First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice (23 page)

“Wear sensible boots next time,” Charles said. “Cheese!”

@LizzyB1: Out on the town with some Calgary friends!

@LizzyB1: For @Doitlikearockstar. Proof that I get out.

“Thanks. Now I can show that to Lydia when she complains I have no life,” Lizzy said to a round of laughter.

@Doitlikearockstar: You’re such a loser. @LizzyB1

@Doitlikearockstar: Is that…Darcy and Charles??? WTF @LizzyB1 DETS! DETS!

@Doitlikearockstar: Wait the fuck up! Lizzy@1 Are you with…G’Anna?!?!?!

@Doitlikearockstar: OMG! OMG! My sister @LizzyB1 is hanging out with G’Anna!!

Lizzy ignored her sister’s tweets, then texts, then phone call. She turned off her cell phone with a grin. Lydia was having a Grade 1, Red Alert Nuclear Meltdown. Lizzy made a mental note to ask G for an autograph; it would be the perfect Christmas gift for Lydia.

They went inside and Lizzy’s jaw dropped when Caroline took off her coat and handed it to the coat check clerk. First, holy crap, they were at a restaurant with a coat check clerk. Second, holy crap, Caroline’s dress.

Mid-thigh, red, mostly backless, and long sleeved. She looked like she’d just walked off a fashion runaway. Well, that was Caroline.

But then Charles took off his coat, and he was in a suit and tie. Fitzy, yup, suit and tie. Georgiana was in a brown flapper-style dress with gold embroidery and Danica was dressed like a World War II pin-up at the Oscars, only with a knee-length dress.

Lizzy did not want to take off her coat, but Darcy motioned for her to go ahead, so she peeled out of her second-hand coat and gulped down her embarrassment at wearing a homemade brown corduroy skirt, white blouse with bell sleeves, and the brown silk scarf she’d gotten from Lydia after one of her photo shoots. At least her boots were some fancy designer pair that Lydia thought were too “steampunky” and gave to Lizzy.

Caroline’s sneer made Lizzy’s cheeks heat up, but she refused to be embarrassed. So, she was a little underdressed. Big deal? She was at businesses all day, working. Darcy took off his coat and it was like Lizzy was seeing him for the first time. He wore a three-piece navy blue suit. He had a speckled tie and white shirt underneath. When he looked at her, his remote features softened, as though he genuinely wanted to be near her. His gaze flicked over her and the edges of his mouth quirked.

Lydia was 100% right: he was
really
handsome.

“Hopefully, they’ll let Lizzy in,” Caroline said, laughing, and approached the…what was the name of the person who decided if you were allowed into fancy restaurants? Whatever those guys were called. Him.

He, whoever and whatever his name was, gave Lizzy a once-over. “Welcome back, Mr. Darcy. Please, if you will follow me, I have your favourite table ready.”

She could do this, she thought. She had forty bucks in her bank account. She could easily get away with an entrée for that price. Lizzy calculated that she had another fifty or so left on her credit card, so she still had a small buffer in case she needed a taxi. She made a note to buy some bus tickets tomorrow, so she’d have a way around.

Lizzy tried to hold her head up as several sets of upper crust eyes sized her up. Seriously, what was wrong with her outfit? If it was good enough for boardrooms across the city, it was good enough for this pompous restaurant that probably just served steak and served it with beef juice and called it something Italian.

Caroline tried to manoeuvre herself between Lizzy and Darcy, but some distraction from G left Darcy to seat himself where he liked — between Fitzy and Lizzy. Lizzy smiled at him and sat down, and smiled at Dani at her side.

Dani leaned over. “Didn’t William tell you what to wear?”

Lizzy shrugged and said, “He said to wear something nice. This is the nicest I brought with me.”

Dani smiled back. “You look lovely in it.”

“Just a little out of place.”

“I’d rather your company in corduroy than a spiteful cow in diamonds any day.” She winked and motioned that the waiter had arrived.

He arrived in what looked like a tailored tuxedo and asked if they would like anything to drink to start. The boys ordered scotch, and the girls ordered cocktails. Lizzy didn’t have enough for liquor, so said, “Just club soda with a slice of lime please.”

“You don’t want anything to drink?” Darcy asked. “They have a full bar.”

“I haven’t eaten since breakfast. I’d rather not drink on an empty stomach.”

“Good plan,” he said and handed her a menu from the pile in the middle of the table.

Lizzy smiled at him and opened the menu. And nearly fainted.

Thinly sliced Hamachi, Maple Emulsion, Ginger, Soy, and Apples: $21

It became more pompous from there. And what on earth was a Hamachi and maple emulsion? It sounded like a medical test, or perhaps a can of paint.

“Should we make it easy and do the tasting menu?” G asked.

“As long as we do the premium pairings. The cheaper wines are sub-par here,” Dani said.

“Lizzy?” Darcy inquired. “Would that work for you?”

Lizzy scanned the menu for the price of a tasting menu. $150 per person. $100 for the wine. That was more than two days’ salary.

She looked up at Darcy and back down at the menu. “Um, no, um,” she searched for something she a) recognized and b) could afford. Dammit, they didn’t even have French onion soup, so she couldn’t use that as an excuse. “I’ll just have the mushroom soup.”

Darcy leaned close and whispered, “Do you not like anything on the menu? I can have them make something else.”

“It isn’t that,” she whispered back, trying to keep her emotions in check.

“Lizzy, if it’s the price, no worries. I’ll cover you,” Caroline said sweetly. “You can pay me back next time.”

Lizzy gritted her teeth. “No, the soup is fine.”

Dani put her hand on Lizzy’s arm and said, “Order what you want.”

“Caroline, I’ve taken care of it,” Darcy said. “Dani, leave it be.”

Lizzy looked at him, confused. She looked around the group, who were now insisting that she order everything and they would pay for it. And she realized something important: she did not belong to this world. She could not justify a $250 meal while she was fundraising for her operational budget. She could not owe Caroline and she certainly could not take advantage of Darcy’s feelings, or former feelings, for her.

Her cell phone saved her, vibrating in her purse. She grabbed it and answered.

“Hi, Lizzy.” Thank God; it was Luke. “How’s it going in Calgary?”

“Hello, Mr. Saunders. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, need a rescue?”

“I can take some time to chat about my proposal, sure. Can I call you right back? I just need to excuse myself.”

“I want the dirt,” Luke said.

“Definitely,” Lizzy answered.

Lizzy covered the phone’s screen and said, “I have to go. Work stuff. Start without me.”

Caroline snorted and Darcy glared until Caroline turned red-faced.

“Here, you can have my car keys,” he said, standing.

“No,” Lizzy snapped. Then, regaining herself, she said, “No, thank you. I’ll be fine. If I need to head home, I’ll take a taxi.”

“Will you need money to cover it?” Caroline asked sweetly.

“Caroline,” Charles said in a chiding tone, “don’t be rude.”

“Lizzy, I insist.” Darcy was still holding out his keys.

“Good night everyone. I’ll try to make it back before supper’s over,” Lizzy said in reply and, grabbing her purse, fled the scene as delicately as she could. It wasn’t until she was several steps away from the front door that she realized she’d left her, albeit, thin jacket inside. With the temperature hovering in the minus thirty-five Celsius range, she had about, oh, five minutes before she turned into a permanent feature on the street.

But there was no way on God’s green earth she was going back inside that place. She spotted a bus stop across the street and jaywalked to it. She could get on and have the driver give her a hand finding Kelly’s house.

Oh crap. She’d forgotten the address.

She searched her phone and saw Kelly’s number. Good. She could call for the address. She could take the bus to a mall or depot and organize herself from there. She only had a couple of loonies on her, but she was clearly in distress and it was cold out.

She dialed Luke. “Thank you so much.”

“What’s going on?”

Lizzy was starting to fill him in, when she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around to see Darcy in his coat, her jacket over his forearm, and his expression somewhere between bewilderment and amusement.

“Um, I gotta go,” she said.

“What’s happening?” asked Luke.

“Um.”

Darcy held out his hand for her phone. Lizzy handed it to him, wincing. “How are you today, Luke?” he said. “Oh, good, good. Do you mind if I talk to Lizzy for a bit? Great. Thank you.”

“Busted.”

“I was sitting next to you. Luke’s voice carries.” His gaze flicked up at the bus stop. “Seriously, you were going to take the bus in this weather without a coat?”

“I couldn’t afford a cab.”

“I offered to give you a ride,” he said and some anger seeped into his voice. “Why didn’t you let me?”

“I don’t need your charity.”

Darcy clenched his jaw. “It wasn’t charity. I was being helpful. Or trying to be.” He handed her the jacket. “I asked you out to the best restaurant I knew, thinking you’d love to go somewhere you couldn’t afford. Wait, that came out wrong.”

“Darcy,” she said sternly, slipping into the jacket, “I would have eaten the soup and not said a word if you and Caroline hadn’t made such a big deal.”

“But I asked you out. Me paying was implied.”

“I don’t need you to pay for me. I can look after myself. Wait, what? This was a date?”

Darcy stared. “I asked you out.”

Lizzy crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hug some warmth into her shivering body. “I thought you were just asking me to join you for dinner. All you said was ‘want to come out with everyone?’”

“No, I remember exactly what I said because I wrote it out a dozen times before I texted you.”

Lizzy snorted. “Really?”

He grunted. “Ugh, this is humiliating.”

Lizzy shivered uncontrollably and wrapped her arms around her, trying to retain as much warmth as possible. The tips of her ears tingled, and her fingers had gone stiff and throbbed in agony. Even her toes ached.

Darcy looked at her. “Will you at least get into the car while we fight?”

“We’re not fighting!” Then, avoiding a smile, she said, “Even if I’d known it was a date, there’s no way I’d let you pay for a three-hundred-dollar meal.”

He rolled his eyes and unlocked his car. Lizzy climbed in, and wrapped her arms tighter around her body. She really should have brought more layers. Darcy turned on the car, flipped on the heater and pressed the seat warmer button. Then he went back outside and popped the trunk. He passed her a blanket and got back in.

“Thanks.” She wrapped it around her, trying not to let her teeth chatter.

Neither spoke as they sat in the cold car. Lizzy was uncomfortable in the silence, but she didn’t know what to say. Why did she have to lack basic social skills? She should have let Darcy fucking pay for the meal. But
noooooo
, she couldn’t do that. Elizabeth Bennet was too proud to let anyone look after her. She was independent. She was not going to let some rich man spend money on her, goddammit!

“The condo is like five minutes away.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You should know that I don’t sleep with guys on the first date.”

Darcy barked out a laugh. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“I know.” Lizzy smiled.

“Come over. You can eat and get a hot bath to warm up.” He glanced at her. “We can all watch a movie?”

A nervous flutter filled her, but Lizzy didn’t let it affect her voice. “What about the others? God, I feel like a moron, storming out of there.”

Darcy pulled out of the parking spot. “They’ll get over it. I’ll give them a call once we’re at the condo.”

****

Instead of heading to his place, Darcy drove straight until he passed a burger joint. He pulled into the drive-thru and ordered a burger meal for himself, and another for her, extra pickles, no onions, no mustard, with a diet drink.

“How do you know what I like? Have you been texting Luke behind my back?”

“It’s what you ordered when we were out in Edmonton.”

“Darcy, that was months ago.”

He looked at her, stared into her eyes, and said, “I haven’t forgotten
anything
you’ve said.”

Her cheeks heated up. He was being so charming. Was it because he was trying to impress her? Or was it because she was now on his turf and he could finally relax? Either way, this Darcy was incredible.

Oh, yeah; she needed to be careful. Three days with New and Improved Darcy and she was ready to stop hating him. Three more days and she might be ready to drop her panties. That would be awkward, considering her vow to hate him for all eternity.

Oops.

Darcy paid for the order and a brown bag of greasy food arrived a moment later. He passed it to her and began driving. Lizzy, not wanting to be a pig, tried to resist stuffing everything into her mouth. But she reached in and pulled out one skinny fry, hot and salty, and delicious. She moaned and her stomach gurgled.

By the fourth fry, she gave up pretending and began stuffing them in her mouth. Not only was she starving, but her hands were still shaking from the cold and the food was hot. She ate her fries in a couple of minutes.

“Do you feel better?”

“I thought I was going to pass out.”

“Why didn’t you eat lunch?”

“My second meeting went an hour over. We didn’t have enough time to stop anywhere before the third meeting.”

Darcy was thoughtful for a moment. “How is the fundraising going? Is it easier with the partnership?”

Lizzy shrugged and pulled her blanket tighter. The seat warmers had kicked in and the surge of gloriously warm heat was pushing the cold out of her bones. “I think the partnership is a good idea. Donations go further.” She blew out a breath. “Besides, we need the help. I can’t afford more staff without cutting services. We haven’t replaced Luke yet. Melissa and Kelly are both relying on this fundraiser blitz to keep both our organizations afloat for the year. But our fundraising went well in Edmonton, so I’m hoping it keeps going well down here.”