When your mind's made up
There's no point trying to change it
When your mind's made up
There's no point trying even talking
When your mind's made up
There's no point trying to fight it
Lizzie sighed and said, "How do you know about George and me?"
William sat in front of her before replying.
"I just saw the two of you walking here." He omitted the fact that he had seen the kiss.
"Oh, I see," Lizzie replied and lowered her gaze.
"Can I ask how long have you been together?" That question left William's mouth before he realized it.
"Two years." In fact, their anniversary had been a couple of weeks before.
"And I suppose he has told you about our differences?"
"Yes, he has."
William sighed.
"Then I can maybe understand why you are acting the way you are, but I need you to know that…"
Lizzie interrupted him, "Darcy, don't bother, I know everything I need to about the problems you and George had after your parent's death. I can't understand your actions towards him but I know you are a better person that than."
"What is she talking about?" William thought. He tried to say something but she did not let him.
"Please, let me continue. I do not have anything against you and I am sorry if I let my relationship with George come between us. I haven't been professional about this and it does not have to affect our work relationship."
"Lizzie, what exactly did...", William started to say when Lizzie's phone rang.
"Excuse me, Darcy, but I have to take this call."
Too upset to defend himself, William stood up and left to his office. Whichever lies George had told her, she believed them. The worst is that she had not given him the chance to defend himself.
He decided that if she did not want to listen to him, she would have his explanation in another way. He sat down and started writing a letter to her.
By the time he was finished, Lizzie was already gone. So he put the letter in her mailbox, hoping that it would be the first thing she would see in the morning.
The next day when Lizzie arrived to her office, Elaine's secretary had already sort out her mail. Since that day was bound to be a very busy day for Lizzie, she only got time to check the most important mail. Darcy's letter stayed on her desk, unseen.
Darcy and Lizzie ran into each other but none of them spoke. He thought that she still had not found his letter and decided to give her more time before confronting her again.
However, the end of the day arrived, and Lizzie never got the time to check the rest of her mail, so she put in her bag and left to meet George.
It was Friday, which meant, she had a date with her boyfriend. They had dinner and then went home. Lizzie was changing when she remembered the pending mail.
"George, could you bring me my bag?," Lizzie asked from the bedroom.
"Yeah," he responded and reluctantly arose from the coach, as he was watching TV.
Her bag was open so when he took it, Lizzie's stuff fell to the ground. He sighed and started picking up her things when he noticed a white envelope with Lizzie's name written by hand. After all that time, he still recognized Darcy's handwriting.
"George?," Lizzie said again.
"Coming!"
He hid the letter below one of the cushions of the coach and went to the bedroom.
After a while, when Lizzie was asleep, he took the chance to read the letter. Lizzie had already told him that Darcy knew about their relationship and that he had spoken with her.
In the letter, Darcy briefed her on everything that had (truly) happened. He told her about George taking the money his father had left him, quitting Pemberley Digital on his own account and asking for more money some years later. He wrote about the incident with Georgiana and its consequences on both siblings.
That part George did not know of. He was not proud of having used Gigi to get back at Darcy, but the outcome had not been so bad for him. At least he had left with a check.
Elizabeth, if by the end of this letter, you still choose to believe George, I will respect your decision. Maybe he has changed, and has become the kind of man who deserves you.
If you give me the chance, I would like to have a conversation with you. If you do not, I would accept that you do not wish to discuss these matters further.
Please know that, independently of your decision, nothing about our work relationship has to change. You have brought great things to Pemberley Digital, and we do not want to lose you.
Sincerely, William F. Darcy.
That was how the letter ended.
George detected a subtext in Darcy's last sentence. After seeing his face while he kissed Lizzie, he could almost certainly say that Darcy had been jealous of them. Knowing that he was a workaholic, Darcy was still probably single, and jealous of George because he had found a beautiful, intelligent, good woman and he had not. (That piece of information could be useful in the future).
Obviously, he could not let Lizzie read the letter; it would ruin everything between them. He was deciding what to do, when his girlfriend called out his name.
"Just a minute," he replied. He tore the papers and the envelope into tiny pieces and threw them in the kitchen trashcan, where Lizzie was less likely to notice them.
George returned to bed, and put his arm around Lizzie. He was happy to have her by his side, and was decided not to lose her.
Since William had not returned his calls since Friday afternoon, Fitz decided to pay him a visit. When he rang the bell and no one got the door, he took the spare key and entered.
"Darcy? Kate?," he called. No one answered. He could hear some music and walked in that direction. It came from the basement.
He went downstairs and found his friend on the thread mill, running like hell. Fitz turned off the stereo, causing William to almost trip over.
"Fitz! What are you doing here?!", William screamed.
"I've been trying to get you for hours now, and I was worried."
William got off of the thread mill and stopped it.
"I turned my phone off. I needed some time."
"To suddenly burn a bunch of calories?"
William chuckled.
"Maybe..."
"What happened? Where is Kate, by the way?"
"She is on a date."
"What?! How?! When?! Who?!", Fitz was clearly not expecting that.
"Fitz, calm down!", William said, "she met someone at her bakery."
Kate was still managing the Darcy house but after William had taken his place as CEO, he spent less and less time at home. To occupy herself, Kate decided to follow her baking passion and started her own business.
"Wow, even she has a love life…"
William just smiled and headed out of the basement.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong or will I have to guess?," Fitz said, as he followed him to the kitchen.
William grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and drank most of it. He was tired and thirsty after his workout.
"I guess you should know… or not," William murmured.
"What was that?", Fitz said.
"I had an long conversion with Catherine."
"Oh, Aunt Cathy. What was this time? She seemed happy the last time I saw her."
"It's just that she had some suggestions about the miniseries and did not think I took them very seriously."
"I can see why that was irritating," Fitz had seen enough of William's aunt to know that she could be nerve-wracking sometimes.
"Now tell me more about Kate's man. Do you know him?"
At the last minute, William had decided that Fitz did not need to know what had happened with Lizzie. That matter was only between Lizzie, George and him. There was not need to involve Fitz.
He told Fitz everything he knew about Kate's date. One of her customers had been enchanted by her and made a daily visit to her bakery until she had agreed to have lunch with him. After that, they had met several times.
Fitz did not stay long after that and left so William could take a shower and rest.
William was still thinking about his failure to defend himself in front of Lizzie but hope with all his might that his letter would fix things between them.
"Maybe Monday," he thought. But when that day came, William waited to hear from Lizzie or at least see her. Yet she never came.
And so, he knew that Lizzie had chosen George and he had to deal with that.
When your mind's made up - Once The Musical
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