Chapter Nine: Introductions to New Friends
Sydney opened the door to her apartment slowly, hoping that Francie and Will weren't back yet. Francie had moved out a while ago, closer to her restaurant, but the walls in her apartment were being painted, so she had stayed at Sydney's for the past week. Her and Will had gone to Las Vegas, but were supposed to be back, so Sydney only assumed Will be over as well. As she stepped in the living room, she noted that no lights were on. Sighing in relief, she slowly walked to her room. A few more steps and she would've made it but she heard a voice, "Well, well, well, Syd. Where have we been? If I am correct, it is now… 3 AM."
Sydney shook her head and turned on the lights as she walked back into the living room. Francie sat on the sofa, and Will was rubbing his eyes. Both looked like they had been sleeping. "Why are you guys on the couch? How was Las Vegas?" She noted the suitcases thrown down in the living room.
Will yawned. "We must've fallen asleep. It was good, but we were really tired after the drive back."
"Don't change the subject, missy. You are in big trouble." Francie added in mock sternness. "Where have you been? With Michael?"
Sydney laughed, "Yeah. We lost track of time, I guess. We were talking and dancing and eating and the next thing I knew, it was 3!" She waved her left hand in the air to emphasize her point.
"Of course. You forgot to add kissing and…" Francie gasped, "Sydney Bristow! Is that a diamond ring on your left ring finger?"
Sydney pretended to study her ring. "I supposed it is. It looks like a diamond, and Michael Vaughn is not a cheapskate. And, oh, whaddayaknow, it is on my left ring finger!"
"I'm glad you have a sense of humor. But, seriously, Syd, this is so great! Isn't it great, Will?" Francie nudged Will who looked like he wanted to sleep.
"What? Oh yeah. Fantastic. Can I go back to sleep now?"
Sydney burst into laughter. Francie just shook her head. "Fine, Will… But if you don't want to hear the details of your best friend's wedding, so be it."
Will mumbled a "thanks" and stumbled off to the guest room.
Francie shook her head again but quickly forgot about Will and turned to Sydney. "So? What happened? Give me all the details."
Sydney laughed again, "It's a long story."
"I'm already up, I can stay up for another couple of hours."
-
The next day, Sydney, Francie, and Will headed over to Michael's house for lunch. When he had called that morning, he said that his best friend would be there as well.
"Sydney! We're going to be late." Francie stood in the doorway with the keys, waiting impatiently for Sydney. Will sat on a stool in the kitchen, reading the newspaper. "Will, stop reading the paper, we're going to be late."
"Sydney's not ready yet," Will pointed out, without looking up from his paper.
"I'm coming!" Sydney yelled from down the hall. She grabbed her purse and ushered the two of them out the door. "Don't be such a worrywart. Mike won't care if we're late."
"Yeah… but his friend might." Francie noted. They climbed into Sydney's car as she took off in the direction of Michael's house.
"I'm sure Eric wouldn't care." Sydney said.
"You know him? Let me see your ring, I was kind of asleep last night." Will laughed.
"Oh, I just know his name." Sydney shrugged and handed her ring to Will.
He examined the ring and said, "Nice. So what's this about a trip to France, huh, Syd?"
"It's a long story. We're going to France to meet his family over there and plan some of the wedding."
"That's the long story? When's the wedding, by the way?" Questions continued to pour out of Will's mouth.
Francie shushed him. "The long story is longer and more complicated and if you hadn't been so stubborn as to go to sleep, you would've heard it."
Sydney laughed. "Sorry, Will. It is long and we're almost at Mike's house so I'll have to tell you later. We haven't decided on when the wedding is yet." She pulled into Michael's driveway, and all three of them got out of the car.
As soon as Francie rang the doorbell, Michael pulled the door opened and welcomed them into his house. He shook hands with Will and gave Francie a small hug, before he pulled Sydney into his embrace and kissed her softly.
"Mike, you are such a hormonal teenager. Can't even wait 5 seconds before kissing your girlfriend… tsk tsk." A voice came from down the hall. The owner of the voice walked up to all of them and smiled. "Hey, I'm Eric Weiss. Mike's buddy."
"Francie Calfo, and this is Will Tippin." The two of them shook hands with Eric as Sydney grinned.
"I'm Sydney. I've heard a lot about you." She smiled at Eric, he seemed like a fun loving guy, just right to be Michael's best friend.
Eric leaned over in a mock whisper, "Whatever it was, don't trust him. I can tell you many stories about Mike that he never wanted to reveal." He gave her a wink and pretended to smile innocently at his best friend.
Michael rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure man. Those stories might be horrific, but you're involved in them too. Don't corrupt my girl."
Eric snorted. "Oh believe me, Mike, you can do that just fine on your own."
All five of them burst into laughter at Eric's comment. They were getting along just perfectly. "Funny man… Anyways, let's eat. We have French food."
"Yeah, Mike is quite the chef. You're going to be living the high life, Sydney. French food, Frenchman." Eric looked back and forth from the food and Michael as if to prove his point.
Francie smiled, "I can't wait to try it then."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Eric is exaggerating. It's not that great. Certainly not good enough to measure up to someone who has their own restaurant."
"I'm sure your food is great, sweetie." Sydney flashed him a brilliant smile and stood on her toes to kiss him.
"All right, all right, we have established that you both are hormonal teenagers. Can we please eat now?" Eric asked in mock seriousness. Everyone laughed.
-
"Sydney… do we HAVE to do this?" Michael was dreading this moment.
"Mike… we have to tell my dad we're getting married sometime." Sydney smiled and took his hand. "He won't kill you. He's really a good guy, even though we haven't really been that close for most of my life."
"I know, but can't you tell him alone? I'll meet him at the wedding! Yeah… that'd be a great idea." Michael wasn't really that terrified, considering they were about to ring Jack Bristow's doorbell, but kidding around with Sydney was fun.
"You are really hilarious, did you know that? Relax," she told him as she rang the doorbell. Jack pulled open the door a minute later. "Dad!"
"Hello, Sydney. How are you? And who is this? C'mon in." Jack smiled, but narrowed his eyes slightly in Michael's direction.
Michael gave a small smile as he followed Sydney into her father's house.
"Dad… This is Michael Vaughn. He's… my fiancé." She smiled broadly at her father.
"Michael Vaughn, eh? Mr. Vaughn, it's nice to meet you finally. However, if you ever break my daughter's heart again, I will come after you." Jack's face held a perfectly calm expression, making it seem like he was very serious. Which, he probably was, so Michael didn't dare take any chances.
"Thank you, Mr. Bristow. I assure you, I will protect Sydney with everything I am. I love her so much."
Sydney nearly burst into laughter at Michael's response to her father. She had never seen him act so stiff before. Both Jack and Michael turned to give her a curious glance, so she stifled a laugh and said, "Dad… don't worry. We're going to be very happy."
"Good, good." Jack relaxed a bit and allowed a smile. "Welcome to the family, Michael." He held out his hand.
Michael shook it, "Thank you."
"Sydney. When is this wedding?" Jack motioned for them to sit down in the living room as they talked.
"Oh, see, we're going to go to France to meet his family and plan some of this…"
-
Two-thirds of the way on the flight to France, Sydney glanced around at the people on the plane. Michael was sleeping, as was most everyone else. She couldn't sleep because she was too excited. Sydney sighed. The in-flight movie had just finished and she had nothing to do. Was everyone asleep? She glanced around the cabin once again and noticed that across the aisle from her, there was a young blonde who was reading a book. She tilted her head and saw that the book was one of her favorites. He looked like he was about halfway through with it.
"Oh! I really love that book."
The man across the aisle glanced up at her and smiled. She studied him carefully. He was wearing a business suit, and had short, curly blonde hair and intense blue eyes. He was quite the little hottie, if she wasn't already engaged to the most wonderful man on the planet. "You've read this?" His voice came out with a smooth English accent.
"Yeah. Sorry to interrupt, it's just… well, everyone else, including my fiancé, is asleep. I was a bit restless." She flashed him a smile.
He nodded. "No worries. I didn't want to sleep either." The two of them chatting a bit on the author's writing style and the plot so far, as Sydney promised not to give away the ending.
"So, are you going to France on a business trip?" Sydney noted his proper suit.
"Yeah, all business. How about you and your, fiancé, was it? Vacation? Or wedding?"
"Oh! No his family lives in France and we're going there to plan the wedding and have a good time all at once." She laughed.
He smiled a smile that gave his face a boyish, innocent look. "That's very exciting. His family is in Paris?"
"Oh, no, they are in Normandy. We're going to Paris for a bit of sightseeing first. I'm Sydney Bristow, by the way." She stuck her hand across to aisle.
"Aidan Warren. Nice to meet you." Aidan reached across and shook Sydney's hand. They chatted for a while longer, before Michael shifted in his seat and woke up.
"Syd?"
"Michael, you're finally up." She smiled and pulled him so he was sitting straight up.
"Yeah. What's happening?"
"This is Aidan Warren, honey, I was just talking to him since everyone else is asleep."
"Oh. Nice to meet you. Michael Vaughn." He reached over Sydney to shake Aidan's hand.
"Michael, Aidan works at a bank also!" She turned to Aidan and said, "Michael is the vice president of his bank."
"Interesting. Which bank do you work for?" Michael wondered if it was one of his bank's rivals.
"Credit Dauphine. Not that interesting. Being vice president certainly sounds more fun."
The three of them chatted for a while longer, until they heard—
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we begin our descent into Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport. We hope you enjoyed the flight and enjoy your stay in Paris."
