Chapter 6:

Response to reviews:

Thank you Dizzy Lizzy.60, CrazyPPgirl, bookbabe68, tomorrow will be kinder, and AmberS76 for the great feedback!

I'll be taking the summaries away as per suggestion - thank you!

I will attempt to PM all reviewers, but I'm kinda new to this - please don't hold it against me!

To the annoying characters viewed in this chapter:

Everyone guessed Mr. Collins would be one of them, and most of you had Caroline Bingley as your second guess, while one of you had Auntie Catherine!

Let's see who the surprise guests are... :)

Double Ds: Disputes and Dresses

The stuffy air which would normally be acquainted to cities smelled like freedom to Lizzy. The weekend was over and she was back in town; her smiles came easier now that her mother wasn't always looking over her shoulder.

She had gotten up earlier today so that she could take a jog in Central Park. In between the soothing voice of Tom Odell and melancholic tunes of Trading Yesterday found Lizzy in a good mood. Exactly what I needed. She smiled to herself as she continued running, while waving at a friendly vendor.

"Hello Mr. Jackson!"

"Hello Miss Lizzy," he gave her a smile before gesturing to his assortment of foods. "Can I interest you in anything?"

"No thank you," She smiled and waved again before she ran ahead. She needed to let out a lot of steam which she couldn't at home; the morning bathroom queues were always long with 7 people waiting. Smelling like and old sock wasn't an option.

Running to the beat drumming from her earphones, Lizzy lost herself to the beauty of her surroundings. She always had a knack for appreciating her environs without really taking into account the people which were in them. She used this talent whenever she saw fit; this weekend in particular had cost Elizabeth with too much human contact, or at least too much of the bad kind.

She was drawn out of her thoughts when she bumped into something… or someone. In situations like these, her talent definitely wasn't useful.

"I am so sorry!" Lizzy exclaimed at the furious woman, and started to help her up.

"Don't touch me!" The redhead woman with sharp eyes glared at Elizabeth who awkwardly stood there. "You have done quite enough!"

"I apologize for this, if I cou-"

"There is no need to worry – It wasn't completely your fault," a man with leery eyes stated as he approached the situation. "You see, my wife was on the phone and wasn't looking either."

"Jeremy!"

"Louisa, let's not linger on this – we have an urgent appointment! – and this young lady does seem to be terribly sorry over this accident," he looked at her pointedly while helping her up.

"I am so sorry," Lizzy insisted again to the woman, who merely scoffed and turned her head. Her husband, though, smiled and appraised her with curious eyes.

I don't know what's worse… Lizzy quickly left the situation behind and continued her jog, though with less enthusiasm than before.

When Lizzy finally arrived at work, she had time to think on the rudeness of the lady she had the misfortune of hurling over. She dearly hope she wouldn't meet her again, and resigned herself to evening jogs as she was sure a lady such as Mrs. Louisa wouldn't be found lingering in public areas during later hours.

She twisted a strand of hair with two fingers as she contemplated her revised schedule. While it was practical keeping her voluminous, and often impractical, hair out of her way, she dearly enjoyed letting it down. Playing with strands was sometimes better than biting her nails. She glanced down at her hands and sighed, Jane would surely drag her out for a manicure anytime now.

Speaking of Jane, as she approached her desk, she was perturbed to find Bill Collins, her oldest sister's newest admirer, leaning against her desk.

As it turned out, the suitor her mother had bragged about, with the lavish income and wonderful reputation, was none other than her most annoying colleague.

Regarding him now, as well as her mother's words, she like reminding herself that between them, her income took up the most space in a back account.

"Hello, Bill," she greeted with a sugary sweet smile which seemed foreign to her facial muscles. "How are you?"

"Wonderful," Bill stated as he leaned on her desk to stare down on her, "especially now that I'm here, with you."

Lizzy's smile tightened slightly, but she tried to remain polite when her mother mentally glared at her. "How lovely… how are things going with that French Revolution story?"

"Well, I suppose." He seated himself on her desk as though settling in, disregarding her documents which she was sure not to touch again. "I'm a little perturbed, though, about the new release for that Assassins … Crime Game? – I am not inclined into paying attention to it – but apparently it will take place I the French Revolution, and the minds spoiled by it won't have any time to appreciate m- Lorie's book!"

"Hope things work out for you…" Lizzy trailed off as she wrestled with her phone under her desk, trying to call her office phone. "Maybe you could use this for your own good? It re-"

The ringing of her office phone broke off her sentence, and while she appeared to look dismayed that their conversation had ended on the outside, she gleefully cackled mentally.

"I will leave you, chère Elizabeth," he gave what appeared was supposed to be a salacious smile, before finally leaving her office.

After breathing a sigh of relief, she quickly got back to work by catching up on emails.

When she was done though, she found she had a new email from Georgie on her blog.

Dear Lizzy,

I'm sitting in the airport as I'm writing this to you, me and my brother are waiting for our flight back. I had a great time in Yellowstone National Park; the sites were marvelous, and it was a really nice bonding experience with Will. However, he did continuously mutter something about getting away from prying women…

You see, my brother has been buggered by 'shameless gold diggers' (as our aunt so likes to call them) ever since he was of age… Actually, I think it may have already started in kindergarten, what with him going to a private, upper-class school. Apparently matchmaking mothers already have their eyes on the lookout at an early age.

"Tell me about it," Lizzy muttered as she recalled how her mother would always dress her girls up in pretty dresses and shove them towards the 'richer' kids in the school playground. Building character? I think not.

While most men like the attention (I suppose my cousin, Richard, could be taken as an example) Will quite frankly fears them… I think he may even have nightmares.

When I overcome my anxiety and finally inform him of my manuscript, you two will hopefully finally meet. I know you dislike it when I mention such things, but the two of you would really get along.

I hope you had a fun weekend with your family, and that you were able to enjoy your younger sister's return from England.

Your non-matchmaking friend,

Georgie D.

Lizzy smiled before she checked the time. If her estimation was correct, she would be able to call Georgie at 16:00 and set up an appointment the day after.

After having a brief phone call with Mark, the production director for the Science fiction book Forster had eagerly accepted, it was time for lunch.

Charlotte had left her a message earlier in the day, explaining how she couldn't come for lunch, so Lizzy had decided to, for one day, have lunch with her colleagues. It was either that or taking the long route to meet Jane at the school she was teaching at.

If she had known how things would've turned out, she would have eagerly gone half way across town to meet her sister.

When she entered the canteen, she immediately grabbed one of the only sandwiches left, and headed for a group of people which she was familiar with in production. She was, however, anticipated by the eager Bill Collins.

"Miss Lizzy!" He waved her over in an exaggerated manner, "over here!"

Lizzy briefly wondered if she could get away with ignoring him, but as everyone else had noticed, she was left with no choice.

"Bill!" she greeted as she set her tray and hesitantly sat down. "Good to see you."

"You as well, Elizabeth." He briefly glance at her sandwich, frowned, and stated, "are you sure you would like to eat that? There appears to be too much calories for a figure such as yours."

Lizzy's smile impatiently tightened, but she reminded herself that office relationships were vital in a close-knit circle such as theirs. With forced kindness, she readily defended herself, "I hardly believe that is the case, seeing as this is what I normally eat."

"Oh," Bill frowned as he looked her over, causing Lizzy to feel especially sensitive to her exposed skin, though not in a good way. "Maybe you should change that."

"That would just throw everything off balance," Lizzy stated calmly as she gripped her plate. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

"I suppose not," Bill hesitantly said before changing the topic. "How is your sister?"

Poor Jane. Throughout the weekend, Bill had been incessantly enamored with her to the point of obliviousness to their surroundings. Lizzy's mother, however, wasn't too keen on a match between Jane and Bill. So, she tried redirecting his attentions towards Lizzy. Apparently, while he wasn't good enough for her finest daughter, he was perfectly respectable for a girl like Lizzy.

Even though I have the bigger salary, Lizzy continuously reminded herself, so as to not attack the bigot across from her. The repetition had started that grueling weekend – when the only life line left was her superiority in terms of economy, she gladly grabbed it.

"She is well," Lizzy stated after taking her time with her meal. "But there has been some trouble with misfits in her class."

"That is lamentable," Bill sighed as he leaned his head on his hand. "If only someone could help her.

It wouldn't be you "I'm sure if you were a teacher yourself" thank god he's not a teacher "you would be the best solution for Jane…" she trailed off and urgently looked at her watch. "Oh! Would you look at the time? It would appear I am late for a phone call."

Bill frowned, "But lunch just started…"

"All the same!" Elizabeth hastily got up before briefly adding, "The agent was only available at lunchtime, so… ciao!"

She left so hastily she forgot her phone. Her unlocked phone.

Later that day Lizzy stood in a dress store Charlotte had decided to drag her and Jane to. She was, however, in a sour mood. Where did that stupid phone go? Now I'll miss an opportunity to talk to Georgie… important work matters too, of course.

"Stop moping around," Charlotte shoved her friend in a changing room along with a lavender dress. Lizzy grudgingly accepted – lavender was her favorite color, flower and scent.

Jane had already found a classy red dress which perfectly fit her figure – why did she have to have all the luck?

Charlotte herself was having more luck with her tries than Lizzy, and had narrowed her decision to 3 very similar dresses – all of them blue with sweet heart necklines.

"I swear to god," Lizzy muttered when she passed Charlotte the lavender dress which just didn't match her, "if you so much as think of a white dress!"

"Yes, we got it!" Charlotte rolled her eyes while Jane comfortingly grasped her sister's hand.

"It will be fine, Lizzy," Jane reassuringly smiled, "By the time we leave you'll be looking forward to the Netherfield soiree."

"Looks like you've got your work cut out for you," Lizzy muttered as she reentered the dressing room with five dresses in tow.

This is not going to be over soon…

Extra:

(Earlier that day)

Darcy POV

This is going to be over soon. William sighed as he saw the clock. Boarding would be starting in a few minutes.

He hesitantly gazed at his sister, who was busy writing on her computer, a brief smile crossing her serene face.

He looked at the clock one more time before leaning back while waiting for their flight, his mind dwelling on the weekend they had had. It had been wonderful with Georgianna, who had become more carefree over the past few weeks. His fists clenched at a thought, anyone who ever uses her again will feel my wrath…

"Will?" Georgianna hesitantly shook the arm of her frowning brother, "are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes." He smiled calmingly at his sister, "everything is fine… what are you doing on your computer?"

"Oh," Georgie hesitantly bit her lip before closing her MacBook, "Nothing really…"

"You can tell me, Gigi," he clasped his hands in front of him patiently.

"Well, just emailing a friend, you know… telling her about our weekend." Georgianna smile suddenly broadened as though she remembered something, "you should definitely meet her!"

William groaned at the hopeful expression of his sister, and ran a hand over his tired face. "Gigi, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Sure it is! Lizzy is extremely sweet and she's always reassuring me about my abilities… she also has an outstanding humor which is really endearing!"

William frowned as he picked up on something, "your piano abilities?" Georgie had stopped playing the piano after their mother had died, but had recently started again – she was, however, too shy and self-conscious to play in front of even William.

Georgianna realized what she had said and looked away, "I suppose, but not necessarily…"

"Georgie…" William pointedly looked at her.

She decided to play the guilt card and frowned at him, "you doubt my ability to wield other skills?"

"That's not it, Georgie. It's ju-"

"You don't want anyone to take advantage of me, I get it!" Georgianna rolled her eyes before going back on her computer.

William hesitantly observed his sister, unsure of what to make of things; maybe I should meet this Lizzy girl…

A/N: Looks like Will is prone to clash with Lizzy! Also, I hoped you enjoyed the newest Darcy POV, less swooning ladies, and more insight on his brotherly thoughts and opinions.

Next chapter we will find out more about Lizzy's phone, and hopefully start the Netherfield Ball! ... I mean soiree.

Sorry for leaving you guys waiting so long on the important Darcy-Lizzy meeting! Everything is spontaneous, with a bit of though-through plot (nothing written down, I should probably get to that!) so really I had no idea it would take me 6 chapters to get to the romantic/suspense meat, I had actually hoped to get to it at chapter 3 - but all of the other set-ups just couldn't wait!

Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter and are looking forward to more plot-insight and Darcy-Lizzy action...

Also, should the meeting of Lizzy-Darcy be embarrassing, romantic, suspenseful or just plain Darcy insulting Lizzy?

I'm always glad to hear from you guys, so...

Don't forget to review :)