"Wow, I have met you so many times by coincidence I'm not even surprised anymore." Elizabeth swallowed her gasp and remarked indifferently.
"I told you, only time will tell, remember?" Darcy smirked as he leaned back comfortably. Mum was right... he actually looks damn smart in his uniform...
"What are you staring at? Is there something on my face?" Elizabeth quickly diverted her eyes away.
"No, no, of course not. Now, can I get my bag back? I have stuff to deliver."
"You mean this?" Darcy brandished the unholy box of boxers.
"Yes! Put it back into the bag and return the bag to me!"
"I think you are done here. The boxers are apparently for me."
"What?!" Did high and mighty Darcy just admit that those are for him? Uncontrollable laughter spilled out of Elizabeth's lips.
"Your rancorous laughter is extremely unbecoming of a lady." Darcy cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. Only this girl would dare to make a joke of me.
"Oh, it's nothing, Mr Darcy. I was just shocked that you would like such... an undergarment." Elizabeth gave him an evil smile. Now I can blackmail him with this!
"Blame Grayson. He was the one who ordered it for me as a joke. His sense of humour is rather twisted." Darcy shrugged his shoulders. Gray is such a knucklehead. Perfect timing to embarrass myself in front of her.
"Anyway, y'all bought the shit and promised me 1000 dollars so pay up!" Elizabeth slammed the table for dramatic effect and Darcy nearly jumped out of his seat. Seeing that he was not willing to comply, Elizabeth fished out her phone and showed him the receipt.
"What..." Darcy mumbled. Great, now I got to pay this crazy woman 1000 bucks from my own wallet. Damn you, Gray. Whatever, she looks like she needs the cash anyway.
"I don't have cash with me right now so I'll just mail it to you later. Do my eyes a favour and buy yourself some better clothes." Darcy quickly reverted back to his usual self. I can't wait to see her get mad.
"Excuse me?! I look amazing in my sweat pants okay! Don't blame me for buying them when they were on discount last week!" Elizabeth stomped her feet and the sides of Darcy's mouth turned up without him realising it.
"Come on, let's go for dinner." Darcy patted Elizabeth's shoulder and guided her out of the room. Elizabeth's mind was suddenly brought back to their first 'date'...
With those memories flashing in her head, Elizabeth didn't even realise they had reached the cafeteria until the smell of delicious food wafted into her nose. Sweeping those confusing thoughts away, Elizabeth's appetite took over and her stomach growled in anticipation.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go get fooooooood!" Elizabeth turned to Darcy excitedly and ran towards the queue, pulling Darcy's arm along. Staring in shock at Elizabeth's hand curled around his, Darcy ran along.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth, who was expecting pizzas and French fries lined up before her, she was greatly disappointed as the actual food came into her view. As if reading her mind, Darcy comforted her.
"Forgot to tell you, our cafeteria food is always healthy. Health inspectors came here to check every month to make sure our soldiers get proper nutrition." Darcy feigned a regretful look but all Elizabeth saw was his smugness.
"Fine, I'm hungry too so I'll eat whatever." Elizabeth decided that eating nasty food was a way smarter choice then begging Charlotte for dinner and joined the back of the queue with Darcy.
"Good evening, Sir!" The two soldiers standing in front of them turned around and greeted Darcy in unison.
"Good evening, Ben. Good evening, Tommy." Darcy nodded his head at them. Elizabeth realised they were entirely identical, except one had a smile and the other had a scowl on their faces. Both obviously dying of curiosity about the girl, yet neither of them was willing to break the silence.
"Who's this, Sir?" The one smiling asked finally. The one scowling kept scowling.
"Oh... her?" Darcy glanced sideways at her from the corner of his eye.
"This is my new personal assistant. Elizabeth, Thomas. Thomas, Miss Bennet." Elizabeth who was gaping at Darcy's smooth lie missed Thomas's outstretched hand. Elizabeth glared murderously at Darcy but he ignored it.
"Very nice to meet you, Miss Bennet. You can call me Tommy and this is my twin brother, Benjamin." Elizabeth turned her attention back to Thomas who lowered his hand awkwardly and sneaked a glance at the other brother. With the scowl keeping her enthusiasm in check, Elizabeth resisted staring at his tattoos too much.
"Miss Bennet! It's your turn to order!" Thomas's kind voice snapped her back to reality and she quickly faced the serving ladies behind the counter.
"What do you want, miss?" The lady asked grumpily.
"Uh..."
"Chicken chop with peas and broccoli for her, please," Darcy interjected and the lady passed Elizabeth her food with a grateful smile directed at Darcy.
"Why did you have to make that decision for me, huh?" Elizabeth elbowed Darcy irritably as they followed the twins to an empty table of four.
"Well, I am definitely more capable of making quick decisions than you," Darcy replied with no sign of remorse. Elizabeth took a deep breath as she took a seat beside Thomas.
Dinner was pleasant for Elizabeth at least. While Darcy and Scowling Twin were discussing some higher order business, Elizabeth was able to engage Thomas in a lively conversation. Since young, Elizabeth only studied at all-girls' schools and at home, she is always surrounded by her sisters and Charlotte. But not this time. This is almost like attending a party, except this place has nice guys whom she can actually talk to.
Elizabeth was undoubtedly nervous upon meeting the twins, yet her pride forced her to conceal it with a smile. The beating of her heart only intensified further when she realised she was going to sit with two guys she just met and a guy she would not consider a friend. Bracing herself to sit through an awkward silence the entire dinner, Elizabeth lowered her head and started to chomp on her peas until Thomas asked her a question about herself. And another. And another. And another until Elizabeth felt it polite to return some of the questions he asked. Much to Elizabeth's surprise, Thomas harboured a strong interest in books and music, two subjects which she also felt passionately for. After learning that bit about Thomas, Elizabeth instantly felt all the worry and discomfort cooped up in her chest dissipate, allowing her to converse freely as though talking to someone she was already close to. Thomas was evidently happy at her opening up to him and shared a lot of information about his family and his life before joining the army as well. They didn't realise how much time had passed until the clock struck eight and everyone was supposed to return to their duties.
"What are you in charge of, Tommy?" Elizabeth asked Thomas hurriedly before they parted paths, eager to know where she could find him again.
"I'm working at the warehouses. Since I'm new, I have been placed in charge of loading and unloading equipment and food supplies." Thomas mumbled, evidently embarrassed.
"It's fine, Tommy! I'm sure if you work hard, one day you will also become a top-ranking officer!" Elizabeth cried, hoping to bring back a smile to his face.
"Thanks, Elizabeth. That really means a lot to me." Thomas returned to his usual cheery self. Before they walked out of the cafeteria, Elizabeth leaned closer towards him and whispered, "I just remembered some books which I'm sure you would enjoy. Don't worry, I'll go see you whenever Darcy lets me off the hook."
Thomas nodded readily and bid farewell to Elizabeth and Darcy as he turned right with his brother. Elizabeth stood there for a while, staring at Thomas' silhouette shrinking and shrinking until he turned round the corner.
"Earth to Elizabeth!" Darcy snapped a little angrier than he intended to at the dazed girl beside him. He was rather stressed recently due to the new load of tasks assigned to their department. Fortunately, the presence of the twins helped to lessen his workload greatly. Even though the twins were new to the army, they were both hardworking and fast learners. Darcy's initial suspicion in their abilities slowly turned into admiration and pride for such promising young lads. However, he was still in charge so he had more work than all of the combined.
After the twins finally left, Darcy turned right towards his office but realised that Elizabeth was not behind him. The sight of Elizabeth just standing there was the last straw for his patience. He stormed forward and called her to her senses which luckily she did respond to.
"Sorry, what just happened?" Elizabeth turned to him sheepishly and Darcy was ready to lash out but the innocence in her eyes softened his resolve and extinguished his ire. Darcy simply shook her head and gestured for her to follow him to her office.
thanks for reading this chapter! if you enjoyed it, please remember to comment~