Chapter 11
"Why? Why? Cruel, cruel fate, why me?" I asked softly as I continue staring out the window. I was in the Bingley's living room with the rest of the barbecue guests but sitting on the rather large window sill. It had started snowing at around 3 o'clock, so we packed everything inside and waited for the snowing to stop. Unfortunately, it began to snow even harder, so it was no longer safe to drive along the roads. So, I was still at the Bingleys, at half past five, doomed to stay in the house for at least a night. I say I, because Jen is happily sitting there on one of the lounge chairs with Charlie and none the wiser about the dreadful weather conditions.
"Elle, I'm sure you're an amazingly special person but I doubt staring so intently out the window will make all 15 inches of snow melt away" remarked Georgie as she sat down next to me on the window sill. "I think you need laser beams and your eyes are no where near the colour red."
Giggling, I reply in a deep sagely voice "Hmm… you're probably right, Miss Darcy, but I am most sure, most certain to say that I can manage 6 inches with these blue eyes of mine."
Georgie and I both start laughing, before Georgie whispers "You know I'm glad you came to the barbecue. If you hadn't I might have had to spend some quality time and extra with Caroline."
"Is that a compliment I hear? Why that's the nicest, sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I've never been called a saviour because I came along to a barbecue before" I exclaimed in a dramatic voice. "This gives me so much clarity on why I'm in existence. I shouldn't have wasted my time at law school; I should have gone to all the barbecues in New York to save people from Caroline!"
Georgie giggles as I'm half way in my speech and I pretend to be upset and mad as I hopelessly try to give her the evil eye. "I don't think that's what Georgie meant but that's not a bad idea" said a deep voice.
Looking up guiltily, we meet Mr Darcy's amused eyes. "Dad!" "Mr Darcy!" squeaked Georgie and I simultaneously. Chuckling, Mr Darcy looks at me and says "George, Elle" before adding to mine and Georgie's embarrassment. "I came to tell you girls that dinner was going to be ready in 15 minutes and I find you making some fairly uncomplimentary remarks about one of our hosts."
Georgie looks abashed but I, since figuring I had already dug my grave, should dig faster; and replied "Why Mr Darcy, our remarks are really up to interpretation and I'm sorry that you mistook mine and Georgie's meaning, but I suppose that some misunderstandings do occur when one is eavesdropping" before giving him an arched eyebrow.
"It seems that I've met my match, but I'd really prefer it if you called me George, Elle. I'm only called Mr Darcy when I'm in the office and right now it is the weekend and in the Bingley's house. You don't think you could possibly try?" asked Mr Darcy in a warm voice.
"Well…" I drawled pretending to think and furrowing my brow "Since you put it that way and considering I'm such a kind, compassionate, considerate person when it comes to someone's feelings" Georgie snorts and I give her a glare before continuing smilingly "I'll be happy, over the moon, in fact, to call you George, Mr Darcy."
"Well… I'm so glad that I'm lucky to be around such kind, compassionate, considerate ladies" remarks Mr Darcy dryly before announcing "After dinner, we're going to have a game-a-thon."
"Game-a-thon?" I asked confused "What's a game-a-thon?"
"You should see your face Elle" gasps Georgie as she begins to giggle harder.
Giving his daughter a disapproving look, in calm, all knowing voice, Mr Darcy replies "A game-a-thon is when we into groups, well… in this case groups of 4 and individually compete in a series of board games. I think we'll be having a go at scrabble, monopoly, poker, uno and then as a group" pausing dramatically, before saying in a stage whisper "Trivia."
"Oh… that sounds fun" I choked as I joined Georgie into uncontrollable giggling land.
Looking doubtfully at Georgie and me, as we were gasping and clutching our stomachs, Mr Darcy does a sweeping bow gesture and asks in a regal voice "Ladies, may I have the pleasure of escorting you into the dining room?"
This causes Georgie and me to laugh even harder and burst into a fresh bout of giggles and cling heavily onto Mr Darcy's arms for support, as we were literally dragged into the dining room.
Chapter 12
"Let the game-a-thon begin!" announced Mr Bingley in a loud ringmaster voice after the teams were decided, strategies devised and the babies were put down to sleep. The barbecue had consisted of the Bingleys, their nephew/cousin, Christopher (Chris), his wife Amanda (Mandy), their 11 month old twins Cecilia and Cameron, the Darcys and Jen and me.
After some squabbling from Caroline's quarter, (her, Georgie, Charlie and William were always a team) she actually chucked a tantrum, we had the teams formed. Evidently, Caroline got her way so that was one team, Team A much to Georgie's dismay. Jen, Chris, Mandy and I made up another team, Team B. And, Mr and Mrs Darcy and Mr and Mrs Bingley made up the final team, Team C.
We then broke up to devise our strategies to conquer the world. Well… actually win the game-a-thon, as the losers had to stand in a line, before being pelted with snowballs tomorrow morning. But… hey, I can dream. My team was awesome, but I guess that's because I got to know Chris and Mandy better at dinner considering I was sitting next to both of them.
We actually got along well with each other, but I guess that's no surprise considering we were all reasonable, logical people unlike lets say, Ahem… Caroline. The game-a-thon was divided into 3 rounds. In round one, two members of each team either competed in Scrabble or Monopoly. Then in round two, two members of each team either competed in Uno or Poker. Before the teams, in round three, were united and 7 segments of Trivia (a round has 4 questions) were to be played. It was decided that Jen and I would tackle Scrabble. Chris and Mandy would deal with Monopoly. Then in the second round, Mandy and I would get involve in a fierce game of Uno and Jen and Chris would play in the high stakes game, Poker.
Jen and I approached the Scrabble board after Mr Bingley's announcement, looking to see who our fellow competitors were. It seemed that we were up against Mr Darcy, Mrs Bingley, William and Charlie. "So," I drawled as we each took a seat and stand for our letters "Are we playing by the normal rules or are we making slight adjustments?" I asked.
"Normal rules but if you get stuck, then you can turn to your fellow team mate, and refer to their superior intellect, for some assistance" smiled Mrs Bingley before winking at Jen and me and saying "But… I suppose that means Charlie and Will are going to be drowning because they don't have the superior female intellect, right girls?"
"Right!" Jen and I brightly chanted together as Mr Darcy rolls his eyes, Charlie laughs and William stifles a sarcastic comment.
"Since, Will and I are the only males together in a team, we should start first and be given the head start as we will be flailing our arms without any female intellect" cried Charlie. I start giggling and William's intense green eyed gaze falls upon me.
I feel a bit disconcerted under those green eyes but not wanting to let the jerk win; and know that his attempt to intimidate me worked; I raised an eyebrow in defiance in William's direction. I'm not sure why I've been the subject of William's gaze or if I was developing this disturbing paranoid tendency to think so, but I could have sworn he was staring at me at dinner and when we were outside at the barbecue.
William blushes and looks down at the board to where Charlie has placed the word 'askew'. William takes a look at his letters and makes the word 'piquet'. Mr Darcy continues with the word 'ponders'. Mrs Bingley places the word "deity' down and Jen places the letters i, o, s, k to make the word 'kiosk' down. Everyone turns expectedly at me, having already taken 1 minute and a half and I just look down at my stand sighing. F, A, E, R, U, F, S – "What words could I possibly make out of those stupid letters. Suffer? No, that's stupid, think Elle, think." I thought as I took a scan of the letters already on the board. "Uh-Huh!" I exclaimed as everyone looks at me in shock. I think they thought I was going to take 5 minutes. Quickly, I placed the letters on the board to make the word 'Quaffers'. "Good one, Elle" exclaims Jen as I received the bonus points for using up all my letters.
We continue on this way until we're all down to 7 letters or less. I was winning on 214 points, followed by William on 198, Mrs Bingley on 161, Charlie on 160 and Jen and Mr Darcy on 157. Charlie makes the word 'deck' before we're joined by our other team members who had finished their game of Monopoly. "Who won?" I asked as I turned to them.
"My uncle did, Elle" replied Chris shamefacedly before saying brightly "but I came second!"
"Last" quickly added Mandy and Georgie jointly; causing everyone to laugh before Mrs Darcy says "John won, Mandy came second, Georgie third, myself fourth, Chris fifth and Caroline sixth."
"Oh, wow! Awesome!" I exclaimed and the others in the Scrabble game made complimentary remarks before William interrupting, saying in an annoyed frustrated voice "Can we get back to the game please?"
"Why Will, aren't we touchy? It's not because we're losing is it?" teased Georgie "By sixteen points too. Tsk! Tsk! Will, you're losing your touch!" Charlie, Jen, Mr and Mrs Bingley and Mr and Mrs Darcy laugh. I try hard to suppress mine and ask innocently "Is Will the Scrabble champion or something?"
"You got it in one dear" replied Mrs Darcy, her eyes twinkling "It's kind of nice seeing William lose though" and William's scowl deepens. "Don't worry Will" purrs Caroline "I think you're going to win, and even if you don't, you're still my hero" and everyone starts laughing or laughs even harder.
Caroline directs a poisonous glare at me but it just makes me laugh even harder. "My turn!" chuckles Mr Darcy as he lays down the letters a, c, e to make the word 'acne'. Mrs Bingley then makes the word 'farce' and Jen the word 'arc'. Everyone's eyes turn on me as I've only got three letters left. A, z, e – "What to do? What to do?" I asked myself as I looked down. "Hmm..."
"C'mon Elle, times a' tickin' and you don't wanna havta forfeit" says Georgie in slang getting disapproval looks from her parents and brother. "Thanks!" I reply smiling, knowing I've won.
I put down my letters to make the word 'zeal' and then jump up, punching a fist in the air, screaming "Yes!" Everyone chuckles at me except for Caroline and William. The former, because I had injured her dear hero and the latter because he had lost. The game continued on before we knew who had won. Me first, William Second, Mrs Bingley third, Jen fourth, Mr Darcy and Charlie tied fifth.
We then went back to our teams as, Team C wanted to discuss strategy. Chris, Mandy, Jen and I agreed that our original strategy required no changes and we advanced to our respected card tables. It seemed that I was playing Uno with Georgie, Charlie, Mrs Darcy, Mrs Bingley and Mandy.
We played for five minutes and I was left on one card and Georgie, Charlie, Mrs Darcy cried out simultaneously "Uno!" I give them a surprised weird look when I realised I had only one card. Laughing, I drew up two cards. We continued in this way and it turned out that I was a dreadful Uno player. Mrs Bingley won, Mandy second, Mrs Darcy third, Georgie fourth, Charlie fifth, with me losing with 6 cards in my hand.
We then all got up and walked to the poker table as the people from the poker table were walking to us. Georgie, Jen and I started giggling as Mr Bingley directed us back into the living room to sit down in the lounge chairs. "Who won?" was a question asked around for the next five minutes, while Charlie and Jen went to grab the Trivia questions.
"Ok, Ladies and gentlemen, may we have a member of each team to read out the trivia questions for an opposing team please" called Mr Bingley out in his ringmaster voice.
Chris, Charlie and Mrs Bingley were chosen to ask the questions and each Trivia segment began. First one was Geography. Eww… which meant stupid questions that no normal sane person would know the answer to such as "Name a country in South America who's official language isn't Spanish" or "Europe and Asia are divided by what mountain range?" were asked. I guess it wasn't surprising that Mandy, Jen and I answered all our questions wrong, considering we were the cool, sane people and had to suffer Caroline's condescending glare.
The second segment was Literature so it wasn't that bad but it wasn't any better, "In which Shakespearean play does the lead character say 'What's done is done.'?" and "My father was a reverend and I have 2 sisters who were to also become famous writers. I was the last sister to die in 1855. Who am I?" It was a very good thing for my team that Mandy was an English teacher.
The third segment was History which was probably my favourite segment. The questions were quite easy and Jen and I actually answered them correctly. The questions we were faced with were "Between what years were Napoleon exiled in St Helena?" and "The Romanovs were executed in which year?" and "What was Queen Elizabeth I, surname?" and "Which year, on the Ides of March, was Julius Caesar assassinated?"
The next segment was Science which was alright because questions such as "Who was John Dalton?" and "What was the occupation of the person who developed the Tectonic plate theory?" The fifth was tragic and revolved around music. "What was the Beatles first number 1?" and "Name a ballet, Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer, wrote music for." I couldn't help but wonder who cares? The second last segment was film and had even more stupid questions such as "Marilyn Monroe starred in how many Hollywood films?" and "Kenneth Branagh plays opposite against who in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing?"
By the time we reached the last segment, each team was fairly even in point distribution. Team C was a point ahead of Team A and Team A was a point ahead of Team B. The final segment to determine who'd be pelted with snowballs tomorrow was Sport.
Chris turned to Team C first and asked the following questions:
"Who was the first female gymnast to receive a score of perfect 10?"
"Wimbledon allowed women to compete in what year?"
"What sport was played on Christmas Day during WWI?"
"The world record for the Men's 50m freestyle is held by whom?"
Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy had a major interest in sport guaranteeing they got all the questions correct and maintained the number 1 position. This meant that either Team A – Georgie, Caroline, Charlie and William or Team B – Chris, Mandy, Jen and I were going to be pelted with snowballs. Mrs Bingley then turned to Team A and asked the following questions:
"Which grand slam has Martina Hingis not won?"
"Basketball was created in which decade?"
"What is Greg Norman's nickname?"
"The Olympic games were first held where?"
Funnily enough, Georgie, Caroline and William crumbled up on the second and third question meaning that if Mandy, Jen and I could get all the questions right, then it would save us from a snow ball pelting. Breathing heavily and looking at each other, Mandy, Jen and I stared at Charlie as he asked the first question. "Name a year in the 20th Century that the Olympic Games were cancelled."
Looking at Jen and Mandy I said, "I guess the Olympic Games would have been cancelled during WWI and WWII. WWI occurred between 1914-1918 and WWII between 1939-1945."
"Hmm… I see where you're coming from" said Mandy, before turning to Charlie, saying "1916"
"Correct" said Charlie and Mandy, Jen and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Your next question is when was the first Australian Open?"
"The golfing one or tennis one?" asked Jen and Charlie replied with a smile "The tennis one"
Jen looked expectantly at me. Hesitating, I take a deep breath before voicing my thoughts "Safin won the Australian Open in 2005 when it was its centenary, so the first one was in 1905."
"Correct" smiled Charlie. "The next question is Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France how many times?"
Jen and I have blank looks causing Mandy to laugh. Turning to Charlie she says "Seven"
"Correct and if you answer for this final question is correct than that will mean your team moves up to second place avoiding the snowballs. Are you ready?" asked Charlie as he turned towards us. I gave a hesitant nod alongside Mandy while Jen smiled and said softly "Yes."
"The final question is…" Charlie began before pausing "The Ashes Test Series in 2005 between Great Britain and Australia was won by Great Britain where the final result was?"
Mandy, Jen and I looked stunned. "What kind of question is that?" I thought to myself, before turning towards the team. Jen looked at me and said "Elle, you're the only one who would know the answer to that." And Mandy looked at me expectedly.
"Well…" I began weakly as Georgie sniggered. "Great Britain won the Ashes from Australia after like 10 years or something. Umm… I think there was test or two that was drawn. Hmm…"
"Is that all you know then?" asked Mandy and I gave her a shrug of the shoulders.
"Hmm… well I guess that means Great Britain won 2-1" said Jen brightly.
All eyes turned to Charlie to see who had lost or if a tiebreaker had to be played. Mr Darcy and Mrs Bingley had an amused gleam in their eyes. Mr and Mrs Bingley were also happily smiling as they watched the younger generation squirm in nervous anticipation.
Slowly, Charlie opens his mouth and time seems to freeze. "Correct!" he drawled.