THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter fifty-four: At the mansion)

Chapter Fifty-four

At the mansion

    Darcy drove leisurely down the country lane ways and Paige was shocked when he pulled into a long driveway with wrought iron gates and the Donovan family crest on the front. The centuries-old Donovan mansion, standing majestically amidst acres of well-kept gardens, was more than impressive.

   “Wow,” Paige said. 

   Darcy pulled over, parked the car and walked around to open the door for her.

   “Do you like it?”

   “Wow… um, yes,” Paige added (sounding and feeling very American), “Are you trying to impress me?”

   “Of course.”

   Darcy stopped smiling when he noticed all the cars parked around the side of the Donovan mansion.

   He grimaced.

   “I’d forgotten with all the… excitement. Brunch. I was just coming here to show you around, was sure my great-aunt and everyone else was in London for the day.”

   Darcy checked his text.

   He looked dismayed.

   “They changed their minds. They’re expecting me for brunch.” Darcy raised his eyebrow and paused a moment. “Do you mind? My great-aunt is a real snob.” 

    Paige shrugged, annoyed that he was ditching her. This was the final chance he’d ever get… “I suppose I could… call a taxi.”

    “Are you kidding? I want you to come with me. It should only take an hour or two… then we could go back to the village and hang out…”

    Paige half-smiled.

    “Okay, but is there a train station nearby? Cos if they’re mean to me, I’m out of here.”

    Darcy laughed as they walked inside.

    “I’ll do my best to protect you.”  

      

    As Paige and Darcy were entering the house, a young girl in a riding outfit came running down the stairs, a few years younger than Darcy.

   “Darcy! Darcy! I’m so glad you are here. Great aunt Donovan gave up on you coming and has taken everyone to the Bingley’s for tea.”  (Ryan’s family had rented the mansion nearby). Paige breathed a sigh of relief.

   Blair stopped at the front door and smiled.

   “Oh, you must be Paige. Take me with you both, I have my boots on… she leaned in… great-aunt is trying to take me with her. When she returns she wants me to help sort her art collection.  Arghh! Save me!”

    Darcy laughed. “Never mind, it’s only a few days before we get to go home,” he whispered.  

    Blair breathed a sigh of relief, audibly.

   They bundled the extra food Blair had packed, into a basket, including a blanket and walked over to the stables, where some horses were already saddled.

    A teenage boy named Jethro was the summer groom and already he and Blair had become friends. You could tell by the way they smiled at each other. Blair talked on and Darcy couldn’t get over how much happier his younger sister seemed. When Blair and Jethro went riding, Darcy suggested he and Paige eat lunch in the adjoining meadows where there was a good place to sit by the lake.

    And so, their true romance began.

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter fifty-three: Darcy's relatives)

Chapter Fifty-three

Darcy’s relatives

    As it happened, the Australian friends and connections of the Donovan family were all paying court to Darcy’s relatives that week. Even Mackenzie Bingley was in town to visit her brother.

    Mackenzie now considered herself a human rights activist. She justified her modeling as a stepping stone towards ‘showing face’, ‘widening her profile’ and ultimately creating her own charity to help disadvantaged women the world over. On her profile page she wrote: Mackenzie Bingley activist, feminist, model. Her family considered this just another of Mackenzie’s ‘fads’ and her father even found her ‘amusing,’ which was good for Mackenzie since he bankrolled most of her adventures.

    Ryan had flown over for the fortnight before continuing his ‘gap year’ around Europe and Asia. Mackenzie, who had delusions of being gainfully employed as a model announced that her American agent suggested she might have more of a ‘London Editorial Look.’ Besides, she wanted to catch up with Blair – and Darcy.

    Mackenzie had taken her new look to extremes. Gone was the Valley girl throwback. Mackenzie had punk style and wore extremely dark eyeliner. She looked bored all the time. She was bored all the time. Mackenzie was so over the facile world she and her brother currently inhabited.

    As they sat in the drawing room of Lady Donovan’s Georgian mansion, at the request of Lady Donovan who had known the Bingley’s since they were children, Ryan had to agree with her that he missed his family and all that was familiar. At least they still had their best friends – Darcy and Blair.

     Blair was hovering by the piano. She’d been doing an internship with a record company in London and would also be staying for the weekend. 

    Blair had been unexpectedly trying to contact her brother all morning. He still hadn’t returned her calls.

    Working in the music industry was Blair’s dream and Darcy was relieved she wouldn’t be so directionless when she finally got back to school. Blair had her brother to thank for the internship. Darcy had suggested it to Ryan, who had suggested Blair to his parents, who owned the London studio.

    While they all had morning tea and awaited news of Darcy, his great-aunt, Lady Donovan, was wondering how to set Darcy up with a future wife. Mackenzie, (who dressed in formal attire for this morning tea and was on her best behavior) seemed like just the right sort of girl to her. From the same part of the world – and from a ‘good’ family (the Donovan family came from very snobbish lineage of which Lady Donovan was most proud). Lady Donovan smiled. Darcy had always been her favorite grandchild – even if he’d apparently forgotten the brunch he’d assured her he would attend. In any case, Lady Donovan was keen that her husband’s bizarre eccentricities would not hinder Darcy’s ascent to a title and one day becoming Lord of Oxfordshire. 

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter fifty-two: Strange Days)

Chapter Fifty-two

Strange days

   It was an unusually sunny day but the wind was whipping Paige’s hair as she waited, wrapped in her red summer coat. (Even in summer it sometimes became cold in England, Paige realized).

   Paige pinched herself.

   Darcy had actually asked her out – on a date.

   Paige, he’d written in his note before he left school, let’s keep in touch.

   The months of school had gone by, college and distance took its toll. But now they were adults, in the same foreign city, and finally, all bets were off. Darcy could show his hand if Paige gave him a chance.

    Paige stood waiting on the cobbled footpath. Darcy smiled when he saw her.

    As Darcy and Paige drove out of town and took the country road via the meadows, Darcy’s great aunt and uncle were busy breakfasting in their grand dining room, the one that overlooked the vast grounds of Pemberly.

     As the oldest nephew, Darcy was due to inherit both his great aunt’s amazing estate – Pemberly, and his grandfather’s title – along with his grandfather’s cattle ranch, one day. Darcy wasn’t sure about the catlle ranch since he had no plans to make a faux marriage. His value system had been rehabilitated since high school.

    Unbeknownst to Darcy, his grandparents had tons of ‘suitable girls’, ones whose families came with huge fortunes, selected for him to meet.  Of course they hadn’t counted on Darcy’s strength of character and his recent insistence on being his own person. He’d decided to do things his way.

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter fifty-one: At the dorm)

Chapter Fifty-one

At the dorm (or ‘college’ as it is known in England)

     The truth is, it was more than fate, Darcy thought, that he’d met up with Paige again.

    In truth, he’d never really forgotten her.

    Paige was the first girl to ever turn him down and make him account for himself. In some ways, it was even possible he was a better person because of Paige.

    He tried to tell himself she was more trouble than she was worth but he knew that wasn’t true. Especially, since his cousin, Tag Donovan, asked about her after she’d left.

    “Who’s the hot girl?”

    “Oh, nobody,” Darcy said. “Just someone I went to school with for a while – in the states.”

    “Well, if you’re not interested, I am.”

    Darcy didn’t smile. He’d pretended not to like her so his cousin wouldn’t. He was surprised how possessive he sounded when he snapped, “I didn’t say that,” he added.  

    His cousin smiled. He knew Darcy. Darcy had dated half the girls in college and they all were after his fortune now that his great aunt had also decided to leave Pemberly (the house in Oxfordshire) to him – on the condition he marry her adopted daughter. Darcy was having none of it, but he liked the convenience of having family close by.

     For his part, Darcy had smiled as Paige talked. At eighteen, Paige was more beautiful than ever and she hoped, now that both of them were in relatively unfamiliar territory, that they might even be friends.

     Their colleges were close to each other as it turned out. Whilst Paige sat in the downstairs café, researching past midnight, every night for a few days, Darcy could see her from his room in the college directly opposite hers.

     He thought about going downstairs one evening and telling her how sorry he was that he’d messed up at school.

     But he didn’t.

     He had a better plan.

    He wanted to be cooler than that.

    Darcy wanted to show her his hot, new car, his family riches. He wanted to impress her. And to do that, he’d need to get her to agree to go out with him on a real date. That would be sure to impress her.  He picked up his cell. A telephone call – that would be so unexpected, it might even seal the deal.

     

      Paige was surprised to see her cell vibrate on mute. Sure it was her family in the States she picked it up on the third shake.

       “Hi?”

      “Paige? It’s Darcy.”

      “Oh… I didn’t expect…”
      “I know it’s midnight. I can’t sleep. Look up.”

       Paige looked out of the window and saw him standing there. He gave a quick wave – Oxford must have taught him some manners.”

        Paige waved back.

        “So, um, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow. It’s our day off and I thought I might take you sightseeing - if you’re free.”

        “Um… well, Coco has to be at a music recital so, sure. Ok.”

      “Great, pick you up outside your college at ten in the morning.”

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter fifty: familiar faces)

Chapter Fifty

Familiar Faces

    Above the din of the crowd, Paige saw the top of a blonde head and heard a familiar voice.  

    “Yeah, I miss the sun too,” the boy said.

    It was unmistakably Darcy: taller, more handsome, sun drenched and certainly louder than he’d ever been. He’d been working on his grandfather’s cattle ranch during his vacation, which is how he got sun drenched. Yes, it was definitely Darcy Donovan.  Darcy had his back to Paige in the crowded room and she wasn’t sure what to do. If she ignored him, he’d likely not see her.

    Darcy got his drinks from the bar without looking over, then took his seat behind Paige with two friends, one of whom was Ryan Bingley.

    She waited for her change hugging her coat around her pensively when the familiar voice said.

   “Paige Bennet?” 

    There was no avoiding him. Paige swung around.

   “Darcy Donovan?”

    “Where’s…”

    “Shiloh is in LA.”

    “Oh,”

    Ryan, who smiled at Paige, looked completely deflated. Darcy knew Ryan had emailed Shiloh, but Shiloh never responded.  

     Darcy hesitatied, then attempted small talk.

     “My college is competing in the debate finals.”

     “Mine too.”

     “What a surprise.”

     “Not really.

      Darcy paused.

     “Can’t we just be friends? Forget high school. Start new? We were just kids then. Now we’re two foreigners in a strange country… legally adults.”

    “Mmm,” Paige said, “I guess we’ll be seeing each other.”

     Darcy toasted Paige’s cider, “Here’s to being friends then…”

    “And rivals,” Paige said under her breath.

     “That too,” Darcy said unexpectedly.  

    Everyone re-introduced themselves and behaved almost like adults. Even Darcy made a huge effort to introduce everyone and told people about his great-aunts ‘old’ house in in Oxfordshire situated in exquisite countryside not far from where they were.

   “Really?” Paige remembered.

   “We call it the Donovan mansion,” Ryan joked.

    Paige suddenly felt uncomfortable.

   Paige vaguely remembered people saying Darcy’s extended family lived in some great mansion in England.  Nevertheless, the group ordered lunch and Darcy insisted on including Paige and Coco and paying for everyone. By then, Darcy had joined the tables and seated himself next to Paige.

   “So, I had no idea you would be here for… the debate championships?”

    Paige shrugged, speechless for the first time.

   “Sunrise must have won the Nationals.”

   “Yes.” Paige said proudly.

   “My school did too, but then Australia has a far smaller population – just over twenty million as opposed to three hundred million where you’re from, so yours is the bigger win.” 

   “Right,” Paige said, she wasn’t used to this far humbler Darcy.

   “So, you’ll get into somewhere amazing like Harvard Law School.”

   “Maybe. I’m studying at UCLA, it’s pretty amazing.”

   “I know. After Oxford… I really want to go to film school there.”

    “Wow… I mean, you should do what you want but… this place takes my breath away. How could you ever leave?”

    “I know. It’s a pretty amazing university.” 

   Paige looked around her and the spiral architecture of the pub. Again, the entire place was like an enchanted medieval town.

     “Mmm… It is pretty remarkable.” Darcy leant in closer, “I gotta say though, I’m one of only six Aussies at the college we’re staying in. The other students, most from England, some of them are serious snobs about ‘colonials’ if you know what I mean. They rub it in any chance they get that they’re beating us in cricket, for example.”

    “Cricket?” Paige thought this was funny; Darcy getting a taste of his own medicine. She had no idea that cricket was a national sport played in England and Australia (and most other commonwealth countries), but she googled it under the table after they’d finished speaking.

    “Well, I think English people are very polite and the place is… out of this world.”

    “Before debate finals, we should go out… for a picnic. You should see the meadows around here. I’ll arrange it.”

    Paige hesitated. She couldn’t believe this new Darcy was real. He’d matured so much and was acting like less of a jerk and more of a man.

     “Okay,” Paige said. Perhaps she had been wrong about Darcy so long ago. It was certainly time to give him another chance.

      When she texted Shiloh about it after, Shiloh replied. ”I wish I’d stayed in touch with Ryan. I’ve never met any boy I liked even half as much.” 

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter forty-nine: Oxford University)

Chapter Forty-nine

Oxford University

   The scenery was beautiful in the morning mist as they drove out of central London. The girls arrived at Oxford just as the sun started to shine. Paige felt very foreign, very American.

   Oxford University itself was like a town built from a fairy tale.

   The architecture was amazing and historic but Paige new this from having googled photographs before she arrived: (note to self: google Oxford aerial photographs)

    After meeting up with the other candidates from other countries of the world at a special reception, Paige made her way to the college she was staying in. Paige and Coco were so tired that night as they got into their beds (with dips in the middle – apparently the wrought iron was as old as the architecture). In the end, because Paige was jetlagged and couldn’t sleep, she pulled off the mattress and spread it onto the floor and finally fell into the deepest slumber she’d had in two days.

    In the morning, Coco went to her art seminar and Paige met the entire team: early to go over possible topics and opening arguments. Paige was delivering the closing argument. The usual topics were debated, but at university level.

    After they’d finished their morning seminars, Paige met with Coco for coffee, then they decided to go exploring. At first, they walked down the main street of Oxford University then veered off into some kind of medieval-type alley way. They found themselves in a beautiful meadow, shaded by oak trees.

   “Wow,” Paige said. “This is so beautiful.”

   “Like a painting,” Coco added. 

   “It is, it really is. I thought I’d miss America and I do already but this is a picture to take home with us.” Wednesday said, snapping the photo on her cell.  

   Paige and Coco took a lot of photographs that morning. It was like the word ‘picturesque’ was invented for this college campus.

   Coco had a map which she kept referring to that folded to the size of her palm and Paige had googled a list of all the noteworthy architecture.

   “Hey, it says here there’s a pub… near New College Lane and the Bridge of Sighs where a former Australian Prime Minister once a Rhodes Scholar held the Guinness record for ‘consuming a yard glass of ale’! It says here, the pub was originally called The Spotted Cow.”

   The friends laughed.

   It was quite funny. Paige never realized she’d have her first legal drink in England.  The Europeans were not like Americans. They didn’t have to legally wait until they were twenty-one.  

    The pub was quaint and small, the ceilings unexpectedly low.

    “Hey, I’m buying,” Coco said. “Maybe cider?”

    Paige nodded, then she sat down and went over her speech. By the time she got to deliver it, she’d throw away her notes. Paige was a perfectionist who wanted to know every word.

   She’d already caught the eye of just about every guy in the place – of which there were many. It wasn’t just because Paige had her dark hair brushed shiny and wore the most fashionable jeans (being a former Princess had taught her well!) she was excited and feeling happy after so much study and so many weekends working at the restaurant. It was fun to be abroad – she never imagined such a place, except in her dreams.  

    Paige loved the crowded, European atmosphere and ordered some food as she sipped her cider. She was talking to Coco who was fielding texts from Amadeus – telling her how much he missed her. Paige shook her head incredulously. She couldn’t believe Coco and Amadeus were a perfect match.

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter forty-eight: Another country)

Chapter Forty-eight

Another country

When Paige arrived in London it was like another world. It was another world. The sky at Heathrow airport was overcast and crowded and the air from the minute she stepped outside with her group from customs, was cold. There were no open freeways in the main part of the city or the West End as it was known, where Paige and the rest of the debate team were to spend the night. The town seemed so ancient, it was ancient, a mix of very old (and some new) architecture. Coco came to the airport to surprise Paige.

    “Whoah, it’s so great to see you after the long trip.”

    “I’ve missed my friend so much,” the girls hugged and Coco had arranged to join in with the sightseeing. After taking their luggage to a small hotel, the group hopped on a bus, then did lots of walking around the West End.

    There was cobbled stone lane ways that went from one street to the next like a maze. There was also a pub on every corner and now that the girls were all eighteen (the legal drinking age in England) they could hang out at bars, even the hotel bar if they wanted to. But drinking was the last thing on Paige’s mind. Paige chose to go over her final debate topics the night before they reached Oxford, but when that was done all the girls got dressed and went to a little French restaurant in Covent Garden before going to see Once on the West End. It was such a beautiful musical all about an Irish musician and a girl he meets busking on the street. Coco and Paige were talking about how much fun they were having as they walked out into the night air afterwards.

    “London grows on you,” Coco announced.

    “I love it here,” Paige added, “it’s the exact opposite of Los Angeles but they still speak English.”

    “Barely,” Coco joked. . 

     At the hotel, in Covent Garden, the girls were treated to room service for breakfast with the rest of the group.

   Then, the bus that would take them to Oxford arrived.

THE HOTNESS: A Modern Teen Pride and Prejudice (chapter forty-seven: The beginning of another...)

(Second Part of our story – two years later)

Chapter Forty-seven

The beginning of another…

   Time passed, as it generally does.

   Paige and  Shiloh were now grown-ups (sort of). I was almost a junior, along with Honey – we  ruled the school and took extension classes in acting at UCLA (on weekends). But enough about us – you’ll hear about us in Popular (our next novel). Now, it’s all about them…

    This is where the Bennet family were at:

    The financial crisis had hit the family hard.

    Shiloh had elected not to go to college but instead took a job as a nanny during the week and worked as a waitress at a local diner on Saturdays. This kept Shiloh  very busy. She hadn’t met anyone to compare with Ryan for two years but she put him out of her mind, convinced he was not the man she thought he was.

    As for Paige – though she’d won a new scholarship to study at UCLA, money was tight and she worked hard and dated little. Paige hadn’t met anyone to compare with Darcy, unfortunately. She was convinced Darcy really was everything she thought he was. And more. She’d tried to forget him, really she had.

    But she hadn’t.

    In her second year studying International Relations, Paige had won a debate scholarship to go to the International University Debate Finals at Oxford University in England. This was held for a week over summer. Her college was paying for everything for herself and the team, but she was doing shifts at the restaurant with Shiloh, to pay for extras.

     Both girls were less happy than they seemed, but always hopeful. Their younger sisters had mellowed a little, but were still dangerously addicted to social networking. Senta, their middle sister, was counseling them. She hoped to become a psychologist one day.

    “I wish you could come with me,” Paige said to Shiloh after bussing her final table.

    “Knowing you are going on an amazing trip is enough. Besides, I like to stay close to home to help Mom and Dad. But, you have to tell me everything when you return… “

    “Of course,” Paige said.

     Her friend Coco was at summer school and hanging out with Amadeus in London. They were both on music scholarships, so at least Paige wouldn’t be totally friendless.

       The day Paige was due to leave, Mr and Mrs Bennet almost started crying until Paige hushed them and said she’d see them in a fortnight, along with Shiloh. Tthe competition only ran for a week, but Paige wanted some days to sight see with Coco who would be there too. It was all planned.

   Mrs Bennet shook her head, “Oh, I just know you’ll meet someone over there and fall in love and leave me.”

   “Mom, chillax. I’m only eighteen. I’m going to England for a debate, not a bad romance!”

   “That’s what you think. Oh, I don’t know Paige, when you were all younger I only wanted to see my girls happily  married, and I still want that, but there is so much out there in the world for you to see, so much to do. Do you know, you are the first girl in our family to go to college and the first one to have a passport – I’m so proud of you, Paige. You get to see the things I haven’t.”

   “Oh Mom, don’t cry, you could always come visit me.”

   “Oh, Paige, I have your sisters to consider. We didn’t all win the trip, it’s just too expensive.”

   Mrs Bennet hugged Paige at LAX. Shiloh gave her a locket with their photographs which Paige wore close.

   Mr Bennet hugged his daughter again, but was a man of few words.

   “Remember how much we love you,” she whispered into Paige’s ear. Besides, those were the best ones.