Page 2 of Arranging Ayra
I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew her heart was in the right place but... I shrugged and had to simply hope for the best. It didn’t matter I was her only child, and that as an only child, I didn’t want to leave my widowed mother alone.
Smiling, I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing, but somehow, I just couldn’t get there. I checked my watch for the fiftieth time. My God, was my blind date going to stand me up?
Did this Devi person know that I had a life too? I had been on my way to Derbyshire when my mother let me know about this incredible opportunity to meet the man of my... no scratch that,...herdreams. As I tapped my un-manicured nails on the tabletop, I thought of the dream job that awaited me.
“Mother,” I’d told her. “You have no idea how important this is to me.Pride and Prejudice- I am going to arrange the music for the cinematographic production ofPride and Prejudice! Me, your little girl who has loved that book since first reading it in high school. Me, who worked so hard to get graduate degrees in music and film.”
“A movie,” she flippantly tossed back. “A book. That can never be more important than a good husband.”
There was not now, or had there ever been a way of convincing her otherwise. But I knew in my heart that this was where I belonged.
I tapped the face of my watch and abruptly stood. “Time’s up, buddy. I can’t wait all day.”
“No luck, sweetie?,” the server said as he came around to pick up my empty glass.
“Kind of looks that way, doesn’t it?” I shot back. “But looks can be deceiving. I actually think that this no show is a blessing in disguise.”
He offered me a confused grin.
“I need a car to Derbyshire,” I said.
“Let me get that for you. I know just who to call.”
Five minutes later, a large heap of a car pulled up in front door of the pub. As I walked out, a good-humored, heavy-set man with a thick mustache stepped out of the car. “One way ticket to Derbyshire,” he called out with a self-amused chuckle.
“That would be me,” I replied. I looked at the car that appeared to be well over fifteen years old. “How much time does it take to get there?”
“Derbyshire? That would be about an hour.”
“Oh?” I said, surprised.
“If I had a racing motorbike,” he added with a jovial laugh. “Two hours, if I had a sports car.”
Okay. Okay. But with this heap... what? A day?
“But, as it stands, it will be a four-hour drive.”
I hid my disappointment.
“Let me get that for you,” he said as he took my luggage and placed it in the car’s large and deep trunk.
I got into the front seat and prepared for a long, long drive.
“Did I detect an America accent?” the jovial man said as he sat behind the wheel.
“Yes,” I said. “California, to be precise.”
“Well,” he said, taking to the road. “My name is Burgess and I do hope you will enjoy your journey through the English countryside.”
I smiled. “I’m Ayra, and I do appreciate you driving me out so far.”
We settled into a peacefully quiet drive.
“What brings a young bird like yourself from California out to Derbyshire, of all places?” he said once we’d left London.
“A friend of mine, Keely Lee, is a fellow student from UCI and is one of the executive producers and director on a film that I’ll be working on. I’m going to meet her at Moon Manor. Do you know the place?”
He nodded. “So you’re in England to work?”
