Chapter Text
William handed Gigi an envelope. “Happy Birthday, Gigi.” He smiled at her.
“My birthday is not for months!” Gigi protested. “Why are you giving it to me now?”
“It’s time sensitive,” he explained. “You’ll see when you open it.”
Gigi shot a quick look at Lizzie, who was smiling at her, and carefully opened the envelope. When she read the contents, her mouth dropped open. “Seriously? We’re going to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships for the weekend of the finals? This is incredible!” She ran to William and Lizzie and hugged them. “Thank you, William and Lizzie.”
“It’s from your brother,” Lizzie explained. “I can’t afford to go.”
Gigi frowned. “Lizzie, you have to come! You love tennis. It will be way more fun with you.”
William nodded. “I’ve been telling her that, Gigi. This was Lizzie’s idea, but she doesn’t want me to pay for her.”
Gigi’s face took on such a stubborn expression, it made Lizzie laugh. “It won’t cost that much!” Gigi argued. “We can stay with Jane and Bing. Don’t you want to visit your sister?”
Lizzie squirmed. “Of course I want to see Jane. But the plane tickets plus the Open tickets would still be very expensive.”
“William can use his frequent flyer miles for your plane ticket,” Gigi rationalized.
“That just means you’re giving up a future trip for me,” Lizzie said.
“Oh, please!” Gigi said. “William has so many extra frequent flyer miles he doesn’t know what to do with them. As for the event tickets, it’s my birthday. I want you there! You wouldn’t deny me my birthday wish, would you?”
Lizzie looked at William. He had a smug look on his face as he allowed his sister to argue for him. Lizzie knew when she was beat and gave in gracefully, acknowledging how badly she wanted to go. “Okay, if it means that much to you Gigi, I would love it.”
Gigi hugged Lizzie. “This will be so fun!”
William felt the change in the jet’s engines as they started their descent for New York. “I never get tired of watching the city from the air as we’re landing,” Gigi pushed her face close to the small window.
Lizzie leaned over from her seat to look out next to Gigi. “It’s beautiful,” she agreed. William ran his hand gently up her back to comb through her hair. Lizzie turned to smile at him and then leaned back in her seat again. She picked up his arm and brought it across her body to hold his hand on her leg.
Gigi turned away from the window to tell Lizzie her bet for the men’s singles champion. “Djokovic has been playing really well,” Gigi noted. “I want him as my top pick.”
“I want Nadal,” Lizzie said emphatically. William shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew that Lizzie meant as her pick to win, but he didn’t like hearing those words come out of her mouth about another man. Without looking at him, Lizzie ran her thumb over his knuckles.
“Are you sure?” Gigi asked. “He’s had injury issues with his knees on hard court surfaces. And he lost in the first round of Wimbledon.”
“He’s been playing stellar tennis on the hard court matches leading up to the Open and in the early rounds,” Lizzie said. “I think he feels he has something to prove because he lost so early at Wimbledon.”
“Who do you pick, William?” Gigi leaned forward across Lizzie to see her brother.
“Wawrinka,” William said. His perennial favorite, Federer, had already lost and he suspected Lizzie and Gigi’s picks would be in the finals. He would prefer to lose this bet. He looked forward to listening to Gigi and Lizzie trash talk each other’s choices.
Lizzie raised her eyebrows at Gigi. “So, are you ever going to tell us about Sidney?” It was nice letting someone else interrogate his sister.
Gigi’s lips lifted at the corner of her mouth. “I like him. He’s sweet, funny and intelligent. He really listens to me. He’s not at all hard on the eyes either.” William didn’t need to know that last part.
Lizzie reached over and touched Gigi’s hand. “I’m happy for you.”
“We are taking it slow. I told him about my…last relationship and he gets it.” Gigi squeezed Lizzie’s hand. She met William’s understanding eyes and her smile widened.
After disembarking from the plane, they headed to the baggage claim. A whirl of color raced by William and threw herself at Lizzie. “You’re finally here!” Jane’s eyes were moist as she squeezed her sister. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Bing materialized several feet behind Jane. “She moves fast when she’s excited,” he grinned at William.
Lizzie and Jane were still wrapped in their embrace after William and Gigi had both hugged Bing. Jane finally pulled away from her sister and looked her over. “You look radiant. Darcy and San Francisco are agreeing with you.”
Lizzie’s eyes sparkled as she looked at William. “Yes,” she answered simply. She turned back to Jane. “Have you met Gigi—in person that is?”
Jane welcomed Gigi with her wide smile. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said warmly. “I feel I already know you.”
Gigi nodded. “Lizzie’s videos certainly introduced us in a unique way. You did a killer impression of my brother.”
Jane blushed. “That was before I got to know him.” She shot William an embarrassed look.
“Unfortunately, it was all too accurate.” William reassured her.
“You live in Williamsburg!” Lizzie said with excitement a long drive later when Bing turned into the parking garage under his apartment building. “Jane, have you ever found the neighborhood where ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ was set?”
Jane shook her head. “We should walk around and look during your visit.”
“We thought we would eat dinner in tonight so we can catch up,” Bing opened the door to his apartment. “Being in New York, the place is a bit small.”
Lizzie walked into the living room and laughed. “It’s probably three times the size of my studio apartment in San Francisco. Then again, my entire apartment could fit in William’s bedroom.”
Jane showed Lizzie and Gigi around the apartment while Bing finished making dinner, chatting to William while he worked. “It’s actually spacious for New York,” Jane opened the door to a small study. “Lizzie, you and Darcy will be in here. That couch is a queen-sized hide-a-bed.”
“Works for me,” Lizzie set her suitcase in the study.
“Gigi, this is our guest room where you will be.” Jane opened another door to a small room with a double bed. A desk with a sewing machine was in the corner. Swaths of fabric and sewing materials were stacked neatly on shelves near the table.
“Guest room or Jane’s sewing room?” Lizzie asked innocently. “I thought you had your own place. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“No, I mean yes.” Jane sounded flustered. “I have my own place but it’s tiny and I have a roommate. There’s no space in my bedroom to sew. Bing insisted on setting this up for me here.”
Lizzie wasn’t about to press Jane on how much time she spent at her tiny apartment. Lately, Lizzie’s studio apartment remained empty night after night.
Over dinner, Lizzie and William argued about the merits of classic literature’s films adaptations. “I’ve never seen a literary classic made into a movie that was able to capture all the important aspects of the book,” William said.
“First of all,” Lizzie started. “There’s the issue of time. Most movies are far too short to capture all that is encapsulated in a work of literature.”
“True, which is part of my point. They have to pretty much eviscerate many novels just to fit the standard two or three hour movie.” William quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Second,” Lizzie continued, “the medium is different. Books can show inner monologues and thought processes in a way that film cannot. Books have a flexibility with time and space that allows them to take the reader many places that would be more difficult to follow in a film.”
“You’re making my arguments for me.” William looked smug.
“However, a movie can show emotions and use visual and audio techniques that a book cannot. The actors can say the lines in a way that tells the viewer more than just reading the lines from the book.”
“That’s also a strength of books. Literature can be interpreted in many different ways by the reader. There are spaces left for the reader to fill. Films don’t leave the same types of gaps,” William said.
“I agree there are substantial differences. Film, or other visual media, can reach some people in a way that books cannot, and vice versa.” Lizzie lectured. “It is purely subjective on your part to claim that books are superior as a means of telling a story or communicating thoughts and ideas.”
“I’m not saying they’re superior,” William began. “Just---“
“This reminds me of Netherfield,” Bing interrupted, leaning back putting his arm around the back of Jane’s chair.
“I always wondered what that was like,” Gigi smirked at her brother.
“With one major difference—At Netherfield, Lizzie didn’t have her hand groping Darcy’s leg under the table,” Jane grinned at her sister.
Lizzie snickered as the others laughed. “Jane—I can’t believe you outed me. New York has made you sassier.”
Bing touched Jane’s hair. “She’s still the same sweet Jane underneath.”
Lizzie noticed Jane’s eyes were drooping. “Let’s catch up later. You have to work tomorrow. I’ll clean up.”
“I’ll help Lizzie,” William began stacking dishes. “We can finish our discussion.”
“I’ll help too. I want to watch, er, hear this.” Gigi jumped up.
“Thanks, I am exhausted.” Jane stood up and walked over to give Lizzie a quick hug before exiting with Bing. “Good-night everyone,” Bing called back over his shoulder.
William drove Bing’s car to the exit of the parking garage. The disembodied voice from his GPS intoned “Turn left onto Broadway.”
Lizzie turned back to look at Gigi in the back seat. “Excited?”
“Yes!” Gigi almost squealed. “I’ve never been to a major tournament before. I can’t believe we’ll be able to see the greatest tennis players in person!”
“Turn right onto Rodney Street. Continue onto Meeker Avenue,” continued the GPS.
“William showed me where our seats are. We’re so close we’ll be able to count their beads of sweat,” Lizzie said.
“That’s an appealing image.” William looked as placid as usual, but Gigi knew he was happy that she and Lizzie were so pumped.
“Take the Interstate E/Brooklyn-Ons expressway ramp on the left to Queens Bronx. In .2 miles, merge onto I-278 E.”
William turned on to the freeway. He switched lanes, going over some bumps used for the lane dividers.
“Please don’t kill the turtles. They are an endangered species,” said the GPS.
Lizzie and William both froze and turned to look at the GPS. “Is this a special GPS program?” Lizzie asked. “I’ve never heard one comment on the lane dividers.”
Gigi leaned forward. “I used your GPS last week and it didn’t say that.”
“You are exceeding the speed limit,” the computer voice warned. “Take exit 35E to merge onto I-495 E toward Eastern Long Island.”
William frowned. “It seems to be working normally otherwise.”
“How’s your business going, Lizzie?” Gigi asked.
“Fine,” Lizzie turned towards William and a look passed between them.
“Hey, I’m not your kid that you need to hide things from,” Gigi protested. “Is something wrong?”
“You’re right,” Lizzie sighed and turned to meet Gigi’s eyes. “We’ve been struggling a bit lately. I lost two clients this month. They liked our work, but they had to drop our services due to their own issues.”
“Well that happens sometimes. You’ll find other clients.” Gigi was surprised that Lizzie looked so sad.
“To make my budget, I had to let one of my employees go.” Lizzie said. “I think telling her was worse than if I had been laid off myself.”
Gigi reached between the front seats and patted Lizzie’s arm. “I’m sorry.”
“I feel responsible. I should not have hired so many people when I was just starting out.”
“You only hired two people at first, Lizzie.” William reminded her. “You had to hire two more when you initially had more projects than the three of you could handle.”
Gigi nodded. “It’s really difficult for a small company in this field to accurately project how much business they will have.”
“I know,” Lizzie admitted. “Knowing what I did at the time, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. But I hated laying Jennifer off so much. I cut back on everything else first to try and save her position. There just wasn’t enough money.”
“Is she okay?” Gigi asked.
“We worked together to find other job openings and she just had a couple of interviews.” Lizzie replied. “Hopefully one of those will pan out.”
“Is that why you’re extra worried about the money for this trip, Lizzie?” Gigi asked tentatively. “Did you cut your own salary?”
Lizzie looked guilty, and William’s head whipped towards her. “You didn’t tell me that,” he said, his voice low. Uh oh. Carefully take foot out of mouth, Gigi thought.
“I was waiting for the right moment to tell you.” Lizzie said. “I didn’t cut too much. I still have enough to make my payment on my student loan for the month and to pay all my expenses. I just don’t have much discretionary income this month.”
“Lizzie…” William sounded upset.
“Don’t sound like that, William.” Lizzie’s voice matched his now. “I have some good leads on some prospective clients. It should be better soon. I just couldn’t bear to cut back on any of my remaining employee’s hours. All my other expenses are fixed costs.”
“You can always come to me,” William said tensely.
“Trust me, I know.” Lizzie touched his arm soothingly. “This is a short term problem. I promise I’ll come to you if it becomes a bigger issue.”
“I don’t like this,” William told her.
“I can manage a month without Starbucks or new clothes,” Lizzie said, a forced buoyancy in her voice.
Gigi tried to help her lighten the mood. “Lizzie’s right, William. She has lots of cute clothes already.”
Lizzie smiled at him lovingly. “I’ll let you buy me an overpriced U.S. Open sweatshirt,” she told him.
“Fine,” William said. Gigi could tell her brother was not done with this discussion, but he let it drop with one more look at Lizzie. “If you promise me that you will talk to me first if your financial situation is not better next month.”
“Deal,” Lizzie smiled. She stage whispered to Gigi, “I’ve always wanted one of those sweatshirts.”
Gigi grinned. “I want some new tennis dresses. I’ll be watching the players for the cutest new designs.” She mouthed “Sorry” to Lizzie who nodded and shrugged lightly.
“You are still exceeding the speed limit, asshole.” The monotone voice of the GPS told him.
Gigi snickered. “Did it just call you an asshole?”
“Take exit 22A-West toward Interstate 678/Grand Central Parkway,” said the GPS.
William frowned. “Exit 22A-West can’t be righ---“
“No, my bad. That should be exit 22A-East.” said the GPS.
“What the hell is going on?” William asked as he took the exit. Lizzie picked up the GPS and looked at it.
“It looks fine. It has the correct map on it and everything,” she said.
“Keep left at the fork, follow signs for I-495/Long Island/Van Wyck Expressway,” said the GPS. “In .2 miles, veer right at the fork, follow signs for Grand Central Parkway/Triboro Bridge. Can you handle two directions at once, moron?”
Lizzie dissolved into giggles. “It has to be Fitz! He must have programmed this for you, William.”
“I should have listened to my mother and gone to college. Instead, I’m one of the minions forced to work for miscreants like you,” the GPS voice droned.
William nodded. “Yes, this totally smacks of a Fitz prank.”
“Take exit 9P toward Flushing Meadows Corona Park Tennis Center. That is, if you are capable of driving and reading signs at the same time.”
Gigi laughed, “Fitz did borrow the GPS from me a few days ago. He said he was going to meet Brandon at a new restaurant in Oakland and his phone batteries were dead.”
“Destination should be on the right if you can figure out how to make it the last 354 feet without a computer telling you directions.” The flat voice continued from the GPS.
“Wow,” Lizzie said. “Fitz really must like you, William. He put a lot of effort into this.”
“I could have been somebody,” the monotone GPS voice went on. “I could--“ William reached over and switched it off.
William leaned back against the back of the couch. He had pulled out the fold-out sofa bed and there was only a few feet left of open space in the room. Lizzie was using every inch of it, pacing back and forth. One of his greatest pleasures was watching an adrenalized Lizzie and his lips lifted at the corners as his eyes swiveled back and forth following her movements.
“I mean, those serves Serena made,” Lizzie went on. ”Amazing! How does she hit that hard?” She kicked off her sandals as she walked.
William had enjoyed watching Lizzie watch the matches as much as the matches themselves. Gigi and Lizzie’s excitement fed off each other and they towed him around the tennis complex giddily, from game to game. The highlight had been the women’s single semi-final match of Williams vs. Li.
“Those shoulders,” Lizzie rhapsodized. “She puts most men’s shoulders to shame.” She turned to grin at him. “Present company excepted, of course.” Lizzie unbuttoned her blouse and pulled it off, tossing it in the general direction of her open suitcase.
“Of course,” William waited patiently. For the moment he ignored the need to bring up what could be a sensitive topic. He wanted to let her enjoy her post-game wrap-up, and quite frankly, he was enjoying the show.
“You’re going to lose your bet for the women’s champion,” Lizzie said confidently. “Why would you pick anyone but Serena?” She unzipped her skirt and stepped out of it. She was wearing the blue lingerie he had purchased for her recently and his eyes telegraphed his desire to help her out of them.
“If I remember correctly, neither you nor Gigi would choose anyone else,” he pointed out. “I was forced to take Azarenka.”
“True,” Lizzie grinned and threw her arms wide. “This is so much fun! I love the atmosphere. Who knew rich people could be so emotional and even catty at a sports event? Don’t they pride themselves on acting well-bred?”
“Not all of the fans there were rich,” William countered.
“In our prime section of perfect seats, they were.” Lizzie laughed. “All those hats! I felt I was around royalty.”
Lizzie suddenly stopped pacing and looked at him with a speculative gleam in her eyes. She crawled up from the bottom of the bed on her hands and knees, straddling him and stopped when her face was inches from his. “You’re looking particularly hot tonight,” she started huskily. Her hand, warm and sure, snaked under his shirt and started moving upwards.
William knew what was next and he had to stop her. If her hand went the other direction, he wouldn’t have a chance. “Lizzie,” he started, “I want to talk about what happened with your company’s finances this month.” From this angle, her low-cut bra was barely there and he swallowed thickly.
“Can’t we talk later?” Lizzie placed her lips on his neck. He felt his resolve draining away rapidly. She felt so good and he couldn’t stop his hands from cupping her hips. He used his last shred of control to keep them from moving.
“I’ll be able to, uh, concentrate much better if we get this out of the way first,” William spoke quickly before it was too late. The feel and smell of her was playing havoc with his senses and thinking logically was becoming very difficult.
Lizzie pulled back and met his eyes. They both knew one more move and he would capitulate, but she sighed and gave in, sitting back by his side with her legs curled underneath her. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. I was only over budget by a few hundred dollars and I used my own money to pay the internet and phone bills.”
“Lizzie, you know the first thing entrepreneurs are taught is to make sure you pay yourself a set salary as part of your regular expenses.”
“I know,” Lizzie replied.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” he asked, struggling to keep the worry from his voice.
“I want to keep my business separate from my personal life,” Lizzie explained. “If my company goes under, I’ll be okay. I mean, I’d be really upset but I know I can get another job. I’ve already learned so much in my first few months working.” She paused and put her hand on his chest. “I don’t want you to have to bolster up my business.”
“But you crossed that line when you used your personal income to pay for your business expenses,” he reminded her.
“Yes.” She met his eyes squarely. “I did cross the line. But it’s just this once, William. Without Jennifer’s salary, I’ll be within my budget for September even if we don’t sign another client. I would have turned to you if I needed money for personal reasons or if it had been a bigger deficit, I promise. You have a lot of experience and I know you could give me excellent advice.”
He searched her eyes. He knew that it was important for her to make her business succeed on its own merits without his help. It had to be enough for now. “Lizzie, I respect that it’s your company and your decisions in how you manage it. I want you to keep in mind that I am always there for you. It pains me to see you struggle.”
“I know how important it is for you to take care of me,” her eyes were intense with a deep glow. “It has to be serious if you’re willing to postpone the ride of your life to talk to me about it.”
The carefully banked heat inside him ignited instantly to a blaze. William’s eyebrows shot up. “The ride of my li—?“ Lizzie’s mouth interrupted him with a deep kiss. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her tight into his lap. Lizzie certainly knew how to end a discussion.