One month into her internship, Lizi sat in her cubical entering employee healthcare information into a spreadsheet. The work was boring, but it was a good company with friendly people—and it wasn't as if they were going to give an intern anything too interesting to handle.
Rick popped his head over the top of her cubical wall, but she continued working as if she hadn't noticed him—she knew he was hoping to startle her, he could be silly sometimes. When she still hadn't reacted after a few moments, he cleared his throat and she said, "Yeees?"
"So, about dinner tonight, Gigi isn't coming. She has a headache."
"Oh, that's too bad. I hope she feels better soon."
"I'm sure she will. You're feeling alright then? No headache, not too tired to come?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm looking forward to it."
"Ah, well, I might as well tell you: my aunt kind of invited herself to join us."
"OK."
"Still no headache?"
She laughed, "I think I can manage one evening with Dr. Burge without any ill effects on my health."
"Good for you. We'll see you and Darcy later then."
.~.~.~.~.
When Lizi got to Rick and Brandon's condo, Darcy was waiting out front for her. "Can I talk to you a minute before we go in?"
"Sure."
"Rick warned you that my aunt is here?"
"Yes."
"She doesn't know anything about what happened with Gigi. Gigi would like to keep it that way."
"Of course. I won't say anything."
"Thanks." He glanced at the bottle of wine she was carrying: Just Peachy from Terhune's. It was more than she would normally spend on wine, but they'd had her over often. "You're bringing them wine?" He said it like it worried him.
"What? They like this wine."
"I know, it's just—never mind, it's a long story, I'll tell you later." He gestured at the house. "Shall we?"
Dr. Burge had already arrived. She gave Darcy air kisses and narrowed her eyes at Lizi. "You were in my class. You got a B."
"Did you?" Rick asked. "You didn't say. Congratulations!"
Dr. Burge shot her nephew a dirty look.
During dinner, Dr. Burge monopolized the conversation—grilling Lizi on everything from her grades to her family, determining which investments would do well this year, and advising Brandon as to how he should be running his landscaping business. As they finished eating she returned to the topic of Lizi's grade in her class. "I'm giving my seminar again at Princeton, you can retake it there and try to get your grade up. It's late in the semester to start, but given that you've taken it before you shouldn't be too far behind."
"Thank you, but I'm afraid that won't be possible."
"Oh, the class is full, but the Dean is a personal friend of mine. One word from me and he will be more than happy to let you stand in the back. The credits will transfer of course. If it were the other way around…"
"I appreciate your generosity, but my schedule simply won't allow it."
"Lizi is interning at my father's company this semester," said Rick.
"Are you? Well, I'm very glad to see you put what you learned from me about networking to good use."
Lizi was about to say that she had applied for the internship just like anyone else, when she realized it might not be true. Rick might have put in a good word for her. The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Meanwhile, Dr. Burge turned her attention to Darcy, "I thought Gigi was coming tonight."
"She said she had a headache."
"You coddle her too much, Darcy. Letting her put off her audition to Julliard and go to public school."
Gigi had started at Princeton High School in the fall and had made some friends there.
Darcy replied to his aunt, "She wasn't happy in her old school, and she's no longer sure Julliard is what she wants."
"Nonsense. You can't just let her do what makes her happy."
"There are worse mistakes I could make with Gigi than considering her happiness." He said it calmly, but Lizi noticed him tense. She reached under the table and gave his leg a quick squeeze. He took a deep breath and relaxed.
"When she gets out into the world no one will care about her happiness, Darcy. She will need to be tough, or she'll be eaten alive."
"Isn't that all the more reason," asked Lizi, "For her brother to be the one person who does look out for her comfort?"
Dr. Burge whipped her head around to fix Lizi with a snake-like stare. "You give your opinion on my niece's upbringing very decidedly for someone who is merely my nephew's dog-sitter and mentee."
"Lizi's not my mentee," said Rick, "She's our friend."
Darcy spoke at practically the same time, "Lizi is here with me." He took Lizi's hand, "If I were going to take anyone's advice on how to treat my sister, it would be Lizi's. She's been very helpful to both of us and is practically a sister to Gigi already."
"What do you mean 'she's here with you?' Rick said they usually have lunch once a week."
"Yea," said Rick, "because we're friends."
Dr. Burge ignored Rick and focused on Darcy, waiting for his answer. He said, "I mean, she's here with me. We're in a serious relationship."
"Will Darcy! What do you think you're doing? I've tried to introduce you to any number of appropriate women!"
Brandon leaned down to scratch Aikaterine. Lizi was the only one close enough to hear him say softly, "Walk." Aikaterine ran to the door, barking and jumping around. Brandon said, "I better walk her. Would you keep me company, Lizi?"
"You should go with him," Darcy said softly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, let us talk."
She nodded, gave his hand one last squeeze, and joined Brandon.
.~.~.~.~.
As Brandon and Lizi left, Darcy looked at Rick who said, "I'm staying."
Darcy nodded and turned his attention back to his aunt, "There's no need to waste your time trying to set me up with anyone. I've made my choice."
"Darcy, you can't be serious. She's not the kind of girl you bring home for dinner."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Can you really be so naïve? A girl like that is only interested in getting her hands on your money."
"That isn't true."
Rick said, "You thought the same thing about Brandon once, but you've come to like him."
"At least Brandon couldn't tell you he was pregnant."
Darcy was quickly losing patience. "Lizi wouldn't do anything like that. You know nothing about her."
"I never thought I would see you so blinded by your affection."
"If I am, it's no business of yours."
"It most certainly is. I am almost your closest living relative. I will not stand by and see you bamboozled."
"Excuse me?" Rick interjected, "Darcy and I are very close."
"That isn't what I mean, and you know it." Their aunt snapped at him before turning her attention back to Darcy. "If she tells you she's pregnant you must insist on a paternity test before paying for so much as a doctor's appointment. For all you know, she could have been pregnant when she first slept with you."
Darcy gripped the arms of his chair so tightly it was painful. He was so angry he could barely speak, and his words were almost a whisper. "I don't know why you would assume we are having sex at all, but I will not dignify that remark with a reply. Please do not speak to me on this subject again." He turned to Rick. "When Lizi gets back we are going."
"I don't see why you should be the ones to leave. We invited you."
"There's no need," said Dr. Burge, "I will go. You will see that I am right about her sooner than you think."
His aunt left, and Darcy sat forcing himself to breathe evenly. When he finally felt calm again, he realized that Rick looked as if he was lost in thought.
Rick asked, "Do you think there's something they aren't telling us?"
"What do you mean?"
"My parents almost seemed relieved when I came out. They were definitely grateful that my brother married the woman he did."
"And?"
"Why are they all so convinced someone is going to be tricked in some way having to do with pregnancy? I mean it happens but so do a lot of things people don't go around worrying about. I wonder if there was some kind of scandal in our family we don't know about."
"That…" Was there anything to Rick's idea? Suddenly it seemed absurd to have been worried about such a thing. He wished he had talked more to his parents. He shrugged. "Maybe you have a point. Right now I'm more concerned with what Aunt Kathleen meant about my finding out she is right. If she thinks…"
Just then Brandon entered.
"Where's Lizi?"
"Your aunt is talking to her."
"Shit!" Darcy jumped up and ran outside.
.~.~.~.~.
As Lizi and Brandon walked, he said, "She can be a little hard to take. She hated me when Rick and I first started dating. My being a guy didn't even phase her, but I went to college on an ROTC* scholarship."
"Most people would find that admirable."
"Not Kathleen Burge, she figured it meant I was after Rick for his money. I wouldn't care what she thought of me, but I know it bothered Rick a lot more than he let on."
"I guess it never occurred to her someone would choose to serve his country."
"Probably not. She's finally warmed up to me, or at least gotten used to the fact that I'm not going anywhere. She seems to like me better now that I have my own business. She doesn't know Darcy gave me the startup money, or she would probably think I was just using Rick to get to Darcy. She would never believe it was Darcy who approached me."
"Darcy gave you the startup money?"
"Well, invested in my company, but it works out to pretty much the same thing."
"Hmm."
They walked on for a while and then Lizi said, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Would you have taken the money if it had been Rick offering it to you?"
"Rick has a complicated trust fund, he doesn't have ready access to that kind of money. But, I don't know, I guess it would depend on a lot of things. Whether he made the offer before or after we got married for one, and why he wanted to do it. Why do you ask?"
"Darcy offered to pay for me to go to grad school."
"Ah."
"I'm not sure how I feel about it. I know he means well, but it's a lot of money to just give me."
"They don't think about money the way we do. Not even Rick does, and he has a lot less than Darcy or their aunt. Darcy would think of paying for school the way you or I would think of helping a friend move."
"You think I should accept it then?"
"Only you can decide that. I can tell you, from what I know of Darcy, I don't think he'd offer it just to give you something bright and sparkly. Not all his investments are financial. Sometimes he invests in people."
"You really think highly of him." It gave her a warm feeling of pride.
"Yea. It's funny, when I first met him I thought he was kind of a rich jerk."
"Me too."
They continued their walk until they thought it was safe to go back, only to find Dr. Burge coming toward them as they approached the townhouse. "You go on ahead," she ordered Brandon, "I have business with Miss Bennet."
Brandon looked like he would argue, but Lizi said softly, "Go ahead. I'm fine."
"Well, Miss Bennet. What is it going to take?"
"What is what going to take?"
"Don't pretend not to understand me. The sooner we reach an agreement, the better for both of us. How much to stay away from my nephew?"
Lizi had to work so hard not to burst out laughing that she lost her breath. Dr. Burge looked so angry! But people didn't say things like that in real life, did they?
Dr. Burge continued, "One hundred thousand dollars."
"Seriously? I'm not dating Darcy for his money, and I won't break up with him for money, either."
"Five hundred thousand—you won't do better than that with a Paternity suit, by the time our legal team gets through with you, you'll be lucky if you get enough to pay your legal fees—and if you think you are going to marry him, there will be a prenup."
"Of course, but a prenup would only be a problem if we divorced. In the meantime, I would be so happy it wouldn't be worth worrying about." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Lizi felt she shouldn't have baited her like that, but she made it so hard to resist.
"Aha! Then you admit you intend to marry him!"
Before Lizi could reply, they were interrupted by the sound of a slamming door and Darcy descended on them. His face was white with anger. "What is going on out here?"
Lizi hadn't seen him like this since John Wicks had crashed his party. She unconsciously stepped between him and his aunt, but Dr. Burge was not so easily cowed. She handed Lizi a business card (which Lizi took without thinking) and said, "Call me when you are ready to negotiate. The offer is only good until Darcy comes to his senses." With that, she stalked off, like someone who was trying very hard to look as if she were storming away of her own free will and not rushing away from her angry nephew.
Darcy narrowed his eyes. "What did she say to you?"
"Nothing worth getting so upset about." When he looked dubious, she touched his hand. "Really, Fitzwilliam, it was just too silly. She tried to bribe me to get out of your life." Actually, it was pretty insulting, but it was better to see the funny side of it. Darcy looked more than offended enough for both of them.
Darcy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he replied, he seemed to have his anger under control. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. We won't have any contact with her in the future."
"That seems a little extreme. She is your aunt."
"She was unforgivably rude."
"I can't promise my family will be on their best behavior when you come to dinner next week. All couples have to deal with each other's families."
"Even so."
"Look, we aren't going to solve this tonight. We should go back in. They'll wonder what happened to us."
.~.~.~.~.
Lizi and Darcy didn't stay much longer after dessert. Aunt Kathleen had a way of taking all the air out of the room, even after she was gone. Had she always been this rude? How had it never bothered him before?
Darcy walked Lizi to her car. "Do you need to go home tonight?"
"Not really, but I didn't bring a change of clothes."
"Jenny washed the clothes you left last time." Jenny was the housekeeper.
"She didn't need to do that."
"Asking her not to would just torture her."
He knew she felt weird about someone else cleaning up after her but he also knew it would bother Jenny to ask her not to do her job. He continued, "I still owe you an explanation about the wine and I have some new bath salts you might like to try."
She laughed softly, "I half suspect you are buying bath products for me and pretending they are for yourself."
"I wanted to try them. They have Dead Sea minerals."
"It wasn't so long ago you didn't even like baths. Your bathtub practically looks new."
It was new, but he hadn't told her that. It wasn't like he had lied, she had just assumed he'd had the bathtub all along. In retrospect, it was probably a little weird to get a fancy new bathtub just because he thought she would like it. But were they going to argue every time he spent thirty dollars on bath salts? That was ridiculous. Then again, his aunt had just accused her of being with him for his money. It wasn't the best time to argue that she was being overly sensitive about his spending money on her. "Rick was right. I only needed to try taking a bath with the right person, but I understand if you don't want to come over."
"No, I do, it's just…You know I would still want to come over without the laundry service and fancy bath stuff, right?"
He took her hands and kissed them, saying gently, "Of course I know that, Lizi, but since I do have the bathtub we might as well use it."
She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Sorry, I'm being overly sensitive."
He had thought the same thing only moments ago, but he felt bad about that now. "Not at all. I'll see you at home then?"
"Yes. I'll see you there."
*The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) are a group of college and university-based officer training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. The term of obligatory service varies based on the type of commission as well as any scholarship contract signed.
A/N: Conversations that are derivative of the original were done that way intentionally. They are part of what makes this the story I wanted to write.
Thanks to those who favorited, followed and reviewed and thanks to cactustactus for the edit.
Next up: Dinner with the Bennets