This is where Colonel had called him. To the Mediterranean Club on the southeast side of the city, near the beach. The air felt salty and Darcy's mouth was already dry. Colonel was unavailable at the time when Darcy had tried to reach out to him. His neatly polished brown leather shoes moved noiselessly, taking long slow strides across the glazed ivory marble grid styled floor of the corridor of the Mediterranean Club.

There was an air of unspoken sophistication about him today, like he did something different or dressed differently which there didn't seemed to be none at all. It must be his demeanor which was exceptionally good ever since he woke up and decided to not take any calls from Lydia ever. He almost looked French defying his Australian genes, with his loose cuffed shirt and his hair, looking almost black, gelled backwards with cream and a couple strands falling on his forehead like a perfectly styled mannequin. He settled down onto one of the vibrant leafy green sofas next to a table where he was guided by a man dressed in dark blue attire. The place was swarmed with a ton of people.

Almost twenty minutes had floated by and Colonel got in, looking sweaty and like he hadn't showered in a week. He spotted Darcy talking to a man, around 45, brown haired with opaque black aviator glasses. He went and sat next to Darcy, shaking hands with the 45 year old man, introducing himself.

They'd been talking for a while and Darcy's mouth was as dry as sand. He needed something...a cup of cappuccino or a can of soft drink or just plain water. That's when he spotted a waiter and he got himself a drink.

He went outside the club and it was tremendously windy and sandy out here. It was like he came out on the other side of the world, so chaotic and unrestrained. He looked sideways, running towards a direction, not knowing where his feet took him, finally coming to a stop, panting heavily.

"Darcy! Darcy!" A distant voice called out to him.

When he looked towards the side, it was Charles in his Ford, waving at Darcy.

Five minutes later, he was in his car, driving back to the club. He'd come quite far away from the venue, he just realised.

"Alejandro told me you went there last night."

"So he did. Quite the obedient chap."

"He's a friend."

"What else?"

"Nothing."

Darcy thumped on the car's dashboard, "Come on!"

"I'm telling THE TRUTHH!" Charles spoke, honking the horn.

"Like I believe shit you say. Fat liar." Darcy spoke as if cursing him under his breath.

"You know the head o' the Masquerade this year." Colonel advanced towards them as they both entered, with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Come on! They just announced it. Where were you guys?" Colonel continued.

"Ask him." Charles said in a flash

"How did you get yourself into this? Really…masquerade?" Darcy spoke, sounding bored.

"Only if you heard it." Colonel put a hand on his chest, "It was awesome."

And then a booming voice echoed through the massive chamber, snatching everyone's attention.

"To all the good hearted fellows gathered here tonight!" Someone spoke with an accent, it was a man on the second floor of the club, barely visible but he wore a white stetson hat.

Cuban huh, thought Darcy for some reason.

"Let me fill up your senses with some music." The Cuban guy said.

He had a guitar too now that Darcy looked closely and some bellydancers swirling round him.

"Masquerade...like the ones from Hollywood?" Charles spoke, settling down on the couch next to Charles and Darcy sat in front of them.

"Mind you, It's Renaissance." Colonel said, Darcy lighting his cigar and taking a long puff.

"When is it?"

"The 14th of this month." Colonel said

"Valentine's day?"

"Yes." Colonel said

"I don't have many fond memories of that day." Darcy said, "More like a "cursed" day of the year, for me, at least."

"Makes sense, cause you've practically been single your entire life." Charles said

"What?" Colonel scowled

"I mean, ever since he hit 22?"

"Quit shit talking. You know the reason I condemn 14th of this month. Because of what happened to me in my 27th year." Darcy said, tapping on the back of his cigar head.

The Cuban guy's voice bolted across the chamber again, "And this is for my lovely heartbroken lads... I hope you shall reunite with your love this summer." The Cuban singer started off with another song, hitting a chord on the guitar, sounding melancholy.

"Even the artists are singing about the bizzare love story of Darcy." Charles said

"Bizzare?" Darcy raised an eyebrow.

The Cuban singer had taken a short break from singing. The guitarists had started to string to the rhythm of careless whisper and that's when he said, "My fellow people, this evening has an air to it. A whimsical air that you cannot put a finger on. I was your plain guy until I saw her. And ever since I saw her, it was like something had been reassembled within me. It was one fine night at a vintage coffee shop where I heard a musician talk of hope. Those words of hope stuck with me. How I ever wished that I could just see her again...just once! But the musician's words had seeped into my fate and I was blessed by dear God. I believe there's a young man here, with a heart full of love, sitting amongst us all, this evening. And to you, the man in love, you'll be surprised when you least expect it. The story has come to an end and with that comes the next song, also an old classic favorite of mine, It's been a long...long...long time."

There was absolute silence in the crowd and also, it was slightly darker than before. Just a tad bit. People had started to speak in hushed voices and halted when they heard the singer again.

"And before I begin, it's been requested by the young lady, Ms. Elizabeth Bennett."

Dress in pastel yellow flared dress, she descended down the stairs, slowly. When his eyes spotted her, he left his cigar in the ashtray and stood up. She walked timidly towards the crowd and he cut through the crowd, determined. She moved past the people to get a drink for herself. He stopped just a couple of steps before she did, his movements synchronising with hers perfectly.

She took a sip of her pina colada, turning to her left to find Darcy standing there who looked away almost instantly...

"Hey! I didn't know you were here. What a pleasant surprise!" She advanced towards him, smiling...

Gods have mercy…on me, Darcy thought.

His mind slowed down with every step she took towards him. The color of her dress was quite distinct to spot or maybe she was. She appeared different, like he was seeing her for the very first time. His lips parted in astonishment or surprise, it was a mystery.

He stood there, watching her smile and walked towards him, whilst tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. He muttered "Hi" extending his hand towards her and she shook it.

She stood close to him. Barely another person could fit in the space between them. He observed her eyes, her cheeks, then moving his gaze to her lips, the details he'd never got a chance to notice. Silence took over. He said nothing. He couldn't for his senses got too occupied intaking her surrealism, unable to multi task.

"So, um..." Elizabeth spoke to fill the silence, Darcy could tell, "Where are your friends?"

"Over there." He pointed vaguely behind him.

"Lydia, is she here too?" Her eyes wide in excitement.

"No. She isn't." Darcy wanted to ask why would Lydia be here? But he decided to not talk further about her.

"Hey Elizabeth, I'm Charles." It was Charles who had come up here, grinning coyly and Darcy was surprisingly glad because he barely could hold the conversation together. Colonel jumped in the conversation too and now that all of them chatted, he stood there silently, maybe adding a word or two every once in a while, and limiting himself to only indulge in short glances at her, trying to retain every exquisite detail of her in his memory but also not destroy the moment.

"Oh, you guys are coming?" Elizabeth asked

"We would all be there. You know, the star of the show." Charles said with an air of cocky confidence which he would sometimes acquire whenever talking to a pretty girl.

"Wow! It sounds fun!" She smiled and glanced at Darcy who smiled at her. He wanted to say something but regained his silence.

She started to talk to Charles again and he let her talk. Her voice was more than music to his ears. She sounded so happy. Happy, a connection his mind made instantaneously, of the feeling to her. To her presence. Her presence in Darcy's life, gradually becoming a requisite. Like a miracle to the distraught. If it were so, he would be happy even if the world was crashing down before his eyes.

They seem to have gotten along with Elizabeth quite well. Not Darcy though.

It was almost half past eight when Darcy strolled towards his car, and his gaze moved up to the sky, towards the sunset. The stream of undying hope had got him here. And for probably the first time in his life, he felt that his life bad taken a turn to something, breathtaking. Or destiny, should be refer to it as, in which, he didn't put much thought into previously. He told himself over and over, as he steered the car over, quite literally like a broken record, that whosoever it was in that nightmare, it can never be her.