Jump to new as of July 30, 2002
Posted on Monday, 22 July 2002
One always approaches something new and or different with a sense of caution and optimism.
Elizabeth Bennet was not denying that she was nervous upon taking this internship; it was the final element of completing her degree and being the one thing she had aspired to since childhood -To be a teacher.
Lizzy walked toward the school with purpose and grace, it was time to mark her mark as an intellectual and interesting history teacher.
"You mustn't be nervous Lizzy, just be yourself the children will like you for who you are and what you know." Jane Bingley smiled. Lizzy could not help but be drawn in by the ease and friendliness of her supervising teacher.
Jane and Lizzy were walking around Meryton High School together, and it gave Jane a chance to explore the up and coming teacher and Lizzy the chance to run through ideas and thoughts with someone who had been through the same situations.
"Ten weeks seems like such a long period of time, yet it is to be little more than 2 months. I shall be out of here by October." Lizzy teased gently.
"Don't be silly Lizzy, once you are settled - you won't want to leave." Jane chided softly, smiling nonetheless as Lizzy was relaxing and mentally beginning to prepare for her the day ahead.
Lizzy was introduced to the HSIE (pronounced HISSIE) department with much success, they were a young staffroom, and were welcoming and sympathetic.
"Lizzy." Jane called. "The new head teacher should be arriving any minute, we are all acquainted with him, but this is to be his first day as well." Lizzy smiled gently.
"Although I do believe he has taught before." This attracted a laugh from the surrounding teachers.
"You must have taught before, surely." Caroline Bingley, the school's secretary commented, entering only to drop of rosters and absentee sheets.
"Yes of course." Lizzy answered, wary of the tone by which the statement was delivered. "But never for such a long period of time and so alone. I have had to do practical experience, but that was more of a guidance period, a learning curve if you wish." Jane smiled encouragingly at Lizzy's definition.
"I see." Caroline answered briskly before disappearing to another staffroom.
Lizzy was sitting stiffly at her desk when Jane approached her courteously. "Don't worry about her Lizzy. I have heard great things about you. I have the utmost faith in your abilities and I believe that you should too."
This comment from Jane relaxed Lizzy and the tension which had appeared in the air since Caroline's departure evaporated.
"Lets go!" Jane cried as the first bell of the day sounded. Lizzy followed her diligently into a nearby room.
"Class, Class..." Jane soft, yet firm voice, calling attention to the front of the room, succeeded after only two attempts. "This is Miss Bennet, she will be taking over my history classes for the next 10 weeks, so because you are lucky enough to be in my class you shall have a reprieve from me." Jane's speech created a ripple of laughter through the room, before Jane announced that 'Miss Bennet' would answer 5 questions now, she reminded them of there manners and took up a watching position near the door as Lizzy took the floor.
"No questions?" Lizzy smiled hopefully.
"Miss!" One tall sandy-haired boy yelled from up the back. "How old are you?"
Lizzy blushed slightly and thinking quickly replied in a cheerful manner. "About 4 years of university older than the oldest kids at this school." Jane smiled approvingly from the door and waited for the harder questions to emerge.
"What's your favourite historical period?" A small brunette questioned.
"Aztecs." Lizzy answered without skipping a beat.
"Are you married?" An anonymous voice rang out.
"Think about it... M-I-S-S Bennet!" Lizzy answered good-naturedly.
"Where do you go to university?"
"Longbourn." There was a murmur of appreciation as the good reputation of the university was acknowledged.
"What else can you teach?" Another girl, why was it that they always asked the sensible and polite questions?
"Geography. So I know all the world and its history." This remark caused a droll response from the back row.
"Boyfriend?" The same voice as before and still it appeared not to have an owner.
"Sorry, 5 questions are up." Lizzy called, glad she didn't have to field that question. "Mrs. Bingley tells me, that you were up to the use and effects of "Agent Orange" in Cambodia and Vietnam." Lizzy paused and waited for a murmur before continuing. "So Page 98 of you text tells us that although it had devastating effects..."
Lizzy released a small sigh of relief as the 11:30 bell rang signalling recess. She made a dramatic entrance into the HSIE staffroom and collapsed ungraciously into an oversized chair. Jane, being the only one in at the time, laughed and shook her head before excusing herself for playground duty. Taking a moment to compose herself before reading over the next period's lesson plans, Lizzy closed her eyes and took in a slow and cleansing breath.
"What are you doing in here?" A voice boomed from the doorway. Lizzy swung around to come face-to-face with a man she had never seen before.
"I am an intern here and who are you?" Lizzy replied in a calm tone, with underlying venom.
"William Darcy. I am the head teacher of History and Geography here." He was cold and dark, so unlike what Lizzy had come to expect from Meryton High.
"I'm Elizabeth Bennet." Lizzy stood toe-to-toe with the man who for the next 10 weeks was able to fire her and ruin her dream of becoming a qualified teacher. The gravity of this man's position struck her and it was then that Lizzy shrunk back to the other side of the room.
William Darcy for his part was pleased with the courage and composure shown by a woman he had just expressed his anger to, in a less than dignified manner.
William glanced across at the woman who was mouthing her memory plans, although from her perspective it was a scowl.
The next bell rang soon enough and Lizzy was prepared to take the questions of a nosy class, than the disapproving silence that had enveloped at least two of the occupants of the HSIE staffroom.
Lizzy was gathering her bag at the end of the day when she overheard a conversation between Jane and William Darcy, going on in the storeroom next door.
"What is she doing here? I was not informed that there were any interns this semester." Darcy's voice boomed.
"Elizabeth is a great teacher, you should have read her references. Just give her a chance, she might just surprise you." Jane argued softly, fully aware that Lizzy could possibly be in the next room.
"She just doesn't seem the type." Darcy countered.
"The type? What are you searching for? A wife?" A new voice reaching Lizzy's ears, after a few moments more she decided it belonged to the deputy principal. "She is here and it was my decision, try to make the best of it."
With that the party disbanded and Jane peaked hesitantly around the corner of the office and spied Lizzy.
"Did you hear all that?" Lizzy nodded mutely. "I'm sure he didn't mean..." Jane trailed off and looked on as Lizzy had a strange expression on her face. "Lizzy..." Lizzy could hold it in no longer. She burst out laughing. Jane rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Really Jane, he doesn't want an intern?!" Lizzy giggled as they made their way down the corridor. "Since when has it ever been the head teacher, the NEW head teachers decision?" Jane had just joined in the laughter when they came face to face with William Darcy. This silenced the women and they walked off the premises holding firm faces, despite the laughter, which brimmed from their eyes.
The week passed without interruption, Lizzy did her utmost to stay out of William Darcy's way. William for his part wanted to have a moment with her, he wasn't sure what is was that compelled him to seek her out, perhaps it was the laughter which emanated from her and all those lucky enough to be in her presence.
William was hearing nothing but praise for her work and the passion she held not only for her subjects, but also for the students and her unique methods of associating and controlling their antics were already a favourite with Fitzwilliam, the deputy principle.
This reputation and opinion of Lizzy Bennet was further confirmed at the weekly staff meeting held for the first time that term on the following Monday.
Deputy Fitzwilliam stood jovially and called all the teachers attention.
"First I want to welcome you all back!" He made a rather revolting false smile. "Then I want to introduce you to our intern, here to make Jane's job easier for 10 weeks at least. Elizabeth Barnet." Lizzy was pushed up by Jane and was blushing furiously. Fitzwilliam indicated that she take the floor.
"Bennet!" She smiled cheekily. "And I really prefer Lizzy." A ripple of laughter floated around the room. "I assure you not to believe anything that have heard about me!" It was a well-known fact that the work of a prac. teacher is talked about, especially considering that Jane's husband Charles was the head of HSIE at her previous school.
William Darcy couldn't tear his eyes from the face of this woman, who in just one week had the school talking and treating her as though she were one of them. Lizzy caught William looking at her and for the briefest of moments the smile dropped from both her face and eyes, she dropped her persona and looked back, why was he judging her, she was only to be here for 10 weeks, one of those, apart from the incident on day one had run rather uneventfully in terms of their conduct toward one another.
William sat at his desk early the following morning, under the pretence that he was re-evaluating the syllabus and the method and order through which it was taught at Meryton.
"I am not interrupting am I?" Deputy Fitzwilliam queried, entering the silent staffroom.
"No, of course not." William answered, shaking his head as if to clear his mind.
"I just wondered why you and Lizzy keep having these run ins." He looked open and honestly at William.
"Nothing has happened, we have barely said two words to each other through the entire of last week." William rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully.
"Then why are you avoiding her?" William looked startled. "William, I have known you a long time, was thrilled when you finally got posted to something other that central, outback school and now you don't get along with perfectly wonderful interns, what is it? You weren't there that long ago." Fitzwilliam took up a chair and placed in near to William.
"I know; she just isn't what I wanted." William paused to gather his thoughts. "She just fits in so well. Everybody, even the students can't get enough of her." William sighed.
"People will like you too, stop being so stuffy all the time." Fitzwilliam started, knowing he had hit upon a sore spot.
"I am not like that, I am not like she is." William stood exasperated with his words and thoughts.
"No one is expecting you to be. You are William Darcy, you have turned the opinions of lesson planners and syllabus co-ordinators the state over. You are only 29 let it be." Fitzwilliam stood, intending to leave. "I do like the idea of bringing suits back into the workplace, give us the sense of truly being a profession." With that William was left alone with a small smile upon his face.
"Morning." Lizzy called cheerfully as she met Fitzwilliam on her way to the staffroom. William watched helplessly as the smile that, however small, adorned his face grew at the sound of her voice. It dropped as she entered and saw him and her own expression grew darker.
"Elizabeth."
"Lizzy." She corrected firmly.
"Lizzy, no Elizabeth. I believe that my behaviour has been duplicitous over the past days and it is my wish that we are able to put in behind us." William stated, without the slightest hint of compassion.
Lizzy stood as though dumbfounded by William's comments. She wasn't sure exactly the correct response for it was a personal reflection about a professional matter. Caroline however, interrupted the moment.
"William!" She crowed. "I have a message for you."
"I am so excited." William muttered dryly. He thought for a short moment that Lizzy caught his sarcasm and gave the tiniest of giggles.
"Here." Caroline smiled brightly, whereas William looked only to the note in her hand.
"Thank you." William read the note in a hushed tone to himself. 'My sincerest apologies but my sister Mary has just been diagnosed with tertiary leukaemia. I may need a few days off. Jane Bingley.' Lizzy smiled to herself that was Jane always apologising and putting others before herself and her comfort.
"Can you cover her classes? I mean you're qualified aren't you?" William was staring at the paper but directing his questions to Lizzy on the other side of the room. There was no sympathy; no concern in his voice and Lizzy for her part was disgusted.
"Not a problem." Lizzy smiled tightly and made a mental note to call or send flowers to Jane later that day.
"Thanks." William smiled at her gratefully; there was the smallest suggestion of friendliness and understanding in that moment and Lizzy found herself intrigued. Maybe there was more to this man than the cold and arrogant person she had met on her first day.
As the week progressed, Lizzy was slowly warming to William, she had briefly observed a few of his classes and found that although stern, he had a unique style that got through to students.
Jane was still off, Lizzy having called her and after reassurance that Lizzy had no concern covering all her classes for the next few days at least, was relieved and grateful.
The days were rolling by and there was one element upon which Lizzy was still concerned, in regard to her performance - Playground duty.
The day that Lizzy went out to patrol the Northern Oval for the first half of lunch, was a day that caused all the good work that had been building between Lizzy and William to crumble. Lizzy was on the field, when she was introduced to George Wickham, a Physical Education teacher, with whom she was not well acquainted.
"Miss Bennet." He exclaimed cheerfully. Lizzy looked over, slightly disturbed that this stranger knew her name. "Wickham, George." He smiled and for the most part it was a beautiful smile, one, which she was sure, caused a great many of the female students to pay closer attention.
"Hi!" Lizzy said simply, too busy on supervising to pay close attention to a new acquaintance, even one so handsome as he.
"I have heard great things about you." He dropped his voice and leant closer toward her. "I also heard that you and Darcy are not the best of friends."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Lizzy answered innocently.
"Word gets around." He looked at her compassionately. "He had no right to say what he said." Lizzy nodded in agreement before she had time to process the repercussions.
"I really should be..." Lizzy trailed off, somehow managing to indicate that she should be watching over the students.
"He hasn't got the best reputation himself." Lizzy's interest was peaked and she involuntarily waited impatiently for Mr. Wickham to tell her why. George opened his mouth to begin, but was abruptly cut off by the half-time bell, signalling a change in the supervising teachers. "Come to the staff common room with me." It was a statement, not a question and Lizzy let herself be lead to the opposite side of the school.
"Darcy and I worked together several years ago now, at Lambton High. He was good and he knew it. The students and teachers alike, hung onto every word he said." Lizzy was nodding, waiting for some sinister secret to be revealed, she wasn't disappointed. "It is the reason behind him being here, as you know we are half way through the year, the most insensitive act a senior year's teacher could perform is to leave them with a temp only months before their final exams. He up and left those kids, with a teacher who wasn't qualified. They are basically studying from last year's notes. Which as you understand is going to do irreparable damage to their results and subsequently their careers." Wickham was thick at laying on the charm. He smiled and knew that although the whole scenario wasn't as despicable as he made it out to be, the result was the same.
Lizzy wandered away from George, pondering why it was that he was so passionately against a man, who although had done an awful thing was not breaking any professional code of morals or ethics.
"There is more Lizzy, if you wish to hear it." He put on a sexy smile and indicated for her to sit next to him. Lizzy was wary, but was willing to hear the man out; after all he had a devastating smile.
"I don't really think I need to know all this. I am only going to be here a little..." Lizzy trailed off as he held one finger to her lips.
"Student, teacher relations are always a subject open to censure, whether it is that we are being to lenient or whatever in regard to our students. However, Darcy crossed the line." Lizzy leant back in her chair as if trying to hide from the news.
"He... no!" Lizzy gasped, trying to imagine the cold and arrogant man she shared a staffroom with, engaging in what Wickham was insinuating.
"She was only young 17 or so..." Wickham knew that he did need to say anymore, Lizzy knew exactly what he was leading to, however he found the urge to further disregard Darcy's reputation in her opinion.
"That disgraced the entire town, all teachers that were there at the time left. I had no choice, the girl refused to press charges and therefore the public were only able to speculate on which male teacher it was." Lizzy was so shocked by this story that she failed to see any of the inconsistencies that happened to leak through in George's words.
The couple parted as the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch.
Lizzy successfully avoided Darcy for the remainder of that week, what she wasn't counting on was a scheduled lesson combining both his class and hers.
"Shall we?" Darcy enquired, a polite smile plastered upon his face.
"I'm sorry?" Lizzy looked up at him confused.
"You are taking Jane's classes? She was scheduled to do a video spanning both of our classes; I thought it best that we go in together."
"How thoughtful of you." Lizzy could not keep the sarcasm from her voice and followed him stone faced to the next class.
The video began and the students were relatively settled and watching, Lizzy sat at the front of the room, occasionally giving the 'evil eye' to any student who passed notes or spoke. William stood dejected on the side of the room, he kept glancing at Lizzy, in some vain hope that she too was looking at him, but it was not to be. He thought back to the previous week and how she always seemed to be disapproving of him and was forever dropping all conversation when he was near. Perhaps, he argued with himself, that she wasn't right for the position as he had told himself all along, but it appeared to be something much more complex than that, for she was getting along wonderfully with all the other teachers and Fitzwilliam could not stop singing her praises. The class were excused for recess, and told to be waiting in their seats as soon as the bell rung, so more of the video could be shown.
"Miss Bennet.' Darcy called as she was making her way out of the classroom, discussing the fall of Walt Whitman with an interested pupil.
"Mr Darcy?" She enquired sweetly, waving her student goodbye in the process. She wandered back into the classroom and stood on the opposite side of the desk, which he was occupying.
"I wanted to compliment you on your excellent coping skills, you appear to be designed for such a position as this." He smiled genuinely at her.
"Thank you." Lizzy was dumbfounded, what more could she say. "But I don't believe that I asked for your comments." Lizzy mentally scolded herself, that was an awful thing to have said, but she could no longer take it back.
"Elizabeth!" Darcy cried, hugely offended. "Where, what..." He was obviously confused and affronted by her statement.
"You are not someone that I believe I want to be like, your conduct in a professional sense is disgusting, and you should be ashamed of yourself." She answered in a calm tone, betraying the anger that brewed in her eyes.
"Where is this coming from?" He asked, eyes wide with horror.
"You were rude and offensive toward me since the first day and your behaviour was only confirmed by George Wickham's account of your time together at Lambton High." Lizzy stood her ground, but for some inexplicable reason was unable to meet his eyes.
Visibly shaken by her words, Darcy answered in a menacing tone.
"Well George Wickham has an incredulous way with words, I had believed you to be smarter than those so easily taken in by him and his tales." With that Darcy fled the room. Lizzy was left quite alone and without a clue as to where to go from here.
The next lesson threw both of the teachers together, but they avoided each other to an obvious extent. Both were disappointed in their conduct but there was nothing that either felt they could do at that point to remedy the situation.
Lizzy ran for her car that afternoon, needing to clear her head and think. After a walk along the beach which ran near to her house, she called the only person she felt she could talk to - Jane.
"I'm sorry to be calling like this." Lizzy apologised.
"It's quite alright Lizzy, are you coping without me?" Jane asked the sweetness of her nature clearly displayed in her voice.
"I was wondering what your opinion is of William Darcy." Lizzy looked down at her hands and they were shaking uncontrollably.
"He is a lovely man, shy and I suppose withdrawn at first but quite friendly once you get to know him."
"You know him?" Lizzy asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice.
"He is a great friend of Charles'." At Lizzy's silence, she added. "My husband Charles. They taught together at Lambton I believe."
"So that means that Charles knows George Wickham too then." Lizzy stated, joining the dots in her head.
"Charles has never had a word to say about him, though I know they worked together for several years." Lizzy thought about this final element and said her goodbyes to Jane, making a quick reference to her wishes for Mary's recovery.
Lizzy walked into the school with a renewed purpose and direction.
"Morning." She called into the semi-empty staffroom; Katherine just smiled and laughed at Lizzy's enthusiasm before leaving to check her messages, unconsciously leaving Lizzy alone in the staffroom with William.
"Good Morning Elizabeth." Darcy greeted formally.
"Thank you William, how are you?" Lizzy smiled as she swung around to face him.
"Quite well thank you." He answered, shocked by her degree of kindness.
"Always good to hear." Lizzy wandered off in search of her desk and indeed, her lesson plans for the day. William leaned back in his chair, shrugging his shoulders. That girl was such a mystery, the brown hair that she had loosely clipped and that bubbly and energetic smile which became her entire face. William gasped audibly; she was beautiful. Not in a conventional sense, but in an independent and passionate way. He admired her as she jutted one leg out the side of her desk, allowing William to take in the baby doll shoes and the part of her stocking clad leg, which was normally hidden by one of her many flowing skirts. From his position he was able to observe her, without him looking out of place. He studied the skirt which he had first noticed as she entered, that fell just below the knee, the swirls of brown and caramel that couldn't help but remind him of a rich and delectable coffee. The gold top littered with sparkles completed the outfit, giving Lizzy a sense of colour and vibrancy amongst the numerous blue and navy sea of the students uniforms.
Lizzy for her part was completely absorbed in her curriculum. She rose after almost half an hour of reading and unconsciously glanced over to see where William was situated. She found him leaning studiously over his desk. The suit, which clung to him beautifully, gave Lizzy the impression of a great body well hidden. The tie was sitting just right and Lizzy knew instinctively that he was not one of those to simply have a clip-on.
"Lizzy!" Katherine asked, not noticing the intern's preoccupation with the head teacher. "Would you mind taking my roll call this morning, it seems that my little 'Angel' has sliced his finger open." Lizzy redirected her attention. Katherine smiled sympathetically, but Lizzy could tell there was motherly concern buried under a guise of annoyance.
"Not a problem. I am free for the first 2 hours, so take as long as you need." Katherine nodded and strode from the room.
"I don't mind covering Katherine, if you need to work on your ethics submission." William offered graciously, as he made his way toward her desk.
"It's fine really." Lizzy smiled up and wondered how it was that this man who stood unselfishly before her could have created such a scandal at Lambton.
"Well, I understand if you are finding the workload a little to overwhelming." He added.
"It's what I'm here for." Lizzy struggled to keep the sinister note from her voice, why did he always try to undermine my abilities, Lizzy thought absorbing herself once again in the paperwork, which littered her desk.
Jane returned to work early in the following week and allowed Lizzy a much-needed day to simply 'catch-up' on paperwork.
William returned from his final class of the day to find only Jane in the staffroom, he had harboured a hope that it would be Lizzy, but that was not to be.
"Jane, I hope Mary is feeling better?" He asked, phrasing it as a question rather than a statement.
"She has a long road ahead of her, but I believe that she has the strength to come through the chemotherapy." Jane smiled anxiously.
"And the support obviously." William added, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You should tell her." Jane broke in after a moment of silence.
"I can't." William walked toward the door.
"She needs to know, the last thing we need is to lose another intern to the likes of..." Jane trailed off, both knowing who and what they were referring to.
"He can't keep doing this." William tried, making a fist with both hands. "She is smart, if she knows what is good for her..."
"How can she?" Jane countered. "What would you do with his side of the story?" William pondered this comment.
"I guess it can't do any harm." William frowned and walked from the room.
Forever diligent, Lizzy arrived at the school earlier than William the next morning. She was making herself a much-needed cup of coffee, when she heard the door open and shut behind her.
"You shouldn't have." William stated, smiling unevenly as he eyed her cup of coffee.
"I didn't." Lizzy grinned. "But I can. How do you take it?"
"White with one." He answered gratefully. "But you really needn't bother." He added, walking over to stand beside her.
"Here." She handed him her own coffee. "We take it the same, I'll just pour another one for myself." She turned her back to him and set about making herself a fresh cup.
William paced his way around the room, sipping quietly from the cup. How was he to broach the subject without seeming arrogant? He fingered the mug he held in his hand and running his fingers over the picture he paused to look at it.
The mug was white and portrayed singing angels, one of the angels had a mischievous gleam and was almost poking her tongue out, this caused William to smile, it reminded him so of Lizzy, the way she was wonderful at what she did but also added an element of amusement to whatever she was doing.
It was then that it hit him, as he held her mug in his hand, he realised that upon hearing George's story she was disgusted and for the first few days allowed it to impact upon her better judgement, but then she opened herself up and allowed all events to befall her unbiasedly.
"Elizabeth." Lizzy redirected her gaze toward him. "I need to tell you something." Lizzy just nodded for him to continue. "George Wickham and I taught at Lambton High together." William paused for a second to re-group. "I know not what he has told you, but it is something I feel I should share with you."
"Of course." Lizzy commented, turning around so she was directly in front of him.
"It is true that I left a senior class only months before their final exams, and to a teacher with no qualifications in that area." William stopped and drew in a deep breath; Lizzy understood this to mean that whatever he was to say next was going to cause pain. " The reason I left was because of my sister."
"Sister?!" Lizzy cried.
"Georgiana, she would be a few years younger than you I presume. She had a prac. at Lambton in the English and Drama department. She was impressionable and was easily led by the smiles and charms of George Wickham." The name came off his tongue with venom firmly attached. "One of my students found my sister in a compromising position with him and alerted me immediately. I was outraged at both my sister and George Wickham." William began to pace frustrated up and down in front of Lizzy, until she could stand it no longer. Lizzy cornered him and squeezed his hand compassionately. "She had marks up and down her arms, her throat was almost raw from his grip. It wasn't her fault, if my... what if..."
"Hey, hey." Lizzy soothed, leading him to a chair, before kneeling at his side. "It wasn't your fault. But why wasn't anything done about it?" Lizzy couldn't stop herself from asking.
"Georgiana was embarrassed and disgraced, she took it no further, but quit her degree and started a economics degree overseas."
"I understand, but why didn't you..." Lizzy started.
"Kill him?" William whispered. "I couldn't go to the department he threatened me with a harassment suit if I did." Lizzy looked confused and so William elaborated. "One of his 'students' Lydia I believe was completely obsessed with him and the idea was that she would claim I made sexual and untoward advances toward her unless the matter was dropped." Lizzy patted his hand comfortingly.
"He told me you... you..." Lizzy stood and turned away.
"And a student?" William supplied. At Lizzy's nod he went on. "It isn't true. I could never!" He stated indignantly.
It was then that Jane entered the room, effectively ending any further discussion on the subject.
As Jane and Lizzy were making their way toward their final class for the week, Jane made a passing comment.
"I see that you and William have patched things up." It was a question and not a statement and therefore Lizzy didn't answer. Jane noticed the silence and changed topics. "You haven't forgotten about our excursion to the grand Pemberley manor next Tuesday have you?"
"No, no." Lizzy replied excitedly. "That place is magnificent the craftsmanship and history are amazing." Lizzy gushed.
"Just you and me and 50 screaming juniors!" Jane laughed as they entered the noisy classroom.
Lizzy was left alone toward the end of the lesson and as the pupils were working on comprehension answers, Lizzy arose to answer a knock on the door.
"Will... Mr Darcy." Lizzy greeted with a smile.
"Miss Bennet." He glanced around to see the students gazing up at their exchange. "I just wished to borrow 5 'Indochina' texts, some of my kids left them at home." Lizzy extended her arm and followed him into the storeroom.
"Take a few extra's just in case." Lizzy reached up beside him, causing William to notice the scent which she was wearing, he had to stop himself from leaning over to kiss her as she placed the final few books on top of his growing pile. She grinned and followed him out to the door; opening it graciously she smiled and watched him walk away.
Lizzy heard the final bell sound and dismissed her class, as she collected the final notes from their desks she overheard a conversation between two girls just outside the door.
"He is so stuffy and boring."
"But handsome" The second girl countered.
"What does she want with him?" The first voice asked.
"She's only here for only a couple more weeks and after all he is her head teacher." The second one agreed.
"Miss Bennet and Mr Darcy. I don't think I'll be going anywhere near the HSIE staffroom until she is gone, or until her little crush moves. I mean Mr Wickham is so much nicer..." The girls walked away and Lizzy could hear no more of what was being said.
Posted on Sunday, 28 July 2002
Lizzy gathered her things abruptly from the office and fled the school, wanting nothing more than to be alone with her thoughts.
Why was it that William had such an effect on her, she had heard of men taking advantage of their students before, but when he was accused she was horrified. He was something special; he made her want to be a wonderful teacher. She cast her mind back to the previous days conversations, she couldn't stop talking to him and as she dove deeper into their discussions, she realised that he was witty and clever; he made her laugh and smile. Lizzy buried her head in her hands, this would not do. She couldn't have feelings for a man only weeks ago she totally and utterly despised. But there was something about him, the way he carried himself, the way he would catch her eye and smile. Lizzy tried vainly to convince herself that he did this with all the other teachers and she was just one in a number. But Lizzy knew her instincts, something like this had never occurred before, she was never made as happy as when she was around him. But what to do...
"Come on, the buses are waiting!" Jane called into the staffroom; Lizzy tumbled out in a rush.
"Coming, coming." She sighed, running up the corridor to catch up with her colleague.
"You're not a morning person are you?" Jane grinned. Lizzy just made a fast and began to power walk.
Lizzy was enjoying the excursion; the grounds and house were so grand that none of the students dare touch anything unless specifically instructed. Lizzy took a small group of students through the upstairs gallery, while Jane led others down to the lake.
"This was taken many, many years ago, of the man who was at that time master of this very estate." The guide continued to share his knowledge with the pupils and Lizzy looked at the portrait, there was something about the eyes, the way the man held himself that caused Lizzy to look once again. She felt as though she knew the face, that she could read his thoughts, what was it about this painting that made her want to spend the rest of her life admiring the man whom it represented.
The rest excursion flowed well, the students were only noisy to and from the venue and once the videos were up and running, Lizzy and Jane were able to chat in relative silence. There was one down side to the day, and that was the disgusting temperature, for that part of the year it was completely unexpected. This meant that the Lizzy ran to the staffroom as soon as the students had been taken home, which was relatively quickly, seeing as the bus was running slightly overdue; mainly due to Lizzy and her desire to learn as much as humanly possible about the manor and its master.
Lizzy basically sprinted up the corridor, flinging open the staffroom door in order to find relief in the better-controlled temperature. Lizzy was talking to herself about the lack of knowledge demonstrated by weathermen and didn't notice that she had interrupted a serious discussion between William and Deputy Fitzwilliam. Both men excused themselves from the room and it was then that Lizzy scalded herself for her inappropriate behaviour.
"I'm sorry for barging in here earlier." Lizzy called to William as he entered the staffroom.
"Quite alright." He smiled and sat down at his desk.
"William?" Lizzy enquired, making her way around to his desk.
"Hmm" he replied without looking up.
"What do you know about Pemberley manor?" William looked up at her and questioned.
"What do you want to know?"
"There was a particular portrait hanging in the gallery and for some reason it..." Lizzy trailed off as she made the connection.
"Yes." William supplied to the unasked question. "That house has been in my family for generations. That was probably my great, great, great grandfather or somewhere thereabouts, I have never gone into great depths." Lizzy was somehow saddened by this response. "I assume that Georgiana would know, she and mother were forever discussing family history." Lizzy sensed this was a painful topic and took a few steps back in the direction of her own desk.
"I understand." He produced a grim smile and walked out of the staffroom.
As William made his way home that evening, he thought about what Lizzy had said and he smiled, then being as he was he analysed the thought, why did Lizzy's interest in his family create such an interest within himself?
"Last week Lizzy?" William enquired making his way toward her desk.
"Yes." She grinned up at him, and then looked back down in an effort to guard her behaviour.
"You shall be sorely missed." He prompted, looking down trying in vain to elicit some form of contact.
"I believe I have been more of a hindrance than a help." Lizzy groaned, smiling and meeting her eyes with his.
"Perhaps you could come and do some casual teaching with us, just until I mean..." William stumbled nervously. "Until... you are posted and..."
"I understand. That would be fantastic." Lizzy smiled, sensing his discomfort.
"I mean I believe you get your licence or whatever they call it these days, in only 3 weeks." He glanced at her, hope shining in his eyes.
"Something like that yes." She put her head back down, afraid that should the conversation go on any longer she would do something to ruin the reputation she had built during her internship.
"The time passed quickly, it seems but yesterday that I yelled at you for being in here." William added shyly. "I hope I apologised for that." He tried to remember but for some reason being near Lizzy dulled his memory, every fibre was intent on her and nothing else seemed to matter.
"You did thank you. It truly wasn't necessary." Lizzy blushed. William blushed in turn and wandered off in search of his own desk, but never once did his thoughts leave the beautiful brunette situated only a few feet away.
Lizzy was rather proud of herself, as she assessed her weeks at Meryton. There was no part of her teaching that she felt would be rated as 'needs improvement' and therefore she guessed that in approximately 3 weeks she would be part of "casual connect". Finally she would be able to make it on her own, earning her own money, perhaps even buying her own home. This was all awaiting her in little under a month. Lizzy smiled, as she thought about her time, unaware that anyone had been watching her. She took a psychological step back and noticed that William was looking quite intently at her.
"I was a million miles away." She clarified.
"I could tell." He smiled and held up a folder full of notes.
"What are they?" Lizzy questioned.
"These." He wiggled them under her nose teasingly. "Are your final evaluation slips." Lizzy tried to sneak a look, but he playfully swatted her hand away.
"Can't I..." Lizzy started, pleading with him.
"How fast can you type?" William asked, perching himself upon the corner of her desk.
"I've never really done one of those course things." Lizzy muttered. "I always manage fine though."
"Are you busy now?" William asked, imploring her with his gaze.
"Not until 6th." She answered looking down at the schedule.
"Come on then." William stood, he thrust his hand out to her and she took it innocently. Neither was prepared for the power of the touch and both instantly revoked their hands and without saying a word, Lizzy followed William into the nearby staff computer lab.
"I'll dictate, you type." Lizzy sat in front of the computer and waited for the program to load. Both endured the silence, willing the other to say something that didn't relate to the briefest of moments just before.
"Ready!" Lizzy chimed, causing a smile to erupt on William's face.
"Ok, page one." He shuffled the papers and began to read. "Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Intern number 998749. Supervising Teacher: Jane Bingley." William paused, checking to see where it was that she was up to. He was surprised when she looked around at him signifying him to continue. "Sorry." He apologised, taking up the paper once again. "Elizabeth Bennet presented herself as well organised and prepared. Her lesson schedules were lacking and her manner can only be described as disgusting." William paused.
"William!" Lizzy exclaimed, turning around. "Jane would never say such a thing." For the most part, William maintained a solemn expression and even when Lizzy started to snatch the paper he refused to smile.
He rose quickly and held the paper just from her reach, Lizzy glared up at him playfully.
"What? What?" He questioned in mock surprise.
"I want to see it." Lizzy stated calmly. William shook his head and walked backwards away from her eager hands. Lizzy was so intent on the paper in his hand, that she failed to notice a stack of textbooks that were left littered on the floor, William saw them at the last moment, but failed to tell her in time. Lizzy stumbled and went flailing forward. She unintentionally fell toward William, who was unable to move out of her path. Therefore they both went crashing to the floor.
"I am so sorry." Lizzy exclaimed, trying to extract herself from her position on top of William.
"My fault entirely." William assured her, lying quite still. Lizzy found the easiest way to get up would be to slide off of William. She was laying face down next to him when she released a small laugh; William misread the sound and quickly moved to comfort her. It was that moment that Jane chose to walk into the computer lab, and before her she found William sitting on the floor, cradling Lizzy who at that very moment had tears streaming down her face.
"I didn't mean to... I'm sorry... I will just..." Jane stammered. Lizzy waved her hand at her and stood up slowly.
"Never mind Jane, you weren't interrupting anything. I simply fell over the stack of books and landed on poor William." Lizzy couldn't hold in her giggles and soon both Jane and William were smiling and laughing along with her.
Lizzy and William continued to work on her assessments, with him still adlibbing and causing a smile to grace her face.
"I really have to go." Lizzy smiled apologetically.
"Yes of course." William stood and walked out with her.
"I don't..." Lizzy stopped herself and smiled, that was a thought best kept in her mind. She hurried off to her next class in a vain hope that she could shake off the feelings that had been heightened in the time that she and William had spent together.
"I'm not seeing the problem." Deputy Fitzwilliam stated.
"She will think I am no better than him." William countered.
"Does she make you happy?"
"She makes me act like a three year old." William answered dejectedly.
"I think that's a good thing." Fitzwilliam nodded, to emphasise his words. "You have been to serious of late, ever since the incident you seemed to have forgotten how to laugh."
"I shall never see her again after this week anyway." William tried to reason.
"She lives a little over an hour away, I am sure there are quite a few bed and breakfasts between here and there." William gasped and his eyes widened in shock.
"NO!" He stated firmly.
"Just..." Fitzwilliam paused, thinking of the best way to frame his idea. "On Friday, her last day, ask her for a coffee, ask her to dinner, ask for her phone number." William stood and walked out of the deputy's office, he needed some time to think, he knew what he wanted but how was the best way to go about it.
Lizzy wandered in and looked around the staffroom, today was her last day; she slowly released a sigh and thought about all that had gone on here, what she had accomplished, who she had met, who she had fallen for. She glanced around to look at his desk and noticed him walk in the door. Lizzy blushed, embarrassed at being caught.
"Last day." William shrugged, in an attempt to keep things professional.
"Yep." Lizzy answered, not quite being able to bring her eyes to his. William just nodded he could think of nothing more to say, nothing that was appropriate anyway.
"I was..."
"Did you..." They both stopped and smiled at each other.
"You go." Lizzy offered.
"No, you." William smiled.
"It was nothing really." Lizzy looked down and could feel the tips of her ears burning.
"If you're sure." William commented. "I was just wondering, and your under no obligation, I just thought you might be interested, I mean in the seminar, not..." Lizzy released a small giggle and raised an eyebrow teasingly. "There is a History seminar being held, briefing teachers on the changes to the syllabus and recommended texts and so on." William stated, hoping that she had noticed the visible shaking of his hands.
"That sounds great." Lizzy answered. "When..." She couldn't even finish the question before he leapt in with an answer.
"Monday week." He smiled self-consciously. "It's being held at Kent reception centre. It starts at 9am." He babbled on.
"Sounds great, I'm not quite sure where that is, but I'm sure I can find it." Lizzy smiled with false confidence.
"Well." William took out a piece of paper and began to draw something that was supposed to resemble a road map. "Ah..."
"Never mind, I've got a street directory in my car, I'll just whip out and grab it."
"I could drive." William called.
"I'm sorry?" Lizzy turned to face him, unsure that she had heard him correctly.
"I have to come down your way and since I'm the only one going from here I would really appreciate the company." He shrugged, hoping to pass it off as simply one colleague offering another a lift, but both knew it was something more than that.
"Only if you're sure." Lizzy didn't wish to sound too eager, but was afraid of rejecting him.
"Not a problem." He smiled loosely.
"Ok then." Lizzy smiled, trying to think of a way to end the silence.
"Where do you live?" William asked, looking down at his feet, hoping she didn't see the colour rising to his cheeks.
"Oh right." Lizzy wandered over to where he was sitting and started to draw. "Netherfield Avenue, Hertfordshire. If you come down the freeway and take the Hertfordshire exit, you take the first 3 lefts and I am in the two-storey cream house, number 47."
"Right." William answered, acutely aware of her proximity. "Say 8 o'clock?"
"See you then." Lizzy smiled and gathered her books; she had a class to teach and was relieved to be out of his presence. There was something about him, he tormented her senses and she felt as though she had to monitor her behaviour, as around him; her behaviour seemed to have a mind of it's own.
"Come on, you have to come." Jane commented.
"No, really. I have a desk full of things to clean out and I can't be coming back on Monday." Lizzy replied, walking purposely toward her desk.
"Its only coffee. We all want to say goodbye and no one will mind if you come back on Monday." Jane persuaded Lizzy and led her to the staff common room.
Lizzy was quickly cornered by George Wickham and so she tried unsuccessfully to signal for Jane to come to her rescue.
"You shall be sorely missed." George started, running his hand along her arm.
"I doubt it." Lizzy smiled, taking a small step away from him.
"I shall miss you most of all." He smirked, taking in the distance between them.
"I'm sure you shall cope." Lizzy replied, her voice cold and firm.
"Now Darcy shall have it all his own way."
"I'm not sure that that is an entirely bad thing." Lizzy surprised him with this comment and used the time to escape.
"You shall come and visit us!" Fitzwilliam said as he approached Lizzy.
"Perhaps." Lizzy smiled, unsure of what else to say.
"You will be doing casual work in the fourth term?"
"Yep." Lizzy answered, still slightly out-of-sorts after her words with Wickham.
"I hope you have put your name on the list and you shall be my first call." He promised sincerely. Lizzy thanked him genuinely and excused herself shortly after. She was not in the mood to make small talk, she wasn't exactly sure what she wanted at that moment in time, but she hoped with a few minutes quiet reflection at her desk, she could sort her thoughts out.
"Elizabeth!" William exclaimed surprised. "I thought you'd still be down there."
"I thought it best if I got my things organised. You should be down there though." She replied, pulling a box out from underneath her desk.
"I was, but..." He trailed off and both knew the reason.
Lizzy started to pack her things in silence and for some unknown reason wanted to cry. She knelt down beside her desk and took a few deep breaths. Meryton had been wonderful for her, she had achieved so much and yet she wanted to stay, she wanted the man before her to take her in his arms and tell her that everything would be all right. That he would be there to help her through the horrible days that she would experience as a teacher, because he would listen patiently and offer advice, he would take away he worries and replace them only with love.
Lizzy shook her head in disbelief, where were thoughts like this coming from, she was never one to daydream and fantasise. She stood up and wished that she weren't so foolish, there was no way that an incredibly handsome and distinguished man like him could ever be interested in someone like her.
"Lizzy?" William whispered. "Are you aright?"
"I'm fine." Lizzy answered with a sad smile, standing back up. "Just thinking about the past ten weeks and all the silly things I've done."
"As long as you're ok." William sighed, walking out of the room. It would be different soon, one day she would be able to open up and tell him her thoughts, because they would no longer be in a professional arena, they could soon be equals.
"That's it. Thank you everybody, you've all been great." Lizzy smiled, waiting for the students to file out of the room.
"Are you leaving?" Claudia asked as she passed Lizzy's desk.
"Yep, today was my last day." Lizzy forced a smile and watched as the classroom slowly emptied.
"That's it." Jane called, wandering into the empty classroom.
"That's it." Lizzy echoed sadly.
"You didn't think you would become so attached." Jane stated matter-of-factly.
"No, I thought I would just float along and make a few new friends, but it has been so much more than that." Lizzy trailed down the corridor after Jane, knowing all that remained to be done this afternoon was to collect her bag and a few folders that remained on her desk.
"Well, thanks everybody." Lizzy began, calling attention to herself. "I truly enjoyed my time here and I shall never forget any of you." Lizzy glanced around, but William was nowhere in sight, she was sure she had saw him in here when she came in. "But I guess I shall be starting on the casual 'treadmill' soon enough and maybe I will be lucky enough to get called back here! I have truly been spoilt, thank you all." Lizzy smiled and took her leave, the other teachers made polite goodbyes and appropriate comments, but for some reason they all meant nothing without so much as even a 'goodbye' from William. Lizzy headed down the corridor one final time and as she was making her way down the steps toward the teacher's car park, she felt something collide with her foot. She was too far-gone and could do nothing about the folders that went crashing down on the pavement, outlines and syllabus guides were littered everywhere.
"COLLINS!" She heard Fitzwilliam growl. "My office, NOW!" Glancing over she saw one of the boys from her last class grinning, then learning that he had been seen he dropped his head and started up toward the deputy's office.
"Let me help!" Lizzy spun around to see where the voice was coming from.
"No it's quite alright, really." Lizzy smiled at William reassuringly.
"You shouldn't be carrying all this anyway." He bent down and helped her to retrieve the paper.
"You are going to believe I am clumsy." Lizzy blushed, remembering when she fell on him in the computer labs.
"I could never believe anything bad of you." He said this in little more than a whisper and with such conviction that Lizzy paused for a moment just to look at him.
"Thank you." She smiled warmly at him and for the briefest of moments believed that she saw something glimmer in his eyes that she was sure had been evident in her own for some time.
They collected the rest in silence and he escorted her over to her car, carrying the bulk of the load like a true gentleman.
"You shouldn't have, but thank you." Lizzy began as she loaded the folders into the back of her car.
"It was no problem." He nodded his head and managed a weak smile.
They stood there for a few moments, both wishing that the other would bring up his noticeable absence in the staffroom that afternoon.
"I guess I should say goodbye. Thank you and goodbye." Lizzy corrected herself.
"It isn't goodbye." He stated anxiously.
"No, the seminar." Lizzy smiled self-consciously.
"Don't forget."
"I won't. I mean I am looking forward to it." Lizzy replied.
"Perhaps I should I mean, it might make it easier if..." He was trying very inarticulately to ask for her phone number and was relieved when she understood and offered it to him.
"Thanks." He waved the piece of paper in his hand.
"See you then?" Lizzy asked.
"Definitely." He nodded and waited until she got into the car.
"Good bye." Lizzy waved as she drove out the gates.
It was over, her ten weeks at Meryton were over, in just two weeks she would be a qualified teacher, but that was not what Lizzy was thinking about. She was more concerned with the man who waved her off and the fact that he was picking her up in just over a week, and more importantly he had asked for her number, or at least he had tried to. Lizzy thought that was sweet, especially since her details were on record at administration.
Lizzy sat at home that evening in the dark, going through the events of the ten weeks, every conversation was analysed, every look and glance were committed to memory. She never wanted to forget the time she had spent at Meryton, the smiles, the laughter, the conversation, all were to be remembered for years to come.
She had just finished her most enjoyable teaching experience to date and was hoping that her first posting could live up to Meryton's standards.
It was Sunday evening when the phone rang and Lizzy answered it expecting it to be her mother.
"I thought I told you..." Lizzy began exasperated.
"Elizabeth?" Lizzy would know that voice anywhere.
"I'm sorry, I just hung up from my mother and she usually rings back to comment on something or other."
"I can call back if I'm interrupting." William replied nervously.
"No!" Lizzy said laughing. "I am grateful for the distraction."
"I was just ringing about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Lizzy questioned, well aware that tomorrow he was to arrive to take her to the seminar.
"The seminar..." He began, hoping that she hadn't forgotten.
"Of course. I didn't realise that the week had passed so quickly." Lizzy was well aware of how many hours it was until he was to pick her up, but there was no possible way that William was to ever know that.
"Is 8 o'clock still ok, I wasn't sure. I was just ringing to make sure."
"No, 8 is fine, I have never been to something like this before and am willing to learn." Lizzy said, the smile evident in her voice.
"By the time next year is over you will be sick of them and grateful when it is you that doesn't have to attend." William blurted out, hoping that it didn't sound as though he didn't want her to attend, or that she was merely invited as a distraction.
"I'm sure." Lizzy laughed and William relaxed, grateful that her humour had recognised the true sentiment in his statement.
"Tomorrow then?" William asked, wanting to be with her and not merely chatting over the phone.
"Until then." Lizzy replied.
They hung up and sat in their respective houses wishing that they were going somewhere other than a educational lecture tomorrow.
Lizzy barely slept at all, she was so nervous, what was to become of tomorrow, but more importantly what if... what if he was only asking her to be nice, what if he was going to arrive with her and then leave her moments later for a woman with more class than Lizzy could ever imagine, what if...
Finally realising that she was better to get up and organised than laying in her bed tossing and turning, Lizzy rose and made her way to the kitchen, looking at the clock she saw it was only 4:30. There was still three and a half hours to go, what was she going to do?
Lizzy eventually decided on a history textbook, if it didn't put her to sleep at least she would know all there was to know about... Lizzy turned to the cover of the book - "Trench Warfare".
Lizzy was dreaming of the day ahead when the phone rang, breaking into her sleep.
"Lizzy?" The voice said uncertainly.
"What is it?" Lizzy mumbled having just gotten to sleep. "What are you doing ringing at this time?"
"It's half past seven, I was just ringing to say..."
"SEVEN?!" Lizzy exclaimed.
"Yep. I just wanted to say that if you ran into..."
"Charlotte!" Lizzy screamed into the phone, cutting her best friend off mid-sentence. "I have to go!"
"Have fun..." Charlotte retorted, slightly irked that she was being shunned.
"Bye." Lizzy hung up and jumped into the shower.
Lizzy let the water caress through her hair and felt bad about the conversation with Charlotte, to own the truth she was extremely glad she had rung, otherwise she might have still been asleep when William came. "Hmmm..." Lizzy murmured, thinking of all the wonderful possibilities that existed in regard to being awoken.
Lizzy snapped herself out of a daze and was still running around with wet hair when there was a knock on the door. Without thinking Lizzy called out. "It's open!"
"Elizabeth?" William replied uncertainly.
"Coming." Lizzy called in reply and quickly ran a brush through her hair and grabbed a clip off the sideboard. "Sorry."
"No problem." William smiled as he took her in. She was gorgeous as she stood before him and he had to use all of his energy to direct her to the car.
"I didn't mean to be running late." Lizzy apologised once again as William set his car onto the road.
"It doesn't matter really, we were going to be early." He smiled across at her.
"Charlotte rang and..." Lizzy trailed off, wondering if she needed to explain who Charlotte was.
"Your best friend right?" He filled the silence.
"Yep." Lizzy whispered, smiling broadly. He obviously paid attention when she talked.
"I hope you weren't rude to her on my account." He stated.
"Well, no." Lizzy fibbed. Knowing that her first call that afternoon would have to be to Charlotte.
"Not that I think you could ever be..." William trailed off.
"You know well and truly how I can be." She smiled over at him and he fought the urge to take her hand in his.
They spent the entire trip in conversation, lapsing into silence only when it was comfortable and thoughtful. Both were disappointed that they arrived so quickly.
"Are you ready?" William asked, racing around so that he could open the door for her, while she gathered her things.
"As I'll ever be." Lizzy answered, blushing as their fingers touched briefly.
They walked toward the entrance and Lizzy stopped short.
"You'll be fine." William reassured her, Lizzy smiled wondering if she was that transparent.
"Yeah." Lizzy smiled weakly, still not being able to make a step forward.
"I'll be right here." William smiled and placed a comforting hand on the small of her back to guide her into the venue.
"William Darcy and Lizzy Bennet." William stated to the clerk who handed them a copy of the proposed speakers. Lizzy smiled, secretly pleased that he had booked her in as Lizzy, knowing that he preferred to call her Elizabeth, as though it were something that were just between them.
"Is here ok?" William asked, motioning to some seats to Lizzy's left. Lizzy just nodded and walked in amongst the chairs. They sat down and Lizzy noticed at once his close proximity. The chairs were relatively small and it required the occasional brushing of arms and legs. Eventually they settled in as the lectures begun, Lizzy couldn't focus, she could think of nothing more than the back of William's hand on her thigh.
"What did you think?" William's voice cut into her reprieve as the crowd began to rise in search of the refreshment table.
"I completely agree with Matlock's philosophy, I think that no matter what syllabus is being taught or which order they are perceived in, it can all be traced back to the origins of elementary history which are taught in the junior stages." Lizzy ended her tirade and smiled, hoping that the few phrases she had mixed together formed a coherent idea and more importantly even vaguely resembled that which had just been presented.
"Well done." William smiled at her encouragingly. "Here I was thinking he was great at projecting his voice." This elicited a small giggle from Lizzy and they wandered over to where coffee was being served.
"Two white and one's thanks." William asked the lady serving.
"Coming right up." She smiled up at him and Lizzy raised her eyebrow cautiously, it was obvious that she was by the side of one of the most eligible bachelors the department had to offer.
"William, William Darcy." The voice was coming from behind Lizzy and both she and William turned to see whom it was coming from.
"Louisa." William replied with a tight smile.
"I never expected you to be here."
"Me either." William replied, Lizzy could tell from his stance that he was loathing the conversation.
"When exactly did you get back from 'out there'?" Louisa cooed, edging closer to his side.
"About ten weeks ago, wasn't Elizabeth?" He asked, drawing Lizzy into the conversation.
"About that yes." Lizzy smiled, hoping that Louisa couldn't see through it.
"You should have called."
"Ah... our coffee. Nice seeing you." William turned his attention to the coffee and made an unnecessary fuss about giving it to Lizzy.
Lizzy raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"Outside." He whispered, placing his mouth close to her ear and carefully guiding her to the nearest exit.
They found a bench outside and they sat down, when William began to speak.
"Louisa Hurst. She went through university with me and for some reason believes that we are the 'oldest and dearest' friends." Lizzy sipped her coffee quietly. "I never have had anymore than a three minute conversation with her, I swear." Lizzy laughed at the picture of William Darcy justifying other women to her.
"I have friends like that, they seem to never take a hint." Lizzy smiled mischievously.
"I mailed your evaluation this morning." William started hoping for a change in conversation.
"Really? How was it?" Lizzy asked innocently.
"Elizabeth." William stated with mock seriousness. "Oh! Come on." William grabbed her hand, having noticed that the next speaker was taking the podium. Lizzy's eyes opened wide, but she didn't loosen the grip they shared.
He led her quietly to the back of the room and Lizzy pushed a memory of kissing her primary school crush in the back row of the movies, to the back of her mind.
Lizzy looked around the room and wondered if anyone knew of the emotional torment that was going on in her head right now. All she wanted to do was run away with the man occupying the seat next to her. Lizzy returned her attention to the speaker and tried to focus on the words but all that occupied her mind was the fact that he had dropped her hand only minutes earlier.
William had dropped her hand as he turned the page of the program in his possession; he then felt the loss of contact as if it were his lifeline. He wished he had the courage to gather it up once more after he had finished but instead he tried to absorb himself in the words on the page. William noticed a confused expression, and perhaps one of loss cross Lizzy's face as their touch was broken and he wondered how he could determine whether he or the speaker controlling the microphone caused that expression.
"I'm thinking about attending this one." William whispered, placing his mouth close to her ear and pointing to a different speaker and location in the next time slot.
"Sounds interesting." Lizzy supplied, involuntarily turning her head toward his voice, meaning that they were literally just millimetres apart.
"I didn't realise that Native American Indian warfare was also been spoken about though." William's voice sounded disappointed and Lizzy promised herself that she would put his happiness before her own.
"What if..." Lizzy paused, not liking what she was about to say, but saying it anyway. "I go to 'Germany - A Nazi state' and you attend the one on warfare and we can swap notes on it." Lizzy smiled, hoping that it didn't give away her absolute disgust in the plan.
"If that's what you want." William sounded even more dejected, and Lizzy's head screamed at her 'Of course it's not what I want!'
"I'll make you a deal." Lizzy's heart pounded and she forced her nerves to settle down. "We'll go out for coffee after and we can compare lectures." Lizzy breathed deeply, hoping to see a smile or look of pleasure cross his features and fortunately she wasn't disappointed.
"Sounds perfect." He whispered, smiling broadly. Lizzy turned back to the front and starting to bite her lip nervously - had she just asked out the head teacher of HSIE at Meryton?
Both bore the separation well, anticipating what was to come. Lizzy found that she learnt a reasonable amount from the speaker, she smiled; realising that this time she paid attention primarily because William Darcy wasn't sitting next to her, looking gorgeous, wearing a completely unreadable and equally adorable expression.
William paid little attention, thinking about Lizzy sitting quietly in the opposite room, the smile dropped from his face when he thought of all the other people that got to be in her presence. Why did he have to bring up the thing about different speakers? Then, he reasoned with himself he wouldn't have been asked for coffee following the event. William felt slightly guilty, after all he had asked her to accompany him and yet she still seemed to be more willing to take their acquaintance beyond the professional status it had acquired.
"What did you think?" William asked, as Lizzy approached him.
"Interesting." Lizzy said conspiringly. William raised an eyebrow intrigued. "Coffee?" Lizzy asked anxiously.
"Like I could forget." William smiled and motioned for her to lead the way to the car. Lizzy blushed as he held the car door open for her, for some reason this coffee was becoming more and more like a formal date.
"Where are we going?" William asked, steering the car onto the road.
"You know the area better than I do." Lizzy teased.
"But it was your suggestion." William retaliated, wishing that he could take back what he had just said, and hoping in the same instant that she hadn't taken it as though he was only going because... well that was far from the truth.
"I guess it was, but you suggested the two lectures." Lizzy laughed, trying to shift the responsibility.
"Ok, Ok!" William laughed. "I am hereby taking complete responsibility for anything that has or will occur on this day." Lizzy blushed at the implication, but her smile and sense of joy far out weighed any embarrassment she felt.
"Good." Lizzy said simply, and allowed the car to lapse into semi-silence with the soft music William had playing being drowned out by the rain, which started to patter on the roof of the car.
William pulled into a small café after they had been driving for some time.
"Here we are." William said, breaking into Lizzy's reprieve.
"'Rosings'?" Lizzy asked, reading the name from the top of the building.
"It used to belong to a friend of the family and is representative of the one that was proposed at Pemberley." Lizzy looked puzzled and William elaborated. "They were going to put in a café / restaurant at Pemberley manor, but the it was not approved as the building is heritage listed. This was what the family wanted." He motioned to the arrangement before them and Lizzy took a deep breath as she took in the beauty before her. "I know how much you enjoyed Pemberley and thought that perhaps you would like this almost as much." Lizzy admired the walls and décor of the café. The pictures that hung were of Pemberley, or were painted in the same era. The furnishings made her feel as though she were the heroine of a 'Victorian novel'. William watched happily as Lizzy drank in their surroundings. When she had turned a complete circle, she came back face to face with William and smiled broadly.
"Shall we?" She asked.
"Of course." William moved to a couch-like corner and stood while she sat.
They ordered their coffees and chatted easily about Pemberley and Rosings until their order was delivered.
"I had a great time today." Lizzy said, smiling at him over the rim of her coffee mug.
"I did too." William replied, returning the smile.
"I thought you hated these things." Lizzy questioned.
"Must have been the company then." William mused, looking down into his own coffee. Lizzy smiled and blushed, but couldn't tear her eyes from his face. When he finally looked back up again he smiled self-consciously.
"I really enjoyed my time at Meryton." Lizzy stated, sensing he was uncomfortable.
"I'm sure that there would be many people hoping that you would come and join out staff permanently."
"Jane just said that." Lizzy laughed.
"She means it and I think the deputy would welcome you with open arms." Both of them smiled at this picture of Fitzwilliam.
"What about you?" Lizzy asked quietly.
"You're not an intern any more." William stated as though that were an answer.
"No I'm not." Lizzy answered in a largely confused tone.
"Elizabeth, I..." William locked his gaze with hers. "I don't want you to be a teacher at Meryton." Lizzy's face dropped and she rose from her chair uncertainly. William's voice betrayed him for a moment and the sentences that were running through his head refused to come out.
Lizzy understood the silence to mean that he wanted nothing more to do with her and she hastily ran for the door.
"Elizabeth!" William called, rising from his seat and following her outside. Lizzy heard his voice and refused to turn around, she walked through the rain, not knowing or caring in which direction she was headed. "Elizabeth!" William whispered, finally catching up to her and grabbing hold of her hand, forcing her to stop and face him.
There was only silence between them and the tension had built to a point where the tears were sliding down Lizzy's cheeks. William followed the only thought in his mind and joined his lips to hers.
The kiss was sweet and tasted of the tears that Lizzy had shed, but to him it was perfect. William waited for her to pull back and when she didn't, he raised his hand to her cheek to deepen the kiss.
"I don't want you to be a teacher at Meryton." William stated, releasing her from his hold. "I want you to be so much more."
He wrapped his arms around her and waited for her to smile before he expressed his feelings for the second time.