"I am very proud of you Lizzie" father whispered into my ears as I hugged him closely. I didn't wanted to cry in the make-up that Jane spent the better part of the evening doing on me but I definitely felt like something warm and sweet was filling up my chest. I looked up at his face and smiled, and for a moment I was 6 years old again playing with my dearest dad.

I saw the rest of the hall in a haze of gold and champagne. Charlotte came navigating the crowd wearing a black halter-neck dress and a printed shawl. She handed me a thin packet wrapped in gift paper that was heavier than it looked as she gave me her widest grin; which as much as I love it was extremely wide.

"What is it?" I asked as I tried to make out its content by weighing it in my hands. "You'll see" she said coyly (it was a kindle; I know because she was browsing those on the internet sitting right beside me at work), "Mrs. Bennet!" she exclaimed looking behind me. I turned and saw mum and Jane coming through, still smiling from the comingling with some other subset of the crowded hall. I do not know if it was me or the crowd but for the first time in a while the November evening felt a lot hotter than it should be.

"Darling I was just telling Mrs. Tilsbury about how Jane chose your dress for the evening. It is an absolutely marvelous choice! You look so beautiful Lizzie, gold is so your colour" said mum while Jane saw me with that happiness in her eyes that made you feel proud of yourself no matter how big of a loser you are. I was not going to talk back to mother today, I thought. Maybe I was too fuzzy to do anything like that.

I grabbed a flute of champagne from a tray that passed by us and without realizing emptied its content in a single gulp. My mum glanced at me sideways with suspicion as she was talking to some tall woman with jet black hair with a short mousy guy as an escort. She soon excused herself from the seemingly European couple and came towards me with that awful cold smile of hers.

"Lizzie, do you mind?" she said while lightly gesturing towards the champagne tray as it was on its way to the other side of the hall. Before I could say anything, Charlotte from behind me said in a loud shrill voice, "Hi John, Carol!"

My mum in a rapid swift movement turned around swinging the trail of her pale green Alexander McQueen gown as she turned around to see Jane greet John and his sister. I peeped to see if they had someone else behind them but soon I was called by Jane.

I came forward as John gave me a sturdy yet somewhat shaky handshake. "Happy Birthday Elizabeth!" he said with a generous smile. He handed me a bouquet of red and pink tulips and a big box of chocolates (I wondered if he consulted with Jane for my gift). Carol smiled at me from a distance and mouthed the greeting slyly. I nodded vigorously at both of them as I managed to say thank you while grinning. I still couldn't help but look behind the Bingleys to see if Darcy was there too.

"What are you looking at Elizabeth?" Carol asked mirthfully. I caught her eye and saw a mocking look on her face. I felt my face stiffen a bit as I replied "Nothing, just seeing who's here and all".

"John, would you come with me? There are a few people who would love to meet you" mum said as she came from behind me and gestured John and Jane (not Carol) to follow her. She let them go ahead a bit as she stopped a few paces away from me, turned around and walked rapidly towards me. "Go easy on the cocktails dear" she whispered aggressively into my ears. She immediately turned around and used her gorgeous long legs to catch up with the dreamy blonde couple after threatening me to not have fun in my own birthday party. I looked around and saw dad talking happily to some of his workers and Charlotte was talking to her college friends. I realized I was smack in the middle of the crowded hall of my father's mansion wearing a $450 designer dress, $250 strappy 5 inch heels and almost $100 make-up all alone.

But I was not ready to give up just yet; I decided to undertake my own search in the party for Darcy. I started from the entrance where a butler was taking people's coats. Middle aged couples, lonely old socialites and young socialites in groups attending my birthday party passed me by as their gaze was fixed towards the hall, trying to gauge in advance who was here and where were they placed. After spending a disappointing 15 minutes there, I decided to move into the crowd. As I was making my way deeper into the heart of the crowd, my path would cross with one of the waiter carrying the Hors-d'œuvre. I picked up one for myself everytime a waiter passed me in order to give myself a false sense of purpose in my pursuit of something almost meaningless.

I did this for another 20 minutes or something until I heard a familiar voice on the microphone. "May I have your attention please" said my mum in her phony gentle voice on the mic. "I know that the Bennets have a tradition of hosting a lot of formal events in the social circles of our sweet town Beardsley. But today is different. It is afterall my lovely Elizabeth's 23rd birthday! And keeping in mind this, I made sure that the crowd of this gathering will not be made up of stuffy old people like her parents" she chuckled mechanically as a dull roar of laughter filled the hall, "but would actually be symbolic of the youth and vivacity of my lovely Lizzie". Papa looked at me smiling sarcastically, and thankfully that made me laugh instead of scowling at mum.

"So I invite all the young and beautiful friends and companions of Elizabeth and her sister Jane" I heard a commotion of exclamation and surprise as soon as Jane was mentioned, "to come at the dance floor as I have invited DJ Chill to emcee the party!" she completed like she was announcing a finalized bid at an auction.

The crowd that a while ago seemed impenetrable was now making way for the dance floor as a young tall lanky man was setting up his equipments and speakers. I thought that this is a good opportunity to look for Darcy again. I first sought Bingley, but he was at the front of the crowd with Jane. I sought Carol but she was at the opposite end of the hall from me, talking to what seemed to me a very famous basketball player from our town. I was growing more and more desperate and restless.

The EDM blew loud and bursting through the speakers as the dance floor was again crowded, this time with people dancing instead of holding their drinks. I walked around the hall again like an idiot only to face failure.

I reached the bar and asked for a shot of vodka. He is NOT coming, Liz. I said to myself. I took out a cigarette from my purse and asked the bar tender for a light.

"Those things could kill you, you know" I heard a man say to me. My heart jumped up what felt like 60 ft as I turned around excitedly with the unlit cigarette still in my mouth. They had turned the lights all dimmed for the dance. For a good 3 seconds I desperately tried to create Darcy's face in the badly lit man standing facing me. But I soon realized it wasn't him.

"Aidan!" I said as I got off my stool to hug him. I do not know why I did that, but it was very instinctive and it felt so good to hug someone. "Your light miss" the bar tender said to me as he held a lighter in one hand and pushed a shot glass full of vodka towards me. I leaned over the bar as he lighted my cigarette while Aidan settled himself besides me.

"Why is it that you are always drinking whenever we meet?" he asked while giving out a soft chuckle. I took a drag as I let out a laugh clumsily. "At least it's my birthday today. I guess that makes it less shitty" I said as I held the shot glass. The bar tender quietly placed an ashtray at the bar as I emptied the shot in one go. I heard Aidan let out a soft hoot as I banged the glass on the bar and convulsed into extreme distortion.

"Easy birthday girl! What is wrong" he said as he smiled at me peacefully. "What do you mean?" I asked as I took another drag that filled the emptiness that was made inside me by that vodka. "A 23-year old girl smoking at the bar alone having a shot of vodka at her own birthday party, tell me that doesn't scream 'sad' to you" he said as he leaned towards me slightly.

"Well, you're wrong about two things here" I said as I held my cigarette over the clean ashtray. He tilted his head slightly. "First," I started as I lifted my other hand to call the bartender, "I am not having 'a' shot of vodka" the bartender came, "get me another shot" I said to him. Aidan turned his head towards me in slight amazement. "And second" I said as I lifted the half-smoked cigarette to my lips, "I am clearly not alone" I said calmly as I looked at him intently as I twisted my mouth a bit as to not blow out smoke at his gorgeous face.

His gentle mouth melted into a smooth smile as he fixed his warm brown eyes on my face. I looked at him for few seconds with what would have been a sheepish smile. "What are you even doing here in Beardsley" I asked as I composed myself a bit and took one last ling drag of the cigarette. "I just came here yesterday morning" he replied looking at the murals behind the bar. I looked at his beautiful face, his smooth nose in profile and felt myself being lost. I wondered what I would have been doing in this hall had Aidan not showed up.

"Your grandmother had amazing taste in art, Elizabeth. I can look at those beautiful murals all day long" he said as he gestured towards the wall. I felt my insides melting into a sweet goo at this sentence.

"Yes, she was very sweet" I said absent-mindedly as I stared at the wall with him. He slowly turned towards me as I continued watching. I was on a train of thoughts about my super sweet super tender granny.

I turned and look at him as well. "Did you come all the way from New York for my birthday?" I asked Aidan coyly as the second shot of vodka was beginning to hit me. He laughed in that sexy way and looked down.

"I hope you forgive me when I tell you that I made a very last minute RSVP to your party. I didn't know about it until last night when I was visiting my parents and they were discussing about coming here" he said apologetically. "Right" I replied in a low voice.

"I am really sorry" he said leaning a bit forward. "It's okay, don't worry. You came, that's what matters" I said brushing aside air with my hands. I couldn't help but think about that phrase in a sexual context.

"I guess I have Frank Darcy to thank for that" he said with a chuckle. I felt like someone just punched me across my face. "What?" I asked him in a weak voice.

"Well, Darcy had a couple of meetings in the town here but for some reason he called me up and made me in-charge of those. He basically gave me the power of attorney because he wouldn't be able to be here until the first week of December" he ended cheerily.

I fell dead silent as I stared at the ground. "So yeah, if it wasn't for Frank Darcy assigning me his power of Attorney almost last-minute" Aidan continued, "I wouldn't have had the chance to be there for your birthday party" he looked at me smiling.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?" he asked with his face slightly lowered. I felt a noose tightening around my neck. I looked up at him and strained myself for a smile. "Yes, I'm fine" I said as I put out my already cold cigarette in the ashtray, "yeah that's good that you're here" I said as I peered into his eyes.

Aidan went back to his smile as he rested one hand on the bar and the other on his thigh. "Would you like to dance a bit?" he asked as he gestured towards the dance floor. The music was a bit soft now and there were a lot of couples slow dancing. I looked across the hall to spot Jane and John engrossed into each other as they grooved together slowly to some old Taylor Swift song.

Aidan turned his hand towards me as I sat there looking at him. Suddenly, my phone buzzed violently at the bar. I peered to see if it was, for some wild reason a text from Darcy.

It wasn't. It was another of those spam service messages.

I gave my hand to Aidan, along with a part of my heart that just wanted to dance. I guess you don't turn 23 everyday, or month, or year; no point in burning yourself for someone who probably would never feel the warmth.