Determined not to make a fool of herself, Lizzie stood tall, stretched her neck to look at his eyes, and shook William's hand firmly.

"Mr. Darcy", she replied.

"Welcome to Pemberley. We are very excited to have you here to work with us."

"Thank you", Lizzie replied and looked at him. He was wearing a dark blue shirt (the same color as her skirt) with a dark grey tie and grey suspenders. She never imagined that suspenders could make someone look so good. She continued her observations until she reached his face again.

He was looking at her, intensely.

Ann cleared her throat, "Mr. Darcy, I was just taking Elizabeth to her office so she can start her day."

William moved his gaze from Lizzie to his secretary and nodded.

"Yes, of course. Looking forward to hear your ideas. See at the meeting, Elizabeth."

"Thank you, Mr. Darcy." Lizzie was surprised by his words and wondered if he had the same speech for all the employees.

Darcy walked away, towards the elevators and Lizzie guessed then that his office was in a different floor.

"Elizabeth, if you follow me…", Ann had again to interrupt the thoughts of her companion.

Lizzie nodded and walked with her. Her office was next to Elaine's and had a big window with a nice view of the city. Her new boss stopped by to say hello, and then the two women left Lizzie alone so she could settle before the meeting.

Lizzie sat down behind her desk and took a deep breath. She did not know if she was excited, or anxious, or nervous, or all three at the same time. She knew that there was a meeting to introduce her formally to the directors of the different departments and other staff and probably start talking about her role in Pemberley.

And then, there was Darcy. He had affected her, a lot. He was handsome, for sure. But now, he was her boss and the situation was unlike high school. She did not hate him though, not anymore.

She breathed again. She had a handsome boyfriend, one that was waiting for her at home and she loved him. There was not reason for her to be attracted to Darcy. None.

Feeling better, Lizzie went through her notes and prepared for the meeting. An hour later, Elaine went to get her and headed together to some floors above theirs.

A lot of the staff members were already in the room. Lizzie sat down next to Elaine and waited until Darcy appeared.

Darcy introduced her as the assistant director of the media production department. He talked about her past experience as a video blogger and writing stories for web series. As soon as he finished, he sat down and let Elaine take the rest of the meeting.

From the corner of his eye, William saw that Fitz was smiling and looking at him. His friend was there representing the director of his department. Fitz knew everything about his past with Lizzie or Elizabeth Bennet. William was sure that Fitz would not pass the opportunity to tease him about it. He just had to wait.

Elaine discussed some of the current projects and their projections for the near future. She also announced her pregnancy and that Elizabeth would take charge of such projects while she was away.

Everyone congratulated Elaine when the meeting was over and approached Lizzie to welcome her. Before leaving, Darcy came to her and wished good luck. She then left with Elaine to finally start working.

"So, the infamous Lizzie Bennet, eh?"

Fitz appeared at William's door just five minutes after the meeting finished. He entered the office and closed the door. William did not bother to look away from his computer. He knew exactly what his friend was up to.

"When exactly were you planning on telling me that tiny, important piece of information, my friend?"

"I don't see how that is relevant…"

"Well, it's not every day that the girl who broke your best friend's heart comes to work for him…", Fitz sat behind William's desk.

"With me. There is a difference", William stated.

"Do you have anything to do with her being hired?"

"Of course not. She got the job on her own merits."

"Sorry, my bad." Fitz could tell his friend was irritated by his comment.

"Don't you have work to do or somewhere else to be?"

"Yes, I do but I'm friends with the boss, so…"

William returned to his computer, but Fitz did not leave.

"She is very pretty."

William looked at Fitz, surprised.

"Oh, don't give that look! I recognize beauty whenever I see it. You know? She reminds me of Andrea, you do have a type my man."

William sighed and laid back in his chair.

"Yes, they share some features," and he went silent again.

"What do you feel about her being here?"

"Me? I don't feel anything. She is just like any other employee."

"Okay…", Fitz was going to remark the way William had been looking at her during the meeting but decided not to say anything.

Fitz rose and walked towards the door, "You still up for lunch?"

"Yes," William replied and then added, "and Fitz?"

"Yeah?"

"Please, don't bother Li… Elizabeth with questions about what happened or did not happen between us. I was young and immature back then, and I do not want her to be uncomfortable now."

"I promise", Fitz crossed his fingers behind his back, "Just let me say that you've changed and she'll see it."

William smiled lightly and continued to work. Certainly, he did not feel anything for Elizabeth Bennet. His "love" for her had been short-lived and eight years later, there was not reason for it to come back.

By the end of her first day, Lizzie was feeling tired.

She had been in meetings all day and was trying really hard to memorize the names of the people in her department. All had been very pleasant and nice to her.

At five, George called to see if she was ready to go. She took her stuff and happily went downstairs to see her boyfriend.

He was waiting for her at the same spot he had left her in the morning. He hugged her and then proceeded to kiss her.

"How was your day, peach?", George asked as he walked to his side of the car.

Lizzie opened her door and slid into the car.

"Very good but long."

"Do you want to go somewhere for dinner or have take out?"

"I'm really tired, would you mind if we go home?"

"Not at all. Now tell me everything. How were the people?"

Lizzie talked at length about Elaine and the other employees and the projects she was going to start working on.

"And how was Darcy?"

"He was polite and professional. Everyone seems to like him."

"I'm glad. Maybe he changed."

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?", she asked, a little upset.

"No, peach. That's in the past."

"Not quite," Lizzie thought. George would sometimes bring his past with Darcy into their lives. By the time they got to their apartment, Lizzie had lost some her excitement.

However, George managed to make her forget that when he gave her a foot massage while she talked with Charlotte on the phone, ordered her favorite Chinese dish and took chocolate cake out of the fridge. Details like those always made the trick for George.

For no reason at all, I posted in my tumblr some photos of some clothes I imagined the characters in.

conijito dot tumblr dot com/post/48713586566/love-me-tender-love-me-true-c hapter-7

conijito dot tumblr dot com/post/49653989145/love-me-tender-love-me-true-c hapter-21