"Charlotte, are you done with the orders?"
It was a busy day at Elizabeth's house. Charlotte and Elizabeth were settling the final orders of the week as they sat opposite each other in the dining room. Charlotte was in charge of processing the orders and checking for stock and updating the website and many other things. Whereas, Elizabeth was just needed for manual labour. In other words, the delivery part.
"Bye Lizzy! Bye Charlotte!" Elizabeth stared in admiration as her sister strolled down the corridor wearing a floral blouse and denim jeans. Damn, Jane doesn't even need makeup to look pretty. She wears the simplest outfit and yet she can still look amazing.
"Where are you going looking so nice, Jane?" Elizabeth couldn't resist asking. Jane turned around at the door and hesitated before answering, "I'm meeting Mr Bingley over coffee."
"That's fabulous, Jane! Things are going steady, aren't they?" Elizabeth cried out in glee much to the embarrassment of her sister.
"Have fun with Mr Bingley, Jane! Liz, come here. I have something to show you." Charlotte called out to Elizabeth sharply after waving goodbye to Jane.
"We received a last-minute order from a military base..." Charlotte bit her lip and pointed at the screen. Elizabeth blinked a few times. What the hell?
"I refuse! This is ludicrous! They can't possibly be serious, Charlotte!" Elizabeth decided that her eyes were not playing tricks on her but she would not deign herself to deliver such an embarrassing product.
"Look at the promised tip though..." Charlotte smirked, somewhat enjoying the fumbling fool Liz was showing herself to be. This deal is too good to be true... delivering a pair of boxers for a thousand dollars? Oh no, Liz, you are not getting yourself out of this one.
"What's wrong, Liz? Just treat it as a box and go deliver the damn thing, you wimp." Charlotte threw the product to Elizabeth who produced a very unladylike squeal and dropped the box.
"Must I do it now?" Elizabeth pouted but Charlotte had already returned to her computer.
"Yes, if you don't leave now, you won't get back in time for dinner and I won't leave any food for your sorry ass."
"Rude!" Elizabeth changed out of her pyjamas, grabbed her coat and slammed the front door.
A few minutes later, Elizabeth returned. Charlotte looked up in half curiosity and half amusement. Elizabeth grabbed the product still lying on the floor and rushed off with Charlotte's hearty laughter echoing behind her.
.~.
"Okay, Elizabeth Bennet, you can do this. You will walk to that damn army base and deliver this damn box. Then, you will walk back and feast like you deserve." Elizabeth whispered to herself as she stepped out of the house the second time already. Elizabeth looked up at the sky. Cloudy, it seems. I hope it doesn't rain. Walking three miles is going to be easy game.
After walking for a while, Elizabeth suddenly felt raindrops landing on her face, her arms and her tote bag. Digging through her bag, she realised that in a hurry to leave her house, she had forgotten to bring an umbrella out. Damnit, why must it rain now? She ran to a nearby shelter and clicked on her phone as the route to the military base lit up on the screen. Hmm, about 5 minutes left. If I sprint there, I might be able to make it before the rain gets too heavy.
Spying the cluster of short buildings a few streets away, Elizabeth covered her head with her bag and dashed towards them as fast as her legs could carry her. Thank god I run often, if not I'll already be tired from walking here. She had reached the main gate.
"Good uh, afternoon, I mean evening-" At the guard post, Elizabeth looked down at her nonexistent watch and back at the security guard who was slumped forward and snoozing away. Elizabeth felt an unexplainable burst of fury surge through her.
"Excuse me! Are you actually sleeping right now? You know you have an extremely important job right?" Elizabeth shook the guard's shoulders and yelled into his ear.
"Whoa! Hello missy..." The security guard finally woke up and sat up straight. Elizabeth gawked at the sight in front of her. With an over-sized jacket covering the guard as he slept just now, Elizabeth could not decipher any of his physical features but she did not expect him to be a young strapping lad.
"Sorry 'bout that. What can I do for you?" He flashed a wide grin and Elizabeth's heart squeezed a little at his dimples.
"Um, well, I'm here to deliver a product ordered by a particular soldier here." Elizabeth cleared her throat and tried to act unaffected.
"Cool, what's his name? Just leave the thing here and I'll deliver it for ya, missy." If it had been an old, beer-belly guy saying this, Elizabeth would have fled for her life but somehow... the very same words sound different coming out of his mouth.
"Oh no, it's absolutely fine, Sir. I'll do the delivering myself." Elizabeth replied firmly. I want to get this over and done with, as much as I want to stay in the presence of this guy.
"Aw okay, anything you wanna do, missy. I'll open the gate for ya and go right back to sleep." The guard shrugged with a good-natured smile and pressed a button for the gate to open. Yes! I'm actually getting in! Elizabeth hugged the bag to her chest and started running into the compound.
"Missy, be careful! The ground always gets-" Elizabeth heard the guard's reminder too late as her head tipped backwards. Not again...
.~.
"Her condition is not severe. She might have a big bump on her head but she won't get amnesia or anything like that."
"Thanks man. I felt so guilty for not stopping this missy in time, ya know?"
"It's not your fault, Gray. I suggest you get some sleep before your night shift later."
"Yes sir. Thank you sir."
The pungent smell of antiseptic woke Elizabeth up a few moments ago and she lay in bed as still as a corpse, eavesdropping on the conversation between the guard and someone else whose voice did sound slightly familiar to her...
After the confirmation click of the door, Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and nearly screamed at the closeness of the guard's face from hers. He burst into laughter as Elizabeth worked to regulate her breathing.
"Dude, what was that for? Not funny okay!" Elizabeth cried and threw a pillow at him.
"Ouch, that hurts! Let's see what happens if I do the same to you..." He caught the pillow skilfully and prepared to throw it back at Elizabeth.
"Hey, is this how you should be treating a patient?" Elizabeth shielded her face and exclaimed in mock indignation. Realising that he was not actually going to do it, Elizabeth relaxed but the two of them could not stop laughing a while.
"Oh my goodness, we should stop. We are making so much noise right now." Elizabeth suddenly remembered where she was and who she was with.
"Right, of course, missy. You are one of a kind, especially the way you slipped and fell in the mud just now." He coughed a few times and smirked.
"Clumsy? Me?" Elizabeth's response only made him laugh harder.
"I'll be honoured to know your name, funny missy."
"Nah, I think I prefer funny missy better." Elizabeth winked flirtatiously for good measure.
"Fine, funny missy, the name's Grayson. But only you can call me Gray." He winked back and Elizabeth giggled. I literally heard another guy call him that just now but I shall play his game for now.
"Elizabeth reporting for duty. Awaiting orders, Officer Gray." Elizabeth raised her right hand to her forehead in a fake salute.
"Hmm Elizabeth eh? Can I call ya Beth? It's way easier." Gray's eyes glinted as he leaned forward.
"Sure, only you can call me Beth." Elizabeth smiled. When Elizabeth looked back up at Gray, his eyes reminded her of a wolf's, shining with satisfaction right before pouncing on its prey. Gray was moving closer but Elizabeth was frozen to the spot.
A knock from the door interrupted the tension in the air. Gray bounced back as if nothing happened and went to open the door. Heart racing, Elizabeth did not know if she felt relieved or disappointed. Whatever, this is neither the right time nor place to be kissing random guys. What the hell were you thinking, just sitting there and allowing that guy to kiss you?
"Are you able to walk, Beth?" Closing the door, Gray was beside Elizabeth in a flash and his sudden change of demeanour scared her a little but she brushed it off.
"Yeah, I should be fine. Let me try getting up on my own first." Elizabeth swung her legs to one side and straighten her limbs slowly. She took a few steps and felt normal again.
"Where are we going though?" Normally, Elizabeth would have rejected help from any guy, but alas, today was not a normal day. She happily leaned the side of her body on Gray as he wrapped her arm around her waist.
"The cafeteria for dinner. You must be hungry by now right?" Dinner! Oh shit, Charlotte!
"Where's my phone, Gray?" Elizabeth halted and panic started setting in. Charlotte is going to kill me again when I return. Shit, what about the product?
"Oh I kept it for ya. Here ya go." Gray pulled out Elizabeth's phone from his pocket and Elizabeth gasped at the number of missed calls from Charlotte. Kill me now! I rather die than face the wrath of Charlotte at home!
"Wait, where's my bag?" Elizabeth pulled Gray back urgently as he began to walk.
"Uh I think the officer took it? I'm not very sure, sorry Beth." Gray replied in a nonchalant voice.
"Can I go and see the officer now? Please?" Gray started taking Elizabeth seriously at the desperation of her voice and shrugged with a "Sure, why not? We are going to eat straight after that though. I'm starving."
"Thank you so much, Gray. You have no idea how much that bag means to me." Elizabeth heaved a sigh of relief and followed Gray's large strides to the officer's office.
"Sir, Miss Elizabeth is here and she would like to see you regarding her bag. May I allow her to enter?" Gray knocked and opened the door slightly.
"Yes please. Thank you very much, Grayson." Even Elizabeth could hear the familiar voice from outside. This voice! I have heard it before! It was the same guy whom I heard just now calling Gray Gray!
"Be nice, this guy's my boss." Gray let go of the door and whispered to Elizabeth. Elizabeth chuckled and was about to enter before she turned back to Gray.
"Are you going to wait out here for me? I promise I won't be long." Elizabeth squashed down the voice in her head telling her that she sounds really needy right now.
"Of course, Beth. I'll always be waiting for ya." Gray winked. Elizabeth paused to admire his stature leaning against the wall, arms folded with the dim light illuminating his godly face before she quickly snuck into the office.
"Well, well, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. We meet again." The long chair with its back facing Elizabeth spun around and Elizabeth was once again face-to-face with the most annoying guy in the world.
thanks for reading this chapter! if you enjoyed it, please remember to vote and comment~
also, what do y'all think of gray? ship or no? please don't hate on elizabeth for being a normal female human being with hormones heh.