First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice (3 page)

“I’m sorry, Lydia. I have a breakfast meeting to convince rich people to give me their money, since I deserve it more than them.” She glanced at Charles. “No offence.”

“None taken. You probably do deserve it. Don’t you run a charity or something? I think that’s what Denny said.”

“You think rich people don’t deserve their money?” Mr. Darcy interrupted.

Lizzy crossed her arms. If he really was the pop princess’ brother, then this guy was filthy, stinky, old-world rich. “I think rich people don’t need their money nearly as much as I do.”

“So, your needs are greater?” Darcy’s body language was unreadable.

Lizzy knew she was heading into fight territory, but she couldn’t stand rich people like this William Darcy who thought themselves so much better because they were lucky enough to win the privilege lottery.

“It’s my job to convince them to give me money so that they can brag to their friends about it over fifty-dollar steaks later that night.”

“That’s your opinion of your potential donors?”

“Lizzy, ugh, drop it already. Nobody cares,” Lydia said. “Come on, I need someone to take me. This is important.”

“Can I drop her off?” Charles said. They all turned to him. “I’m not doing anything tomorrow.”

“No, you can’t.” Lydia made a disgusted sound.

“It needs to be one of us,” Jane explained. “Because of her age, Mom and Dad have to fill out forms for each filming, saying who can be on set, if they can’t.”

“And Jane won’t drive anymore.” Lydia complained.

“Lydia!” Lizzy said, “Enough.”

“Well, she won’t! And she can totally take that course to learn.”

“Not by tomorrow morning, she can’t,” Mary commented.

“Lydia, mind your own business,” Jane said firmly. “Mary, don’t egg your sister on.”

“I could bring you, too, if you aren’t working,” Charles said softly.

Jane’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t live at home, so you’d be making a couple of trips.”

“I got nothing else to do tomorrow but watch plumbers install pipes.” Charles shrugged. “Why don’t I pick you up first, then? We can get your sister, drop her off at her shoot, and then get a latte?”

“I’d like that.” Turning to Darcy, she asked, “Did you want to join us?”

“No, thank you. I have a breakfast meeting.”

They chatted on like that for the rest of the evening — Darcy saying little and Charles saying lots, Jane smiling and blushing. Lizzy couldn’t help but smile; her sister had a breakfast date with a handsome, rich man who didn’t care that she was big these days, missing a leg or shy. He just liked her the way she was. Lizzy thought that might never happen to Jane.

****

The Bennets stayed behind to help clean up after the party, and since Jane Bennet was staying, that meant Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome stayed, too. Sadly, that meant Mr. Monarch of the Doom and Gloom also stayed. Lizzy decided that Darcy had probably never cleaned up after himself, let alone someone else, and she was interested in seeing him get his hands dirty.

Jane and Lydia were on food collection, while Mary and Mrs. Bennet focused on dishes. Luke and Denny concentrated on cleaning up the mess, and Maria was freaking out over getting married.

Mary shoved recycling and garbage bags at Charles and Darcy and instructed them to, “Put it somewhere not in the middle of the living room.”

Lydia added, “
Duh
.”

Lizzy collected the leftover cans of pop and stuffed them back into their boxes. “Mrs. Charlotte, where do you want these?”

“The garage, Lizzy, please,” Mrs. Charlotte called from the kitchen.

Mary stacked the boxes in Lizzy’s arms and she headed outside. At the corner to the garage, she overheard Charles speaking:

“Dude, seriously, admit it. She’s hot.”

“She smiles too much.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes. Leave it to Darcy to be the buzz kill.

“You are such a buzz kill,” Charles said and it took all of Lizzy’s control not to snort. “Hey, you should ask Lizzy out to your breakfast thing tomorrow. She’d love that.”

“You want me to hang out with the plain one?”

Lizzy sucked in a breath. Did he just call her the plain one? Lizzy wasn’t model gorgeous, but she certainly wasn’t plain. Asshole!

“You’re thinking about the other one. Lizzy’s the one that works at the—”

“I know which one is Lizzy. She’s decent, I suppose, but why would I be interested in spending time with her? I have better things to do than hang out with an argumentative woman who’s clearly meant for manual labour and not much else.”

“Are you sure you’re not gay? Dude, Lizzy is fine. Not like Jane, but still pretty.”

She heard their footsteps and decided to start walking. She rounded the corner and Charles halted. Darcy paled, no doubt horror-stricken by her plainness.

“Oh! Lizzy!” Charles said in a higher voice than usual. “I didn’t know you were there.”

“Sorry to sneak up on you,” Lizzy said with a wide grin. She walked around them without another word.

“Um, oh, let me help you with those.”

Lizzy answered without looking back. “No necessary, Charles. My Dad always said I was built for manual labour.”

“Shit,” Charles muttered.

“Oh, when you’re done,” Lizzy said, ignoring the shit comment, and Darcy’s shitty comment, “can you both give Lydia a hand? She’s loading decorations into our van.”

When the men walked away, Lizzy turned to watch them. Well, as much as the pompous William Asshat Darcy thought she was nothing special, she didn’t see anything amazing coming from him, either.

Arg, what a jerk!

Chapter 3

“A breakfast date with Charles Bingley, Lottery Heir.” Lizzy said as they climbed the short flight of stairs to their side entrance.

Jane laughed and handed her keys to Lizzy, who was fumbling for hers. “It was nice of him to offer to look after Lydia.”

Lizzy unlocked the door and the sisters walked inside. “He was looking for an excuse to spend time with you. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you all evening.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Lizzy. Nothing may come of it.”

Lizzy stared at her eldest sister and said, “Jane Bennet, a man worth several million dollars can have any woman he wants, any time he wants. He, my dear, picked you. I was eavesdropping. He called you hot. He likes you.”

“When you put it like that, it does seem like a compliment, doesn’t it?” Jane smiled and it did Lizzy good to see it. “I have no idea why I deserve that compliment, but I’m happy to get it.”

“That’s the difference between us. Compliments and attention take you by surprise, and me never.”

Jane laughed.

“I can’t believe Charles is friends with someone like Darcy!” Lizzy said. “I’ve never seen two people more different in my life. Sorry.
Mr.
Darcy, since we aren’t friends.”

“Charles told me Darcy is very shy.” Jane hung her coat up in the closet, walked over to her wheelchair and lowered herself in. “I don’t believe he meant to insult you.”

“You’re seriously going to defend him?” Lizzy crossed her arms and glared, though half-heartedly. “Jane, come on. Even
you
can’t. Not with him.”

Jane popped off her leg and peeled off the rubber sock that covered her stump. “I’ve wanted to scratch all evening. This thing is getting too tight. I need to lose weight or get a bigger one.”

Lizzy ceased glaring long enough to fetch Jane a bottle of lotion from their tiny kitchen counter.

“Thanks. And, yes, I am defending Darcy. If he’s as shy as Charles says, it might be that he doesn’t give the best first impression. Give him a chance.

Lizzy cleared her throat and put on a deep voice. “Lizzy is decent, I suppose, but she’s no beauty. She should be working in a mine somewhere so that no one can see her ugly face.”

Jane laughed. “You can’t hold that against him! It was a conversation you were never meant to hear.”

“If he didn’t want me to overhear it, he should have waited until they were in private. And, no, Jane; outdoors at a party isn’t private.”

Jane shook her head. “Don’t be mean to Darcy. Promise me, Lizzy.”

Lizzy raised her hands. “I promise! I’ll be as nice to him as he is to me.”

“He’s probably berating himself for having been so rude to you. He’s Charles’s friend, so he can’t be that bad.”

And Lizzy hardly believed it, but she agreed to give Darcy another chance to wow her with his hidden, winning personality.

****

September 11

Though not a morning person, Lizzy managed to drag herself to the breakfast club meeting with minutes to spare. She asked for directions to her table and made her way to the far side of the ballroom. As she walked, Lizzy took several deep breaths and smoothed down her dress jacket.

There were about a dozen tables, each seating maybe eight people. As she understood it, there were seven representatives from various charities who would present a ten-minute talk based on the grant proposals they’d submitted two months previously.

Lizzy was impressed she’d even got to this stage. These kinds of groups usually preferred the more structured inner-city agencies that already had huge operating budgets, and therefore knew how to ask for money and how to spend it the way these donors liked.

But Lizzy had done her homework. This particular group was focused on what she called, “Dignity Charity,” meaning they concentrated their assistance on senior outreach, cancer family care, food banks, and other programs that brought dignity to people’s lives.

All were worthwhile projects and all overlapped her main focus this morning: a new kitchen. She would approach it from a food security perspective. Usually that topic focused on poor, single mothers or elderly, isolated couples, but it also applied to the homeless.

And homelessness was something she could talk about.

She smiled at the pair of silvered-hair, nearly identical men who met her eye as soon as she approached the table. “Hi, I’m Elizabeth Bennet, with The Faith-Hope-Love Refuge. Looks like I’m sitting with you this morning.”

Both men stood, introducing themselves as Jeffrey and Michael Suzuki, identical twin brothers who ran a successful law firm. She shook hands with them, and with the others who stood to introduce themselves. Lizzy traded gripes with two middle-aged women in severe, conservative suits and then greeted an elderly lady who sat next to the Suzuki brothers and who wore enough gold to fund a revolution in a small country.

And next to the old lady was…William freaking Darcy, with a smug, half-smile on his face.

Lizzy knew her mouth hung open, but she couldn’t form the words. Finally she blurted, “You didn’t tell me you’d be here.”

“Surprise,” he said flatly, though Lizzy noticed his eyes were full of contained glee. Deep down, he was laughing at her; she knew it.

Everyone took their seats, so Lizzy pulled hers out and sank into it, all confidence gone. Darcy wouldn’t tell these people what she said last night, would he? She glanced at him. Oh dear. He might. Jane always said her big mouth would get her into deep trouble one day.

“Darcy, you didn’t tell us you knew Ms. Bennet,” the matron scolded.

“We met briefly last night, ma’am,” Lizzy said. “I’m not even sure he was told my name, to tell you the truth.” An awkward giggle escaped her and she clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t let Darcy rattle her, not when so much depended on this meeting.

Of course, that reminder served to make her hands shake so badly that she struggled to stab one of the halved strawberries on her plate.

The table peppered her with questions, excluding Darcy who merely stared. Lizzy’s nerves got the better of her appetite and she put down her fork. There was no way she could eat with her guts churning.

Thankfully, Lizzy was soon rescued by the MC of the morning’s event, who introduced people, including Lizzy — she waved to the crowd when her name was called — and began a talk about the importance of the breakfast club.

Lizzy leaned toward Darcy and demanded in a low whisper, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m a member.”

“I’ve been to these before. I’ve never seen you.”

“I rarely am in town for them. However,” he leaned closer, “since I
am
in town, I decided to see if anyone deserved my money more than I did.” He casually put a forkful of sausage into his mouth.

Lizzy gritted her teeth and said, “I’m sorry for what I said last night.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Ms. Bennet.” Darcy cut another piece of sausage.

Lizzy sat back and didn’t say another word to him, instead stewing and steaming inside. What an arrogant, pompous ass! He knew she’d said those things among friends and family, but he was determined to hold them against her. He’d probably come just to spite her. No doubt he’d switched place settings so she’d be next to him.

“Our next speaker is Elizabeth Bennet, Director of Street Services at The Faith-Hope-Love Refuge. Her proposal caught the eye of the committee. Today she is going to tell us a little about the exciting work she’s doing feeding Edmonton’s homeless. Elizabeth?”

Lizzy’s throat constricted. She was never nervous speaking in front of people about her job; this was what she did. But Darcy’s verbal barb had thrown her off-balance and she needed to re-align herself and fast.

She gave the crowd a smile, walking to the front. She chanted, “Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip,” as she went. She shook hands with the MC, took the podium and folded out her notes just in case she blanked.

Darcy had turned in his chair and was staring right at her, dark eyebrows cocked and ready for her to fail. Well, she wasn’t going to fail. Any attempt to intimidate her would only make her more determined to succeed.

She took a deep breath, smiled, and said, “Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you this morning on a topic that is close to my heart: food insecurity. It’s a simple phrase, really, and yet it has powerful meanings. Food insecurity: the poor’s insecure access to food. Lack of access means a lack of choices. A lack of choice means lack of dignity.”

And Lizzy went into her educational lecture from memory, ignoring her notes. She explained how The Faith focused on helping people, as opposed to changing people. She explained that high and drunk individuals needed a safe place to eat and be protected from the elements, yet most of the agencies in the downtown core were not equipped, able, or willing to allow them access to their programs.