Author's Note: I'm back with another chapter! This is the first chapter that's based off of a canon Nanny episode, which would be the season four finale "Fran's Gotta Have It." Of course, some parts are written in AU format, so it may not correspond well with the series, but I'm hoping this chapter does justice! Also PRETTY PLEASE leave more reviews on this story! I do plan on continuing this regardless if I have one or two reviews on it. I would really like to hear feedback from all of my lovely viewers and visitors! Also consider this another trigger warning: there are mentions of underage drinking in this chapter. (lowkey I feel like this chapter isn't as well written so I apologize)
Quick disclaimer before I shut up: I do NOT own any of the original Nanny characters or the show itself, HOWEVER I do own the bratty little pop star that is Sabrina Taylor.
A couple more weeks had passed, and both CC and Sabrina eventually went back to their regular schedules. Sabrina headed back to the theater for rehearsals, and CC was at the Sheffield household for work. The conversation they had at the Russian Tea Room had slipped through their minds pretty quickly as they both were dedicated to their entitled positions in the production. Sabrina did have a little bit of trouble with concentration and got into quarrels with her costars and director. She didn't think being on Broadway would be so difficult, but she wanted to be able to muster herself to continue. Being the lead role in a big production such as West Side Story was an honor in of itself, especially because she didn't even need to audition.
Sabrina rushed in her dressing room and closed the door quickly once the director allowed the cast to break. She leaned against the door and breathed heavily. Who knew this new realm of entertainment and the people who participated were so... vicious? Of course, fire couldn't be played with fire. Sabrina was quick to get in a slight altercation with the actor who played Tony after he verbally abused her. She was quick to knee him in the groin and rush off before the director could catch her. Surely if CC was around, Sabrina would've gotten away with it, knowing the older woman would've gone to bat for her. She had to admit, she didn't like being by herself seeing that the rest of the cast got along with each other so well, but not with her. The young girl sniffled as she adjusted her hair and tried to wipe off any incoming tears from her eyes. After a moment to herself in the dressing room, she took a deep breath and walked back outside to the stage so she could go about her day at rehearsals.
Back at the Sheffield home, CC and Niles ended up having the house to themselves while the kids and Yetta went out to the movies. Recently, Maxwell had decided to go to London to recruit Celine Dion into joining one of his productions. However, he was accompanied by Fran who he didn't expect to come join him on the trip in the first place. The mere thought of Maxwell and Fran being alone together across the pond made CC's blood boil. One of these days, she needed Maxwell alone, and not just for a possible romantic connection. It bothered her even more remembering what Niles had stated earlier when they were all gathered in the living room:
"Can we be serious for a moment?" Niles asked CC after she made fun of his new hairdo. "Mr. Sheffield telephoned. He hasn't seen Celine Dion yet."
"Well, what's he doing in London?" CC asked annoyed that Maxwell was clearly distracted by the big-haired yenta.
"One would hope Miss Fine," Niles replied. He smirked walking away from the blonde, who he left speechless.
Moments had passed, and Niles was in the kitchen preparing dinner for the evening. He hadn't been feeling like himself all day, seeing as he had put in working out hard and eating junk food simultaneously. His doctor had reminded him several times to not put those habits together, but he continued to ignore the advice. On occasion, he would feel sudden jolts of pain going up his left arm and into his chest, but figured they were just muscle strains. He chose to ignore them and continued chopping up the salad that he was going to create.
All of a sudden, the kitchen door swung open. CC made her entrance carrying her empty green mug and slamming it on the counter. "Hey Discount James Bond, where's my tea? I sent you on a top secret mission for a refill two hours ago," she said laughing at his haircut.
Niles wasn't amused by her zinger, so he figured he could give one right back to her, "You've been on a top secret mission to try and get with Mr. Sheffield for years now. Where's the success in that?"
CC sighed and rolled her eyes hearing him. Typical. Usually she would've brushed that off of her shoulders, but she found herself being a little more sensitive to the zingers he threw at her. "I haven't found it yet, okay!" she shouted in annoyance. She sighed and then sat at the table. "Maybe I should just let him be.. what's the use? I've tried for years to win him over, and obviously, nothing's going anywhere," she vented to herself out loud as Niles took her empty cup and poured some fresh tea in there. "He.. deserves to be happy with... her," she emphasized the last word on her hatred of Nanny Fine.
Niles furrowed his eyebrows as he passed the mug to CC. "Miss Babcock, this is the last thing I expected to hear coming out of your big mouth.. surely I have to be in one of those lucid dreams. I just took my medication not an hour ago," he said standing beside her as she took her tea cup and held it close to her.
"Oh can it, Dust Buster," CC said smacking him lightly. She sighed and then removed her beret. "I can't believe I'm saying this but... I think I'm growing soft."
"Doesn't every man do so when they see you?" Niles quipped again with a chuckle. CC didn't seem phased by it as she didn't respond or react to his comment, which made him shocked. "Oh my god! The bombshell's dropped. It's true, isn't it? Someone's finally melted the Ice Queen's heart."
"I know.." CC mumbled running her fingers through her hair. "It's the damn girl.."
Niles was confused at who CC was referring to at first. "The girl? Miss Babcock, Mr. Sheffield has two girls- wait a minute.. you're talking about Miss Taylor, aren't you?"
CC sighed in defeat and nodded her head slowly. "Ever since she started to stay with me, I could just... see myself a lot in her. She's sarcastic, stubborn, high strung, professional.. everything that I am. I don't know whether to be irritated with her or proud of her."
"If it were me, I wouldn't be proud of her. Just unamused," Niles said grimacing and then proceeded to go back to making dinner.
"Niles.. do you think it's possible that she.. admires me?" CC asked not making eye contact with him. She fidgeted her fingers nervously tapping them on the table.
He scoffed at her question. "Miss Babcock, please. She was a brat from the very beginning when she stepped foot in this house," he responded rolling his eyes at the mere thought of the 2.0 version of CC.
"Yep. Sounds just like me," CC confirmed sipping her tea and sighing heavily.
"She's known you for a couple of months.. it couldn't be because she's rubbed off on you.. well.. I take that back. She did call me a dust magnet the other day and purposely spilled cognac on my new shirt," Niles responded to her thinking out loud.
CC found herself infamously chuckling hearing that come out of Niles. She then stopped herself and slammed her hands on the table. "Ugh! She's tugging on my heartstrings and I hate it," she vented crossing her arms tightly.
"I'm surprised she hasn't stopped the blood flow," Niles quipped as he started to clean the counter surface. He felt another twinge of pain in his chest and winced. After it subsided, he began cleaning again in hopes life would just continue like normal.
CC sighed as she walked towards the counter again and leaned on it. "I should've just gone to England with Maxwell. That would've just gotten my mind off of things," she said trying to switch the subject.
"Oh I'm sure you could've visited your old neighborhood, Stonehenge," he replied smirking to himself knowing he just threw out another good zinger.
CC had it with his quips and then said, "Oh! You mean the place where the rocks are older than yours?" She then started to laugh expecting another zinger back from him, but the room was silent for a while. She took her tea mug from the table and held it close to her. Niles stopped cleaning and gripped onto the counter as if something had happened to him. CC furrowed her eyebrows at his reaction because this was completely unlike him. To gain his attention, she said, "Don't make me get ugly!" Again, Niles didn't respond. The pain that he was feeling earlier had gotten worse. It was radiating up his left arm and into his chest. Soon he could feel himself go numb and clutch onto his chest. It was a matter of seconds until he fell to the ground passing out. CC gasped and in horror watching the scene before her. "NILES!" She screamed as she shakily dropped her tea mug on the ground, causing it to shatter into pieces.
Back at the theater, there were problems that had ensued between Sabrina and her leading male costar, Dominic Pineda. She had too many demands that made him mentally exhausted and annoyed with her. Sabrina didn't think they were that bad, but she was a little shocked to see how he was reacting at how she felt stage directions should've changed and lines should've been rewritten. After a while, the director told the cast that they could take a break. This gave both Sabrina and Dominic some time to themselves and some relief from each other.
When break was called, Sabrina rushed out of the backstage theater door and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door trying to catch her breath knowing she was out of everyone's hair for once. After a moment of composing herself, she reached for her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. When she was stressed in moments like these, a cigarette or two calmed her down quickly. She pulled out a cigarette and put it to her mouth. She then ignited the match allowing the smoke to come into her lungs and eventually, out of her mouth. She leaned against the brick wall of the theater with the cigarette securely placed in between her two fingers closing her eyes and letting the moment of calmness rush over her. Sabrina was almost sure that nothing could bother her now that she was out of the building.
After about five minutes of smoking, she heard the backstage door open and jolted back to reality. Her head turned to see none other than Dominic walk outside. His intentions were most likely the same as hers, as he huffed and sighed in frustration. "Damn woman," he muttered as he kicked a rock in the opposite direction of where Sabrina was standing. "One of these days, I'll have her fired.."
Sabrina raised an eyebrow and turned to face Dominic, who didn't know she was there yet. "You wanna say that to my face?" She challenged. Dominic's eyes widened hearing her voice as he turned to face her. Sabrina smirked putting the cigarette to her lips and took another puff of smoke.
"What are you doing here?" He asked annoyed by her presence outside.
"Getting away from you," Sabrina shot back with a glare. "You probably had the same intentions. Guess what, buddy? I was here first."
Dominic exasperatedly ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, so now you're gonna piss over here too and claim this as your territory?"
Sabrina rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Please. I already did," she said with a giggle as she flicked some ashes in his direction. "See?"
Having had enough of her demands and cruel words, Dominic found the strength to push her against the brick wall, which made Sabrina gasp, groan in pain, and drop her cigarette. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes feeling as if she took things too far. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked. "Are you trying to get a rise out of me today?!"
Sabrina scanned his body with her eyes and then looked back at him. "Seeing as my attempts at quips aren't working.. maybe I am," she said with a low chuckle.
"I-I don't get it," Dominic said keeping his hands secured on her shoulders making sure she didn't get away from his sight. "The stage directions are perfectly fine! The lines are perfectly fine! The choreography is completely fine! We have no need to change anything."
"Can't I just input my opinion once in a while?" Sabrina asked, this time being serious with her costar. "Look, I just feel that some of the bits and pieces of the show just don't click well with me. Once we all come to an agreement, this will quickly dissolve."
"Oh, sure! This will dissolve.. once everybody agrees with you," Dominic responded with a harsh tone in his voice. "For the past three months, it's been all about you, Sabrina. You're self-centered and cold-hearted, nobody will ever agree with you and your stupid opinions."
"Oh please. This is how I've lived," Sabrina said glaring at him. "In the end, it's going to be about me. I was chosen to be in this production, while you and your silly little friends had to audition. As much as you wish it wasn't true, in the end, it will always be about me."
Dominic huffed at her reaction and shook his head slowly letting go of her shoulders, but still keeping a grip on them. "You know what your problem is, Sabrina?" He asked her. "You have no compassion for others.. and do you wanna know why you don't? Because you probably didn't grow up with people who didn't love you." What Dominic said immediately hit Sabrina hard. This time, he had taken his insults too far, but he wasn't done yet. "It's true, isn't it? You probably were told that nobody would ever love you as a child, you also didn't have a stable family or parents who never were there for you. You care about yourself too much, because you never were taught about compassion for others. How does it feel to be the bastard child now? Knowing how you've grown up to hate everyone and everything that comes in your way."
With those words, Dominic gave Sabrina a slight push and walked back into the theater irate. Sabrina could feel tears coming through her eyes through Dominic's harsh words. She immediately remembered the last few times she was called a bastard child. All she had throughout most of her childhood were foster parents who never wanted to keep her and who told her nobody would ever love her again. A couple of tears fell from her eyes as she stepped on her cigarette. She covered her face in her hands and leaned against the brick wall feeling more lonely than she ever did before.
Now that Maxwell and Fran had returned from London upon the news, the Sheffield family, Fran, and CC all paid their visits to Niles who was now in recovery from his heart attack. Due to the effects, he was in a slight coma and was told that he would be hopefully awake and conscious within the next couple of days. Luckily, the doctors were able to find the blood clot and make sure it was contained. If there was anyone that was most affected from the incident, it was definitely CC. She thought with the words she threw at him killed him. She was worried about him, but of course, didn't want to admit it out loud. Her heart ached seeing him suffer earlier, but with the doctor's words, she tried to believe that he would get better eventually.
As everybody arrived back at the house, Fran and the children went upstairs to get ready for bed, while Maxwell and CC stayed behind downstairs. They figured that they could discuss plans with West Side Story and when they could pay visits to the theater. "Poor Niles.. I knew his health was getting the better of him, but I didn't think it would end up this bad," Maxwell said solemnly.
"Did you not see the man's eating habits?" CC asked him shaking her head. "He had carrot cake and claimed that was healthy. If you ask me, he's turned into Nanny Fine's mother."
"CC, the man just had a heart attack and is in a coma, and this is your reaction?" Maxwell asked her. He wasn't really surprised that this was her reaction, but what he was surprised at was her grief at the hospital.
"Sorry, Maxwell. It's just.." CC stammered on her words. "A force of habit." She walked to the couch to sit down and looked down at her hands. She sighed and then looked back up at the other Broadway producer.
Maxwell noticed CC's demeanor change upon the mention of Niles' current condition. He soon realized that he was so caught up with Fran, that he didn't make time to have a casual conversation with his business partner yet. He felt sorry for her and tried to think of a way to make it up to her. "I know this is a rough time for you, CC. It's a rough time for all of us," he said before he took CC's hand in his own. "After we see Niles tomorrow, how about I treat you to dinner?"
CC couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he just seriously ask her out to dinner? It was almost as if she was dreaming again. She looked up at him and said, "Wait, what?"
"You know, I did try to ask you about a couple of months ago, but I caught you sleeping out on the terrace," Maxwell pointed out.
Remembering what Niles did to her with the caffeine, she sighed and then mumbled, "I'm gonna kill him." After a moment to herself, CC found her words once again. "Well, back to your original question.. yes, I'd love to," she said.
"Perfect. We'll go at 8," Maxwell said as he got up to grab a drink.
CC sighed contently and leaned back against the couch trying to process what just happened. Maxwell asked her to dinner? Nanny Fine didn't interrupt? Nobody invaded her personal business? Wow.. it was truly a miracle. "Great, because there are some things that are overdue for us to discuss," she said as she walked up to Maxwell to get her own drink.
"Like what?" Maxwell asked curiously.
Knowing what she wanted to tell him, CC found herself having trouble saying it. Instead, she kept quiet and swallowed. There was a moment of silence that passed between them due to CC's nervousness. Her heart started to race. The conversation she had dreaded for 19 years straight was finally going to happen. "Well... I-" just as she was about to ask the question, the doorbell rang.
"Hold that thought, CC," Maxwell said as he walked up to the front door to open it up. Standing at the door was a police officer. "Um, may I help you, officer?" he asked.
"You're Maxwell Sheffield?" the policeman asked. The producer only could nod his head in response. He had no idea what was going on. Fran came home with him and didn't get into trouble outside the house again, so he wasn't worried about that. "We found a drunk young lady on the sidewalk, and I believe you should claim her," the officer said stepping aside.
Once he stepped aside, Sabrina came through the entrance. Her hair was messy, her makeup was ruined, her mascara formed tear stains on her cheeks, and she looked completely wasted. She stumbled into the house almost tripping on her feet. "H-Hi," she slurred and giggled.
Hearing the girl's voice immediately made CC attentive to her. Her instincts kicked in and she watched as the girl tried her best to stand still. She watched as Maxwell held Sabrina up so she could stay stable. "We'll take it from here, thank you officer," he said finding a bit of annoyance in his voice. He was not pleased that his leading actress came to the house drunk. After the policeman left, he turned to Sabrina and said, "Are you out of your mind!? Didn't I specifically ask you to stay sober throughout the course of production!?"
"Pfffft don't be so strict!" Sabrina slurred swatting his arm playfully. She giggled and walked up to CC, who stood in front of her with her hands on her hips. She was not pleased with the fact that Sabrina came back drunk. "Shhh... d-don't tell Miss Babcock this... but I'm like... soooooooo wasted!" The girl then leaned in and whispered, "I-I think s-she's gonna kill me.."
"Oh she's gonna do that and then some," CC spat and crossed her arms sternly.
Sabrina's mind drifted off elsewhere. She then saw a tall plant in the foyer and then smiled at it. "Ooh hey baby," she slurred walking up to the plant and laughing. "I love what you did to your hair.. who does it for you?"
Maxwell walked up to CC as Sabrina had occupied herself with the plant. "CC, what is the meaning of this?" he asked upset. "I thought we both agreed to keep her away from alcohol."
"We did! I specifically told her to not drink, and she listened to me when she was sober," CC responded pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Seems to me that she doesn't listen enough," Maxwell said still eyeing the girl trying to stand upright. "Once she is sober, tell her that she's got 24 hours to get herself packed and ready to go back to California! She disobeyed our rules, and that's what the girl gets as a consequence." He was very irate with seeing his lead actress drunk and knew this was going to halt production. He was about to walk away from the scene until Sabrina started to speak up.
"I'm a bastard child.." Sabrina said to the plant.
The comment raised concern for CC, not knowing that this girl would say something so derogatory about herself. She continued to listen to her intently. "What..?" she whispered placing her hand on her chest. She grew worried for the girl's well-being.
"What are you waiting for, CC? Take her back home," Maxwell spat at his business partner.
CC put her hand out on his chest to stop him from moving forward. "No.. hold on.." she said quietly.
The girl then turned to the mirror that was behind her and started to point at herself. "You pathetic little brat, Sabrina... you're s-such a waste of air... nobody loves you and nobody ever will..." Sabrina slurred. What she was speaking of were the things that people older than her have said to her when she was a child. When Dominic had brought up being a bastard child, so many flashbacks came back to Sabrina that she resorted to drinking. "You have no f-family... you're a bastard child.." She could feel tears slowly come up to her eyes.
CC walked up to Sabrina and led her away from the mirror. "Sabrina, honey.." she said before she sat her down on the couch. The girl had no idea what she was doing or where she was at. She was completely clouded from the alcohol and depression. "Why are you saying those horrible things about yourself..?"
Sabrina looked at CC and immediately started to sob. She covered her face in her shaky little hands. This was another side effect from the alcohol that she would get: mood swings. "Why does anybody care? Nobody wants me," she slurred.
"Hey," CC said placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Sabrina, look at me." The older woman tilted the girl's head back up to face her. She saw that the tear stains on her cheeks had gotten worse and that her eyes were not normally dilated. CC held the girl's face in her hands and wiped the tears away that were coming from her eyes. "Who said those terrible things to you? My gosh, you don't deserve to resort to this."
Sabrina's consciousness was started to wear out. After drinking for so long, her fatigue was catching up to her and her eyes started to droop. She felt like she could sleep right there. "Y-You shouldn't have existed.." the girl mumbled about herself.
At that comment, CC had enough. She took Sabrina's hand in hers and led her up. "I'm taking her back home, Maxwell. I'll talk to her about this in the morning," she said as she started for the door.
Maxwell called back out to her, "Remember to tell her she's out of my production. It's not like she's gonna remember that now."
CC immediately got defensive of the girl and said, "I will not allow you to remove her from this play!" She paused at the anger in her voice that had just come out. "She's not drunk because she wanted to get drunk.. she's drunk because she's depressed. There's something bothering her."
"I don't care what the bloody hell she's depressed about. This is unacceptable behavior," Maxwell said seeing the girl cling onto CC.
"Maxwell, I'm not going to let her go and that's final," CC stated back to him. "She's living under my roof and my care, so I have the right to decide whether she's out or not." She waited for Maxwell to reply with something, but he just huffed and walked away knowing CC was right. She sighed and rolled her eyes guiding the girl away. "Come on sweetie. Let's go home."
Sabrina's memory had slipped away pretty quickly from the events that had just occurred in the Sheffield house. She was lucky that CC was there or else she would've been out permanently. On the way back to the penthouse, CC looked over at the nearly unconscious girl and her heart dropped. What was really going through this girl's mind? What had happened while she was at rehearsals? Would any of this have happened if she had been at the theater? Of course, Niles' heart attack was more dire in that moment, but now that he was near recovery, CC had another top priority. She took Sabrina back up to the penthouse and watched as the younger girl laid on the couch almost instantly falling asleep. The poor thing couldn't make it all the way to the guest room. CC sighed and grabbed a blanket that was sitting atop the couch, covering the girl with it. Glancing at Sabrina one more time before she headed off to her room, her heart broke remembering the things that the girl drunkenly said about herself. She knew taking her in was the right thing. CC was just hoping it would pay off.