Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Sixty-Three

Despite Talia's strong objections, Maisie pulled out her phone when she climbed in bed that night.  She thought for a few minutes while scratching Dashwood behind his ears.  Finally she opened up her chain with Marcus.

"Hope everything's okay.  When can we get together again?  I've thought of several new ways to thank you for Saturday."

She hit send and stared at the screen for a full minute until it faded to black to conserve the battery.  "That didn't sound too desperate, did it, Dash?"  The cat blinked a few times, arched his back, and jumped off the bed to climb up his scratching tower.

"Fine then," Maisie called after him.

"Hey Sicko, welcome back!" Maisie greeted George the next morning.  She'd stopped at Starbucks on the way in and brought him a green tea and blueberry scone.

"Thanks."  His voice was still raspy as he took the goodies, and a box of Kleenex sat beside his keyboard.

"Still under the weather?" Maisie asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to use any more days.  The rest of the department is already planning on Lysoling all day."

"Smart.  Okay, enough small talk.  Who's the girl?"

"What?" he laughed.  "I'm not sure what you are referring to."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Maisie countered.  "Spill."

"I can't yet.  Just give it a little more time.  I think it's the real deal, but every time I tell you about a woman I'm dating, she immediately breaks it off.  You're a curse."

"That's hurtful."

He laughed again.  "In those other cases, it was a good thing.  But I want this one to stick."

Maisie sighed.  "Okay, I guess I'll just have to wait."  But for the rest of the day, she casually dropped questions into the conversation, trying to get him to slip up.  He was prepared, though, and sidestepped her trickery every time.

By the time she left the office Tuesday afternoon, she was almost as frustrated with George as she was with the fact that she'd still heard nothing from Marcus.  Maisie tried to calmly remind herself that it was not a big deal.  So he was ghosting her.  So what?  She'd been rejected many times over the years - this was nothing different.  She was strong, she could handle it.  After all, Bastian had been texting her all day.  Cute jokes, cat gifs, and promises for a very entertaining evening on Wednesday.

She didn't need Marcus.

But she was still incredibly disappointed.