A/N: Based on your feedback I am hoping this chapter satisfies...As always, I love the characters from P&P, but I don't own them and use them to tell fanciful stories. Also, Many thanks to EABrandon who is helping me on Spanish. Chapter 15 will be re-uploaded to fix the Spanish translations that I got wrong and all the credit goes to her!
BTW, if you don't like my story that's fine, just don't read it and keep your negativity to yourself! IF you have constructive criticisms and advice I am ALL for it :)
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Lost in her thoughts Lizzy hadn't paid attention to where they were driving. As the car slowed, she noticed they'd pulled into a parking deck that was completely unfamiliar to her.
"Where are we going?" Lizzy asked.
"I figured you probably haven't eaten in awhile. I know I haven't and rather than both of us going off alone, I brought us back to my place. We can grab a bite here and, if you're up for it, talk a little." he said with a small smile.
"Thanks. You're right, I haven't really eaten today although I'm not sure I'm up for much talking. I'll warn you to keep your expectations low for me as a dining companion." Lizzy attempted to joke.
The two entered the elevator and headed up to William's condo. "Well, let's say we're even as I can't promise there's very much in the fridge so you can go light on the converation and I might need to go light on the food." William joked.
Walking into the condo, Lizzy took in the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Charles River, the warm and inviting living room with gas fireplace taking up one wall, and the open kitchen and dining areas. William was in the kitchen examining the lean contents of his refrigerator when he heard something that sounded like crying. He quickly walked into the living room to check on Lizzy only to see her doubled over with laughter.
"I have to say, I didn't expect to find you laughing after the day you've had. Please, tell me, what's so funny." William asked.
"To be honest, I'm not so sure." Catching her breath Lizzy continued, "It's just that my life is so absurd. This is absurd! Here you are, probably one of the most accomplished people I've ever met, living in this absolutely beautiful condo, about to graduate and go off to start some big, important career, and yet you spend your free time helping me, a now, likely homeless illegal immigrant. Just today you spent the day traipsing through the city in search of my family who have taken off with barely a word of goodbye. If I didn't laugh, I'd be crying."
William was surprised. Surprised that she had this view of herself and the unlikelihood that someone like him might want to help her. "Lizzy, you have my help and will continue to have it."
"Thanks. I was just worried that you'd look around and realize you shouldn't be helping someone like me." Lizzy said quietly.
"You know, we all have our challenges. I won't try to compare our situations, but I've learned that very good people have bad things happen to them all the time. You might be surprised by what you don't know about someone. I was certainly surprised by you when I first learned about your situation. It's taught me a really important lesson about not judging situations without first knowing the whole story."
Lizzy thought about this. He had a point. And she really didn't know much about his life or what his story might be. "You're right. I was so angry at you for something that I've just done myself. Let me help you get some food together and if you don't mind, maybe we could talk about you for awhile or world politics or really anything else. I'm sick and tired of talking about me."
Lizzy and William pulled together some turkey sandwiches, cold beer and bbq potato chips and settled down at the kitchen counter.
"So William, you know all of my deep, dark secrets, and have experienced many of my most embarrassing moments. I think it is only fair if you tell me something equally personal so I don't feel so quite so exposed." Lizzy teased.
"I see. Well, I guess you have a point. I'm sure if my cousins were here they could tell you all kinds of embarrassing stories but I'm not sure I can do any of them justice." He looked over at her and saw he had her full attention. It was a powerful thing to be caught in her gaze. "I'm not sure I want to saddle you with anymore stress or sad tales though."
"I hope you don't have a lot of sad tales but if you need someone to listen, I'd welcome the opportunity to return the favor. You've been a truly loyal friend and it would be an honor if you would share some of your challenges." Lizzy's sincerity was compelling and in that moment William decided he would share the worries he had carried these past months with her.
"Lizzy, there is something that has been happening in my family. Only a few members of my family are aware of everything but I'd like to share it with you. I only ask for your complete confidentiality." William said with all seriousness.
"William, I was joking. You don't need to share something so personal with me. Of course, I would always give you my complete confidentiality but truly, I didn't mean to ask something like this of you." Lizzy responded.
"No, I'd like to share this with you. I'd like your perspective actually. It has some parallels to your own situation that might enable you to give me some insight on next steps." William said.
"Alright. I'm happy to help in anyway I can, but this doesn't seem to be the kind of conversation to be had at a breakfast bar. Let's finish up these sandwiches and we can sit in your living room." Lizzy said with a smile.
With beers in hand, they moved onto the couch, each taking a corner. Once settled, Darcy became quiet for a few moments. Looking over at her he saw her looking earnestly at him. He should tell her everything, he resolved. "So I've told you that I have a sister, Georgiana. You may have noticed that I don't speak of our parents. They've both passed away, my mother first about ten years ago, and then my father followed almost five years ago, when Georgie had just turned 11. I was appointed her guardian at the time. I was 22, and starting graduate school so I bought this apartment and moved in with Georgie and our housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds. My aunt and uncle live in Boston most of the time and were essential to getting Georgie settled into school and all of that. I think we actually managed quite well those first few years." Darcy said with a smile.
"William, I'm so sorry for your loss. Here I've been complaining about my family and your parents have been gone all these years." Lizzy said self-consciously.
"Don't upset yourself. I feel very fortunate for the family I have." William smiled and they sat quietly for a moment looking at one another. William felt himself overwhelmed by the desire to kiss her. Shaking himself out of these errant thoughts, he started again.
"Now where was I? Oh yes, Georgie and school. When Georgie was 14 and thinking about high school, my aunt and uncle suggested it might be best to send Georgie to boarding school. I was getting close to finishing my degrees and would only become busier as I took on full responsibility for my family's company. I agreed with them and sent her off to a boarding school in New Hampshire for her freshman year." William sighed, rubbed his face and finished off his beer. This was going to be a long story and he'd need another beer to keep him going. He looked over at Lizzy and saw he still had her full attention.
"I'm going to grab another beer, do you want one?" he asked.
"I'm fine for now. Thanks." Lizzy said with a small smile.
Returning from the kitchen, William had two beers and set them on the table. "Just in case," he grinned.
"So, boarding school. We packed up Georgie and sent her to New Hampshire. The school is supposed to be one of the best in the country; excellent music program, and all the rest. What no one realized was that their recently hired field hockey coach didn't have the cleanest record when it came to young women - and Georgie decided to go out for field hockey," he said with a grimace. "Georgie's shy, and so I knew it would be a big adjustment going away to school. I'd had the same experience and expected it to take some time for her to adjust. But, as the first quarter came to end she seemed to be enjoying her classes, she'd made a friend or two, and she absolutely loved field hockey. I was so happy for her. Second quarter was more of the same, and I was so glad about the decision to send her off to school. She was growing in confidence and had intimated that a boy liked her. It was after the winter holidays that things started to change. When we spoke on the phone, she was always running off somewhere. She dropped some classes and changed to only art classes based on the 'advice of a teacher.' She then told me not to call her because she was so busy but would call me when she could. I was busy with school and my other responsibilities and tI didn't really push back or question why she was pulling away so much. Then one day I got a letter from the school stating that, because of the changes in her course schedule, she'd need to spend the summer taking some of her core requirements. I was furious and resolved to drive up to the school to find out what was going on. When I got to there, I first went to see Georgie." As William thought about the next part of the story he felt a shudder run down his body. This was really hard to talk about but he also knew he would feel better if he shared this story with her. He felt a hand on his and, looking up, noticed that Lizzy had scooted over to sit beside him. She smiled, providing him encouragement that he needed. Taking a deep breath, he continued.
"When I found her, she was thin as a rail. Since December, when I'd last seen her, she'd lost an tremendous amount of weight. She'd died her hair black and was wearing tons of make up. I can't even describe the dress she was wearing. My sweet baby sister had transformed into a girl that I couldn't recognize." A small laugh escaped from his lips as a memory popped into his mind, "I even asked why she was dressed in costume." Will shook his head at this memory. "It turned out that 'George preferred her this way.' It was bizarre. I came to learn that 'George' was her field hockey coach and taught art at the school. Over the course of the school year he'd managed to essentially brainwash her. He'd taken control over every element of her daily life dictating what to eat, what to wear, how to do her hair and make up, and how to spend her time. I finally got Georgie to confess that he'd also seduced her. He'd even gotten her to start taking birth control pills. She was barely 15!"
"Oh Will. That's terrible! What did you do?" Lizzy asked, tears in the corner of her eyes.
"I was horrified. I called my aunt Sophia and she drove up to help me with Georgie so I could deal with the school. While my aunt brought Georgie back to Boston, I met with the dean of the school attempting to figure out how this could have happened under their noses. Somehow this 'teacher' figured out what was happening and took off. By the time I'd gotten to the dean he'd disappeared from campus. I've hired some private detectives to try and find him but he's been difficult to locate." William sighed.
"What's happened to your sister since then? Has she recovered?" Lizzy asked anxiously.
"My uncle, aunt and I spent more than six months working with mental health professionals in order to undo the damage that sick man had inflicted. It was one of the worst times I've ever experienced and I can't believe that the one person I was responsible for could have been subjected to such torture." William took another long sip and was quiet, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
Lizzy reached over to him this time initiating a hug. Feeling her touch, William relaxed into her hold on him. He was grateful for her quiet attention and care.
"She's so lucky to have you. What a terrible thing to have happened! A coach can have a tremendous amount of influence on their students. That power, in the wrong hands, can be so dangerous. I can imagine how it could happen so slowly that she probably didn't even realize what was happening and how she was changing. How is she now?" Lizzy asked.
"She is much, much better. That said, she remains very insecure about her judgment of people and situations. When Georgie's challenged, she immediately questions herself and can become so uncertain she's almost immobilized by her indecision. She's in an all girl's school in Maryland now. It's very small and nurturing and they have a great horsemanship program, something Georgie has always loved. She can trust a horse probably more than most people at this point and that added program has really been beneficial in building her confidence in knowing how to be in control. I have family right outside of DC and so she frequently gets visits and her therapist down there is wonderful." William shared.
"I am so relieved for you and for your sister. It sounds like it was an awful year but you stuck together, and cared for one another. So what's happening now." Lizzy asked.
"She's been on a great path to recovery but there's been another, completely unanticipated development, that has me worried. It was that development I had been consumed with when I saw you on the T that Saturday night and when you overheard me that first morning in the legal clinic." William shared.
"Oh no. What happened?" Lizzy asked, the concern etched on her face.
"It turns out that my father, knowing of his impending death five years ago, had written a codicil to his will. This addendum had not been disclosed to me before but it contained a series of conditions, that if I did not meet them by my graduation or upon my 28th birthday, custody of my sister and control over her trust fund, would revert to my Aunt Catherine. I don't believe in speaking ill of my elders but she is the last person in the world who I'd want to have custody of my sister or her trust funds. Unfortunately, I haven't met the conditions outlined in the codicil and so I'm very concerned that I will lose custody of her." William shared.
"How has Georgie reacted?" Lizzy asked.
"She doesn't know yet. I've been trying to find a way around it, or at least identify some safeguards to put in place, but I haven't figured it all out yet." William shared.
Lizzy thought about this. All while he was assisting with her issues, he'd been trying to find a solution to keep custody of a sister who had already lost her mother and father and been manipulated by a coach and teacher at her first school. He'd said she might offer some perspective or help. She couldn't imagine how.
"William, what is the condition you haven't met?" Lizzy asked.
"I need to get married, and stay married, until Georgie is 21. She's 15 and a half now." William said with a sigh.
"Wow, why would your father put that condition on now?" Lizzy said.
"My aunt and uncle suspect that my father was concerned that I'd be overwhelmed when I took over the company and would be traveling extensively at the outset. Given Georgie would be older, and couldn't travel with me like she did with my father, he entrusted her to a relative who could devote more time to her. I guess he figured if I was married, my wife could focus on Georgie while I was traveling," he paused, then continued. "There is no one in the world more important to me than Georgie. I would never prioritize the company over her. I was so angry with my father for dictating how I would spend my time and disrupting our lives, literally, from the grave." William agitated.
Lizzy thought about this and wondered whether she could pry into his personal life more. Of course, given how much he knew about hers, she figured just about anything could be up for discussion between them.
"William, this is kind of personal but, are you dating anyone?" Lizzy asked.
"No. I'm not." He laughed a little, "And, I never thought I'd be in this situation. Anyway, you asked me to share my deep, dark secrets. You have them all now." William said with a small laugh.
"Thank you for sharing your story with me. I wish there was something I could do to help you.
"Well we could always get married and solve each other's problems," William joked.
"Yea, I'm sure your dad wasn't envisioning a 21-year old illegal immigrant as the person he wanted helping to raise his daughter when he wrote that codicil." Lizzy retorted.
"Well, I'd love for you to meet Georgie. The three of us have been impacted by decisions of our father's that we had no control over. You could be a wonderful role model for her." William shared.
"I'm not sure about that but I would love to meet her. And thank you. You've given me some good perspective and I needed it. It would be very easy for me to get wrapped up in my own concerns and forget that there are major life events happening to people all around us. You just don't always see them under the facade people show to the world." Lizzy said.
"That's so true," William said in a whisper.
They were quiet for a few moments, taking in the early evening sky. It had started to lightly snow outside and the world seemed to be sparkling a bit. Lizzy was contemplating all that she had learned and was still pondering how she might help William.
"Should I take you back to your house now? It's getting kind of late," William asked.
"Thanks that would be great. I was supposed to have written the second draft of a paper today. Maybe I can still squeeze in an hour or two on that." Lizzy asnwered.
William led Lizzy back out the door and over to his car. "Are you going to be ok?" he asked. "I mean, with everything that happened today?"
"It is what it is. I just need to move forward I guess." Lizzy responded after a moment.
"See you Tuesday?" William asked.
"I'll be there." Lizzy answered.
Comments, thoughts, all of it is soooo welcome and VERY motivating...