Pride & Pre-Med Curriculum

Chapter 22

Lizzy was so confused. She kept replaying the incident in her mind over and over as she rode home with her family, tuning out the trivial argument that Lydia and Mary were having about Lydia wearing real leather.

She had been sure at the time that Will and Gage Wickham would come to blows at the party. They obviously knew one another and hadn't parted as friends. 

 On one hand, she was very curious about Will's involvement, since he always seemed so controlled and sure of himself.  Seeing him about to lose his temper and, indeed, risk a physical altercation with so many witnesses and even possible legal ramifications that could result in charges being pressed against him was disconcerting. It wasn't like Will to be so hot tempered... was it? 

Lizzy shook her head in dismay.  Its not as if she knows this man.  If ever there were an enigma, it had to be Will Darcy. 

Still, at times, she almost felt as if she could see glimpses below the aloof exterior.  But tonight, he had definitely surprised her by first being so aggravating throughout dinner and so volatile upon seeing Gage Wickham.  There must be an ugly history between the two.  Maybe there was more to this fascinating man that she had previously judged.  Although, she was still unsure whether the "more" might be good or bad.

She was also puzzled by the mysterious Wickham. He was so attractive and witty. He had positively made every nerve in her body sing with anticipation of their almost-kiss. He had definitely made an impression on her and she couldn't wait to see him again.  The memory of his strong arms holding her tightly made her shiver with anticipation at the thought.  she'd never had such strong feelings of attraction for anyone before.

 But that could be a problem... Lydia's ill timed interruption had prevented her from getting his number.

When hours had passed and still Lizzy could not get the lovely Mr. Wickham off her mind, she finally caved and reached for her laptop. Normally, she did not subscribe to Facebook stalking, but then, ordinarily, gorgeous men did not hit on her and leave her hanging the way Gage Wickham had.

She thought 'desperate times called for desperate measures' as she typed in his name. 

Looking him up was a simple thing, he popped up almost immediately. His suave, debonair looks complimented by a radiant smile looked back at her from a page full of photos and friends.  It was all too intimidating.  She browsed through some of the photos and in all of them, Gage looked like an underwear model.  She stopped on one that was a close up and studied his chiseled jaw, sprinkled with a 5 'o'clock shadow.  She wasn't usually attracted to men that looked like they oozed sophistication.  But hey, maybe it was time to experiment.

Then a thought popped into her head.  Did Will Darcy have a facebook page?  For some reason, she was jittery and nervous, searching his name.  What would she find?  When it popped up, she wasn't surprised a bit.  Will stared back at her from the photo, his face a serious portrait of steel-hard professionalism in his power suit.  But yet, even this photo had some art to it because it showed bars of sunlight falling across his face, highlighting the blue of his eyes and the artful arc of hair at his brow. The rest of the profile was locked.  Typical.  As inaccessible and mysterious as the man himself.

The difference between the two profiles was like night and day.  One was sunny, open and bright with lots of photos of Gage looking happy and relaxed, albeit with too many beautiful women to make Lizzy 100% comfortable...while the other was like a steel bank vault - impenetrable and stark in comparison.

Lizzy went back to Gage's page, trying to find clues about why the two men would hate each other.  Looking at Gage's photos, she found it.  A picture of him, probably right out of high school, standing next to a distinguished looked older man with graying hair.  The man was wearing a business suit and they were standing behind a desk.  The desk held a nameplate reading 'DAVID WICKHAM, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT*PEMBERLY CORPORATION'.  Was that Gage's father?  His father was the VP at Will's family business?  Their dislike must have stemmed from something that happened at Pemberly Corp.  She wanted to find out from Gage.