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Oil Thigh Na Banrign - Chapter 6(i)

"Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.*

It was on Thanksgiving that she caught the first signs of her father's infidelity. He was in his study, apparently paying the tennis instructor for the lessons. However, when Elinor went to the study to call her father to the Thanksgiving dinner, she heard giggling emerging from the room through the loosely closed door. At first, she thought that it was her mother's giggles, but from her recollection at that time, her mother never giggled. The truth of the situation had struck Elinor like a blow to the face. Unwilling to believe it unless she saw for herself, she had pushed open the door and saw a sight she would spend the rest of her young adult years forgetting. She thought her father would have gotten upset and yelled at her for not knocking. If he had done that, Elinor would have ample reason to be angry with him. Instead, Mr. Dashwood had said calmly, "Is there anything you need me for, Elinor?" Elinor had reeled in shock, unable to believe her father was not abased by his predicament. With a face drained of all colour, she had stammered that dinner was about to begin and asked him if he would like to join them. He had answered in the affirmative and had told her to tell her mother that he would be a little late.

Elinor sat up in her bed, and knocked the top of her head on Marianne's bunk. "Ow! You stupid..." her language at this point was complete indiscernible, but it was safe to assume that most of it was unladylike. She was about to give the upper bunk a thrashing of a life time when Marianne entered the room.

"Hi, Elinor." Marianne greeted breathlessly. "It's cold out isn't it?"

Elinor shrugged, "I suppose. I haven't been out since lunch. How was class?"

"It was okay," said Marianne, dropping her bag beside her desk, and draping her jacket on the back of her chair. She tied up her sandy curls and collapsed on Elinor's bed with a sigh of exaltation.

"Thank goodness for Thanksgiving," she said. "I don't think I couldn't have put up with another week without taking a break."

Elinor nodded glumly. Thanksgiving didn't mean the same thing to the two sisters. She turned away from Marianne and played with the trimmings on her pillow. Marianne immediately noticed the change.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just tired from the week, that's all."

Marianne looked doubtful. "Are you sure nothing is wrong?"

Elinor let out a cold laugh, "No, I'm positive there is nothing wrong. Just getting a little sick and tired of all this." And still, Marianne looked dubious. Elinor stood up and headed for the door. "I'm hungry. Let's go down to dinner. Lizzy's still around, right? We'd better knock on her door and see if she's eaten yet."

Marianne nodded and slowly stood up as if uncertain whether or not dinner was a good idea. Seeing the look of genuine concern on her sister's face, Elinor racked her brain for something to divert Marianne's thoughts away from her. Her wits did not fail her for almost immediately she thought of the perfect thing to ask Marianne.

"How's John been lately? I haven't seen him around."

The plan worked. Marianne grabbed her jacket and said gleefully, "He just went home today. That's why I'm so late getting back. I went and saw him to the bus."

"Well, that's very nice of you," said Elinor stepping into her sandals. She never wore proper shoes unless she was going out - and the cafeteria, according to Elinor, was not out.

They stepped out into the hall, which for the first time since September was eerily silent. Marianne turned to lock the door and found her movements to be uncomfortably loud.

"Weird, isn't it?" came Lizzy's voice echoing down the hall. "I'm almost scared to walk down this hall with my shoes on."

"Yeah," agreed Elinor, standing behind Marianne. "We were going to drop by your room to ask you to dinner. Coming?"

"Yup. Actually, I was going to knock on your door and ask if you guys were ready for dinner too."

Mariann rose from her work with the lock, "Wow, look at us. We're thinking along the same wavelengths."

Lizzy cocked her head, "Actually, wavelengths don't have much to do with thoughts neither do frequencies..."

"Oh, shut up!"

The trio bickered amiably all the way down to the cafeteria, which was just as empty as their dormitory.

In the cafeteria, Lizzy made herself the usual pita from the salad and deli bar. Marianne ate the same thing she ate for breakfast. Elinor vouched for starchy pasta, and three glasses of water to wash down the aftertaste of the mystery sauce. Evidently, cafeteria food had not improved - actually, it got even worse.

"So, what are our plans for Thanksgiving?" asked Lizzy when they saw down with their meager meals.

"I thought we were going to cook a turkey?" asked Marianne stirring in the brown sugar on top of her cereal.

"Don't you think we're being a little too ambitious with Thanksgiving?" Lizzy responded. "I mean, we haven't even bought the bird and the supplies to cook it with. And what if the turkey is frozen? It'll take forever to defrost."

"We could stick it in the microwave," suggested Marianne.

Lizzy raised one eyebrow in amusement. Marianne obviously had not cooked many meals in her life. "Marianne, I don't think that's going to work. We'll just end up cooking the outside of the bird in the microwave and it'll be frozen on the inside."

"Really?"

"I think so. At least that's what my mom says. What do you think Elinor?"

Elinor listlessly twirled her fork. She would have liked to say that they should just gloss over Thanksgiving. After all, it's just another holiday. Why were they making such a big deal about it?

She cleared her throat, "It really doesn't matter. You guys decide, and I'll just help. I'll be really busy this weekend anyway."

Marianne turned to Lizzy and gave her a meaningful look. Lizzy nodded back and switched the conversation to something else.

"Is it just me?" she asked, "Or does this food really bite?"

"It really bites." Elinor said. She let a bit of pasta on her fork go limp and plop back down onto her plate to illustrate her point.

"What is with them?" Marianne wondered. "I thought that food should improve this weekend since they don't have to cook for masses of people. Look at us! It like we're at boot camp."

"You've never been to boot camp!"

"Well, I've watched Sally Jesse Raphel and the food they serve the kids who go to boot camp is the same as the stuff they serve us."

Elinor rolled her eyes and pushed back her plate. "This is ridiculous. Let's all go back to McNeill and order something."

Lizzy set down her uneaten pita. After eating the same thing for two weeks in a row, she was beginning to feel nauseous at the mention of pitas. "Good idea. Besides, it's the long weekend, we should be celebrating." She was very careful not to mention Thanksgiving in front of Elinor.

An hour later, the girls were seated contentedly on the couches of the McNeill Hall with steaming Kung Po Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Spring Rolls, and a three cartons of rice spread out on the coffee table. The television was tuned to Dawson's Creek, although the girls were more occupied with their feast than with the woes of the Dawson and Joey.

"This is more like it!" said Lizzy, as she stopped to help herself to another spring roll. "Thanks for paying Elinor."

Elinor shrugged, "It wasn't me who paid for it. It was child support."

Lizzy looked confused. Right next to her, Marianne took in a sharp breath. "That's right! I had forgotten!"

Still Lizzy looked confused. "Uh, am I allowed to ask what happened today?"

"It isn't what happened today," explained Marianne, "It was what happened around this time two years ago." She turned to Elinor, "So that's what's been bugging you. Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I didn't want you to get all upset."

"What do you mean you don't want me to get all upset? For goodness sake Elinor! I don't get you sometimes. Why can't you ever tell me anything? I would have figured it out anyway."

"Um, should I go and leave you two to talk this out?" Lizzy asked uncomfortably.

Elinor shook her head, "No, no. Sorry for leaving you out, but it's just that..." She trailed off. She just couldn't bring herself to talk of such a thing with someone other than her family. She felt that it was a shameful thing that had happened and didn't want people to know.

Lizzy set down her plate. "What is it Elinor? I've never seen you this upset."

Elinor took a deep breath. "Two years ago on Thanksgiving weekend, I walked in on my dad with another woman." Lizzy noticed Elinor cringe when she pronounce the word 'dad'.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"I thought it would be pretty obvious. Two sisters living in a cramped and sparse economy double. Doesn't it just scream 'kids of a broken marriage' to you?"

"No! Of course not! Why would you think that?" Lizzy cried. This was a side of Elinor she had never seen before. She turned to face her directly. "No one has ever thought that about you two. Lots of people live in Economy doubles just because they want to save a bit of money. Jane and I were going to room together in an Economy double this year, but my scholarship came through and we changed our rooming plans at the last minute." She stopped and looked deep into Elinor's light brown eyes. "You didn't think that we would be judgmental about you two just because your parents were divorced, did you?"

Elinor hesitated and Lizzy knew the answer.

"Oh Elinor! Why did you assume that? We're supposed to be friends! Friends don't judge each other. How long have you been feeling this way?"

"Ever since last year really. I didn't make many friends in my first year. I always thought that they didn't like me because of how my dad is... well, how he just is."

"Look at Emma!" Lizzy reasoned. "Her parents are divorced too! She lives with her dad while her sister lives with her mom. She told me that she hasn't seen her mother and her sister in nine years because they're in South Africa. She's not ashamed."

Elinor nodded. "I suppose so. I guess I just never thought that it would happen to our family. My dad was always really faithful to my mom and we were getting along really well. Then all of a sudden BAM! It really caught me off guard."

Lizzy moved closer to Elinor and put her arms around her. "I can't pretend that I know how that feels, but you should really open up and tell us about all the things that are bugging you. It really isn't fair to keep us guessing while you stay miserable until we figure it out."

At that moment, Marianne yelled out, "She so slept with that Pacey!!! You two timing... Urgh!" Evidently, she had not been listening to Lizzy's words of comfort to Elinor.

"And that ends our Kodak moment," said Lizzy with a smile at Elinor.

"Get used to it. She does that a lot."

"Hey, so is that all that was bothering you about Thanksgiving?" Lizzy asked.

Elinor sighed. "Yes and no. The other reason is really stupid actually."

"What? Do tell! That is, if you wouldn't mind telling me."

"There was this guy..."

"Oh a guy!" Marianne's attention was regained. "I want to hear about this. How come you've never told me?"

"You never asked."

"But..."

"Shut up! I want to know about her love life."

Elinor blushed, "It really wasn't much of a love life. It was just a guy who I thought-forget it. We weren't even that serious."

"According to your streak of under-evaluating your own emotions, I'm sure there was something really intense between you and this mystery man."

"Mystery Man?" Elinor raised an eyebrow. "You made him sound like some kind of Marvel's Comics character."

"I know you're trying to avoid the topic, so stop it and get on with telling us the juicy bits about you and this guy last year." Lizzy insisted. She leaned back on the couch to prepare herself for Elinor's long tale.

After much humming and further prodding from Lizzy and Marianne, Elinor finally relented and told them about her first year at Queen's.

*William Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing Act II, Scene iii

Oil Thigh Na Banrign - Chapter 6(ii)

One year ago during Thanksgiving weekend

It looked like rain. But the two strollers sauntering down Princess Street would never allow it. It was going to be perfect for the two of them, and nothing was going to stop the day from being anything less than perfect. Well, maybe the acrid smell of the day old oil diffusing from the nearby McDonald's was an exception.

She wrinkled up her nose, "Ugh, disgusting."

The boy standing next to her nodded, "How can anybody eat stuff that comes out of a place emitting smells like that?"

The girl looked up at the boy who was walking beside her and characteristically raised one eyebrow. "As I recall, you bought a Quarter Pounder from there just yesterday."

"Ah," said the boy, "Well, you see. I was hungry, and I had no choice."

"There's a nice café just across the street."

"Ah," said the boy, but he still didn't have an answer prepared so he said, "Ah" again.

She didn't mind. She liked how he always said "Ah." They continued down the street, strolling as comfortably as an old couple.

Princess Street was always busy on Saturdays, but this Saturday it was especially busy. People were hastily bumbling from store to store looking for last minute supplies and gifts for Thanksgiving. Students dressed in navy blue uniforms from the Royal Military College weaved in and out of crowds anxious to savour as much freedom from the long weekend as they could. The only two people who didn't seem to be in any hurry were our two strollers.

Soon after passing the McDonald's, they arrived at the local bookstore and the boy opened the door for the girl and walked in after her. They headed upstairs to the coffee shop and the girl sat down at a table by the window as the boy left to get them some hot chocolate to warm them up from the cold. She watched him from where she sat.

Despite his nature to blend into a crowd, she could always distinguish him from everyone else. "Like a diamond in the rough," she often mused to herself, and it was true. He always looked like he had just gotten out of bed. His hair was of a mousy shade and always fell across his brows in unkempt tufts. It was as if he never cared to brush his hair in the morning when he rolled off his bed and into his clothes. He always wore the same clothes. During the summer, it was khakis and t-shirts with sandals. In the fall and winter, it was sweaters with jeans and a pair of sneakers. He wore the same jacket for all four seasons-a modest tan tweed coat. He really didn't care about what he looked like, and she didn't care either.

The boy turned and saw the girl watching him. He smiled, crinkling up the edges of his mild brown eyes, another defining characteristic of his. Just then, the woman at the counter handed him the two cups of hot chocolate and he headed back to the table.

"Thanks," she said, reaching for her wallet. "How much was it?"

The boy waved away her attempts to pay him back, "Don't worry about it. It was just a couple of dollars."

She shrugged, "Okay, thanks."

They sat and drank their velvety hot chocolates in companionable silence. Occasionally, they would look at each other, but whenever they caught each other's gaze, they would immediately look uncomfortable and turn away.

This was unusual for the two of them. Usually, whenever they stopped for a hot chocolate in the bookshop café, they would chat nonstop from the time they sat down until the time they got up; and even then, they would have something else to say-books they've recently read, places they plan on visiting, and opinions on the rising tuition fees. A common eavesdropper could easily be kept entertained and educated by the wholesome conversations the two usually had.

The boy cleared his throat, and took in a sharp breath as if to say something. The girl looked up expectantly willing him to say what she had been longing to hear from him since they first met by Lake Ontario in September. However, his courage faltered and he looked back down at his hands. Disappointed, she looked out the window and onto the bustling street below, unaware of the close examination the boy was now making of her from under his jagged forelocks.

To him, there was no word to describe her but beautiful. It was not the stunning kind of beauty found in some girls, but the enduring observation of pulchritude that comes with familiarity. He had known her since September, and he remembered the day they met very well. She was sitting on one of the many limestone boulders beside the lake sketching in a notepad. He was taking his usual after dinner solitary walks, and in the work of the moment, he had boldly approached her and asked for her permission to sit on a neighbouring rock. In retrospect, he realized just how foolish he must have seemed: a strange boy coming from behind her and asking if he could sit down next to her. But he was never the kind of boy to come up with suave pick up lines for girls. His younger brother, Robert, however, could always say and do the right things to attract pretty girls to come and sit with him. He was very much relieved when she didn't just pack up and leave after he sat down; instead, she made some general comments about the weather and the splendor of the dawning sun. He agreed with her observations and the two fell easily into conversation after that. He asked to see her sketchbook and found her very talented at manipulating blacks, grays, and whites to give the impression of brilliant colours. They sat and chatted until the sun had set and the stars began to twinkle in inky autumn sky. He walked her home that night and immediately regretted not asking for her phone number. The next evening, he went on his walk again with hopes of meeting her; she did not fail him, and he found her sitting on the same rock like the day before. This time, he did not forget to ask for her phone number. The rest was history. It was the classic meeting of two ordinary people who found commonalities with each other in their ordinary lives.

"Um," began the boy, turning his mug round and round its saucer.

"Yes?" said the girl still looking very hopeful.

The boy gathered up the remnants of his courage and spoke, "I just want to tell you that... I don't know if this is such a good idea, but..." He couldn't bring himself to ask her. What if she hated him after he told her the truth, and just wanted them to be friends while he wanted so much more? Perhaps it was better left unsaid.

A trace of impatience fleeted across the girl's face. He was so close. What was stopping him? She wanted to tell him how she felt, but what if he didn't really like her in that way? How she wished he would just pluck up his courage blurt it out.

Another wave of determination came across the boy's resolve and seizing the opportunity he said, "What do you think about me?"

"Oh, great," thought the girl, "Now the ball's in my court." She quickly formulated the best answer to give him while protecting herself from any embarrassment lest he only wanted friendship. Finally, she said, "You're a really great friend and I really like the times we spend together."

"Is that all?"

She squirmed, "Well, no."

The boy grinned. There was no doubt about her feelings now. He would tell her just how he felt.

But it was not to be, for at that moment a pair of arms came from behind him and wrapped itself around his neck. A kiss was being place soundly on his cheeks and he spun around to see a heavily made up face topped with a mass of bright red hair tied up cocky. She stank of cigarettes mixed with vanilla perfume.

"Hello, Lucy," he said with an expression of surprise bordering on disgust on his usually mild-tempered face.

"Edward Ferrars. You never called me back. Got on your high horse and rode away, I suppose?" She leered, spinning around and sitting down on Edward's lap, knocking over his cup of hot chocolate in the process. The hot chocolate splashed onto the girl's sweater and jeans.

Edward pushed Lucy off his lap and moved to help the girls wipe off the mess. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"No, that's okay." The girl replied, busily wiping away the sticky hot chocolate and blinking away the tears that were stinging in her eyes.

Lucy sighed exasperatedly, "Oops! Clumsy me. But don't you worry about it. If you go home right now, you'll be able to clean that stuff off no problem!"

The girl nodded, "Good idea. I'll see you later, Edward." She stood up and gathered up her coat.

"I'll walk you home." Edward offered.

She shook her head, "No, there's not need to do that. I'll be fine."

"It's not a problem, Elinor. I need to head back to campus anyway."

"No, it's fine." Elinor insisted, now desperate to leave the coffee shop before her heart betrayed her. "Goodbye, Edward. It was nice meeting you, Lucy." And with that, she hurried out of the coffee shop unaware of the look of pain on Edward's face. She didn't even look at him to say goodbye.

Present Day

"And that's about it." Elinor concluded.

Both Lizzy and Marianne sat gaping, flabbergasted at the story they had just heard. Lizzy wiped away some tears on her shirtsleeves and sniffed loudly.

"I need a hug. No. You need a hug." Lizzy said gesturing at Elinor. Then both she and Marianne leaned forward to hug Elinor who quickly backed away.

"Guys. I'm okay. It happened a year ago. It wasn't a big deal to me then and it still isn't a big deal to me now."

"How can you say that?" demanded Marianne. "I'm heartbroken and it didn't wasn't even me!"

"Well, you're very empathetic," said Elinor without a trance of sadness in her voice.

Lizzy blinked at Elinor and cocked her head to one side, unable to understand how Elinor could not be upset at such a past. "There's something freaky about you, you know that?"

Elinor chuckled, "When you both have been through as much as me, you'll understand that things like this just happen in life, and crying about it or telling people about it isn't going to do much."

"Don't you feel better after telling us though?" asked Lizzy.

Elinor shrugged, "Yeah, but I still don't see how telling people about these kinds of things is going to help it go away." She almost said 'help the pain go away', but the last thing she needed to hear right now was more gushing from Marianne as she attempted to console her.

Lizzy looked pensive and saw right through Elinor's indifference. "Telling people about your problems is probably not going to make the problem go away, but there is something about confiding in another person that will make you feel better. You should do it more often."

"Yeah, well, it's getting late," said Elinor with a sigh. "We've been in this common room for far too long. I was supposed to get some work done tonight."

Feeling that it was best to leave Elinor alone, after what she was sure was an emotionally wrenching night, Lizzy agreed and the group headed back up to the fourth floor and into their respective bedrooms.

The red light from her telephone was flashing in her room when Lizzy opened the door. Someone had called while she was downstairs. Thinking that it was her parents, she dialed in her PIN number to listen to the message. There was much rumbling and rustling in the background before a person spoke.

"Uh, hi. Uh, this is Chuck. We're... um... in the hospital right now. Uh... Jane had an allergic reaction. The doctors said that she's in some kind of shock. It starts with an A. but I-I don't remember what it is exactly." There was more rustling, and then, "What? Ben Affleck shock? Shut up, Carol, you don't know what you're talking about. It's starts with an A, I was there and you weren't, so shut up! Uh, anyways, the doctors are wondering asking for her previous health records to see what else she's allergic to. I'll try calling you tomorrow. Yeah, okay. Bye."

Oil Thigh Na Banrign - Chapter 7(i)

Lizzy squinted down at her watch, and groaned. It was 8am and she was in the middle of downtown Toronto without a map, address, or even a telephone number of a contact person, and to top off her predicament, it seemed like ages since she last ate or slept.

She had received Chuck's message at around 2:00am and from then on, her mind hadn't stopped racing. Several times, she resigned her self to sleep and wait for Chuck's call in the morning. But her mind had been so racked with guilt and concern for Jane that she finally gave up the idea of resting and began packing her backpack with Jane's emergency medical records. As with most parents of a child with severe allergies, her parents had complied an abridged version of Jane's medical records, detailing which antibiotics and foods she was allergic to. They had entrusted this package to Lizzy's care knowing that if anything went wrong with Jane's health, Lizzy would be able to provide this package for the doctors. After leaving a short note for Elinor and Marianne telling them where she had gone and the reason for her hasty departure, she called for a taxi to drive her to the bus station in order to catch the 5:00am bus into Toronto. Half way into her bus trip, as she watched the day dawn, she realized that she didn't know which hospital Jane was at! Furthermore, she didn't even have Aunt Fanny's phone number with her. Facing the fate of being truly lost in a big city, Lizzy didn't catch a wink of sleep during the three-hour bus trip.

Looking up at the building where the bus driver had dropped her off, her eyes met the sight of The Royal York Hotel. She looked around for any sign of a map, or better yet, a phone booth. She was tempted to go in search of a public telephone when the thought of getting lost in downtown Toronto overpowered her and she decided to venture into the hotel instead and ask for proper directions, even though she had no idea where exactly she wanted to go.

A valet held the doors open for her as she entered the hotel lobby. The sight of the rows of chandeliers suspended on a lofty ceiling and the feel of soft velvety carpet made her forget her problems for a brief spell as she turned slowly to admire the elegance around her. When the initial bewitchment of the beauty surrounding her had melted away, she bravely ventured up to the hotel lobby counter.

"May I help you, Miss?" asked a short balding man wearing a neat black suit.

At this point, Lizzy couldn't help but feel underdressed. She was clad in the same pair of navy slacks she wore yesterday and the same knitted white v-necked sweater. Instinctively, she reached up and smoothed her curls, tucking some loose strands behind her ear. Smiling weakly, she said, "Hi. I, uh, I'm kind of lost and I'm wondering if you have a telephone book for me to use to find someone I need to call."

The man smiled and Lizzy instantly felt better. "Sure, no problem. It happens all the time. Big city you know. Is this your first time here?"

Lizzy nodded, "Yeah, kind of. I mean, yes--"

"There's no need to correct yourself. Trust me," and he lean closer to Lizzy, "I've met some pretty rude people working here and you're not one of them." He reached under the counter and pulled out a telephone book. "Do you know who you're looking for?"

"Someone with a last name of Bingley." She had made up her mind when she saw how friendly this person was. She flipped to the B section and found about fifty people by the name of Bingley living in Toronto. "Oh God..."

"Yeah, I figured that would be your reaction."

Her fingers moved to flip to the G section to look up her Aunt, but the image of Aunt Fanny screeching loudly in this elegant hotel when she came to pick her up quickly drove that option from her mind. Then for a reason unknown to her she flipped to the D section. Her fingers were going to look up Will Darcy.

"Who are you looking up now?"

"I'm looking for... I can't believe I'm doing this... I'm looking for Will Darcy. Do you know him?"

The man knitted his eyebrows, "Well, there are quite a few people with that last name in Toronto too. See?" He pointed to the rows upon rows of people named Darcy.

Lizzy looked like she was going to cry. "Can I sit down and think things over for a bit?"

The man nodded sympathetically and gestured toward one of the well-stuffed armchairs in the lobby.

There really wasn't anything she could do at this point. She could call her parents and ask them for Aunt Fanny's phone number, but it was only 5am in Vancouver and waking her parents up this early just for a phone number seemed illogical to her. She had to go back to Kingston and wait for Chuck to call again. She closed her eyes, which were now smarting from the accumulation of stress and fatigue from the sleepless night. Then slowly, without her knowing, she nodded off in the comfortable armchair, her backpack still strapped to her shoulders.

Someone was shaking her and calling her name. Lizzy sat up in shock, bumping the top of her head on someone.

"Ow!"

Lizzy blinked and saw Will Darcy crouching beside her armchair rubbing his chin. Of all people to find her asleep in a posh hotel, dressed in a two day old outfit with her hair in disarray, it just had to be Will Darcy.

He stood up and looked down at her. "What are you doing here?"

Back in her usual spirit of defensiveness whenever she encountered Will Darcy, Lizzy said with a glare, "I'm taking my back pack for a day's sightseeing."

Will smirked and put his hands into the pockets of his tailored pants, "Well, since you fell asleep on the job, you really suck."

Lizzy's eyes flashed with anger and she leapt to her feet. It was motion unconsciously done in an attempt to gain equal physical footing with Will, and although he was still a foot taller than her, Lizzy's confidence was not deterred. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

For a moment Lizzy saw Will look uncomfortable, but he quickly recovered and said, "I'm here for breakfast."

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "Chuck sent you out to find me right?"

"Nope. Don't think that highly of yourself." Lizzy opened her mouth to insult him but Will continued, unwilling to leave her a gap to edge in her insult. "Actually, just to put your mind at ease, Jane's being discharged from the hospital today. It was only an anaphylactic shock induced by her allergies. She'll be fine."

"Oh, thank goodness." Lizzy said with a sigh of relief. "Are you sure she's okay?"

"Yeah, I went in a saw her just this morning before I came out here."

"So Chuck did send you."

It was Will's turn to roll his eyes, "No, you--"

Lizzy's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Never mind. Look, I can give you a ride to Chuck's place after I finish with this breakfast thing? You wouldn't mind waiting would you?"

She was tempted to turn him down, just to spite him, but he was her only ticket in getting to Jane and she couldn't afford to sacrifice that just for her pride. She would have settle for being indebted to Will this time. Flopping back down into the armchair she said, "Fine."

"Good. Come on then."

Lizzy leapt back onto her feet. "Where are we going?"

"I told you. I have a breakfast thing."

"Why can't you just eat breakfast in your home like normal people?"

"It's a breakfast thing that I have to do. Don't worry, it'll be over really quickly."

"A breakfast thing?" Lizzy wondered to herself as she hurried to keep up with Will Darcy's long strides.

They reached a restaurant called Royal Tea Room just outside the lobby and Will gestured her in before him.

"I have a nine o'clock reservation for three people. Name's Darcy."

The host consulted his book and after crossing something out, showed them to their table. He pulled out a chair for Lizzy who sat down with an expression of amusement on her face. He then waited for Will to sit down beside Lizzy before he moved to take away the extra placement.

"No, no. That's fine," said Will. "There's actually going to be four people at this table today."

The host nodded and left them alone. A short while later, a waiter showed up to fill their glasses with water and asked them if they would like some coffee or tea.

Much to her surprise, Will turned to her and said, "You probably want some coffee, right?"

"Well," she wasn't quite sure how to put it. She had fifty dollars in her wallet for a bus ticket back to Kingston, and by the looks of this hotel, she deduced that they probably didn't take Interact. "Uh, no thanks. Actually, I'm not really hungry." Her stomach took this opportunity to grumble in protest and she prayed that Will hadn't heard.

"Two cups of coffee please." And the waiter left.

"What did you just do?!" demanding Lizzy.

"You needed coffee and" he ran his hands over his face, "I'm definitely going to need coffee to get through this day."

"I told you I wasn't hungry!" Her stomach grumbled again. It was determined to join Will Darcy in humiliating her.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that noise coming from your stomach is just an escaped tiger from the zoo."

How could she tell him that she didn't have the money to pay for a breakfast here? This was turning out to be a bad idea. Maybe she had better just ask him for directions in getting to Chuck's place and leave before the breakfast bill really racks up.

"Uh, maybe I'd better go. Could you please tell me how to get to Chuck's place by bus?"

The edges of Will's mouth tugged in the beginnings of smile, which he effectively suppressed. "Look, I told you that I would drive you to see Jane. Trust me will you?"

"You don't understand! I- I don't want to eat here. I can just grab a muffin or something and wait for you outside in the lobby."

Will nodded slowly, "I see... Okay, don't worry about it. You are not going to be paying for this meal."

"Oh? And I'm supposed to believe that you will be paying for this."

He shrugged, "Kind of."

"What do you mean 'kind of'? You know, I'm getting so sick and tired of this code you're using. What's this thing you are doing with your breakfast? And why are you all dressed up for it?"

Will grinned, "So you've noticed. How do I look?" He leaned back in his chair for Lizzy to get a better look at him.

He was dressed in a dark gray suit over cerulean blue shirt and a trendy looking tie. His dark naturally wavy hair had been gelled and parted neatly. She had never seen him like this and in truth, she felt that he looked great, but instead she said, "You look like a kid in a suit."

"Coming from you. I'll take that as a compliment."

Just then, Will looked up and saw two people approaching him. He quickly pushed back his chair and stood up to greet them. Blindly, Lizzy copied him.

The two came forward and cordially shook Will's hand. He then gestured for them to sit down. At the same time, both saw Lizzy and were a little taken back by her presence. Will noticed this and made the introductions.

"Mike, Richard, this is Elizabeth Bennet, one of my friends at Queen's. She's up here visiting her sister." This was a vague answer and Lizzy was grateful for it. Will then turned to Lizzy and said, "Elizabeth, this is Mike Goldstein," he pointed to the stout middle aged man sitting across from him, "and this is my cousin, Richard Fitzwilliam," he pointed to a sandy haired and handsome man wearing a pair of gold framed glasses who looked just a little older than Will.

Lizzy nodded shyly to each person and waited for Will's next move. He seemed to be in charge of this thing, which Lizzy had quickly recognized as a breakfast meeting. She was beginning to suspect that Caroline's stories were true after all.

"Well, maybe we should get some food before we get down to uh..." he stumbled, unable to find a word to replace 'business' so he instead he said, "Ladies first."

Lizzy opened her mouth to say something, but quickly recollected herself. Smiling graciously, she left the table. Before she had even taken three steps away from them, the briefcase Mike was carrying had been snapped open and the papers taken out. Standing at the breakfast buffet table, she could see Will reading some documents while Mike continually pointed to different places on the sheets Will was holding. Every now and then, Will would frown and say something, which would make Mike draw back his hand and look down at some papers in his briefcase. Occasionally, Will would glance up to check on Lizzy, who would quickly avert her eyes and pretend to be fascinated by the different flora in the room. Just once, he caught her gaze and gave her a pleading look. She returned this look with comforting smile. Finally, when it seemed like Will had had enough of the meeting he looked up at Mike and said very distinctly so Lizzy could see, "Five minutes, Mike. You've got five minutes." Lizzy watched as Will began to nod more and Mike consulted his briefcase less. Will would continually check his watch pressuring Mike to hurry. Lizzy knew it was time for her to head back to the table when she saw Will take the proffered pen from Mike to sign the papers.

"Ah. I see our lady is back," said Mike grinning broadly. Evidently, whatever it was Will and him were arguing about had worked out well for him.

Lizzy looked over at Will who was signing the papers, also with a look of success in his eyes. Curious, she looked down at his signature. The first thing she noticed was that it was very artistic; Will had probably spent a lot of time developing that signature. The next thing she noticed was that his name didn't start with a W; he was signing a longer name that started with an F.

"There you go, Mike," said Will with a flourish pushing the papers back at Mike. He then stood up to head over to the buffet table.

"Wait! Wait!" beckoned Mike as Will began to move away. "You forgot to initial here."

Rolling his eyes playfully at Lizzy, he reached for the pen once more and wrote very distinctly on the dotted lines: F G D. Then with a mock-heroic turn and a slight skip in his step he headed over to the lavished buffet table.

Feeling rather overwhelmed by the whole process she had just witnessed, Lizzy decided that it would be best if she just ate her breakfast and waited for the meeting to finish. She watched discretely as Mike pushed the stack of papers Will had just signed over to Richard.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea, Mike." Richard mumbled, thinking that Lizzy couldn't hear.

Mike wiggled impatiently in his chair and wagged the Mont Blanc pen at Richard who took it, but didn't apply it to the paper. Seeing that Richard wasn't going to sign without him saying something, Mike took in a deep shaky breath and said, "It's his decision. I told him all the problems that might come up in the future, but he still insisted on doing it, so if it doesn't work out and the guy gets up and runs again, he would have been warned."

Richard took off his glasses and twirled them absentmindedly as he looked down at the papers. "But what do you think, Mike?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stop thinking like his attorney. What would you do if your kid was going to make this kind of decision?"

"Honestly," said Mike, "I think that boy has a really good head on his shoulders. He's honouring what his father wanted and he's cutting a good deal with the guy. I would be proud at the way he's handling this."

Richard nodded and signed the papers, "That's all I needed to hear." He handed the signed documents back to Mike who quickly tossed them into his briefcase and snapped it shut.

"Excellent," said Mike. He turned to Lizzy who was pretending to be enthralled by the sausages on her plate and said, "Well, Elizabeth. It was nice meeting you. I wish you a successful school year."

"Oh, aren't you going to stay for breakfast?" Lizzy asked.

Mike shook his head. "No thank you." He turned to Richard, "I'm going to go back to the office and get this faxed. See you there." Then with another look at Lizzy Mike lifted his briefcase from the table and bolted from the restaurant.

"How's your breakfast?" asked Richard.

"It's fine," said Lizzy shyly. She had no idea why she suddenly felt so self-conscious around these people. She had been to many nice restaurants and hotels before, but it was always with her parents and Jane, people who she felt comfortable around. This was different to her. She had just eavesdropped on a whole business deal, if that's what it indeed was. She wanted to ask them what had just happened and what Will had just signed away, but from what she knew from movies and magazines, information like that isn't usually disclosed to a common bystander.

Richard leaned back in his chair and twiddled his thumbs, "So, how'd you meet Will?"

"He's one of the people on our brother floor."

"He's a pretty fun guy, isn't he?"

"Uh," Lizzy didn't know what to say. The words 'fun' and 'Will' were as soluble in her mind has oil and water. But Richard was looking at her so eagerly that she just had to fabricate a lie and say, "Oh yeah. He's um, he's nice."

"Have you seen him do the Michael Jackson yet?"

"What?" said Lizzy, looking rather bemused.

"Oh man, you haven't seen him do the Michael Jackson? It's great! He does the Moonwalk and everything. Well, except for the crotch grabbing. His dad saw him do that once and he was lectured for a whole hour on crude behaviour."

This was a lot more information about Will Darcy than she really cared to know. It seemed as if Richard was describing a completely different person! Lizzy was tempted to ask him if they were talking about the same Will, but instead she lapsed into a fit of giggles.

"What's so funny?" asked Will, who had returned to the table and sat down.

"You haven't showed her your Michael Jackson moves!"

Will's mouth opened and closed several times as he looked from Lizzy, who was still giggling, to Richard, who was clearly enjoying this. He cleared his throat. "I haven't done the Michael Jackson since I was fourteen! And this is the last time I'm leaving you alone with a friend I bring to a meeting."

"No, no, no. You did the Michael Jackson last year on Thanksgiving for Georgie. I was there, I remember."

"Go away and stuff that big mouth of yours with food."

This was the last straw. Lizzy burst out peals of laughter that drew several looks from the tables surrounding them. She quickly composed herself when Will turned to face her and actually gave her a stern look.

The smile on Lizzy's face vanished without a trace and she glared back. "Why couldn't he see the fun in this? Why is he incapable of making fun of himself?" she wondered as she shot looks of pure venom at Will.

Will looked away and turned back to Richard. "Where are you going after this?"

"Probably back to the office. Mike will be waiting for me anyway. Hey, where are you planning on spending Thanksgiving?"

"Well, I want to get back into Kingston by Monday afternoon so I'll be leaving Monday morning. I was planning on taking Georgiana out to dinner on Sunday, but she gave me the impression that she didn't want to, so I guess we'll just be staying at home. Want to join us?"

"Yeah, I might. But I'll probably be a little late. Knowing Mike, he'll be in the office on Sunday and he'll never forgive me I'm not there."

"You work on holidays?" asked Lizzy incredulously.

"We work all 365 days in a year. Holidays, Snow Days, Power Outage Days. We work during all of that," answered Richard with a weary smile.

"That's sad. Really sad." Lizzy commented, and then resumed her role in eavesdropping and eating.

"Anyways," said Will. "I guess I'll be expecting you at around eight on Sunday then?"

"Probably."

"We'll wait for you to start dinner."

"No need." Richard got up and took his coat.

"Don't tell me you're not going to eat either?" Lizzy asked.

Richard shook his head, "I've already eaten while I was at the office. It was nice meeting you Elizabeth." He then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Give the guy a break and ask him to show you the Michael Jackson."

Oil Thigh Na Banrign - Chapter 7(ii)

After Richard had left, Will and Lizzy sat and quietly ate their breakfasts. This was rather unusual for them, because in the rare occasions the two had been left alone in the past, they had always bickered. Ever since the day Will and Lizzy walked together to the psychology experiment, she had found many things to dislike about him and he, in turn, had risen to the challenge and tried to annoy her at every opportunity. She resented how quick he was to retort with every comment she made, and he cringed every time she found fault with what he said. But somehow, things were different today.

He was in a suit, for goodness' sake! She had to admit that there was something intimidating about a person in a suit signing papers handed to him by an attorney. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but something all the same. And what was with Richard? Why did he ask her to give him a break?

It was admirable the way she handled herself and the whole situation. It was as if an untamed force had suddenly whirled into his life daring him to contain her. She made the journey from Kingston to Toronto all because her sister was ill. He couldn't find the exact words to describe what he felt about that, but it had to be out there somewhere. Perhaps, just like her, it was indescribable.

Will set down his coffee cup and looked over at Lizzy who was staring at a painting on the opposite side of the room. He wondered if he should apologize to her for that stern look earlier on, but upon second thought, he considered himself thoroughly punished from the glare he had received in return. Instead, he wiped his mouth on a napkin and asked, "Are you finished?"

She looked up at him as if shocked that he had spoken to her. "Yeah."

"I guess we'd better get going then."

She nodded and gathered up her coat and backpack. They walked up to the desk at the entrance of the restaurant where Will signed another piece of paper. They then walked out and Lizzy bumped straight into someone.

"Sorry." She looked up. It was the balding man at the front desk of the hotel who had been kind enough to give her a telephone book.

He took a step back and smiled when he saw her. "We meet again. I was just going to look for you. One moment you were sleeping in the armchair and the next moment, you were gone!"

Lizzy blushed and looked down at her shoes. "Well, I met up with someone I knew."

"I'm glad to hear that." His eyes flickered over and saw Will slipping his arms into his tan cashmere coat and took in a sharp breath. "Mr. Darcy."

Will look at the balding man and smiled, "Hello, Alex. Long time no see."

"I should say so," said the balding man that was Alex, sticking out his hand for Will to shake. "What brings you here today?"

"Had a meeting with Mike and Richard. I don't know why they always like to meet here. They say the food is great, but they never stay to eat it."

Alex chuckled. "I thought after the past year you would have known enough about those two to ask them to hold the meetings in your office by now. "

Will shrugged, "Like they said. The food here is good."

Alex nodded solemnly, "I'm glad to hear that." He looked over at Lizzy and back at Will. "A friend from school?"

"Yeah."

"She tried looking you up in the phone book, but I didn't realize that she was looking for you."

At that point, Lizzy just wanted to sink into the ground. Will started for a moment and looked down at her, his brows knitted in a sort of perplexed amusement.

"Really?" he said with a slight smile on his lips. He bent a little lower hoping to catch the expression on Lizzy's face.

For a moment, Lizzy's blush deepened. Then just as suddenly, it retreated, and she looked up at Will with perfectly calm composure and said, "Yeah, but don't think that highly of yourself."

Will winced. She had thrown his own expression right back at him.

"Ah. Score one for the lady." Alex mused silently to himself.

Recovering quickly from Lizzy's attack, Will said in return, "Don't get on your high horse yet. You still need me to drive you to Chuck's house."

Lizzy turned and looked Will straight in the eyes, her face livid with anger. "Well, that's an unfair leverage you've got over me. I asked you in the restaurant to give me the directions to Chuck's house, but you wouldn't and forced me to stay. If you're going to be this way then fine! I'll just go back to Kingston. Satisfied?"

She turned to storm out of the hotel, but was stopped by Will grabbing her arm.

"What do you think you're doing? Let go!"

"Could you please stop this? Why must you make my life so difficult?"

Her eyes narrowed, "I should be the one asking that question. You offered to help me get to Chuck's house and see Jane, and then you make me jump through all these hoops."

"Jump through hoops? Since when?"

"Look what you're doing to me now!"

"I took you out to breakfast, and now I'm going to drive you to see Jane. I don't see the hoop in this!"

They were yelling quite loudly at each other now, and the several patrons in the hotel were beginning to stare.

"You two might want to pipe it down," reminded Alex.

Simultaneously, they looked over at Alex and immediately flushed at the looked of concern on his face.

"Sorry," mumbled Will and Lizzy, both wishing there was some way for them to evaporate on the spot.

"That's quite alright. People lose their tempers all the time. Just try to avoid doing it again in public."

Will exhaled heavily. "I think we should get going."

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out, Alex," said Lizzy.

"Not a problem," said Alex with his usual hospitable smile. "Oh, I never got to learn your name."

"It's Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bennet."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Elizabeth."

Will stuck out his hand, "Good seeing you again, Alex."

"Pleasures all mine, Fitzwilliam." He shook Will's hand. "Have a Happy Thanksgiving."

"You too."

They turned to leave, Lizzy once again walking a little faster than usual to keep up with Will's steps.

"What did Alex call you?" asked Lizzy when they walked out of the hotel.

He looked at Lizzy, the rage from their argument still coursing through his veins. "What?"

"He called you a different name. I'm not deaf."

"I never said you were."

Lizzy sighed impatiently. The car ride to Chuck's place was going to be unbearable if he was going to be mad at her the whole way there. She would have to apologize. "I'm sorry, Will."

He stopped. Momentum carried her a few steps further before she could stop and backtrack to where Will stood.

"What'd you say?"

"You heard me."

"No, I didn't."

"You so heard me! Fine, I'll say it again. I'm sorry." The look on Will's face when Lizzy said those words tempted her at that moment to act like a three year old and kick him in the shins, regardless of Alex's reprimand back in the hotel.

"Good." He started walking again.

"That's it?" Lizzy jogged to catch up with him.

"What'd you expect?"

"Hey, you were partly at fault too."

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

"Oh!" She wanted to stamp her feet and throw a tantrum right there on the street. There was no way she was going to step into a car driven by such an abominable person. She still had the fifty dollars in her backpack. She could go back to Kingston right now and end all her problems. She stopped walking and watched as Will continued up the street.

"I'm going back to Kingston," she called. "Tell Jane I came up to see her. Bye!" With that, she turned and ran in the opposite direction towards the bus terminal.

Oil Thigh Na Banrign - Chapter 7(iii)

Lizzy walked away from the ticket booth with her bus ticket. The bus back to Kingston wasn't going to be leaving for another half an hour. Sitting down on a bench in Union Station with her head in her arms, Lizzy cried. For the first time in her life, a boy had made her cry! She just couldn't believe how mean he had been to her. He was perfectly fine up until Richard mentioned the Michael Jackson. They had given each other rather impolite looks and like a catalytic reaction, things just went downhill after that.

Someone tapped on her shoulder, "Elizabeth." It was Will.

"Go away!"

"Come on, I'll take you to see Jane."

"Leave me alone. I just want to go home."

"Hey, that kind of rhymes!"

"Shut up!"

He sighed and sat down next to her. "What do you want me to say?"

That just made Lizzy sob even harder. He didn't understand at all! She had just spent a sleepless night worrying about a sister who she was hoping to see in the morning, and he had been her only hope of getting to her. His treatment of her had now dashed all hopes of getting to Jane and was forcing her back to Kingston.

He touched her arm and she shrank away from his touch. "Don't touch me! Please, just go away."

Will rubbed his face several times with his hands. He had no idea what he should say. He could apologize. After all, he did say some pretty means things to her during their argument. But then, she said some pretty mean things too, and what was this thing about hoops? He never made her jump through hoops.

"Elizabeth, this is getting out of hand," said Will impatiently.

"To you it probably is," retorted Lizzy, her voice muffled from under her arms.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Things aren't going your way and you blame me!"

"What things?"

"You know very well what I mean."

"And you complain that I talk in code."

Lizzy lifted her head from her arms and looked at Will, her eyes and nose red from crying. "Would it really hurt you to say you're sorry?"

"No."

"Then why don't you?"

"What's the point? I tell you I'm sorry, and then what?"

"I'll feel much better about myself knowing that you are feeling some remorse for what you said and did to me. But then of course, you don't look like you feel very sorry so I guess there is no point."

"Exactly! Now that we have that out of the way, I'll take you to see Jane."

"Oh god!" Lizzy buried her head in her arms and began to cry again.

Will rubbed his temples. He had to apologize. There was no way she was going to come with him if he didn't apologize. "Okay, I understand now. I'm sorry." He almost added, "satisfied?" but caught himself at the last minute.

"You don't mean it."

Will winced. Was this cycle ever going to end? He lifted Lizzy from her arms and turned her to face him. "Look at me. Please?"

Lizzy sniffed and looked into his eyes. She was caught, but only for a moment, by how full of intelligence they were.

"Okay, I'm going to try this again. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have picked on you in the restaurant and outside in the lobby. Oh, and in the street too." Will grimaced. Maybe he was a little harsh on her. "Now, will you please let me have the honour of driving you to see your sister at Chuck's?"

Lizzy looked skeptical, "That was totally over doing it, but I'll accept."

Will breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. He extended a hand to help Lizzy up. "This is not fair, Elizabeth. Girls and tears, it should be officially banned because guys can be driven to do some pretty stupid things when girls cry."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

Will took her backpack, "Come on. My car's outside."

"So that's what took you so long. You went back and got your car?"

"Of course! We were already at my car when you ran off. I was going to beat you to the bus station but I caught in some traffic along the way."

"It was just down the street!"

"This is Toronto."

"Oh." Part of this was in acknowledgement of Will's answer and part of it was a comment on the silver sleek Mercedes illegally parked outside Union Station with its lights flashing.

Will opened the door for her. "Get in."

Lizzy stepped into the car and he shut the door for her.

"Nice car," commented Lizzy, when Will got in the driver's side and started the engine.

"Thanks," he said. Making a shoulder check, he merged into the on coming traffic on Front Street. "It was a graduation present from my dad."

"Nice graduation present. I got a necklace from my parents."

"That's nice too."

Lizzy ran her hands over the leather seats, "Yeah, but yours is nicer."

She looked over at Will from the corner of her eyes and wondered if she could ask him about his parents. She had heard so many rumours from Caroline that she didn't know which ones were true. From the events she had observed so far, the gossip about Will's wealth and family business seemed to be true. But the most important question concerning the degree of truth had yet to be answered. Just exactly how much is Will Darcy worth? And what about the company?

"Stop it."

"What?"

"You're staring at me."

"No, I'm not."

"Just ask and I'll see if I should answer it."

"You're scary, you know that?"

Will smiled and took his eyes off the traffic to look at Lizzy. "Is this another compliment I'm hearing from you? Wow, two in one day! I'm doing well."

They stopped at a traffic light, and Will turned to Lizzy, "Well? What is it?"

Lizzy hesitated, "I didn't... I didn't mean to sound insensitive back there when you told me about this car being your dad's grad present."

"You weren't being insensitive. What gave you that idea?"

She stopped and considered the best way of getting Will to talk about his parents. "Well, I just thought that you would probably still be upset about your parents' passing."

The light changed and Will turned back to the road. After a few minutes of silence had passed, Will spoke again. "I see what you're getting at, and if you don't mind, I would rather not tell you about it right now."

"I'm sorry," said Lizzy fidgeting with her hands. She should have known better than to ask.

Will shook his head, "Don't be sorry. You haven't done anything wrong. A little curiosity is not something to be sorry about." He stopped, "Actually, speaking of curiosity, I'm wondering what it is exactly Caroline told you about me."

"I see that you've resigned yourself to the idea that Caroline will always be spreading rumours about you."

"Oh, I did that a long time ago. Caroline's been spreading rumours about me ever since elementary school. It got really bad when I was at Upper Canada. She made it almost impossible for me to get to school."

"What happened?"

Will squinted extra hard at the car in front of him, "Nothing really important. Anyways, what has Caroline told you?"

"Well, nothing to me in particular. In case you haven't figured it out by now, she really hates me."

"Yeah, I noticed. Why?"

"I got on her bad side on move in day. She was moving in with her mom, and I accidentally knocked over her face powder. I helped her wipe it all up but from then on she's been picking on me about everything."

"Like what?"

"Stupid petty girly things. The way I dress, the way I talk, and the way I look. I don't really mind because her insults are generally pretty bad. I don't even understand them most of the time."

"Typical Caroline stuff. She's been picking on people about the same things for many years now. I don't see anything wrong with you."

"Thanks. Anyways, are you sure you want to hear what Caroline said about you?"

"Yeah, I want to see which version of the story she chose this time."

"Okay, you've been warned. She told us that your mom passed away when you were sixteen and that your dad died when you were eighteen."

"Nineteen actually."

"Oh, well, she was only a year off then. She told me that your sister was pretty upset about your parents passing and that you delayed coming to Queen's for a year until she settled down. Caroline also said something along the lines of you and your sister going to live at their place, but you didn't want to." Lizzy decided to leave out the bit about the company.

"Not bad. This version was pretty accurate. Is this all?"

Lizzy hesitated. "She said something about the family business being passed on to you when you graduated from Queen's. Is this true?"

"Yup."

Lizzy couldn't help it anymore, "Just how much are you worth?"

"Nothing actually," Will said cynically, "The company is worth a good bit, but not me in particular."

He was avoiding a clear answer on the question and Lizzy knew it. She decided not to press for a more satisfactory reply. After all, it really was an intrusive question. They drove in silence for a little while.

"How much longer before we get to Chuck's place?"

Will checked the traffic ahead of him. "If we're lucky and we don't run into too many lights, I'd say fifteen more minutes."

Lizzy looked at her watch suddenly smacked her forehead with her hand, "Oh, shoot!"

"What? What?" asked Will looking genuinely concerned.

"My bus ticket! I forgot to get it changed to later today!"

"That's it? I thought it was something more important."

"It is important. I just spent fifty dollars on a bus back to Kingston that I'm not going to be able to take. Now, I'm going to have to buy another one later tonight."

"Why would you do that?"

"How else am I supposed to get back to Kingston?"

"We could drive you."

"Tonight?"

"No, on Monday."

"I can't. I didn't bring any clothes with me."

"Then what's in your backpack?"

"Jane's medical records."

"You really didn't think this through did you?"

"Well aren't you just the helpful little elf today!"

Will pulled into a driveway, picked up his cell phone and dialed in a number.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making a phone call. What does it look like? Now be quiet!"

Lizzy slid down in her seat and sulked

"Hey Chuck! Yeah, it's me. Is Jane okay?" A pause. "That's good. Listen, I found Elizabeth downtown today. She came up here to see Jane." Another pause. "Yeah, I'm bringing her over." A longer pause. "Tonight? Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Will turned to look at Lizzy and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Okay, if she's up to it. I'll see you after lunch then." He hung up.

"After lunch? I thought you said it was only going to be fifteen minutes to Chuck's place!"

"It is, but I need to take you shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Chuck asked you to stay at their place and we'll all go back to Kingston together on Monday." He backed out of the driveway.

"Well, that's very nice of him." Lizzy stopped and remembered something, "Thanks, by the way, for making that phone call to Chuck, and thanks a lot for making me sound like a lost puppy!"

Will chuckled, "I was hoping you wouldn't catch that. How else was I supposed to put it to Chuck? I did find you didn't I?"

"Fine. You win this one."

"I love it when I'm right."

"Yeah, enjoy it while you can, because it's doesn't happen too often."

"Now you're just being cranky. Go to sleep. You need a nap."

"Since when have you started telling me what to do?"

"Since you showed up in Toronto and I found you. See? You're cranky. Take a nap."

Lizzy turned and looked out the window. "No, I'm not tired."

"Fine, suit yourself," said Will. He didn't want to start another petty argument with her; they've had enough for one morning. There was a traffic jam up ahead and Will reached over to turn on the radio for the traffic report. "Hey, you wouldn't mind if I turned on the radio would you?"

There was no answer. Will looked over and found that Lizzy had fallen asleep despite her declaration of not being tired. Not wanting to wake Lizzy, Will retracted his hand without turning on the radio. He would have to endure the constant stop and go of the traffic jam. After only a few moments in the traffic, Will began to notice that the car was strangely silent without Lizzy's voice.

"Great, I shouldn't have told her to go to sleep." Will muttered quietly to himself.

The traffic ahead of him stopped and Will applied the breaks with an impatient sigh. He looked over at Lizzy and couldn't help but smile and shake his head. She was exhausted but had refused to acknowledge it to him. Will appreciated this streak of stubbornness in her. He knew ever since the day of the brother floor event that she was resolved to hate him. He thought that he would be able to change that by getting her to Jane. Instead, Will now felt that he owed her something for toying with her and making her cry.

A car behind him honked. Will directed his gaze back to the road only to drive a few metres and stop again. Unconsciously, his eyes wandered back to Lizzy. He wondered what he could do to make up for his conducted earlier. On the rare occasions that he and Georgiana had quarreled and she had cried, he was usually forgiven by a hug. That was obviously out the question in this situation, because knowing Lizzy, she would give him a black eye if he came as close as wrapping his arms around her shoulder. It had to be something nice, yet not patronizing. He could take her out to dinner, but what if she got the wrong idea and refused to accept?

Will turned his attention back to the road and drove on; the traffic was slowly clearing up. It was tiring work being a good friend. Perhaps it would have been better if he had just left her sleeping in that armchair.

"I'm a monster!" Will exclaimed unexpectedly.

Lizzy's eyes snapped open. "Huh?"

"Nothing," Will said softly, "Go back to sleep."

"Okay," and she drifted off again.

Will chuckled silently. What luck! If she had been fully conscious, she would have had a few words to say about his sudden remark. She would have bombarded him with a whole barrage of her witty insults, the seething look she reserved for him flashing in her eyes. Will stole another look at Lizzy and noted how different she looked right now. There was an innocent yet pensive expression on her face. It was as if her mind never stopped working.

Will spotted a parking space and skillfully backed into it. He shut off the engine and looked over at Lizzy again. For a moment, he considered waking her, but decided against it and quietly stepped out of the car to make a phone call to Georgiana telling her he would not be home for lunch and dinner.

The car had stopped moving. That meant that they had already arrived at wherever it was they were going. Lizzy opened her eyes and blinked lazily at a parking meter.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" asked Lizzy looking over to the driver's seat, only to find it vacant. "Great, I'm talking to absolutely nobody."

She opened the car door, but the instant she did, the car began to honk loudly. She had accidentally triggered the car's alarm system.

"ACK!!!" Lizzy screamed in surprise, quickly shutting and locking the car door hoping it would stop if she did. The noise did not desist and Lizzy swore. She smacked the glove compartment, "Shut up!" And the noise stopped.

"Whoa!" Lizzy sat stunned. "I can't believe that worked."

Her door opened and Will stood looking down at her with one of his funny expressions.

"What were you doing?" he asked still standing in front of her door. There was a shopping bag at his feet.

"I was trying to get out of your car, but it started to scream at me when I opened the door." Lizzy explained looking rather pathetic.

Will closed his eyes and shook his head slowly in disbelief. "I leave you for one minute... No, no, never mind." He extended his hand to help her out.

Lizzy pushed it aside. "I didn't do it purposely you know. You locked me in. How else was I supposed to get out?"

"Okay, fine! It's my fault. I should have left the car unlocked so someone can come along and steal it with you in it!" He extended his hand again.

Lizzy declined his help, "Move!" After a morning ridden with embarrassments involving Will, the last thing she wanted was for him to help her. He moved and she got out. She then turned to Will to continue their argument, but as soon as she opened her mouth Will sealed it shut with his hand.

"Don't start! Please. Give me a break. I'm trying to be nice here!" Will begged, still covering her mouth. Lizzy moved to pry his hand away but he brushed it aside. "I'm not letting go until you promise me that you won't yell at me if I do."

Lizzy glared at him, but he only looked pleadingly back. Finally, she nodded and he removed his hand.

"That was harassment."

"You promised!"

"I promised not to yell, but not to sue you for harassment."

"That was not harassment and you don't want to sue me."

Lizzy crossed her arms, "Is that so? Why?"

"For one thing, I have better lawyers than you."

"Snobby little rich brat."

Will grinned, "If I twisted that comment I'm sure it was meant to be another compliment."

"You're incorrigible."

"I know." Will shut the car door and picked up the shopping bag he had dropped when he was rescuing Lizzy from his honking car.

Lizzy looked at the bag. "Polo Ralph Lauren. What'd you buy?"

"Something for my sister," said Will rather nonchalantly. He squirmed under Lizzy's critical look and continued, "Yeah, I'm the kind of brother that likes to buy his sister's affections."

"Finally!" Lizzy exclaimed her face breaking into the first smile Will had seen all day. "A word of truth from you!"

"Very funny," said Will.

They walked down the street and into a shop where Lizzy picked up the things she needed. Will waited outside making phone calls, and after a while, disappeared across the street. When Lizzy finally emerged from the store, Will was standing outside with two sandwiches. He handed her one of them and they returned to his car to eat them in silence.

The trip to Chuck's house this time was more peaceful; partly because Will turned on the radio, and partly because there was only so much bickering two people can do in one day! After all, even the wittiest of antagonists will run out of material.

Continued in next section