When Lizzie arrived the next day at Pemberley, one of the employees at the front desk informed her of a meeting of her whole department with the CEO. She had expected that because the team needed to know what had happened with Elaine.

As soon as she arrived to her floor, a lot of people approached her with questions about Elaine's health. She said that she was fine and that they would know more during the meeting with Darcy.

He arrived in time, of course, and told them about Elaine's situation and that Lizzie was now in charge of the projects in progress. She and Elaine would work together using Domino when needed. When everyone left, Darcy asked Lizzie if they could talk in his office, in private.

They took the elevator together and he found really difficult not to stare at her. She was wearing a light blue lace dress that reminded him of the color of his eyes and contrasted nicely with her auburn hair. To distract himself, he told her that he had spoken with Elaine early in the morning and that she was feeling better but was still at the hospital.

Lizzie appreciated the news, but she really wanted to know what they both were talking about at the hospital. She had been gazing down at her shoes when she first entered the elevator, however when Darcy spoke and she looked at him, she realized that her dress matched his blue eyes. She tried really hard not to flush.

Darcy, always the gentleman, allowed Lizzie to leave the elevator first and that was when he noticed the back of her dress. It had a cross back detail. He almost tripped at the sight of her creamy skin. He felt nervous all of the sudden, and had to force himself back into his CEO mode.

They went inside his office and he closed the door after her. Once they were seated, William started talking.

"I guess you are wondering about what the cryptic exchange I had with Elaine yesterday."

"Yes." That was an understatement.

"And I trust you are familiar with the stories of Ann Radcliffe?"

"It was the second television adaptation that your father did and Pemberley got awards because of it. Besides, those stories were my favorites when I was growing up."

William smiled at her comment and continued.

"Well, that was the last television project we ever did. With the Internet, we shifted gears and focused on other things. But, recently, Elaine and I started talking about going back to the roots of Pemberley," he stopped when he realized that Lizzie was staring at him. He cleared his throat and continued, "Since you have experience writing, we were thinking that you could develop an original script for a mini-series."

Lizzie just opened her mouth in awe, not knowing what to say.

"I would love to present that project in a film festival next spring. I think that will open lots of doors of opportunity for Pemberley. So, what do you say?"

"Wow! I...", she was woman of words, and yet none left her mouth.

"I am sorry if I took you off guard. If you need time to think about it..."

"I'll do it", Lizzie finally said. It was a great chance, maybe the chance of a lifetime, and she was going to take it.

"Great!", Darcy smiled at her and almost reached for her hand that rested on his desk.

"Thank you so much for thinking of me to do this. It means the world to me." Lizzie did what William could not, and she reached for his hand.

It took him a second to respond to that gesture, "You are welcome, Elizabeth."

"I need to organize things in the department so I can start working on that. The web series is going as planned and I think someone else in the department can take care of it. About the rest of the projects, I can still supervise them along with Elaine."

"I like your enthusiasm because I want you to focus on this, Elizabeth. I consider this one of my priorities and I am planning on working with you as much as possible. I have some ideas about the plot, but I am obviously not a writer. What do you think if we meet next week to start planning?"

"That's perfect, I'll get to work then. Thanks again for your trust on this. I won't disappoint you or Elaine."

"We know that," Darcy said as she smiled and left his office.

He had been thinking about that project for some time. The sixth anniversary of the death of his parents was coming and he wanted to honor them by doing something similar to what his father had done in the past. And now, he was finally ready to make it a reality.

Lizzie could not believe the turn of events. After (another) quick meeting with the personnel to arrange things, Lizzie called Elaine to ask about her health, to thank her for the opportunity and to arrange their work schedule and Domino calls.

She then proceeded to call George and asked him to meet her for lunch. Lizzie was very happy and wanted to share the good news with Charlotte, her sisters and her parents.

Lizzie worked on her schedule and on other pending issues before heading to lunch. Five blocks from Pemberley there was a small French restaurant that Fitz had shown to her and she really enjoyed. Once there, Lizzie had to wait ten minutes before her boyfriend showed up.

As she had said to Charlotte, they sometimes had issues. Lizzie had not mentioned Fitz because she noticed that he got irritated when anything related to Darcy came out during conversation. And that was very often given Lizzie's employment. She sometimes wondered if there was a future for them if she had to keep things from him. Maybe if she knew what had happened between the two, she would understand him. But to be fair, he also had to put up with her peculiarities that were many. Besides, everyone that could stand a whole evening with her mother deserve a prize. And most importantly, she loved him.

She jumped on her seat when she felt strong hands on her shoulders.

"Hello, peach."

"George! You are making a habit of scaring me."

"Well, that seemed to work just well for us in the past", and he finished with a wink.

"Yeah, it has", Lizzie had to admit. After kissing him light on the lips, she called the waiter to order.

"So, are you going to tell me why you were so excited over the phone?"

She told him about the conversation she had had with Darcy and Elaine about the mini series and her involvement in the project.

"Oh, peach! That is great! I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks, George", and she kissed him again.

"But, if I got it right, now you are going to work with Darcy, directly?"

Lizzie nodded.

"Ohhh...", he made a face and his mood changed instantly.

"George, this is very important to me, but I need to know that you are going to be okay with this."

George passed his hand through his hair, thinking how to answer. Of course he did not like the idea of her girlfriend working along side his former friend. He could tell her what had really happened between them and he would lose his relationship with Lizzie and the benefits that entailed.

She was pretty enough but sassy, confident. That was what had initially attracted him to her. Later, he had discovered her other charms and decided to stay with her, at the expense of having to endure her family from time to time. Back in Los Angeles, they were both successful in their fields and they were equal. But in San Francisco, he felt that they were competing, and he was losing. He had booked some jobs in that city and still in Los Angeles but not as often as before. He also knew that she was making more money than him and contributed more to the household, and that bothered him for a while.

However, in the following months, he would forget that and welcome the commodities of being with Lizzie Bennet.

"Peach, if you are happy, I'm happy. So, have you thought yet about the plot?", he changed the conversation as he saw that his answer had had the desired effect.

I put the dress I envision Lizzie was wearing here:

conijito dot tumblr dot com /post/51236879375/love-me-tender-love-me-true-chap ter-24