“As a consumer, it is your business, and ... I value your opinion. Go ahead, tell us what you think of the idea,” Darcy encouraged.
“Okay, well, since you’re twisting my arm, and I am here to serve your dining needs ... I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but isn’t recycled plastic still plastic no matter what it’s recycled into? Call me crazy, but at some point, it’s still going to end up in a landfill, forever. I think there is, like, a polyester cemetery in a desert somewhere.”
“Um, I’m not sure about that,” the potential client said. “But greenware is sustainability at its finest. Recycle, reuse, respect our environment’s natural resources,” Giles tried to sell.
Although her smile never wavered, she gave the guy a once-over, brightly—and logically—responding. “I guess, then, my hard-earned money will end up buying an unbreathable, unsustainable, and in a month, an out-of-style garment that’ll end up polluting the planet. Where I come from that is considered the antithesis of respecting the land.”
“But, that aside, would you wear finely woven fabrics born from recycled plastic?” Giles pressed.
“Probably not. I’m not a synthetic girl.”
Internally he grinned, loving how her mind worked. Lizzy was brilliant and probably saved Pemberley millions of dollars in that one statement.
Lizzy shrugged. “But, what do I know? Plastic is in everything these days. Personally, I’m all in for wearing natural resources like cotton and wool. I like my Wrangler’s stretch-free. All of which will biodegrade in time, but that’s just me. Some girls may not mind wearing petroleum.”
Giles’s face fell, clearly not expecting “a pretty waitress/art student” to pull the rug out from under the two million hisfather was willing to hand over for a noble experiment bound to go tits-up in a few years.
“That suit you’re wearing is probably eighty percent acrylic or nylon,” Giles countered.
“I’m sure it is, but my attire is a condition of my employment, and I didn’t purchase it.” She beamed. “Cavalleria never claimed to be sustainable or environmentally friendly.”
“There you have it, Cliff. Thanks, Lizzy.”
“Sure, don’t forget, you owe me, Mr. Darcy.” She covertly winked.
Five hours later, he stood outside Cavalleria at one in the morning, not-so-patiently waiting for the remaining employees to close up. He tried not to pace the sidewalk, but he was nervous and a little bit panicked, thinking he had insulted Lizzy by putting her on the spot like that. In truth, he had been looking for any excuse to talk to her when dining, and Giles had given him the perfect opportunity.
She emerged from the restaurant, and he suddenly stopped pacing. Their eyes locked. Her grin lit the night when she recognized him.
“Howdy,” she said brightly.
“Hiya.”
“You didn’t have to tip me that much, especially after I outted you as a model,” she joked, looking so adorable in a blue jean skirt and those damn cowboy boots he fell in love with earlier in the day.
“Yeah, I did. Your frank opinion kept me from making a bad business deal that would have cost my father’s company millions.”
She chuckled. “I doubt it. You seem like a pretty bright guy. You would’ve figured it out.”
“Figured what out?”
“In general, I’m an optimist when it comes to people. They’re mostly good, but anyone touting sustainability and ecological protection while profiting from it by making cheap chemical clothes probably made through slave wages in some Third World Country, isn’t very ethical. Water bottles?” She rolled her eyes.
“You’re astute. I admit I didn’t consider that.” He swallowed hard. “Um, I’m sorta a greenhorn to deal making, so I guess I should have tipped you even more for your sage wisdom.” His heart raced.
“Oh, I think five hundred was sufficient for my ‘sage wisdom’ but, if you insist, then walk me to the subway and I’ll call us even.”
“No way. I wouldn’t feel right about it; My mother would kill me.”
“Then call me a cab.”
“Can’t do it. It’s just not safe at this hour.”
“I have pepper spray, and my boots are lethal.”
He strolled to his Mustang illegally parked at the curb, then opened the passenger door for her. “I’d like to drive you home if that’s okay?”
“All the way to Queens?”
