Posted on Thursday, 27 July 2000

Ok, If some of you recognize some of this (a bit of the plot- just a tiny bit) it is from Diedre, because she helped us. And she let us. So if you've read her story, you will recognize a bit of it and if you haven't read it. Don't! At least that's what Diedre says. We hope you like it!

"Road trip!"

"Hey, ya think you could be a little quieter? It's too early- the sun isn't up yet! Why are we up Lizzy?"

"Because Charles, if we leave later, we won't get to Florida in time."

"Yea! Florida, watch out! Here we come!"

Charles O'Brien groaned as Rick Fitzwilliam shouted in his ear and got into the SUV, and Charlotte offered him a coffee.

"I take that as a yes?"

"Please. I don't see how you guys can get up this early. And why do we have to drive? Can't we fly like normal people?"

"Chuckie dear, go to sleep and we'll wake you up when it's your turn to drive. And we are driving because don't have the money or the time to waste with flying. We'd probably spend the whole time in the airport waiting because of delays. And it's more fun." Elizabeth Bennett, the youngest of the group, was starting off driving from their hometown in Massachusetts to Florida, for what they felt was a well-earned vacation.

"I'm so excited." Rick had already had too much coffee. "Remind me again, how come we never did this during college?"

"Um, because we decided to work really hard and get out of college so we could start working and make as much money as soon as possible so we can be the next Bill Gates?"

"Char, I do not want to be Bill Gates. He is a dork. Computer geek. Look up the definition of nerd in the dictionary, and you'll see a picture of Bill Gates. We, on the other hand, are-"

"Um, hey, Chuck, when are you supposed to drive? Not for a while. Go to sleep. Ricky and I will wake you guys up once our caffeine has worn off. Besides, you don't want to miss the parties tonight, do you?"

"Okay, Lizzy. But I can't sleep; I'm way too excited. Gosh, you'd think we were like 3 year old going to Disney land."

"Hey, lets go to Disney. Screw the parties and the drinking and the dancing on tables and all that other stuff that no one mentions because it's too rebellious and-"

"Liz, we should have taken you away before. You've suffered."

Needless to say, it was a very long ride to Florida, with way too much caffeine and not enough sleep.

That evening, after checking in to their hotel, and freshening up, the four friends hit the party scene. Best friends all through college, they had finished their credits early and gotten jobs in the computer industry and were now taking a vacation- the Spring break type of trip that they never took during school break but had saved all their partying for two weeks in Florida. Some thought that the four made an odd group. Charlotte Lucas was the eldest, and though she and Lizzy had been friends for ages, they were entirely different-especially in looks. Charlotte was an average looking dirty blonde, while Lizzy was gorgeous, with dark brown curly hair and fair skin and dancing green eyes. Rick Fitzwilliam, who preferred the shortened version of his name, though his friends sometimes teasingly called him Paddy, or Colonel (for reasons unknown), was tall, with red hair and freckles and surprisingly very good looking. (Authoresses' note-have you ever met a guy with red hair and freckles that was good looking? We haven't-but the Colonel is gorgeous! - As always) Charles O'Brien was tall and blond and though he looked shy, lurking underneath was a big joker and at the same time, the "sweetest dear ever," as Lizzy stated.

The next two weeks were full of parties and relaxing on the beach and other, fun activities. On the last night, they planned on going to a big all-night party on the beach. It was about 45 minutes away, so everybody stayed at the beach and camped out. Lizzy and Charlotte decided to go all out and dress in some really crazy outfits they had gotten at a really trashy store as a joke. Both Charlie and Rick said that they looked totally different and no one would recognize them.

"Oh, that's good, so now we can go totally crazy and make fools of ourselves and no one will know its us!"

"Lizzy, you can be as wild and crazy as you want, just don't go too far. And I mean that in many different ways."

"Oh, thanks Colonel. Glad to know you're concerned about me."

When they got to the beach, the party was just starting, but it was already in full swing.

"Wow. Look at all these people. This place is crazy. People everywhere. On the beach, in the water, hiding in the dunes. Okay, I don't want to know what's going on in there."

"Little naïve Lizzy. Hey, if you want, you and me can go check out the dunes and see what's going on in there."

"No thanks Colonel. I think I'll go get a drink and catch up with you later. Oh my, is that guy for real? He looks like a god. Look at that body. Ooh!"

"Lizzy, calm down. Why don't we get drunk and you can go meet this Greek god, maybe dance a little with him. Unless you aren't interested in just dancing..."

"Rick, shut up. And don't spike the punch."

As it was, it was too late for Rick to spike the punch. But Lizzy did get to meet her Greek god, though she didn't catch his name or anything about him. All she could tell, since she was so drunk was that he was unimaginable handsome and that he spoke with an accent, though that might have been because he was so drunk.

"Hey, Colonel, we should probably keep an eye on those two. Lizzy is really drunk, and so is he, and we don't know exactly what's on his mind." Charlotte was getting very concerned as the night wore on, not drunk.

"Relax, Char. Nothing's going to happen that will lead to any disaster. I know that guy, he's not bad. Actually, he's probably perfect for Lizzy. He's not after her for what you're thinking. I don't expect to find them anywhere near the dunes, if that's what you're thinking."

"Okay," she sounded a little better as she looked at the two dancing very close together to Next's Too Close. "Hey, wait, how do you know him?" She turned back the Colonel, but he was gone. When she looked back to Lizzy and the guy, they were gone. Oh well, she thought, might as well go join the masses and get drunk.

The next day, on the ride home, Charlotte probed Lizzy about what happened at the party. She didn't say anything to Lizzy, but talked to Charles later about it.

"I'm really worried. She doesn't remember anything really, except that he was gorgeous and that they made out a bit- she thinks. She doesn't really know what he looks like, just that she thought he was amazing and she's never going to forget him. She thinks she's in love with him and she's never going to love anyone else. I think she's worried about that."

"Charlotte, I don't think you should worry. She'll get over him, and realize that it was just a fling and it will just be a happy memory. She's fine now, so I think we should leave her to her day dreams and forget about it."

"Yea, I guess you're right."

Charlotte decided to leave it at that and not discuss it with Rick. He would just tell her she was paranoid.

Lizzy put down the photos of the trip and leaned back in her office chair. They had been back for a week and were back at work, and she was getting nothing done. Her thoughts drifted as she remembered the hot sun, the music, and her mysterious guy. She wondered who he was, if he thought about her or, if like her, he was too drunk and only had a vague recollection of her. It did bother her that she couldn't even remember what he looked like. A small sigh escaped her as she remembered what had happened, at least, what she remembered. She could still feel the sparks from when they touched, the taste of his kiss, the-

"Lizzy, you look like you were about to groan with desire. You weren't thinking about Collins, were you?" Rick interrupted her thoughts and she nearly lost her lunch with the image of what he said.

"Fitzpatrick Fitzwilliam, do not do that to me."

"Don't call me that." He tried to look stern, then smiled in a patronizing way. "Were you thinking about your mysterious guy? Again? Lizzy, we need to do something about this. Maybe I should set you up with my cousin, Liam. He'll take your mind off this guy any day" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Thanks, but no thanks." She pretended to get back to her work, but he interrupted again.

"Don't get back to the work you weren't doing. Come on, the boss has called a meeting."

"What for?" Lizzy was surprised. The boss never spoke to anyone unless they were being hired or fired. No one was ever promoted. "Gee, do you think he heard about our behavior? That wouldn't be good."

"I hope not, because the only one who would be in trouble is you."

"Oh stuff it Colonel, you're the one who is my partner in crime. If I'm going down, I'm dragging you with me."

They got to the conference room and went in. Already in there was Charles and Charlotte, and some other people Lizzy was not familiar with. Except Collins. He made her skin crawl and was always hitting on her. Rick and Lizzy sat down with their friends and soon the boss began talking.

"Well", he started unceremoniously, "I assume most of you do not know why you are here." Obviously, otherwise we wouldn't come, Lizzy thought. "Our company has just been bought by another..." Here Lizzy tuned out as the man went on about all the advantages and benefits of this. Her thoughts soon turned yet again to her vacation, and more importantly, him. Whoever he was-she knew she would never forget him. Suddenly, Rick elbowed her, whispering, "this is the part that's important."

"Now, I'm sure you are all very curious about where you come into this wonderful merger. Based on reports of your work and behavior that I gave to the new supervisor, a lot of people are being moved around. I have your new assignments. You current assignments end today and your new assignments will beginning as of....hmm...they didn't tell me...oh, well, depending what it says on your papers. Anyway, thank you for your good work and keep it up."

And with that, the boss was gone, leaving a room full of confused people.

"Wait, I missed something. He didn't just fire us, did he. Hmm, but he couldn't have hired us again, could he?"

"Lizzy, get over him. You're not going to see him again. Now, read your papers. You too Rick and Charles."

Lizzy still wasn't looking at her papers. "Okay, but, how did you know I was thinking of him?"

"It's obvious Liz dear. Now, what are you doing? What do your papers say?"

Well Colonel, I am..." She drifted off as she looked at the papers, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Being promoted and transferred to Dublin. Ireland. Wow. That's nice. But, why Ireland?"

"That's where the headquarters are. The Colonel and I are going there too. What are you doing Charlotte?"

"Actually, I'm staying here. Which is good, because I don't want to go to Ireland."

Three confused people looked at her strangely. "Oh, come on you guys, I'm English."

"Oh yea, right." They understood. Lizzy for one, was excited. She was Irish, having been born there but moved before she was one. She hadn't been back, but her cousins had come over to visit America a few times and she was really good friends with Jane, who was her age and they kept in touch. Rick was excited too, because he was also Irish and had lived there till he was about five, and was good friends with his cousin Liam, who was their age. And Charles, well, Charles was always happy about everything(except car rides that start in the middle of the night).

Later that night, Rick, Charles and Lizzy (Charlotte lived with her parents) sat around their kitchen table, discussing everything.

"I'm so excited. I can't wait. We have so much to do. We have to clean out our apartment, get a new one in Dublin and- oh! I just had a great idea. My cousin Jane is graduating soon and needs an apartment. She could room with us, since 4 is easier than 3. Or maybe we shouldn't room together. Maybe just me and Jane should room together and you guys should get your own flat.

"It all depends Liz." Rick interrupted her. "Me and Charlie might move in with my cousin Liam. I was talking to him about it the other day. Maybe you and Jane could move in with the three of us. At lease, you can at first while you're looking. His house is pretty big just for him."

"That could work-wait. You were talking to him the other day about this? We just found out about this today. I don't get it. I really wasn't paying attention."

"You must have been thinking about something, or rather, someone else." Charles said but he was also confused.

"Actually, Liam, well, his dad, my uncle, owns the company that bought ours. So I've known about this for awhile. A couple of weeks."

"Oh." Lizzy got it, glad to know that it wasn't because she wasn't listening that she didn't get it.

Charles was still confused. "I didn't know Liam was in the computer business."

"Well, not the computer part of it. I don't think he knows more than how to turn on a computer-and screw it up really bad."

"Okay, well, you guys, we've got a lot to do. I'm going to bed now, and I'm getting you guys up early tomorrow to clean your rooms and pack." Though she was the youngest by over a year, Lizzy was always the one in charge. Charles and Rick teased her mercilessly about it.

"Yes mum!" They headed off to their room, leaving her to clean up their dishes.

"Hey, Lizzy, you know what's great? Now I can set you up with Liam."

"Colonel, you do and you die. I absolutely refuse to go out with anyone even remotely related to you. He probably has red hair and freckles like you."

"Just you wait Lizzy."