Summary:

It is a human vice to never be content with what one has, and same is the case with a certain young gentleman who has everything, but he is still left wishing… wishing for his Princess.

Author's Notes:

I wrote this a few days back when I needed a break from studying Economics. It took me three whole days to write these 1000 words something, and another two days to finally type it. As you can guess, I am an accomplished procrastinator. Well, here it finally is and I hope you enjoy it. :)

Wishing for a Princess

You are rich and handsome and intelligent. One may say you're immodest as well but you aren't bragging, you are just stating the truth. And you are old too. Not in your dotage, but you aren't a young boy either. And today marks another year. You have turned twenty-seven so everyone is invited to celebrate your birthday. People you know and people you don't. People you like and people you detest. But you meet everyone with your sister on your side who nudges you whenever you are bordering on being rude by completely tuning out on a largely one sided conversation.

You greet everyone and finally the time to cut the cake arrives. You are taken to a table and on it you see a huge cheese cake. You realise that if the guests weren't so well mannered, they would start drooling over it. The thought makes you grin but when you see the cake again, it vanishes and you smile instead. First at the cake and then the guests.

You stand behind the table and the candles are lit, all twenty seven of them. Everyone starts singing the birthday song and you feel rather embarrassed. You are about to blow off the lit candles in front of you when your best friend comments on birthday wishes. You remind yourself why the yellow haired man deserves the title of being your best friend and that he is just being good natured as always. So you listen to him and the others who have joined him in the chanting. You raise a hand to quiet them, close your eyes and think of what to wish for.

You have looks, money, education and a well read mind. You have only one, but a very loyal best mate; a devoted sister; and a mischievous yet well meaning cousin. You could wish for your parents but you are practical and you know that they are dead. You yearn for them a lot and feel lonely at times. You miss having intellectual debates with your father. You miss listening to fairy tales your mother read to you as a child. You remember protesting against them as you grew older, calling them 'girly' and your mother telling you that happy endings were for everyone and not based on genders. There was a Princess for every Prince and one day you would meet yours too.

And now you realize what you wish for. You want your Princess. You want a girl who would fill the void left behind by your parents' death. You want someone so you would no longer feel lonely. You want to love and to be loved.

At that you open your eyes and bend down to blow off the candle flames. The birthday song ends and you feel relieved. Then your sister turns to embrace you and you hug her back. She asks for the cake, you cut a small piece and feed it to her. She smiles impishly and returns the favour. You congratulate yourself on being successful in not letting your feelings show.

You do not like cheese cake. You hate it. And your sister knows that but she also knows that the general guests love it. And you know that she has made a special chocolate cake just for you. That you would be allowed to savour the gooey, calorie filled chocolaty goodness at the private party that night at your home and that makes you content.

Your guests come to wish you and you thank them. Others start coming too but fortunately dinner is served and you are free.

Again, you take your sister on your arm and try to mingle among the guests. You hate it but you have a small smile plastered on your face. Judging by the looks your sister is throwing, you know it looks more like a grimace but you are trying and it is your birthday. You would rather go home and celebrate with your loved ones, but your social position has its own stack of responsibilities and you are much too aware of them. You know you aren't fulfilling them completely, but at least you aren't ignoring them either.

You watch the others eat. The food looks delicious but you aren't really hungry so you just pick up a goblet of champagne and continue going around making rounds. You halt when you see a spectacular sight. A waitress is talking to a beautiful woman dressed in a green ball gown. The guest is smiling and you are surprised to see that one of the guests, which you have definitely not invited and who you don't remember ever seeing, is not a snob. But you do realize that talking to a staff member so seemingly intimately is not appropriate. You watch them for the next couple of minutes trying to decide whether you should break up the two and tell the waitress off. You are just about to make up your mind when the waitress looks up and catches your eye, smiles apologetically or so you think, says something to the lady in green who nods her head, and goes off to do her job.

You move on catching bits of gossip on the way. You don't bother to listen to any because you are not interested, and sadly enough, you already do know what they are talking about. The subject is you. You know you are not a homosexual. You know the only reason why you are with your sister and not a date on your birthday is because it is a sort of tradition made up between the two of you. You also know that you haven't had a real relationship with anyone because you haven't met with anyone who is worth it. Your mind is cynical and wants you to be realistic and realize that there is no such thing as 'soul mates'. But your heart wants to believe in what your mother said about The One and for once, you decide to follow your emotions and not your head. You decide to wait for your Princess.

Chapter End Notes:

So there it is. If someone still didn't get it, this is from Mr Darcy's point of view. Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr Bingley, Georgiana, and her parents are mentioned here. Now. I'm thinking of taking this up as a chaptered fic. It will not be in second point of view because I can definitely not write that much amount with a 'you'. But, the new chaptered fic could be kind of like the follow up chapters of this one shot, and it will, obviously, end with a happy ending Mr Darcy so much craves. :)

Also. The green gowned lady and the waitress mentioned? Let me know if you want either of the two to be Elizabeth. Or they could just be some random persons and that could be a useless scene. Or they could be other Pride and Prejudice female characters or maybe just an original character you would want me to have developed and set up. Let me know.

So if you would like me to continue this, please let me know through the reviews. If you don't, but did read this, tell me your views. Any suggestions, critique, complaints, etc.? Review! :D

Thanks for reading. :)

-Afifa