Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Forty-Eight

"Where did you two disappear to?" Clay asked when Maisie and Marcus re-entered the house.

"Just out admiring the garden," Marcus answered.

"We're about to start a game, come on."

Everyone had gathered in the living room.  Talia patted the arm of the couch, and Maisie went to sit beside her.

"I take it it went well," Talia whispered.

"We're having dinner on Friday," Maisie whispered back.

"Yes!"

Clay was busy dividing the group into two teams and handing out slips of paper and pens to everyone.  "The game is Fishbowl.  Three rounds.  First round - you can say whatever you want to get your team to guess what's on the slip.  Second round - you can only say one word.  Third round - charades.  Everyone write down the names of celebrities, fictional characters, brand mascots, etc. on your slips.  It should be someone most people know, like Barack Obama, or the Energizer Bunny.  Got it?"

While everyone worked on their slips, Maisie snuck a glance over at Marcus, who had taken the same opportunity to sneak a glance at her.  It was like high school all over again.  They both smiled.

"Maisie, I've been meaning to ask you how your little dating experiment is going," Clay said as he passed the bowl around to collect everyone's entries.

"Oh, I wouldn't really call it that."

"An experiment?"

"Yeah.  You know, I'm just seeing what's out there," she said quickly, hoping he'd drop the subject.  The smile faded from Marcus's face as he perked up to listen.

"Terence and I saw the Buzzfeed video and the Facebook page.  It looks a little more than just putting yourself out there."

"It's really no big deal."

"Come on, we're all friends here," Clay insisted.  "Tell us about the trip to New York and that cute guy you went to Hamilton with."

"Oh, I saw that!" A woman across the circle said.  "You're the Searching for Mr. Darcy girl!"

"What does that mean?" Marcus asked.  The man beside him, a mutual friend from high school, pulled out his phone and showed the video to Marcus, then replayed it for the person on the other side of him.

"You're a meme!" Terence said, pulling out his own phone and showing it to the woman Maisie guessed was his sister.

"It's really nothing.  It kind of took on a life of its own," Maisie insisted, but no one was listening.  Everyone in the room, with the exception of her, Talia, and Marcus was discussing the viral page and the Buzzfeed video.  Questions were coming from everywhere:

"How many dates have you gone on?"

"Any love connections?"

"What was it like going to Buzzfeed?"

"Are you famous now?"

"Can I have some of your castoffs?"

It was so pervasive, the entire group seemed to have forgotten about the game.  Maisie tried to answer the questions nonchalantly, with Talia's help, but she couldn't help noticing the change to Marcus's demeanor as the inquiries kept coming.

"Anyone serious yet?" Clay asked, directing the question more towards Talia than Maisie, who was in the middle of explaining the origin of the page to Terence.

"There's one guy - Bastian - a doctor, but I think she likes him more than he likes her."

Talk in the room dimmed and Marcus excused himself to the bathroom.  Maisie turned to Talia, ready to breath fire.  "Why did you say that?" she hissed.

"What? Oh, shit.  I'm sorry - I'll go explain to Marcus."

Maisie's face was beet red.  She shook her head and said as quietly as possible, "Just leave it."

A few seconds later, Marcus came back into the room, phone in hand, and told Clay he had to go.  He thanked both hosts and waved goodbye to everyone else, leaving before Maisie could catch his eye or say anything else to him.

His exit seemed to shake the group up - they exhausted the topic of Maisie's fifteen minutes and turned their attention back to the game.  During a break between players, Talia nudged Maisie's leg.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I shouldn't have mentioned Bastian in front of Marcus."

"Not your fault - I shouldn't have snapped at you.  I'm more angry with myself.  Should I have mentioned it to Marcus?  Did his leaving mean dinner on Friday is canceled?  And I don't like Bastian more than he likes me.  I have barely thought about him since we got back from New York."

"Has he rescheduled your date yet?"

"He hasn't even responded to my last text.  What's wrong with me, T?"

Talia put her arm around Maisie's shoulders and squeezed.  "Nothing."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

Talia sighed.  "I know."

Clay shook the bowl full of clues in their direction.  "Maisie - your turn!"