The Love Clause | ✓

07. mr. darcy is awkward as hell

When Mr. Henderson grunted for the tenth time in a row, Alia raised her eyes from the book. He sighed, a small wrinkle of irritation placed between his brown eyebrows.

"These... damn sheets," Mr. Henderson complained to the bed, pulling the linen sheets towards him. "Always getting... crumpled."

On the couch, Alia closed the book, her eyes locked on him. Mr. Henderson, her boss, the owner of one of the biggest companies of America, was furious with some wrinkled linen sheets.

"Is everything... alright?"

"Yes," Mr. Henderson replied without raising his head from the bed. Tucking a part of the sheet under the mattress, he continued to work. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're making the bed for... twenty minutes straight."

He let go of the sheets, gazing at her. Mr. Henderson opened his mouth to say something, but gave up and raised his brow instead. "No, I... I just hate when the sheets get all crumpled," he stated like it was obvious. "And I don't like when someone else makes the bed for me."

She fell silent, looking at Mr. Henderson rearranging the sheets and pillows on the bed with knitted eyebrows. He glanced at her, slightly uncomfortable.

"And now you think I'm crazy."

"Not crazy," she considered and chuckled, shrugging from the couch. "Maybe... obsessed, I'd say."

"Like you."

"Me?"

"Well, I'm obsessed with neat, perfect beds, and you're obsessed with Pride and Prejudice." He smirked, stroking the sheets. Alia raised her brow to him before turning her eyes to the old paperback copy of P&P on the couch. Mr. Henderson looked up for a moment, grinning. "If I'm not mistaken, you read this book two times last month."

He was mistaken, but she didn't correct him. Alia read the book three times last month. With a defiant expression, she shrugged. "It's an amazing book."

"Indeed," he grunted for the sheets again, stroking them. "But the ending was terrible. Elizabeth marrying Darcy was a disgrace."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Alia furrowed her eyebrows, but Mr. Henderson simply shrugged, more concerned with the wrinkled sheets than with her grimace. He glanced at Alia, uncomfortable with that shocked silence.

"Well, Darcy was a disgrace. I don't understand why an amazing woman like Elizabeth would fall in love with him," he explained quickly, facing Alia, who was still mortified. "He treated her like nothing, pried into Jane and Bingley's affair, and thought that, just because he was rich, Elizabeth should've accepted his hand, even though he bashed her whole family."

Then, when Alia wasn't at least expecting, came the mortal wound.

"If Elizabeth had married Wickham, she would've been happier."

Alia kept quiet. She couldn't believe in his words. Mr. Henderson adjusted one side of the sheets and sighed when the other got all wrinkled. "Are you telling me Elizabeth should've married Wickham, the guy who almost destroyed Darcy's sister life? You're kidding."

"Right, maybe I'm being harsh. Maybe she should've stayed alone," he said. Alia shook her head, unconformed with those words. Mr. Henderson grinned. "You sure agree that Elizabeth would deserve more than a snobbish and conceited man."

Alia shook her head in disbelief. She took a deep breath and mustered all self control she had to not be rude with Mr. Henderson.

"He made a few mistakes, she made a few mistakes, but they fell in love. It happens. Have you never judged someone and later found out they were completely different? Or have you never confessed your love to someone in an awkward way?" Alia raised her eyebrows before he could answer. "Lizzie knew Darcy's flaws, and he as sure as hell knew hers. That's what love is. Accepting the other and choosing to fall in love with them even against your better judgement," she made a quick pause, blushing under Mr. Henderson's curious gaze. "And although Darcy wasn't pleasing, carefree and nice like Wickham, he was respectable, steady, had principles and truly cared for her. That's what everyone wants in the end, and that's why Darcy is an incredible character."