Unwanted Attractions
Note: I do not own any of the characters unless I make someone up. But other than that all the characters belong to Jane Austen, so, no suing.
"Bed," groaned Lizzie as she kicked her kickstand down. It hadn't been a busy day, so to speak, but it had been a long day of having a number of people coming into the comic store and inquiring about Jane's new "beau".
One of the downsides of living in a small town all of her life was that everyone knew everyone else's business. Lizzie knew this and so she would dodge all the questions to the best of her ability; which was basically her denying that Jane had a boyfriend yet not denying that she had gotten a ride home from Charles Bingley. He apparently was the talk of the town.
"The next person to say the name 'Charles Bingley' is going to get a serious piece of my mind," Elizabeth muttered as she pushed open the door with her shoulder. The door was beginning to have the horrible tendency to get stuck when someone tried to open it.
Entering the house, Lizzie inhaled the sweet smell of home deeply. Yes, how she loved home…
"Jane, you sly girl, you should have at least told me that it was Charles Bingley who had dropped you off at home the other day," Elizabeth heard her mother gush from the multipurpose room.
…perhaps Elizabeth didn't love home as much as she had thought.
"Mom…" she groaned, setting down her bag and kicking off her mismatched shoes-she couldn't find the matching shoe. Grabbing a can of pop, Elizabeth made her way down the hallway toward the multipurpose room.
"Oh!" her mother continued, "you simply must tell me just what it was that the good Mr. Bingley had said to you when he stopped by the daycare today."
Lizzie stopped in the hallway. Charles had stopped to see Jane again? Why would he do that? The guy must be really attracted to Jane if he's willing to try so hard while entertaining his friend…
"And who was that man your Aunt Phillips told me about? The man that was with Mr. Bingley," added Mrs. Bennet.
Darcy? She can't be talking about Darcy, can she? Lizzie thought, creeping toward the door, making certain that no one would notice her eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Charles' friend is…" Jane began in her typical calm, yet slightly patronizing tone.
"So it's first name basis, my this is quite the development," Mrs. Bennet interrupted. "Isn't it dear?"
Glancing through the open door, Lizzie found her father sitting at the computer drawing out a 2-D sketch. Apparently he was working late too draw up some design plans for more furniture and home improvement projects.
"Well my dear, it would depend upon what era you are living in," Mr. Bennet replied, sounding disinterested in the subject of discussion. "If you believe we are living in the days prior to the mid to late 1900s, then it would be quite shocking that our Jane and this Mr. Charles Bingley would be on first name terms. However, darling, we live in the 21st century and first name terms are not only common but almost essential. So, it's really not all that shocking that Jane would refer to this man by 'Charles'."
Lizzie let out a soft laugh before she knocked on the door to announce her presence.
"Hey, I'm home," she stated, praying her mother had forgotten the subject of Charles and, more specifically, Darcy.
"Ah, Lizzie, come here girl, I want to know what you think of these plans for the kitchen," Mr. Bennet smiled, swirling around in his chair and motioning his daughter to come into the room.
Entering the room, Elizabeth went up to the computer and towered over her father as she stared at the screen, listening to her father explanations and design ideas, aided by the computerized image.
"What do you think Lizzie? Will this satisfy your mother for the time being?" Mr. Bennet muttered, while his wife 'mhph'ed in the background.
Leaning in a bit to get a better look at the screen-she didn't have her glasses at hand at the moment-Elizabeth imagined the design being substituted for their current kitchen. The measurements of the cabinets, counters, and the island were scaled well to their kitchen size, plus it would give them far more room to move about than what they currently had.
"It's a work of a genius dad," Lizzie nodded, patting her father's shoulder before turning to her mother and Jane. "What's going on?"
"Lizzie," her mother spoke up with a voice of accusation, "why didn't you tell me that the man Jane is seeing is none other than Charles Bingley! Why was I the last person to find out about it!"
Closing her eyes to keep from rolling them, Lizzie took a breath. "Mom, I seriously doubt you were the last the person to find the guy's name, and as far as Jane seeing him, you're talking to the wrong person. As far as I'm aware of, Jane and Charles aren't dating…" Jane blushed at this, raising Lizzie's curiosity.
Was she missing something? What was it that Lizzie did not know that made her sister blush so deeply and her mother smirk so victoriously? What did they know that she did not?
"Are you?" Liz asked her sister, finishing her earlier question with an expression of puzzlement.
"Well…" Jane began with an uneasy smile.
"Mr. Bingley had stopped by to see Jane again today, this time with a friend and his sister, Caroline," their mother interjected with a smug look.
Lizzie shrugged, what was the big deal in that? "So? What does that mean? Maybe he likes the brats or maybe he's demonstrating what his sister would have to go through if she got married and had kids," she suggested pathetically.
"Oh, I highly doubt that," smirked Mrs. Bennet. "Go ahead Jane, tell us what Charles had to say to you today and who his friend was as well."
Jane was biting her lower lip to keep back a blush, causing Elizabeth to raise an eyebrow. "He just stopped by to say 'hi' and to ask if I would like to join him, Caroline, and Will for dinner Saturday," Jane answered, unable to hold back the blush.
Mrs. Bennet gushed and exclaimed her joy while Lizzie held a pensive expression in her eyes.
He asked her to dine with him, his sister, and Darcy? That's not exactly a 'date', is it? I mean that just seems a bit beyond a date, like skip the three week dating period before introducing the girlfriend to friends and siblings, Lizzie thought, ignoring what her mother was saying to Jane.
"Is there something that I'm missing within the whole situation?" Lizzie inquired to Charlotte the next day at work. She had spilt the events of the night before to her friend and she was now seeking out answers.
Charlotte shrugged as she slid the new J-Pop and Anime CDs in their proper places. The store had gotten a new shipment of Japanese imports and it was up to Elizabeth and Charlotte to restock the shelves of candy, mangas, CDs, and other miscellaneous items.
"I don't know, perhaps he doesn't want to leave his sister alone to entertain his friend?" reasoned Charlotte. "Hey look, we finally got that 'Dream' CD you ordered seven months ago."
"Better late than never," sighed Lizzie, stocking the new supplies of Japanese candy. "I guess you're right, I mean Darcy's staying with Charles as a guest-we're all assuming-so, naturally, Charles would probably think it rude to leave his friend behind with only his sister. Luh, and Charles' sister's name is Caroline."
"Like Caroline in the City, or whatever the name of that show was," Charlotte jested.
Resting her head against the candy stand, Lizzie chuckled softly to herself. "That's probably it," she nodded. Living in the small town and having been raised to use her imagination to entertain herself, Lizzie didn't watch much television. Not that she didn't like television, quite the contrary; she enjoyed it a lot but didn't have much time to watch anything.
No, books were Lizzie only real sense of television entertainment.
The bell of the door rang and dashing in, giggling all the way, were Kitty and Lydia. Glancing up, Lizzie set aside the boxes of pocky that had been in her hands; she would just have to finish stacking when her cousins left.
"There you are Lizzie," cried Lydia, running over to Elizabeth with the infamous 'I have some news' expression. It was an expression that Lizzie had discovered over the years that could either mean interesting news or just plain horrible news.
"Have we got news for you," added Kitty, standing right beside her younger sister.
Lizzie wasn't quite certain how it happened but somehow, despite Kitty being two years older than Lydia, Kitty followed Lydia's actions and behavior. Somehow that seemed really backward to Lizzie, yet she just shrugged it off as Lydia unique ability to the leader in anything even if she wasn't a good leader.
"Apparently you do," nodded Lizzie. "So, what's the news?"
Her cousins exchanged grins before Lydia handed Lizzie an envelope that was addressed to the Phillips' family. Looking over the envelope, Lizzie found it to be opened and the handwriting to be rather large and masculine.
"What's this?" she questioned with a matching eyebrow.
"Just read it and find out for yourself," Kitty urged.
With a sigh, Lizzie indulged her younger cousins and removed the four paged letter. With wide eyes, Lizzie began to skim the letter; she wasn't going to seriously read through her relative's mail thoroughly.
"'Dear Family,
'As you may be aware I am William Fredrick Collins, son of Roberta Phillips . . . our families have had a history of quarrels . . . I hope to make amends'," turn page, "'for our families' antagonistic history . . . As you may not be aware of, I have recently entered into the role of Reverend . . . one of my pastors is'," turn page, "'the ever benevolent, sweet . . . Mrs. Catherine de Bourgh . . . It is upon Mrs. De Bourgh's request that I write to'," turn page, "'you . . . I am intent upon visiting your household for several weeks come October 11."
Stopping for a moment, Lizzie thought aloud, "Isn't that tomorrow?"
Kitty and Lydia both nodded.
"Oh," was all Lizzie said before continuing to read. "'. . . I will be arriving at . . . at 5 in the morning.'" Lizzie paused again. "Is he serious?"
"Yeah, and guess what. He's actually related to us," Lydia stated in a tone of disgust.
Folding the pages, Lizzie slipped them into the envelope. "What is he? Your cousin? Second cousin? Your cousin's cousin?" she asked, handing the letter back to Lydia.
"He's our cousin," Kitty answered, "pa's sister's kid. We have never once met him and get this; ma isn't exactly thrilled about him coming here."
"Well, from what it sounds, your family hasn't exactly been on the best terms with your cousin's family," explained Lizzie simply. It wasn't really anything that involved her directly so it truly wasn't any of her business to know her cousins' family feuds.
Lydia rolled her eyes and complained, "Lizzie that's not even the worst of it!"
Trying to sympathize with her cousins was a bit hard for Lizzie since she truly didn't mind having her cousins come to stay at her house despite any family feuds. Still, she was willing to let Kitty and Lydia vent to her, as always.
"Ma's inviting him to the Lucas' barn raising party and to Uncle Eddy's wedding as a 'family guest,' and guess who has to make sure he has a good time at both events," Lydia challenged, with such a revolted expression that Lizzie almost believed that perhaps her cousins had met this Collins person before.
"Us," Kitty finished with a pout. "But we want to dance with the few military men that are supposed to be at both!"
Now, this was something that Elizabeth could at least sympathize with. "Well, I feel bad for you two. Good luck keeping this Collins guy happy at the party and wedding, especially at the reception."
The younger girls exchanged glances and Lizzie knew that something was up.
"Uh-oh, what is it?" she groaned.
"Well…" Kitty began.
"We were kind of hoping that perhaps you wouldn't mind making sure he's comfortable at the party. At least until we can find someone else we can dump the guy onto. I mean, by the time the wedding comes around I'm sure someone will be more than willing to take him off your hands," Lydia finished.
Glancing between her cousins, Lizzie really didn't which was more sad; her cousins having to look after some cousin they never met or her having to look after this guy that wasn't even related to her!
One hand there was the fact that her cousins were younger than her, thus should be allowed to have their fun while it lasts. Also, Lizzie didn't really have anyone she knew that she really wanted to dance with at either event, except that she wished to speak with Charlotte for the most part.
Yet, it wasn't her responsibility to make certain this Collins guy was comfortable! He wasn't even her relative! Still, it would be one of those nice favors to do for her cousins…
"Oh okay, I'll make sure Collins is happy," Lizzie agreed.
Lydia and Kitty pounced upon Lizzie with squeals of happiness and many 'thank you's before they skipped their way out of the store.
"Wow," Charlotte remarked.
"Tell me about it," agreed Lizzie, returning to her senses.
"Lizzie," Charlotte spoke up.
"Mh?"
"What about Joe Wickham?" inquired Charlotte, approaching Lizzie as she picked up the boxes of pocky.
Lizzie shrugged, "What about him? He's not back from the military yet."
Charlotte rolled her eyes, everyone knew Joe wasn't back in town yet, if he was everyone would have been singing the news. Quite literally too.
"What if he comes back in time for my dad's barn raising party?" she pressured. "How are you going to 'catch up on old times' with Joe while entertaining your cousins' cousin?"
"Oops, I never thought of that. What am I going to do?"
Thank you to: TriGemini (as always), non-damsel, anti-botox, and nebulia. You guys are so great. I had made the chapter a bit longer than normal but that could be because of the more dialogue. See ya next time, which will hopefully be on the 5th of March.