Modern Shorts

Charlie’s Favorites

 

Elizabeth Bennet made a mad dash out of her bedroom as she heard the timer in the kitchen going off.  She had forgotten about the oven and was drying her hair when she remembered.

“Please don’t be burned,” she pleaded as she opened the oven door.  She let out a breath of relief as she pulled the roasted beef tenderloin out of the oven.  Charlie’s favorite dinner was not ruined.

Jane planned this dinner early in the week to celebrate Charlie landing a client that his firm had been pursuing for months.  She was very proud of him and promised him an evening of all his favorites, including food, movie and people. 

Elizabeth had been looking forward to the dinner as well, due mostly to the fact that it would once again put her in the presence of William Darcy, Charlie’s best friend.  She had met him about two months ago at a party at Charlie’s place.  He was without a doubt the most intriguing man she had ever met.  They settled into easy conversation about books and travel and when she looked in his eyes she saw long walks and lazy afternoons nuzzled in by his side.  She was just about to ask him to go with her to a fundraiser dinner the next week when the Orange Horror showed up and dragged him away.  She found Elizabeth later that evening and bragged about how she had caught such a man as William Darcy.  Apparently they had been an item for a while.  Elizabeth was confused, thinking they had connected, but was absolutely certain that she hated Caroline Bingley.

Believing Darcy was spoken for, she took her childhood friend John Lucas to the dinner.   She was having an enjoyable enough time when she saw him across the room looking dashing in his tux, even though he had a grimace plastered across his face.  Her pulse quickened when he caught her eye and made his way across the room toward her.  Their conversation was very pleasant, but after she introduced him to John, he excused himself, leaving Elizabeth to admire his retreating form.  She did not see him the rest of the evening and assumed he and Caroline left early. 

She and John went out a few more times but when Elizabeth found herself dozing off in the middle of a conversation at dinner one night, she decided it was time to end it.  She saw Darcy again when seemingly on a whim Charlie decided to move into a larger apartment.  She and Jane came over to help unpack boxes and Darcy showed up to offer his help as well.  They all had dinner together later, but their conversation had been stilted and he seemed very uncomfortable.  Elizabeth wondered at this, finally coming to the conclusion that he probably felt odd being there without Caroline.

She woke up one Saturday morning not long after that to the delicious smells of fresh baked cinnamon rolls and coffee, the good kind Jane only used for company and special occasions.  Since it wasn’t her birthday, she assumed Charlie had stayed over.  

After she snagged one of the rolls and filled her coffee mug, she casually asked after Darcy and Caroline.  She looked up over her mug and saw Charlie’s confused expression.  Apparently there was no Darcy and Caroline and there never had been.  Only in Caroline’s twisted imagination were they a couple.

Elizabeth was thrilled with that piece of information until she remembered she was scheduled to leave on a book tour the next day.  She wrote children’s books and her agent scheduled her for a twelve city tour to last the next three weeks.  He was unattached at the moment, but surely a man like that wouldn’t be alone for long.  She hoped he would still be available when she returned.   

She got back the day before and Jane greeted her with much enthusiasm.  She told her about the dinner and asked her to join them, adding that Darcy was coming and Caroline was not invited.  Elizabeth casually agreed, but was doing summersaults on the inside.  She was determined to use the opportunity to charm the pants off of William Darcy, literally.    

Just a couple hours before their guests were due to arrive, Elizabeth got a frantic phone call from Jane.  She was stuck at work and needed her to get dinner started.  Elizabeth abandoned her effort to find the perfect outfit and headed to the kitchen.  Thankfully Jane, being the domestic angel that she was, had done all of the prep work ahead of time, which meant all Elizabeth really had to do was put the roast in the oven and make the place look pretty.     

Elizabeth looked down at the roast which Jane said would need to rest at least twenty minutes before slicing, then to the clock.  If she hurried, she could still make herself look decent when Darcy arrived.

********

Darcy stood at the door to Elizabeth’s place with a bottle of wine in one hand and Charlie’s favorite beer in the other.  He was so nervous that he feared he was going to sweat right through the clothes it had taken him hours to pick out.  Tonight was the night he would finally ask Elizabeth out.  He had waited two months for this opportunity and he wasn’t going to let a fit of nerves or the fact that two other people would be there cause him to chicken out.

He had it bad for Elizabeth since the night they met, but there always seemed to be something preventing him from pursuing her.  He wanted to ask her out that very night.  He was mesmerized by her joyful laughter and fine eyes.  He nearly let his nerves get the best of him then as well, but he convinced himself to ask her, thinking what’s the worst that could happen.  That question was answered in the form of Caroline Bingley, who attached herself to him for pretty much the rest of the night, leaving him no opportunity to return to conversation with Elizabeth.   

When he saw her the following weekend at a charity dinner, he felt as if the wind had been knocked right out of him.  He had been having a terrible time like he always did at these functions.  He had hoped to bring her with him and when he saw her across the room he thought at first he was imagining her there.  He made his way to her, feeling better than he had all week.  Then, he met him.  He had no idea who or what John Lucas was, but he knew without a doubt that he hated him.

Charlie called him up a couple of weeks later asking if he could come by his new place and help him move some things around.  When he came through the door he was greeted by the sight of Elizabeth’s jean clad bottom bent over a cardboard box.  He was done for the rest of the day.  He had no coherent thought and was pretty sure his speech was the same.  He recovered slightly by dinner, but then Elizabeth was seated across from him.  Her white tank top did for her breasts what her jeans did for her posterior.  He was in absolute hell thinking she would leave his company and go home to Lucas.  God, how he hated him.

It wasn’t until Elizabeth had left for her tour that he found out she had only seen John casually and was now free.  There was little chance she would start seeing anybody while she was away, but there was no guarantee.  Elizabeth was a beautiful woman and she would simply need to walk into a bar and men would surround her. 

When Charlie told him she would be there tonight, he decided to take a chance and purchase theatre tickets for the weekend.  From their conversation at Charlie’s party, he knew she was a theatre buff, but he was tempted to ask her to go bowling just so he could again see her in those jeans.

He decided he better ring the doorbell before his thoughts caused all the blood to rush from his head.  He took a deep cleansing breath and leaned into the buzzer.  Man up, Darcy, it’s now or never.

********

Five minutes before he was set to arrive Elizabeth was still in her bedroom, struggling to put on her shoes.  The three inch heeled strappy sandals were a completely inappropriate choice for a casual evening with friends, but she wanted to add a little something to her diminutive five foot three frame.  Even with the heels she would be a great deal shorter than him. 

She was coming from her room when she heard the doorbell.  She just got a text from Jane saying she and Charlie were both still at work, so she knew it was Darcy.  She straightened her skirt and walked to the door, willing her legs not to wobble on top of her non-sensible shoes.  She put on her best smile and opened the door.

“Hi William,” she said with more confidence than she was feeling.

“Good evening, Elizabeth.  You look lovely,” he said as he bent down to kiss her cheek.  She really did look lovely, and smelled so very good.  He could not resist lingering close so he could breathe in her intoxicating scent.

“Thank you.  Both Jane and Charlie are stuck at work, so it’s just us for now.”  She gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen.

“I hope your dinner will not be ruined,” he said as he placed the wine on the counter and the beer in the fridge.  He had been over to their place a few times while Elizabeth was gone.  They made their home into such a friendly, open environment that he felt more casual there than he normally would at most places.

“Not at all.  Thankfully Charlie’s favorites can all be served at room temperature, at least that’s what Jane said.”

Darcy looked at the food sitting on the counter and smiled in amusement.

“What?” she asked, handing him the corkscrew for the wine.

He picked up the wine bottle and held it out for Elizabeth to see.  “I brought this thinking it would go well with Charlie’s favorite meal, which is macaroni and cheese.  He ate at my house a lot when we were growing up and whenever we had this, he would always say it looked pretty then feed the contents of his plate to the dog.  I think he is trying to impress your sister.”

Elizabeth laughed.  “I guess that’s kind of sweet, but Janie would have made him anything, even canned soup if it would make him happy.”

Darcy started opening the wine.  “We will have this anyway if that’s alright.  It is a good vintage and I think you’ll like it.”

Elizabeth nodded and began slicing the beef.  Darcy came behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back as he reached up to get the wine glasses from the open shelving above her head.  She looked up and smiled and he smiled tenderly in return.  She was so beautiful he felt his heart might burst.

He poured the wine and handed her a glass then, leaning against the counter asked, “So what movie are we watching tonight?”

Biting her lip, she looked up from her glass and said a bit reluctantly, “He told Jane his favorite was The King’s Speech.  Is it?”

Darcy shook his head.

“What is?”

“Dazed and Confused.”

Elizabeth giggled.  “I suppose that is another throw back to your childhood?”

“Yes.  He watched it so much in junior high he probably warped the disk.  He asked me one day if he knew where we could go to score some weed.” He punctuated the last part with air quotes.  “I told him he should save his money.  He sounded so much like a pot head anyway that no one would believe he wasn’t already high.”

Elizabeth laughed again and it was a sound Darcy knew he would never tire of hearing.  He was in heaven.  The sound of her laughter was broken by the ringing of her cell phone, alerting her to a text, this time from Charlie.

“Well, it looks like it is just the two of us tonight, William.  Charlie is having to meet with his new client and poor Jane has to cover for another nurse at the hospital.  They send their apologies.”

“Too bad,” Darcy responded, though he really didn’t mean it.  He was having a wonderful time with just Elizabeth.

“Well, there’s no reason for us to wait now.  Shall we go ahead and eat?”

They made up their plates in the kitchen then walked to the dining room which had been set up prettily, with candles on the table and a soft glow coming from lighted silk cherry blossoms on the sideboard.  Elizabeth left to retrieve the bottle of wine while Darcy lit the candles and dimmed the overhead lights.  When Elizabeth returned he heard soft music coming from the other room.  She looked around and blushed slightly.  Apparently they had the same idea as to how the evening should progress.

They looked at each other warmly and Darcy pulled a chair out for her.  When she sat down, he took her hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it and then sat down beside her.  Elizabeth’s heart fluttered at his attentions.  She looked at him and thought how easily she could fall for this man.

Their conversation flowed as easily as it had when they first met.  They spoke of family and work and all the fun they had not been having lately.  This gave Darcy the opening he had been waiting for.

“Elizabeth, would you like to go out with me this weekend?  I have theatre tickets or we could do something more relaxed if you like.”  He looked at her hopefully.

She returned his look with a smile and said sweetly, “Anything you would like to do would be nice, William.  You decide.”

Suddenly feeling brave, he took her hand again, this time tracing small circles on the back with his thumb.  “Well, then, Friday we shall go to the theatre and Saturday we can go bowling or to a movie,” he said with a slight smile, hoping he would not be rebuffed.

“And what about Sunday, Mr. Darcy?”  She was looking at him in a way that made the blood rush through his veins so fast he could hear his heart beat pounding in his ears.  He wanted to say he would make her breakfast in bed, but held back.  His hand left hers to cup her cheek.

“Sunday we will go for a long walk then spend the afternoon nuzzled up together on the sofa.”

“That sounds perfect, William.”

He leaned in and kissed her softly.  How he was able to refrain from taking her in his arms and kissing her the way he really wanted to would forever be a mystery to him.  He knew somehow that there would be plenty of time for that, and he should enjoy these sweet moments with her now.

“So, what is Charlie’s favorite dessert?” she asked mischievously.

“Chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.”

“Ah, he can tell the truth after all,” Elizabeth laughed.  “Come on.”

They cleared their plates and then dished up the ice cream and cookies.  Sitting close together on the couch while enjoying his favorite dessert and watching his faux favorite movie, two of Charlie’s favorite people took the first steps toward their future.