When the morning did arrive, and with it the aforementioned realisation, Elizabeth was quick to complain about it to Sophie, and angry at Matlock, even though he couldn't possibly have known that she'd met Will Darcy and disliked him.
"Why are we not working an actual partner?" she'd complained, "Will Darcy is just another associate, and I refuse to have my deal muddled up because his inexperience." Matlock, however, had been adamant. Elizabeth was free to do as she pleased, of course, after all, she was CEO. But she was also aware that her uncle Matlock rarely insisted on things that he didn't have complete faith in. So. it seemed, she was about to be stuck with her current lawyer.
She placed the largest blame of her predicament on herself, of course, but unable to find a release because it was, at the end of the day, her overlooking that caused the problem in the first place, she walked around Netherfield Park in an even more dour mood than before. So fearsome was the expression on her face, that even Matthew, who usually couldn't take a hint, gave her a wide berth.
"Lizzie," Sophie said slowly to her at lunch, "instead of going to LA, why don't you just call Will here? You have total privacy in the study anyway!"
If Sophie had not been the nicest person of Lizzie's acquaintance, she'd have gotten nothing more than a dirty look and a curt reply. Instead, Lizzie sighed, exhausted. "I was considering that, definitely, but if we're going to be working together I'd rather set a professional relationship from the very start."
"There's nothing unprofessional about using the study - you're working on vacation!" she cried, pleading with Lizzie. "Besides, you're not going to come back in a day if you go -" Lizzie made to protest but was waved off dismissively. "I know you Lizzie, something will come up and you'll be too busy to leave again!"
"You were fine with letting me go before we knew it was Will," Lizzie raised her eyebrow, her tone much calmer than Sophie's.
Sophie smiled, shrugging, "I had no choice then - now I do!" She made puppy dog eyes, lips pouting. On anyone else, this look would have made Lizzie snort and look away in disgust. On Sophia Bingley, heart-warming person extraordinaire, it melted Lizzie's heart. Sensing her hesitation, Sophie gave a final push. "And we can tell everyone in the house to stay away! Nobody will even deign to disturb you! And I need you here - I still have so much to figure out!"
Lizzie sighed in exasperation, "Fine, but only because I promised to help set up your house," Sophie clapped in delight, and Lizzie texted her assistant to reschedule the meeting for the next day at Netherfield Park itself.
The two women spent the rest of the day going over basic accounts of the house, as well as looking at new features they wanted installed. Several times that day, Lizzie found herself oddly unsettled. She wasn't nervous, no, she told herself. She was simply not looking forward to being alone with Will Darcy.
Promptly at 11:00 the next morning, Will was shown into Sophia's living room by the house manager and asked to wait. He sat down comfortably, admiring the quality of the material. A few minutes later, Sophia walked into the room, excitedly welcoming Will to her house with a kiss on both cheeks. "Lizzie will be with you in just a few minutes," she said, gesturing Will to sit back down, "She's just finishing up a conference call." Will smiled politely, and made pleasant small talk with Sophie, inwardly pleased by how perfect she was for someone like James.
"Mr. Darcy?" a short woman dressed to the nines in her pantsuit came into the room, her expression blank. "Yes?" Will said, standing up.
"Miss Bennet will see you now." she informed, indicating that he follow her. He gave a quick smile to Sophie, but she just stood up with him, following along with the secretary to what he assumed was the temporary home office.
At the office door, the lady turned, startled to find Sophie walking along with him. "Miss Bingley," she said politely, "Miss Bennet asked only for Mr. Darcy." Will raised an eyebrow - it was Sophie's house, the fact that she was being stopped outside her own study was quite a surprise. Sophie, however, demurred, and quickly apologizing, said goodbye to Will, extracting promises for him to save her a dance later that night.
He stepped into the office alone.
The space was less an office, and more a mini library. There were multiple bookshelves at the front, while the main desk was placed in the middle of a large circular space that faced a window. Brightly lit and minimalist, it was something he'd expected to see in Sophie's home, but seemed out of place for Elizabeth's use.
He wasn't sure why he'd been expecting a dark, colder office, but the space he'd just stepped into was pleasantly warm, and smelled delicious - like cotton candy, he thought. The lady herself was seated at the large white desk, ramrod straight with her eyes trained on her computer, long fingers typing away at punishing speed. Her dark curls, that he'd so admired the first time he'd seen her, were tightly bound away from her face in an elaborate bun; her expression in a fierce scowl.
As he walked further into the office, she waved at the chairs in front of her, and he took it as his cue to sit down. The fact that her attention hadn't left her work irked him, but this kind of dismissal was exactly what he'd expected from her after overhearing her comment at the Diner Dance. Her arrogance clearly transcended into workplace interactions.
Only the clicking of her keyboard keys was the sound that dominated the study for a few minutes. He coughed softly. Finally, she looked up at him, almost as if she'd forgotten he'd been sitting there the whole time. She stood up, forcing him to as well, and extended her perfectly manicured hand for a firm, quick shake.
"Obviously," she said, her voice soft but firm; professional, "we already know each other," he nodded unnecessarily, "but before we get down to business, I have something I'd very quickly like to say."
His mind explored possibilities - he'd already signed her contracts, and he couldn't think of anything else she could want to talk about. Whatever he'd been expecting, the next words out of her mouth, hesitant as they were, caught him on the blindside.
"I'd like to apologize over the comments I made at the diner," she said, her face betraying no expression and her voice strong, "I didn't mean for you to hear them; I just wanted to get Sophia off my back." Will noticed instantly that she hadn't apologized for saying them - only that he'd heard. His ire was raised, but he attempted to keep his cool so that she could continue. "I hope that this won't make our professional relationship uncomfortable -
"No," Will interrupted, having had enough of her arrogant assumptions about his professionality, "I'm sure we can work without bringing events from our personal lives into the mix." Elizabeth seemed almost relieved for a millisecond, but then her face hardened back into a blank mask and he wasn't sure anymore.
They got straight into work after that; going over the acquisition in detail, possibilities for the client, as well as legalities. Their conversation was stilted with awkward pauses as they tried to get a feel of each other in a professional setting.
If Elizabeth was impressed with Will's skill and ideas, it didn't show. Certainly, most of what she said was curt, bordering on rude, and she seemed more eager to have him done and out of her office the longer he sat. She also addressed him as Mr. Darcy several times, which Will thought was hilarious, considering they were - he assumed - going to meet again later that evening where she'd be back to - once again, he assumed - calling him Will.
When he asked her to email him the details, she looked almost shocked, before she coughed lightly and mentioned that her assistant would do that later in evening for him. She didn't extend her business card to him either, he noticed, and understood that if he wanted to get in touch with her, he'd have to go through her assistant. Never having worked with anyone this rich before, he wasn't sure if this was protocol or not. But then he remembered that even Sophie, who'd almost stepped into the office with him, had been turned away at the door.
"So," she said almost an hour after they started their discussion, "I'm going to have Cathy get an appointment with her. You're welcome to try as well, but I'm sure you can agree that going through a law firm isn't really helping B&DB out much."
Whether or not he actually agreed with the statement, he was sure she was going to do it her way. So, instead, he said, "Why hire me if you're doing all my work for me? Don't get me wrong," he clarified, "I love being paid to do nothing, but I happen to think that in this case I might be able to close this deal faster than you could." He leaned back on his chair, hands behind his head. "I am one of LA's top closers, you know," he finished with a smirk.
Elizabeth said nothing, disapproval at his stance clear on her face, and he casually sat back upright as he'd been during the rest of the meeting. "Fine," she ground out in begrudging agreement after a few moments of thinking it over, "if you can figure out a better way to do this sooner than I can," she waved him off before he could interrupt, "I'll keep you in the loop and we'll work this like partners." He smiled in triumph.
When it was time to go, she stood up and shook his hand once more with a firm grip and tight smile, and had her assistant show him out. He left Netherfield Park thinking that Elizabeth Bennet truly was more disdainful and rude than she was hot, which was incredibly hard to believe; because after the first few minutes of their meeting when he'd had a chance to really look at her, he had come quite in awe of her beauty. He was also sure, however, that she still thought he was an incompetent small town boy, and a large part of him was very, very eager to prove her wrong.
A/N: They made it through the first meeting unscathed! Do you think Will be able to impress Elizabeth with his work ethics? Also, thank you so much for all the reviews - I haven't quite figured out how to reply to them (is it just PM?), but I've read them all, and made some pretty significant changes in the previous and future chapters as per your great recommendations! One of the biggest is that the Darcy's wouldn't have two kids named William, and so I've decided to rename Liam the second to Luke. Hope this won't get too confusing! I also hope you'll continue helping out - and leaving reviews!