Searching for Mr. Darcy

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Welcome to Buzzfeed!" a chipper young woman in a crop top and overalls greeted Maisie and Talia when they entered the building.  She directed them upstairs without introducing herself.  They walked past several open office areas consisting of long tables set with computers and knick knacks denoting each employees personal space.

"Look, it's the Whine About It guy!" Talia whispered as they strode past Matt Bellassai.

"It's the Darcy girl!" a loud voice boomed.  From around a corner, the Try Guys stepped towards them.  Booming voice, which belonged to the tallest of the quartet, spoke again, "And the Darcy girl's friend!  Hello! I'm Keith."  He engulfed both of them in a hug and squeezed tight.

"Maisie."

"Talia."

"Nice to meet you! This is Ned, Zach, and Eugene."  Keith pointed out his comprades as he introduced them.  Ned was medium height, medium build, blonde, friendly.  Zach was the shortest of the bunch, and had the cute nerd-look down.  Eugene, with his almost mohawk, and skinny jeans, was almost too cool.  Maisie wanted to blush and kiss him at the same time.

"We're glad you ladies are here," Zach said.  "Follow us and we'll tell you what we're doing today."

"Great."  

After going up another flight and weaving through a maze of production equipment and cameras, they came to an empty room and filed in ladies first.

"This is where we do a lot of our in-house filming, for things like the Vs. videos," Ned explained.

"I loved the cat vs. dog one," Maisie said.  "My cat's the best."

"Uh oh. A cat person," Eugene said.  He paused a moment, then grinned at her.

"I like cats," Zach said.

"I know!"

Ned and Keith pulled some chairs in the room and they all sat in a circle.  Another employee came in, a woman in her twenties with long, purple hair.  "I'm Sasha, I'm going to help produce your video."  She shook hands with both Talia and Maisie.  "Have the guys told you the concept yet?"

Maisie shook her head.

"The Try Guys try Matchmaking.  They've each selected a man for you to audition as Mr. Darcy, then you'll select one of them to go on a date with."

Talia nudged Maisie in the ribs, and when Maisie looked over, her friend was smiling ear-to-ear and wiggling her eyebrows.  "Can Maisie just go on a date with one of the Try Guys?"

"I'm married," Ned said immediately.  Everyone in the room laughed, and he turned red.

"Keith's engaged, and Eugene and Zach are currently seeing people.  Sorry," Sasha explained.

"That's okay - you guys have my number if anything changes," Maisie said, impressed with her off-the-cuff New York flirting ability.  Eugene gave her a little wink.

"Alright, the guys have a script that they'll go over with the two of you while I get my team to set up our camera equipment and lights.  Remember - have fun."

"Thanks."

Sasha left and Zach pulled out the scripts to hand out.  They held an impromptu read through pf the first half of the script sitting in the circle, then practiced again out of the chairs and moving around the room.

"This is the point where we bring in the potential Darcys," Keith said, flipping a page and pointing to a highlighted section on Maisie's copy.

"Are they cute?" Maisie asked him quietly, hoping no one else heard her.  She asked the wrong Try Guy.

"Eugene, you think the men we picked out are cute, right?" Keith shouted across the room.

"Not as cute as you, Keith."

"That doesn't tell her much, though."

"It's fine." Maisie covered her face with her hand.  "Do I at least get to meet them before we start filming?"

"Nope!" Zach answered, a little too happily.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Talia put her arm around Maisie's shoulders.  "It's not like any of these guys are actually going to be your soulmate."

***Author's Note: I have never been to the Buzzfeed offices and have no idea how they are set up.  Matt Bellassai no longer works for Buzzfeed, though he may have when this scene takes place (April 2016).  I have no idea if a woman named Sasha works for Buzzfeed or how they produce videos or if they have a separate filming room, or if Eugene and Zach are dating anyone exclusively.  I will most likely be changing this section to a fictional website and fictional group of employees after the first draft is completed, but thought it would be fun to get the Try Guys personalities right for this attempt.***