As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, everyone got used to a daily routine. Lizzy would wake up early every morning, and head to the office before everyone arrived. Then to her and everyone else's surprise she would accompany by Darcy, who either slept at the office or arrived early. Both would have small talk while drinking coffee, and Lizzy saw a different side to Darcy while he seemed to be relaxed and stressed free. Before either realized, these few hours that they got to spend with each other alone were the most precious and important hours of their days. Neither were ready to face their feelings, so they expressed it the only way they knew how; through hatred. They would have a comfortable morning where they got along but be at each others throat the rest of the day especially when they were accompanied by Richard who was not fooled by their show.
"Liz can I ask you something?" Darcy asked Lizzy one morning as she was preparing her coffee.
"Sure. What do you want to know." Lizzy replied while moving to her seat behind her desk.
"Why do they treat you differently. I mean, uhm, outside of work people treat us differently, uh…" he stammered
"Darcy, stop getting tongue tied and just ask." Liz interrupted but continued before Darcy could reply "How come they treat us differently outside of work?"
"Yes!" Darcy said to enthusiastically that made Liz laugh
"Great know she is laughing at me." Darcy said in a serious tone but with a grin
"I'm sorry. Its just that I would never had thought that the great Mr. Darcy was worried about what others thought." she replied
"Stop saying that!" Darcy demanded while getting up and moving behind Liz to face the window.
"Saying what?"
"The great Mr. Darcy. Sometimes I feel like you are making fun of me and that I am your laughing stock." Darcy mumbled.
"I'm sorry." She genuinely replied. "But my father always told me that if I cant laugh at myself then what gives me the right to laugh at all."
"Your father is very wise." he agreed "But you still haven't answered my question."
"What was it again? I'm kidding, I'm sorry I wont tease you again." she quickly replied when he glared at her. "Darcy do you ever take the time to get to know anyone at the office?" she asked in a serious tone.
"Yes!" he declared as if she was out of her mind "I know everyone's name and in what section of the company they work in, and,"
"But do you know about their parents or children? Do you know what their favorite color is or what kind of music they like?"
"Well.."
"I thought so." Liz confirmed
"It's not like you know everyone in the company and yet they treat you like you are one of them. You don't even know everyone's name and I'm their boss and they ignore me when we all go out to eat." Darcy defended.
"Your right! But it is not about knowing every single detail about them, its about forming a connection with them that will help you get along. I'm not telling you to be best friends with them but be more than just co-works, be someone they can have small talk with." Lizzy explained
"But I try!" Darcy countered
"But only with the CEO's. Look at everyone that you can consider a friend; they are all CEO's." Lizzy replied while getting up to stand in front of him.
"Not everyone is blessed with making small talk. I find it difficult to read the emotions of everyone and its difficult for me to join in somebody's conversation when I don't care what they are saying." he admitted
"Then you just have to practice." Lizzy advised with a comforting touch that made Darcy's inside melt. "Not everyone is good at making friends. I for one, get nervous when meeting new people."
"What?" Darcy was shocked at what Liz had just said. "Your not serious, are you?" he asked in disbelieve.
"Its true. Every time I meet new people I get butterflies and always expect them to hate me." Lizzy stated
"But you always seem confident, that well, I just cant believe that the Great and Sociable Liz gets nervous around people." Darcy teased but with truth behind his words.
"G-d know I see what you mean about making fun of you. I promise never to say that again if that is what it sounds like." Lizzy tried to ease the tension that she felt.
"Lizzy stop changing the topic! Are you serious when you saw that you get nervous around new people?" Darcy asked as he looked at Lizzy.
"Ya. I feel like I'm going to be on exhibit, and that everyone is going to hate me." she confessed as she looked straight into his eyes.
"But everyone likes you. You get along with everyone in this company and if they had to vote for a president they would pick you in a heartbeat."
"That doesn't make things better." Lizzy whispered but Darcy was standing so close that he could hear.
"Then how do you do it? How is it that everyone loves you and you get along with everyone." Darcy pondered
"With a genuine smile." she explained "My father used to tell me when I was smaller, that Americans are the worst when having to distinguish the difference between a fake and genuine smiles. But I should never be confident in who is an American so I should always give a genuine smile no matter who it is.
"You sometimes have to leave your comfort zone to achieve what you want. And just like my dad always told me when he knew I was nervous 'Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent'"
"Eleanor Roosevelt?"
"Ya, you know most people don't know that."
"Well, I'm not like most people." Darcy announced as both turned to the window to see how LA became alive with everyone going to work
"No you are not." Lizzy thought
Throughout that day Darcy had followed Lizzy's advise and tried to get along with his co-workers in a more personal level. To Darcy's great surprise it was not as hard as he would have thought. Everyone would give him a confused look at first but they would converse with him even though they did not know exactly what was happening. But what everyone did know was that Darcy was being influenced by Liz, just like everyone else in the company. Yet Lizzy was not only having a positive influence on one Darcy but on two.
Lizzy had become like an older sister to Giana, influencing her into being more talkative and more self confident. Giana had reminded Lizzy of Cindy when Cindy had been younger, and it became Lizzy's task to help Giana though the ups and downs of life. Even though Lizzy had never talked about her past life unless talking with Jane or Josh, Giana had been able to piece some of the puzzles to Lizzy's childhood. In the past few months she had seen all the pictures posted on the walls around the apartment and even though many of them were of Josh's and Jane's family there were some of Lizzy's. Yet she never had the nerve to ask Lizzy straight up about her past experiences, mainly because she did not want to offend her new best friend, so she did what most people would do when trying to get information: go to the best friend for answers.
"Jane can I talk to you for a minute?" Giana asked Jane as she entered her bedroom. For the past few days Giana had been more curious about Lizzy's family because of a photo she had found in one of the drawers in the study.
"Ya, come on in. Let me just finish cleaning up my desk." Jane finished and then asked "So, what can I do for you?"
"Well I was wondering…hmmm…I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to come out with it." Giana asked nervously and took a deep breath before she finished "What is up with Lizzy's family?"
"Um…I don't think I am the best person to tell you. I'm sorry Giana." Jane replied apprehensively.
"I know I should be asking Lizzy but I just have the nerve to ask her and have her get mad at me." Giana confessed.
"I understand what you mean but…sometimes we just have to let some people have their secrets." Jane advised as she moved to her bed.
"I know, I do! But I found this and I just go curious. I knew I should not have asked. My parents always told me I am to curious for my own good, I should just keep our of other peoples business. Especially someone so nice as Lizzy, she has been to nice to me and yet I am trying to get in her life…" Giana babbled.
"Giana. Giana. Georgiana!" Jane exclaimed as she brought Giana out of her rambling. "Come sit here." Jane said as she patted the space next to her on the bed. "Sometimes… a person has had something so horrible happen to them, that they are not able to talk about it even to those she feels comfortable with." Jane explained.
"But what could have been so horrible that she wont even tell me her sisters name?" Giana curiously asked
"My family died." Came a voice behind them. As both turned around they saw Lizzy leaning on the doorway, looking straight at them. "When I was eighteen I saw my family die right in front of me, and ever since then it has been hard for me to talk about it."
"I am so sorry, for everything. First for your lose but also because I am so noisy that I had to ask. I am sorry, but…"
"Giana, its fine." Lizzy interrupted her.
"It's just that…well I still cant believe they are gone." she tried to explain as she made her way into the room.
"Lizzy you don't have to explain." Giana tried to tell Lizzy but Lizzy interrupted her again.
"But I want to. You have the right to know about my past not only because you are my roommate but because you are a great friend." Lizzy told the younger girl as they sat on Jane's bed. "Why don't we do this; I will tell you all you want to know tonight." Lizzy said to which Giana could only nod.
When the time came for Lizzy to talk to Giana about her past, she realized that she was not as emotional as she thought she would have been. For the longest time, Lizzy had found it difficult to speak to anyone about her emotions concerning not only the tragic event that killed her family but also about anything else in her life. Both Lizzy and Giana knew that they would not be talking about what Lizzy felt but more about what happened.
When they made it to Lizzy's room, Giana went straight to the bed but Lizzy made her way to the window panel instead. As Lizzy looked out to the stars, as if they were giving her the strength she needed, she started to talk about what happened almost nine years ago.
"My parents had organized a family night, but instead I had begged to go to a graduation party that I was invited to that night. At first my parents did not give me permission because they had worked so hard to organize everything to make that night perfect. What they did not realized was that I would never be able to forget what happened later that night." Lizzy said dejectedly as she continued to stare at the stars that seemed to shine brighter than usual. "After much pleading not only from my part but from Jane and Cindy, who is…was my younger sister, my parents gave me permission. I felt bad for ruining their night but we had agreed that we would spend the next night together, so I felt much better knowing we were going to have our family night after all.
When the day came to for the graduation party, my parents drove me to my friends house were it was being held and I got out and said goodbye but as they left a car.. a car" by this time Lizzy was no longer looking at the stars but had her eyes closed and picturing what happened that night. Giana wanted to know more but she knew that she could not pressure Lizzy but before she could say anything Lizzy continued " A car came from the side and crashed into them. He was a drunk driver that did not stop at the red light. Later that night I was told that the driver was able to walk away without a scratch. He survived while he killed everyone in the car he hit. The car that held everyone that I loved. Everyone that I cared for. He was sentenced to prison drunk driving and involuntary manslaughter but that did not bring back my family." she finished while looking at the stars again.
" I am so sorry Lizzy. I cant even imagine what you have been through and here I am making you remember everything all over again." Giana whispered ashamed for resurfacing Lizzy's past.
"Its alright. Even though most people don't loose their family all in one day, some people go through so much worse." she said as she turned facing Giana "Sometimes I think that I am trying to make people pity me, but sometimes I feel that I am the only one that has had something this horrible happen to."
"But that is the difference Lizzy, that you don't want people to pity you. You don't go around telling everyone your story, you act as if your life is one perfect bubble." Giana explained as she walked toward Lizzy. "It takes someone strong to go through all that and then to top it all off, you help everyone that needs your help with a smile."
"I'm glad that I told you." Lizzy said as she hugged Giana "I'm glad that you trust me enough to tell me." she replied.
During that night Lizzy dreamt about her family, but the difference that night was that she dreamt about the good memories she had of them. For the past few years Lizzy had always had nightmares when it came down to dreaming about her family, and when she woke up she felt refreshed not only because of the night sleeps, but because she knew that a new chapter of her life had started. One better than the last, and one that would be filled with wonderful memories.
######
"How are the new reports coming along?" Charlie asked early Monday morning.
"Just fine, I just need the last few details and we could present next week." Liz replied while looking at the reports in front of her. "I just have one question."
"Sure, what is it." he replied as he took a seat in front of Liz's desk.
"I have been going over some of the new products that the corporation wants to add next year, but I realized that most of the products are already being used by the competition."
"Well, most of the corporations use the same company." Charlie replied as if it was the obvious thing.
"Yes, but wouldn't it be better if we could find other businesses that have the same products. Like more local business which will help not only the towns, but will allow us to buy the products at a lower rate." Lizzy explained while handing Charlie a pile of papers. "I have researched, and I found some local business that would sell us their products for half of the price that we would get from competitors." Lizzy said looking at Charlie's reactions.
"Liz, these prices are incredible. If we could actually get these products for those prices we could make a much bigger profit, than estimated." Charlie said astonished at what Liz had researched.
"We can also help the communities out." Liz said
"I will talk to Darcy about this the first moment I can get, and then if he agrees we can discuss this next week with all the CEO's." Charlie said as he looked over the reports.
"Thank you Charlie." Liz said with a smile.
Later that day, Charlie was thinking more about what Liz and he had discussed earlier that day. It seemed so basic, so simple and yet nobody had come up with the idea before. With Charlie's attention being focused on Liz's research, he was unable to hear when Darcy came into his office, therefore he jumped our of his seat when he heard Darcy's deep voice.
"Jesus Christ Darcy!" Charlie exclaimed
"Calm down Charlie. What are you doing anyways?" Darcy asked as he sat opposite of Charlie.
"Look at these reports Darce."
"What is this?" Darcy asked while looking at the papers in front of him
"Just look over them. What do you think?" Charlie asked enthusiastically
"Are these reports for real?" Darcy asked as we looked at Charlie.
"Yes!"
"Do you know how much money we can save if we would use these businesses instead of the original ones? Charlie you are a genius." Darcy said still looking at the reports.
"Its wasn't my idea. It was all Liz's idea, she even did all the research you are looking at." Charlie said smiling.
"She's amazing!" Darcy exclaimed quietly
"What did you say?" Charlie asked
"Oh…nothing. Can I keep these?" Darcy said nervously trying to get out of the office as soon as possible.
"Sure, Liz made copies." Charlie said as he saw Darcy almost running out of the office.
Darcy had made it to his office in record time, and as soon as he made it to his office he sat down to look over the reports more closely. Not only was he impressed by the reports but he was more impressed about Liz. She came into the corporation just months ago and she had already made an impact not only at work but in his heart as well. What further impressed Darcy was that Liz had not only looked at how much the new business plans would help the corporation but also how it they would help the communities where the businesses were located at.
Lizzy did not only care about money like so many of his business associates did, but she also cared about what could help the society. She was unique, with a personality that he had heard of only in fairytales but had never seen before. Yet there was something so special that made her down to earth. Lizzy was not an object to be worshipped, she is someone you could talk to with all the ease in the world. Lizzy was the person that he had looked for his entire life and know that he had her in front of him, he kept ruining his opportunity.
With his mind being in a mess, he did not realize how late it had become therefore the next morning Lizzy found Darcy asleep in his office.
Lizzy stopped at the door and saw how Darcy slept peacefully. She had seen him in his boss attitude but the picture in front of her was so different. It seemed like a different Darcy, one that looked peaceful and even childlike. She was able to see the real Darcy, the one that she would talk to in the morning when it was only them two in the office. Just as she was about to walk closer to him, he moved making her realize she had been staring at him. She did not want to wake him up so she left the cup of coffee she had made for him on his desk and left as quietly as possible, but nonetheless the smell of her perfume woke him up.
"Thank you" a deep voice from behind Lizzy said
"You welcome, how was your sleep." she asked as she made her way to her office while looking back at him.
"Uncomfortable" he said simply
"Is this new?" Darcy asked as they got to Lizzy's office
"Yes, just bought it yesterday. Its from Colombia." she said as she sat next to the window that covered the entire wall.
"I like it, but the Guatemalan coffee is much better." he replied as he sat next to her.
"I know but I wanted to mix it up a little. We cant always drink the same things."
"True." there was an pregnant pause "I read over the report you gave Charlie yesterday." he said as they both stared out into the early morning sunrise.
"Do you like it? Do you think it could work?" she asked nervously
"I think.. It brilliant!" he replied much to her relief
"Really? I mean do you think everyone will agree with the plan."
"Yes, I think you have to still research some things to have things as accurate as possible but with the statistics that I have seen so far, the other associates would be crazy to deny your plan."
"Its not my plan, Charlie and the whole international and trading group helped out. We have all been working together on this for a month now." she acknowledged, while Darcy looked at her in a new light. It would be just like Lizzy to give credit to everyone involved even if she had come up with the entire idea.
"If you want I can help out with the minor details if you need any help." he offered.
"That would help me out tremendously. I still cant get the hang of all the paper work we have to do." she said while giving Darcy one of her famous smiles.
Special thanks to my beta! Please comment
