Read First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice Online

Authors: Krista D. Ball

Tags: #Young Adult, #jane austen, #Fiction, #Romance, #books, #comedy, #krista d ball

First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice (4 page)

BOOK: First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice
6.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

She did not insult those agencies or programs, and in fact justified the importance of facilities maintaining dry environments. But that created a hole in the safety net, and The Faith tried to plug that hole. Her clients came to her to meet a basic survival need: food. But through that contact, she could assist in reducing harm, by providing condoms to street workers, providing a safe place to dispose of needles as opposed to a playground, and The Faith required no payment, gave no social commentary, and offered no judgment.

The Faith gave them a drop of dignity in a barren world devoid of it.

Did she believe all that? Most days. There were some days she didn’t, when it was all too much and she was convinced she did more harm than good. But most days, she believed it. Today, she believed it. Today was all that mattered.

She praised the other organizations that would be presenting and explained how she fully supported housing, literacy, drug rehab, and prison volunteer programs. She simply reminded everyone that The Faith worked to keep safe those who weren’t ready for change, whatever their reasons or situation.

She felt Darcy’s eyes on her the entire time, but she did not allow him to rattle her. This was her job. People depended on her. She met his critical gaze and said, “On behalf of my clients, who do not have a voice, thank you for allowing me to tell you their stories.”

The crowd clapped and the MC shook her hand. Her table mates praised her speech as she returned to her seat, and even people from surrounding tables leaned over to offer their praise.

Once that had died down and the next speaker was introduced, Lizzy whispered to Darcy, “Did
you
think I spoke well?”

“I was moved to tears,” he said, again with a flat tone but with the same sparkle in his eyes.

“I didn’t know machines could cry,” she shot back.

“I had the tear ducts installed just for this event.” He took a sip of his coffee, then turned away to listen to the next guest.

Lizzy couldn’t quite decide if she should slap him or laugh.

****

Back in her office, Lizzy collapsed in her chair and flipped through her standard internet browsing, before undertaking the deluge of work on her desk.

“Aww,” Lizzy said, looking at her updates. “Hey, Luke? Come here. Listen to this.”

Luke was at the photocopier. He took the three steps to poke his head back into their office. “What?”

“Jane and Charles are tweeting each other!”

@Skater_J: So proud of my baby sister! She’s the new face of Edmonton Transit! @Skater_J: Grabbing lattes with @charliebing before heading back on set.

“That’s it?” Luke sounded disappointed.

“There’s more.”

@charliebing: Never been on a commercial set. This is really neat! Thanks for letting me hang out @Skater_J!

@Skater_J: My pleasure, @charliebing

@charliebing: We’re standing next to each other in the lineup and tweeting each other @Skater_J

@Skater_J: It’s true! @LizzyB1 is going to tease us.

“They’re so cute,” Lizzy crooned. “They’re like adorable little kittens.”

“Yeah, I want to put them in my pocket and carry them around all day.”

Lizzy made a face and waited for more status updates.

“How did the breakfast go?” Luke asked.

“Let’s get Melissa.” Lizzy stepped over to the door. She shouted out for Melissa, who looked through her window and waved. Lizzy motioned for her to come and Melissa joined them in the cramped office.

Melissa Gardiner had been The Faith’s Executive Director for over three years now. Lizzy and Luke had both done turns at the job, but both preferred their current jobs. Lizzy organized street-level services, and Luke organized volunteers. Lizzy spoke about donations to any street-level service, and Luke spoke about volunteer needs. Melissa organized donors, money, and volunteers. Neither wanted her job.

Both Lizzy and Luke got along well with Melissa, and not just because she did the job they both hated. She was a great boss. She had a peaceful smile that Lizzy found soothing and non-threatening. These days Melissa kept her silver-speckled black hair cut close to her dark scalp, which only served to make her smile all the more noticeable.

“So, how did it go? Good?” Melissa asked.

Lizzy took her chair. “I think it went good. I gave my talk and had a lot of questions afterwards. I handed out a lot of business cards. Everyone at my table was completely enthralled.” She thought about Darcy. “Well, nearly everyone. Darcy was there.”

Luke’s eyes widen. “No way! After what you said to him last night? Oh, that must’ve been awkward.”

“Who’s Darcy?”

“Some snobby douchebag,” Lizzy sneered.

“Correction. A snobby douchebag worth about a quarter of a
billion
who Lizzy mouthed off to at a party last night,” Luke clarified. “I looked him up on the internet.”

Lizzy groaned. “I didn’t know he was going to be there.”

“So, it didn’t go as well as you hoped?” Melissa asked, looking pained.

“I really think it did go well. Big deal if he doesn’t vote for donating to us. I think we’ll see some money. There were some huge projects, though, things like vans for meals to seniors and such, so they’ll get the bulk of the cash.” Lizzy shrugged. “I think I made enough of an impression to get at least a new coffee urn and maybe even an industrial fridge. We could sure use that.”

Luke’s expression turned wistful. “A coffee urn that doesn’t sound like an atomic bomb going off.”

“A fridge whose doors actually close the entire way,” Melissa added, dreamily.

“Let’s not go crazy,” Lizzy said. “Next thing, you’ll be asking for a furnace that works!”

Chapter 4

September 12

The next evening, Charles dropped by The Faith with a tall, glamorous woman. Her glossy black hair was cut into a sexy pixie cut. She was catwalk thin, and wore her makeup to look like she wasn’t wearing any. Her skin was darker than Charles’s and she stood nearly as tall. She looked a little younger than Charles, though that could have been the result of makeup and thinness. Either this was Charles’s sister, or he’d just kidnapped a supermodel.

“Hey, Lizzy,” Charles said. “This is my sister, Caroline.”

“Good day,” Caroline said with a smile.

Lizzy brushed her hand against her jeans and held it out. “It’s so great to meet you.”

Caroline hesitated, but only for a moment. “Charles has been telling me all about his new place and I decided to come visit.” She gave her brother an annoyed look. “Of course, the condo isn’t actually ready yet.”

“Where are you staying in the meantime?” Lizzy asked.

“I’m staying with Charles at the Hotel MacDonald.”

“Ah,” Lizzy said.

Awkward silence fell between them, as Lizzy tried to find something in common with this rich, snazzy woman. She couldn’t think of a damn thing.

It was Charles who broke the silence. “So, Lizzy, Jane says you don’t work late tonight. We’re heading out for dinner. Want to come?”

Lizzy glanced back at Luke, who shrugged and said, “Take off. I can look after things.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“You have like a year’s worth of lieu time and vacation saved up!” Melissa shouted from the kitchen. “Please, go away. Otherwise, one day I’ll need to pay you out and you’ll bankrupt us.”

Lizzy let out a roaring laugh, and the staff and volunteers, plus several of the clients, snickered. Charles joined in once he realized this was actually funny. Caroline merely faked a smile.

Lizzy rushed downstairs to grab her coat and purse, making a quick run to the bathroom to brush out her hair, brush her teeth, wash her hands, apply deodorant, and use the small amount of makeup she stored in her desk drawer to cover the acne sprouting on her chin.

This was not because Caroline was gorgeous and Lizzy resembled the ugly step-sister locked in the cellar.
Really.

They drove the two blocks to Lizzy’s house and parked in front; Caroline’s four-inch heels were impractical for walking. Charles ran inside, leaving Lizzy with Caroline in silence. It dawned on Lizzy that this was her house and her sister. Why wasn’t she the one to fetch Jane? If she had, she wouldn’t be stuck in the car with nothing to say.

“Do you have a restaurant picked out already?” Lizzy asked.

“Not that I’m aware.”

With no more conversation to be had, Lizzy pulled out her cell phone and texted Luke.

Lizzy: Rescue me.

Seconds later, Lizzy’s phone rang. “Oh, excuse me Caroline.” She answered it. “Elizabeth Bennet speaking.”

“Good day, Elizabeth Bennet,” Luke said in a sultry, husky voice. “I am calling to rescue you, like the Knight in Shining Armour that I am.” He heavy-breathed into the phone.

She chuckled. “Hey! What’s up?”

“You just left here. It can’t be that bad.”

“It is.”

“Uncomfortable with the fashion princess, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“You’re exaggerating, Lizzy. It’s not that bad. I’m hanging up, so make it sound like a work call.”

Lizzy sighed and said, “The paper plates are in the storage cabinet at the bottom of the east stairs.”

“Stay out of trouble.”

“You, too.” She ended the call and put her cell away.

“Work?” Caroline asked.

“Yup. I’m pretty much married to my job.”

“I totally know what you mean.”

Work! They had work in common! Lizzy wanted to clap. “What do you do?”

“I’m an aboriginal artist.”

Lizzy had to admit she didn’t expect that answer. Shame on her, really, for judging. Jane always said she judged people too fast. “What kind?”

“Corporate, mostly.”

“Um, what is corporate aboriginal art?”

“Many companies want to give the right impression when they first set up shop in Western Canada. I work with their needs to produce appropriate art.”

What the hell did that mean? “It’s great that you get paid for your art. So few people can make a living wage at it.”

“It really isn’t that hard if you have talent and connections.”

Lizzy had a hot reply on the tip of her tongue, but held back. She wasn’t here to pick a fight. She repeated that in her mind until Charles and Jane came out of the house and got into the car. Eager to talk to anyone not Caroline, Lizzy asked, “Do you have a restaurant in mind, Charles?”

“We’re going to Prairie Steakhouse,” Jane said.

Oh crap. Lizzy didn’t know how much money was in her back account. Last time she checked, it was $75. Had she used much since then? It was going to cost a good $50 for a meal there. Dammit. That was grocery money for next week.

“My treat.”

“Really, Charles?”

Lizzy noticed the sneer in Caroline’s voice, but it looked as though Jane and Charles didn’t. Probably because they were making googly-eyes at each other in the rear-view mirror. Twenty-four hours and they were already like horny teenagers. Lizzy was thrilled.

“Darcy’s already there and has a table reserved for us.”

Lizzy looked at Jane and stuck her tongue out in disgust. Caroline’s reaction was less visceral, but more surprised. “You didn’t tell me Darcy was still in town!”

“Yes, I did. You weren’t listening.”

They arrived and Caroline fake-kissed Darcy on each cheek, who tolerated the gesture. It reminded Lizzy of cats claiming their territory and Caroline had just peed all over Darcy’s tree. Horrified by that image — good Lord, where had it come from? — Lizzy shook off all thoughts of Darcy, Caroline, and peeing, and sat down to dinner.

The usual small talk ensued. Lizzy learned that Caroline did a significant amount of illustration work for Darcy’s company, Fitz & William Enterprises. Apparently, Darcy co-owned the company with his cousin and they made educational materials: software, games, books, learning tools, mobile applications, and they even had a popular short video series for young children when travelling.

So, apparently, Caroline was gorgeous, talented, accomplished, and perfect in every way. Lizzy got the impression that she was the dirt on Caroline’s $500 shoes. She and Darcy were perfect for each other.

Lizzy wasn’t convinced that Darcy had any interest in Caroline beyond her artistic talent; however, her flirting and his ignoring it proved to be vastly entertaining. Maybe he was gay and still in the closet. It was possible, though it meant that both her and Luke’s gaydars were broken, and she was usually pretty good at those things.

Plus, there was the issue of Darcy’s staring. He sat across from Lizzy the entire meal and watched her constantly. Even when she ordered the soup and salad, he stared at her. What was that all about?

Charles protested Lizzy’s choice, concerned that she wasn’t ordering what she wanted because he was paying. Lizzy assured him that French onion soup was her absolute favourite soup and she wanted to try it. However, it took Jane ordering a steak and reiterating that Lizzy always ordered French onion soup when it was offered.

“It’s Lizzy’s way to determine if a restaurant is worth coming back to a second time,” Jane said, grinning.

“Then you judge all restaurants based on the quality of their French onion soup?” Darcy asked.

Lizzy wiggled her eyebrows and said, “Why, yes, Mr. Darcy. I have standards, after all.”

Lizzy went back to chatting with Charles and Jane, and Darcy’s attention was so focused on her conversation that the waiter had to ask him twice for his order. Predictably, Darcy ordered the most expensive thing on the menu: some kind of blue cheese steak with mushrooms, onions, asparagus…and something called béarnaise sauce. What the hell was
béarnaise
? It sounded like beer mayonnaise. He also ordered a scotch, top shelf. Because, you know, the lower shelves were where the common folk drank.

But not even Captain Grumpy Guts could spoil Lizzy’s mood. She loved watching Charles lavish attention on Jane. Was she comfortable? Did she like her food? Did she want another drink? He was clearly smitten and Lizzy couldn’t help but feel a little like her mother; she wanted Jane to be happy.

While they waited for their food, Darcy remained engrossed with Lizzy. She was uncomfortable, but tried not to acknowledge him. He sure was happy to stare at a woman who was plain and clearly sturdy enough for manual labour.

BOOK: First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice
6.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

A Little Harmless Lie 4 by Melissa Schroeder
Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman
The Genesis Project by Tigris Eden
Earthfall by Stephen Knight
Secret Valentine by Katy Madison
nancy werlocks diary s02e11 by dawson, julie ann
No Man's Land by Pete Ayrton
The Relic Keeper by Anderson, N David