Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Sixty

Talia was laying on the couch when Maisie got home, watching a cheesy movie on Hallmark.  Maisie glanced at the television, then back at her friend.  "What is going on with you?"

"Huh?" Absentmindedly.

"You hate stuff like this."  Maisie pointed to Lacey Chabert and her contrived romantic problems.

"You like it."

"I know I do.  You don't, though."

Talia shrugged.  "I guess it's growing on me in my old age.  Where've you been?"

"I took groceries over to Anabeth."

"Mary Poppins can't just pull food out of her carpetbag?" Talia laughed.

"Nope, and I think it's time to retire that nickname."  Maisie proceeded to relay everything that went down with her sister the previous day and that morning.  Talia sat up and listened and when Maisie had finished, her friend frowned.

"Soooo, she took advantage of you, made you feel guilty about it, and you ended up apologizing to her and buying her groceries?"

"I think you missed the point."

Talia sighed.  "I think you missed the point.  Look - it's great if you want to try and have a better relationship with your family, but you have to see how awful Anabeth was to you yesterday, and your entire life.  You aren't to blame for everything.  She announced her engagement at your graduation party, remember? Then put you in the most hideous bridesmaid's dress this side of the 80s."

"You're right.  But-"

"But what?  She's having a tough time right now?  You've had plenty of tough times and she hasn't been there for you."

"Because I didn't give her the option to be.  It's never been easy for Anabeth to make friends, and I think she's always been a little jealous of mine.  Clay, then you and George, especially.  I think we both recognized that we could have been kinder to each other."

Talia raised an eyebrow, but all she said was, "I hope it works out."

"Thank you.  Now, scoot over and let's see which of these boring white men Lacey is going to live happily ever after with."

At the next commercial break, Talia got up to make popcorn.  "It sounds like you and Marcus have picked up where you left off."

Maisie grinned.  "He's exactly like I remember - sweet and considerate.  Funny.  And he kisses like a damn dream."

"Does that mean bye bye Bastian?"

"I don't think so.  There's something about Bastian - I can't let him go."

"Is it his extreme hotness? Is little Maisie taking over your common sense?  Just sleep with him and get it over with."

"I don't understand what you have against Bastian," Maisie said.

"It's intuition.  He rubs me the wrong way."

"You haven't even met him."

"Fine.  The stories you've told me about your dates with him rub me the wrong way."  Talia poured the popcorn into a bowl and brought it to Maisie.  The movie came back on and they watched quietly, munching on the snack.

Lacey faced an internal dilemma and another commercial break started.  Maisie wiped the popcorn residue on her hand onto a paper towel.  "I've been thinking, even thought I haven't decided if it's going to be Marcus or Bastian yet, maybe I should delete the Darcy page."

Talia turned quickly to face her.  "Seriously?"

"Yeah.  You're spending a lot of time on it, when you have much better things to do."

Talia laughed.  "If that's the reason, don't worry about it.  I like setting you up and researching the guys.  It makes for less boring days at work."

"Boring? I thought you loved your job."

She rolled her eyes.  "I did for a while, but now it's tedious.  It's the same thing every day."

"I'm sorry - are you thinking about switching jobs or careers?"

"Maybe.  It might mean going back to school, though, which means I wouldn't be able to afford my own place for a while and I know you don't want me staying here indefinitely."

Maisie put her arm around Talia's shoulder.  "I want you here as long as you need to be here."

Talia raised an eyebrow again.

"I'm serious.  I like having you around."

"It's only been a week - wait another couple of days and you're going to want to get rid of me."

"No, I'm not."

"We'll see."

Lacey came back on and the conclusion of the movie played out.  Cameron Mathison left his fiancé at the altar to run after and kiss Ms. Chabert in the rain.

"He's too old for her," Maisie said, leaning back, waiting for the next movie to start.  Previews promised Leslie Bibb would fall for Mark Paul Gossler and she could not imagine a better pairing for a cheesy movie about a vineyard owner who falls in love with a dairy farmer. Especially one where - plot twist - Mark Paul owned the vineyard and Leslie did the farming.

"There aren't as many B and C movie actors as there are actresses," Talia rationalized.  "They have to go with who is willing to lower their pride enough."

"I guess.  Where'd my phone go?"  Maisie dug down in the couch cushions, finding some loose change and hair ties, but no phone.

"You didn't have it when you sat down."

Maisie crossed the room and searched her purse, locating the phone in one of its many interior pockets.

"Any texts from Marcus about how you rocked his world last night?"

"We didn't get that far.  And, no, no texts."  Maisie quickly typed out a message to him.  "Had so much fun last night. Let's do it without the kids next time."

She rejoined Talia and they watched the next movie with minimal commentary, other than to drool over the cheese Leslie made on her farm.

"Zack Morris, wine, and cheese - that's seriously all any straight woman wants in life," Talia said when it was over.  "I need to stimulate my brain now.  I think I've lost at least ten IQ points watching this drivel."

"I told you you didn't like it."

"Oh, well."  Talia went to her room and Dashwood emerged from Maisie's.  He'd been spending a lot of his time there, having yet to warm up to the idea of another woman in the house. Or perhaps he'd just deepened his grudge against Talia.  You could never tell with cats what they were being bitchy about.

Maisie watched one more movie (Candace Cameron Bure opposite James Van Der Beek) then got up to get ready for her date with Bastian.  Halfway to his place, her phone buzzed.  At the next stoplight she checked it, hoping for a cute response from Marcus, but instead it was Bastian.

"I'm really sorry - I have to cancel tonight.  I wasn't supposed to be on call tonight, but one of the other doctors has the flu."

Maisie turned left when the light changed and pulled into a Starbucks parking lot.  She put the car in park.  "I wish I had known sooner," she typed.  "I'm almost at your place."

"I know, I'm sorry.  It just happened.  Rain check?  I know I'm off Wednesday night.  I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Okay, Wednesday it is. But I won't be wearing bells."

"Fair enough."

She turned the engine off and went into the coffee shop.  She couldn't go home yet and tell Talia Bastian had cancelled again.  Maisie understood that sometimes dating a doctor meant cancelled plans, but Talia would just use it as another reason to claim he rubbed her the wrong way.

She ordered a mocha and sat down in a comfy armchair to sip it and read a book until she could reasonably expect Talia to be in bed.  Every few minutes she checked her phone to see if Marcus had responded.

He had not.