Thanks for the reviews! 3
I am not as happy with the next chapters as I am with the first part of the story - I wish I could give them more depth, but after trying and trying I decided to post what I have (still polishing them one by one).

CHAPTER 6

As she was getting ready for the day, CC felt a lot lighter than the night before, possibly more than she had in weeks. Some of the layers of loneliness that had enveloped her tighter and tighter for months seemed to have lifted, just as a result of having shared some of her pain, and some of her sleeping space, with someone. But why did that someone have to be her sworn enemy? Was she putting herself in danger by showing him some of her inner turmoil, and will he eventually use it to hurt her more? And, more confusingly… Did he really give her a small kiss on the forehead after they had shared a bed all night, or did she dream of it? Some of the dread of the previous night was still lingering in her mind but the bitterness was mixing with the sweetness of Niles' actions. Was that what it felt like to be cared for? The voice of her conscience kept reminding her that it wasn't going to last long anyway, and at that thought she felt breathless with fear.

She didn't have time to dwell on her thoughts much longer anyway, as she needed to face Maxwell and Nanny Fine and she didn't know how, or what to expect. She was glad she was feeling a little better emotionally, as that enabled her to muster up at least a little bit of her legendary self-confidence. She chose the most professional-looking of the outfits she had packed and took a deep breath before walking down the stairs.

Niles was a bit breathless from running around but proud of the result. Breakfast, while not comprising of as many items as usual (he had to skip the most time-consuming ones) was mostly ready, and he had even managed to take the quickest shower anyone had ever taken in the history of the human race and dress up to his usual professional standard.

Maxwell and the kids appeared and sat at the dining table, unaware of Niles' haste.

As she reached the living room, CC's confidence had waned. She couldn't possibly join the family in the dining room for breakfast, she still didn't know if she was still welcome in that house! She had forgotten to ask Niles if he thought she should casually join or wait for Mr Sheffield to give her a sign that she still had a job with him. Maybe, she thought, she could skip breakfast and just sit in the office - that would at least show eagerness. Or go straight to the theatre!

She didn't get to make a decision as Fran appeared and, upon seeing CC, she approached her. CC felt massively awkward, she hated the woman and she had faint memories of Fran helping her undress on the night she had blacked out. She didn't feel like acting nicely to her and elected to act with the usual coldness, even more so as she noticed that the warm look in Fran's eyes had something patronising to it, something like pity. The lovely Nanny just has to help the poor deranged businesswoman, CC thought, trying not to grit her teeth.

"Miss Babcock, good morning! How are you doing? Please, do join us for breakfast, can you smell the coffee from here?"

Before CC could say anything and walk away, Fran had grabbed her by the arm to lead her to the dining room with her. Damn, she must have sensed my fear.

Maxwell looked up from his plate, one of his eyebrows shooting up seeing his fiancée leading his disgraced business partner to the table. Well played, Fran, he thought, you truly are wonderful.

"So, CC," he cleared his voice and started "are you keeping your alcohol levels up this Monday morning? I am sorry our breakfast is rather traditional, alcohol-free, you know." He knew there was something cruel in his words, but he also didn't know how to address the situation, which still upset him.

Fran and Niles gasped as quietly as they could, it wasn't usual for their boss (now future husband for one of them) to be so confrontational. They realised how he simply couldn't handle a business partner on a downward spiral.

CC couldn't obviously grasp that and the ray of light that had penetrated her dark world that morning disappeared behind a curtain of anger. She glared at Maxwell but realised she didn't know what to say. She couldn't share feelings at the breakfast table, and at the same time she knew how her behaviour hadn't been exactly… normal? Sane?

Self-hate took hold of her again. She saw Niles trying to tell her something just with his eyes, probably encouraging her not to answer to the provocation and thus avoid making things worse, but that was not her intention anyway. She just pushed her chair back, got up and left the room.

It was Fran's eyes' turn to silently communicate her reproach to Maxwell. He held her gaze, challenging her for a few seconds, until he just put his head in his hands.

"I… I just don't know how to… what to… I guess I am sorry…"

"Well maybe you could tell her, Mistah!" Fran gestured to him to get up and follow CC. He didn't move. "What are you scared of? Can't you just think of her as a friend who is having a hard time, rather than someone who didn't act professionally… for the first time in her life, I might add?"

Niles was impressed with Fran and nodded to Maxwell in encouragement. Maxwell slowly got up and seemed to expect Fran to follow. She did, but kept a few steps behind - it was clear that a multi-person intervention would have not gone down well with CC.

They just got to the living room to see the front door close: CC had collected her coat and her bag and had left the mansion. Maxwell ran out after her and saw her at the corner of the street looking frantically for a taxi, in a scene reminiscent of what Niles had seen a couple of days earlier. Only, being rush hour this time, all taxis seemed to be taken, and she was stone sober, though she was rummaging in her bag looking for a cigarette.

"CC, I'm sorry!" Maxwell screamed before he even reached her, and she looked up, eyes cold like icebergs.

"For what? For pointing out the failure I am to everybody's eyes? Do you think I care?"

It was obvious she did, but for once Maxwell managed to choose the right course of action.

"CC, I… I don't know what is going on with you, but you are not a failure and you know that. You are a great business partner and a clever, professional businesswoman. I was going to confirm that we really should continue to work together, but that you have to stay professional like you had always been until last week. We cannot let our personal issues interfere with our business. And you are welcome to stay in my house for as long as you want, if that helps with anything."

"Maxwell!" CC shouted angrily, but took a second to calm down just slightly before continuing. "I thank you for continuing to believe in our partnership and for the offer to stay at your house. But," she tried to not let the anger emerge too much with what she was about to say "did you realise what you just said? Not let our personal matters interfere with work? Have you not noticed how you have let your fiancée little by little into the business? Not just with the interruptions I put up with for years now, but since you became… engaged, she has practically been taking over! Casting, business advice… What's next? Will she become the boss next?" She was practically shouting at this point.

She didn't wait for a reply from Maxwell's stunned face, as she walked back indoors, past Fran and Niles who were standing by the front door, not wanting to miss a word.

"Niles," CC called, haughty like in the old times and not looking at him, "Please bring me some coffee in the office, I am heading straight there now."

The rest of Monday and the following days proceeded quietly. Meaning, no one at the Sheffield residence was speaking much. Maxwell was troubled by CC's assertion that he had let Fran into the business too much, the most troubling part being that he realised she had a very valid point.

CC wasn't speaking much to anyone, and almost not at all to Maxwell. She communicated just enough to carry on the business. She had looked longingly at the liquor cabinet a few times, but she was never alone in the room and she knew she had to make some effort to kick what was the beginning of a true addiction. She called her therapist's office and doubled her regular weekly sessions. Niles was still being nice to her, though he was also joking with her. But there was a tenderness to the jokes and pranks that she found almost unsettling. She knew he had sensed her discomfort, and that was why he wasn't as talkative as usual.

Fran was trying to make conversation with everybody, but only succeeding with Niles when they were alone in the kitchen.

On Wednesday night, a new Spanish soap opera was starting to broadcast, and Niles had invited CC to watch it with him on the sofa. She wasn't sure she should get interested in yet another low-brow TV show - she was ashamed enough about the other one, but she was so into it now that she couldn't stop. But, she figured, she had worked relentlessly for the last three days just to avoid dwelling on anything else, and she could do with a break, especially as it meant perhaps getting back to some of the old teasing game with Niles. Or just spending time with Niles… she told her brain to shut up when she became aware of that thought.

It was working, though: while they were watching whatever was on, waiting for the show they wanted to see, the verbal match seemed to equal old times.

"So, Babcock, how was it like to go to the cinema in the days of silent movies?" He smiled openly, sincerely, his eyes smiling brighter than the rest of his face.

"Not as fun as chasing after dinosaurs like you did in your youth, Dust Bin." She offered her most teasing, dazzling smile.

Steps interrupted the fun as Maxwell and Fran walked past them, all dressed to go out. "Niles, I am taking my wonderful fiancée out for a special dinner!" Max announced, somehow completely ignoring CC and pulling in Fran for a passionate, not very chaste kiss. Never prudish, this time even Fran realised it was not so appropriate to act like that in front of people, especially in front of the woman who was struggling to accept their relationship. Of course, she knew they shouldn't hide, but a show like that just seemed unnecessary. She pulled away from Maxwell and led him out the door.

Even if they weren't sitting that close to each other, Niles felt CC tense at these events. She was sitting with a straight back, looking straight in front of her, eyes fixed on a spot, and fists clenched as if chasing away some pain. She didn't seem to be really breathing either. He tried to wake her up from that state with some joke or other, with no success, until he had a brilliant idea:

"Babcock, let's go for dinner too!"

She looked at him, confused, as if she had heard his voice for the first time in her life.

"They are going out, I don't have anyone to cook for… well, except the two of us. The kids are out at sport events and friends' places, and well… maybe instead of cooking just for two, I can take the evening off and we can… eh… do something new and different. There's a new place that has opened just a few streets down the road that I've been meaning to try. It might not be as classy as you wish, but you shouldn't complain since you are used to eating in a stable anyway…" He added a final joke just for good measure.

She shrugged. He got up from the sofa, took her hands and pulled her up. "Let's go. I go get changed, you do whatever you might need to do to get ready, meet me here in ten minutes. Don't do your make-up though, that would take five hours and I want to go pretty soon!" He stuck out his tongue in jest and ran up the stairs, completely forgetting the TV show he wanted to watch.

Dinner was pleasant. They chatted and joked like old friends - like those weeks when they had acted like friends - and the food was excellent. They had walked to the restaurant as it was only 15 minutes away, and were intending to walk back. Somehow, on the way back they both turned a different way than the direct way home, without saying anything - like in silent agreement. Like they didn't want to end the evening that had been so relaxing, so outside of their usual verbal war zone and yet surprisingly comfortable.

Chat and laughter continued, and somehow they found themselves walking hand in hand. CC couldn't even tell whose hand had grabbed the other's first, everything after they had left the restaurant seemed to have happened in unison. They sat on a bench in a small park and continued talking, about life in general but without going too personal, both still emotionally drained since the night they had shared a bed.

As the sky darkened with clouds, they started to walk back, more and more hurriedly, until rainy hell broke loose and the skies started pouring cold, icy drops. They were only a few minutes from home, and they ran the rest of the way, feeling like children, not letting go of each other's hand.

Friday came round again and with it the weekly appointment for Niles and CC to watch the taped episodes of the Spanish soap opera. They sat down with popcorn and much anticipation as they knew there were plot twists to be expected.

And so there were! Lola giving birth to twins while she didn't even know she was pregnant, Carmencita ending her relationship with Javier to chase Jeronimo, and then finding out what she was chasing was just Papa's ghost, that her brother's maid had summoned accidentally while dusting around the family altar, which was only revealed in a flashback…

Both Niles and CC gasped and clapped and hugged each other according to what was happening in the show. Towards the end, as the show became more and more dramatic, CC found herself sliding closer and closer to Niles, and ended up snuggling to him. He placed an arm around her body and they watched the remaining half hour cuddling. They separated for the night as if what had happened was the most natural thing in the world.

Weeks passed. CC moved back to her penthouse, supported by twice-weekly sessions with her therapist and by the steady alliance with Niles - which still troubled her at the back of her mind. If one day he was more distracted by work than usual, or if for some reason they didn't meet in the mansion for the entire day, she grew nervous and a sense of betrayal knotted her stomach, making her refuse food and craving tobacco and booze, until another shared moment, either of friendship or of friendly insults, reminded her that everything was okay.

Nevertheless, they had started having regular… no one knew, or cared, what to call them… Dates? Almost every Wednesday they would have dinner together, usually out, though occasionally CC stayed at the mansion, with the whole family or just with Niles; and invariably every Friday they would watch the episodes of the soap opera taped during the week. Usually, CC would stay over in the guest room on those nights.

One Friday, she had to go back to her penthouse after watching the show with Niles. She had to catch an early flight the next morning to visit her brother for the weekend - Niles had offered to drive her to the airport but since she would have to leave so very early, she had insisted she'd take a taxi from her place, but she hadn't wanted to give up on the weekly entertainment.

They watched the whole show cuddled to each other, as had become their habit. They had even been seen by members of the family, but no one had commented or even shown any surprise, and they had not jumped up to hide their closeness. They almost did the first time, when Grace had returned early from an evening with a friend, but they had both stayed put in the end.

After the show, they commented on it for a few minutes before CC announced:

"It's 11pm already, I have to go now!"

"Sure, Babcock, I know you will turn into a pumpkin at midnight and then you will miss your flight."

"Exactly, I wouldn't want to end up in your pumpkin risotto!"

He was helping her put her coat on and he jokingly held her in place after that.

"Oooh then you should stay, I really need a big fresh pumpkin! Though thinking about it, you probably would taste too bitter and ruin my dish!"

She laughed, glaring at him just for fun. He opened the door and followed her back out instead of closing it. She looked at him with curiosity. Her taxi wasn't there yet. Once again, it was hard to tell who leaned in first, all they knew was that they suddenly were kissing, slowly but passionately.

"Not tasting so bitter after all, yeah?" She joked.

"Hmm let me check again, just to make sure."

When they stopped kissing, unlike previous times when it had happened, no one ran away, no glances were avoided. They stayed in each other's arms, smiling shyly, until the taxi (bless its slight delay) pulled up and CC hopped happily towards it.