Pride and Prejudice doesn't belong to me.

Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.

Enjoy.

Elizabeth at Work

Darcy threw the files on his desk and looked at Bingley who was laughing at him. "This isn't funny."

"I beg to differ," Bingley replied. "It's very funny."

"Richard shouldn't treat me like an idiot. I've worked with people before," Darcy complained.

"In almost every D&F office you've worked at, you've fired or reassigned, as you like to call it, half the employees and the other quit within a month of your arrival."

"It's not my fault they can't work with me," Darcy said grudgingly. "Most of that lot was lazy and you must admit the work has become better. We're doing much better."

Still, he couldn't understand why his cousin Richard had felt the need to leave files about every person under employ, from the tea girl to the vice president. It was ridiculous, Darcy had no intention of firing anyone, unless they deserved it, and he couldn't control those who felt that they couldn't work with him.

He picked up the file on top and read aloud from it to Bingley.

"Elizabeth Bennet, PA, she's hardworking, fun and very likeable. She's one of the most organized and brilliant people I have ever worked with and responds to gentle handling." He threw down the file and asked in disgust, "Gentle handling? Does she have some sort of nervous condition? Is she a horse?"

"I'm sure that's not what he meant," Bingley said.

"That's what he meant, she's the only one whose file has any personal comments in it," Darcy told him, "the rest have only information about the person's work – nothing personal. At all."

000

Elizabeth had been about to knock and enter her new boss's office when she heard her name being mentioned. Dear Richard, he was such a nice man but why heard he written those things about her? He made her seem so … she had no words.

She raised her hand again to knock but the next words froze her in place.

"This Elizabeth Bennet is probably one of those weak women who need someone to do everything for them."

"Darcy, that's too much and it's very unfair to judge a person before you even meet them."

"That's what he wanted me to do," Darcy said, "otherwise, why leave me the files?"

"Still, you shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Darcy was on a roll. "Probably mousy, has a lazy eye, and wouldn't say boo to a sheep, I hate people like that."

000

Elizabeth made her way to the lift. She was already late for the party anyway; she'd stayed late to meet the new boss man, Mr. Darcy himself, who had come down to take over the company. She'd never met him, or even seen a picture of him in the press – apparently he was camera shy, although Lilly, the tea girl who'd seen him earlier in the day had gone on a bit about how tall, dark and absolutely gorgeous he was. But Elizabeth had heard of his brilliance, and that he was very hardworking and very good at what at he did, although his methods were a bit unconventional.

What she hadn't heard was that he was rude and very arrogant. How dare he call her mousy? Her dark brown hair was lovely, as for the lazy eye – her eyes were her best features.

000

She left the loo. It was a themed party and she was going, against her better wishes, as a fairy princess complete with wings.

Finally the lift opened and she got in. A man was already standing inside and she gave him a slight smile and stood quite apart from him. She couldn't wait to get to Jane and tell her all that she'd overheard.

Elizabeth gazed absently at the red digital numbers counting down the floors and glanced sideways at the man in the lift with her. He wasn't
bad looking, after all. His hair was perfectly groomed although you could tell that he had run his hands through it a lot; and he had deep dark eyes, that a girl could drown in – stop it Lizzie – as for his smile, she wondered idly what he was smiling about, it was just great.

Oh, no, he had just caught her staring at him. Elizabeth looked down embarrassed. She looked up again at the large digital numbers which seemed to be taking a very long to change.

Darcy couldn't help himself. He stared at the dark-haired beauty in the lift with him. Apart from that time he'd seen her staring at him, she seemed more fascinated by the interior of the lift – and it wasn't much – than she was in him. He wanted to talk to her but for the life of him couldn't find the right words. She was obviously dressed for a party – that silver white dress, glitter and wings couldn't mean anything else, but he didn't where to start from.

Her sigh brought him back to earth. She was glaring at the large red numbers.

'I should have walked,' Elizabeth though to herself. 'Who are you kidding? Walked forty flights of stairs in these shoes,' she laughed silently to herself.

She looked at the glowing number again and it finally changed from nineteen to eighteen and remained there. At this rate she wouldn't make it for the party. She glared at it – as if her gaze could do a thing – but instead of moving the lift gasped and jolted and stopped.

"I think it's stuck," Darcy offered slowly earning himself a glare from Elizabeth. What did he think, that she couldn't tell that the lift had stopped? Jane and Charlotte would probably think that she had made this all up to avoid going out with them.

She turned her gaze back to the numbers. This was one of the newest and best office buildings in town - the lift should be working. All the time.

000

"So you're going to a party?" he asked.

"I guess not," Elizabeth replied. "We're stuck in the lift, remember?"

He nodded. Obviously he knew that, but he wanted to talk to her and that had seemed like a good enough topic to begin with.

"Let me guess, fairy princess?"

"What gave me away?"

"The wings and glitter were quite hard to miss," he replied.

"I guess you think it's ridiculous, don't you?"

"No, no, I just wish I could actually find time to do such stuff," he told her. "But my work is so -."

"Please, no work talk," she interrupted him. "It's Friday night and I will not talk about work, although I do love my job."

It occurred to them then that they both probably worked in this building. But it was huge with over ten large firms and Darcy had entered at the lift from his office floor while Elizabeth had entered five floors below – she preferred the loos on that floor.

"I just moved here," he offered.

"Birmingham is great, I like it," Elizabeth replied, "but if you're from the bigger cities, you may not like it."

000

"The city does need to be cleaned."

"I agree, but some of the measures are drastic," he pointed out.

"Of course you would say that," she argued. "You're new in town and haven't had to be at the mercy of those youths."

"So rounding them up will solve the problem, I suppose?" he asked.

"It will remind them that actions have consequences," Elizabeth said. "And maybe I'll be able to get to Millie's Cookies in peace."

000

"How can you prefer the Lantern to Batman?"

"You asked my option and I gave it," Darcy told her.

"Still, it just seems wrong," Elizabeth argued. "Those two can't even be compared. I mean he's The Batman and the other guy is just part of a Corps. It's ridiculous."

"That's what you think." Darcy was having so much fun, when Bingley had left his office earlier that evening, he hadn't imagined that about an hour later he would be stuck in a lift with the most interesting woman he had ever met.

"It's like comparing Miss Marple to Poirot," Elizabeth ranted. "It shouldn't and cannot be done."

000

The fire department and the police got them out of the lift and they separated: Darcy to get his car while Elizabeth ran to the nearest taxi. It was only as he drove off that he remembered that he hadn't even found out her name. Well at least she worked in the same building; he was bound to run into her some time.

000

Elizabeth opened the door to her office and was surprised to hear faint tapping coming through the inner door. She was usually one of the earliest people to arrive at work – certainly far earlier than Richard who first had his morning run – but it seemed things would be different with her new boss.

Darcy looked up as the door opened to see this paragon, Elizabeth Bennet, whom Richard had said responded to gentle handling.

It was the girl from the lift, the one he had liked and hoped that he would run into at work sometime and she was glaring at him.

At first, when Elizabeth had recognized him as the man from the lift she had smiled, and then she remembered his words.

"Elizabeth Bennet, your PA," she told him icily. "As you can see, I don't have a lazy eye and I can say boo to a sheep and have done it a number of times, and I don't require any gentle handling at all. Is there anything you require this morning?"

As he watched her storm out, he wished that he had kept his mouth shut. It was going to be hard work to get Elizabeth to like him, because he really liked her. At least she hadn't quit and he doubted that she would. That would give him time.

000

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