Chapter Twenty-Six
"It Should've Been Me"
It should've been me
With that real fine chick
It should've been me
To have been her chaperone
When I got to the corner
I saw a sharp cat
With a 300 dollar suit on
And a 100 dollar hat
He was hungry earlier than usual that Friday. Fitzwilliam thought he should just order something in for lunch but then suddenly decided to go out. In getting his things together and locking his door, he noticed that Alex appeared to be getting ready to leave as well.
"Heading out for lunch?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Need me to get you something?" Alex sounded ill-used.
"No," he corrected. "I need to get out. Care to join me?"
"Yes!" she answered, the tone of her voice changing instantly; he could also tell by the smile which spread on her face. He thought about all of the admonishments which HR had given about the separation of duties with his admin, one who had made assumptions about her job and her role in his life. But he did not care right then. He wanted a companion for lunch. They went out to eat.
They went to Surf and Turf. The restaurant had a wall of windows in an L-shaped room and people vied to have a table next to one of those windows even though the view was the parking lot. But still, a table with a view was a desired thing. Fitzwilliam had no reservation, but it didn't matter. He looked the part; he and Alex only had to wait a few minutes to get one of those coveted tables.
"Window seat," assured the hostess. Unlike most places, she had on a rather colorful dress and not the black and white most servers sported.
"Mason!" a voice danced over to him. Fitz looked at the corner table and saw C.W.W. Collins sharing a table with four companions. He was waved over enthusiastically by that living Ken doll with the neatly trimmed beard. Fitz groaned a little inside but thought he might as well stop and say hi to this would-be investor.
He whispered to Alex, "this is an investor, C.W. Collins."
"Oh! I've heard of him," she said in return. Fitz watched her straighten her shoulders and spine as she clicked on her heels expectantly beside him to that large table.
C.W. stood up and stepped away from his chair. He had such a seat that he commanded quite a view of the restaurant, and Fitzwilliam assumed it had been done deliberately. The man could see anyone coming and going which was why he had pounced on Fitz.
Fitzwilliam walked up and was about to put his hand in C.W.'s when he looked at the table. There were three women and one man seated at that round table. One of the women was Liz. He could not help but stop and stare at her as she stared back, both of them bewildered at this circumstance. He pulled his eyes from Liz; though it was difficult to do so, difficult to not think that the last time he had seen her was as he was pulling his clothes on in her bedroom.
He looked at C.W.'s face, shook the man's hand, and greeted him. "How are you?"
"I am well, always, always well. I am the golden boy, don't you know," he shook his head a little in a preening sort of gesture. He was definitely a peacock. "Who do you have with you today, Mason?"
"This is my PA, Alex. Alejandra Carlyle," Fitzwilliam introduced his assistant.
"Alejandra," cooed C.W. "That is quite an interesting name."
"Thank you," smiled Alex, who reached over and shook hands very professionally and agreeably.
"Having a little lunch today. My usual Friday lunch companions. This is Charlotte Lucas," he pointed to a nondescript woman. Fitz would be hard-pressed later to describe her because his eyes slipped past her to look again at Liz hoping her introduction came next. Liz was wearing a blouse he recognized, the one with those yellow buttons he had found so tempting that night. "This is Liz Bennet," purred their host with a touch of possessiveness Fitz did not like. He thought he heard a sound from Alex as she recognized the name of his former girlfriend.
"I am Margaret Kent," said the last woman inserting herself into the introductions. "I work for Epsom Biopharma." She stood and held out her hand. Lauren Leigh worked for Epsom, and Fitz wondered then if Margaret and Lauren knew each other, and had Lauren spoken of him? Fitzwilliam Mason Darcy began to think his idea to go out to lunch had been a bad idea.
"This is Raj K. He has such a long last name that we just say K!" chuckled C.W. "Please…Mason, you need to come join us," cheered C.W.
"You look like you already have a full table," said Fitzwilliam. He was of two minds. There was Liz, and he felt like he wanted to grab her, and drag her over to another table to grill her about why she had disappeared. But on the other hand, Margaret worked for the same company as one of the three women he was dating. He did not want word to get back to Lauren.
Fitz realized that out of the three women he was seeing, he knew more about Lauren. He thought he probably valued her the most, and would not want her hurt. He did not want her thinking he was dating his admin. Curiosity won, however, "We'll join you. Sure you have room?" Fitz answered.
"Plenty," said C.W. The hostess, who had been watching the entire exchange, brought chairs as the others moved their own around the table to make room. C.W. insisted that Alex come sit by him, but he had no further suggestions about how they sort themselves. Liz was tucked between C.W. and Ms. Lucas, and did not appear to have any desire to make room next to her. The logical place for Fitz was next to this employee of Epsom Biopharma, and he dutifully took his place there. It did mean he was almost directly across from Liz which gave him an excuse for his eyes to linger on her.
There was some scrambling as that party of five had already ordered, but their assigned waiter had been hovering and dutifully added their selections to the bill. Fitz was not sure what he ordered because he used most of the time, rather than scanning the menu, to look at Liz across from him.
She was still just as lovely. Her eyes just as brilliant. Deep down, he thought they looked a little pained. His insides crimped in the beginnings of anger thinking about how much he had cared for her and not understanding why she had walked away from the relationship without a word.
"So Mason, why are you out for lunch?" asked their host.
"Because I need to eat," Fitzwilliam answered.
"I never waste a meal," replied C.W.," when I can have company and conversation. Oh! That's right! You have never been to one of my parties though I have sent an invitation or two."
"Yes, I did see those," replied Fitz vaguely. "I often have other events on the weekends." He looked from C.W. over to Liz sitting next to him who seemed to be staring down at her napkin.
"I am working on trying to find Ms. Lucas a job. She's at Stanford. Graduate school, studying chemical and systems biology. But she is thinking about pharmaceuticals, which is why I have invited Raj and Margaret here," explained C.W.
"So what is your role at Epsom, Margaret?" asked Fitzwilliam.
"I'm a senior scientist," replied Margaret.
"Raj is a chemist, at CarBlem," said C.W. not letting the man speak for himself. "That's my job. I like to hook up one person," their host held out a hand, "with another," he brought up his other hand and then slapped his palms together. "Bringing people together," he smiled almost as if he expected applause.
C.W. then looked around the table, starting with Alex, sweeping his gaze around and finally landing on Liz where his eyes lingered. Fitz could not help but wonder if they were dating. Was that why she had disappeared, had she given up on him for this living plastic man?
"So…Liz," Alex addressed Liz. "Are you studying biology, like Ms. Lucas there?"
"No," answered Liz. She did not offer any more information. Fitz knew she could say more, defend herself, but she did not.
"Ah, ha ha," said C.W. "You have found the black sheep of our table here. How clever of you, Ms. Carlyle, to discover our Liz." He leaned over and put a hand on Liz' shoulder then pulled it away as if it was too hot.
"Really, what do you mean?" said Alex in confusion.
Fitz felt just as confused. It seemed that was just what their host wanted, but appetizers were brought to the table just then, and C.W. did not answer while they watched the waiter serve the food. He feigned forgetfulness until Alex put a hand on C.W.'s arm.
"Mr. Collins, you were telling us about the black sheep?" reminded Alex.
"Oh yes," said C.W. "So Liz here…I met at a party at my house. She came with her roommate, who happens to be Ms. Lucas, and with some other fellows I did not meet."
"They were my other roommates," Liz inserted.
"Oh really, didn't know," said C.W. "So…I often host little parties, and I hook up people in business with people looking for jobs. And a lot of those people looking for jobs happen to be college students, like Ms. Lucas here."
"Oh, yes? I didn't know you did recruiting," said Alex enthusiastically. "I only knew about your business ventures."
"Recruiting! I never thought of it that way. I feel like I a scout for a sports team!" said C.W. "Recruiting!"
Fitz gritted his teeth as he listened to the man blather on, but he looked again at Liz who obviously did not like being talked about almost as if she was not there. He wondered, as he looked at her, then at Ms. Lucas (in an attempt to not always be staring at Liz), if Liz had her phone on her.
He had memorized her number, but in a fit one night, had deleted her contact from his phone. It did not mean he could delete the memory of her number from his mind. He thought he might be able to text her while they sat at the table.
"So anyways, I met Liz at a party where everyone was studying chemistry or biology or engineering, and here I am zipping out to my terrace having worked myself to death, talk talk talk. I sit down, and there is this gorgeous young lady eating chips, Liz here. I ask her where she goes to school, and she tells me Stanford!"
Fitz had been listening to the conversation but he had mostly been focused on the embarrassment that Liz was experiencing in being talked about, but he had to whip his head over to stare at C.W. to figure out if he had heard correctly. "Stanford!" he could not help exclaiming.
"Yes, Stanford!" repeated C.W.
"You go to Stanford, Ms.?" Fitzwilliam affected to have forgotten her name as he looked over at Liz.
"Miss Bennet," Liz lifted her head, and stared straight across at him. "Liz Bennet. Yes, I'm at Stanford."
He knew she was intelligent. They had talked about her classes and her coursework, but he realized how much he had undervalued her. He had even thought she might just be going to a community college, and yet she was at Stanford: with those high yearly tuition fees. Her focus on school work and her concern about making money to pay for college had more meaning and context now.
"That's not so surprising," said C.W., who leaned forward with an elbow on the table, "but when I asked her what she studied, you will never guess."
C.W. leaned back and threw his hands up in the air and his question out to the table.
"International Relations?" guessed Alex.
"Animal husbandry?" suggested Margaret. "Does Stanford even have that?"
Raj said, "it must be something unexpected, so Drama?"
"English," said Fitzwilliam staring blatantly at Liz.
"Exactly!" cried C.W. "How did you know that?"
"There is something wordy about her." He used it as an excuse to truly examine Liz Bennet, his Liz. They all seemed to be staring at her then as if determining what 'wordy' looked like. Rather than squirming she appeared to be glaring back at everyone in turn.
"I don't quite know what to do with her. She keeps tagging along when Charlotte, ah! Ms. Lucas comes out to lunch." C.W. smiled over at Charlotte who smiled back. "We have these regular Friday lunch excursions. So I let her. I keep offering to find Liz a job, but she assures me she is not done studying so there we have it. But Mason or Margaret or Raj, if you need an English major, I am sure she is the best."
Their meal arrived and Mason took the opportunity to pretend he had a text and pulled out his phone. He typed in her number.
What are you doing with CW Collins & why did you disappear? He hit send.
Jazz music began playing at the table. Liz looked around apologetically. "Sorry it's my phone. I have a funny text notification, it's my sister who did it," she pulled her phone out. "I should have silenced it." She had had a smile on her face, that sort of amusement when one is caught in a slightly embarrassing scenario, but then she frowned when she looked at her phone. "Not important," she said. "I will return it later."
He had hoped for some response, to rattle her out of this complacency, this dullness, as this creature at the lunch table was not the Liz that he knew. Apparently, she was not going to answer him. He felt his anger rising again at her leaving him without a word.
He realized that Margaret was speaking to him and it took Fitz a moment to process the words. She had said, "Lauren tells me you are quite involved in that technology group where you two met."
"Yes," Fitzwilliam replied. "I have been very involved these last two years since the company has been stable. It has given me a chance to be committed to that group, and to see what others are doing. I have enjoyed my luncheon discussions with Lauren." He turned from Margaret to Liz to see if she was paying attention. Then he was sorry that he had. Because the pained look in her eyes had grown.
Liz threw her napkin on the table. "You'll excuse me if I run to the bathroom." There was no response from anyone at the table as most everyone was eating. She walked off.
His phone chirped; he realized he had not silenced his own. He looked down to see a text in response to his own.
You are a liar a cheat a bastard thats why I left
After today I dont want to see your face again & only with CW for Charlottes sake
He texted back: How can you say that about me? I am a good man
Fitz was confused as to why she would say he lied to her and cheated on her.
No, you're not Was her response.
Can we meet after lunch, so you can explain? He asked then added: So I can explain?
No Was her reply You've hurt too many people, stay away
He was even more confused by her response. He tried and failed to think of an argument he could text back to persuade her to meet with him to talk. What had he done that she thought he lied and cheated to make her want to disappear. Happy to be with him one day and abhorred by her the next?
I know your past made you wary
But don't shut me out, please talk to me He texted.
You're not worth it, talk to your new girlfriend Lauren
Or are you dating Alex too? You bastard
He was sorry he had tried to use jealousy to get some response from her. Sorry that it obviously hurt her. Sorry he had brought his admin out to lunch.
"We seem to be missing Liz," said C.W. "Char…Ms. Lucas want to go check on her?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Collins," answered Charlotte Lucas who got up from the table.
Fitz kept trying to take bites of food in between sending texts to Liz who apparently sat in the restaurant's bathroom. He glanced over and saw Alex had a smile he did not appreciate as her eyes traveled down to the phone on his lap. He grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket. It would vibrate if Liz responded further.
He tried to not be too anxious, waiting for Liz and Charlotte to return to the table. He sat there pushing his food around the plate as he had lost all interest in eating. He answered a question from Raj and Margaret in turn about his business and waited and waited. It seemed a very long time for women to return from the bathroom. Eventually, Charlotte came back.
"I'm afraid," Ms. Lucas explained standing behind her chair. "Liz is not feeling well. The shrimp cocktail she had as an appetizer is not sitting well with her. Do you mind if we take off now?"
"Oh no!" cried C.W. with concern. "I'm sure that we can get our poor Liz home. I drove, you know," he patted himself on the chest. "We can't have her being sick here. I'll just settle with the restaurant. You four finish up. But we'll have to do this again sometime."
"Do you need somebody to drive her home," offered Fitz, "so you can stay?"
"Oh no," said C.W., "I'm sure it is out of your way. In fact, I know it is. But Raj…" C.W. turned to look at Raj the chemist. "It is actually…Liz' house is on the way back to your office! Can I coerce you to taking them home?"
Raj said that he would be delighted. Fitz thought about how disastrous this luncheon had been as he watched Charlotte gather her things then looked to ensure that Liz had not left anything behind besides the coat and purse on the back of the chair. She waved an awkward hand goodbye, thanking everyone though she turned cold eyes on him. Fitzwilliam knew exactly why Liz was going home and claiming to be ill. Ms. Lucas left with Raj in tow.
"I'm glad that you two showed up because I hate to waste this luncheon. I would have been sad to have Liz and Charlotte and Raj walk away. But there are still four of us, which is decent. We have Margaret and Mason, and the lovely Alex," cooed C.W. "So Alex, how long have you been Mason's assistant?" C.W. used the entire rest of the luncheon to ask question after question of Alex who obviously felt flattered with all that attention from a millionaire.
Alex asked as soon as they were in the car. "So was that your Liz Bennet?"
"Yes," he answered, "and that is the only time I will talk about it and that is the only question you get to ask." He could feel the conceit and the presumption emanating from his assistant. It was a new worry, as if he did not have enough worries and concerns right then. He worried about his assistant and what she would say about the luncheon. "I don't want you talking about this," he added.
"Oh no, I won't," she answered.
Fitz considered calling Liz but figured she would ignore that attempt to contact her. He attempted another to text to her, though, as soon as he closed his office door.
Lauren is not a girlfriend just a colleague
He knew he was mincing words as in his own mind he had asked Lauren out on a lunch date with the intention that there be more than work between them, but he also knew it was a relationship that was not going any farther now.
He had logged onto his laptop and was just getting his head into his work when his phone beeped.
You are a liar She texted back.
I am not He replied
You told me you were Fitz, C.W. calls you Mason She sent back
Fitz is my given name, Mason is my middle
You cheated Appeared next.
How can you say that, claim that? He asked. Fitz could still not fathom her claim that he had, somehow cheated on her.
I told you, Liz, it had been years He texted her.
Just how many women do you date at one time?
Bastard Was her reply.
Can't you call me, let me explain?
He waited a long time for another text from her, but no other was to come.
Charles came to see him, mid-afternoon. Uncharacteristically he knocked, poked his head in and shut the door.
"Hey, Mason. Sam told me that you ran into your ex-girlfriend and you made her run away crying into the bathroom."
Fitzwilliam had to shut his eyes tight until he saw stars before he opened them and stared at his friend as he tried to process everything that Charles had said. "First off. Who is Sam?" asked Fitz.
"My girlfriend," replied Charles. "She works in HR."
"Woah! Sit down," barked Fitz. Charles pulled up a chair. "I thought I mentioned the first week you were here that dating somebody at work was sort of off-limits."
"Oh! I thought it was just you, like the leader, who couldn't date anybody in the company," said Charles.
"You mean Samantha, in Human Resources?" clarified Fitzwilliam.
"Yeah, she's…sweet," grinned Charles.
"Human Resources!" cried Fitzwilliam in exasperation. "She should know better!" He leaned back in his chair which screeched again. He had this thought that he either needed a new chair, or he needed some sort of oil for it. "Charles you can't date women at work. You're like, executive level. It's a no no."
"A no no? That sounds like something my nanny told me not to do. Touching a hot stove is a no no," said Charles in a falsetto voice.
"Okay, besides the issue of your dating someone at work—and you should not be dating someone at work—what did this girlfriend tell you?"
"She said you ran into your ex-girlfriend at lunch, you made her run crying into the bathroom, and there was a big scene," said Charles. "So want to talk about it?"
There was a long silence as Fitzwilliam stared at his friend and thought about what had really happened and what was being reported.
"Not quite what went on, but as I have not said a word about it to anyone, and as Alex went with me it is obvious where this tale has come from. I asked her not to say anything," said Fitzwilliam at last.
"So no big scene and no tears?" asked Charles, still concerned.
"Okay, she might have been crying, I don't know. Liz did excuse herself from the table and go to the bathroom. I didn't see her after that." He sat back up to lean on the desk; the chair screeched again. "Charles, I don't know if you were coming here because you wanted to give me some friendly advice, or are just being your usual supportive self, but I have to think about what to do about my admin speaking out of turn. Will you excuse me while I talk to HR?"
"Are you going to talk about me too?" Charles Bingley looked like a sad puppy.
"I have to mention you too, Charles. And I am afraid you will probably have to break up with your girlfriend if you are to remain a Pemberley employee."
"Not too wicked of a request," said Charles. "I've enjoyed her company, but I'd rather be employed."
"Let me call HR," said Fitz with a small smile.
He called Mrs. P. and said he needed to talk to her right away. She said she had wanted to take off early since it was Friday afternoon. He insisted it was urgent and could not wait. She offered to swing by his office, but he said he would come to her.
"Oh, little pitchers have big ears. I get it. I will wait," answered Mrs. P.
He explained to her what had happened with Charles coming by, being a concerned friend and colleague. "The only way that Charles could have heard this and therefore Samantha could have heard about this was because Alex told Samantha. I had given her express instructions not to talk. I feel like my personal life is not up for discussion."
Mrs. P. countered, "I thought we had a discussion about you not blending the rules with your admin, Mason, and why were you taking her out to lunch?"
"I didn't think that sharing a meal, at lunchtime, was going to give the wrong impression. We were both leaving at the same time and it just seemed the friendly thing to do," he replied. "I'm sorry that I broke the rules. It has been a day of broken rules."
"Having your admin gossip about you is not necessarily a fire-able offense. However, I will talk to her," said the HR director. "On the other hand, apparently I need to talk to my own employee about the rules. It is against the rules to blur the lines between management and employee by dating. Samantha should not be seeing Mr. Bingley outside of work. You have set me a lot to do when I thought I was to get some shopping done before the weekend."
"I'm sorry to keep you. But I appreciate your looking into these issues," answered Fitzwilliam Mason Darcy.