Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Fifty

She parked outside of Bastian's at ten til seven that evening.  In her excitement do the date, she'd left her apartment early, and said a silent thank you to the traffic Gods that she hadn't arrived even earlier.  She didn't want to surprise him, so she checked her makeup and sang along to two songs on the Hamilton soundtrack to pass the time.  This made her think of Caleb and New York, which made her smile.  She thought back to their short time together and wished he didn't live so far away.

A tap on the window startled her so much she screamed.  Looking over, Bastian had backed up a few feet and was laughing his ass off.

"You scared me!" she said, getting out of the car.

"I'm sorry!  I saw you through the window," he gestured to the house.  "I couldn't figure out why you weren't coming in, but now I realize you were just finishing your one-woman concert.  Nice singing, by the way."

"Oh my God.  You heard that?"  She was mortified and turned to face the car, her face in her hands.

"Yes, and I promise you, it was adorable.  Off-key, but adorable.  Come on in."  He took her hand and led her up the stone walkway to the front door.  Maisie got a good look at the enormous house - it was two stories, and from the outside, she counted enough windows for at least six rooms on the street-facing side.  A spring wreath of roses and calla lilies hung on the front door.

"Pretty," she said, as they went over the threshold.

"Oh, thanks.  This way."  He showed her to the dining room; he had the table set for two, with two long-tapered candles lit between their plates, a bottle of white wine chilling on ice, and a pair of salads already waiting.

"This is fancy."

Bastian pulled out her chair and helped her push in to the table.  "I wanted it to be special for you."  He sat beside her and picked up his fork.  "Eat up."

"Thank you."  She took a bite and looked around the room.  The tables, chairs, and china cabinet against the wall all looked like antiques - a style she had not expected from Bastian.  The faded pink rose wallpaper also seemed a little stuffy for him.  She had to assume he hadn't done the decorating.  Perhaps he kept everything as it was when her purchased the house.  His schedule probably didn't allow a lot of time for redecorating.

"Tell me all about New York," he said, pouring wine for both of them.

"We had a lot of fun.  The Try Guys were hilarious and made the whole process pretty painless."

"We?"

"Yeah - Talia went with me."

"Oh, I didn't realize that.  I thought you went meant the guy they set you up with."  He actually sounded jealous and Maisie hated how much she loved it.

"I had fun with Caleb, too."

"I see." Bastian stood and collected her empty plate.  "I'll be right back with the entrees."

"You don't have to feel threatened by Caleb," Maisie called after him.  He stepped back into the doorway, dirty plates still in hand.

"Threatened?  What makes you think I feel threatened?"

"It's okay to be a little jealous," Maisie teased.

"I'm not jealous."  He turned his back to her and continued into the kitchen.  Maisie felt bad - she hadn't meant to upset him.  She needed to remember that some people needed to be eased into teasing - he was obviously one of them.  Just like Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth! she thought.  How perfect.

He returned and placed a plate of roast beef and mashed potatoes in front of her.

"It smells delicious," she said.  He picked up his knife and didn't respond.

"Hey - I didn't mean anything by it."

He cracked a smile.  "I know.  And I guess I was a little," he held up his thumb and forefinger, squeezing them close together, "very little jealous of that other guy - Cameron?"

"Caleb.  But you don't need to be.  He lives in Pennsylvania."

He brightened up and passed her the salt and pepper. "Sorry, the potatoes are a little bland."

She took a bite and thought he was being generous, but gratefully accepted the shakers and sprinkled the seasoning on.  "It's not bad, but I do like a lot of pepper on my potatoes."

He laughed.  "No need to be nice - they are awful.  You can tell me - it's okay."

"Okay, yes! But the roast beef is delicious."

"That's something, I guess."

Throughout the rest of dinner, which included apple pie and ice cream for dessert, Bastian filled her in on his broken phone trauma and how crazy things had been at the hospital.  She told him about Talia moving in with her and Clay's dinner party.  After his reaction to Caleb, she decided to stay mum about Marcus.  He knew she was dating other guys - no need to rub it in further.

"Do you have any movie preferences?" he asked when they moved into the den.  It too was decorated with old-fashioned furniture and faded wallpaper - this one patterned with lilacs.  The only two modern updates were a huge television mounted on the wall opposite the windows, and blackout curtains on said windows.

"Anything but horror.  I don't do scary."

"Aw, but I'm here to protect you," he said, taking her in his arms and kissing her.  "You can snuggle against me when the bad guys come on the screen."

"Tempting, but I'm pretty sure we can still snuggle to a movie that doesn't give me nightmares."

He laughed.  "I concede.  A nice, dumb comedy should do the trick."

"Perfect."

He handed her the remote and told her to scroll through Netflix to find something while he made popcorn.  She was stuffed, but he wouldn't hear of movie night without it.

She selected an early Adam Sandler film she'd already seen and made herself comfortable on the couch.  He returned with a bowl of popcorn and a fluffy blanket.

"You look cozy," he said, covering her with the blanket.

"I am.  Come join me."

He did.  "I've seen this movie," he said.  She pressed play anyway.

"So have I.  I figured we probably weren't going to be watching much of it anyway."

His eyes sparkled as he leaned closer. "Oh, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face close to hers, kissing sweetly as the movie began to play.

He broke away after a few seconds. "Wait - one more thing."  He grabbed the remote off the coffee table, clicked a few buttons, and the curtains closed as the lights went out.

"Good call," Maisis said, just before he kissed her again.  Neither noticed ninety minutes later when the credits rolled.