"And if you can just confirm that the terms regarding any acquired properties during the marriage are to your liking, we should be able to finalize this today." Everett points all over the last page, his pen darting here and there to highlight the various fine print of the pre-nup agreement.

Lizzy blinks. The angle of the afternoon sun hits her eyes a little awkwardly when she tries to reach for the document. Darcy quickly reaches behind his desk to adjust the blinds.

"I'm fine with whatever you've drafted," she says to Everett while shooting Darcy a thank-you nod. "I went went through everything last night and have no plans whatsoever to be buying any properties by myself in the near future."

Everett and Darcy exchange a look.

Lizzy frowns. "Did anything in here change since?"

She grabs the pre-nup and starts rifling through. Everett's usually boyish face looks pinched while he glances over the top of the stack, almost as if he's tiptoeing. "Just - a few things."

"What?" Lizzy drops the papers on her lap. "You know you can't fool me, right? I know we're on a tight schedule, but if my mother can plan the wedding of her dreams in two weeks, I can most definitely fine-tune a document in the same amount of time."

Everett clears his throat and looks at Darcy. The lawyer fidgets. "It's just that any - any properties or assets you acquire during the marriage - will now be divided equally between you, based on market value - upon the dissolution of the marriage."

"Darcy?" Lizzy sends him a questioning look.

His broad shoulders lift and then drop concurrently with a loud sigh. His loosened tie dangles just off his collar. "I can't make you walk away with nothing, Lizzy."

"What's the point of a pre-nup if you're just going to split everything with me, right? I need to know I don't look like a gold digger in this situation."

Her current boss and soon-to-be husband looks like he is openly considering her perspective before he sighs again. "Very well." He tugs his top drawer open and pulls out another folder. "Here's the original version. I take it you prefer this one?"

"Yes. Thank you." She grabs the folder, gives its contents a once over, and starts signing. Darcy and his lawyer watch quietly as she adds her signature to every single page. Her fountain pen, a gift from Darcy last Christmas, slides comfortably over the crisp white paper, and she's able to pass the signed copy to Everett within a few minutes. "There. Much better. Please be a dear and file this, Everett."

The chubby man nods. "If Darcy could just sign - "

"I'll sign it tomorrow. I'll need to double check that the assets listed are complete." Darcy snatches the folder and puts it back in his original drawer. "I might need the whole weekend, but there should be time to file it on Monday, shouldn't it? Given that the wedding is not until the next weekend?"

Everett nods, looking a little nervous. "Yes, yes, of course."

"Must be so much work being rich, huh?" Lizzy teases. "I think I can count my so-called assets on one hand."

"Family heirlooms can be as much of a curse as a blessing, as Grandfather's will seems to be," Darcy responds.

"Touché. Poor you - being forced to marry me just to save the company from your enemy."

"In that, you are mistaken." Darcy sits back against his leather chair, a hint of a smile on his lips. "George Wickham is not an ordinary enemy. He is my arch-enemy."

Lizzy laughs.

"Besides," Darcy adds, "it's not exactly a chore being tasked to marry you."

"Isn't it? That's not what you seemed to think when my mom forced you to help me 'say yes to the dress' last week."

Darcy closes his eyes and shudders. Lizzy laughs. If she weren't the one doing him a favor by saving Pemberley, she would have almost felt moved by Darcy's patience with her mother. The dress they'd ended up choosing, after a torturous five hours that really should have been spent working instead, was at least flattering and pleasant. The classic silhouette is simple and flattering, and the capped sleeves give it a traditional yet modern feel. If she had been getting married for real, it would have been perfect, really.

As it was, only the two dozen people in their top secret ceremony would be seeing it - before pictures are released to the press. And the whole choreographed event feels a tiny tad too impersonal for her to actually enjoy it.

Everett clears his throat before he mutters, "I - I'll have the pre-nup picked up first thing on Monday?"

"Yes," both Darcy and Lizzy reply.

"So," Darcy says the moment they pull up outside Bingley's house that night. It's been a long time since Lizzy has felt this nervous over a monthly Bingley dinner party, and she knows for a fact that the person beside her, whom she is scheduled to marry next week, is the reason for her jitters.

It's funny, because it's not like she doesn't know him. Over the last two decades, she's known him as a school officer, an honors competitor, a boss, a colleague, a somewhat friend, and a man who's proposed to her without ever having gone out with her for a single date. They've remedied the last one plenty though, at least if long discussions over work and PR and wedding arrangements count as dates.

"So," Lizzy says, depleted of creativity for once.

"It's the first time we're seeing all of them - in the same room - since the announcement."

"I know." Lizzy sighs. She tugs at her sweater sleeves. For once, she's glad she's decided to change after work. "It's been one thing dealing with Jane, who is so happy for us she doesn't notice anything weird - or with the others, at least one by one. All of them together in one room - "

Lizzy shudders. Then she feels Darcy's hand landing on her arm.

"Hey, if you want to back out of this - "

"Do you?" She looks him in the eye. The skies are dark now, casting his face in an almost mysterious-like shadow. It's a little too handsome for her taste, especially when she's offering him an out from a marriage that she may or may not actually want. "I mean, these are the people who know your dilemma. If you want to be clean with them instead about why we're getting married instead of insisting that the deadline made us 'wake up to our mutual feelings' or whatever - "

To her surprise, Darcy chuckles. "I don't think Richard would be surprised. And Bingley is as much a hopeless romantic as your sister."

Lizzy softens a little. "That he is. Man, they deserve each other, don't they?"

"One might say the same of us."

"Hm?"

Darcy sighs a little before he smiles. "Two workaholics get married since they have no time to meet anyone else." He shrugs. "Sounds pretty convincing to me."

This time, she chuckles along. "I guess if you put it that way."

"And Giana said - "

"Oh my goodness, Giana! Your sister is going to be here tonight, isn't she?" Lizzy slaps her palms flat on both sides of her face. "She's the sweetest thing, and I don't think I can possibly lie to her."

"You're not lying to her. We are getting married."

"Yes, but she is going to think that I am hopelessly in love with you with or something to agree to a whirlwind marriage."

"I told her," he says calmly, "just like I told everybody else who is supposed to be here tonight, that we have been seeing each other for months, even engaged for two of those - and that the deadline created by my grandfather's will only managed to push up the wedding date a little sooner."

"Yeah, that is the story, isn't it?" Lizzy sighs. She slides her hands down back on her lap. "I hope they buy it."

"Has your family been casting any doubts about this?"

"Oh heavens, no." She barks a laugh. "My mom is over the moon and my dad looks actually relieved. And Jane is, of course, probably planning a bridal shower as we speak. Oh my goodness, what if they plan a real bridal shower? With lingerie and everything? What am I going to do with - ugh!"

To his credit, Darcy seems to take her meltdown in stride. He tucks his chin in a little and tilts his head for a bit until she calms down.

"Listen, Lizzy, if you are in any way uncomfortable - "

"No, it's not that." She turns her whole body around to face him and slides her hand between hers. "I know you are trying to be a gentleman, and I promise that I am getting something out of this no matter how much you seem to think otherwise. The free lodging alone is worth tons, you know."

"And you keep the ring."

"I am not keeping the ring." She eyes the sparkler on her left hand. It's pretty, extremely pretty. It's an heirloom diamond from his mother, reset with sapphires on both sides, and somehow both elaborate and practical at the same time. "It's worth more than all my student loans."

"Which I have offered to clear."

"Darcy, please - "

"Anyway, we can talk about that another time, can't we?"

They can. They have all night, and all day, and five years to work through all of this. It's just a little bit odd and a little bit thrilling to think that they will be spending that much time together in the near future.

Lizzy takes in her fiancé - the square jaw and the dark hair and the surprisingly tender eyes. She could do a lot worse than being William Darcy's temporary wife for the next five years.

"We can," she concedes. "We have more pressing matters anyway."

"Such as?"

"Such as convincing that house full of people that we are actually in love."

Instead of sharing her panic, Darcy just smiles.

"Hey, you could take this more seriously."

"I am," he insists.

"These are the people who know us best in the whole entire world - concentrated in one building tonight. How do we convince them?"

Darcy waits a beat. Then he leans over the console and gives her a brief, thrilling kiss that sends all her senses to overdrive. How has she ever managed to be engaged to this man for weeks and not realize until now how much she actually likes kissing him?

"Maybe like that?" he whispers, his face a good two feet away before she can consider pulling him back.

Lizzy gulps. "Yup, yeah - maybe like that. Seems - pretty convincing."

"Good."

She kisses him three more times - once when Bingley's party gives them a toast, once at the altar, and once when the smattering of guests at their very private, very intimate wedding decide to clink their glasses before they can pretend to be strategically apart. Each time, his kiss is brief, sweet, and gentle - a respectful gesture that melts her as much as it aggravates her. Why can't he pull her closer, or try to linger, when they are practically and literally married?

Lizzy sighs. She scrubs her eyes. Getting to reign alone in the bedroom of their honeymoon suite means that she has been staring at her laptop for four hours straight, half working and half mindlessly surfing the Internet. She's been tempted to Google, more than once, if it's normal at all for couples to not even kiss or share a bed during their honeymoon. But since nothing about her marriage is normal, she's resisted looking up anything that might potentially make her feel even weirder than she already does.

When her stomach grumbles, Lizzy snaps her laptop shut, slides out from under the luxurious sheets, and marches to the door in her comfy silk pajamas. Her mother had been appalled when she'd accidentally glimpsed (or intentionally uncovered) Lizzy's extremely practical honeymoon wardrobe last week, and Lizzy had been forced to pack all the lingerie from her bridal shower just to get her mother off her scent. The silky pajamas are her only pajamas, and she's been stuck in them since their arrival last night.

In a move that's actually quite smart, Darcy has booked them a private suite in a very exclusive mountain resort, complete with room service for every single meal for their entire three-night stay. To the outside world, the newlyweds are so in love that they can't bear to spend a moment apart. In reality, the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are keeping regular work hours, on their own devices, in their own space, just as if they were in Pemberley's offices. Thus is the married life of two workaholics.

Lizzy finger-combs her hair before she slides the door open.

Darcy had flopped himself onto the living room couch the moment the bell-boy left them alone with their luggage. And there he is still, in a T-shirt and some well-fitted sweatpants, typing away on his laptop. A set of thick-rimmed glasses sit on his nose, giving him an almost nerdy sort of appeal. Does he usually wear contacts, or are these glasses just to limit the blue light damage?

For a brief moment, Lizzy lets herself take in the view. It's not supposed to matter - that they're married on paper. He's still her boss and at most her friend. He's still someone who married her just to save his company, even if she's the one who'd made the suggestion.

But somehow it does matter. It does matter to her that they haven't even talked to each other since last night. It matters that she at least be allowed to share a bit more of herself with him, and he with her, given that they are officially the closest people to each other on the planet right now.

So she clears her throat.

His head pivots to her right away. "Hey, Lizzy." He checks his smart watch. "Is it dinnertime yet? I'm sorry if I - "

"No, it's not." She smiles. Whatever this brand of negligence is, it doesn't seem like it was intentional. She walks over and drops down on the couch beside him. The modern, grey fabric is soft, but the couch itself doesn't exactly scream the comfort of the king bed she's been wordlessly delegated to for the duration of the trip. Her chest does a guilty, little squeeze. "But we've officially been holed up in this suite for twenty-four hours, and we haven't really exchanged any words except 'excuse me' and 'food's here.'"

He looks at her like he's trying to figure something out. His jaw, clean-shaven for the wedding yesterday morning, now sports a day's subtle, even growth. She's never been the type of girl to like the bearded type, but she can't deny the stubble humanizes him a bit.

"Did I do something wrong?" His question surprises her.

"What? No." Lizzy laughs a little hollowly. "It's not that. It's just that being closed off in that room, as wonderful of a room as it is, can get a little - lonely?"

He nods his head slowly, like he's taking time to fully comprehend what she's saying. "I suppose some conversation would be good."

"We never had any problems talking before."

"True."

"Is there any reason why you're avoiding me now?"

He averts his gaze. Then he cocks his head to one side. "I'm not sure I'm - "

She waits him out.

Instead he just sighs and shrugs at her a little helplessly. "I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you. It's just that I've never had a, well, I've never had a wife. And I don't exactly know if I'm supposed to give you space or to keep you company. When you were just my employee, it was - "

He looks at her abruptly with rounded eyes, as if he's terrified he's said something horrifically wrong. It is, of course, a little insensitive to refer to one's wife as one's employee, even if it's true. Instead of anger, Lizzy feels a bubble of laughter grow in her belly until she breaks out chuckling.

"Well, I'd like to hope I'm still your employee," she says.

"Well, you are - that is, if you want to be - that is, I hope that you - " Darcy huffs and throws himself back against the couch. "I don't know what I'm saying." He turns his head sideways to look at her. "Do you?"

"Do I know what you're saying?"

"Maybe? You are the best head of communications a man could ask for. Maybe you can figure out what to say."

Lizzy laughs. "I can't read your mind."

"Really? Because sometimes I think you do."

She smiles at the compliment, and he responds with a soft, handsome smile of his own. If the man doesn't kiss her anytime soon, she's going to go crazy. She knows he's mentioned that he's already set up 'her bedroom' at his house, so she knows where things stand as far as sleeping arrangements (and all that they entail) go. But there's a pretty large spectrum of activities between staying purely professional colleagues and actually sleeping with each other - and that's when things get a little murky.

She licks her lips. "How about I say what I think - and you tell me if you agree?"

"Alright."

Even the way he says a single word is manly and magnetic. It's really, really unfair.

"I think that just because we've signed a marriage contract doesn't mean that we have to stop being what we were before: colleagues who work very effectively together and, if I may, good friends who feel genuine concern for each other. We may have to do a little PDA occasionally in public, and it won't hurt for us to show a united front with family and friends and in other public events - but that doesn't mean we can't also be comfortable with each other in private. If you're ever cramping my style, I promise I'll tell you. And if I'm - oh my goodness, I'm not interrupting you, am I? Do you prefer not to talk to me at all this week? I mean, we never really discussed it, and I just assumed that we can at least be, well, companions of some sort, even if that sounds super archaic."

"Lizzy." His large, warm hand closes over her fisted one. The tips of his fingers brush the edge of her silk pajamas. Somehow, the touch feels even more electric than a kiss. His smile is gentle, the type that makes a woman feel warm and fuzzy and eager to have babies.

Babies - seriously, she needs to get a grip!

"I would be happy to have your company," he says. "It's just that I'm already asking so much from you that I - "

"Again, I'm not just doing you a favor, okay? This marriage, this arrangement - it's not a huge act of sacrifice or anything."

"But - "

"Please stop feeling this way." She inches closer on the couch, until their knees touch. "Darcy, I like you. You're a great guy. Separate bedrooms or not, I'm lucky to be your wife, even if just for five years. Can we leave it at that?"

His eyes search hers as if there's an answer to be found. His hand tightens around hers. She holds her breath without realizing it.

"I'm the lucky one," he says.

And how can she not kiss him after that?

As kisses go, it's not tender and precise. It's also not passionate and all-consuming. But whatever it is that his words have managed to trigger in her has Lizzy launching herself at the man she's married, throwing her arms around his neck, and kissing him straight on the lips.

He kisses her back, though with a little more finesse than she has. His hands find her sides, bracing her gently against him, as his mouth moves against hers. The kiss lingers, sending parades of goosebumps down every inch of her skin, especially when his thumbs brush the edges of her ribs. But it doesn't linger quite long enough to grow any deeper before they both pull back just a bit apart. Again, his eyes search hers, even as she practically dangles over his lap. Slowly, and a little breathlessly, Lizzy lowers herself back onto the relative safety of the couch.

"I - I also wouldn't mind doing a bit of that - occasionally," she manages.

To her relief, Darcy smiles. "I suppose I would agree."

"Great!" She jumps to her feet before she unwittingly attacks him again. She's all for gender equality, but she's just old-fashioned enough to not want to be the one to make the first move twice. If he ever wants to kiss her - or, say, marry her - again, he'll have to be the one to do the asking. "How about a movie? A romcom, maybe? Or, wait, no - not a romcom. Maybe sci-fi? You like Nolan, right? Interstellar? Dunkirk? I think I've only ever seen the trailers."

Darcy chuckles. He turns to his laptop and types a bit, presumably to save his work, and pulls down the screen. "How about let's do Inception, and then maybe work ourselves up to Tenet?"

"Great."

"Great."

A/N: I feel this story is so silly, but it's also fun. So hey, whatever. Lol.