Once again thanks to my wonderful beta MAB35! And to all my readers any input/advice is greatly appreciated...keep the reviews coming!
Chapter 18
Lizzy returned to work feeling that although she had not enjoyed thanksgiving day, breakfast with Will followed by a long lunch and an even longer shopping spree with Emma had more than made up for it and therefore the long weekend was not a total bust. Emma had felt that Lizzy's closet was too sparse and so the two had spent the entire day remedying the situation. From Barneys to Bendel's, Bergdorf to Saks, they left no store un-patronized until Emma was satisfied and Lizzy had to admit, she was pleased with every single item they had found. Sitting at her desk, Lizzy smiled to herself as she remembered her friend's words: 'How you lived in Paris for 8 years and left with only 2 suitcases is mind boggling. What's the matter with you?' No matter what she said in her defense, Emma declared that it wasn't excuse enough.
'She was probably right!' Lizzy thought to herself wryly. She hadn't bothered with too much shopping and instead had immersed herself into the culture. She was more likely to be found at the Louvre or the Opera Bastille rather than visiting the shops on Avenue Champs Elysees. Nevertheless how many women would pass up the opportunity to indulge themselves at Hermes? 'But it's not like I can never go back. Uncle Ed and Aunt Maddie would be so hurt if I didn't visit'. With a slight shake of her head, Lizzy tried once again to concentrate on the task at hand; going over various aspects of the campaign she had pitched on her first day. The team, while working hard, was not up to level of perfection that she had hoped for and there wasn't much time before her appraisal meeting with Charlie. She didn't want to step on his toes but it seemed to Lizzy that everyone working under Charles authority, while liking and respecting him, had no problem doing a subpar job because, instead of reprimanding them, Charlie would just fix it up himself. Lizzy clucked her tongue. 'I guess there really is such a thing as being too nice, God he's so perfect for Jane' she thought to herself as she highlighted yet another portion of the assignment that had to be redone thanks to a sloppy co-worker. All of a sudden a loud buzz interrupted her efforts and in her surprise, Lizzy's hand slipped causing her to draw a squiggly yellow line. 'Damn!' She closed the marker and stared in dismay at her now imperfect notes.
"Excuse me Ms. Bennet." Her assistant's voice chirped through the intercom, unaware of the damage she had inadvertently caused. Had she known what was going through her employer's head at the moment, her voice would undoubtedly have been more subdued.
Lizzy sighed, "Susan, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Lizzy? No more of this 'Ms. Bennet' business please."
"Of course Ms. Bennet."
Lizzy shook her head in annoyance, "What is it Susan?"
"Your meeting with Mr. Bingley is in precisely 5 minutes."
Lizzy sat up straight, "What? What time is it?" she began to quickly put her papers together.
"It's 4:55 at the moment. Which is when you told me to remind you of your meeting." Susan pointed out in her pleasant yet professional tone. Lizzy stood up quickly grabbing all her necessary folders and rushing out the door. She paused at Susan's desk, "Could you send out those emails from my outbox? I didn't get a chance and it'll probably be too late by the time I'm done."
Her assistant nodded, "Yes, I'll get that done right away. Is there anything else you want done before I leave?" Lizzy always ended up staying later of the two but insisted that Susan return home to her family. Why punish her assistant just because she was a workaholic?
"No, that's fine. Have a good night." She smiled and rushed off. As she passed Will's office on her way, Lizzy noticed the blinds were open and she could see her friend standing beside his desk while talking on the phone. He glanced up just in time to catch her smile and wave but she didn't stop. Making her way to the door bearing Charles Bingley's nameplate, Lizzy paused to smile at his secretary but as agreed upon from before, she went straight to the door and knocked.
"Come in," Lizzy opened the door and walked in with a smile.
"Lizzy!" Charlie's cheery voice greeted her, "Right on time as always!" He beckoned for her to take the seat in front of him. "Working hard or hardly working?" He winked and sat back with his hands behind his head.
Lizzy grinned at him, "Well, I've been trying to work hard," She hesitated before continuing, "however I don't think I can say the same for everyone on this project."
Charlie sighed, "And here I thought we could spend the hour just relaxing and having a nice chat as friends." He sat up straight, ready to get to work, "Okay, let's get down to business. What do you have for me?"
Lizzy began to update him on everything that was done so far. Point by point she walked him through her notes. He stayed silent for the most part as she spoke, only occasionally interrupting to ask a question. Thankfully He didn't notice her yellow marked paper!
"Well done Lizzy. I like what you have so far. I know that you've been doing more than your share of the project. If you need help let me know".
Lizzy hesitated before deciding to speak, "Charlie can I be blunt?" at his nod she continued, "It seems to me that you end up doing more than your share as well. Our department seems to be full of lazy workers."
Charlie exhaled, "I know what you mean. Will's always telling me to be harder on them but I can't seem to do that. I just can't be mean or scary."
Lizzy thought for a minute before replying, "Well, you don't have to be the scary one like Will. But you could outsmart them."
Charlie frowned in confusion, " What do you mean?"
"Well, let them know that their work will be evaluated or at least noticed by the scary seniors."
"I'm not following," Charlie leaned forward, waiting for her to simplify her idea.
Lizzy sighed, "Well, tell them every aspect of this project and future projects as well will have to be initialed by those working on it. Everyone will have to label their contributions which will then be seen by senior management and if they make a mistake, just send it back to them to be fixed up otherwise their mistakes will be seen by the ones who sign their pay cheques."
Charlie's eyes lit up in understanding, "That's actually not a bad idea." He grinned at her, "Great suggestion Oh Wise One!"
"Hey!" Lizzy frowned at him, pretending to be hurt, "I've been known to have a good idea from time to time!" She laughed knowing he had seen through her attempt at fake anger.
"No but seriously, thanks for the advice." He watched as she began to shuffle her papers together.
"Anytime." She smiled at him.
"You know, you sounded like Will just then."
"Oh yeah, what was it? My deep, masculine voice?" She teased him as she made to stand up. He laughed at her, "No, no, but you both are very opinionated…not in a bad way!" He hastily went on to explain his point before offending her. "What I mean is you're both confident, and give good advice without worrying about what people think."
Lizzy raised her eyebrow at him. "Umm… thank you?"
Charlie's face reddened as once again he tried to explain himself out of the hole he seemed to be digging for himself. Lizzy took pity on him and interrupted his flustered attempts to clarify his points.
"Charlie, it's ok I know what you're trying to say." She watched as Charlie smiled in relief, "So Will gives you advice?" She prompted out of curiosity.
Charlie nodded, "Yeah, he really cares for his friends and family so if he sees something wrong, he doesn't hesitate to correct it. And even when we disagree," It looked to Lizzy like Charlie had some sort of inner conflict he was struggling with before he continued, "well, Will's the smart one, so he's usually right."
Lizzy frowned as she stood and reached for her folders, "Charlie, you don't give yourself enough credit." She spoke softly, "I mean, yes Will is smart, with the high IQ and everything, but that doesn't mean that he's always right and you're always wrong. You went to Harvard, graduated cum laude and got a job in one of the biggest corporations on the country. All on your own. If you weren't intelligent, you wouldn't have accomplished all that"
Charlie smiled gently at the young woman standing in front of him, a worried expression on her face. It didn't sit well with her that someone like Charlie didn't realize his self worth. "You're a good person Lizzy Bennet."
"I know" She winked at him; "Say hi to Jane for me. You see her more than I do these days!" Lizzy noticed Charlie's smile falter a little before he spoke, "Oh, uh…actually I won't be seeing her tonight. I have plans…uh…with my sister." He shuffled some papers on his desk in an attempt to avoid eye contact.
"Oh. Well I guess I'll see her before you then."
Charlie smiled weakly at her but didn't say anything and Lizzy paused for a minute, wondering what was wrong, before leaving the room and making her way back to her office.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
An unexpected sight greeted her when she had returned to her office and pushed the door. Will stood by the table unpacking containers of Chinese food, from a bag. He stopped to examine the contents of each one before setting it on the table, making sure it was exactly what he had ordered. Meanwhile, Richard sat back in her chair with his feet up on the corner of her desk as he perused what she could only assume was her iPad.
"Oh great," She said dryly, "Tweedledee and Tweedledum are here"
"He's Tweedledum," Richard absentmindedly muttered as he continued whatever he was doing on her iPad. Will rolled his eyes but said nothing.
"What are you guys doing here?" Lizzy walked over to her desk and put her folders down. "Is that my iPad?"
"Yeah, why is it so empty? There's nothing on it. Not even Microsoft Word. Where's all your work?" He sounded baffled and as he looked up and noticed her folders, his face went blank.
"Are you kidding me Squirt? What, are you in grade 5? Who takes notes on paper anymore?"
Lizzy shrugged, "What can I say, I'm old school. I don't like having to delete stuff; I'd rather cross it off with a pen. My final drafts are always computerized so relax". She walked over to where Will stood and looked over the contents on the table. "Did you get my tangerine chicken?" Without answering Will handed her a carton. "And dim sum AND dumplings and of course, your Peking duck." He added as he handed her chopsticks from the bag before taking a seat and digging into his choice of entrees: Sichuan Tiger prawns. Lizzy joined him and sat back in her chair with her legs crossed as she picked through the pieces of chicken in her carton with her chopsticks until she found a morsel with extra glaze smothering it. She popped in into her mouth and chewed, savoring the burst of citrus flavor mixed with just the right amount of spices complementing it rather than overpowering it. Richard walked over and tried to steal a piece but Lizzy was too quick for him and held her container as far away as she could.
"Chugger," He muttered before sitting down and reaching for the carton of sweet and sour pork. "By the way, I downloaded some very important apps onto your iPad."
"Angry birds?" Will asked without looking up from his dinner.
"And Subway Surfer." Richard looked at the annoyed expression on his pseudo sister's face. "You are welcome by the way." He smirked at her, as she shook her head, not even bothering to say anything. They ate in companionable silence, quietly passing containers of noodles and dumplings to each other when asked.
"So how was your meeting with Charlie?" Will popped a dumpling into his mouth as he waited for Lizzy to finish chewing. She swallowed and reached for the Peking duck. "It was fine. The usual. I think we're making progress. Slow but steady."
"That's good." Richard murmured absentmindedly as he looked around for the basket of dim sum. Spotting it beside his cousin, he motioned with is chopsticks and Will passed it forward.
"I like to think so," Lizzy agreed. "Charlie was acting kind of weird though."
"What do you mean?" Will asked, putting down his food and reaching for a bottle of water. He opened it and drank half the bottle in one gulp.
"Well, towards the end, when we were talking, he had this weird look on his face, like…"
"Like he was constipated?" Richard interrupted. At her nod, he continued, "Yeah he looks like that when he's nervous."
"Why would he be nervous around me?" Lizzy asked in confusion. She too reached for her water and began to drink.
"That is weird. What were you talking about?" Will asked wondering what it was about Lizzy that made Charlie nervous.
Lizzy shrugged and sat back, feeling full. "Nothing. I told him to say hi to Jane because he sees her more than I do and he got all weird and said he had plans with his sister."
"Well, I can see how plans with Caroline would make anybody nervous. She's a real treat." Richard's tone was sarcastic as he finished off the dim sum and placed the empty basket back on the table. Neither he nor Lizzy noticed the suspicious look on Will's face. Lizzy shook her head. "No that's not it, or at least I don't think so." She looked over at Will who was now quietly playing with his empty water bottle. " What's wrong with you?"
Will cleared his throat, "Me? Nothing, why?"
Lizzy shrugged, "I don't know, you're not saying anything."
"What is there to say? Caroline is hardly my favorite topic of conversation." Will stood up abruptly before Lizzy could say anything and began gathering the empty cartons together. "We better get going. Don't want to be here all night." He swept everything into the empty plastic bag and dumped it into the trashcan. His companions stood up as well and followed him out of the office with Lizzy pausing to lock the door. Richard and Lizzy fell into an easy banter, not noticing Will's discomfort. His mind was going a mile a minute wondering what exactly Charlie had done about his relationship with Jane. He knew his best friend well enough to know that Charlie avoided all plans with Caroline and she didn't exactly insist on spending time with her brother unless he was with his prestigious friends. This could only mean that he was purposely staying away from Jane. He glanced at Lizzy as she playfully elbowed his cousin with a grin on her face and wondered how much his advice to Charlie was going to cost him?