Hello, Hello! Oy... I am so surprised I managed to get this out within my regular 3 days. I hate this chapter and I was VERY close to abandoning the story altogether. But hey...only 3 more chapters to go. lol First of all: ZOMG, who saw Lauren Lane yesterday on Fran's show? She was completely and utterly adorable!I will go and watch Renee's and Anne's appearance in a second and then Danny on Friday, who else is as excited?lol In other news: My Christmas story is coming along nicely, 8 A4 pages (approx 5,360 words) and I'm still not done yet but very close to. I'm struggling to find a good title though, so if any of you have any ideas for a good Niles/C.C. Christmas story title, do let me know!;) Ok and then ,finally, some more shameless plugging. On my site www dot laurakaylane dot beepworld dot de (lol) I've now added a section called "Personal Reviews". So if you've seen Lauren in any TV shows (yes, the Nanny!), movies or even live in a play or whatever you can write your own review and I will publish it to the site. I already posted my review to "The Cutting Room" and would love it if you guys would get involved as well!;) Ok, huge note out of the way. I'll try to get the next update to you by Saturday, but I am flying to my mum's place in Sweden on Friday so cannot guarantee!;) Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but a very crappy chapter and a HUGE devotion to Lauren Lane.
Chapter 7: To Kill a Talking Yenta
Fran had, indeed, found the right task to keep her busy. The list of names and telephone numbers was endless and it took her several days to copy all the information down, seeing as she could only do so secretly and when Maxwell wasn't in the office. But somehow this only served to spur her own because it felt good to somehow defy the man who had so cruelly broken her heart. Speaking of which, annoyance was still niggling at her when she thought of his persistent indifference towards her. Of course, what she didn't know was that Maxwell Sheffield had noticed the silent treatment he was receiving and it did make him curious how the Nanny spent her days. Yet his British stubbornness and pride stopped him from inquiring further. Naturally he would've sought help from his trusted butler, but said person was not only annoyed about not knowing what "the thing" was, but also seemed to spend most of his days with Maxwell's business partner. Maddening though it was, there wasn't anything he could do about it and so he contented himself with waiting until eventually someone would fill him in.
A couple of days later and Fan was making surprisingly good progress. And just as an added bonus, the constant lunch meetings and other meetings (food was obviously always involved) took her mind off Maxwell. At first she was talking to all the actors who had been cast to star in the upcoming production. Some of them had bored her with the details of their mundane life and others had turned out to be quite interesting, mostly those who knew and had performed with famous people. It was over one of those noshes, however, that Fran learned that theoretically many of the people involved in the production would have a motive to attack C.C. Their anger towards the Broadway producer ranged from mild ( "She is always so aloof!") to outrageous ( "I heard someone hit her over the head. Wish I would've been there, I'd have finished her off.") And while Fran understood some of their frustrations, having lived with C.C. long enough herself, she couldn't help but feel bad, because in the long run it was C.C.'s calculating and business-like manner that brought their company so much success. Maybe it was her slight change in nature after the accident that led Fran to take her side, but she suddenly considered how lonely it must feel to be C.C. Babcock. Loathed by all and unable to change in fear of losing the safety of the facade. But despite all the people who ranted about C.C. and who possibly could've attacked her, Fran reached the conclusion after a week that only man could've done it. A man called Jeff who explained that he had offered to sleep with C.C. if she gave him a part in the play. C.C. had refused, however, and after several weeks of begging given him a position out of pity. But not a day had gone by in which she hadn't mocked him which had not only shattered his affection for the tall blond, but also turned him completely against her. His heartbreak and hurt had been so genuine, so blatantly obvious to her that there was no doubt in her mind as to his actions. It reminded her of her very own situation and her anger towards Maxwell, not that she'd ever physically hurt him, but if he would have started to mock her, all hell definitely would've broken loose.
It was on a warm Tuesday in May when everything collapsed in itself. Niles, unable to live with the guilt any longer, had decided to tell C.C. the truth about their complicated relationship. He knew that the risk was there that he might lose her, yet he couldn't go on one more day lying to her, it simply weight too heavily on his conscience. He was determined to sit her down and talk to her over breakfast, but then C.C. mentioned her check-up at the hospital and her nervousness and he couldn't bring himself to add more stress to the situation. So instead he whispered soothing words and told her he'd accompany her. During the cab ride to the hospital C.C. leaned against him and smiled at their intertwined fingers and if Niles hadn't known any better, he could've sworn that she was making it hard for him on purpose.
"Do you think they'll be concerned about my lack of memory?" she asked, her light-blue eyes filled with worry.
"I don't know, my love, I'm not a doctor. But you have remembered a couple of things, you know? So I'm assuming you must be on your way to a full recovery."
"I remember moments with you," she remarked smiling softly and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder to pull her closer.
It was ridiculous, really, how the woman managed to remember the few positive moments they had shared, almost as if she somewhere deep down knew that it was better not to remember anything else. The taxi stopped and Niles paid the driver, jumping out of the car and holding the door open for C.C. She thanked him and immediately slipped her hand into his again. He kept brushing his thumb over her skin in a steady rhythm, though he didn't know if he was trying to calm her or himself. He wondered if she generally would be like this, had she not lost her memory, if she would be this open and clingy. He certainly liked it, just as much as he liked her fire and passion. Niles led them up to the nurses' room and they were kindly greeted by Anna, who didn't even try to suppress a grin when she noticed that they were holding hands.
"I see you're well taken care of, Miss Babcock." she addressed them and C.C. let go of his hand to shake the nurse's.
"Yes, Niles has been a great help." she replied, smiling friendly.
"I'm glad to hear it." Nurse Anna said and winked at Niles.
He sighed and became suddenly very interested in his shoes, knowing that if the nurse had any idea of the facts he was omitting, she probably wouldn't be quite so comradely.
"How are you feeling today?" Anna asked C.C., who shrugged in return.
"Alright, I guess."
"Headaches? Dizziness? Do you feel nauseous?"
"Sometimes I get a slight headache, but I haven't been experiencing anything else." C.C. explained.
"That's very good," the nurse said and checked off notes on her pad "I'm gonna go see if the Doctor is ready for you. You just relax and...ah...enjoy each others' company."
When she was gone C.C. turned to Niles and smiled. "She seemed very happy to see us together."
He nodded, pensively chewing on his bottom lip.
"Are you happy that we're together?" she asked, looking at him inquisitively and resting her hands on his chest.
"More than you know," he replied softly, stroking her back.
"So am I," she agreed, capturing his lips.
"Miss Babcock, if you'll follow me," the nurse interrupted and C.C. did as she was told while Niles resigned himself to waiting.
A little while and several magazines later, Nurse Anna returned.
"I know Miss Babcock isn't quite satisfied but for a patient in her condition she is making excellent progress. Apparently my plan worked, Mr. Brightmore."
He smiled softly and nodded in agreement. They continued to chat politely with each other until C.C. entered the room with a new bandage wrapped around her head.
"Are we ready to go?" Niles asked, holding out his hand.
"Yes, we are." she replied, taking it and waving with the other to the nurse.
Once outside again Niles didn't hail a taxi, but led her down the street to a nearby cafe. C.C. didn't question his actions and merely followed, content to be with him. They sat down on comfortable wooden chairs on the terrace and enjoyed the sun while Niles was carefully choosing his words.
"What are you thinking about?" C.C. asked, her light-blue eyes intense "You haven't fully been with me all day."
"And I apologise for that," he said, reaching across the table to take her hand "something's just been on my mind. Something that I haven't been telling you and that I think you should know."
"What is it?" she asked, and the innocence and complete trust in her eyes stole his breath for a moment.
"C.C., you remember me telling you that we didn't like each other."
"Yes, because you're a butler and I'm rich." she said dismissively.
"That isn't all though. The truth is..." he hesitated, still somewhat unwilling to confront her with the real facts "that we were mean to each other, very mean."
"Ok," she accepted, squeezing his hand.
His mouth hung slightly open at her easy, rapid response.
"Don't you want to know why?"
"Not really," she replied, shrugging "because it doesn't matter. It's happened and I love you, I loved you then too."
Now he really felt as if he ought to be looking for a hidden camera team somewhere in the bushes. He couldn't believe that she had so openly admitted to loving him.
"Well, I...am glad to hear that, but how do you know that you had feelings for me then? I mean...you can't remember."
"I just know, Niles." she stated firmly.
He chuckled at her stubbornness and feeling slightly relieved, even though the truth wasn't out completely, their conversation moved on to lighter topics.
Fran in the meantime was entering the theatre on her own. She had stolen the keys from Maxwell's office and was now about to catch Jeff at the scene of the crime. In order to do that she had called him for a non-existent meeting and would work the Jewish guilt on him so long until he would crumble and admit everything. But, of course, she wasn't completely stupid and had already contacted her friend at the police station for back-up in case things did get a bit dangerous. Fran, unfortunately, wasn't aware just how dangerous the situation would become within minutes. She waited patiently, smugly chewing on a chocolate bar and when Jeff still hadn't arrived she walked on to the stage to look for props that could help her work the guilt. It was only because she had opened her mirror to check her make-up that she saw the attacker approaching from behind and the bat he was swinging at her didn't collide with her head but only with her arm. Nonetheless a sickening crunching noise filled the air and Fran slumped to the floor, momentarily faint from the pain.
"Miss Fine?" a voice called and she could see the panic in the attacker's eyes.
"Help!" she yelled back, finally glad for her voice that carried so well.
The attacker swung the bat again and she just barely managed to struggle to her feet and move out of the way. And then Jeff was there to help her, fighting with the older man until the bat crashed to the floor. Then, just in time, Fran's back-up arrived.
"Which one?" a police man asked, harshly grabbing Jeff and pinning him against a wall.
"Not him, he helped me," she explained weakly "the other guy."
News of the second attack spread like a fire through the Sheffield residence and Maxwell and the children arrived at the hospital as quickly as they could. Fran was feeling groggy and her arm, which had been broken, was in a cast but her eyes lit up when she saw her visitors.
"Oh Miss Fine, we were so worried about you." Maxwell instantly said, sitting down by her side and protectively wrapping an arm around her shoulder "I told you not to do something stupid on your own."
"I did find Miss Babcock's attacker though." she weakly pointed out and he chuckled.
"You are incorrigible, Miss Fine...Fran...but I realised that I can't stand to lose you. I've said some foolish things in the past and I am sorry."
"It's alright, Mr. Sheffield." Fran replied, leaning into him and enjoying the scent of his cologne.
"I do love you," he quietly said, so that only she could hear it.
"I know," she replied, smiling happily.
The scene was interrupted when Niles arrived, C.C. in tow. She looked pale and shaken as if she, herself, had been attacked again.
"Sorry we're late, we had to go to the police station first to see if C.C. could confirm that it was the man who attacked her."
"I don't know though," C.C. whispered, disappointment tainting her tone.
"It doesn't matter, my love," Niles gently said, not the least bit concerned if anyone else saw "he attacked Miss Fine and I'm almost positive he did this to you too. A couple of days' investigation and the police will have established his motive."
"I'm sorry, Fran." C.C. apologised to her and the brunette responded with an awkward smile, still not quite used to the socialite's change of nature.
"It's fine. All's well that ends well."
However, this wasn't the ending yet.