Mr. Darcy Forever (14 page)

The tide was out and there were miles of perfect sandy beach to greet them.

‘
Isn’t this the most perfect place in the world?’ Mia said. ‘We have to come back here
every
year!’

‘
I don't think we'll be able to afford it,’ Sarah said.

‘
But you're a rich accountant!’

‘
And you're going to be a rich actress and singer,’ Sarah said. ‘You can pay for the next trip.’

‘
You think I can't, don't you?’

‘
I didn't say that.’

Mia tutted. ‘Oh, let's not argue.’

‘
But I'm not arguing.’

Mia caught Alec’s gaze and giggled. ‘Sisters!’ she said. ‘Always fighting.’

‘
We’re not always fighting,’ Sarah protested.

‘
Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ Mia asked Alec.

‘
A younger brother. I call him my younger
bother
because he’s always getting into trouble.’

‘
Oh, dear,’ Sarah said.

‘
What sort of trouble?’

‘
The sort that involves money,’ Alec said. ‘He has these madcap ideas which he’s convinced will make him rich but they usually fall apart and I’m left picking up the pieces.’

‘
So you’re rich?’ Mia asked.

‘
Mia!’ Sarah scolded.

Alec laughed. ‘I get by,’ he said.

‘
What do you do?’ Mia crossed her legs in a yoga-type position making her long, denim-clad legs look even longer.

‘
I’m a business consultant specialising in small company management.’

‘
Oh,’ Mia said, sounding non-the-wiser.

He grinned. ‘Basically, I help small companies maximise their profits.’

‘
It sounds very rewarding,’ Sarah said.

‘
Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen many businesses flourish which is a wonderful thing.’

Mia was trying to mask how disappointed she was by his choice of profession. It wasn’t very romantic. It was a shame that he wasn’t a musician or a poet or something. There wasn’t anything remotely romantic about being a business consultant, was there? But it was hard to find a perfect man, wasn’t it? And he was exceptionally handsome so perhaps you couldn’t have a handsome man who also had an interesting job, she reasoned.

‘
I haven't had a picnic for years,’ Alec said, changing the subject. ‘This is just like when I visited my aunt. She’d make up the best hampers in the world. She used to get up at the crack of dawn when the rest of us were still asleep and make mountains of sandwiches and cake and flapjack and all sorts of other goodies.’

‘
You must miss her,’ Sarah said.

Alec nodded. ‘Every day.’

Mia looked across at him. ‘We never had an aunt. We barely had a mother.’

Alec looked puzzled.

‘
Don’t bore him, Mia.’

‘
I’m not boring him. Am I boring you?’

‘
Of course not. You couldn't possibly bore me.’

Mia smiled. ‘See, Sarah – I couldn’t possibly bore him.’

‘
Tell me about her,’ he said. ‘I’d like to know more about you both.’

‘
Well, there’s not much to tell really,’ Mia said. ‘Our mother left us. I was only eleven and I came home from school one day and she’d gone.’

‘
Just like that?’

Mia nodded.

‘
It had been coming on for some time,’ Sarah added. ‘I don't think she was a natural mother, to be honest. We’d often go whole days without seeing her at all.’

‘
But that's terrible. Wasn't there anyone else to look after you? A father? Or a grandparent?’

‘
Not really,’ Sarah said. ‘Neither of our fathers were around much.’

‘
I never got to know mine,’ Mia said with a dramatic wave of her hand. ‘I am a complete enigma! But I bet he was a prince!’

‘
Or a criminal,’ Sarah said with a little smile.

‘
Oh, you always like to burst my bubble!’

‘
Just keeping your feet on the ground.’

‘
But they don't want to be on the ground. They want to be tiptoeing up in the clouds.’

Sarah sighed. ‘What can you do with such a flibbertigibbet?’

Alec laughed. ‘I’m not sure there is much you can do except sit back and enjoy the show.’

‘
You see?’ Mia said. ‘Alec knows how to appreciate me.’ Mia was suddenly on her feet, brushing the sand from her legs. ‘I’m going for a walk,’ she announced. ‘Do you want to come, Alec?’ She waited for a moment, a big smile fixed on her face, her eyes wide.

‘
Sure,’ he said, getting up from the sand. ‘You coming, Sarah?’

‘
Oh, she’d rather be sat with a book, wouldn't you, Sarah?’

Sarah nodded, understanding her sister perfectly.

Mia and Alec walked along the beach before finding a path into the wood where the dappled shade cooled their sun-warmed limbs.

‘
Are you sure Sarah won't be lonely?’ Alec asked.

‘
There’s no need to worry about her. She prefers her own company,’ Mia said. ‘Come on.’ She led the way along the path as it climbed steeply amongst a carpet of bluebells. She inhaled deeply. ‘Smell that! Isn't it wonderful?’

Alec took a deep lungful of the heady perfume. ‘It’s my favourite time of year.’

‘
Mine too!’ Mia said. ‘I mean, not only because it's my birthday but because the flowers are so beautiful right now. There are bluebells, campion, primroses and that lovely frothy elderflower-’

‘
It’s your birthday?’ Alec interrupted.

‘
Well, it was last week, really, but neither of us could get away then so we’re celebrating it now. I’m the ripe old age of twenty-one.’

‘
I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘I had no idea it was your birthday and such a special one too.’

‘
That’s okay,’ Mia said.

‘
I would have got you something if I'd known,’ he said. They'd stopped under the shade of a beech tree, its new leaves the brightest green.

‘
Would you?’

‘
Of course,’ he said with a smile.

Mia smiled back, noticing the way his eyes crinkled at the edges. ‘What would you have given me?’ she asked, moving a step closer towards him.

‘
What would you have liked?’

She was inches away from him now and could feel his warm breath on her face. ‘How about a birthday kiss?’ she said, knowing that Sarah would be appalled at such forwardness but, if a girl couldn't take liberties on her birthday, when could she? Besides, he looked as though he wanted to kiss her.

She waited for what seemed like forever, the world suddenly concentrated on the tiny space that separated them. A warm breeze blew her hair back from her face and the scent of bluebells seemed to permeate her skin.

‘
I think I can manage a kiss,’ Alec whispered. ‘If that's what you really want.’

Mia nodded and closed her eyes as his lips sought hers. It was a sweet, tender kiss that made her skin tingle with pleasure and it took a moment to realise that he had stopped kissing her.

‘
Well,’ he said, ‘I wasn’t expecting this today.’

Mia opened her eyes. ‘No?’ she said. ‘Why ever not?’

He frowned at her, half-puzzled, half-amused. ‘You are the most surprising girl I’ve ever met.’

‘
But I’m not a girl anymore,’ she said. ‘I’m twenty-one now.’

‘
Yes, you are.’

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and bright. ‘That kiss,’ she began, ‘was very nice but it was over much too quickly, didn't you think?’

‘
Well, I –’

She leaned up towards him and pressed her mouth against his, closing her eyes and experiencing the wondrously warm sensation again.

‘
Is that better?’ he asked her a moment later.

‘
That was very nice too but it was only our second kiss. What do you say we make it twenty-one?’

Down on the beach, Sarah had long forgotten her novel, placing it back in her rucksack so that it wouldn't discolour in the sun. Where had Mia and Alec got to? She couldn't help but worry. Mia might be twenty-one now but she was as impetuous and impulsive as when she was an eight-year old. She never liked to admit it but she needed somebody to keep an eye on her and Sarah saw that as being her job. For a moment, she wondered about going in search of her but she knew that Mia wouldn't thank her for it. She’d give her another ten minutes before she really started to worry.

She got out her copy of
Sense and Sensibility
again but, when she tried to read it, it wasn't the faces of Marianne and Willoughby she was seeing but those of Mia and Alec. She returned the book to the bag and stretched out on the tartan rug.

She was
always
worrying about Mia, she couldn’t help thinking as she closed her eyes against the sun. Why couldn’t they have a less stressful relationship - like Jane and Elizabeth Bennet? For a moment, Sarah thought about sisters in the novels of Jane Austen. There was Jane and Elizabeth in
Pride and Prejudice
who shared every confidence – well,
almost
every confidence. At the other end of the sisterly spectrum were the Elliot sisters from
Persuasion
and the poor put-upon Anne who was left to do all the unpleasant chores. Then, of course, there was Elinor and Marianne from
Sense and Sensibility
– the sisters who, of course, adored each other but were worlds apart. That’s who Sarah was reminded of whenever she thought of her own relationship with Mia.

Please don't let her fall in love
, she said to herself.
He isn't right for her. I just know it.
But Mia wouldn't stop to think about such things. She'd see a handsome face and be flattered by a few smiles and fall headlong in love. Sarah had seen it before and it never ended well. Take that time with – what was his name? Robbie Merton. Even Sarah had had to admit that he was handsome. Mia had met him whilst at sixth form. He’d been one of those boys who’d driven a beaten up old car way too fast whilst playing terrible music way too loudly. And Mia had adored him. She’d scribbled his name a hundred times across pieces of paper that were meant to be filled with thought-provoking essays. Of course, he’d broken her heart by being caught with another girl in his car. He hadn’t even bothered to drive off anywhere first. Mia had walked right past him on the way to her drama class.

‘
Poor Mia,’ Sarah said as she silently cursed handsome men.

‘
Won’t Sarah be wondering where we are?’ Alec asked as they followed the footpath out of the woods.

‘
Oh, stop worrying about her. She’ll have her head stuck so far in that book that the rest of the world will have ceased to exist a long time ago.’