DarK

Thanksgiving was one of the biggest holidays in the Bennet household. Sadly, that meant that Elizabeth had to spend slightly more than two hours in an over-crowded airplane squished between college students and frantic parents with young kids in order to fly from her New York office to spend time with her parents and sisters in Chicago. The holiday always brought mixed feelings to Eli; she loved getting to see her father and eldest sister, but her mother and the rest of the family were a trial.

Eli checked her email from her awkward perch on a living room couch, groaning when she saw she had received yet another message from the London office. For the past couple of months she had received an email almost every day from Mr. Darcy.

Jane, who had been at her own laptop, looked over at her sister. "Another email from Mr. Anal Retentive?" The nickname had been Eli’s creation, and although Jane did not entirely approve, it stuck.

Nodding, Eli scrolled through the message which had the normal demands and a new note at the bottom; ‘I want everything to be perfect for my sister; this will be her first time in the states’. "I rue the day that Alan referred him to me."

At first she had been excited. New York International Financial Advisers (commonly referred to as NYIF or “knife”) was owned by the London division LAFA, which had been in the Darcy family for years. Getting to work and attend meetings with Mr. Darcy was a privilege, even if she was going to be nothing much more than a glorified chaffer, tour guide, and now, baby sitter. However, when she had accepted, she though she would be working with Mr. Darcy, Sr, not Jr.

Her presumption had no doubt been intentional on the part of Alan Farnwoth, who knew she would have not wished to work with the younger Mr. Darcy. Alan had been Eli’s mentor ever since her internship as a graduate student at MIT. Although, until moving to New York, New York, she had only met him personally during her recruitment, they had formed a close bond and she saw him more as a grandfather figure than a boss.

Mr. Darcy Sr, was an incredibly demanding boss, but was very talented in predicting the stock market in various countries and was known to be fair if not kind. Mr. Darcy Jr, on the other hand, had a well-known temper and was thought to be ruthless, self-centered and extremely spoiled.

Jane rolled her eyes, shutting down her laptop in order to prepare for the rant that would surely commence shortly, "Why? Alan has been hinting at a promotion. And you’re just about the most sought-after advisor in New York, especially for your age.”

Eli gave an inelegant snort, "Just about should stop them from sending me the assholes."

“ Elizabeth!” Jane, whose constant attempts to curb Eli’s use of profanity were unsuccessful, scolded. “You can’t go about calling the firm’s owner an asshole.”

Shrugging, Eli closed her laptop and turned to face her sister. “I just did. And God must be punishing me for something. Truly. He addresses his emails to ‘Dr. Bennet’ which is certainly Alan’s doing,” Dr. Bennet was Alan’s affectionate name for Eli, “and they are so formal, I’m surprised he doesn’t use thee and thou along with all of his thus’s therefore’s and Latin. He actually signs his letters ‘Fitzwilliam Geoff Darcy, III!’ They are so condescending, it’s a wonder he bothers to write them at all.”

Downstairs the front door slammed and Jane and Eli could hear two of their younger sisters squealing excitedly in pitches that were surely driving the neighborhood dogs insane. As they thundered up the stairs, Kitty and Lydia’s voices became more distinct, and if possible, even more excited.

“Oh my God! I can’t believe it!” Only about every other of Lydia’s statements were intelligible as the two girls stumbled into the living room clutching each other.

“What is it, what happened?” Jane asked, leaning forward and catching their enthusiasm. But Lydia and Kitty were still too wrapped-up in each other to hear her. It wasn’t until the two collapsed onto a couch that they noticed their older sisters were in the room.

“What the hell has got you keyed up?” Eli’s firm, no-nonsense demand seemed to calm the two ecstatic girls enough for them to answer.

However, they didn’t stay calm for long. Looking at each other, they practically screamed, “It’s dark!” and burst into giggles and insensible sounds once again as they bounced up and down on the couch, still clutching one another.

Jane and Eli shared their own glance after looking out a window. “Dark? No it’s not…” Jane’s uncertainty was evident as she repositioned herself to peer out the window again.

By this time, Eli was ready to smack one or both of the idiotic sisters. Her patience had already been worn thin by Mr. Anal Retentive, and the last thing she needed was to deal with her reckless, immature siblings.

“Sit still.” The resounding crack of the wireless mouse that went flying across the room to strike the couch between Kitty and Lydia did what Eli’s voice alone had failed to do. “Shut up.” Freezing immediately, the two silently watched as the mouse rolled off the couch, hit the floor and discharged its batteries, which rolled to a stop at the feet of their glowering sister. “And explain.”

Kitty was the first to regain her senses and answer, though she found it hard to keep all of her considerable excitement out of her voice. “DarK is touring America this summer and they’ll be in New York!”

Jane stared at her for a moment, before breaking out in a surprised smile, “The British band?”

Both Kitty and Lydia nodded eagerly at Jane then turned to each other. “We so totally have to get tickets, and backstage passes! We’ll stay with Eli so we can be there early and…” The two once again started speaking animatedly with one another.

Eli gave a heavy sigh, rescued her laptop and mouse, and strode out of the room muttering about ridiculous sisters and anal retentive bosses.