Chapter 28
The pile of discarded dresses had been growing steadily over the course of the past forty-five minutes. Still was, if one considered the dress C.C. had just taken off and tossed over her shoulder so it could join the other rejects on the pile of shame.
She glared at the small heap of cloths with the kind of hatred she reserved for newly-discovered grey hairs and age lines. Most of those outfits were new! She'd gotten them when she'd gone shopping a few days earlier, but for some reason not one of those bastards seemed to be the right fit for her…dinner? Date?… with Niles.
Dior, Chanel, Burberry, Gucci, Givenchy, Carolina Herrera – all favourites of hers, and all just as useless as the next. Why couldn't she have access to her own closet, back in New York? She had an entire room filled with enough haute couture cocktail dresses to last a lifetime! It was just her luck she'd be eating at one of the best restaurants in the UK and not have a proper dress for the occasion…
She didn't even have time to rush back to Regent Street! She and Niles would be going to the restaurant in under an hour. Unless she was the Flash (and she was pretty sure she wasn't), she simply wouldn't make it.
That, of course, translated to the age-old advice her family had handed down for generations on end – suck it up, buttercup. Her only consolation was that she still had a few more boxes to go through. Gucci, Dior and Oscar de la Renta, according to the logos imprinted on each one of them.
With a huff, C.C. delved into her last Dior purchase, but was disappointed to find a simple cotton dress she had picked out to wear around the house or on her off days. Hardly useful tonight, so it was soon discarded and the Gucci box was opened.
Again, disappointment waited inside, alongside the black and white houndstooth dress she'd felt was perfect office wear but wouldn't help her tonight!
Groaning, C.C. moved on to the last box – her last hope. Oscar de la Renta. C.C. wasn't particularly fond of the brand, but they sometimes had some killer dresses she was happy to get her hands on.
"Here goes nothing," she said to herself as she opened the box, somehow both expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
Inside, she found the last dress she'd gotten – the one that had been a bit of an afterthought and gotten on a whim. It was a simple pencil dress crafted from navy-blue stretch-wool cady with draping around the waist and a slit on the left-hand side. One of the sleeves extended towards the back of the dress, creating a long. one-shoulder cape that reached her knees.
It was a simple dress – the kind of dress that was timeless in its elegance.
And it was perfect.
Hastily – but not too hastily, in case she accidentally tore, ripped or otherwise damaged her last chance at wearing anything decent that night – she slipped into the dress and did up the back, checking herself this way and that in the mirror.
She might've had two kids, but in this dress, you almost couldn't tell. The fit curved naturally against her body, sleek and stylish and flowing gracefully, like water.
The dress might've been a brief whim and afterthought, but somewhere in there, there had been a hunch. Intuition? Maybe. Whatever it had been, it had called her to make the right choice in picking out this dress.
Something deep inside her smirked, convinced it would knock Niles dead. The rest of her was...well, maybe not entirely ready to make that judgement. Even if the mere thought of seeing him while wearing this, the diamond jewellery she'd just picked out and the killer heels that matched the colour, made her feel like a schoolgirl again.
A schoolgirl who'd just been invited to her first dance by a boy. The idea even made her giggle, when she went to fix up her hair into an elegant bun, and put her makeup on.
She was just picking up her purse from the bedside table, where she'd left it, when there came a knock at the door.
"Mom? Dad's waiting downstairs," Mia called from the other side of the door. "Are you ready?"
C.C. smiled to herself. She didn't know if Niles had sent their daughter up, or if their daughter had taken the task into her own hands (Marie would be looking after them for the evening); it could really be either. But it didn't matter, anyway.
She was ready. She didn't know what would be waiting for her when she went out there, but she had no way of knowing until she did.
"Yep, I'm just coming," she called back. "Tell your father I'm on my way."
" 'kay!" Mia replied before skipping back downstairs, probably feeling just as excited (if not more) than C.C. herself.
It was only natural, of course – their girls had never had their complete family, and tonight could change that entirely. C.C. didn't know what lay in store, but whatever it was, it had to be better than what they had. Worst case scenario, they would keep in touch and be amicable towards one another for the sake of their girls.
Separating them had been wrong. A grave mistake they should have never made, but she was certain both Niles and herself would make sure that nothing of the sort happened ever again.
C.C. took one last look at herself on the ornate, full-length mirror that hung opposite her four-poster bed. She looked…beautiful. What was better – she felt beautiful. It was probably the first time she'd felt that way in a long, long while, and tonight of all nights she really needed her self-confidence. She'd never considered herself to be a drop-dead gorgeous kind of gal, but she liked what she saw. She liked the woman she had become.
Unburdened, finally, and willing to turn over the page.
"Let's get this party started," she said to herself as she marched out of the room, head held up high and hope blossoming in her heart.
Embarrassingly (and as a complete coincidence), the last thing C.C. said aloud, before she appeared at the top of the stairs, was the very first thing a...certain part of Niles' anatomy...thought the moment he set eyes on her.
Fortunately, the rest of him swiftly took over before any permanent damage could be done. What had he been thinking, even in that brief moment?! He was supposed to be a gentleman, not...letting his mind wander! He'd done too much of that already, earlier, when he'd seen her in her pyjamas...
She was just as beautiful right in that moment, as she had been then. But it was a different kind of beautiful – the same way a soft, glowing sunset was differently beautiful to the sculpture of a widely-worshipped goddess from an ancient religion. Or how fairy lights were differently beautiful to the Crown Jewels.
C.C. was all of those things, and many more. She was the warmth of that sun, the celebratory feeling in those lights, the strength and power and elegance of the jewels...and like a goddess, he wanted to fall down at her feet in reverence and praise.
That was what made it so difficult to speak, even as she descended the stairs towards him.
What did he say? What could he possibly say?! He knew how to speak to women, obviously, but he never knew what to do when he was met by the most...utterly gorgeous woman he had ever seen in his entire life!
He felt like he was back at school all over again, trying to speak to one of the girls from a neighbouring school for girls.
"H-hello..."
He wanted to kick himself the moment it was out. "Hello"? Complete with a stutter? What a pathetic excuse for a man he was – she'd probably been out with men in the time they hadn't been together who knew exactly what to say. Who knew how to say that only her dress hugged her curves closer than he could, flirting to make her laugh. Who knew how to compliment her on the jewellery that brought out the sparkle in her eyes.
Who knew how to whisper her name, as though it were a sacred mantra, smiling softly and leading her in their own private dance...
He shook himself out of it. He had to think about the present moment – she was there, with him, and he had a chance to make it all right.
Even if he did feel like he'd started it off by ballsing it all up.
"Hi yourself, Mister," she replied, patting him on the shoulder as she gave him a once over. "Looking dapper, Brightmore!"
"Thanks," he said, managing a smile in spite of his nerves. "You…you look amazing, too."
Not for the first time that night, Niles wanted to punch himself in the face as soon as he spoke. "You look amazing"? Way to take things slow! He honestly didn't know how on Earth he managed to have normal interactions with other human beings…
Luckily for him, the stifled giggling coming from their (obviously excited) twins brought their attention away from his latest conversational blunder. They'd forgotten their girls were there still, watching them from a few feet away, beams as wide as the whole damn Equator. Both parents could feel their hearts warming up – how they loved those two! Even if they had given them the runaround and wreaked havoc time and time again, they knew they owed them.
They had been more mature about this than they had when they'd pushed for a reunion, and thanks to them, Niles had dodged a bullet – actually, it was more like he'd dodged a cannon ball.
They really owed them. Big time.
But now wasn't the time to pay them back (even if they suspected there was a way they'd consider the debt paid in full). It was time for them to have an early dinner, watch a movie with their grandma and then it was off to bed. Niles and C.C. were both rather strict when it came to bedtime – proper sleep was top priority whether they liked it or not, and that was that!
"And pray tell why are you two eavesdropping?" Niles said in mock anger.
"Please, they are your kids – snooping is in their genes!"
He looked over at C.C., easing back into the familiar sensation of being zinged once more. He didn't know if she could tell just how nervous he was, but at least some of it had to be obvious. He couldn't help but make it obvious, as much as it was nearly killing him to admit it.
Once upon a time, showing that kind of vulnerability to C.C. would have been unthinkable.
"Like offering his throat to a wolf", he would have said. But that had been before he'd watched a nature documentary that had shown him such an act among wolf packs was actually the ultimate display of both submission and trust.
It still felt like the right analogy. But maybe he meant it in a different way, these days?
And perhaps she thought the zingers would be a good way to relax?
He appreciated it, if so. And he was more than happy to oblige in the word games.
He feigned a non-amused look as he replied, "And them also being your children doesn't play any sort of part? There are stories I could tell about some of the things you've overheard in your time..."
He widened his eyes dramatically at that last part, causing the kids to giggle again. That had been part of his plan. The other part was coming right up, if he still had the knack for telling when C.C. was interested in a bit of verbal sparring.
She turned to Mia and Lottie to carry it out, though.
"But, for now, it's time for you two to have your dinner, movie and then go to sleep," she said, lightly poking a perfectly manicured finger in each of their directions. "Daddy will have to tell you his crazy old man stories another day."
Niles tried to put up a pretence of being offended, but he had just been proven right and couldn't manage it entirely. The smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, pulling harder the more about how she had called him "Daddy" to their children, and refusing to budge at the fact that she...well, that she really was happy to do this with him. The zingers proved it. The smiles proved it.
The evening to come would surely only seal it.
But C.C. was right – they had to get on, if they were going to get to that part. And he really did want to get to it – to seeing how their...relationship? Potential relationship? That was what it was, wasn't it...?...could evolve and change into something beautiful.
Time was getting on, too, and their reservation was waiting. He might've been the owner of the place, but he didn't like to be rude to his staff by being late.
"Indeed," he said, replying in amusement to C.C.'s words, before turning to their children. "You will be surprised just how many feature your mother...! But, for the time being, they will have to wait – we should get going, and you young ladies should be seeing what your grandmother is up to with dinner."
"Eet eez nearly ready!" called a voice from the kitchen, followed quickly by Marie popping her head around the doorframe. "'Ave a nice time, you two!"
"Thank you, Maman," Niles called out, waving back at her, then using his hand to bring Lottie and Mia closer. "Come on, give us both a hug and we'll say goodnight."
The twins immediately rushed to their parents, taking their turn hugging both their mother and their father. They still couldn't fully believe just how well their plan had worked!
That was why they didn't mind having to go to bed when their grandmother said, even if they were only going to be awake for a little longer. To them, it was just as exciting as Christmas Eve, to think that their parents could be back together again by morning...
"Have a good night," Lottie mumbled into C.C's shoulder.
Mia almost completely buried her face in Niles' jacket, "We love you."
That made both Niles and C.C. share a glance and laugh slightly. As much as their daughters could get into mischief on an international scale, they were also perhaps the best-natured kids either one of them had ever met. They had good intentions in...well, most things they did, and no sane parent could really ask for better.
Not in their eyes, anyway.
"We love you, too," C.C. replied, kissing Lottie on the top of her head before releasing her.
Niles did the same for Mia, "We certainly do. Now, go see if your grandmother needs help in the kitchen. Have a lovely time and we'll see you in the morning."
With a shared call of "Goodnight!", the twins were then off to the kitchen, happy in the knowledge that their parents really were working things out.
"How did we get so lucky?" C.C. said, smiling at the spot their daughters had just ran off from.
"Honestly? No idea. I guess someone up there has a soft spot for us and sent us those two," replied Niles, smiling as well. He couldn't help it – he was every inch a proud Daddy, and in his eyes nothing and no one could compare to his princesses.
Well…maybe one person could, he thought, glancing at C.C. from the corner of his eye, but it was too early for her to know. He would tell her, eventually, when things between them were on more solid ground. But until then, he'd have to play it cool, lest he appeared needy or moved at a pace that was too much for her to bear. He'd made a promise to himself – he wouldn't let her get away again, and he fully intended to keep his word.
"I guess you are right, but we should get going, shouldn't we?" she said, gesturing over at the door.
Well, this was it. The start of the moment of truth. The beginning of everything - he refused to let it be anything else. And he was going to start it off as one would start a dance; that is, to say, on the right footing.
"Yes, we need to be heading off," he said, turning more towards the door and checking one last time that he had his keys and wallet. Before he took one of C.C.'s finer jackets down from the hook by the door and offered to help her into it, as he would have done, back at the mansion in New York.
"Here; it may be summer, but the night can still have a chill."
C.C. smiled gratefully, turned around and slipped her arms into the jacket.
She then turned back to face him, "Thank you. I keep forgetting your country doesn't have a real summer, so I would've been stuck if I hadn't brought it.
Niles gave her an unamused look as he let her coat slide up fully to her shoulders.
"I'd rather have mild summers than the all-day saunas a lot of your country suffers from, thank you very much. I could hardly stand working in a kitchen when the outside is just as hot as in!"
C.C. rolled her eyes at him.
"Drama Queen," she said as they began their way towards the front door.
"And don't you ever forget it!" he said, smirking.