I smiled at our waitress from the booth at the back of the local restaurant and ordered a lemonade while George got a Coke. When she walked away, I put my elbows on the table between us and leaned in, "Alright, tell me about Darcy."

He sighed and nodded slowly, looking like he didn't particularly wish to share whatever it was with me. "To preface, once again, I don't enjoy talking about this, and I hope I can trust you to keep it private. If you need to tell Jane, that is alright."

I nodded, and our waitress, Sally, returned with our drinks. We thanked her, and after a quick sip of his fizzy drink, George started the story.

"I grew up with William Darcy from six years old on. He has been a massive part of my life until recently. My father was his father's chauffeur. Mr. Darcy was a generous man when it came to me. He saw potential in me."

George smiled at a memory from the past, "He paid for my schooling at the same prestigious schools as William, and the two of us lads grew close. At that point, I didn't realize the chasm between our lifestyles. My dad and I lived in a little cottage on the thousands of beautiful acres of Pemberly, their estate, while William could run about any number of rooms in the manor. During holidays, we grew up getting into scrapes with each other like boys should, losing ourselves in the maze of gardens, climbing trees in the forest, fishing for hours in the streams and lakes, and riding horses at breakneck paces. It was a glorious childhood in that regard. I didn't have a mother, mine had died when I was three, so whenever Mrs. Darcy saw me, I was another child to her. I will forever be grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Darcy for the kindness they showed me. They make it difficult for me to speak poorly of their son because I respect them."

I nodded to show I was following.

"Mr. Darcy was grooming me for a position in their massive corporation, DARCY. He told me that when I graduated from University I would have a job there. With that incentive, I excelled in my business and communications classes, and Mr. Darcy couldn't sing my praises high enough. I had my life all planned out until the fateful moment he and his wife died in a freak accident a few years back. I graduated shortly afterward, and William didn't give me the job promised me even though I was ready and willing."

I gaped at him, "Why not?"

He toyed with his cup, "Jealousy, I suppose. Mr. Darcy loved me like a son. William couldn't stand it. He was selfish, still is to this day, I believe."

"So that's it? He didn't give you the job promised to you? Surely with your degree and personality, you could have easily gotten employment elsewhere."

George gave me a small smile, "If only that was the extent. William has a younger sister. Georgianna, I don't know if you have heard of her?"

"Ought oh." I felt dread starting to sink in.

"Oh yes," he nodded and grimaced, "She was always around us when we were at Pemberly. Over the years, I suppose I had had some appeal to her as her older brother's friend. I never realized she had feelings for me until it was too late."

I gripped my cup, not sure what he would say next, but knowing it wouldn't be good.

"It was a few short weeks after the funeral, and we were all grieving Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. They were truly exceptional people, and I owe them everything. My dad had passed on by that point, but Mr. Darcy still let me have the cottage- we were that close. One night, I was in the cottage and had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it, and there was Georgianna. She came in and..." he exhaled a breath and looked away.

"She came on to me. I wasn't expecting it. I told her she was grieving and needed to return to the manor, that she couldn't be doing what she was doing with me. I went to my room and closed the door, hoping she would get the message. She didn't. After a few minutes of waiting for her to leave, I opened the door back to the living room to escort her out. Except, she had undressed and only had the bare minimum on. I didn't know how to handle her like that... and she took advantage of my indecisiveness. She latched onto me again despite my strong protests, and that was when the door flew open."

"Oh no." I breathed, completely transfixed, my stomach twisting in knots.

He took a sip, "It wasn't pretty. William was not happy, to say the least. No matter what I said, it was my fault. The next day, I didn't have a place to live. He told me to leave England and never come back. I thought he was just in a rage, so I got a little apartment with a mate of mine to wait out his fury, and then he would give me the job at DARCY once he realized my explanation was true. That never happened, so I started applying elsewhere. Somehow, he had enough business power that no matter what decent company I applied to work for, my application was turned down."

"He didn't." I was astonished. That was low, even for Darcy.

"Unfortunately, yeah. I confronted William about it, and he told me I wouldn't be able to get a respectable job in England, and I needed to move somewhere else."

"How was that even possible for him to do that and make every company listen to him?"

"I have no idea. DARCY is a company with interests and ties to everything. I was looking forward to working there and having my promised position ripped out from under me hurt. He got through to the guy I was living with, and I had to move out within the month." He shrugged, "I came to America."

"This is so crazy."

"Mhmm. Even though I despise Darcy for being an unfeeling, conceited, and disregarding man, I can't publicly shame him because of how much his parents meant to me. Not to mention, any bad press about him would be squashed almost immediately. Perks of having a massive legal team and money invested in major news organizations."

Then why wasn't my whole debacle with him shut down immediately?

I leaned back against the booth, "This has been most informative."

He matched my posture from the other side and gave me an entirely too attractive smile. "Any other questions? I don't want to leave any doubts in your pretty head. If anything doesn't make sense, tell me, I want you to understand everything. I believe all relationships need to be built on trust, and I want you to trust me completely."

I tilted my head a fraction at the implication of what he was saying, "Okay, I don't know if you knew this or not, but I've been linked with Darcy in a manner of speaking. Some tabloids got pictures of us together that were completely inaccurate. However, it wasn't quieted immediately. What do you think was the reasoning?"

He shrugged, "Simple, it profited him. When someone gets to William's level in the world, publicity is everything. He is the head of DARCY, and a percentage of the company is traded publicly. William's actions are watched all over the world. If something happens and he is associated with it, their numbers will go up or down. I haven't seen the pictures, but if they were with you, whatever the circumstance, I'm sure it didn't hurt to have pictures of a gorgeous woman with him. He might have grumbled about it, but it would have helped him."

"First, I was pretty, now I'm gorgeous?"

"It didn't get much of a reaction from you, so I figured I needed to step up my game."

I ignored the slight pitter-patter of my heart. I wasn't immune to compliments from handsome guys.

"Tell me about Charles. I think he and Jane are well on their way to dating. How does Darcy know him? Is Charles a good guy?"

He smirked at me avoiding his comment, and I had an odd feeling for a split second. Then he was back to himself, and I guess I imagined the look that had entered his eye.

"Seems to be a good fellow. I can't claim to know him well. William went to Harvard for law school, where he met Charles. I stayed in England for Uni. I have only been around Charles on occasion, but he has always been a jolly guy."

I nodded, looking at my near-empty lemonade, "So, what exactly is your job now?"

"A temporary business consultant here to find another job. Turns out I don't like figures as much as I thought I did. I need something more hands-on."

"Okay. Why are you here in Merytown?"

"The company I work for sent me here, and I had the good fortune to meet you."

I shook my head at him. There was more to the story, but he seemed truthful, "Evasive technique covered by a compliment. They say flattery will get you everywhere, but I'm not sure how true that is with me."

"Are you saying my compliments aren't good enough? I suppose I will work to increase my flattery skills then."

"I'm sure your flattering skills are fine, but actions speak louder than words, and I don't know you well yet."

A smile spread over George's face. "Yet. I like your thinking. Can I have your number, and perhaps we can arrange future times to meet? If you are interested, of course..."

I glanced at my phone lit up with a text from Jane and decided to let myself go for it. My sisters, minus Mary, always said I was too guarded with guys, mostly because I didn't want to waste my time with someone with whom I couldn't see myself for life.

I drained the rest of my lemonade and crunched on a piece of ice, then nodded. George pulled out his phone, and I typed my name and number in his contacts. He waved Sally down, and she brought us the bill. He paid a few dollars, and I thanked him.

I slid to the edge of the booth, "It's time for my movie night with Jane. Thanks for enlightening me about Darcy. Now I despise him even more."

"As I said, it's hard for me to say anything bad about him because of how much his parents meant to me, but I wanted you to understand how he really is. If he doesn't get his way, he makes other people's lives miserable."

We stood and walked out of the restaurant. I earned a surprised glance from one of my mom's friends entering with her husband. I greeted the pair as George held open the door like a gentleman. Mom would soon learn of me being out at a restaurant with a young, handsome man and would be on my tail about him.

Joy.

George walked me back to my car, the heat radiating off the asphalt. "I'll text you later."

I smiled at him, "Sounds good. Thanks for the lemonade."

"Of course, it was a pleasure, Lizzy."

I slid into my car and locked the doors as soon as I was in, a habit I had mastered over the years. You can never be too careful.

When I arrived back at the house, I carried in the grocery bag and the cooler, "Jane you will not believe all I'm going to tell you."

She popped up from the couch to assist me. "I'm sure it is interesting, but I think I would rather watch the movie first and enjoy banana splits with you before hearing about the drama with George."

I stared at her, "How did you know it was going to be drama?"

"Well, it was, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I grumbled, pulling the ice cream out. Jane peeled the bananas, and I got two bowls down. "Fine, I will delay sharing the drama so we can have a fun movie night without you having to consider the news. I'll share it with you later."

"Sounds good. What genre of movie do you want to watch?"

"I'm feeling mad, so maybe a war one?"

Jane laughed, "Lizzy, really?"

"What? Midway, Hacksaw Ridge, The Monuments Men, etc. They are all wonderful movies."

"Why not a romantic comedy?" she asked as we put the ingredients up.

"Eh. What about Steele Magnolias? I know it's one of your favorites."

"Fine," Jane agreed, and we moved to the couch, "But I will have to take my makeup off before we get to the end so I don't have mascara streaks down my face."

"Well, you know the line, 'I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence," I said, referencing Dolly Parton's character of Truvy in the movie.

We settled in and ate our banana splits within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. We laughed at Ousier and Drum Eatenton and all the one-liners and cried at the end, then laughed again through our tears. Steele Magnolias hits the spot every time.

As we got up, I saw a few lingering tears on Jane's face, and I quoted one of the lines to her, "Smile; it increases your face value."

Jane laughed, rinsed her bowl, and put it in the dishwasher. "Okay," she said, "Tell me the drama."

I nodded, "One second." I checked my phone again, but still no message from George.

She sat on a barstool, and I leaned against the counter, my phone within eyesight in case a text came from him.

At some point in my retelling of the story, I got so engrossed that I missed my phone lighting up. When Jane paused to think about her response, I checked my phone.

Hey, this is George

I grinned at the random number with the message sent ten minutes ago. I would wait a little while before I responded.

Jane sighed, "Lizzy, this is so hard to believe. Poor George! To lose his mother and father at such a young age, then to have his future stolen? I never thought William would stoop to such a level. He might not be the most pleasant person to be around, but it is hard to imagine him overreacting to such an extreme. Perhaps there was some misunderstanding, and William isn't bad, and George is exaggerating."

I shook my head at her, "You can't make both be good. One is good, and one is bad. I have another reason to dislike and despise Darcy. To quote Ousier, 'he is a boil on the butt of humanity."

"Are you sure George was telling the truth? He seemed like a nice guy, but you just met him."

"There was such a manner of truth to George. Why would he sit there and lie to me while looking ridiculously attractive?"

"Ted Bundy."

I scoffed, "Oh please, not the same thing. George has nothing to gain by lying to me about Darcy."

"Lizzy, think about what a bad light this puts William in. To treat his father's favorite in such a way? Especially when his father had promised to provide for George? It is impossible. No man with any character, which I think William at least has some, would treat another man in such a way. Could Charles be so deceived by his friend? I hope not."

"I am sure Charles knows nothing about the matter. He is too good of a guy to be friends with someone of that sort. Besides, if it is a lie, let Darcy contradict it. George seemed truthful. I would hardly have invented the whole story with the names and facts, especially if the listener could ask Darcy about it."

"He might have been betting you wouldn't ask William. I hardly know what to think." Jane shook her head and let out a sigh.

"I beg your pardon. I know exactly what to think."

"Lizzy, just think, if it is true, what if George doesn't keep it quiet out of his respect for the former Mr. and Mrs. Darcy and exposes William? Imagine if George gets mad or if someone from the press gets a sniff of it. Such a story in the public might bring William down. Surely you wouldn't want that, no matter how much you dislike him. You must admit William has done well."

Charlotte returned from her day with her family, and Jane asked how it went. I responded to George's text with the most captivating response known to man.

What is your last name? I need to put it in my contacts.

An instant reply,

Wickham