Parties... I have an interesting relationship with parties. I like the excuse to have all my friends in one place, but I'm not so certain on having to deal with crowds of potentially drunk people. The people watching is fun you know, but being the one sober guy at a party quickly gets old. I really can't hold my liquor. Its a side effect of being small, well, that and not being able to reach things on high shelves.
There are some nice things about parties though. I like dancing. Mum was one of those scary people who pushed me and my oldest sister Jane into competitions when I was younger and I'd found it rather like riding a bike. You never really forgot. I made a lot of friends at parties as well; I even met Darcy at a party.
Darcy is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. She's a bit of a force of nature, but more of a glacier than a hurricane. I should probably mention right now however, that our first meeting was less than ideal. She was in a place she didn't know, with people she'd only just met and deeply uncomfortable. Darcy has never been the best at first impressions. She's spiky and if you act like I did at the start, you never bother to see past the spikes.
The party was William Lucas' sixty-somethingeth birthday. William is a nice older man who used every birthday as an excuse invite all of his extended family, friends and neighbours to his very large house to celebrate. William's birthdays were always fun; you don't really see anyone utterly smashed at the birthday of a man over 60, except for those over 60 of course. I knew plenty of people and I could always chat with Charlotte, William's daughter. She's much older than I am, but we had always got along well and been fairly close, despite an age gap of nearly 10 years.
Charlotte and I had been busy chatting up by a wall where I could keep an eye on Lydia and Kitty, my two younger sisters and ensure they didn't try to sneak any alcohol. They'd were drinking punch, which I was pretty certain someone, probably old William come to think of it, had spiked with alcohol. Not something I could do much about. Mum was here and I was pretty certain she'd back them. It was at that point I felt an elbow in my side.
"There's the new neighbours," said Charlotte, gesturing with her drink to a small group of people standing near to William.
"Their last name's Bingley right? Mum mentioned them." I was standing with my second cider in hand, so that people would stop trying to get me drinks.
"Of course she would have," replied Charlotte smirking. "Charlie and Caroline are both single."
"Ah. Of course." And here I was assuming they were an odd couple.
Mum had never liked that Jane and I were single. At that point she was constantly trying to get us to meet every single person she could find. This was completely ignoring the fact that Jane and my friends were mostly single too. She wanted to have a hand in it; a problem since Mum is neither subtle or the sharpest tool in the shed. I know this probably sounds like an awful thing to say about my own mother, but I can't lie about what my parents are.
Charlie was his same, eternally friendly self I'd grow used to when I finally met him. He seemed to be enjoying himself already. Caroline was busy being Caroline, something I'd also grow used to when I got to know her too.
"And whose that?" I asked, gesturing towards the tall woman standing slightly behind Charles, arms folded, face closed.
"That's Darcy. Glad to see someone's caught your eye." Charlotte smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.
"Seriously? You too?"
"Oh don't act like that. She's pretty."
Just for the record, Darcy is more than pretty; she's beautiful. She's about 6 feet tall, elegant and dark haired. She speaks with a polished British accent, has the clearest laugh you've ever heard and has hips that sway in a way you don't see outside of movies and is almost impossible to replicate. Darcy is quite possibly my ideal woman on a purely physical level, ignoring all emotion.
I noticed a number of other people eyeing her up while Charlie was chatting away to William. But her face was under lock down, her posture was defensive and so in my eyes I only saw her as merely pretty.
"I'll drift over," I conceded. Jane was being practically towed along by Mum and I'd rather things not get too awkward for my sister. Plus maybe I was a little curious about Miss Tall, Dark and Icy. That's probably part of the reason for how she reacted later.
"Hey Jane, Mum," I said as we appeared at their elbow.
Jane smiled. "Hey Eli, Charlotte. Enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah," I said as we reached William.
"Ah, Eli, Jane! And the lovely Mrs Bennet. I don't believe you've met Charlie and Darcy." William was properly sloshed by this point, his cheeks red, but he's a harmless drunk. "Charlie's moved in down the end of the drive."
"Lovely to meet you," said Charlie, shaking my hand and then Jane's, holding hers a little longer. Charlie's always had a gift for making friends, especially with girls. Charlotte quietly led her dad and my mum away, grinning wickedly. Traitor.
I caught Darcy's eyes on Charlie and Jane and smiled, the smile almost fading when it ran into Darcy's patented ice wall. "Nice to meet you, Darcy."
"Likewise."
It didn't look likewise. Darcy crossed her arms slowly and deciding it was a lost cause, I turned back to Jane and Charlie to find them disappearing off towards the other dancers. Darcy watched them critically.
"So, I've heard your from England," I said, making conversation.
"Derbyshire," said Darcy, nodding stiffly.
"And how are you finding Melbourne?"
"Perfectly acceptable," she said, smiling awkwardly before stepping backwards. "Excuse me."
And like that she was gone. Charlotte was baby sitting several very drunk people and could probably use some company, but my mum was getting loud. Jane was dancing with Charlie and I was on my own.
I danced for a bit but eventually I found myself leaning against a wall, nursing my second cider which I'd picked back up from where I'd left on a window ledge, watching Jane giggling with Charlie, Lydia and Kitty hitting on John Lucas and Darcy standing close by, up against the wall too.
Charlie eventually moved across to the drinks table and picked up three glasses, before heading over to Darcy.
"Darcy." He handed a glass over to her, smiling.
"Charlie," she replied. There was the ghost of a smile on her lips.
"Darcy," said Charlie, sounding exasperated.
"Charlie." She looked amused.
"You can't just spend every party standing by a wall," he said, turning to lean next to her.
"Yes I can," she said, taking a sip.
"No, you can't," replied Charlie, trying to loom over her and failing.
"Yes I can," repeated Darcy, her lips twitching.
"Ergh! Why?" he said, gesturing widely towards the crowd. "The people here are great."
"Really?" Darcy snorted, swirling her drink as she looked dismissively across the crowd. "You know this isn't my scene."
I shifted against the wall. I loved a bit of people watching. Or eavesdropping, whichever you prefer to call it. They were talking pretty loudly, over the noise of the crowd, so I didn't feel too bad.
"Anyway," said Darcy, grinning slightly, "You've done your typical thing and found the most attractive person in the room. Everyone else is kinda... meh."
"Jane's beautiful, isn't she?" said Charlie. "She's super nice too. You'd love her."
"Probably not as much as you," replied Darcy, giving him that same critical look from earlier.
"Yeah, well..." said Charlie, going quiet for a moment. "What about Eli, Jane's brother? He's not half bad looking and Jane said-"
"He's passable, barely," said Darcy, rolling her eyes. "Go back to... Jane, isn't it? Your wasting your time with me."
And that was when I decided I didn't like Darcy very much, leaning there a little way away from her on the same wall, seething. Of course, I didn't stay there for long; eventually I found my way over to Charlotte and we had a good laugh about with some mutual friends. Pretty much guaranteed everyone we knew didn't like her too. I'm ashamed to say I made a lot of mistakes that night, even if Darcy's always insisted it wasn't my fault.
But thing is, I don't usually talk shit behind someone's back quite like I did then either, so I don't really agree.