Hi Guys...here is the next installment...hope you enjoy it...
I was going over the reviews and I realized that I haven't answered some of them. Someone asked when I post and honestly, i don't have a fixed day. But i'm trying to post at least once a week. Also, don't worry, this is a Lizzy/Darcy fanfic so I won't be doing anything crazy like pulling a Sabrina (as much as I liked that movie, both versions!)
Thanks Again to my wonderful betas Ladyamadaun and MAB35. Also please review people!
Chapter 11
Lizzy walked out of the restroom and looked around. Not seeing Jane anywhere, she began making her way back to where she had left Richard and Darcy. She paused along the way to greet a few acquaintances but didn't really stop for long. When she reached her destination, Lizzy had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing out loud. There in front of her stood a harassed looking Darcy surrounded by a gaggle of colorful women who, by the looks of it, had the same personal shopper as Caroline. Richard was nowhere to be found. Lizzy pursed her lips, trying to decide whether to ditch Darcy or help him out when the man in question looked up and caught her eye. He had such a pleading look in his eyes that Lizzy had no choice but to help him. She sighed and walked up to them.
"Ladies, Nathanial Vanderbilt just arrived and I believe he's feeling a little neglected." Lizzy whispered to them conspiratorially. The women quickly looked up and, on seeing the famous young mogul standing by himself, excused themselves and rushed over to what they hoped would be a more enthusiastic conquest.
"Aaaand we're even" Lizzy grinned at Darcy who let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Can't argue with that," he smiled down at her.
"So what now?" Lizzy put her hands on her hips and looked around the room.
"Now, you find us a place to sit and I'll grab us some drinks. Any requests?"
"Surprise me." She answered him before turning to find an empty spot. A few short minutes later, she managed to locate a loveseat that, for some reason remained empty. She quickly sat down and prayed that Darcy wouldn't take too long. Sure enough, he made it back in good time holding two glasses. He sat down next to Lizzy and handed her a drink. She took a sip and turned to him in surprise, "Wow, I expected you to get me a soda or something."
Darcy frowned at her, "What? You're legal now and one drink won't hurt you. Or are you a teetotaler?"
Lizzy laughed. "No no, I just didn't expect old man Darcy to offer me an alcoholic beverage that's all." She winked at him and took a sip of her drink.
"Old man Darcy? Hey, I'm not that much older than you!"
"I know that, but you were the one who always acted like you were light years older than me. Back then I'm sure it made you feel all mature and special but now, it just makes you ancient." She ended in a sing song voice.
"Okaaay enough about my age. Have you seen any of your friends here?" Darcy asked her. Lizzy shook her head. "No, I don't think they would be close to Caroline."
"Not for lack of trying on Caroline's part. Maybe Charlie would have invited them." Darcy took a sip of his drink and looked around. Lizzy shrugged, "Nope…hey wait is George here?"
Darcy shook his head, "No, he went over to Emma's place."
"But Emma's out of town." Lizzy countered. Darcy shook his head again, "She came back this afternoon so George said he would be dropping by and taking her some dinner."
Lizzy frowned. "I wonder why she didn't say anything."
"It was a last minute thing. She was supposed to come back next week but she finished up early. I'm sure she would have called you if she had time. She only called her dad and he was the one who called George to make sure he would be there for her." Lizzy nodded absently but didn't say anything. Darcy turned to look at her, taking in her profile. She reminded him of a young Audrey Hepburn. She was so elegant with her delicate features, her dark shiny hair and her slender arms. He liked that she never dressed trashy. Lizzy was all class. Her outfits were never loud and never showed too much but neither did she look Amish either. Darcy blinked a few times and looked away. Thankful that his cousin wasn't there to give him a hard time. He cleared his throat and spoke up, "So you kept in touch with Emma all this time?" Lizzy smiled and nodded. Darcy chuckled a little, "Do you remember the time the two of you broke into George's room and drew moustaches and devil horns on all the pictures of his old girlfriend?"
Lizzy laughed, "Oh wow, I forgot about that! Oh man, was he pissed or what! I don't think I'd ever seen him that angry!"
"Well what did you expect?" Darcy laughed, "Did you really think he would thank you guys for that. It didn't help that Clarisse was the one who walked into the room first and found them. She thought George had done it. He had a handprint on his face for quite a while. Richard teased him about it for months after that."
"Well, I did feel bad about the slap. We just wanted to get our point across."
"Which was…?"
"That she was a horrible witch. Whatever happened to her?"
"Clarisse? Well from what I heard, her Dad went broke trying to keep up with the pretense that he was rich and apparently, he moved away to somewhere more affordable and Clarisse married someone…a little older than her." Darcy informed her. Lizzy chuckled, "Who did she marry? Did she become the Catherine Zeta to someone's Michael Douglas?"
Darcy hesitated, "Not exactly…remember Richard's friend Joshua Campbell?"
"Campbell soup guy? She married him? Eww" Lizzy grimaced, "He was weird"
"Oh she didn't marry him, she married his dad." Darcy finished off his drink and examined his glass after throwing that bomb. He knew Lizzy would freak out and lo and behold she didn't disappoint.
"She married his DAD? Oh my GOD! That's disgusting! What is wrong with her?"
"What can I say? People do crazy things for money. All she has to do now is wait for him kick the bucket." Darcy shook his head.
"Well, unless hubby dearest pulls a James Howard Marshall," Lizzy countered. Darcy chuckled and the two sat silently for a few minutes watching the people milling around in front of them. Lizzy sighed.
"What?" Darcy turned again towards her. Lizzy paused before answering him, "Do you think we would have been like that? I mean, if we didn't have money? Would we be doing all sorts of crazy things just to get rich?"
Darcy thought about it for a minute before answering, "Honestly, I don't know. It's easy to think about hypothetical situations when we know that they'll never be a reality. Sitting here with our full bank accounts and any door we want already open to us, it would be easy to assume that a change in circumstances wouldn't be a struggle for us." Lizzy remained silent, chewing her bottom lip with a frown on her face. Darcy too, was deep in thought. "But you know what? " He spoke up again, "I think we would have been able to handle it. We're not exactly lazing around, taking advantage of our wealth. We work hard for what we have. Just like our dads. Look at Bennet Corp. It could have gone down like any other company but your grandfather and now Michael worked hard to keep it thriving. And I have no doubt that you will work just as hard to keep it a success."
Lizzy half-heartedly smiled at him. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, she felt someone put an arm around her shoulder. Confused, she turned to see who it was and found Richard sitting on the arm of the sofa, a drink in his free hand.
"Well Squirt, I see you took pity on Will and saved him from his horde of admirers." He smirked at Darcy who was now glaring at him.
"Yes she did. Thank God she has more compassion than you, Richard." Darcy retorted. Richard shrugged one shoulder and answered unapologetically, "What can I say Will? I was kinda hoping for some groupie type behavior. You know, tearing of shirts and such. You seem to be one of the very few stud muffins able to inspire such actions."
Lizzy laughed, "Now Ritchie, don't be jealous. I'm sure if Jessi wasn't in the picture, you'd have groupies too."
"Nah, the crazy ones don't go for me. I get the hot, sane ones. Will seems to attract the nutty stalker types." Richard grinned as Darcy rolled his eyes.
"Anyways…what were you guys talking about before I decided to reward you with my presence?" Richard took a sip of his drink. Darcy and Lizzy exchanged a look before Darcy answered his cousin, "Money."
Richard made a face, "Money? We're blue bloods. We're not supposed to talk about money. We're just supposed to just drown in it, worship it, hoard it but never talk about it. How'd that come up?"
Lizzy chuckled, "uhh…well…oh yeah, we were talking about Clarisse."
"Clarisse Jameson?" Richard asked. His two companions nodded in unison. Richard laughed, "Are you serious? Wow, I haven't thought about her in years. Is she still married to old man Campbell?" Again, two heads nodded. Richard shook his head, "Oh man, I wonder if she bitch slaps him." They all broke out in laughter.
"Oh hey, before I forget, did you get Charlie's invite yet?" Richard looked down at Lizzy.
"Uhh if I didn't I wouldn't be here now would I?" Lizzy asked with a confused expression on her face. Darcy snickered, "He means Chuck's Thanksgiving invite. He's having a dinner at his place, and you and Jane are invited."
"Oh…well…I guess so. I mean, it's not like we have anything else to do." She looked down. This was the first Thanksgiving she would be spending without any family. When her dad couldn't make it to Paris, she still had Aunt Maddie and Uncle Ed but now, there was no one. Lost in thought she didn't notice the silent conversation between the two cousins. Richard frowned at Darcy and shook his head indicating that they leave her alone; this was not the place to discuss this topic. Darcy nodded slightly in agreement and the men began discussing the latest basketball game leaving Lizzy to her reflections for the moment. When she finally looked up, ready to rejoin the conversation, Richard noticed her empty glass.
"Refill, Squirt?" he asked.
"Nah, I'm good," Lizzy shook her head, "I had one already."
"Just one?" Richard stared at her incredulously, "Have I taught you nothing?"
Lizzy laughed, "This is hardly the place I would want to get drunk at."
"Why not?" Richard waggled his eyebrows. "Scared you're going to strip and dance on tables with a lampshade over your head?"
Lizzy made a face at him. "Yes Richard," she answered, he voice dripping with sarcasm. "That's exactly it. That's how I get when I'm drunk. I like to get naked and start dancing."
"Oh well in that case, let me get you another drink!" he made to get up until Lizzy grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.
"What are you doing?" She laughingly asked him.
"Seriously Richard," Darcy cut in mockingly, "Do you seriously want Lizzy to go crazy here? In front of all these guys? Your Little Lizzy?" He looked at his cousin with an eyebrow raised.
"Hell no!" Richard looked angry, "These pervs aren't seeing anything of hers. Not until she's at least 60! Screw that, no more drinking for you"
Lizzy and Darcy laughed as Richard took away Lizzy's glass and put it behind him on a side table.
"What are you doing?" Darcy asked as his cousin scanned the room, looking for someone.
"Where's Jane? We didn't watch her grow up so it's cool. I'd love to see her drunk!" Richard made a lecherous face.
"Richard, where is your girlfriend?" Lizzy asked incredulously. "She needs to get back here to reign you in!"
Richard laughed, "Relax Squirt, you'll meet her soon. She's on assignment right now."
"What does she do again?" Lizzy asked.
"She's a lawyer for the U.N" he answered her.
"Wow Ritchie! I'm impressed. How'd you get a smart girl to even look at you?"
Darcy laughed, "He took her to a charity benefit and hired people to talk him up to show what a great philanthropist he was!"
"Hey man, she played me too! She knew the whole time and made me give away a huge chunk that night. But she liked my creativity and gave me another chance and we've been together since." He sat back with a satisfied smile. Lizzy stared at him, her mouth a little open, "Wow…look how smug he looks. I have to meet this person." The awe in her voice could clearly be heard. Richard was a known playboy, the confirmed bachelor. He had always said that he would never tie himself down before turning 50 and now, he was happily committed to one woman and acting like he was the luckiest man alive. His friends all knew that his playful flirting was just that and even given the opportunity to cheat, he would never go ahead with it. He was too much in love with his girlfriend.
The trio was so involved in their conversation that none of them noticed a pair of eyes observing them from not too far off. Caroline was not happy. William had barely paid any attention to her all evening. He hadn't complimented her dress or greeted her guests at her. Now, watching him sit with Elizabeth made her uncomfortable. Elizabeth Bennet was one of the better-known heiresses and it was said everyone in the first circles was waiting to see what she would bring to the table so to speak. Caroline was hoping that Elizabeth would be her ticket up. For some time now, she had been working to make her way up the social ladder but it was a very difficult climb. Those on top were very exclusive and not willing to accept just anyone. Or at least, that's what it felt like. But Elizabeth was new in town and because of that, Caroline had one leg up on her. Or so she thought. Now she was a little disappointed. Caroline wasn't expecting her to be confident and closed up. It's like these people took lessons on how to be private! Well that wouldn't stop Caroline! She would make her open up.
However this close camaraderie with William was something she had not been expecting. They looked like they were just friends but at times, Caroline couldn't help but notice a look in William's eyes. One of appreciation and…affection? She would have to keep an eye on them. Charlie's reputation wasn't enough to get her where she wanted to be. Caroline needed William Darcy's name and everything that went with it. That was her top priority. That and also taking care of business with Charlie. Dating a lingerie model would get him nowhere and she had to make sure he knew it. There was no way she could allow that relationship to progress.
She turned around to find the couple in question in a dark corner, standing very close together as Charlie whispered something in his lady friend's ear. Jane blushed and giggled. Caroline rolled her eyes. That shy innocent act was so last year. She looked around the room and sighed softly. At least she had accomplished something tonight. William could easily see that she could throw an elegant soiree. And next weekend, he would see how she fared as a housewife at Thanksgiving dinner! She watched him again as he laughed at something Elizabeth said. She had never seen him so carefree and loose. It did not become him as a serious businessman. But then, maybe he was just humoring his old friend. She turned her gaze at Elizabeth. She was beautiful and classy, there was no doubt about that and top it all off, she was rich. It didn't escape her notice that Richard would frown at any man walking in their direction. It looked as though they were protecting her from everyone. Well, everyone except Charlie. They seemed to be fine with having him around Elizabeth.
An idea hatched in her head as she slowly turned to look at her brother, who was now talking to a friend, his arm still around Jane's waist, and then back to Elizabeth. It would be perfect! If she made sure Charlie and Elizabeth got together it would solve everything for her! All doors would be open to her as the sister in law of Elizabeth Bennet and she wouldn't have to worry about William Darcy's interest in her either! Caroline grinned in satisfaction. She was a genius. It wouldn't be too hard, after all, Elizabeth was gorgeous and Charlie was a nice guy who people had a hard time saying no to. She just had to show him that Elizabeth was a better match for him.
'Game, set, match!'She thought to herself as she walked off to see her friends, her hips swaying confidently as she glided through the crowd.