When It Rains by everymonday
Chapter Eleven: Distance From A To Where You'd Be
I find a map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from A to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places
- Snow Patrol; Set the Fire to the Third Bar
William begins working for his father a few days after the Lizzy incident. His father had spent the last month or so recruiting the best employees for the company. It's an extremely large company, and William is slightly impressed by the fact that his father managed to fill it with suitable employees in the short time frame, especially considering how hard to please his father is known to be.
His father just wants him to observe. He wants William to understand the company and how it works. He spends a few days with each department, trying to absorb everything, then reports back to his father so that they can discuss what he's learned and what more he should be learning. There is always something more he should be learning.
His father explains to him that as a CEO, he's responsible for the success or failure of the company. They have an advantage since the company name already sparks recognition and confidence. It's important to build that reputation so that it will attract high profile clients as well as bright employees. In order to do that, he and his handpicked senior management team must create a working culture and vision for the company that is unique and allows workers to flourish in the work place.
His father creates the culture of the company through every action and inaction he makes. Every message he sends, every direction he gives, every risk he takes, every word he speaks…these are the building blocks of the American branch of Darcy Advertising Group.
From what he's gathered, there's nothing glamorous about being a CEO. It's filled with endless responsibilities, every decision is a crucial one, and the phone never stops ringing.
William sits silently in his father's office one evening, waiting for his father to finish filling out some important documents.
"So, what did you think of the research department?"
"They seem very busy, especially since we don't have any clients yet." He's glad he only has to spend one day with the research department because it's been the most boring one so far. They analyze numbers and words, looking for meanings that William is sure aren't there.
His father nods. "We actually just won our first client this morning. It's a local restaurant chain here in California. They're putting together some research for the media and creative team."
"That's not a big account." He says without thinking.
Unexpectedly, his father chuckles. "I know. It's not exactly like the clients we're used to in London, but it's just a stepping-stone. We're working on getting a few of the national brands, but it's a slow process, son. You have to learn to be patient."
"Can't you just take some of the English clients we had back in London?"
"It wouldn't be beneficial to either party. There would be too much traveling going on just to keep in touch, and there are cultural differences to consider."
"But we have a lot of English employees."
"That's true, but why would an English company want its advertising done by an American agency and then be shown in the UK?" His father raises his eyebrow.
William sighs, understanding that the question doesn't have an answer. "How did you get so many English employees?" He asks. It's actually been on his mind for a while.
"About a third of our employees are English. They were on our employment database because they applied to work for us at some point in the past. We simply called them and asked if they'd be willing to move to the States to begin work here," his father explains.
He feels his eyes widen. "Just like that? They just picked up and moved?"
"Of course. It's a great opportunity to work for us."
"It seems like it'd be hard," William mutters, looking away.
"It's only as hard as you make it, William."
They had a choice though, he wants to say, but doesn't.
William looks around his father's spacious, well-decorated office for what seems like the hundredth time. He thinks that if he had a choice, he'd choose something else. Anything but this.
They're supposed to write a three-page essay about an object and how it has affected their personality in some way. Many of the students are more upset that it's due the day after Halloween than the fact that it's one page more than they're used to.
William writes about the quilt that resides underneath his bed. His pen moves across the page in a way that he's not used to, the words pouring from his mind and onto the paper with ease and rapidity.
"Oh, you're writing uncommonly fast today, William," Caroline observes quietly.
He feels his face flush. Lizzy turns in her seat and raises her eyebrow at his page full of words. William expects her to make a comment similar to Caroline, but she says nothing though, choosing to turn back around.
"I do hope you'll share your long and charming essay with us," Caroline continues.
"It might just be long enough to meet the requirements, but whether it's charming isn't really for me to decide."
"If you won't share it with the class, will you at least let me read it, William?" she asks, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. "I would love a chance to know what object it is that you think defines you. I'll let you read mine, of course."
William gives her blank sheet of paper a pointed stare. "I don't think it'd be a fair trade, Caroline."
William is annoyed to find Collin is sitting with Lizzy at lunch today. It's a small consolation that she looks annoyed too.
Feeling bolder than usual, William takes Collin's seat in Physics. They're starting a new chapter today, so switching lab partners is allowed, and he's not the only one who does it.
Lizzy arches an eyebrow at him, but says nothing. He had expected that she'd at least spare him a smile or even ask him about what his essay for Creative Writing is about, but she doesn't.
Meredith walks in and her face falls when she sees that he's sitting next to Lizzy. She takes a seat somewhere in the back.
Collin, however, does not take defeat so quietly.
He clears his throat and gives him a meaningful look. "William. I think you're in my seat."
"It's not your seat," William replies curtly.
"I'm sorry. I thought we agreed that we'd-"
Lizzy groans. "Collin, go away."
"Lizzy, I told you at lunch that I-"
"And I told you at lunch not to ever say that stuff to me again," Lizzy cuts him off, glaring.
"I know you're playing hard to get, Lizzy, but this is all-"
William scowls. "Collin, my father's hardly going to hire someone who can't tell the difference between uninterested and playing hard to get."
Collin's eyes widen, and he quickly mutters an apology to William before taking the seat behind them.
William smirks at Lizzy, who only rolls her eyes at him.
"What did Collin say to you at lunch?" he asks when she sits down next to him in Government.
Lizzy sighs. "He asked me out."
William frowns. "Why?"
She blows the fringe out of her face and scowls at him as she takes her seat. "Why does any guy ask a girl out, Darcy?"
He assumes that's a rhetorical question, so he doesn't answer. Instead, he says, "You told him no, right?"
"Of course I told him no. I'm insulted you'd think I'd ever go for someone like him."
"Just making sure." William shrugs, feeling pleased. "Good thing I was there, then."
"Excuse me?" Lizzy's eyebrows knit together in confusion.
"In Physics. I got him to go away," he reminds her.
"Okay, one, mentioning your father to scare Collin into sitting down does not qualify as 'saving' me. Two, I could have gotten him to go away by myself, and without name-dropping, I might add. Three, stop acting like I owe you just for-"
"I never said you owe me, but it wouldn't hurt you to be a little more grateful-"
"Wanting me to be grateful totally qualifies as you-"
"You always do this-"
"Stop acting like you're-"
"-jump to conclusions and purposely misunderstand-"
"-gift to humanity just because you-"
"-accuse me of things that-"
"Where have you been all week?" she suddenly asks loudly, too loudly. Other students are staring at them now, and Lizzy's face flushes.
"What do you mean?" His voice is quieter, and he hopes she'll follow his example.
She lets out an exasperated sound. Judging by the way she's biting her lip nervously and avoiding his eyes, he gathers that perhaps she's wanted to ask him this for a while now. It might even be the reason behind her belligerent behavior.
"You haven't been at the park or with Charlie or anything. Have you been avoiding me because I made a bad impression on your dad? Because honestly, Darcy, I don't think I was even that-"
"No," he cuts off her speech quickly. Her ability to jump to conclusions is exhausting. "My father actually hasn't said anything about you."
Lizzy looks confused. "I thought that…"
William shrugs. "It's probably a good thing. Anyway, I haven't been around because I've been going to work with my father."
"Oh," she says, eyebrows knit together again. "How's that going?"
"Fine."
Lizzy gives him a look that says she clearly doesn't believe him.
"I'll come by the park on Saturday around noon, alright?"
She bites her lip, breaks eye contact, but answers, "Yeah, okay."
"How's your painting going?" he asks as they walk together to wait for their rides.
"Oh, I'm pretty much done with it."
"Already?"
"Yeah. I didn't want to make Charlie keep coming to my house, so I worked as fast as I could on it. It's not my best, but…" she trails off with a shrug.
Nathan is already waiting for him when they exit the building. It's been this way all week in order to avoid the inevitable traffic on the way to work.
Lizzy sighs. "I guess I'll see you later."
His father is waiting for them outside because he needs Nathan to run an errand quickly. William waits patiently as the two speak, and he notices a guy that can't be much older than him making his way towards them. He's dressed in a black suit and his dark brown hair is tied in a short ponytail. The guy walks with a swagger that William has seen all his life on many other people.
After Nathan drives off, his father begins to walk into the building, and William falls in step.
"Mr. Darcy!" The guy maneuvers himself so that he's right in front of his father, blocking his path.
His father arches an eyebrow and gives William a questioning look.
He shrugs in response.
"Can I help you?" His father asks politely.
"Please. I just want a moment of your time, sir. I'd like to talk to you about getting a job at your-"
His father tries to move past him as soon as he finds out what the guy is after. "I'm sorry, I'm a very busy-"
"Busy man, I know," he says, nodding and still not getting out of the way. "Please. My name is George Wickham and I want to work for Darcy Advertising Group. I'm a junior in college and-"
His father shakes his head. "I'm afraid a lot of people want to work here, many of them much more experienced and qualified than you."
"Are they willing to work for free?" George asks with a charming grin.
His father is less than impressed. "Working for free doesn't raise your stock. It actually lowers it and says that you don't value yourself enough to charge an acceptable rate."
George's face falls. "I'm an advertising major. I graduated a year early from high school, I'm a hard worker, and I need an internship. I'm only willing to work for the best company in the Bay Area, and that means Darcy Advertising Group."
"That's all very flattering, but we don't have an internship program-"
"Which is why you need me!" George exclaims. "You can hire all the experienced people you want, but their shelf life isn't as long as an interns. You can train and mold interns from the very beginning, work them for no or very little money, and in the end, discard the ones that don't make the cut. You have nothing to lose by hiring me, sir."
His father crosses his arms and looks almost impressed. "What's your name again?"
"George Wickham, sir."
"Alright, Mr. Wickham, what makes you so sure you won't be one of the ones we discard?"
Wickham gives his father a rogue grin. "Because you're already considering my offer."
They sit together on the swings at the park Saturday afternoon, like they did that day he yelled at her. Only today, it's colder, and it's not raining. He's wearing a long sleeve shirt and Lizzy's wearing an old jumper and those jeans that he knows will fall apart any day now.
"So tell me about work."
"It's not really work," he says slowly, choosing his words carefully, not quite sure how much he wants to tell her. "I don't actually do any work."
"What do you do?"
"Mostly watch how the company is run. I watch each department and see how they do things. I'm supposed to understand how all these departments come together."
"Are you learning a lot?"
"Yeah," he stops there. William can't tell her that the main thing he's learned is that he doesn't want this life. Telling her wouldn't make a difference. She'd probably just gloat anyway. "Let's talk about something else."
At first, he thinks she might continue to press him for more information about work, but then she looks away and nods. "Halloween's tomorrow."
William frowns, unable to believe he hadn't realized this earlier. "Are you going to dress up?"
"Jane and I are passing out candy. I haven't decided if I'm going to dress up. Are you?"
Considering the fact that he'd only just now realized that Halloween is tomorrow, "No."
She smirks, as if she knew that would be his answer all along. "Typical. Is Gee?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"If she goes trick or treating, you should take her by my house. I'll give her extra candy."
William tries to remember if Gee had ever talked about her Halloween plans, but he can't. If she does have plans, he doubts they'll involve walking around asking for candy. "We don't do trick or treating."
Lizzy looks surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah. When I was younger, we'd go to parties other children had and our parents would buy us candy if we didn't get enough from the parties."
"That sounds…cool." Her face says differently.
"Gee will probably go to a party at a friend's house or something."
"And you?"
"I'm not sure."
"You can come to my house and help pass out candy if you want." The invitation comes out quietly, hesitantly. Lizzy worries her lower lip between her teeth and avoids eye contact with him.
"Do I have to dress up?"
"Not if you don't want to."
"I don't."
"You don't what? You don't want to come or you don't want to dress up?"
"Dress up."
Lizzy smirks. "Does that mean you want do to come over?"
"Alright."
The smile she gives him makes his stomach flip and his heart rate quicken.
William wakes up earlier than usual so that he can catch his father before he goes to work.
"Good morning, Father."
His father looks up from his laptop. "William."
He knows he has to approach this carefully. His father doesn't like his time wasted, but William needs time to test the waters. "There was a something I wanted to discuss with you."
William gets no response from his father other than one subtly arched eyebrow. The movement is so small William would have missed it had he not been staring so intently.
"I have plans with some friends this evening," he announces slowly. "Is there a specific time you'd like me back?"
It's a new method. With his mother, William probably would have asked permission to go out with his friends, simply because he knew she liked it when he did, and she always consented anyway. Then they'd compromise on a time he would have to be home.
Things are different with his father. "Are your plans with Lizzy Bennet?"
"Yes." William wonders why his father assumes he's got plans with Lizzy. Why not Caroline or Charles?
His father crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. "It's a school night."
He wishes his father would just give him an answer. It's not like him to skirt around the subject. "Yes. That's why I'm asking if there's a specific time I should be home."
"I appreciate you asking, William, but you're eighteen now. I trust you'll be home at whatever time you think is best."
It's strange. He has more independence with his father, but he feels more caged than he ever did with his mother.
Gee dresses as a witch. She twirls around the kitchen in her long black dress, one hand holding the skirt up so that her feet don't trip and one hand on her pointed hat so that it stays on her head. Her attempts to cackle are thwarted by the giggles that escape through.
She wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a hug when he tells her she's the scariest witch he's ever seen. William kisses her forehead affectionately and hopes that Gee will always be able to fight wickedness with the goodness that seems to radiate from her.
Nathan raises his eyebrows at the hand drawn map William hands him. When he had asked Lizzy for directions to her house, he expected her to write them down, but, of course, that would have been too normal for Lizzy. She had drawn him a map.
The ride there is silent, and when William is getting out of the car, Nathan reminds him to call when he's ready to go home.
William knocks on the door three times, and hears a few shouts before the door opens to reveal Lizzy's mother.
She's dressed in a white, sequined dress that seems a bit too short and too tight for someone her age. She also has white wings attached to her back so he's guessing she's an angel or a fairy of some sort, though he thinks she's a bit too old to be dressing up at all.
"Hello! You're our first trick or treater!" She reaches for a bowl of candy.
William feels himself flush. "I'm actually a friend of Lizzy's."
"Oh!" Her smile gets wider. "I'm sorry, dear. Lizzy told me you were coming over, but it completely slipped my mind! You're William, right?"
He nods. "We've met," he reminds her.
"Have we?" The older woman thinks, touching her pointer finger to her chin. "Oh, you go to Lizzy's school! I remember now. The charming boy that lives in Pemberley."
"Yes," he answers, though he can't help but roll his eyes at the name.
"Come in, come in. Lizzy's helping the others with their costumes right now."
The house is in even more disarray than when he last saw it. There are scraps of fabric and papers all over the floor that lead the way into the kitchen.
"Are you sure dressing alike is still cool, Jane?" a young girl with light brown hair a tie-dye shirt and bellbottom jeans asks.
"I'm sure, Lydia," Jane replies patiently. "Hippies and dressing alike are very cool."
The girl spots him in the doorway and her eyes widen. "Who are you?"
Lizzy looks up from her task of putting make up on another girl and gives him a wave. "Guys, this is Dar-William."
"Dar-William?" the girl closest to Lizzy repeats incredulously.
"Just William," he says.
"Good catch, Lizzy," the girl near Jane whispers, though not softly enough because he can hear it.
Lizzy's face flames and she ducks her head.
"I'm Lydia." She walks up to him and sticks out her hand.
He takes it politely. "Nice to meet you."
"That's Kitty," Lydia continues, pointing to the girl getting her make up done by Lizzy. She's dressed in an identical costume.
"Hi!" Kitty says, though she doesn't look at him.
"Hold still," Lizzy tells her, grabbing her chin. "William, you can sit here." She uses her leg to pull out a chair for him, which he sits on mostly because he doesn't know what else to do.
"Do you want anything to drink, William?" Jane asks, looking a little tired but still beautiful.
"No, thank you." He's wondering why he even agreed to come.
"Okay, done," Lizzy announces, letting go of her sister's chin and moving back to admire her work.
Kitty makes a dash for the mirror in the living room, and Lydia is close behind her.
"Lizzy!" Lydia shouts a few seconds later. "Her make up looks better than mine!"
"It's the same," Lizzy yells back, shaking her head as she starts to clean up the mess on the kitchen table.
"Girls! We need to get going if we're going to make it to the party on time!" Mrs. Bennet shouts from somewhere in the house.
"I'm not ready!" one of the girls replies.
Kitty runs back into the kitchen. "Jane. Can you tie my shirt up a little?"
"We agreed you weren't going to show your stomach," Jane says carefully.
"Lydia's doing it!"
"Well, she's not supposed to," Lizzy says, not looking up.
"Well, she is! Really, I don't see why you don't want us to anyway. Just because you don't want to look sexy on Halloween doesn't mean that we can't!"
"You're a bit too young to look sexy," Jane tells her.
Lydia comes into the room, her shirt pulled up and tied so that her stomach is bared. "Okay, I'm ready!"
"You can't leave the house like that!" Lizzy exclaims, horrified.
"Jane! Help me get my shirt like that!" Kitty cries.
"Girls!" Mrs. Bennet comes into the kitchen. "Oh! You look great, Lydia!"
"See!" Lydia gloats at Jane and Lizzy.
"Jane! Help me!"
"Mom, you can't let them out of the house like this."
"Shut up, Lizzy!"
"Someone help me with my shirt!"
"What's wrong with what they're wearing?"
"Mom…"
Lizzy sighs and grabs his arm to pull him out of his chair and out of the kitchen. The heat from her fingers scorches his skin. She doesn't let go until they've bounded the stairs and entered her room.
"Sorry," she mutters as she shuts the door behind her. "I thought they'd be gone by now."
William's more focused on the tingles on his arm from where her fingers had just been than anything else.
"They're going to some party my mom's work is throwing." Lizzy rambles on, biting her lip and looking embarrassed. "Oh, except Mary. She's in her room, but at least she's doing homework. The trumpet playing probably won't start until later. Lucky you."
He doesn't say anything. There's nothing polite he can really say about her family, he realizes.
She runs her fingers through her hair and sits down on her bed. "So did Gee end up going to a party?"
"Yes," he answers. "She dressed like a witch."
Lizzy's lips curve into the first smile he's seen from her since he arrived. "I can't imagine her as a witch."
"She's not very convincing." He looks around her room, noticing that it's a lot less cluttered than he remembered. The books are all on the bookshelf, and besides a stack of canvases and a pile of art supplies in the corner, her side of the room looks almost as clean as Jane's side.
"So, do you have to work everyday after school now?" Lizzy asks, breaking the silence he hadn't realized had taken over the room.
"I think so," he replies. "My father and I never really discussed it."
Lizzy gives him a strange look. "Are you not very close to your father?"
William snorts. "Do we seem close to you?"
She bites her lip. "Why aren't you?"
He leans against the wall. "We just never have been."
"Why not?" she presses, patting the space next to her on the bed invitingly.
"It's just not how it works," he says as he walks to her bed and sits down next to her.
"That's sad." Her face, however, looks pleased when his arm brushes hers.
"He's not around enough for us to be close." It's a price the children of CEOs pay. William doesn't know how to explain to her that this is just how it is, especially since the scent of citrus and flowers is overwhelming his nostrils and distracting his brain.
"But…working with him doesn't make you closer?" Lizzy shifts and when her thigh touches his, she doesn't move it away.
"I don't really work with him." William stares at the lack of space between their bodies, conflicted.
"Well, then what do you do?" She runs her hand through her hair again. Her elbow knocks into his shoulder.
William swallows. Being this close to her puts him on edge. "I told you. Mostly just watch how things are run."
"When do you become CEO?"
"When my father thinks I'm ready."
"Are you excited?"
"There's nothing really exciting about it, Lizzy." Not so subtly, he shifts so that there is more space between them, giving him room to breathe.
She pouts, though he doesn't know if it's from his words or his actions. "What does a CEO do?"
"Everything, from what I've gathered." William wonders if he should add more distance.
"That doesn't sound appealing to you? Being able to control everything?"
"No."
Lizzy looks confused. "I thought this was something that you wanted."
He sighs. "I've actually never wanted anything less."
The words tumble from his lips without any permission from his mind, and he can't help but blame it on her proximity.
