Hi, people!
I've been reading some great fics with Doctor Bort as a character (from EspoirDio and Tanya Reed, just to mention the examples that come to mind); I have an amazing therapist, who have helped me a lot; I wanted to play with the idea of CC being mentally healthier than Niles… The result is the plot we have in this story.
I hope you enjoy!
Therapy
Chapter 1: Context
'I'm tired of putting up with it, and I want solutions. So, if you think we have to discuss that insufferable man, let's do it'.
Those were the words Doctor Bort heard from her patient, CC Babcock, as soon as the blonde rested her body on the couch of her office, that afternoon.
The therapist knew one day or another things would reach the point when it would be impossible not to talk about the subject…
(The subject being CC's relationship with Niles, the Sheffield's butler.)
… but the way it came was still surprising, once the businesswoman had been with Bort weekly for more than a decade (with a three year intermission), and a good part of that time had been dedicated to not talk about that.
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When CC started working for Maxwell, she had been treating herself with Bort for almost one year, already. It was easy for the therapist to realize that, even if there were lots of interesting things going on in CC's life because of the new job, there was something different related to the way her patient faced the butler's behavior.
Initially, CC kept mentioning the butler because she found him annoying, in what she described as intrusive.
A bit lost at the novelty in a man that should be just a servant, CC brought the situation to the weekly session, and soon realized Niles was interested in other people's business and kind of disrespectful in the way he expressed his opinions, and that he had been including her in this, the same way he included the other people of the house.
That was a surprising notion to CC, who had felt strangely belonging to the household, and had never been able to point out exactly from where the feeling came. Now she knew: Niles said what he found he had to, in order to have things his way, and he saw no distinction between speaking his mind to Maxwell, Sara, their kid or CC.
When he found the young couple having disagreements in front of their child (two-year old Margareth), he called them on it; if little Maggie misbehaved, he made her understand clearly he was not amused by her behavior; if CC was arrogant, giving opinions on things she didn't know, he pointed it out to her.
CC claimed she couldn't quite understand how Sara and Maxwell found it acceptable in any way: CC was not used to servants speaking freely, but Niles did that, and then offered advice and, what was really strange, was listened to. In CC's experience, servants had no brains or relevance at all, and she was baffled every time Niles was sarcastic and said things that would get him fired on the spot, in the Babcock's household, but resulted in him being considered wise, by the Sheffields.
He kept the house together and was responsible for things to run smoothly, what gave Maxwell time to work and be with his little family, and Sara, time to deal with Maxwell's anxiousness and be with her dear child. Once the butler had the annoying habit of being right, people with good sense took the easier path and followed what he said.
When Niles started speaking his mind to her, CC's first reaction had been stare back at him in stunned silence. However, soon she had to deal with the things he said, because he was not ignored by the others, and she couldn't pretend she hadn't heard him.
Not used to being contradicted or having her faults and misconceptions being pointed out, CC had opted for glaring at him, showing her discontentment. It didn't change his attitude, and before she knew what she was doing, she started answering to him.
Sometimes she answered to defend herself and explain her reasoning; sometimes, she just wanted to show she was aware of the possibility of being kind of wrong, but didn't need him to point it out.
No matter the reasons that made her answer, the fact was that it improved her self awareness, gave her some base to think of her own actions and was fun as few other activities she had ever engaged in.
She stared getting real pleasure from their debates – she felt like he challenged her, and her mind had to stay alert and ready to give him better and funnier answers. It became part of her routine, and not a small one: it was so noticeable that Sara often exclaimed they were 'quite a pair' after some really good zingers, and even Maxwell sometimes would say they were 'at it again'.
CC would look at Niles and see him strangely excited at their interactions, not caring if other people were around and commented on them.
She got used to Niles grinning at her with something that was pride and joy and a kind of endearment she couldn't quite recognize, and that made her feel included and happy.
What seemed too much for CC's taste had turned into something she enjoyed, to the point she started thinking she could permit herself to look for him in order to have a break from work.
And soon Niles was all about alleviating stress: sometimes chatting over tea, sometimes exchanging zingers over him being a maid and her, a workaholic, and sometimes just plain spending time together around Sara and her child.
All of that – spending time with the help and around a housewife and her kid – would have been unthinkable to CC Babcock, any day of her life. But it was before she met the Sheffields' household.
CC had decided Maxwell and Sara were so disgustingly happy there was no way she would interfere in that, even if she felt the producer was the kind of handsome and rich man any other socialite would try to snatch for herself, not caring if he was married or not. CC didn't know if she had turned into a different person by the choice of having a career, or if she had chosen to have a career exactly because she was different from her peers, but the idea of prying on a married man just for the thrill of it, or to prove she was better, wasn't the least interesting to her.
Her bond with Niles had been a relief for her, then, because she felt like she needed a role in the mansion, and being 'the secretary' was not enough: she was in the house almost everyday, thanks to work; it was impossible not to follow the daily adventures of the young couple, even if she didn't exactly feel much empathy for them. For example, the news about a second kid that was to arrive very soon: Sara made the announcement while bursting with happiness and Maxwell acted ecstatic and surprised.
CC and Niles just looked at each other and smiled condescendingly.
Knowing she shared a lot of things with Niles (they were adult, single people who had a quick mind, a witty humor, a taste for the classics in movies and music and, most of all, an objective and no-nonsense attitude) kept CC grounded and included in the familiar unity.
Initially, CC couldn't understand how she could feel included in the family when she was not really family, didn't share a lot of their views on things and, definitively, didn't agree with their sweet and homey lifestyle. But then she discovered that was exactly Niles' position, and he had turned family to them, and the same rules were applying to her.
In fact, when he started treating her the way he did, he made sure the same rules were applying to her, and everybody followed his lead.
Things just got better and better: the company had its problems, but here and then they had a hit; Maxwell and Sara, after Brighton, still had Grace; Niles and CC kept things in relative order, as Sara liked to say, 'in the office and in the kitchen'.
When Grace was one year old, CC informed Bort that she would be out of therapy for some time. Her reason was that she felt like her life was where she had wished it to be when she reached her mid-twenties: she had a promising career and a bunch of people with whom she interacted daily and could be called, without too much of a stretch, friends.
It was the first time in her life that she had achieved such things.
Having a career and her own money, thanks to her own hard work, had been a victory for previously snob and spoiled CC Babcock, and she got great pride over it.
Keeping stable positive personal relationships with people she could rely on was a glorious feat to previously money-oriented CC Babcock, and she had a strange warm feeling over it.
She felt her future was bright, that she had found stability and a safe place to be. Now she just needed the opportunity to deal with things by herself, and being out of therapy seemed to be the right decision to take, all things considered.
Bort understood her reasons and, even if she obviously disagreed, wished CC the best and they parted in good terms.
Unfortunately, things changed for the worse and the socialite was back three years later.
In fact, she contacted Bort to find out if her former therapist could recommend a colleague for Grace Sheffield, who had lost her mother one year earlier and was not showing signs of getting over it. Bort invited CC to come over to her office, informed she could deal with Grace's case herself and asked gently if she didn't want an appointment, too, once she was coming anyway, had been directly involved in the events and was very close to the Sheffields.
CC agreed to have the appointment, and so much pain and sorrow appeared in her words that she decided it was time to be back into therapy.
They resumed the weekly sessions, and soon it was clear that the death of Sara Sheffield had brought CC three huge problems:
1-CC had considered Sara a friend, and with her gone, it was like all hope from sincere interactions was gone with her.
The socialite had started therapy saying she always resented her father for not being present, and that she thought it was time to act as an adult and get over it. However, soon she realized she resented her mother even more, for being too present and suffocating CC with ideas of property, money, power and the way they could solve any problem.
Trying to work in the show business had not helped into changing that vision of how things worked, because CC was often facing people who knew how rich she was and tried to convince her to pay to get what she wanted – from a position in a business company to the compromise of any professional in New York, everything seemed to be related to how much you are able to pay.
When she was almost giving up the idea of a career, she had met Sara in a party. They had been colleagues in a boarding school, and CC barely remembered the easy-going girl who always had a smile for everyone; however, Sara remembered the brilliant girl with a no-nonsense attitude that made others keep a distance, and soon CC was overflowed by shared memories that sounded a lot better now, through the retelling of someone with a generous heart and mature vision.
Warmed by Sara's way of speaking and by some booze she had already consumed, CC confessed she had been looking for a place in business, with a special interest in show business, and that things were hard for women with an attitude.
Sara exclaimed her husband had been trying his hand as a Broadway producer, that Sara believed he needed someone to keep him on track and that they had to meet.
She called Maxwell, who had been talking to other people in the party, she introduced them, and the rest was History.
It the following day, Sara had already convinced her husband he should hire her acquaintance, even if it was in a trying basis, as a secretary, brought CC to the Sheffields' nest, introduced her to Niles and to the organized chaos of a life with children running around.
And soon CC learned the importance of having people that stick with you, no matter what happens.
With that woman gone, it was like the link CC had forged through the years had been destroyed, and she saw no possibility something so akin to a miracle would happen again.
2-Maxwell was closed in his grief.
Yes, the man was working hard and totally dedicated to business, but he never smiled, never seemed happy with whatever the company achieved, couldn't even face his own children, ran away from social gatherings and refused to share any personal impression on anything.
CC had never been one for the sweet things, but the last years had taught her the importance of it, and it was making her crazy to see the children neglected and Maxwell assuming the role of the depressed widower. Even if it gave her a good amount of power decision in the company, she knew things were wrong.
The mansion had turned into a glooming place, the shadow of unhappiness menaced their business, and she didn't know what to do about it.
She started doing what came to mind to help, in desperate and blind attempts: she stayed around Maxwell as much as she could, working late in the office, inviting him to business trips, offering massages, complimenting him; she proposed to send the children to a boarding school, so they would have a good education and some attention from professionals, once it was obvious there was no place for them in the mansion, now; she offered to spend the Holidays with Maxwell away, any place he chose, offering him the opportunity to hide and being at his disposal to soothe the pain.
She had put herself in the role she thought was hers, as the only adult female around: to occupy Sara's place the best she could.
It was not working.
3-Niles was treating her as if she was the Antichrist.
That was a huge problem, but was the point when CC decided she didn't want to discuss Niles, too.
Since Sara's death, he had turned more and more verbally aggressive towards CC. He didn't show, in her opinion, the least of respect for her grief, attacking her as if she was to blame for anything that helped in the household: if Maxwell decided to go to his bed earlier, it was her improper behavior; if the children cried, it was her horrifying appearance; if he didn't have dinner ready in time, it was her bad omen.
She decided he was not worth dealing with. She already had so much to get over that paying attention to his stupid behavior was not worth her energy.
Bort followed, through CC's stories, all the things that had occurred since then.
Most of all, she saw CC's struggle for Maxwell's attention, initially to sooth the pain from the loss, then because if someone was to take Sara's place, it had to be someone who was already there, and the only available option was CC herself.
Bort questioned that line of thought, and CC admitted she was afraid anyone that came into the family would ruin the sacred place she had lived within. It seemed Maxwell and Sara had been the King and Queen of a perfect kingdom, and it was wrong to accept any stranger among them. Every time Brighton managed to send away a new nanny, for example, CC secretly cheered. The boarding school was where she had met Sara, and it was getting clearer and clearer it was the best choice for everybody.
Au pair with Maxwell's coldness were Niles' aggressive zingers, always demolishing any possibility of her being seen as any thing more than a pestering secretary. It annoyed CC to no end, because Niles putting special effort into making Maxwell blind to her qualities got in her way of helping Maxwell personally, and barred any possibility of her being promoted to business partner, too.
She thought the butler probably wanted the position of wise advisor just for himself and, again, CC didn't want to discuss such an insolent and egotistical man.
Bort lost count of the times CC told her something Niles had said, and when was asked to talk about it or explain how she felt, she just said she was not there to spend time and money talking about that low-life – and then proceed to explain in detail why she was nothing like what Niles had accused her of being.
With Maxwell being cold and distant, Niles being aggressive and the children behaving badly, CC felt like she was fighting an unfair battle.
Doctor Bort knew that environment was the worst possible for CC Babcock, who had had to deal with the lack of warmth from her mother and the difficulties at expressing sincere affection and keeping commitments from her father. But she knew, also, that CC had been able to get over some of her more difficult questions while in contact with that same people that now bothered her, and those attachments were too important to be given up.
Then Nanny Fine arrived, and things got a new twist.
CC hated the woman with a passion, initially with vague reasons like she wants the center of all attentions, she is a tramp and it's not fair.
With time passing by, the socialite could get a better hold on what rubbed her the wrong way and made her despise Fran Fine: it was that things always got right for the nanny, no matter what she did.
CC told Bort about the absurd situations: if she took the children to the Zoo, they got unhappy, the Boy vomited in her hat and they ended up hating her more than before; if Nanny Fine took them to a trip by the subway, she had to defend them from burglars, she ended up taking a lost baby to the mansion, she had to go to the Police to explain it, and everything got right at the end, with the Nanny even more loved than before.
Maxwell was enchanted by the brunette to the point where he usually praised her for anything – even the craziest schemes. CC hated how lucky Fran was.
Bort had pointed out that yes, some people were lucky, but maybe they should discuss what made Fran Fine so 'successful', and what that really meant.
After some resistance to discuss the subject (Nanny Fine fit in the category of low life; therefore, not worth therapy time), CC realized that things just ended up getting right for the woman because she had a net of people interested in helping her.
That net included Niles, of course.
The same Niles that, even if transformed in a hateful gargoyle when it concerned CC, was still often right and generally wise, and perfectly capable of developing a soft spot for people he felt needed him in any way.
And then Niles should have been the center of the discussion, being glaringly obvious his soft spot for CC had existed and, for some reason, was not showing anymore; however, after a session in which CC insisted on how annoying and worthless and stupid the butler was (and ended up threatening not to come back if they would be talking about him), Bort knew things would be hard and that she would have to be really careful to be able to reach the point when the subject would not be such a taboo.
Now, her patient had brought it by herself, and it seemed the time to work on it has finally come.