Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
DARCY KNOCKED ON Mia's door at seven that evening. Elizabeth had come back downstairs to tell her that she wanted to see him then.
"It is me," he said as soon he knocked.
A short pause lingered before she said, "Come in."
She was on her bed with her phone, still in the hoodie, legs crossed. She looked at him with swollen eyes that suggested she had cried but was now done and was now in the quieter, more considered phase of being upset.
Darcy sat down on the chair by her desk. He did not sit on the bed. He sat at the right distance for a conversation, not too close, not performing anything.
"I owe you another apology," he said. "Not a sorry and a film ticket with popcorn. A real one."
Mia looked at him.
"I missed your competition because I got pulled into work and I let it happen.
I had calculated exactly how to make both things work and then I stopped paying attention to the time and I failed you.
That is the honest version of it." He looked at her steadily.
"I have been failing you in that way since we started this and I am aware of it and I am sorry for it. "
Mia was quiet.
"Your parents never missed a single one," he said. "I know that. I cannot be your father. I have never tried to be. But I made you a promise when I agreed to the terms of your parent’s will and today I did not keep it, and you deserved better than that."
Mia pulled the sleeves of her hoodie down over her hands.
"I just miss them," she said. Simply.
"I know," he said. "I miss them too."
She looked at him. Something in her face eased, very slightly.
"I have cleared my schedule and informed the office that I am on leave henceforth," Darcy said. "Christmas is two weeks away. I have cleared everything from Christmas Eve through to the new year. Every day. No work. No calls unless the building is on fire."
Mia raised an eyebrow. "Every day?"
"Every day. Anywhere you want to go. Anything you want to do. You name it and I will be there. No excuses, no emergencies. Two weeks of whatever you want."
Mia looked at him for a moment.
"Anything?" she said.
"Anything."
"Ice skating."
"Done."
"The Rockefeller tree."
"Obviously."
"That Thai place on Smith Street that Mum liked."
He stopped for just a fraction of a second. "Yes," he said. "That too."
Mia looked at her phone. Then at him.
"She took me there last week," she said. "Aunt Elizabeth. She said Mum used to get the same thing every time and she wanted to see if I liked it too." She flashes a small smile. "I did."
"Of course you did," Darcy said.
They were quiet for a moment, the ease with which she had forgiven him settling between them, uncomplicated in a way he was not accustomed to.
"She is good for you," Mia said, breaking the silence. "Aunt Elizabeth. I heard you guys’ conversation even though I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
Darcy eyes widened “you were spying on us?”
“I wasn’t.” she smiled, “Moreso, aunty Elizabeth is always a bit loud when she is emotional.”
“I know right.”
“Her heart is in the right place for you,” Mia said, “even when she's being difficult."
"She is not difficult," Darcy said.
Mia looked at him.
"She is occasionally difficult," he conceded.
"She is stubborn," Mia said. "But she would do anything for us. You know that, right? Even when she is being a headache."
"I know that," he said. "
Mia regarded him briefly, as if giving room for their words to settle before continuing.
"Thank God you people spoke today." she said. "This past week you have been —" She made a vague gesture that somehow communicated everything. "Cozy. Friendly. It has been noticeably different."
Darcy looked at her.
“Are you guys getting back together?”
Something moved across his face. Not quite a smile. The territory just before one.
"You would have to ask your Aunt Elizabeth," he said.
Mia narrowed her eyes. "That is not a denial."
"It is not an answer either."
"Mr. Darcy."
"Mia."
She studied him for a moment longer. Then a large smiled broke on her face.
"I will take the silence as a good sign," she said.
He did not argue with that.