"Any of these studs belong to you, Lizzie?", Charlotte questioned when they entered the town square.
"What? No!", Elizabeth spluttered. "Charlotte. Stop ogling their chests!"
"You need to be a little more discreet when you are checking out men, Lottie". Jane volunteered her piece of wisdom.
"This is an oasis. Honestly, Elizabeth! Had you told me earlier that we would be surrounded by hot, shirtless men who would rub edible stuff all over themselves, I would have agreed to come ages ago."
Elizabeth deadpanned. "My bad, Lottie. How could I ever deprive you of the chance to objectify hardworking people?"
Ignoring her best friend, Charlotte turned to Jane. "Anybody caught your eye, darling?"
"Uh, huh." Jane lowered her shades and tilted her head towards a man at the end of the alley, leaning against the closed door of a general store.
"The dark one?" was the sceptical response.
"No, silly. When have you ever seen me go for a brunette?"
"Oh, right. You only date pale bloodsuckers."
Jane turned to face her sister. "That gingerhead, just behind him. Look how cute his freckles look."
Elizabeth turned around to focus upon said ginger and promptly exclaimed on seeing the other man beside him.
"Lo and behold! You have found them, Janie. I knew there was a reason you became a teacher. You can always pick out the unruliest of the bunch."
.
Heeding to his summons, Richard waved at Lizzie. "Lizzie Bennet. The queen of my heart", he shouted, jogging down the street before coming to a stop in front of Charlotte.
"Richard Fitzwilliam, as I live and breathe. And who are you, my darling? I must say I am spellbound", he bowed taking Charlotte's hand and fluttered his eyelashes.
"As well as I blind if you cannot spot the blond Aphrodite standing beside me", she rolled her eyes theatrically though she was pleased.
"Ah. But I prefer mortal women to spiteful goddesses. Indeed, I believe you, and I would get along famously."
Before Charlotte could open her mouth to retort, she noticed the third gentleman in their group who stared at her best friend. His expression gave nothing away, but his eyes sang songs of loneliness and uncertainty. She turned to relate her findings to her best friend but found her taking up the mantle of Mrs Bennet, that is match-making. Judging from the expressions on gingerman's face and Jane's demure avoiding-eye-contact tactics, Elizabeth was on her way to a high score.
Richard whistled. "Observant as well. I must say your charms are growing by the minute."
"How dare you, Richard Fitzwilliam?", Lizzie exclaimed, with her hands on her hips, an expression of displeasure on her face, though the twitch on the left side of her mouth gave her away. She burst out laughing when Richard furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"I haven't been away for a week, and you are already flirting with the next girl you could find?", Elizabeth cried.
Richard pulled Lizzie away, near Darcy's hearing. "Lizzie, my lily", Darcy grimaced at his cousin's appellation. "I think you can do better than me. It's not you. It's me. Forgive my bleeding heart?", he exclaimed as if in agony. Darcy raised his eyes towards the heavens, demanding patience. His eyes were just itching to break apart his cousin's skull on seeing his theatrics. Why did people have to be so dramatic?
Elizabeth showed her disgust at his acting skills. "I will. On the condition that you never refer to me as any flower again."
"Will Lizzie, my blueberry be acceptable, then?"
William growled. "Enough, Richard. You are tempting me to tell everyone your nickname."
That shut him up at once.
Once the introductions were done, they decided to part ways and meet at that spot again for the tomato pelting activity.
"Hope you wear white, William", Elizabeth whispered to him in parting.
"And mother scolded me for instigating food fights in school", Richard spoke, looking enviously at the local on the terrace. "That man gets to signal a state-sanctioned food fight with a gun."
"Thank god, it is not in your hand", Darcy replied back, scooting around the throngs of people, looking for a nook to hide in. Dressed in a white, sleeveless tee and cargo shorts, his tall figure scanned the crowd looking for a certain lady.
As usual, Charles had spotted the prettiest blonde in the crowd and was hanging onto her every word like an over-eager puppy. Darcy squinted his eyes to look at the familiar face. Ah! It was the chin. The same chin was shared by the brunette he had recently developed a fascination with. Said brunette came skipping down the street and slung her arms around Charlie and Jane. How envious Darcy felt of their camaraderie. If only, he had the skills to gauge the flow of people's conversation. How he wished they taught this in schools! Computing the surface area of a cylinder would not help him to woo his lady love. Richard ran towards Charlotte, hugging her around her middle. Darcy had no choice but to follow. He pocketed his glasses and put on his fiercest glare, discouraging any stragglers from approaching him.
"You came, after all. And all decked in white!", Elizabeth jogged to him. No one should look so brooding in such a festive atmosphere. She knew there was a man hidden in there who was longing to embrace the joy in the air, and she vowed to make him laugh. At least once.
Darcy was entranced by the grin on her face and with her hair mussed up- in all its playful glory. His heartbeat suspended for a moment when Elizabeth put her hand on his chest. Before he knew it, something warm trickled down his torso. He looked down to see a mesh of red mess staining his formerly white clothing. Elizabeth cupped her mouth to laugh at her own audacity. Bingley looked like a deer caught in headlights and stared at Darcy as if he was a bomb about to explode. Even Richard was shocked and wondered if he should help his cousin hide Elizabeth's body or report him to the police for attempted murder.
Yet, he was not sure if he should feel disappointed or not- when not a minute later- the red juice of tomato, not blood, streaked his cheek as Darcy squished Elizabeth's face with the crimson mash. Where either of them had already found these tomatoes, he had no idea. Lost in his musings, he could have missed the gunshot that signified the start of the jollification though it was drowned out in the howling of the mob. Elizabeth ran away from William's attempt to sully her clothes, and he followed her as he always would.
Jane and Charles were lost in each other's eyes and paid no attention to the chaos around them. That left him to deal with the pixie named Charlotte. She turned to him with an evil smile. "Think you can find a place to hide?", she taunted him, her hands gripping the juicy fruit.
"Where are you finding this devil of fruit from?", he ran away before something squishy hit a part of his ear.
"Oi, you can't hit an unarmed..", he bellowed at the freckled teenager who misaimed, "Oof!", he couldn't complete his sentence when another-something-squishy hit the back of his head.
"I told you to run, mi amor", Charlotte said with a wink.
Meanwhile, on the other busier side of the street, William and Elizabeth were squidged between the horde. Locals treated the festival-goers with water hoses- cascading from their balconies. Residents on trucks threw tomatoes all over the place; painting the town red in the literal sense. While William was covered in the red pulp, his not-so-insignificant body mass protected Elizabeth from some onslaught. He shook his head to dislodge the mash dripping onto his face from his hair. Elizabeth laughed at his vain attempt and reached up to help him out. His own hands were occupied in keeping her steady on her feet; holding her to guard against the jostling crowd.
"Honestly, you are too vain. It is just fruit. Non-poisonous, edible stuff", she chided.
He stared at her. "Would you lick it, if it's so edible?", he asked innocently.
"Can you repeat that? I couldn't hear you over the din". She looked back at him after re-tying her own hair. Surely he was not asking her what she thought he was.
"Nothing. I think we should go, find the others", William bent down, savouring the chance to whisper in her ear.
Her expression told him she was unconvinced.
He shook his head again, spraying Elizabeth with tomato juice. She squealed and tried to snatch the offending articles clutched in his fists. The ensuing struggle caused Darcy to lose his footing, and he went down into the mesh of a red sea, dragging Elizabeth with him. As much as we would like to believe that time had stopped for the two of them, it did not. People around them were still clamouring and baying for attention. Young adults were still dancing to imaginary tunes in their heads.
Nevertheless, William decided - he could spend a lifetime in that position, with Elizabeth on top of him- her wide eyes staring into his and her limbs entangled with his own. He ignored the voice urging him to get back before people confused their body parts with a footpath. He raised his hand to move a lock of hair behind her ear and just before he reached his goal of taming that curl, his vision went red, and a peal of laughter blessed his ears.
While they were lost in their eye-to-eye moment, Elizabeth's hands had been busy scouring the ground. In a minute, she had successfully clutched a fistful of pulp and subsequently, rubbed it onto Darcy's astonished face; thus, ruining the romantic moment in quite an effective manner. Issuing a string of expletives, Darcy patted his chest to get his heartbeat back to normal.
"Such a foul speech you possess Mr Darcy. Looks like the acidity of the tomato has turned your mouth sour. I just might have to…."
A hollering shout from the running Spaniard a few feet away propelled William into action, and he pulled the two of them upright before the enthusiasm of the man ran either of them over. It felt all he did that day was wipe his face- for it to become red all over again in a few minutes. He grabbed hold of Lizzy's waist to prevent any escape and rubbed his cheek all over her hair.
"There you go. Now, you are at least half as covered in this goo."
But Elizabeth did not hear one word of what he had said. She was too busy staring at his chest. His t-shirt was soaked to the last fibre and clung to his chest like a second skin. She looked down at her own chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god for Jane's suggestion!
A/N: Hope everyone is doing well. Stay safe!
