So it's been 10? 11? Months since I last updated this. So sorry. I can't guarantee that this fanfic will ever be finished (I've probably bitten off more than I can chew), but I hope you enjoy this new chapter.


"What the hell was that all about?" Lizzie interrogated her daughters in Gigi's office; both Annie and the owner of the office had managed to slip away from William, when they got a text from Charlie, with some excuse about "needing to finish off the graphics for the game, and I need to Charlie to test it for me".

"What was what all about, mum?" Annie replied in as angelic a voice as she could muster.

"I think I know the answer to this, but why did he look at me as if he had no idea that I would be here today?"

"Because he didn't know that you would be here today." The girls said in unison.

Lizzie paused for a moment to take it in. Also, because her head was spinning from the alcohol very slowly wearing off or the…dizziness (she winced at the thought); she couldn't quite be sure. She didn't like the idea of either at moment.

"And so this was all just some plot to…get us back together, was it?"

"No mum! How could you say such a thing?"

"Well, maybe… a little." Charlie admitted. "We did really want to see the other parent as well. It wasn't all about the shipping!"

Lizzie let out a sigh as Gigi came bounding out of the walk-in-wardrobe in her office, wearing a bikini and floppy, wide-brimmed hat.

"I should've guessed that you had something to do with this!"

"Hey!" Gigi protested. "This was way more subtle than pushing the two of you into a room. At least admit that I've gotten better at it."

"True, but what are you doing in that?"

Gigi looked as if she'd just been asked why it was hot outside.

"Because. I'm. Going. Swimming."

Just then Lydia appeared from the wardrobe, also bikini-clad. "We're both going swimming."

"You're going swimming?"

"Ugh, Lizzie, I've been swimming again for years." Gigi pulled a pose in front of the mirror.

"Yeah well, forgive me…for not speaking too much to you over the past twelve years."

"All is forgiven Lizzie B, now," Gigi grabbed Lydia's arm and linked it with hers, "we're going bathing!" And with that, the two of them, walked out the office.

Lizzie squinted at the two of them as they left. Was it just the alcohol, or were they_? She shook her head briefly to clear her mind, as if it were some kind of etch-a-sketch that needed to start a fresh.

"Now, despite my...dazed appearance, I am very cross at both of you!"

"Wow mom, you really did pick up some of the lingo didn't you?" Charlie smiled.

"Of course she did. Being angry is something she was towards dad. Being cross isn't. She's getting rid of the association." Annie replied with smug look.

"Oh shut up! Now…I'm going to go down to the bar, to get something to…clear…whatever the hell is this is," she gesticulated wildly, with hands flying all around her head, "and when I am back to my usual self, I will talk to you about what kind of punishment will suit this crime. Possibly detention or the dunce cap."

"Great, now she's a school teacher." Charlie let out with a sigh.

"On the rare occasions she's drunk, she's usually Margaret Thatcher." Annie replied.

"Now that I'd like to see. Anyway mom, we're probably going to just go up to the pool too."

"Yeah, we'll keep an eye on aunts Gigi and Lydia."

"Good plan. I'll see you there…at some point."


Forty eight minutes later Lizzie collapsed onto a barstool and her head plummeted onto the wooden surface of the bar without a single sound of pain from her. She flung her arms out to encircle her head, and Madison, who was finishing off her Cosmopolitan, looked on with concern and silently alerted the bartender to the woman who was now moving closer to "seriously hungover" territory.

"What can I get you Ms Bennet?"

Lizzie raised her head to look at the man who seemed to remember her. It was such a shame she couldn't say the same thing for him. "Bloody Mary, please and thank you. Oh! And could you put in double the amount of Worcestershire sauce. I've developed a liking for that stuff over the past twelve years."

"Sure thing, Ms Bennet."

Madison's face had turned inquisitive. "Ms Bennet?"

Lizzie looked up at her blonde companion.

"Ms Lizzie Bennet? Of Longbourn Media?"

"The very one."

Madison's face lit up. "Oh this is incredible! I just finished watching Nick Carraway's Notes, and your sister's fashion vlog that you host…what is it called again? Looks By Jane! It's truly incredible. I learnt so much about accessorizing vintage from her."

"I'm glad." Lizzie forced out a smile. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name." She turned to the barman who plopped her Bloody Mary down in front of her. "Thank you."

"Madison. Madison Blair." She offered out her hand, which Lizzie shook with her left hand crossing over to Madison to her right, as her right hand was occupied with the cocktail.

"Didn't you use to collaborate with Pemberley Digital?"

Lizzie snorted into her drink. "Yeah. Yeah I did. Or rather, we did."

"Such a shame that came to an end. What happened, may I ask?"

"Oh…I guess you could say we broke up because of artistic differences. He saw himself as alive…and I saw him DEAD."

Madison's eyes widened as she jolted back a bit in response.

"Sorry…sorry. I do love that song."

"Oh, I totally understand. The corporate game is a funny one. I totally get what you mean."

"I'm not sure you do" Lizzie said in a half voice, as she towered over her glass and started lapping the concoction up like a cat.

"Well, I've got to go and meet my fiancé now, but it would be an honour, Ms Bennet, if you would take my card. Madison Blair. I specialise in high-end VIP parties, weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, even divorce signings! If you ever have an event to plan, please do consider me. I would NOT let you down!" She smiled, slipped her card next to the Bloody Mary, and walked away as gracefully and fashionably as she usually was around someone she didn't know, but followed on Twitter.


"There you are!" William sat up from his sun lounger and put down his copy of Go Set A Watchman. "I was beginning to worry you'd gotten lost in the aquarium."

"Oh no." Madison smiled as she sat down on the neighbouring sun lounger, and began to rummage through her clutch bag. "No, I was just enjoying a lovely Cosmo at that gorgeous bar on the first floor. Good plan placing it there."

"The last thing we wanted was for people to hurt themselves going down stairs after having a few too many."

"Yes, well, there was one woman there who looked like she'd had a few too many. Ordered a Bloody Mary, and it turns out I follow her on Twitter! Guess who seemed more "with it" and in control of her life to the barman – what's his name? Emmanuel? Bartholomew?"

"Zac."

"Oh well, something Muslim, I knew."

William couldn't help but wince at this.

"The point is, I felt so incredible about myself walking away from her, knowing I was fully in control of myself, and she was sipping her drink like a cat and singing showtunes like a lunatic." Madison found her lip lacquer and her compact and proceeded to apply the bright pink colour onto her lips.

"Oh look! There she is now! She's managed to find her way up to the pool then without causing serious damage."

A single glance up towards the woman in question was all William's brain needed to see before, almost as a reflex, it forced him to stand up and without taking his eyes off her, make his way towards his ex-wife.

She was searching around for someone, or something. Strangely, he hoped it was him, but clearly she hadn't noticed him yet. He frantically navigated the other people walking and standing around the pool; dodging left and right, almost like a dance. Memories of their first dance at the Gibson wedding flashed through his mind, followed by their first dance as a married couple.

"Dad!"

William's head darted left to Charlie in her yellow top and jeans.

"Dad!"

His head darted right to see Charlie in a blue top and jeans. How did she change so quickly? How did she get over there? No matter, his head snapped back to Lizzie as his foot caught the leg of a sun lounger and he went plummeting head first into the pool, and splashing his ex-wife in doing so.

He swam underwater towards the edge of the pool again, hoping she wouldn't see him, but as his head emerged above the waterline, he spotted the cream, strapped heals she had been wearing before his little swim. He pulled himself up out of the pool, and felt a reasonable bit of embarrassment at realising that he was standing in front of his ex-wife, wearing a wet shirt that was stubbornly sticking to his torso.

"William." She mustered up a small smile.

"Lizzie".