Chapter Six - Siblings
Elijah jerked awake at the scrape of a key in the lock, and he groaned at the odd angle his head had been twisted in his sleep. The television was playing late night infomercials, his show long since over, and he was curled up in the armchair. The deadbolt on the front door clicked, and then the door eased open, the glow of the television screen catching on a shimmery figure slipping quietly into the room.
"You're home late," said Elijah, glancing at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning.
Jane spun around, a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp of surprise. "Oh, Eli, I thought you were asleep," she said. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
Elijah smiled. "It's fine, you just saved me from a horrible neck cramp," he said. He unfolded himself from his twisted position on the armchair and turned off the television while Jane flicked on the living room light. "So, how was your date?"
"Honestly? Magical," said Jane, sitting down on the sofa and folding her hands in front of her heart. "I've never had such a great time in my life. The restaurant was breathtaking, and the food was so good. Then he took me to this building in Upper Manhattan that he owns and we went up to the roof, and there was a beautiful view and this little dessert picnic set up. We sat up there and ate ice cream sundaes and just talked for hours."
"Wow," Elijah said, his eyes wide. "I think I'm falling for this guy too. Does he have a brother?"
Jane giggled. "It was perfect."
"Sounds like it," said Elijah. "So, did he kiss you?"
"He was the perfect gentleman," she said, her ears darkening slightly. "When he dropped me off here, he kissed my hand."
Elijah resisted the urge to coo aloud at the cheesy, old-fashioned romance of the gesture, although it was difficult. "When are you seeing him again?" he asked instead.
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that," she said. "Charlie invited us to come spend the weekend at his house in the Hamptons."
"Us?" Elijah asked skeptically. "He wants me to come? I think I'll pass on a third-wheeling weekend."
"You won't be," said Jane, laughing. "Charlie's sisters will be there, and he said he might have some friends over too. It's just for a few nights, for the long weekend. He's going to be having a big Memorial Day barbeque and everything, and he really wants you to be there. You can get to know Caroline better and meet his other sister. And I told him about your book, and he wants to celebrate."
"It's like he's family already," Elijah said, and Jane blushed again. "So tell me, Janey, honestly; you think this guy is for real?"
"I really do," she said. "I know it's fast, and that's completely insane, but I've never met somebody that I've connected with like I have with Charlie. He's - he's perfect. If I could spend the rest of my life as happy as I have been since I met him..." She trailed off, a serenely dazed look on her face, and the giddiest smile Elijah had ever seen graced his sister's mouth.
"Okay then, I suppose as your brother I ought to get to know him better too," he said. "Check him out, make sure this guy's really good enough for you. And I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make nice with his sister either, since it sounds like we're going to be in-laws someday."
Jane's cheeks had turned bright fuchsia at his comment, but she smiled nonetheless. "Thank you, Eli, I really appreciate it," she said. "We're going to have so much fun."
"Yeah, well, who can turn down a chance to spend the weekend at some fancy house in the Hamptons, right?" he said. It didn't actually sound like his idea of a great time, but it clearly meant a lot to Jane. "It's probably the only chance I'll ever get to stay there."
"Until your book sells a billion copies and you can afford to buy a house there," Jane said. She walked over and sat down on the arm of his chair, taking his hand in hers. "I really am so proud of you, Eli. I knew you could make it big and now you're on your way there. I know things have been hard on you for the last few years, but they're really looking up now."
"For you too," he said, squeezing her much smaller hand. "Ever since Sam... But you've got Charlie now, and he seems like a really great guy. I'm happy for you, sis." Jane smiled, but it was quickly broken when her lips parted in a yawn. Elijah grinned. "We should get to bed. It's after one, and we've both got work in the morning."
"That's probably a good idea," Jane agreed. They both stood, and Elijah turned off the television before heading down the hall to their bedrooms. Jane stopped him before he could slip into his room and she pulled him into a hug. "Congratulations, Eli."
"Thanks," said Elijah, kissing the top of her head. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"Yes, you could have," Jane said, laughing.
"Okay, maybe, but it wouldn't have been as much fun," he said and tugged on a piece of hair that had come loose from her bun. "Love you."
"You too," Jane said, and she gave him one more quick hug before darting into her bedroom. Elijah climbed into bed and lay on his back, staring at the slats of light on the ceiling cast by the blinds in the window. He'd done it. He was really going to be a published author.
A smile on his lips, he drifted off to sleep.
William Darcy couldn't sleep. He spent several hours tossing and turning until he was so thoroughly tangled in the sheets he couldn't move his legs. When the clock on his bedside table ticked over to two, he finally gave up and extricated himself from the blankets. The hardwood flooring of his penthouse flat was cold on his bare feet, and he shivered in nothing but his boxers. He pulled on an old tee-shirt before heading downstairs to the main room.
The glow of the full moon shone through the enormous living room windows so brightly that he almost didn't need to turn on the lights. It cast the room into sharp relief, the sleek lines and angles of the modern furniture throwing shadows up the walls. William found the wall switch and flipped it up, bathing the room in golden white light.
All of his work was still spread out across the desk against the wall, the pages in perfect stacks where he'd left them. If he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well get some work done. His eyes panned over the papers in front of him; numbered manuscript pages, the margins filled with red editing marks and commentary, were arranged next to business plans and financial graphs.
Even though he was technically the CEO and owner of Pemberley Publishing, he still worked as an editor as well. It was the work he most enjoyed, taking an author's' craft and helping to smooth out the rough edges to make them into polished gems. Even as the CEO of the company, he hadn't been willing to give up on his favorite part of the job.
So every year he took on one or two books to edit and sell personally, less than half as many as his actual editors but as much as he could handle while also managing the business. He was supposed to be taking a year off editing to focus on getting the New York branch of Pemberley off the ground, but everything changed when his assistant had sent along Elijah Bennet's manuscript.
To say that William liked Chaos in a Bottle would be a massive understatement. It had its faults, as all manuscripts did, but very few had such raw potential. How it hadn't been picked up by another company before he got to it, he had no idea, but he had been thrilled to find out that it was still available.
Despite the fact that he had not meant to take on any books for the year, he hadn't been willing to let anyone else work on the manuscript - not that the burgeoning office had editors to spare. Which is how he found himself buried in more work than he had ever attempted to take on at one time. He had spent several nights in a row up until the early hours of the morning trying to devote the proper amount of time to the book without falling behind on the business end of both Pemberley offices.
Fetching a glass of water from his kitchen, William sat down at the desk and got to work. He disappeared into the printed words on the page, marking errors as he noticed them and adding notes to himself in the margins. He was so deeply invested in his work that he didn't see the sky lightening outside the windows.
The monochromatic chirping of his phone from the bedroom jerked William from a particularly intense moment in the novel. He blinked around in surprise when he realized that the sun had come up, filling his living room with pale light. Shaking away the sudden bout of exhaustion, he raced upstairs and grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand. The photo attached to the caller ID brought a small smile to his lips, and he answered.
"Hello, Gina," he said, his sleep-deprived gruffness softening affectionately.
"Oh good, you're awake," Gina said, and he could hear her smile through the speaker. "I was afraid you'd be asleep. I can't remember what the time difference is."
William glanced at the clock, the red digital numbers declaring it just after six in the morning. That put his London-based little sister five hours ahead of him. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" he asked.
Gina giggled. "Classes ended last week, remember?"
"Clearly not," he retorted dryly, eliciting another round of laughter from her. "Then what are you up to?"
"Enjoying the start of summer," she said brightly. "Annie's flying in next Tuesday, so we're going to stay at your flat in London and take her out to see the sites for a week or so before we go home. And this weekend we're going to Blackpool with some friends from uni."
"Male friends?" he asked apprehensively.
His sister huffed a laugh. "Oh really, Will, you know there's only one man for me." Her tone was playful, but he could hear an undercurrent of something darker and fragile that caused a sharp pain in his chest. "The rest of your lot are more trouble than they're worth."
"Not all of us," he said somberly.
"I know," said Gina. "I'm just not quite ready yet. Someday, maybe, but not now." Her voice lightened, and she added, "Don't pretend you're not happy I'm not dating."
William laughed. "You caught me," he said. "I'm fine not having to worry about you a while longer. At least wait until I'm back in the country again and can properly terrify your suitors like a big brother should."
"When'll that be?" she asked.
"Not sure yet," he admitted. "I thought I was only going to be here a few weeks to make sure things were settled, but I just picked up a book from a New York-based author, so I'm going to stay here a while longer to work on it."
"Really?" Gina asked in surprise. "I thought you weren't taking any books this year?"
"I wasn't," he said. "But I couldn't pass this book up, Gi, it's amazing. It could be a bestseller, actually put Pemberley on the map here in the US. Better than that, this is the sort of book that changes lives."
"Wow, I haven't heard you this excited about a book in ages," she said. "It must be something special. Especially for you to stick around and work with the author personally. Cute?"
William's mind filled with images of soulful brown eyes, silky dark hair, and a lean body. He felt immediately hot under the collar and was grateful she couldn't see the color that had flooded his face. "He," said William, emphasizing the pronoun, "is not handsome enough to tempt me."
Gina laughed. "Oh, it's a bloke? Point taken. But it wouldn't kill you to work less and meet someone."
"You sound like Charles," said William, only just resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"Good, so he agrees," Gina said. "We're just worried about you. You work too much."
"Because I enjoy my work," he said.
"I know, and that's great, it's just-" Gina trailed off, and William braced himself. "You haven't dated much since secondary school. I know in uni you were busy raising me and I appreciate that. And then with everything that happened... But I'm all grown up now, Will. It's time to stop taking care of me and start taking care of yourself."
William refused to acknowledge the dull aching in his chest at her words. "I have a great family and my best mate and a successful career I love; what more could I need?"
"Love, romance, passion?" Gina suggested. "You're thirty. Don't you want to get married someday? Start a family?"
The pain and longing in William's heart doubled before it was promptly crushed by the practical side of him. There were no such things as happily ever afters for people like him. The only thing that came from trying was scandal and disappointment. He wasn't willing to put himself, or his family name, through that on a whim and a chance. "Someday, maybe," he said simply. "But not now."
The repetition of her own words back at her made Gina pause, and she hummed in understanding. "Alright, I'll stop badgering you," she said. "Just think about it, Will. I want you to be happy. I love you."
"Love you too, Gi," he said fondly. Somehow, she still softened him just as easily as she had when he'd held her for the very first time twenty years ago. Clearing his throat against the sudden swell of emotion, he said, "So, how were exams?"
"Exhausting," Gina moaned dramatically. As she nattered on about studying and her professors at Cambridge, William settled down on the end of his bed to listen. Yes, he had good people in his life, and he was blessed with their love. That would be enough.
It had to be.
