Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Twenty-Eight

It started innocently enough, with the Guys asking Maisie to tell the viewers about herself and why she created the page.

"I've been single for a long time, and I've been pretty happy that way, but..." she struggled to put her feelings into words.

"It would be nice not to be alone?" Zach offered.

"Sometimes," she breathed a sigh of relief.  "Mostly, I'm fine on my own, which is why the only man I'll settle for is Mr. Darcy."

"Full confession time," Keith said.  "Only one of us has actually read Pride and Prejudice.  And I'll give you a hint - it wasn't me, because I didn't know the name of the book that Mr. Darcy came from was Pride and Prejudice until our team meeting this morning."

Maisie and Talia laughed.  "That sounds about right," Talia said.

"Which one of us do you think has read it?" Keith asked.

"Eugene's a possibility, because he's really into art and other cultures and I can see him checking out some British literature every now and then," Maisie said.

Talia shook her head.  "No, I bet Eugene only reads graphic novels and poetry by Maya Angelou."

Eugene laughed.  "Talia's closer."

"Damn!" Maisie said, shaking her fist in the air.  "Okay, so between Ned and Zach."  She leaned toward her friend.  "Tough choice."

Talia nodded.  "I'm going Zach, because he's sweet and sensitive and you know he read it in high school hoping to impress a girl."

"By that logic, I'm voting Ned.  Not high school, though.  He read it with his college sweetheart."  Maisie turned to face the guys and Ned's face was bright pink.

"My wife and I read it together while we were dating," he said.  Zach patted him on the shoulder.

"Wait - you're married?" Maisie quipped.  The Guys burst into laughter, and when Ned could control himself, he looked straight into the camera.

"Love you, Ariel!"