well, maybe she did… a little. There was no moody guy trying to stare her down and that was nice.

Then a surprise wedding invitation came into the mail. The person it came from made her read three times over, "Charlotte? No way, this is too rich," Elizabeth exclaimed.

Jane came up behind her, "What is it?"

"Do you remember Charlotte Lucas…from our biology class?"

"Oh, yeah. She was funny."

"She's getting married. Guess to who?"

"Who?

"My cousin! Collins! Remember Collins? He was kind of annoying? Kind of weird? Obsessed with the one partner in his law firm?"

"Oh my gosh. She's marrying him? Maybe he's gotten… cooler?" she finished weakly.

"I doubt that," Elizabeth laughed, and read through it again, this time the engagement photo fell out. She nearly died laughing and handed it to Jane.

Jane laughed a little. It wasn't the picture really, they actually looked almost cute. It was just the whole idea of Collins with his arm draped around Charlotte's waist and his head leaning on her shoulder. "He always was a little guy," Jane murmured. This made Elizabeth laugh harder until tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Okay, Lizzy, let's be nice now. It's a cute picture."

Elizabeth tried to control herself, but she found she was unable to stop. Every time she went to say something, she thought about little Collins with his arm around his future- wife's waist, the sun shining down on his little balding head.

"I'm….so…..sorry…Jane," she ran into her bedroom to get away from Jane's glare. She tried to think of things that weren't funny…like her cat that ran away, or her goldfish that died just last week (supposedly from the leftover cous cous she had burnt and fed it) or that time Darcy said…Actually there was an array of things she could have picked but just his face made her stop laughing. She came out of the bedroom.

"All better?" Jane asked, with an eyebrow keenly up.

"Yup. So are we going?"

"Oh, I think we should. It is so romantic. Do you want to be my plus one?"

"Jane, you think everything is romantic. And what about Charlie?

"Oh, right. I'm so used to you as my date to weddings… I can find you a date, a cute one, too," her eyebrows perked up, "Darcy!" then she laughed loudly.

Elizabeth groaned, "That would be your wish. You're probably still hoping we get together."

"Oh, Lizzy, how romantic would that be? The beast and the…beast."

"Very funny. But I'm most definitely the beauty in this situation. He's more a beast then I am on my worst day."

"I'm telling you he a very nice guy."

"I can't believe we're having this conversation again."

"We won't but- he is a good guy" Jane looked at the invitation again, "Oh, wait, they're getting married in North Carolina."

"North Carolina? Why?"

"In Outer Banks. I think that's where Charlotte is from. That's by the beach right? Aww, so cute."

"That is the beach- everyone is having a beach wedding these days. Well, that sucks."

"What?"

"I guess we can't go," Elizabeth shrugged.

"Why?

"Because it's in North Carolina."

"So?"

"It's North Carolina."

"I thought this was your last week of school?"

"Well, I start again in a month, teaching summer school."

"So basically you have month off," Jane gave her a pointed look.

"Yeah, so."

"So, let's go. We can stay overnight and go to the beach all day!"

Elizabeth smiled already persuaded, "I do love the beach and I was good friends with Charlotte sophomore year. Yes, let's go. We need a vacation. And I've been wanting a pet hermit crab."

…..

Three weeks later they were off in a plane to Outer Banks, North Carolina.

Elizabeth had just woken up from a nap, as the drink cart rolled by.

Jane looked at her, "Lizzy, you're awake!"

She stretched, "Yup. How much longer until we're there?" she shifted her legs under her and pulled a sweater on. The air was on ferociously.

"Um twenty minutes, I think," Jane looked at her nervously and turned off the knob pouring out cold air on the overhead, "Listen, I have something to tell you and you can't get mad."

"Jane, I'm not mad that you put on the air."

"No, no. Not that. There's something I haven't told you yet."

Seeing Jane's grave look, Elizabeth's stomach twisted, her minding popping out worst case scenarios. I have a midterm I forgot about. Someone stole the luggage. I didn't pay my tuition.

"You know how Charlie is coming to meet us there later tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Well, and you know how I thought it was a shame he didn't have his own friend to bring along so you and me could play without him and he wouldn't feel left out."

"Yes, Jane, I do know that."

"Well…pleasantly enough, Charlie will have someone to entertain him."

Elizabeth relaxed now and pulled out an Elle, "That's good news, Jane."

"Hmm," Jane thought, choosing her words carefully, "Well, it turns out that the law partner Collins is obsessed with is Catherine De Bourgh…who happens to be Darcy's aunt."

Elizabeth looked up from a bathing suit spread, "Wow, small world." Not realizing any connection, or possibly her subconscious was trying to avoid connecting Jane's statements.

"So apparently, Collins knows Darcy. And you know what a suck up Collins is. Especially to someone like Darcy."

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes in reply.

"Lizzy. I'm trying to tell you something. Collins invited Darcy to the wedding and now that Charlie is going Darcy is going!"

Lizzy looked up sharply from the magazine, "Darcy is going? But Collins is my cousin. I don't want him to go," she almost stamped her foot in protest, but decided against it, "Man, every time I think, 'well, I'll never see him again', I do."

Jane looked over at her, slyly, "Kinda like fate, huh?"

"No, kinda like bad karma. I've done something naughty and now I'm getting my dues."

Jane just laughed loudly.

Elizabeth turned back to her magazine, reading about her bathing suit body type, she was a mix of spoon and a ruler. Minutes later she muttered, "Well, at least we'll get to play together, now. No double dates, right?"

Jane just smiled.

The rest of the flight was filled with a discussion of bathing suits.

As they got off the plane and headed to baggage claim, Jane had one more piece of news for Elizabeth.

"Oh, guess what? We don't have to get a taxi to the hotel. More money for cocktails and hermit crabs."

"Why…who's-?" And just then, like a scene from a movie, the crowd parted and right there by baggage claim two was Mr. Darcy. She gave Jane a searing look and then composed herself. She slowed down and let Jane take the lead and Jane greet him, leaving Elizabeth nodding and murmuring a small thank you. When he turned his back, Elizabeth mouthed, 'I can't believe you!'. Jane just mouthed back, 'Get over it' and shrugged. Jane was much more mouthy when she mouthed.

"Here guys, the luggage is coming," Darcy motioned at them to come over.

And as Elizabeth stood behind him (slightly to the right with a distance between them, of course) she couldn't help her eyes to move from the carousel to glance at his broad shoulders in the tee shirt he was wearing. Forest green, mind you, which of course was the color that brought out every amazing thing about him. The blades of his shoulders moved under the tee shirt when he put his hands in his pockets, which looked so incredibly soft, Elizabeth had a keen urge to go over and rub his back a little. Just stroke his back, once or twice, just along the top, just over his shoulders. For second, she forgot why she ever disliked him. She even, for a split second, she berated herself for ever thinking a negative thing about him.

Then he turned around and in a guff, inpatient way said, "Elizabeth, you still don't see your luggage?"

Luggage. She forgot to keep looking. She felt the blood pour into her cheeks. But her embarrassment wasn't about to stop her from being annoyed that he used that tone, "No I still haven't," she said coolly and came closer to the carousel, her bag passed her the next second. As she picked it up she saw Darcy open his mouth to say something but then shut it. Good, she smiled to herself, keep your mouth closed. Thoughts of his soft tee shirt vanished and thoughts of how much she couldn't stand him invaded.

Luckily, Jane took the front seat in Darcy's incredibly clean car. It could have been a rental. There were no signs of personal items or even hint of someone actually ever using the car before that day around. But Jane had said he drove down with his cousin the day before. As for the outside, it was just a black Audi. Simple, but fast, as Darcy was attempting to demonstrate, consciously or not. Elizabeth tightened her seatbelt as he weaved through the cars in his way, clutching a cell phone to his ear. Work, supposedly. She tried to listen a bit, his voice surprisingly calm, listing out directions and orders. For someone who drove like a maniac on his last day of life, he spoke rather calmly.

Here was the clincher: during all this he kept looking back at her in the mirror and if she caught his eyes, he only shrugged and raised his eyebrows, not embarrassed at all.

This agitated her incredibly. What could he possibly be looking at? Maybe her hair did need brushing, but she just got off the plane. She was going start giving him the ol' shrug and see how he liked it.

………………

It's going to pick up, I swear! But, really, Pride and Prejudice isn't the fastest moving novel either. Oh, Jane, but we like your books anyway. Well, just leave a review, if you like. The sad thing is, I'll keep posting even if I get zero. That's how much I love myself. Haha.