Darcy stepped out of the lift, automatically placing a hand at the small of Lizzie's back to guide her out of the lift. She turned and flashed him a small, nervous smile, before scooting out of his grasp and making her way swiftly to the doorway.
He stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds, frozen in surprise as his mind slowly relived what had happened only a few seconds before. Slowly, he seemed to come back to life, his mind beginning to comprehend that Lizzie was walking away from him.
"Wait." He called out, his voice sounding too loud and foreign in the quiet lobby.
Lizzie turned around, clearly startled at his sudden omission.
"Erm. Well, I just though. Erm that er perhaps. Maybe er." He muttered, his words stringing together as his nerves threatened to overwhelm him. "Would you perhaps like a lift home?"
"Oh no, Darc- William." She said, stumbling over his name. "You don't have to do that."
"It would be my pleasure." He replied, meaning it too.
She froze halfway between Darcy and the exit, mulling over the options in her mind. On the one hand, her entire body felt drained and she in no way wanted to walk through the hills that she deemed really were quite unforgiving. Yet on the other, she wasn't entirely sure what had just transpired between the two of them and she wasn't sure if being alone with him in a car was the best idea with her mixed up emotions. She might jump him she was so confused.
Finally she faltered, her exhaustion winning over her battling emotions. "Yes thank you that would be great."
Darcy can almost feel his heart skip a beat as she nodded at him; the prospect of driving her home after what had just occurred simultaneously terrified and excited him.
"It will be my pleasure." He replied, his voice coming out somewhat stilted thanks to his nerves.
She gave him a weak half-smile and headed off in the direction of the doors. It didn't take long for Darcy's long strides to catch up with her as they made their way through the polished lobby of Pemberley Digital.
"So, have you been enjoying your stay at Pemberley Digital?" Asked Darcy, struggling to keep his face trained into a polite, neutral expression.
"Yes. This place is, well, this place is just amazing." She enthused sincerely.
"I'm glad you like." His lips twitched upwards into a small smile at her compliment of his company.
"It really is an incredible place," The awkwardness melted away as she truthful expressed her opinion. "I've never been or even heard off a place like here."
"We try." Darcy joked, his smile widening involuntarily.
"Honestly, I'm so grateful you let me shadow the company, Willia- Darc...ey." Her voice trailed off at the end, the awkwardness materializing right between them.
He let out a nervous cough but continued on with the conversation anyway. "Erm. Well, I know I may have said it before but it is my pleasure."
By this point they had reached their destination, the automatic doors leading outside. The door slide open and William gestured for her to go ahead first.
"Thanks." She murmured, though whether it was for ignoring the name slip up or the door: neither had any idea.
"You're welcome."
The cold air hit them both clearly after the warmth of the lobby, Lizzie shivered as she automatically pulled her cardigan closer around herself. Her cardigan was thin and did little to shield her from the chill San Francisco air.
Without thinking Darcy removed his jacket and courteously slipped it on to her slight shoulders. She jumped at the unexpected contact, but quickly smiled up at him as she tightened the jacket around her.
They walked the last few stretches to his car in companionable silence, or what Darcy hoped was companionable silence. They reached a sleek black car in an inconspicuous parking space, nothing marking it out as different to the rest.
"What," Lizzie cried out in mock astonishment. "No gigantic sign reserving this place for CEO William F Darcy?
"I would have done." Darcy laughed dryly "But I couldn't find a big enough sign."
Instead of taking his comment to heart, like she might have done a few weeks ago, she let out an honest laugh. She finally understood Darcy's witty, dry and somewhat understated humour and she found herself really liking it.
It was sort of similar to her own, in a way that made her warm to the odd CEO more each time she spoke to him more. "Right, I guess none of them did your name justice?"
"That. And none of them could quite fit Fitzwilliam in."
"What a shame." She laughed, Darcy laughed too. But instead of shutting his eyes and throwing his head back like Lizzie was, he was watching her free, laughter relax her body. His eyes traced how her auburn hair danced along with each pelt of laughter, he liked that it was him that had made her that free, that happy.
Other thoughts crept into his mind at that, the unwanted thought that it was him who'd coaxed other reactions from her too. How she'd mewed and moaned at his touch. Swiftly he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he felt a blush creep into his cheeks.
Somewhat stiffly he turned towards Lizzie's side of the car and opened it for her, stepping back to let her slide into the cool leather of the seats. She rolled her eyes at this formality but secretly smiled, sometimes she swore Darcy has slipped through time from another century.
He got into his side of the door, and shut the door behind himself, sealing himself and Lizzie inside this little bubble. He switched on the heating as soon as he turned the key, the warm air shooting into the car. Lizzie shivered in pleasure at the warmth and loosened her hold on Darcy's suit jacket.
He couldn't help but glance over at Lizzie every few seconds as he manoeuvred the car out of the parking lot, her eyes were focused on the San Francisco skyline.
"Would you like some music on?" Darcy asked, tapping his fingers against the wheel nervously as he glanced over at her. "There are some CDs in the player or check in the car door."
Immediately Lizzie began to fiddle with all the knobs and dials that controlled the music, the sweet tones of Bon Iver floated throught the sound system.
"Darcy! I'm ashamed of you, no classical music?" Lizzie exclaimed, chuckling under her breath.
"Well if turned the dial another way you might just find some." He said, sounding slightly embarrassed. "But I don't just have an appreciation for the classical music. In fact Gigi has turned me on to some great and er not so great bands."
"Well your sister's music taste ranges from amazing to questionable." Lizzie agreed, nodding along to the track.
"This one happened to be one of my finds, I find the tone of voice and complex melodies very pleasing to the ears."
"You know William; you could just say you think it's good." She laughed, looking up towards him.
He flicked his gaze from the road and onto Lizzie, "Would you prefer if I said I liked the slamming beats."
"No. No, definitely not!" She cried out, her stomach hurting from the force of laughter. "Point taken."
Darcy grinned but returned his eyes to the road, yet though he wasn't looking at her he could feel her presence next to him. Every time she moved he could sense it, each shift brought a fresh wave of perfume to assault his senses.
"So, how has San Francisco been treating you?" He continued the conversation, as the very city he was talking about flashed by the car windows.
"Well, though the hills might hold a grudge. I don't. I really like this city. Though I haven't had a chance to see it much." She admitted, finally relaxing against the soft leather of the seat.
"I'm fairly certain Gigi plans to fix that soon." He muttered, thinking back to the conversation he'd had with his determined sister that morning.
"Hmm?" She murmured distractedly as she concentrated on the streets flashing outside the window. "I'm just down this street."
He nodded, a sudden lurch in his chest as he released this odd encounter was nearly over. He had an urge to slow down, to crawl the last street towards her door to make his time spent with Lizzie last even longer. Even though he was sure she wanted it to be over as quickly as possible.
She wasn't sure what she wanted at all.
All too soon for Darcy they arrived outside her door. They sat in stagnant silence for a second before Darcy sprung into action: unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out to open her door for her.
This time she openly rolled her eyes, "You know, I have arms I can use William."
"But then what would be the point of my existence?" He replied, smiling down at her.
"Sometimes I think it's purely to annoy me."
"I think you're confusing me with my little sister."
She rolled her eyes once more but slid out the car, forcing Darcy to take a step backwards.
"I could never to that." She whispered as she slid past him and towards her home, so quietly that he wasn't sure if he imagined it.
Still stuck in his ways he insisted on walking her to her door, so that was how it happened. Stood on the doorway of her temporary home.
"Thanks Darcy, I might have said it before. But thanks." She whispered, shifting her gaze from the pavement towards his face.
"And I continue to say that it is my pleasure Miss Bennet."
Who knows if Lizzie was aiming for his mouth or his cheek, but what they definitely knew was that she caught the corner of his lips.
And neither of them knew who turned their head and captured their lips once again, but there they were by the door to her house. His hands slipped into her hair as she wrapped her arms around him, soon she found herself pressed against the wooden door.
Lizzie moaned against the pressure of his lips, her mouth opening to allow his tongue entrance. They lost control of themselves once more, both of them forgetting they were in public. His hands trailed down the sides of her dress, each touch burning against her skin. Their bodies melded together, almost as if they were moulded to fit against each other.
But then, almost as soon as it started it was over. The warmth that Darcy's body provided was suddenly gone, and he was backing away.
"I'm sorry Lizzie. I'm sorry." He mumbled shortly, turning around and climbing into his car.
"Wait, Darcy! Will! Wait!" She called out, not sure what was happening or what she would do. But it was too late, and he was already gone.
He spent the short car ride home racked with guilt, regretting his actions with each breath he took. He cursed himself, because he knew that Lizzie didn't like him in that way and yet still he'd persisted, That was how he saw it. And now, she was sure to detest him with a renewed vigour. HE barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel in frustration.
"Hey Will, you're home late." Come the call as soon as Darcy opened the door. He walked into the kitchen to find his sister sound by the counter, swinging her legs with a mischievous expression on her face.
"Did I miss something?" She teased.
"The Elevator broke down and then I gave Lizzie a lift home." He said, justifying that was the truth, just not the whole truth.
"Oh my god!" Gigi squealed, the spoon that had been on its way to her mouth stopped. "Seriously William! Tell. Me. Everything. NOW!"
"Calm down Gigi." He said, his voice weary from the guilt he still felt weighing him down.
"Well," She demanded, the melting ice cream in front of her all but forgotten as she bounced excitedly in her seat. "What happened?"
For a moment he debated telling Gigi everything that had happened, but when he imagined how she would react he realised he couldn't deal with that right now. "Nothing happened Gigi, they fixed the elevator and it was late so I drove Lizzie home."
"So you're telling me that you were stuck in a lift with Lizzie and nothing happened!" She exclaimed incredulously, glaring at her brother. "You were alone?"
He gave one short nod.
"Eurggghhhh." She moaned. "I cannot believe you William."
She looked dejectedly at him for a few minutes before a spark ignited in her eye, William recognised the look in her eye and knew it meant nothing good.
"Hmm okay okay Will, erm I've er got to erm. I need to, go call Fitz." She jumped off her stool and sprinted down the hall towards her bedroom.
Will sighed at his little sister's antics, he knew that she was conspiring with Fitz against him. Well they felt it was more like for him.
"Oh and Will," She called, a smile in her voice, popping her head back around the corner. "What happened to your jacket?"
The next day when Darcy went into work, he did everything to avoid Lizzie. Every time he thought he caught a glimpse of Lizzie in the corridors his heart would constrict in his chest and the guilt that he'd felt the night before would creep up once again.
He stepped into his office after a long meeting and a close call (he'd had to sprint to his meeting when he'd thought he'd seen Lizzie's auburn hair coming around a corner) and all he wanted to do was forget about what had happened the previous night.
Then he noticed something odd on the top of his desk, his jacket was folded neatly on the desk, a sheet of paper perched precariously on top. On the paper were the words 'Thank You." written in Lizzie's neat scrawl. Suddenly some of the guilt that had ached in the pit of his stomach subsided a little, it gave him hope. Hope that someday she wouldn't hate him as much as she did then.
He smiled at the thought and grabbed a pen, writing precisely underneath.
My Pleasure.