It's chapter time. Hope everyone enjoys it, and thank you for reading and reviewing. :-)

Chapter 7

The next day was very similar to the previous day. CC had arrived in time to have breakfast with everyone, and just as Niles had joined them for dinner the night before, he also joined them for breakfast.

Throughout the day Niles and CC threw zingers and remarks at each other, and when the children arrived home from school CC joined them for their afternoon snack.

When dinner time arrived CC was again surprised to be invited to stay and eat, but she kindly accepted. Niles ate with them too, and he was happy about that.

After dinner was over the children once again went in different directions to do their own thing, which left Niles and CC alone. Just as he'd wanted to ask her to stay for tea the night before, Niles wanted to ask CC again, but before getting the chance, she announced that she was leaving.

Just like the night before, he walked her and Chester to the door to see them off.

"I won't be here for breakfast tomorrow. I have some things to take care of."

"Oh? I thought that you only met with your fellow witches to slaughter a goat whenever there was a full moon?"

She glared at him and spoke through gritted teeth and took a threatening step towards him.

"If you're not careful I'll be slaughtering an annoying butler in the afternoon."

Niles took a step back, which made her smirk on the inside. He'd been able to throw a lot of remarks at her today without her having nearly as many clever comebacks in return. She was glad that it seemed, she was finally able to get back at him.

However, her joy didn't last long as she saw a smirk forming on Niles' lips.

"What would be the point in killing me? If you did, you would have to get your own food. And surely eating my food is better than the food you usually eat that's been lying around on street corners. Of course finding food that way, you're able to work at the same time." She groaned in frustration and rolled her eyes but decided that it would be impossible to come up with a comeback.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I won't be here in the morning. You can expect me some time around lunch."

"For lunch or after lunch?" She shrugged.

"I don't know. Is it that important?"

"Well, it would be nice to know if I should expect to prepare lunch, or if I should skip it because you're going to eat a pigeon in the park on your way here." Again she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Here. I'll be eating here. Are you happy now?" He shrugged.

"I don't know, but the pigeons get to live another day." He snickered while she rolled her eyes. "I should be able to make it back in time to make you lunch." She gave him a confused look.

"Make it back? Just where are you going?"

"Well, just like you won't be here in the morning, neither will I. I did mention that there would be times when I wouldn't be here." She nodded remembering. "Tomorrow is one of those times. And don't even try to make me tell you what I'm doing, because I won't." She shook her head and answered him nonchalantly.

"As if I care." Truth be told, she did care and was curious, but she would never admit that to him. "Well, I'm off. See you at lunchtime, Rochester."

"See you then."

He watched her leave and sighed when she was out of sight. Another night to spend alone with her on his mind, instead of beside him.

The following morning after Maggie, Brighton, and Gracie had left for school, Niles went to his room to get his gym bag. A couple of minutes later he was out the door and on his way to get a workout at the gym.

When he arrived at the gym he went to the locker room to change. He emerge a little while later wearing a t-shirt, shorts, socks, and a pair of sneakers while carrying a bottle of water and a towel. As he walked around the gym, he nodded and smiled friendly at the staff. He had his head turned greeting a staff member as he rounded a corner that he didn't see someone walking towards him, which ended in them colliding.

They both dropped their bottles of water and Niles picked them up without having seen the person he bumped into.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot to look where I wa….." He finally looked. "Oh good god!" He feigned a groan of disgust while she in return feigned a groan of being repulsed.

"Oh no! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be going to a gym that was reserved for the trashy upper class." CC glared at him.

"Well, if you must know I chose this gym because it has a good reputation." A bit more quietly, she mumbled under her breath. "And because I didn't want anyone to recognize me. No one I know lives in the area, so I figured I was safe."

Niles could see her taking a quick look at her attire. She was wearing a tracksuit that seemed a bit too baggy for her. No doubt, he thought, it was because she wanted to hide her body as much as possible. Deciding that being sincere was not the right approach because it would only lead her to ask questions, he did what he always did. He threw a zinger.

"There was no need for you to worry about that. You have no friends. And even if people did recognize you, they'd do everything humanly possible to avoid you. You would've been perfectly safe." She returned his smirk with a glare.

"So what exactly are you doing here? You do have some exercise equipment at the house, so why cough up the bucks for a place like this? I thought you'd be too cheap to spend your money on something like this. Or spend it on anything for that matter." He got defensive.

"I spend my money." She grinned mocking him.

"Oh yeah? So did you actually spend money on this place?" He groaned slightly and looked away.

"No. Mr. Sheffield is paying." CC smirked triumphantly.

"I knew it." She crossed her arms over her chest and continued to smirk. "So why exactly is Maxwell paying for this when you can exercise at home?"

"After my heart attack everyone eventually got tired of helping me with my workout. So in order for me to keep up exercising and to make sure that I got the proper workout, Mr. Sheffield paid for this gym. He thought professionals would be better equipped in helping me get fit. I've been coming here about once a week since I started, but only recently started coming here more often."

She swallowed hard at the mention of his heart attack and stopped smirking. Even though the heart attack had been a mild one, she had come so close to losing him that day. She didn't know how she would've coped if she had lost him. Not wanting to think more about that awful day, she instead pondered about something else that he'd said.

"So why all of a sudden start coming here more often?" Niles shrugged.

"Oh, I don't know. I have more time on my hands, I guess. After all, I no longer have to try to open Mr. Sheffield's eyes to Mrs. Sheffield."

That was only part of the truth. Since Maxwell and Fran's engagement, he knew that CC would eventually have to stop throwing herself at Maxwell, and then maybe she'd look his way. As shallow as it might seem, he thought that being more fit might attract her attention. And ever since she went to The Place, he also used the gym as a way to work out his frustrations of feeling responsible for his involvement in sending her there.

She started mocking him again.

"Yes, I can see that. But let's not forget that you're also all alone. So this is your only chance of getting out of the house, and socializing with other people." She grinned at her own joke, but he didn't let it bother him. Not when a comeback was so obvious.

"And remind me again who you're seeing." He slapped himself lightly on the forehead. "Oh that's right. You're all alone too. Of course there's Chester, but even he doesn't want to know of you."

She glared at him but he merely continued to smirk, and at that she then groaned in frustration.

"Give me that." She snapped her bottle of water from him, which caused him to drop his own bottle, but he wasn't bother by having to pick it up. Once he'd picked it up and was looking at her again, he was still smirking. She rolled her eyes. "If I'm to get any work done, I need to stop wasting my time talking to you."

"What work do you need to have done?" She gaped at him and then hissed at him.

"I have never had any work done. What I meant was…." Seeing that he couldn't stop laughing, she rolled her eyes at him. "Oh you damn well know what I meant. I'm leaving. Out of my way!"

Niles quickly got out of the way so as not to be knocked over by CC, who quickly stormed away. He continued to laugh a bit before shaking his head and then walked in the opposite direction.

A little over two hours later Niles walked over to the exercise bikes. Since going in separate directions he and CC hadn't spoken. However, he'd kept an eye on her but nothing that was too obvious. He'd seen her getting advice on her workout, and was happy and a bit surprised too, to be honest, that she'd accepted the help without attempting to bite anyone's head off. He smiled to himself as he got on the bike.

The few times he'd taken notice of her, he was glad to see that she looked so focused on her workout. From seeing her at the wedding and earlier, he knew how embarrassed she was about the weight, she'd gained and how determined she must be to get rid of it. But he was also glad that to see her have a healthy attitude to losing the weight. Although she was working hard, he was happy to see that she wasn't pushing herself too hard.

He'd also seen her built up quite a sweat. Thinking about that now, his thoughts went to the many fantasies he had about being the one to make her sweat. However, he was soon dragged from his reverie as he heard a loud and familiar groan.

He noticed CC turn around to leave.

"Oh come on, Miss Babcock. Surely you can use the exercise bikes while I'm using them."

She stopped in her tracks and sighed. She had joined this particular gym for the reasons, she told Niles. Especially because she knew, she'd never run into anyone she actually knew, who'd only end up gossiping about her. However, she'd never expected Niles to be there, and he was the last one, she wanted to see there. It was bad enough that she was around him on a daily basis feeling unattractive, when in reality she wanted him to think, she was beautiful. But she felt even more unattractive now, having to wear her workout outfit.

Not wanting to give away how she felt, she put on a mask of annoyance and threw a zinger as a way of protecting herself.

"Why would I want to sit next to you? You smell of cleaning products on a daily basis, which is bad enough. Do you honestly expect me to be near you now that you smell of sweat?" She looked at him in mock disgust and shivered for effect.

However, he didn't let her insult affect him.

"Oh and I suppose you smell of Chanel No. 5 at the moment? You're all sweaty too, so I doubt you smell much better." She suddenly felt very self-conscious of her odor, and started to sniff the air around her to see if she really smelled that bad, but without seeming too obvious. Niles noticed what she was doing, and thinking a zinger was the wrong approach, he instead opted for a more sincere one. "Come on, CaCa. It won't be that bad."

She rolled her eyes and pretended to be annoyed, not wanting to seem too obvious that she actually cared what Niles thought of her.

"Fine, if it'll make you happy, I'll use the bike." She walked over and chose the bike next to him. Once she was on it she looked at him. "But don't expect me to talk to you. I came here to work out. Not to socialize."

He merely nodded and gave her his lopsided grin. However, on the inside he was absolutely thrilled that she'd decided to stay, and more thrilled that she chose the bike next to him. Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed in the air and found a calming presence in the familiar smell of CC's natural scent and Chanel No. 5.

Nearly fifteen minutes later one of the trainers walked up to Niles and CC. She smiled brightly at both of them.

"Hi." Niles smiled sincerely at the woman.

"Hello Tracy."

CC glanced between Niles and the woman. The woman seemed nice and sincere enough, and not at all like one of those overly, overjoyed, teeth bleached, bleached haired, smiling bimbos that appear on the Shopping Channel trying to sell some useless workout equipment looking like a real life Barbie doll, and acting like selling that crap is the best joy in the world.

She also had to admit that the woman did look a bit more conservative dressed than some of her colleagues, wearing loose sweatpants and a sweatshirt over a t-shirt that was nearly zipped all the way up to her neck. She wasn't throwing her perfect tight figure in anyone's face, but still CC hadn't quite made up her mind about the woman.

"Looking good there, Niles." Tracy touched Niles on the shoulder and took an admiring glance at him. "It's really starting to show how much your workout is paying off." CC's mind was now made up. The woman was a hussy. "If I were to guess, I'd say you're trying to impress a woman."

"Ha! That's a joke!"

Tracy looked at CC confused.

"Excuse me?"

CC turned her head to look at Tracy and nodded her head towards Niles.

"It's a joke that he's looking good or that it shows, he's been working out. Not to mention that he'd be trying to impress a woman. He's nothing but a sorry old maid. Literally. And all alone too." Tracy shook her head still being utterly confused.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Niles shook his head.

"Don't pay any attention to him." Now Tracy looked at Niles confusedly.

"Him?"

"Yes, he might seem like a woman on the outside, but underneath it all, he's all man. Literally." CC glared at him and protested.

"I am not!"

"I'm sorry, but do the two of you know each other?"

Niles was about to answer but CC beat him to it.

"I'm CC Babcock, Maxwell Sheffield's business partner, and he's his butler." Tracy nodded.

"Oh yes, I thought you looked familiar. I'm a huge fan of your work."

"Well, then you should head down to the nearest street corner tonight and catch her show of her latest tricks." He looked at CC and smirked. "Or is tonight the night, you're having your penis reduction?" He looked back at Tracy. "It's that big that they can't cut it off all at once."

Tracy felt rather uncomfortable being in the middle of their fight or whatever was going on between them. So in order to not get caught up in the middle of it, she kindly excused herself.

"I guess, I better be off. I really only came to say hi." She turned her attention to Niles. "I'll talk to you some other time, Niles. Let me know if you need any help." He smiled sincerely.

"I will."

Tracy then looked at CC.

"The same goes for you, Miss Babcock." CC plastered on a short fake smile and gave her a nod. "Enjoy your workout."

"Thanks, Tracy."

When Tracy started to walk away Niles noticed that CC started to work out even harder. He was rather confused by her actions seeing as she hadn't worked nearly as hard just a few minutes ago.

He was about to toss out a remark, but never got the chance.

"I already told you that I came here to work out and not socialize, so just shut your toilet breath, Tidy Bowl." He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but returned to his workout without saying a word.

They'd both kept working out on the bikes for a little while longer, but then CC had stopped and left Niles without saying anything. Niles had stopped shortly after and had gone to do a bit of weight lifting.

Nearly thirty minutes after leaving the exercise bikes, Niles was done with his work out for the day. He was taking a sip of water when he noticed CC walking quickly towards the locker room. He tossed his towel over his shoulder and hurried after her wanting to catch her before she went inside.

"Miss Babcock, wait!"

She had her hand on the door to the locker room and sighed when she heard him. Knowing that she couldn't ignore him, she turned around, crossed her arms across her chest, and looked at him annoyed.

"What is it?"

"Are you going to shower here?" She snorted

"I wouldn't dream of showering in a public place like this."

She expected him to throw a remark her way or laugh at her, so she was surprised when he smiled slightly and nodded.

"I know what you mean. Although the showers here are quite nice, I prefer the privacy of my own bathroom. But what I meant was, if you needed a ride to the mansion. You can shower there." She smirked at him.

"I didn't know you had such posh tendency. I thought a mere spray of Lemon Bowl Fresh would be enough for you to feel clean enough." He rolled his eyes and she laughed. "But to answer your question. No. I wasn't about to reveal that I'd been here, and showering at the mansion would raise some questions. So I'm going home to shower. Besides, my things and Chester are at home."

"Can I give you a ride home then?" She was about to respond when his slap on the head prevented her. "Oh why do I even bother asking? You naturally used your broom to get here." He smirked at her while she rolled her eyes.

"That remark is getting so old."

"Well, you're old too, so it suits you just fine."

"You're older than I am."

"But no one can tell."

"Don't you have a toilet you need to go home and scrub?"

"That remark is getting old too."

"Yeah well, if you can't come up with new material, why should I?" He chuckled at her response, which made her feel good. She gave him a lopsided smile. "See you soon, Dust Buster." He gave her his lopsided grin in return.

"Later, Cruella."

With that they went to their separate locker rooms.

TBC