From the Desk of William Pemberley
1:14 PM- Pemberley Office, 12th Floor
I was impressed by her; the demo, the savings, the way she managed herself.
She could’ve asked for more, I would’ve paid it.
In comparison to Caro, maybe any woman in my acquaintance, Lizzie felt like a breath of fresh air.
I had forgotten the taste of authentic Cuban; the taste of sugar in my coffee; the enjoyment of a conversation where I knew that the other person wasn’t just saying what I wanted to hear.
Maybe it was a mistake to hire her, but too late now. Looking forward to Monday; maybe too much.
Chapter 4- Tiki Bar
Lizzie was giddy by the time she got home that evening. The contract had been received, and she’d signed it that afternoon. Her boss had all but cried over it. The cherry on top: a text from George Wick as she was heading home.
Do we need to drink to celebrate, or to drown our sorrows?
Lizzie wasn’t one to drink much in either scenario, but celebrating sounded nice—especially since she’d be tied up implementing this project for the next few months.
Definitely celebratory
She messaged back as soon as she got home. She was met at the door by her sister, Lidia. This was the first time in weeks that Lizzie had seen Lidia without her face in her phone or in front of her computer. Lizzie might have been suspicious, except she was in too good a mood to think badly of anyone.
“Hey,” Lidia said glumly. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean, ‘What am I doing?’” Lizzie asked as she kicked off her heels. “I literally just walked in the door.”
“No, I know. I mean, like, what are you going to dotonight?”
Lizzie looked at her sister quizzically. Usually decked out in a perfectly chosen outfit with matching accessories and immaculate hair and makeup—Lidia took her role as theinfluencer of maybe millions (it had been a while since Lizzie checked) on social media very seriously—Lidia looked nothing like herself right now: baggy shirt, bike shorts. And… was that ascrunchie?
“Lid, are you okay?”
Lidia rolled her eyes and threw up her hands, exasperated, as if Lizzie had already asked her a million times. “Yes! God, can’t I just have a break for one day?!”
Lizzie put her hands up defensively. “Yeah, of course. I’m just not usually the person you go to if you need something to do.”
“Most of my friends are out of town…”
“Well, as honored as I am to be your last resort,” Lizzie said sarcastically, “what about that guy you were seeing? Dennis? Denny?”
“Denilo,” Lidia snapped. “And it’shisfault I have no plans tonight! We were supposed to hang out, and then he said I didn’t have a personality outside of, like, my persona online, and that I was a child, and he didn’t think we should see each other anymore.”
“Oh no! He broke up with you?” Lizzie tried to muster sympathy, but this was a somewhat common occurrence for Lidia.
“No… I don’t know… maybe.” Lidia sounded small. “And then Gia and Amanda are on that trip I posted about, and stupid me stayed behind to spend time with Deni, and he’s just being a jerk.”
“I’m sorry, Lidia. That sounds rough.”
“Yeah, so, like, what areyoudoing tonight? Want to gorge onGalletas Maríaand watchnovelas?”
Most days, Lizzie would’ve loved that. But today, she was looking forward to going out and getting to know George a little better. “Actually, I got some really good news, so I was thinking I’d go out.”
“Oh, thank God! Where? What time?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Lizzie was caught off guard. She wasn’t sure she wanted her sister to join them, but Lidia’s face was suddenly bright and eager. Lizzie felt that she may not be able to say no. “I was going to meet up with this guy I kind of just met.”
