Prologue
Posted on January 22, 2009
We moved here when we were young. I, of course, suggested the idea. And to three twenty-one year olds, the idea of moving to New York was great. So we winged it. We missed our flight purposely and stayed the night in the airport planning. Mom threw a fit when she found out and Jane hated it. Jane. Her overall sweet and vaguely naive personality caused her to find the good in everyone and become extremely sad when anyone she loved became mad. Especially when it was her that caused that. Her looks were like her personality. With huge blue eyes that were filled with innocence and beauty and a waterfall of golden blonde hair, she was the image of an angel. But back to the story.
Jane was an actress. She depended on contracts and films. She could move anywhere in the US (providing it was well known) and still make money. Though not extremely popular then, she would be.
For Charlotte, it was a bit harder. There were two options for her 1). She could build a store here and spend alot of money int he making. or 2). She could make money from her store in Boston while she tried to do 1. She chose option number two and began designing.
And then there was me. I had the boring job. Lacking of glamour, I was a lawyer. I worked on my writing meantime. So I enrolled into a law firm and slowly moved my way up to the bigger cases. I was always fit for arguing. A trait my mother still badgers me of. Ha. Little did I know. I'd be doing much more arguing outside of the courtroom rather than inside it.
- Lizzy Bennet
Chapter 1
"Come on Lizzy! Wake up." A grunt came from beneath the sheets as Elizabeth pulled a pillow over her head and tried to ignore her sister."Come ON Lizzy!" Realizing Jane wouldn't stop two pairs of tanned legs shot out from the covers along with a sleepy and grumpy Elizabeth. She stood rubbing her eyes, walking towards the bathroom. Jane gracefully exited while Lizzy brushed her teeth and got ready for work. She cursed mentally as she eyed the clock realizing she was late. Racing downstairs and grabbing a bagel she quickly reminded Jane of her later plans.
"Remember to come to the afterparty today Jane!" Jane nodded and Lizzy sped out the door.
"Hey Liz! You will not believe who's coming today!" Lizzy smiled as she sat at her desk, seeing Marc chatting away to her. Completely abandoning the file he had on his desk he turned towards Lizzy who was noticing that she had a similar file on her desk.
"Who? Tell me!" she said, laughing. Marc turned back to the file and began reading it.
"Look at the file." he said, not turning his eyes away from his. Lizzy obeyed and opened the file. The front page contained a picture with the name Will Darcy under it. The man in the picture was extremely handsome. His dark brown hair was combed neatly atop his head and he radiated power. His eyes were intense and determined and were by far extremely handsome. He was all in all a picture of great attractiveness. Lizzy looked over at Marc and raised her eyebrow at him.
"This is who we're meeting with today? God." Marc nodded, satisfied with her reaction. Lizzy looked back at the file.
"So who is he?" she asked looking over all the other papers on her desk. Man, I really need to get this desk organized! she thought. Marc looked over at her, his mouth gaping wide. Lizzy waited, trying to organize her desk as well as possible. Finally he answered,
"Geez, Liz. Read much?" He threw a magazine on her desk. It was Business Weekly and on the cover was Will Darcy. The headline next to him read Will Darcy: Business hotshot. Lizzy began to read the magazine noting that Will Darcy owned PMB Inc. a huge business that was doing very well.
Noting that she was done reading about him Marc began to jump in his seat.
"Guess who's covering his caaaase?" he asked. Lizzy smiled.
"Hmmm... Me and you?" He nodded and began jumping again.
"Well, I wish you two luck." She stated blandly. Marc began laughing and looked again to the file, reading it over.
"He's straight."
"And?"
"And you're straight too." Lizzy rolled her eyes.
"Marc, *#%@ it, stop! You look like a middle school girl! You're in an office for God's sake!" She took his arm and tried to stop him from jumping. He did.
"Listen to me. Sit. Type. And stop trying to set me up with gorgeous men." Marc refused the command and turned towards her.
"Honey, you need a gorgeous man in your life. Don't expect me to sit on the sidelines and watch." He resumed typing.
"By the way the meeting's at ten. You better get ready." He winked. Lizzy walked away and smiled.
"You know I hear he's..."
"YES! All right, I get it. I believe you! You have said it 10 freakin' times. Will Darcy is insanely hot" She said, trying to make an impression of her friend but failing miserably. Her nerves were high and she was annoyed. Marc had been talking about Will Darcy's looks and it was driving the patience out of her. She looked over to Marc who was now smirking and looking at a space behind her. Wondering what he was looking at, she turned and found herself looking at the face of Will Darcy. He had his eyebrow raised and his face was mingled with slight amusement and disgust. But he quickly wiped his face of any emotion and sat down besides her.
Lizzy looked away, hid her face with her hair, and whispered,
"Oh *%."
"So vulgar isn't she, Mr. Darcy?" drawled a red head carrying a briefcase. She had on a black pencil skirt that looked to be excruciatingly tight and a silk orange top. Her face would be beautiful, if was not screwn up in an expression that seemed as if she had just smelled something particularly bad. She was tall and shapely, with pale skin that seemed even paler with her orange shirt and red hair.
She was clinging desperately to Darcy's arm, smiling and talking while he desperately tried to escape. Exclaiming that her sister had just arrived, he finally succeeded in shooing her off. She flounced to Louisa, who somehow seemed to make it to the party because she was a reporter, and began to talk to her. Darcy was sighing tiredly when a voice interrupted him.
"Hey Darce!" Will turned around and saw Charles Bingley standing before him.
"How is it that I seem to find everyone I'm connected to here?" He asked taking a sip of his drink. Charles smiled.
"Maybe it's because Louisa and I are reporters and we're here to find out about this case and the next one. Caroline's your secretary and you came here because you were invited to talk more with your lawyers and they were only available here and now. And this is a party for a huge case that was just solved. And they threw it because their company is weird and strangely good. Now, aren't you happy to see me?" He drew out, all in one breath. Will was often impressed by how much his friend could talk, barely breathing. Smirking, he stayed silent. A few seconds later, Charles began talking again.
" You know Darce, you might have come here to meet with your lawyers but this is a party. You have to dance at least once. There's lots of pretty girls here! Like Jane over there. She's an angel. And her sister's beautiful too. Have you met Lizzy?" Darcy, in a bitter mood, because of Wickahm, replied bitterly,
"Yes in fact I have. And as for her beauty, she is barely tolerable. Jane is the only one that's pretty in this room. But you better get back to her, you're wasting your time with me." Behind him a female figure walked away, her dark brown hair flying behind her, her beautiful brown eyes filled with anger.
Chapter 2
Posted on March 15, 2009
"And you absolutely know what I hate about him?" Lizzy said, holding Charlotte's bags as she browsed around the store. Charlotte murmured a "hmmm?" from where she was standing, searching through the dresses.
"That he's just so... ugh RUDE! I mean, you know, I might have been a bit embarrassing to myself, but that does not mean that he has to just stand their, doing nothing, not even TALKING to me about the case and then openly slight me!" Charlotte beckoned Lizzy over and handed out two dresses. Lizzy eyed them and then finally realized what Charlotte was doing.
"Uh, uh. No way am I gonna be your mannequin." She stated.
"Please Lizzy???" Charlotte pleaded. Lizzy looked Charlotte over once more and then finally succumbed.
"Fine. But only these two! Honestly Char, this is why I regret being your friend!" Charlotte flashed a coy smile to Lizzy and gently pushed her into the dressing room.
Lizzy came out a few minutes later wearing a colorful strapless maxi dress and a smile on her face.
"I like this one." She stated simply, restraining the childish urge to twirl around in it. Charlotte looked her over, smiling slightly.
"Yes I like this one too. It makes your figure look spectacular with the empire waist. And the colors divine. I'm seeing alot of this green right now." Lizzy smiled and raised up one eyebrow.
"Charlotte. What is it that you do?" She asked in earnest. Lizzy wondered how analyzing stores and the things that she saw in them was Charlotte's job. Wasn't she supposed to create the fashions not analyze the trends?
" I am a fashion designer. Jeez Liz I thought you knew that much." She commented while studying the dress.
"Oh ha ha. I just mean aren't you supposed to MAKE these trends not follow and analyze them?" She trend around as directed by Charlotte.
"Of course I make trends. But Lizzy, its the middle of spring. I make the trends but I have to make clothes that SELL. Green is big and so are maxi dresses. So I design those but I can put any print or embellishment on them. You set most of the trends at the beginning of the season." Lizzy shook her head and took the other dress to try on.
"I will never understand the world of fashion."
Lizzy stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. Lizzy stop being biased. A lawyer must not be biased. You do not hate him. You do not like him. He is a client and that is it. She sighed and looked at herself once more in the mirror. Well if he thinks I'm dressed badly he can just go to- no, don't be biased. She walked out of the room and went to the kitchen to make herself some tea. Just as the water was boiling the doorbell rang. Lizzy forced herself to smile.
She opened the door and again found herself looking at the tall figure of Will Darcy.
"Hello Mr. Darcy." He nodded and briefly shook her hand.
"Miss Bennet." He walked in and looked over her. She could tell he was analyzing her. He was happy that unlike many of his previous lawyers her apparel was businesslike and not casual. She asked him to sit and he did.
"Mr. Darcy. As your lawyer, I would like to know a bit more about you and how the case that I've been assigned to happened." She said as a statement, firmly planted on the idea of not getting embarrassed again.
She saw him look down shyly and then look up again.
"I own PMB Inc., a computer company that was before owned by my father. I have a sister named Georgiana." He looked down awkwardly again, not used to talking so much about himself. He took a deep breath and continued.
"I was friends with George Wickham since I was young. His dad worked for my dad and our two families grew up together. Wickham and I became good friends. We shared everything, school, friends and later on work. He began to work for my company when we were older. That was when he started to ask money from me. He spent too much and didn't make a large enough income for his expenses. So I gave him some money. A few months later I realized that some of my money was missing from my personal bank. The only person I had ever told my account number to was my little sister Georgiana on vow of silence. I was completely confused. How in the world could I have been robbed. Georgie would never had done that." He looked up, his eyes filled with despair and anger, the cold Will Darcy was gone and a new emotional one was in the body.
"Some time later, Georgie confided to me. Wickham had robbed me. He had gotten the account number from her. He had raped her in attempt to get the number." Lizzy could see how horrified he still was. His hands were clenched on the chair he was sitting in. His knuckles were white and his deep brown eyes were filled with so many emotions, Lizzy couldn't read all of them. He looked at her again.
"He has to be punished. I won't let him get away after what he did to my little sister."
Later on that evening Lizzy related what she had heard to Marc.
"God, Marc this is a strong case." Marc was solemn on the other side of the line, the ever appearing humor gone from his voice.
"Aren't they always?" He asked bitterly.
" You should have seen his face Marc. It happened a long time ago he told me. His sister told him after the robbery which was way after Wickham getting the account number from her. But his face. His reaction was like it had happened yesterday." Lizzy sighed unhappily.
"And I thought he was unemotional and cold." The line stayed silent for a while.
"You should meet with him too." She suggested, breaking the silence.
"I will."
"I have to go Marc. Jane's calling. Bye." She hung up the phone and ran her hands through her hair.
"I will solve this case." She whispered to herself.
Chapter 3
Posted on March 22, 2009
"Ooh, Lizzy! What are you dressed up for?"
Lizzy spun around to find herself looking at Jane standing behind her, looking perfect for her date. Lizzy smiled at her sister. She was the image of perfection. Her blond hair was curled beautifully and rested on her perfect shoulders. She was donned in a flowing light blue dress and was smiling radiantly.
"He will adore you Jane." answered Lizzy, ignoring Jane's question. Jane bashfully looked down. Lizzy was often surprised at the pure sweetness of her sister, wondering how the two completely different personalities that belonged to them, could be sisters. Jane looked up one more at Lizzy.
" You haven't answered my question." She stated simply, looking Lizzy over. Lizzy and Jane were as different on the outside as on the inside. Lizzy was shorter and fuller figured compared to Jane's tall and willowy build. Lizzy was dressed in a black sheath dress with long gold jewelery. Her curly hair was set free among her shoulders and she looked so much less delicate than Jane, though equally beautiful.
"Oh. Charlotte invited me to go out and see a play with her and her new boyfriend."
"What are you guys going to see?" asked Jane, straightening her necklace.
"I think it's Spamalot." Jane smiled, remembering watching that show with Lizzy and her father.
Lizzy looked down at her watch.
"Oh, shoot. I've got to go Jane. Good luck on your date!" Lizzy winked and dashed out the door.
" So tell me who is this guy?" Lizzy was smirking at Charlotte who,for an extremely fashionably calm person, was as nervous as if she were a high school student about to take the SAT's. She was fussing with her dress and asking Lizzy her constant opinions. The question seemed to calm her down a bit as she looked down and back up again.
"You'll have to wait and see!" Lizzy pretended to pout and took her head down. She heard a chuckle from Charlotte.
"Oh and he's bringing his cousin. That's alright with you right Liz?" she asked.
Lizzy smiled.
"Of course it is! You know my credo. The more the merrier." Charlotte smiled and resumed fussing with herself.
Richard Fitzwilliam was the polar opposite of his cousin. His mood was generally light and humorous. He always had an opinion and generally a funny one. He was shorter than Darcy and lighter too. His hair was laid back and blonde and all in all he looked like he came from California instead of Manhattan. He had an easy manner and an unaffected ease with Charlotte that Lizzy couldn't help but notice. She was completely at ease with herself until she met the other member of the party.
Chapter 4
Posted on April 3, 2009
Charlotte had always been sensible and understanding. Her reaction to most scenarios was a calm one. She was often right and thus was why Lizzy adored her. And that was why, when Lizzy nodded, Charlotte simply accepted and walked out of the bathroom, accompanied by Lizzy.
Chapter 5
Posted on April 20, 2009
Darcy ran a hand through his disheveled hair and sighed. So much was going on. He tried to close his mind and meditate but those brown, beautiful eyes kept popping into his head.
UGH! Darcy get her out of your head! Insufferable woman with her insufferably gorgeous eyes.
Ever since last night he couldn't stop thinking about her. The way that she boldly looked at him, the way her eyes sparked with fire had entranced him. Her intensity had alarmed and enchanted him at the same time.
He had always liked her from when he had first met her. She had made him want her because of her looks.He had been filled with a want he had rarely felt before. And now because of her spirit, her arguments, and the fresh feelings she gave him after meeting with her, he was enchanted once more.
But he had somehow always become tongue tied with her. When he saw her his guard went up. He got stiff and arrogant, blocking himself from her constant rejection she gave to him. He had doubts. She obviously didn't like him, and though Will Darcy was an ambitious man, the pride that had been closed up inside him often took over him. He wouldn't be able to handle that kind of rejection. The feelings he had tried to close up for years would come out.
He clenched his jaw. No, he wouldn't think of those memories now. Not now. He tried desperately to stop his mind, to stop the pictures. He would rather think of Elizabeth than this.
He looked down at the file that he had been trying to concentrate on for the last hour and the letter that lay besides it. The scrawled hand had become familiar to him in his youth, as it had often been written on letters and urgent pleas for money later on.
He had suspected Wickham would be hiding now and would stop asking for money for the time being, considering he had a big chance of going to prison. But he had obviously not stopped. Though Darcy did realize that the letter was devoid of the constant threats the other letters held.
Maybe he really is watching himself. But Darcy shook his head. Wickham could never be trusted.
Chapter 6
Posted on May 10, 2009
"Hello Georgiana."
"Hello. Please call me Georgie." Lizzy could see that Georgiana's confidence had gone once her brother had left them both alone. She must really depend on him. Lizzy again felt that pang of guilt, for treating Darcy the way she had.
"Georgie. I want you to know that you don't need to tell me anything. I f you don't want to,and you just can't, you don't have to." Lizzy wanted to make this message as clear as possible. She saw Georgie close her eyes for a second. God, this must be so hard for her.
"Miss Bennet-"
"Please call me Lizzy."
"Lizzy then. George Wickham did something horrible to my brother and to myself. All I want is to see him punished. Please tell me you'll do that." Georgie's voice was slightly wobbly, but her gaze did not falter.
Lizzy gulped loudly and looked Georgie straight in the eye.
"I will try my hardest, Georgie. I swear that I will give my all to make him be punished."
And so Georgie launched into the story. She began at the very beginning, describing the friendship or her brother and Wickham.
"They were extremely close when they were young. I remember looking at them when they played. I wa sabout 5. They played together, they went to school together, they spent alot of time together. But Will started to separate himself when they became 17. Wickham's once vivacious attitude turned to a slimier, more demeaning form, and it was rumored around their school that he was dating multiple girls. Will noticed the attitude he had toward life and ashe told me he "realized that he wasn't going anywhere in life. If he was then it would be by manipulation." So Will hung out with him less, but my father still kept him around.He loved George like a second son, and was seemingly oblivious toward his attitude."
Lizzy noticed that Georgie took a deep breath at this moment and, at looking closer, found that Georgie's eyes swam with tears. Lizzy closed her eyes and for a small moment,considered how much pain this young woman had suffered in her life time.
"Around that time, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia. It was saddening for all of us, particularly my father. We hated seeing her usually happy face filled with pain.Especially Dad. I used to ask Will why daddy looked so sad."
She chuckled a sad,bitter laugh.
"My mother died when Will was 18 and I was 9. It was horrible for all of us. Then when will was 19, my father died. He wasn't very young- he was 55- and he had always had heart problems. The doctors said the stress and depression from my mother's death caused him to have a heart attack. George Wickham seemed to be very saddened. We discovered Dad's will and mum's that month. They gave Will and I everything they owned, but George got something from it too. Dad wrote in his will that George would receive 3,000 dollars per month for five months. He wanted to be a professional football player, and coaching costs money. He received the money with gratitude and it continued like that until the five months ended. My brother told me he received a letter from Wickham asking for more money. I later found out that he had gambled it all away."
Lizzy nodded and tried not to think about what was coming next.
"Will gave him some money but refused the next time he asked. Will knew Wickham and he knew that George would never stop asking for money. A month later, Will went on a business trip and I stayed with Mrs. Reynolds. He hated leaving me but Dad had asked him to keep the business alive. There were 10 letters from Wickham when he came back. And then we never heard from him again."
Georgie continued with the story, and told Lizzy every gruesome and sorrowful detail. By the end of the interview Georgie was sobbing and Lizzy was hugging her, also crying for the girl who had all this happen to her.