Ch. 11
"So nice to see you again, Elizabeth." Mrs. De Bourg said as the trio entered the living room.
"It's lovely to see you too, Mrs. De Bourg." Elizabeth responded with a hint of sassiness.
"Please, sit." The woman said while gesturing to the couch.
With a smile that would look friendly to anyone that didn't know her, Elizabeth walked over to the couch, gently sat down, and placed her hands in her lap. What have you got to say to me now?
Charlotte joined her on the couch and took Liz's hands in her own. "How was your day?" She asked.
Richard stood behind the couch and put his hands on the girls shoulders. "We had oodles of fun today. Will, Liz, and I walked to the carousel in Central Park and ate some yummy hot dogs."
"Heavens! William, what in the world is on your pants?" Aunt Catherine gasped.
"Oh, uhm it's mustard from the hot dogs we ate." Will shrugged.
"You walked around New York City like that?! William, do you know what that will do to your reputation? There are already so many people who watch your every move, why draw unwanted attention to yourself?" Mrs. De Bourg sounded scandalized.
"It's just a little⎯" Will began.
"Actually, Will was making quite an impression on people outside The Plaza this morning." Liz interrupted. "A little mustard on his pants means that he's only human."
Will gave Liz a grateful smile. Liz wasn't sure why she had defended him. Maybe she was just wanted to get the better of Mrs. De Bourg.
Mrs. De Bourg grumbled some words of protest but quickly gained her composure. "Well, I've made two o'clock reservations at La Cuisine Culinaire, so we better get going if we want to make it on time." The woman growled.
"Oh, I didn't know we were going out to lunch. I would've dressed nicer." Elizabeth looked down to a pair of worn, black skinny jeans and an old, but comfy v-neck tee. At least it's better than my shirt from yesterday...
"You'll be fine, sweetie." Charlotte reassured her.
Mrs. De Bourg scowled. She didn't seem to approve of Liz's wardrobe. "Since you don't have enough time to change, your outfit will have to do."
"Aunt Catty, Liz looks very pretty, right Will?" Rich said with a smirk.
Will cleared his throat, "Uh, yea." He said in a low voice, staring directly at Elizabeth with a slight tinge of red in his cheeks.
Elizabeth, just as red, looked away in embarrassment. This is so unlike Will, or is it? Liz thought.
Ignoring the obvious amusement of Rich and Charlotte and the obvious embarrassment of Will and Elizabeth, Mrs. De Bourg said, "Before we leave, Will, I want you to change your clothes. You look dreadful."
"Thanks, aunt Catty." Will said sarcastically. "I'll be back in five minutes." He addressed the rest of the room.
After Will had left to get changed, Charlotte asked, "Where is Anne? I saw her when we got back."
"Oh, she's fine. Probably just in her room." Mrs. De Bourg waved her off. Then, she shouted in the direction of her daughter's room, "Anne. Anne! Anne! Get out here, we will be leaving for lunch very soon."
Just then, the door to her room swung open, and Anne stepped out, tissue box in hand.
"Mother, I'm not feeling well. You'll have to go without me." Anne sniffled.
"Darling, you must get out of this apartment. You haven't left in over a week. You must make your appearances." Mrs. De Bourg insisted.
"Aunt Catherine, Anne isn't feeling up to going out at the moment." Rich winked at his cousin. He knew that the only reason she pretended to have a cold every other day was so that she didn't have to go out with her demanding, overbearing mother. Anne gave a slight smile for trying to get her mother off her back.
"I suppose you could stay home today. But I want you in the office by tomorrow. If you're going to take over the company soon, I need you to learn a few things."
Anne sighed. "Alright, mom. I'll be in the office tomorrow." Without a response, Anne turned around to return to her room.
Right after the door to Anne's room closed, the one to the guest bedroom opened and out stepped Will, looking dashing as ever.
"Good. You're done William. We better leave now or we will be late." Mrs. De Bourg stood up and made her way to the elevator.
As they were all piling in, Liz asked, "Where's Collins? It's so much quieter without him. Last time we were in the elevator with him, he practically had an anxiety attack."
"Mr. Collins had to run a few errands for me, but I told him to meet us for lunch promptly at two." De Bourg said.
Liz almost made an excuse to not go to lunch when she found out Collins was going to be there. But then she remembered that Charlotte would have to sit through a lunch with a crazy old lady while Collins praised the woman non-stop while simultaneously boring everyone to death. Elizabeth wouldn't put her friend through that kind of torture, so all she said in response was "Oh."
The elevator couldn't exactly fit five people in comfortably, so Will, Liz, Charlotte and Rich were all uncomfortable squished together to give Mrs. De Bourg room because if she didn't have her personal space, Lord knows she would have gone berserk.
Thankfully, their ride was over soon and they stepped out of the building and into a limo waiting to take them to the restaurant.
"Does she always travel like this?" Elizabeth whispered to Rich, who she was sitting next to.
"Yea. Once she went to CVS to refill her prescription and she just had to bring a limo and an entourage with her. It was quite the site." Rich responded.
The ride was short. They pulled up at La Cuisine Culinaire a little less than ten minutes later. They piled out of the car and made their way into the restaurant.
"Mrs. De Bourg, so nice to see you again." The hostess said politely.
"Yes, yes. Is our table ready? I had my assistant call earlier." Mrs. De Bourg responded a little impatiently.
"Of course. Right this way." The hostess turned around, grabbing some menus and leading the way to a circular table for six.
"Charlotte, darling, sit next to me. We can talk." De Bourg gestured Char to her side.
Char looked to Liz nervously, something that was not lost on Mrs. De Bourg.
"Oh, don't worry about your friend. She can sit with my nephews." De Bourg justified. And with that Charlotte sat next to the demanding old lady. After all, there was no way Charlotte was going to say no to her.
That left four chairs left. Rich sat next to Charlotte, Liz sat next to Rich, and Will sat next to Liz, leaving the last chair for Collins, who had yet to arrive.
Liz looked around the restaurant. It was cute and quaint. It was exactly what she pictured a french bistro would look like. "This is good. I'll have to put this in my article." Liz said to herself, but Rich heard.
"Article?" He inquired.
"Oh, yea. That was the terms of my 'vacation.' I get to go to New York as long as I write an article about it."
Will looked to Liz. "I didn't think you did travel articles."
"I don't." she responded. "But the woman that usually does is on maternity leave. My boss suggested I branch out."
Will nodded his head. "That's...cool." He broke their eye contact, instead staring at a crystal chandelier two tables away.
"Uh, yea. I guess. I'm going to go look for the owner, see if I write a few words about their restaurant. Excuse me." Liz pushed out her chair and disappeared towards the hostess table.
Rich leaned over Liz's vacant seat towards Will. "Psst. Dude, what's up with you?"
"What are you talking about? I'm fine." Will responded curtly.
"No, you were charming her pants off earlier and now you're being short with her. I know you like her, so what's wrong?"
"I...I'm just nervous. I think. I don't know. I've never felt this way before." He admitted.
"Awww. Is Willie falling for her?" Richard asked jokingly.
"What? No, no...maybe. I'm not sure. And I told you never to call me that."
"Well you gotta tell her how you feel. I don't think she even knows you like her."
"Alright, I will. Maybe."
"What are you two whispering about? You know my hearing isn't what it used to be." Their aunt demanded to know.
"Nothing. We were just wondering when Collins would arrive. Lord knows we can't have a party without him." Rich lied.
Mrs. De Bourg glanced at her watch. "You're right. I wonder where he is. He knows I don't like it when he's not punctual."
"Everyone knows it, aunt" Will muttered. Charlotte and Rich giggled.
"What was that, William?" De Bourg asked.
"I just said that Collins is here." Will pointed towards the entrance and a pudgy, balding man heading their way.
"Mrs. De Bourg. I am so sorry for the delay. I was held up at the office preparing for Charlotte's book." Collins spoke.
"Yes, Mr Collins. Just sit down." Seeming to notice Liz's absence for the first time Mrs. De Bourg asked, "Oh Charlotte, where did Elizabeth go? I am ready to order."
"I'm right here." Liz said, walking up to the table. "I just wanted to talk to the owner. It took a little longer than expected. Turns out, he only speaks french. I had to dust off my french from high school."
"Tu parles français?" Rich asked.
Liz laughed. "Oui, un peu. J'espère pouvoir aller en France un jour."
"You hope to go to France one day?" Will asked Liz, understanding what she had said.
"Yes, I would love to. It sounds magnificent." Elizabeth smiled wistfully.
Will, seeing her smile, also smiled. He was growing to love that smile. It was just so beautiful.
"So, you speak French, Miss Bennet. What else do you do?"
"Not much. I've been told that I don't seem to have many prospects in life." Liz said with mock innocence.
Mrs. De Bourg brushed off the comment. "Well, do you paint? Draw? Play an instrument? Write?"
"Uh...yea, besides my job of course, I write a little bit." Liz said.
"Are you published?" Mrs. De Bourg raised a questioning brow.
"No. And I'm not really planning on it. It's just something I like to do in my spare time. But I post stories on a fanfiction website. It's fun to see all the comments from complete strangers reading my work."
De Bourg smirked, as if she wasn't impressed in the least. "And what is your pen name? I would like to look at this work."
"It's uh...LizzyB." Why did I just tell her that? I really don't want her reading my stuff.
"Well, I'll have to sample some of your work. What's your story called?"
"No title yet. It's a work in progress. Just like me, hah." Elizabeth tried to lighten the mood.
"You are aren't you." De Bourg sniffed and waved over a waiter. "I'm ready to order." She practically shouted in the poor employees face.
They placed their orders and were all settled with their five-star cuisine soon after. It was a delicious meal, but the conversation was horrid. Mrs. De Bourg insisted on grilling Elizabeth and complaining to the waiter about the lack of service which was, in fact, not lacking at all. She just needed something to complain about.
After they finished, Will insisted on footing the huge bill. "Aunt Caty, it's my pleasure. It's the least I can do for having me at your place."
"Alright, William. But I am perfectly capable of paying for food. I do own my own publishing firm, after all." Mrs. De Bourg said snootily.
"I know, Aunt Caty." Will muttered as he put his credit card with the bill and handed it to the waiter."
Soon, they left the restaurant and were parting ways. Mrs. De Bourg told Charlotte to be at her apartment at noon, as she never wakes up before ten. Old ladies need their beauty sleep, after all. Rich told Liz to come the same time as Charlotte and Rich, Will and Liz would decide what to do from there.
"Bye Rich, bye Will," Liz waved as they headed back towards their hotel.
"Bye Liz-Biz." Rich waved back.
"Bye Elizabeth." Will said back, intensely staring at her. It sent shivers up Liz's spine. No, Liz. You don't like him! Remember what he did to George.
Liz broke their gaze, grabbed Charlotte's hand, and turned away from their group. "Come on Char, let's go."