Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Eleven

For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was fairly crowded.  Maisie took a seat on a bench near the hostess stand and pulled a book out of her bag.  She'd just gotten to the part where Darcy said Elizabeth wasn't handsome enough to tempt him when a deep voice called out, "Maisie?"

She looked up and the man in front of her was Mr. Darcy personified.  Well, other than the missing English accent.  Tall, with a striking lean, yet muscular, physique; thick, dark eyebrows; and a jaw chiseled out of marble by Michelangelo, he stepped towards her and she hastily stuffed P&P back in her purse.

"Hi! Jack, right?"  She stood and reached a hand out.  He took it, but not before glancing up and down to take in her appearance.  His face didn't reveal whether or not he was pleased.  Maisie straightened her back and raised her head higher.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"I've got a table."

"Great." She followed him awkwardly across the restaurant, to a two-top by the bathrooms.  He sat and took a gulp of his beer.

"Oh," he caught her looking at the glass, "I got here a little early."

She nodded and sat.  He sat.  They looked at each other.  They looked at the menu.  Jack cleared his throat, but instead of saying anything, he just took another swig of beer.

"Sorry," Maisie said, finally.  "I'm really bad at this."

He laughed.  "Me, too, apparently."

"Well, now that that's out of the way."

He laughed again.  "I guess we should get to know each other?"

A server stopped by the table and Maisie hastily looked over the menu, settling on a veggie burger and sweet potato fries while Jack ordered pork chops, mashed potatoes, and another IPA.

"Right, so getting to know each other," Jack said.  "Tell me about yourself."

He was almost too handsome, Maisie thought.  She couldn't concentrate on what she was saying when looking at his stupidly good-looking face.  Why did a guy so attractive need to be set up on a blind date?

"You already said that," Jack interrupted her in the middle of explaining her job.

"Oh, sorry!  Why don't I shut up and you tell me about yourself?  What is your family like?"

He raised an eyebrow.  "I assumed you'd know all about my family."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know my mom, right?"

Maisie shook her head.

"You don't know my mom?  Then why'd she set us up?"

Uh oh.  He didn't know about the page.  Maisie pulled her phone out and opened the Facebook app.  "She didn't tell you about my... experiment?"  She pushed the phone towards him.  After a minute of scrolling through the posts, he coughed and stood up.

"Excuse me for a minute, I'm just going to run to the bathroom."

"Sure."  She appreciated his jean-clad ass walking away from her, and sighed, assuming it would be her last opportunity to see it.  It really was a spectacular posterior.

While waiting to see if he was going to return, she picked her phone back up and read more of the notifications on the Darcy page.

"My name's not Darcy, but I can be your Mister!" What did that even mean?"

"Have you had your head examined recently?"

"I can smell your desperation from down under."  That comment came from a man in Australia, so far the furthest away the page had reached.

"Veggie burger?" the server set a plate in front of her.

"Thank you.  Where are his pork chops?"

The server glanced over his shoulder.  "Um, he asked for me to wrap them up to go.  He already paid for them and left."

"Figures. Thanks."

"Do you need anything else?"

She shook her head and the server walked away. After a quick text to Talia to let her friend know what a disaster the date turned out to be, she bit into her dinner.