Sorry for the delay, people.
Work and life in general have been testing my patience.
Luckily, writing is a form of therapy, and I had to get back to it.
I intend this story to be totally possible in-canon, and it will get obvious from this chapter on.
More than a woman
Chapter 10: Wish you were here – Part 1
CC was alone in the penthouse for the time being, and she seized the opportunity to lie on her bed and put her legs up comfortably, supporting them on a pile of fluffy pillows.
She still had some time before she had to go out, and she decided to spend it relaxing.
Of course, as it happened whenever she had free time, it ended up with her in the process of evaluating her entire life, choices and decisions.
The good thing was that, this time, it was not a bad thing: she felt good about herself, she was comfortably installed and had a peaceful expression on her face while looking at the ceiling of her bedroom.
Until some weeks ago, CC would laugh if someone suggested she would do deep thinking while relaxing. When she had some time to herself and needed to chill out and think things over, the only option that came to her mind was going to the open area of the penthouse and have a cigarette, quickly getting into a contemplative mood while observing the smoke that dispersed slowly but steadily…
… like every single good thing in her life, that slipped through her fingers sooner or later, no matter how thick it may have seemed to be or how much dedicated to it she had been.
Usually, when the depressing thoughts took over, CC would stop smoking (she and Chester hated the scent of cigarettes with a passion), enter the penthouse and start drinking until she managed to pass out and not have to think anymore.
(She was aware and adequately disgusted at her self-destructive habits, but the worst of it was the fact that drinking and smoking left a horrible taste in her mouth in the next day, what made her fear Niles' corpse jabs had some truth to them.
To prevent spending the day wondering if her mouth was reeking, she would brush her teeth and floss obsessively before leaving the penthouse, what made her arrive late at the Sheffields more times than even her witch-y persona could afford.)
Getting back to her current situation: she was not in the mood for glooming, now.
And she felt perfectly capable of really relaxing, thank you very much.
Well, she must confess she was not exactly relaxed, given the circumstances. The appointed time is not coming quick enough, and she is getting anxious.
But she is very happy. That was something.
That was new.
The truth was she hadn't been in the I-hate-my-life mood for some weeks: since that fateful night when she revealed herself to Niles and he ended up revealing a lot of things about himself in return, something had shifted inside her, and that high was stubbornly refusing to go away.
She didn't know exactly what had happened to make that night so emotionally remarkable, but she suspected it had to do with the fact that Niles had showed her he wanted her not even if she was who she was, but because she was who she was.
It still was kind of shocking to think of how far they had come, after reaching such a low point as breaking up whatever they had between them, in front of Maxwell and Nanny Fine.
CC had returned to the mansion with the only goal of telling Niles the truth and walk away. She was prepared to face any reaction she would get, and she was ready for it to be a bad one, once her experience said it could not be any different.
And she had readied herself for something worse: she knew it would hurt as hell to be rejected by Niles when he really had a reason to reject her. This time it would not be related to a zinger too good to pass, but to something real, serious and definitive. CC had promised herself to keep her head high and go on with her life with a clean conscience once he knew the truth, no matter how miserable his reaction would make her, but still she knew it would leave an ugly scar in her already marked heart.
However, that night proved she didn't need to worry about hurting or moving on.
Niles wanted her as much as she wanted him.
There was no buts or doubts, on his part.
And, on her part, the buts and doubts were more related to how to deal with the great feelings that had been invading her, when he was concerned, than to the feelings themselves. There was a limit for denial, and CC had reached hers some moment between Niles asking to kiss all of her and she coming in his hand while he was inside her for the first time.
There was no way she could ignore the feeling of belonging.
Nothing could be the same again, after that.
In the morning after, before parting for the day, they decided to act as if nothing had happened just for the pleasure of messing with the family's heads. Maxwell and his wife were not exactly brilliant, but Niles had told CC about his brief encounter with them in the kitchen and, by Fran's banana joke, it seemed obvious they knew something was going on. Their pretense was just a matter of making things harder to figure out, not really hiding.
When the butler went down to start his day, CC stayed alone in his room to sleep a bit more, shower and make herself at least a bit presentable for work, and that was when she looked at herself in the mirror, noticed her shining eyes, remembered his happy grin when he leaned to kiss her goodbye, and thought things would get tough as soon as they had to face the Sheffields: it would be surely impossible for them to keep the façade of nothing going onwhen so much was going on.
She soon discovered she had underestimated hers and Niles' ability to be mischievous: every thing they did in front of the family, that same day and the next ones, was intended to disturb and confuse.
And they had immense pleasure in it.
That was the reason why CC, fighting how distracted she was by Niles being all homey and watering the plants just outside the office in an obvious maneuver to be around her, made those remarks on having two of the same outfits when she really liked one.
Maybe she had been a bit edgy with her It's gonna happen a lot, but it felt incredible to give such a great answer to Nanny Fine, implying she had done nothing, that it had been wonderful and that she intended on keeping doing it. After years of bullying over her lack of a life, she had the right to rub something on the brunette's face.
Besides, Fran deserved an answer just for that 'What got into you?'.
As if CC needed a good explanation for her to be so cheerful.
(Well… In fact, she had a good explanation…)
The blonde pursed her lips – no, she didn't regret her words at the former nanny.
Anyway, she had been a bit off balance at the time: Niles had surprised her, entering the office in a great mood and with that watering can in front of him. In their original plan he was supposed to use the intercom to follow what was happening in the office, not going there.
His unpredictability should disturb her.
It made her giddy with excitement.
CC closed her eyes in pleasure at the feelings she had while thinking of Niles, and smiled.
The fact they had decided to be sincere with each other brought to the surface a side of him she had seen in action with other people, but never with her, and it quickly took an unexpectedly amplified form: he was attentive to her every need, he worried about every aspect of her comfort, he enjoyed to be around her in any circumstance, he seized any opportunity to be close, he paid attention to every thing that was her.
He had fallen really hard.
She knew it because she could see it in his eyes.
She knew it because he couldn't hide it anymore.
She knew it because she was doing the exact same damn things.
CC sighed. She still felt terrified from time to time, but she was getting quickly used to the flooding of positive emotions.
That same first morning of being together, when the nosy pregnant woman finally decided to exit the office and leave them alone (not before throwing another horrible jab at them – if she really wanted to know 'what the butler did', the blonde would have pleasure in telling her), Niles stayed by CC's side, and she knew he had something on his mind.
They watched Fran to waddle away, and he had a troubled expression when he turned to look at CC,'Do you think they saw us?'
She was baffled by the brunette's attitude, too, but dismissed his worry, in order to put him at ease, 'Of course not'.
'How can you be so sure?'
She made a gesture between them, 'To see us…', she pointed at herself, 'they would have to see me'.
He raised his brows, 'And why would they be so impressed by you?'
She frowned in return, 'How could they not be?'
Niles shrugged, 'I have no idea why you're so cocky…', his eyes shone and he looked pointedly at the watering thing he was carrying in front of him, '…when we both know mine is bigger than yours'.
CC opened her mouth in surprise at his teasing.
After a beat and a damn well-timed wink from him, she grinned in challenge, 'Oh, really?'
Now he was smirking, 'Really'.
CC turned her body on the corner of the table, where she had sat, to face his side, readying for a battle of wits, 'Well, mine is slim and gracious'.
Niles turned to face her, putting the watering can aside, on the floor, and jiggled his shoulders like he did when he was going for sexy and funny (what she secretly found really endearing), 'My partner finds mine truly beautiful'.
She volleyed back easily, 'I don't think the opinion of your own hand qualifies'.
It was his time to open his mouth in surprise, out of words at her jab.
CC couldn't contain her laugh.
And her fondness.
She pulled him to her, kissing him thoroughly.
When their lips parted, and the kiss had turned from passionate into a loving caress, he murmured, 'I should be offended'.
She shivered at his soft voice sounding so near, lips brushing lips, 'Some dignity is required for one to be offended'.
'Why', he commented, grinning proudly, 'What is it with you, today?'
She caressed the hair over his ear, 'Maybe we're exchanging so much fluid I'm getting as quick minded as you'.
He made a determined face, 'Let me take some of it back, then'.
Niles pulled CC against him and kissed her through their chuckles.
Once again, when they parted, he spoke, this time raising a finger to get her attention, 'Just one thing'.
CC could see he had turned serious, but she was not able to disguise her heated glance.
'What?', she asked, taking his hand, that was hovering between them, and kissing it.
He licked his lips, as taken as hers by the moment, 'You always were as quick minded as myself. You just chose, more times than it would be healthy, to use your brain to be really mean, instead of… you know… to be just mean', he smiled shyly, 'I hope you understand what I'm saying'.
She smirked and nodded, pecking his lips in appreciation.
He just looked at her for some moments, moved, then resumed, 'I like your evil side, but I think it really shines when it has some purpose, as in business, or when you use it to put someone who really needs it in place', he frowned painfully, 'That is why it hurt so much every time you decided to make up complex strategies to woo a man who didn't deserve you, while you ignored the one who just needed a chance to…'
He noticed the startle in her face and stopped speaking.
He obviously regretted saying too much.
'I'm sorry, I am babbling', he forced a smile and gave a step behind, freeing his hand and looking anywhere but her face, 'It's better I get back to work. You must have a lot to do, and I don't want to...'
'I do!', she blurted, reaching out to pull him into a hug.
'I beg your pardon?', he asked, confused, in her ear.
CC was confused at her own reaction, too: her I do meant she did understand what he was trying to say, she knew he had had this bizarre adoration for her for a while, and she was aware of how much of a fool she had been for insisting on Maxwell while trying to convince herself that a sparring match with Niles didn't feel damn better than anything with her business partner.
However, she had no idea why she had grabbed and pulled him into a tight embrace, exactly when he had stopped talking about those things and was ready to leave her by herself. He had felt embarrassed, and she should take advantage of the fact he had reversed their roles – she was the one who should feel embarrassed, after all! – and just let him go. It would save her an answer to his words.
But no, she couldn't let him go like that.
She had to show him they were together, and that she was not changing her mind.
And then she realized why Niles had sounded so confused.
Her I do, after his heartfelt declaration and her gesture of pulling him close to keep him with her, made him think of her accepting his proposals.
(One of the five marriage proposals she had made sure to ignore, laugh off or blatantly refuse.)
'Listen', CC separated from him enough to put her hands on the sides of his face and look him in the eyes, 'I've never been so happy, and I don't want anything to change', she kissed his lips softly, 'Please, let's not talk about it'.
He looked back at her, very serious.
He was obviously thorn; he probably didn't trust his own ability to be silent about his feelings. Last time he had tried to express them, he had blurted out those same propositions that were now hanging between them, and Niles knew himself enough to be aware of the challenge it would be not to mention something that was so important to him.
But he nodded.
Again, he made a conscious effort to put her need for time before his desire for commitment.
They shared a long tender kiss, sealing the unspoken promise.
And, until now, Niles had been faithful to his word.
CC looked at her watch – it was still too early.
She sighed.
No, no way she would be able to stay there waiting.
She got up and started to get ready.
While she picked the clothes she had separated earlier and started dressing, she tried to get rid of the mixed feelings that assaulted her when Niles left her off the hook, like he did that time in the office: yes, she got relieved that he was not pressing her to name their relationship, but he was so sweet for understanding her hesitance that his gestures made her ask herself why not? and it brought up an absurd urge to commit, and it was confusing as hell to her usually cold heart.
She breathed deeply, looking at herself in the mirror while applying some light make up: and yes, they had joined forces to pester the family and keep their relationship off limits from the nosy people, but they had agreed on keeping their status kind of off limits for themselves, too, once they were not discussing it, just focusing on the fun they were having and in the positive feelings they aroused in each other.
(She chuckled at herself – yeah, arouse was the perfect verb.)
Being with Niles made CC feel so little self conscious she had been comfortable enough with her body to the point of planning that little Disney Princess scene with a flowery dress and a bird (she still couldn't believe she had hired a bird trainer!) – all just for the sake of disturbing Maxwell.
The man was being stupid about Yetta's play, as much as he had been stupid when he refused to read Niles' play, and CC decided that watching her walking around the house as if she was living in a musical was surreal enough to provoke a deserved migraine in her business partner.
Her quest for vengeance was what leaded her to mount a scene of Love, Valet, Compassion in the Sheffields' living room, too: it seemed Yettas' letters were good stuff for a musical, but Niles' thoroughly planned and deeply thought play was not worth a reading.
CC wanted Maxwell to see what he was missing; however, she knew he was not changing his mind about producing it, so she chose one of the funniest moments of Niles' play, and one that made very little sense out of context: it was a dream sequence that illustrated the denial of the main male character, whose mind toyed with the idea of making his snob boss pay attention to him as a person, and not as a servant, through a silly musical number that described exactly his life as a servant.
CC had laughed heartily when she had read it, and Niles was surprised she could get the irony of the man who didn't want to be seen as just a menial fantasizing about a speech that put in evidence how much of a menial he really was.
She suspected she had got what the scene represented exactly because it represented Niles' own confusing tentative gestures towards her, through the years: every time he made sure he was not her servant while helping her with her coat, every time he threw quips at her being of no importance while bringing her to the center of the conversation – Niles had done a lot of contradictory things through the years, as the character on his play. Even when he chose to call her a witch, what could be seen as a childish provocation, he was hinting at how much enchanting he thought she was, and how afraid of the things she could do to him he really felt.
It had sounded offensive just until she realized he was being daring because he just had to do something to get her attention.
(Understanding that the contrary of love was not hate, but indifference, was crucial for CC to understand what Niles had been trying to do.)
She saw a smile in the eyes of her reflection in the mirror, while she applied her chosen lipstick: she had made him pay for being so romantic and cute, when he managed, somehow, to insert that And now I'm in heaven line in the presentation.
It had made her grin as a fool and giggle like an idiot in front of Maxwell, what was not acceptable.
(Niles argued he had just wanted to honor her.
Well, he had to plead for mercy, that night.)
Of course, even if they had been acting more and more obvious, Maxwell and Nanny Fine were not used to see anything that went on in the mansion besides their own family. They were so self-centered (and CC got intrigued at how they were seen as such great regular people when they were so blind to others) that Niles could announce, in the kitchen, that he would retire for the day, she could pretend she was going home, give her farewells, slam the door and run to his room by the back stairs, and no one would notice!
(In fact, they had already done it...)
Thinking better, maybe the family had decided to pretend not to notice their schemes. It would make things easier to everyone, and Maxwell was well known for choosing the oblivious attitude when personal matters were at stake.
It would explain that afternoon, CC pondered, taking her purse and going to her living room to check on Chester and call a taxi.
In the said afternoon, CC had got out of the office to look for Niles for no other reason than the fact she missed him badly.
She knew the man had to work, but there was nothing of real importance going on in the office, she was used to have frequent doses of her butler per day even before they were seeing each other, and now that they were seeing each other she couldn't stay much time far from his pestering presence.
(And, again, seeing was the perfect verb, because it was like they had not really seen each other before they got together, and now there was a never ending source of things to see.)
She looked for him in the kitchen, then went up to the second floor, and was already reaching the main stairs to go down again when a door opened and he got out of one of the rooms.
He seemed surprised to see her up there, and stopped on his tracks.
After a brief moment his features lightened up in a happy smile, and CC felt like they were in a corny movie, in a scene where the corny lovebirds meet unexpectedly and can barely contain their corny loving faces at each other.
'I was going to the office', Niles informed her in an annoyingly contagious tender voice.
She decided to play snob and raised her chin, 'It was about time. I wanted my tea and there was no one to serve it'.
He smiled lovingly, 'I was on my way, witch'.
CC licked her lips and raised a brow, trying to keep the spoiled act, 'It took you so long I had to come to see which was the excuse, this time, for you to neglect your obligations'.
She expected him to raise his brows, smirk and tease her back.
She didn't expect Niles to give a quick step into her direction, force her against the closest wall, raise one hand to her hair to cup her head and kiss her, open-mouthed and demanding.
'So', she said in a low voice when she managed to, 'That's how you intend to shut me up?', she looked at him through lowered lashes, 'I thought that was what you wanted me to do to you'.
His eyes turned an impossibly dark shade of blue, his other hand rested on her jaw, and he kissed her again, pressing his body against hers in a silent answer.
He tilted his head in an a heavenly angle, and CC was hit by a new wave of arousal.
She kissed him back with ferocity and pulled at him to increase the maddening friction.
They were in the middle of a corridor, there was a lot of people in the house, but they couldn't help themselves: they had been living in this hush of sexiness and affection, it was getting addictive, and if the intention was not to overthink things, they had no reason to stop themselves.
When Niles parted from CC, he raised that damned brow and smirked, both hands lowering to feel her body.
She sighed at the hand that rested on her breast and squeezed it.
She gasped when the other hand grabbed her hip and held her in place, so he could press against her and feel their middles brushing each other.
Next thing she knew he was grazing his nose on her cheek, and his voice was teasing her, 'I see someone is up to greet me'.
Damn, she loved when he acted like that!
It was sexy as hell to see such a proper British man, a man like Niles, her Niles, doing those things that hinted on deep desire and non-biased lust.
She grabbed him by the tie and started pulling him to the closest room she could see...
… but the front door chimed.
He groaned in regret.
CC pulled him for a new kiss, making clear she didn't want him to go, either.
They parted at the sound of Nanny Fine's loud voice announcing she was going to get the door, and at the Little One asking if Niles didn't get the door anymore, and at the brunette answering that he had the right to finally get something else.
The blonds looked at each other, wide eyed, for a moment.
'It seems the Lady of the House has given us her blessing', CC half-mocked, hopeful.
'So it seems', was Niles' direct answer, reaching out himself for the closest doorknob and pulling her with him.
CC was so aroused she didn't quite remember what happened next: all she knows is that she heard Niles locking the door, and then he was helping her to get rid of her clothes while they kissed and nibbled at and fondled each other as if they hadn't done it for years.
(Oh, well, they had years of sexual tension to make up for, but still…)
She didn't know exactly how, but they ended up naked and in the bed of what was, apparently, one of the dozen spare rooms of the mansion, with Niles entering her with the amount of hurry and force she sometimes wanted him to and made her crazy with arousal.
The result of his assault on her body was that she came after the first strokes, her cock jerking between their bodies and her whole body undulating in the waves of the intense orgasm.
Niles stopped, fascinated by the image of her in such unrestrained pleasure, her back arched and her mouth open.
When she calmed enough to think straight, she felt one of his hands caressing her breast, the other reaching out to touch her neck with his fingertips.
He was taking his time to enjoy the connection with her, while giving her the time to get back to Earth.
Their eyes locked and his hips started slowly moving again.
CC remembered she raised her legs to circle his waist and pulled him for a deep kiss.
The movement of his hips turned a bit more forceful, and she closed her eyes, frowned and clenched her hands on the sheets, moaning.
'Is this all right?', Niles asked, nibbling at her ear, his hands covering hers on the bed.
'You have no idea', she answered, turning her hands to take his, entwining their fingers and raising them above her head.
He felt authorized to be forceful by the position she had put them in, with their hands joined and out of game.
His pace went quicker and deeper.
(Niles knew how to be delicate, but he knew CC loved the rough side, too, and he was a master at detecting which one would undone her.)
She sucked at his neck to suppress a louder moan; it would surely cause a hickey, but would preserve them from a scandal.
Niles whimpered at the pain and pleasure sensation and moaned her business name as if it was a prayer, over and over, while showering kisses on her neck, jaw and cheek, and then locking his lips with hers.
The perfection of the moment overwhelmed her, and CC came, this time with her inner muscles clenching around Niles' cock.
It triggered his own orgasm, and he followed her suit.
She doesn't remember when they let go of their hands, but she is sure at some moment they did, because she knows she had rested hers on his shoulders to feel his strong muscles under her palms while they calmed each other with soft kisses.
Niles parted enough from CC to lay on his side, pulling her to him and keeping her in his arms.
She knew something was bothering him when he kissed her forehead, pulled her even closer and murmured, as delicately as he could muster, 'Miss Babcock...'
'Yes?', she asked, rubbing her legs on his, and nestling comfortably against his body.
(She had turned into this kind of soothing person, who senses something is troubling other person and hurries to do something.
If she was lucky, it would happen just with Niles.)
'I have something to tell you'.
His voice sounded cautious and even a bit embarrassed, and CC froze.
All she could think of was that he was leaving her.
That amazing sex with a person like her must have been frightening to him, and now he was surely having second thoughts. She knew how regret sounded – she had seen her share of regret in the faces of lovers…
'Miss Babcock?', he called again, sounding worried, 'Are you with me?'
Yes, and I wish to be with you in what feels like forever. Why are you...?
She stopped thinking when he parted from her to see her face.
Those eyes always did something to her.
CC managed to compose her face in something that could pass as serenity.
(It was difficult – she had just had an Earth-shattering orgasm, followed by another orgasm that made her feel connected to this man, and now she felt like he was the most important person of her life and was looking at her as if he cared deeply, and she couldn't quite decide what to feel.)
She settled for a mildly curious, 'Yes?'
He realized she needed him to repeat what he had said, 'I was called to England'.
She frowned in confusion, 'Uhm?'
'I received a phone call. That was why I was going to the office. To tell you', he caressed her hair, 'My family needs me there for some days, to settle a deal'.
He kept talking and said a lot of things after that, but CC couldn't listen to anything anymore.
All she could focus on was how miserable he was because he had to go away when all he wanted was to be with her.
'I'm going with you', she blurted out, interrupting whatever he was saying.
'Pardon?'
'I'm going with you', she repeated herself, then added, shyly, 'If you want me to, of course'.
She didn't know why she offered.
Was it because she wanted to be by his side no matter what?
Or was it because she was anxious to meet his relatives, know more about him and feel, for the first time in her life, that she could be the person someone wanted to introduce to the family?
Niles interrupted her musings smiling that sweet smile of his, 'I would love to have you with me', he involved her waist with his arm and caressed her back with his hand, 'But I was going to ask you to stay here for Miss Margareth's wedding, once I won't be able to attend'.
CC looked at him, surprised at the realization that, as much as not going with him was bad, staying to represent him in a familiar event was kind of being, officially, his partner.
(She knew the right word for it was not exactly partner, in their case, but she refused to think of any other possibilities that brought up his damn proposals, again.)
CC agreed on staying, obviously, and even made sure Niles knew she was honored to represent him.
The blonde called the taxi and sat on the couch, besides Chester, to wait.
To her surprise, she had managed well while Niles was absent: things didn't get awkward – people treated her as part of the family, as always, and with a hint of something more.
And that something more was the silent acknowledgment that she was an item with Niles.
The Nanny's jokes were the proof CC needed of how much people knew about them: that Oy, Miss Babcock! Did Niles get off okay? when she got back from the airport could only mean they knew.
(And they didn't know enough, because it was preposterous to ask if Niles had managed to get off okay.
Okay didn't make justice to it.)
Of course, CC still had felt so miserable about Niles' absence as he had been about going away; so much that they had been calling each other all the time, with the excuse of keeping updated on the affairs on both sides of the ocean, when both knew they just had to hear the other's voice.
However, the most surreal situation happened when Yetta, thinking she was talking to Maggie, told CC the blonde and the male maid were having an affair.
The words of the crazy woman still echoed on CC's head, 'Frannie and her husband walked in on them when they were doing the horizontal hora'.
CC didn't spare a second thought on how – all she wanted to know was where.
Because, let's be frank: if the family knew about her and hadn't said anything, they were great people; if they didn't know, it didn't matter what they had seen, but where – Niles and herself had barely contained themselves, some times, and she wondered how was it that no one had called them on it, yet.
Maybe the Sheffields were great people, after all, and wanted Niles and CC's happiness so much they had decided to leave the lovebirds alone.
(CC supposed that was how good people operated. She was not sure. She was new at that thing.)
Anyway, she got softer towards the family, stopped the pranks for the time being and spent a good part of the wedding on the phone, describing the ceremony to Niles and feeling stupidly good for doing it.
(She had used that as an excuse to call Niles after her conversation with Yetta and share the news with him – not the news about people knowing, but about where and its very exciting new possibilities.)
CC caressed Chester behind his ears – she and Niles were a pair made in heaven, and she was loving every minute of being with him.
And the sex?, she thought, smirking pleasantly, What to say about the sex?
She had spent a good part of her life being tense about sexual encounters: sometimes she was afraid of the usual distasteful reactions, afraid of violence, afraid of physical and emotional abuse, afraid of misjudgment; other times, she had to deal with her frustration over superficial paid escorts and superficial boring men.
She could never guess the universe that would reveal itself to her when she made up her mind about telling Niles the truth.
Their sex had a variety of delicious things: the raw desire that made them assault each other through the mansion; the uncontrolled urges that made them reckless in public places; the tenderness of the intimate joining; the feeling of being tuned.
Snippets of their conversations danced in her head and made her smile: they still teased each other, but that mine is bigger joke was one of the new disarming things Niles was able to say to her, now that they were together.
He brought a lightness to their relationship she had never known before, even with him, and it made CC feel like he was the wealthy one in this story – the owner of a treasure that, lucky for her, was made just for her to enjoy.
Even if she refused to talk about their status, saw in his eyes that Niles was making an effort to not propose again or – God preserve them! – put a name on his deep feelings for her, CC knew they were bonded to the point of no return. The idea of a marriage still seemed absurd, but the notion of not being together was way more absurd than anything else.
And it made her the happiest she had ever been in her entire life.
The doorman buzzed, signaling the taxi had arrived.
CC got up from the sofa, and Chester looked at her expectantly.
'Yes, you little traitor. I'm going to the airport to pick him up. Satisfied?'
The dog tilted his head in doubt.
'I'm bringing him home', she spoke and smiled, 'I'm bringing Niles home'.
The dog jumped in joy, and CC was not sure if it was because she had mentioned the name of the guy that her dog adored or because the smile in her face was completely sincere.
'I share the feeling, buddy', she said, now grinning at the obvious happiness in the dog's attitude at a word he was used to hear from Niles, and went for the door.