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Maria should have known Loveday would have had an ulterior motive for inviting her to help plant more of her beloved geraniums. It was not, after all, a privilege afforded to many, and sure enough, after twenty minutes spent in the greenhouse with her, her aunt’s true purpose became plain.
“So Maria, have you and Robin made any progress?” she asked in a casual tone.
Maria didn’t look up from the seedling she was watering, but her eyes did imperceptibly narrow.
“What do you mean, ‘progress’?” She asked, although she had a very good idea of precisely just what her aunt meant.
“Your relationship of course!” Loveday replied, her offhand façade breaking and her strikingly dark De Noir eyes alighting with barely concealed zeal.
“If, by that, you mean our relationship as friends,” Maria informed her, inwardly sighing but refusing to bite, “It’s exactly the same as it was last time you asked. Exactly one week ago,”
“You know very well it’s not your friendship that I mean,” Loveday rebuffed, sending an impatient look at her niece across the table.
“And you know very well that friendship is the extent of our relationship, and that we are both perfectly content with that as it is,” Maria fixed her aunt with a resolute, if slightly wearied, stare, “I really don’t know why you persist in asking, and why you can’t just accept that answer…”
"Well what am I supposed to think when you spend so much time together?" Loveday insisted obstinately, throwing her arms up in the air, “More and more the older you get!”
"That doesn't mean we're in love- we're just good friends! If he were female would you accuse us of being lovers?” Maria demanded back.
Loveday raised her eyebrows. "It’s precisely because he's not female that it’s so significant,”
"Well I don't see how,” Maria declared, just as determined to hold fast and defend her small island of reason and rationale as Loveday was to apparently attacking it with her hopeless romanticisms and wild imagination.
"You will eventually,” Loveday said imperiously, “You just need that one significant moment together and then everything will change, you'll see…"
Oh for Heaven’s sake, not this again. That damned life altering, perspective defining moment that Loveday kept bringing up. So heartily sick of it, Maria was torn half between scoffing derisively and resignedly sighing ‘if you say so’…
Luckily though (or perhaps unluckily), she was saved from either by the timely arrival of Robin into the greenhouse.
“Robin?” Loveday asked, completely distracted, but by no means displeased by this, “What are you doing here?”
Perhaps sensing that he had interrupted something, Robin glanced between his rather impassioned looking sister and the contrastingly less enthusiastic Maria.
"Digweed said you were both out here,” He answered, “I was looking for Maria…"
At this, Loveday’s expression instantly cleared from one of surprise and puzzlement to one of complete conviction and triumph.
"Of course you were," She replied, throwing her niece a plainly significant and not at all covert look, “And since you’re here, perhaps you can keep her company, since I just remembered I promised Benjamin I would take a ride with him shortly…”
Maria nearly snorted at loud at this, because it was about as subtle as was it was contrived. Everyone knew Loveday preferred to wander the estate on foot rather than ride, sans shoes if she could help it, and yes, out of the pair of them, Maria was likely to be the one who had insisted on coming to the green house and planting even more damned geraniums to fill the already overflowing Manor with. Afterall, who would want variety when they could simply have more geraniums?
Clearly not at all bothered and completely unashamed of her unconvincing excuse for the obviously engineered situation she was creating, Loveday cast one last look at Maria, non-verbally intimating to her to make the most of it before she swept magisterially out of the greenhouse.
"What bloody hell was that about?" Robin demanded, looking from his sister’s departing form to Maria.
"Oh, nothing…” Maria sighed, instantly making to untie her apron (for she had absolutely no intention to plant anymore geraniums), and too busy trying to ignore what was either irritation, exasperation or frustration to scold him for his language.
Robin made a noise and folded his arms. “Clearly,”
“Fine, well if you must know, she’s driving me to absolute insanity!” Maria pulled the apron over her head and threw it down table, “She’s convinced there has to be more to the time we spend together than friendship and she won’t let it go,”
“Well that’s nothing new is it?” Robin shrugged, leaning nonchalantly against the table as Maria marched over to a sink to wash her hands. “As soon her own wedding was over she wanted another one to plan…”
“Well no, its not any new, but you don’t have to continuously put up with it,” Maria pointed out, splashing her hands beneath the water, “And she’s determined to meddle,”
"Meddle?” Robin raised an eyebrow, “In what way?”
“By ‘creating a moment’,” Maria scoffed, transferring the cloth she was drying her hands with to one hand and making quotations in the air with her other, “She keeps going on about how one day they’ll be a moment between us and how it will absolutely change everything…”
Robin snorted. “Well, that’s specific. Does she have something particular for us in mind?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Maria sighed, throwing the cloth down, “She’s told me about her and my uncle’s moment about a hundred times though. How she fell on the road carrying too many flowers as my uncle was riding by, and he immediately sprang down to help her...” Maria folded her arms, “She conveniently forgets that it this was entirely deliberate on her part though, and that a few months later she ended up running away to live in a cave and hide away from him for almost a decade…”
Robin made a tutting noise. “Of course she does,” He muttered, rolling his eyes, “Well, just ignore her,”
“I have been,” Maria turned her eyes fretfully to him, “But she seems more intent about it than usual and I’m beginning to worry she’s going to do something that forces the issue. And prevents us from spending any time together anymore. Not unchaperoned anyway…”
There was a pause as Robin looked at her. “So?” He prompted, knowing her too well to imagine she didn’t have something in mind to combat this, or any problem for that matter. “What do you want to do about it?”
Maria put her hands on her hips. “I think you should kiss me,”
Whatever Robin had been expecting her to say, it hadn’t apparently been this, and especially not in measured and business-like tones she’d used. He stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry?” He repeated, “Kiss you?”
Maria rolled her eyes at his reaction. "Yes Robin. I'm sure you've kissed girls before and know how to do it…"
“No- Yes- I mean-” Robin shook his head to get himself back to the point, “Just how is kissing you going prove that we're just friends?"
Maria shrugged. "Well, Loveday is convinced about this business of romantic moments changing everything as we know it, isn’t she? So, we'll create this moment. Then, when nothing happens, I can tell Loveday and she can move on with her life, since it seems to be consuming her every thought and wish currently…"
Robin could appreciate a certain amount of logic in this. Where Loveday and Sir Benjamin’ss relationship had always been passionate, dramatic and sweeping, Robin and Maria’s was different; solid, honest, practical. It could certainly endure a kiss, and as a kiss could only be an epitome of everything romantic for Loveday, if it wasn't, her romantic sensibilities would be so offended she would probably immediately drop the issue.
“Alright,” Robin decided, “If you’re sure…”
“I am,” Maria assured him. He made no move to initiate any kiss however, and repressing the urge to roll her eyes (weren't boys supposed to be always trying to get girls to risk their virtue? Well, they were according to Mrs Digweed anyway), supposed his hesitation was down to her being a slightly different type of girl to what he was used and waiting for her to make the first move. So, she did, dauntlessly stepping forwards and grasping his red scarf to pull him down as she leaned up.
Neither of them were were the sort to do anything half -heartedly, or back down from a challenge, so they did things properly; the kiss was no quick peck on the lips, but neither did it go too far. Robin’s hands settled on her waist, Maria’s on his chest. Their lips melded together, briefly at first, but persevering, they found a cadence together, a push and pull like the tides…
And just as Maria suspected, time didn't stop. Her heart didn't miss a beat and the world continued to turn.
But something, somewhere, did… flicker.
They broke apart, Maria sinking back onto the balls of her feet and Robin dropping his hands from her waist.
"You see,” Maria declared, endeavoring to speak in the same casual and matter-of-fact-tone as before, “It’s always like that isn't it?"
"Yes," Robin said, staring down at her with unreadable eyes.
"It wasn't anything special or remarkable," She continued.
"Nothing remarkable whatsoever," He echoed.
"In fact,” Maria considered, “It was actually so unexceptional that it really wouldn't matter at all if we-"
"-absolutely not," Robin agreed and entirely of one mind, promptly swooped down to kiss her again as she firmly grabbed the edges of his jacket.
And if, ten minutes later, several potted geraniums smashed on the floor as Robin swept them aside to lift her onto the table at the same time Maria seized his hat and threw it to the floor to join them… well, the irony was not lost on them that perhaps the only explanation Loveday would accept for such an unforgivable action was that it had simply been in the heat of the moment.