Author's Note: I was going through the tracking for this story, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see all of the views and visitors that were coming through. I can't thank you all enough for checking this story out. Please feel free to leave a review as well! I don't mind! Also, I do apologize in advance if this chapter seems shorter than others. I have plenty of other ideas set in stone for the rest of this story, so this chapter was written to get rid of the writer's block. One last thing, if anyone was curious, this story does take place during the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons of The Nanny. I will follow some important storylines that were canon as well and some of those will also be in AU versions to fit the story itself. Anyways, thanks for reading my babbling. Hope you all enjoy!
The next morning came through quickly. Since she was sleeping in the guest room, CC wasn't used to not receiving any sunlight through the window, so it was harder for her to wake up. She fluttered her eyes open and looked over at her clock reading the time. She groaned knowing that on normal days, she'd be late to work, but she was thankful that Maxwell granted her the days off that she needed. After a few minutes of laying in the guest room bed, she finally mustered up the energy to get out. She opened the closet door and found a pink robe that she hadn't worn in years. Knowing that all of her good clothes were in her own room, she sighed and took the robe wearing it temporarily until the girl in the next room stopped occupying it. As she walked towards the door, she stopped her tracks when she smelled fresh coffee coming from outside. "Angelica doesn't come in until noon. What's she doing here this early?" she asked herself.
Curious to know what was going on, CC walked outside and then stopped seeing the sight before her. The younger girl had woken up before her and made breakfast for them. Coffee was already brewed, pancakes were cooked, and the small table was set. It was almost as if Niles had shown up, but he actually didn't. Hearing footsteps in the room, Sabrina turned around with a plate full of pancakes. "Good morning, Miss Babcock!" she chimed as she walked over to the table to set the plate down. "I hope you don't mind, but as a token of my gratitude and appreciation for you getting me out of that place yesterday, I decided to thank you with breakfast! Want some coffee?" she asked as she grabbed a mug and poured some for the blonde.
CC was a little in shock, but at the same time, she thought that this whole thing Sabrina put together was sweet. She narrowed her eyes and walked towards her. "Two things. First of all, when did I give you permission to use my stuff?" she asked as she stepped up to the counter watching Sabrina put away the leftovers. Upon realizing what she just did, Sabrina stopped moving a muscle and looked over at the blonde who crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Because I don't recall telling you that just because you're staying here with me doesn't mean that this is a free-for-all for you," CC added.
"Well, don't ever expect any help from me anymore with that attitude," Sabrina replied scoffing. CC easily was not amused at her response. The young pop star nervously set her plates down in the sink and then said, "I'm sorry, Miss Babcock. Look, I was just trying to be nice. It was my mistake. I won't do it ever again." She sighed and then walked away from the kitchen area until CC stopped her by holding onto the girl's shoulders.
"Oh no. You started the mess, now you get to clean it up," CC said to the girl who tried to get away from the scene. She then turned her around and gently pushed her back to the kitchen. "Let this be a lesson learned for you, dear. You're lucky you're not going to be leaving my sight anytime soon," she added winking at her as Sabrina sighed and began to wash the dishes that were still covered in pancake batter and coffee stains. "Second of all, you're my guest. You shouldn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning or anything else like that. I have a maid who comes in every day at noon that takes care of everything.. even Chester! As my guest, you deserve to be treated like one."
Sabrina continued to wash the dishes as she listened to CC talk about her being a guest in her home. She was definitely right about everything, but her actions definitely spoke that she was still grateful for the woman taking her in when she needed it the most. "You're right. I probably shouldn't have taken advantage of your food or dishes. This is your penthouse and not mine. I'm just used to cooking and cleaning when I'm at my home in LA with my agent, Bernie."
"Now don't get me wrong, I love what you did here. This was quite... unexpected... but I think this was very sweet of you to cook me breakfast," CC said as she took a sip of her coffee that the girl had made for her earlier. "And you're a top notch celebrity. What's a girl like you doing cooking and cleaning like a domestic? Don't you have any help back in Los Angeles? A butler? A maid? Anyone?" she asked her curiously.
Sabrina finished up the last of the dishes and then decided to join CC at the table taking her own coffee mug with her. "I actually don't have my own staff," Sabrina replied with a shrug. "Ever since I started living with Bernie, she's always taught me that even when you're famous, you can still be responsible for your own messes." She took a moment to study CC's reaction to her comment. She was probably thinking about how Sabrina could possibly live with herself, being rich and still doing the dirty work. "I know you're probably a little taken aback by this, but it's just how I was raised."
CC let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. "That Bernie woman didn't do a great job raising you."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked CC wanting a little bit more clarity.
"Let me explain this to you without being too harsh," CC said as she cleared her throat a little bit. "Do you know your worth?"
"Um... 40 million?" Sabrina guessed. It was clear that she didn't know what worth CC was talking about, because the older woman tried so hard to fight back laughter at the girl's guess.
"No, dear. Not your net worth," CC said giggling before she took a deep breath to compose herself. "I meant your self worth."
Sabrina was confused at the new terminology that she was hearing. Nobody really ever talked about self worth, let alone how special she was. She thought she was just like every other human being on the planet. "Uh.. is that calculable?" she asked.
"Oh my god," the Broadway producer pinched the bridge of her nose hiding in more laughter before she got serious again. "Sabrina, you truly have no idea how lucky and special you are. It seems like your agent's stooped you so low when you have so much freedom that you're missing out on," CC said to her.
Sabrina raised her eyebrows and dropped her fork. Maybe this woman made a point about having no freedom. Exhibit A was experienced the day prior with Nanny Fine at the baseball game. "Freedom? What are you saying?" Sabrina asked curiously.
"I'm saying to take advantage of the status that you're in," CC said reminding her of how Sabrina was wealthy. "You don't need to spend your free time cooking and cleaning around the house. That's why we hire help." CC reached over to take Sabrina's hand tightly. "Listen to me, you're too young to be living in the shadow of a domestic. Take advantage of what you have right now before everything slips away from your little hands in a few years." Sabrina listened to the woman intently and nodded her head at the advice CC gave to her. "Now you're lucky I have the next few days off, because I think it's time I showed you just how lucky you are. I've got our whole day planned out."
Sabrina's smile grew a little bit knowing that CC was about to treat her to the things she wanted ever since she had the day off yesterday. "You do?" she asked excitedly.
"Sure do. You might want to freshen up and get ready. Our first appointment's in a couple of hours," CC reminded her.
"Appointment? Where?" Sabrina asked anxiously wanting to know what tricks the Broadway producer had up her sleeve.
"You won't find out until you get ready," CC replied as she then watched as Sabrina scurried up and away from the table to get ready. She rushed back into CC's room where her bags were so she could find something to wear. All CC could do was laugh a little bit at the girl's reaction. In a weird way, she kind of reminded her of herself when she was younger: always eager to try new things. There was a brief moment of silence until the penthouse phone rang, and she reached to answer it. "CC Babcock... hi, Angelica. No, I'm pretty sure you know by now groceries are done every other Thursday, not every Thursday! Actually come to think of it, today may be an exception... I have the lead actress from our production staying over with me for a few months.. Oh by the way, she left her bags in my room, so if you could unpack her stuff in the guest room when you get here, that would be great.. she decided to use some of the food I had saved for breakfast this morning... yes, she was staying at Maxwell's... there's an article about it? Oh god... anyways, just get me double of what I asked for the other day." With that, CC hung up the phone on her maid. "Ugh, that woman," she muttered to herself. After a minute or so, she sighed and stood up to head to her room. Sabrina couldn't possibly be changing for this long. She noticed that the door was open, and she couldn't help but peek inside to see what the girl was doing. It looked like Sabrina was trying to fix up her makeup, but was having trouble with it. Her hand was shaky as she raised her mascara to her eye, and she ended up missing her lashes. The girl sighed in frustration as she looked at herself through CC's vanity mirror. "Are you struggling over there?" CC finally asked, which made the girl gasp and jump.
Sabrina's eyes widened as she held onto her makeup and brushes tightly. "These are mine, not yours! I promise! I didn't even sit at your vanity, I stood up!" she said hoping CC would believe that she wasn't using her belongings this time. "Look, I brought my little Chanel purse with the rest of my makeup," she said showing off her little bag to the older woman.
CC walked into her room and shook her head, "I believe you. I just couldn't help but notice how your eye liner doesn't match and your lipstick is lopsided." She stood in front of Sabrina and then pulled out a washcloth that was in one of her vanity drawers. "Go wash your face. I'm gonna help you out with this," she told Sabrina, who obeyed her immediately and rushed to the bathroom. CC sat down at her vanity and quickly fixed up her hair while she waited for Sabrina to come back with a makeup free face. After a short moment, the girl came back drying her face with the washcloth. CC noticed her and patted the space next to her. "Come, sit," she said to her smiling.
Sabrina couldn't help but quip back, "What are you gonna do now? Give me a treat and call me a good girl?" She sat down next to CC facing her.
CC sighed and grabbed her makeup kit that was sitting atop her vanity. "You too? Good god, I already get enough from Niles with the dog comments.. and he's the one who calls me a dog," she said as they both laughed at Sabrina's own comment. "Close your eyes," CC said to her as Sabrina obeyed. As she started to work her magic on the girl's face, CC said, "Remember this next time you contour and doll yourself up... your face is like a canvas... and you're the artist. There's always lines that need to be outlined and there are those that need to be drawn out. You're painting your own portrait for the world to see. Something that is bland and boring... turns out to be radiant and..." CC finished up everything as she tapped the girl's nose with a blush brush. "...beautiful."
Sabrina grinned and then looked over at herself through the vanity. She couldn't believe what kind of sorcery the Broadway producer just did to her face. It was absolutely perfect. "Wow," she said surprised at how she looked. "It looks great," she beamed at her own reflection.
"Honey, you've never looked better.. and I've seen the other shows you did this year. The makeup done to you was atrocious. Whoever assisted you then should've been fired," CC said before standing up from the vanity.
Sabrina laughed a little bit. "I think the lady who did my makeup on that day show did get fired. Bernie took care of it," she said as she looked over at CC. "Thank you for helping me. I'm not one to do this on my own.. when I do, I come out looking like a Rorschach test."
CC came up behind the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Stick with me, kid, and you'll be looking like a Da Vinci painting.. not a Jackson Pollock," she said as she then walked away to her closet to find something to wear. "You better get ready to go. Time doesn't wait for us, and our appointment is in less than two hours."
Between that period of time and where they were now, it was safe to say that CC and Sabrina had an amazing day that they spent together. The whole day consisted of getting their nails done, getting a massage, and setting up a personal designer for Sabrina for the show. In a way, CC was right about the girl's life. Besides booking new gigs and working hard on her projects, Sabrina never really got to do anything fun outside of her career. In fact, she never had this much fun in her life. Sure, she knew Nanny Fine did make an attempt the other day, but unlike CC, she didn't know the girl's needs or interests. She finally was able to click with someone who shared pretty much everything in common. In CC's point of view, she saw a lot of herself in the younger girl. She exuberated a lot of her personality traits and shared common interests in fashion and hobbies. In a way, it was as if she was taken back to relive her teenage years. When she was Sabrina's age, she was in Oxford studying business and being the social recluse of the family. Unfortunately, she knew she only had a few days left until she went back to work, so she was going to make the best out of this weekend.
Towards the end of the day, the two were headed off to the Russian Tea Room for dinner. CC had made reservations the night before, so they were expected to show up for their time. They made their entrance in the restaurant and awaited for the next waiter to greet them. "Oh my gosh, today was so much fun! Who knew roasting pedestrians about their outfits from the limo would be so entertaining?" Sabrina said. "By the way, you still owe me $150 for winning that round."
"Good god, that Danny DeVito lookalike got me in stitches!" CC chuckled as she passed the cash to the younger girl who stuffed it in her bra. "That woman had the ugliest haircut and jacket on. She could've easily passed for him."
"No, I actually thought that woman was him!" Sabrina replied. They both started to laugh about their experience from earlier. Some people in the restaurant saw that they both shared a similar laugh, even though the two never paid attention. After a while of sharing that memory together, Sabrina checked her watch. "Ugh, where is our greeter? The wait time at this place is ridiculous."
"You know we just walked through the door, honey," CC said trying to remind her.
"I know! I never wait this long," Sabrina said back to her. "It's always the staff recognizing me and they get me a table right away!"
"You're in New York... it's a city full of claustrophobes and hobos. You won't be recognized right away. Just be thankful you have an ounce of privacy while it's lasting," CC said to her as they continued waiting.
After a few moments of standing together, the greeter finally came up to the two women and said, "Do you have a reservation?"
CC stepped forward and removed her sunglasses. "We have a 6:30 under Babcock," she reminded the greeter. The greeter then began to try and find their names in the reservation book. After a while of trying to look, he shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, ma'am. I don't see anything here," he said.
"That's impossible. I made a reservation yesterday evening," CC said getting a little irritated that her reservation wasn't listed.
"Well tough luck, lady. I don't see a Babcock under 6:30," the greeter replied in a snarky fashion.
"Listen up, servant, you can't just deny us our entry! Do you know who I am?" CC said angrily pulling out her business card.
"I don't care if you're the Queen of Sheba. Now get lost," the greeter said to them. Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows and watched the scene in front of her. She knew there had to be a way to get in this place. Hopefully her charm would be sufficient in this situation.
She then stepped forward in front of CC and said to her, "Don't worry. I got this." Sabrina then turned to the greeter and slammed her hands on the podium. "How dare you talk to her like that! Get us our table right now!"
"You both better get out of here before I pick up the phone and call the-" the greeter was about to finish his sentence before the younger girl pulled off her sunglasses revealing her identity. The greeter's eyes widened upon recognizing the young pop star. "Oh my Lanta! It's Sabrina Taylor!" Sabrina pursed her lips together watching the greeter's reaction, not amused. "I am so sorry about the mix up. Maybe there was a 6:30 under there.." the greeter went to go check his reservation book again, but the girl ripped it out of his hands and threw it behind her.
"Forget the damn book and get us a table for God's sake," Sabrina said to him.
The greeter nodded his head quickly grabbing a couple of menus and rushing them towards the best table. "You're right. Right this way, ladies," he said. Sabrina looked back at CC who was impressed by the way she was able to save their reservation. The greeter then turned back to Sabrina and asked, "Do you wanna start off with your favorite drink? Scotch on the rocks?"
"Uh..." Sabrina nervously widened her eyes at his question. Sure everyone knew she was a slight alcoholic, but CC didn't care. She didn't want her lead actress drinking at any point in time during her duration on the show. She watched as Sabrina turned around to look at her, but CC shot daggers through her eyes indicating that she'd surely kill her if she had an alcoholic drink. "Um.. I'm gonna pass on that today," Sabrina answered wisely. They made their way to their seats and sat across each other. "I swear I had no idea he was gonna ask that," Sabrina said defensively.
"Oh I'm sure you didn't know," CC started out moving a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just wanted to know what your answer was. Consider yourself lucky you passed the test, kid."
About a couple of hours later, it seemed as if any negative vibe had died down. Now they were back to enjoying themselves just like they were from the very start of the day. At this point in time, Sabrina had brought up an idea to get to know CC a little bit more and vice versa. Since they were getting close, she figured this would be appropriate for the time that she was going to stay with her.
"Okay, um.. how about.. your proudest moment?" Sabrina inquired placing her head on her hands curiously.
"My proudest moment?" CC thought aloud. She didn't really have a lot of proud moments in her lifetime considering that a good majority of Maxwell's productions went down the drain. She thought for a moment to herself and then finally came up with something. "Oh! It was back in the early 80's when we got our first backer. We had a huge party at the house, and I can remember talking to this gentleman who offered us $2 million to start our production. It was such a surreal moment.. I was Maxwell's secretary before I became a producer, so that just proved to him and myself that I was able to carry on bigger duties in the theater," she shared to the girl. Sabrina thought it was quite intriguing by her genuine reaction. "Okay, your turn."
"I'd have to say mine would be landing that small acting role in that Superman movie when I was 12. That was where I found out the entertainment industry was welcoming me into Hollywood. From then on, I acted in a few other productions before I turned to music as my main source of income," Sabrina explained. "I remember begging my agent to audition for those roles. She always was hesitant about it, but it worked out in the end."
"You need to show me that movie sometime, then I can be the judge of how good your acting was," CC said before taking another bite of her food.
"I don't know if it's worth it. I kind of sucked back then," Sabrina admitted to her taking a sip of her water.
"If you did, then I really wanna watch it and laugh at your bad acting skills," CC said causing Sabrina to laugh about it. She was kind of a terrible actress back then, but her roots had grown since then.
After a brief moment, Sabrina then thought of another idea. "What about a moment that pissed you off?" When Sabrina asked that, she and CC glanced at each other and shared similar grins. Knowing their thoughts, they tried their best to hold in laughter. She was hoping that they had the same thought. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I don't know. What are you thinking?" CC inquired curiously.
"You say yours, then I'll say mine," Sabrina said.
"Bet you we're not thinking the same thing."
"Bet you we are!"
CC shook her head and then sighed. "Okay, ready?" she asked. "One, two, three..."
"Nanny Fine!" they both blurted out and pointed at each other. Knowing that they thought the same thing, they both started to laugh hard. The fact that their thoughts were similar only made Sabrina happier to be a part of this production with her.
"I swear, it's any moment with that woman. Ever since she barged in to Maxwell's house, life hasn't been the same for me. She's got him stuck in these ridiculous situations, but then kisses his ass when she realizes she's at the brink of termination," CC said rubbing her temples. "I don't understand how she's been employed for this long."
"Who knows? With the slutty outfits she wears in the house, it's no wonder she gets her way back," Sabrina said eating a bite of her food. "Plus, her family gets on my nerves! Do you know how many times they've asked me to sign something for them while I was trying to memorize my lines? Good god, I could never get any privacy with her around.."
"I think she's stripped us both of privacy.. in our own ways. I want alone time with Maxwell, you want alone time in general," CC recapped.
"It's true," the younger girl shrugged. After a moment, she thought of another question. "I don't remember if I asked you this already, but what about your happiest moment?"
CC smiled at the question. She immediately thought of an answer for her. "It actually happened just recently," she stated.
"How recent are we talking?" Sabrina asked her curiously.
"Before you arrived," CC cleared up. "Sheffield-Babcock Productions was nominated for a Broadway Guild Award, and at the time, I had a boyfriend, so you can imagine that he would want to take me to the awards ceremony. Well.. the day of the ceremony, he sent me back my spare key to my penthouse and dumped me."
Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "That doesn't sound like a happy moment.."
"I wasn't done, sweetie," CC said chuckling. "Anyways, out of impulse - and because he was standing there - I asked Niles to escort me in lieu of those events. At first, he didn't want to, but it was easy to persuade him with a bribe. We ended up going to the awards ceremony together... we won the award and then.." CC's mind drifted off at that moment. She bit her bottom lip softly and grinned thinking about how that night ended up.
"Um... Miss Babcock..?" Sabrina called to her nudging her lightly. CC then snapped out of her trance realizing what just happened.
"Oh god... where was I?" CC asked trying to recollect her thoughts. She then snapped her finger and spoke again. "Then, Niles took us back to the house, and since we had time to kill, we started slow dancing in the living room. I think what really genuinely made me happy was the fact that when I gave him his check for the night, he tore it apart. That just showed that he cared about being in that moment with me.."
"Aww that's so sweet!" Sabrina said placing her hand on her chest. "It sounds like you both have a soft spot for each other."
CC thought for a moment about the girl's comment. Maybe she was right, but CC definitely didn't want to admit it for herself. "I wish I could believe that. Things just went back to normal the next day," she said sighing. Sabrina frowned. It seemed like she was so happy talking about him, but their relationship seemed complicated. All she wanted was for her to be happy. CC then asked, "What about you? What's your happiest moment?"
Sabrina stayed silent for that one. She didn't really have a happy moment that stood out to her in her life. She pursed her lips together and then said, "I guess... I'm saving that moment for something in the future... if it ever does happen.." she mumbled the last part to herself.
"Well, weren't you happy when you got the call from Maxwell?" CC asked trying to help her out seeing that she didn't seem happy.
"I was, you're right," Sabrina said nodding her head. "It's a happy moment, I guess." She took a moment to think of another question and then asked, "What about... a moment that you regret the most?"
That question hit home for CC. Her smile fell from her face and she looked down at her hands. That moment was especially private to her and her alone, so she felt a sense of discomfort wash over her. She could feel tears well up in her eyes just thinking about that moment in her life. Seeing that CC was about to cry, Sabrina immediately felt horrible for the older woman. "I-I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to pry.."
"No, no, it's okay.. this really isn't the place and time to talk about it.." CC replied sniffling and wiping her tears away with the napkin. She quickly grabbed her clutch purse and said, "I'll be right back, sweetie." She then strode away leaving Sabrina alone at the table by herself. Of course, she expected CC to come back to go home, but a part of her died inside. Did she ruin the possible friendship that they made? She was afraid she offended her in any way. Sabrina just sighed and laid her head on the table thinking about the question she asked.
The night went on, and the two eventually went back to CC's penthouse. Sabrina had retired for the night, but CC just couldn't seem to sleep. That question hadn't left her mind, and she knew she wanted to respond to it. However, she didn't want to burden the girl with her own problems. Once she started building up more trust with her, maybe then would be a more appropriate time to finish their conversation. She laid down in her bed as tears fell from her eyes thinking about the moment she regretted the most: giving up her daughter.