Author's Note: Another prolonged absence, but I'm back. I will see this story through to the end. I actually have a lot of this story already written. I write in a non-chronological way. I sit down to write, and sometimes I envision future scenes that don't connect yet. I'm still trying to get all the filler pieces written to connect all the extra chapters I've already written for this story.

Anyway, this chapter is really short, but it technically was supposed to be added to the previous chapter. It's written in Darcy's perspective so I separated them and I'll keep them separate for now. I start school on Monday so I honestly don't know when I'll update this story next, but I'll try to update whenever I have free time between studying.

I also started a blog (check my profile for the link) where I'll post excerpts and updates on all of my works. I have a few other stories I've been working on these past few years that I would love to share. Some of them fanfiction, some of them not. I post more regularly over there because its more excerpts and just my thoughts, so I'll keep that updated with new content until I can get a substantial chapter for this story written.

As always thanks for reading, and I appreciate all of the follows, favorites, and comments.

Author's Note: Also for references, I imagine Janet Bennet as a young Dorothy Dandridge with longer hair, a very classic beauty. I'm not quite sure how I imagine everyone else yet.

Stay Happy, Stay Golden

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Chapter 9: Darcy

"Wow, Darce. You talked to not one but two strangers all by yourself? Did someone hold you at gunpoint? Do you feel like you might pass out?"

After squaring everything away with Elizabeth, I fill Charlie in on the good news. With Elizabeth as my guide, I will finally be able to get somewhere with my documentary. I am anxious to hit the ground running. I would have preferred to not have to work with someone so acerbic but…

"Desperation will make a man do crazy things." I turn to Charlie and give him a tight-lipped smile.

"So…" Charlie steps in front of me and walks backward so he can face me as he talks. I roll my eyes already anticipating what he is going to say. "You said she."

I sigh but refuse to respond to Charlie's hidden question.

"How old is she? Is she pretty?"

"Doesn't matter. This is a business arrangement, nothing more." I push past Charlie and walk to the driver's side of the car. "Besides, she's not my type."

"Ha. You don't have a type."

"Well, if I had one, she wouldn't be it." As an after-thought I add, "Honestly, she's not that pretty either."

Charlie fastens his seatbelt as I start the ignition. "Well, I guess I'll have to judge for myself when I meet her."

"You're never going to meet her." I move away from the curb and speed down the road.

"Why ever not? I want to meet this charming girl who you'll be spending all your time with."

"Charming is not the word I would use to describe her or her family. And I wouldn't be working with her if I didn't have to."

"Well, I still want to meet her." Charlie turns towards his window and thankfully does not bring up Elizabeth again during the car ride. Under the guise of silence, I am able to stew over my encounter with the girl I previously regarded as an ethereal angel. Elizabeth regarded me as if I was gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe the entire time I was in the store. Such insolence from someone so beneath my notice. How dare she demean my work and act as if she had never heard of the biggest production company in the nation. And then she had the nerve to make demands of me and try to make me go out of my way to pick her up from another location. And then her mother. The gall of that woman to assume that I, William Darcy, would demean myself to sleep with a backwoods nobody like Elizabeth…Elizabeth… Suddenly I realize that I didn't even get her last name. I assume it might be Bennet since that is the name of the store, but she could be just an employee and not related to the owners. I honestly know nothing about her except that she comes highly recommended by the old lady who sells jewelry on the side of the road. What the hell was I thinking?

"When's the next time you're seeing her?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." I turn the car into my designated parking space.

"Hey just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," I remind him as I kill the ignition and push open the driver's side door.

"But satisfaction brought him back," Charlie laughs as he pushes open his door and gets out of the car. I look over at my friend with his messy hair and dark circles under his eyes. Charlie is not a morning person. This early morning excursion probably took a toll on him.

"Thanks for coming with me today."

"Anytime Darce."

I watch Charlie straighten out his shirt and finger comb his hair using the side mirror on the car.

"When are you meeting club girl?" I ask not bothering to keep the snark out of my voice.

"You mean Janet? And I'm actually not sure when we're meeting."

"What? You didn't set a time for your meeting."

Charlie shrugs unbothered. "She said that she's free after noon and I'll be in the building all day. I'll just tell Milly to let her back to my office when she arrives."

I look at Charlie astonished by his nonchalant attitude. Since becoming Charlie Martin, international heartthrob and actor extraordinaire, Charlie has opened every door and received every yes with a simple flash of his award-winning smile. I am convinced that there is no one in the world who can resist his initial charm. But despite this extraordinary talent, Charlie finds himself out-of-luck when it comes to finding true love. His relationships are fleeting at best, toxic at worst. Personally, I think it's because he only goes for the stereotypically pretty girl with no substance. Judging from my interactions with Janet Bennet, she will be no different.

"Okay, Will. Go ahead and spit it out."

"Try not to rush into anything. You do not know this girl."

"That's why I'm meeting with her, to get to know her."

"Yes, but you have been known to fall fast and fall hard for girls you barely know who have ill-intentions. And do not forget, you met this girl in a trashy club. She is not on your level. She is probably a gold digger."

This time Charlie rolls his eyes. "Okay, Darcy. Thanks for your advice. Definitely not judgmental." Without even waiting for me to defend my justified concerns, Charlie slams the door and walks away from me. I do not follow him as he strides through the doors of Pemberley Productions. Instead I hang by my car for a few minutes to give him enough time to flirt with the receptionist and walk to his office alone. When I am confident there is no way I will run into Charlie on the way to my office, I make my way inside the towering building.

"Good morning, Mr. Darcy," Millicent says with a coy smile, "I made you a cup of coffee, just how you like it, cream with two sugars." Millicent holds out the steaming coffee cup over the top of her receptionist desk.

I thank her for the coffee, grab the cup, and walk off before she has time to comment on the weather or make some other inane small talk. Millicent and Charlie were dating for a short while before she was hired at Pemberley Productions. They mutually broke it off with Charlie tactfully citing that he did not want to be tied down to anything too serious so soon and Millicent claiming that she was moving on to bigger and better things.

I am allowed a few hours of productivity before Sophia barges into my office and drags me across the hall claiming that there is something that requires my immediate attention.

"Will, I have found our new Mary Calloway! I just happened to be walking in the hallway, and I noticed these two girls in Charlie's office. Naturally, I was curious, so I peeked in and saw that he was running lines with them. I saw the first girl do the party scene with him and she was a little stiff, but the second girl was amazing! Her delivery, her emotions, the tone of her voice. She's perfect. And oh my gosh, she's stunning too. Drop-dead gorgeous. You have to meet her."

"This better be worth my time," I mutter as I allow Sophia to drag me away from my piles of paperwork.

Charlie's office is a few doors down and across from mine. The door is wide open and Sophia plants herself directly in the doorway. I stand off to the side not wanting to be seen, but I position myself so that I can still see Charlie and his club girl.

A young girl brushes by Sophia and briskly walks down the hall and rounds the corner. I call out to her, but she continues to walk. I move to go after her, but Sophia grabs my shirt sleeve and pulls me back.

"This is more important. Stay here."

I let out an indignant sigh, but I acquiesce and remain at my post in the shadows.

"Do you two think you can do that scene again?" Sophia asks.

"Oh I didn't know we had an audience. We were just fooling around. Also, hi I'm Janet." Janet reaches out a hand to shake Sophia's.

"Sophia. I'd love to see that scene again. I'm directing the movie and we're still deciding the direction we want to go. I really liked your interpretation of the scene. Could you perform it one more time?"

"Um, I've never acted in front of a real director. I'm a little nervous," Jane looks at Sophia with wide eyes and a slightly frightened look.

"Just pretend I'm not here," Sophia whispers as she backs into a corner scrunching down in an effort to become invisible.

Janet closes her eyes and lets out a small sigh before nodding towards Sophia.

"Okay. Great. And… action."

watching the scene play out before us from a safe viewing distance. Club girl and Charlie have amazing chemistry. For a moment I forget that Charlie and club girl stand before me. Instead I see Thomas and Mary, childhood sweethearts.

"Oh, wow, that was beautiful," Sophia rises from her corner, and I slowly step into the office as Charlie smiles at the girl and congratulates her on a scene well done. "Are you sure you've never acted before?"

Janet blushes and looks to the ground. "I've helped with a few school plays, but I'm no actress. I was just helping Charles practice his lines."

"She's a natural, isn't she?" Charlie throws an arm around her waist and beams down at her. She still seems embarrassed, but she smiles back at Charlie. I notice that she ever so slightly inches away from him.

"Truly. There was more chemistry between you two in that short scene than I ever saw between you and Evelyn." Sophia turns to me and exclaims, "Darcy! Did you see her amazing performance? Isn't she perfect for the role?"

Janet turns her hazel eyes towards me. "Oh, you're Darcy? As in William Darcy?"

"The one and only," Charlie declares with a tight-lipped smile.

"Hello, I'm Janet. A pleasure to meet you. Charles speaks so highly of you," the young lady primly declares as she extends her hand for a shake. I examine her head to toe. Charlie sure does have a type. Although Janet is not as… light as Charlie's usual interests, she is undeniably beautiful. She has a perfectly chiseled, regal nose, big brown eyes encased by spidery eyelashes. Her lips are perfectly shaped with a deep cupid's bow and a prettily placed mole in the corner of her mouth. Her thick curly hair flows down her back. She is tall and skinny but with enough curves to appear womanly and not childlike.

I have to hand it to Charlie, he sure knows how to pick them. Her movements are graceful and her entire presence is alluring. I can see what he sees in her, but there is no way I'm letting such a gold digger star in a Pemberley Productions feature film. Sure, she seems nice enough now, but they never stay that way for long.

I limply shake her hand and give a curt, "Pleasure."

Sophia elbows me out of the way so she is once again directly in front of Janet. "So, you've never acted before? Never even thought about it? You've got the face of a star."

"No, absolutely not," I say already anticipating Sophia's train of thought.

Janet looks to Sophia and then turns to me. She gives me a quizzical look before she turns back to Sophia. "Oh, thank you. You're too kind. And no, it never crossed my mind to act. My little sister is the actress in the family. I enjoy being around children, so I work at the grade school in my neighborhood."

"But you told me that you're only there a few days out of the week." Charlie quickly adds.

"Oh, yes, um, I'm not a full-time teacher yet, but I work at my family shop the other days."

"Only a few hours a week," Charlie amends again, "And you said yourself that you feel like they don't actually need you."

"Charlie," I admonish not liking how quickly things are moving, but he ignores me.

He takes both of Janet's hands in his and looks into her eyes pleading with her, "Please Janet. Don't make me go back to reading lines with Emotionless Evelyn. Not when we have so much chemistry." Charlie smiles his megawatt smile, the one that has been making moviegoers swoon for years. The one that propelled him to superstardom after just two movies in a supporting character role. No woman can resist Charlie's Please-for-Me smile.

Janet pulls her hands out of Charlie's grasp and begins to gather her things. "Charlie, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want to be famous. I just want to teach."

I guess, there's a first time for everything.

Sophia tries again. "You'd be doing us a huge favor if you took the leading female role."

Janet smiles but shakes her head as she grabs her coat.

Before she can finish putting on her coat, Charlie makes a last attempt at making her stay. "There's a role for Amanda too. Your character has a younger sister. She can play the sister."

"Charlie," I admonish again this time more sternly.

Janet stops in her tracks. "Really? Oh my, that would be a dream come true for Amanda. She's always wanted to star in a movie. Maybe she can play Mary. Doesn't that sound great Amanda?" Janet turns and looks about the room, distress playing across her face. "Amanda? She was just here a second ago."

"Well, she wouldn't be the star, she'd be more like –" but before I can finish my statement, Charlie chimes in again.

"She'll have lines and at least five minutes of screen time. She'll be a household name after this movie premieres. Everybody will be asking who she is." He strategically avoids mentioning that most of that screen time will be as a non-verbal background character. The sister has only one line right now, and the writers have considered completely scrapping the role. Charlie is not thinking with the correct head right now.

Before I can speak again, Sophia harshly pulls me out of the room.

"Sophia, stop pulling me around. I'm not your puppet."

"Sorry, but I could see the disapproval in your eyes. You and I both know that Evelyn and Charlie have no chemistry. Yeah, she was great in those few movies they did together where she played a damsel in distress but being able to faint every five minutes and swooning professionally does not an actress make. Evelyn does not have the chops to carry such an emotional role. Janet just might have the ability to do so. Let's at least give her a chance."

"I don't think that's wise. We don't know this girl. She doesn't have an agent. She's never worked in show business before. She could be —"

Sophia holds up a hand to cut me off. "Fine. I didn't want to have to do this, but you appointed me as a creative director, and you said that I would have final say over this project, so…" Sophia walks back into the room and proclaims, "Janet come with me and we'll get you a contract and script. Then we'll orient you. Welcome to the team." Sophia grabs Janet by the arm and pulls her towards my office not giving her time to resist or challenge her. Of course, Charlie turns to follow behind Janet like a clueless, lovesick puppy. I don't like this one bit. Charlie needs to be focused not worried about a woman who obviously does not reciprocate his feelings.

Janet immediately starts panicking and pulling away. "I never said yes. I still need to find my sister!"

"Oh, I think we saw her. Darcy go get her sister. Janet, you stay here and we'll show you the script."

"This is my company. You can't order me around like that."

Without even turning to look at me, Sophia yells, "Shoo!"

I press my lips together and furrow my brows, but I reluctantly turn and walk down the hallway after the girl from earlier. I am not happy about this. Not one bit.