A/N: Last chapter of this story. Hope you all enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed writing it and sharing it with you all. Shout outs to Shara Michelle and Kittensbreath for reviewing chapter 4.
Chapter 5- That's Just The Way It's Supposed To Be
Tonight was the night of the benefit. Fran, of course, couldn't contain herself, knowing that the possibility of meeting Barbra Streisand was very likely.
C.C., on the other hand, was a bag of nerves as she thought about what had happened those several days earlier. Generally, when she let her guard down for a man, it didn't turn out so well, and considering this man went out of his way to make her life a living hell on a daily basis, didn't make her want give in to her heart's wishes so easily.
But, of course, what happened between them was the first thing that popped into her mind every time she let it wander, whether she was at work, asleep, sitting in her apartment or riding in a cab, somehow he always managed to pop back into her mind. She hated the fact that she felt this way about the vilest man she'd ever met and she tried to push these feelings off as just pure lust and desire.
But deep down, she knew they went much farther than that, at least for her.
She eyed herself in the mirror. She was completely dressed and ready to go. Fran put her hair in an updo, with some loose strands of hair hanging down at the sides of her face and her normal straight across bangs were swooped to the side. She had invested in contacts and Fran did her eye makeup to enhance her blue eyes.
Needless to say, with the combined look of her purple halter dress, enhanced eye makeup, stunning hairdo, shimmering jewelry and shoes, she looked absolutely amazing.
"C.C. You look gorgeous!"
"Thank you Fran, I couldn't have done it without you. You look absolutely beautiful yourself, I am sure all the women there will wish you dead", she smiled after providing the compliment.
"Oh stop it, your making me blush!"
C.C. just laughed at Fran's crazy antics before the two of them grabbed their purses and headed out to take a cab to the benefit.
….
They arrived there moments later, paid the cab driver and walked in. The scene inside was absolutely breathtaking, everything was perfect with the tables and chairs set up nicely and the silverware and napkins wrapped elegantly.
"C.C., Niles was right, you did an incredible job organizing this event!"
"Niles said that?"
"Yeah, contrary to what he says to you, he really does appreciate what you bring to Maxwell's company."
"Really?"
"Of course, sweetie! Now what are we doing standing around here for, I have to find Barbra and you need to go find Niles!"
With that, they went their separate ways. C.C. scanned the room looking for him. She needed to at least thank him for his compliment after all. She sat down at her assigned table, ordered a glass of white wine and continued to look around for him.
There was no sign of him and she continued to sip on her wine. She continued to scan the room. Finally, she saw him come through the door. He was arm in arm with a blonde woman about half his age. She was wearing a very short silvery dress that C.C. could have seen her reflection in.
I should have known. Look at that damn cheep floozy! I know I am not perfect, but I try to keep this event as sophisticated as possible and look what piece of trash that cad brings in here. Gosh, I just want to kill him.
But of course this wasn't the only reason she was upset and the envy was clearly evident in her eyes and body language as she dumped several glasses of wine down her gullet.
Although Niles had this blonde and significantly younger woman linked in his arm this very moment, he knew it was all just an act. He scanned the room for C.C. and soon enough, he saw her sitting at the table, alone with several empty glasses of wine. He wondered why she was drinking so much, for she rarely did that sort of thing at these affairs.
He was about to go up to her and ask what was wrong, but before he had the chance the lights dimmed and music started playing. The blonde linked to his arm opened her mouth to speak:
"Hey Niles, we should dance."
Niles didn't want to be rude since she had nicely agreed to be his date on such short notice. Not to mention, making Babcock a little jealous might be fun. And so, he accepted her offer and the two of them headed to the dance floor.
C.C., of course, became livid at the sight of this and she hated the fact that she really couldn't control these feelings.
Look at the two of them. He looks like he could be her father, how pathetic! What is she, about 12? Absolutely sad, really.
But as much as she told herself all these things, the jealousy just continued to boil up inside her. She was on the verge knocking down every empty wine glass on the table in front of her so that they would tumble to the floor and break into a million pieces. Tears were slowly but surely creeping to the surface and she knew that if she didn't get out of there soon and get some air, the volcano of tears would burst in front of everyone. And so with another full wine glass in hand, she took off, out of the room, up the stairs, to the roof of the building.
Finally, she was by herself, and she let the tears pour down her face. She finished off another glass of wine before throwing the glass onto the concrete, letting it break before her. She didn't even care that one of the shards had embedded itself into her leg. The pain of that was miniscule compared to the heartbreak she felt seeing him with another woman.
And she hated feeling this way, because she wasn't supposed to feel this way about a man who did nothing but make her life miserable. She was never the type of person to lose control of her emotions. Only he made her feel this way. God I hate him! But of course that wasn't true.
She continued to pace around the rooftop, flailing her arms at the complete loss of her control. She didn't even notice that the little shard of glass had left a little opening and a small pool of blood had formed through her nylons.
She also didn't take notice of the slightly cold weather and continued to walk around the rooftop, her breath forming clouds in the air as her chest heaved. The moon shined down on her and if it weren't for the fact that she was a rubber band ball of nerves and anxiety, she would have looked extremely elegant standing there in the moonlight.
…..
The music had cut off and the lights came back on, as the people walked over to their tables to wait for their food to come. Although Niles had a fun time dancing with the young blonde, he had no real feelings for her. Babcock had been on his mind for a while and he realized she was missing as he quickly scanned the room for her. He briskly walked around looking for her and was actually getting worried as he realized she was nowhere to be found.
He walked out and took the stairs. He immediately noticed a woman's shoe resting on the stairs near the floor of the rooftop. He ran up and examined the shoe. He knew immediately that it belonged to C.C., for he had taken her in entirely as he had walked into the building earlier that night. He continued up the stairs and burst open the door and onto the rooftop.
He immediately saw C.C., her back towards him, staring out across the sky. He saw the shards of glass on the concrete and immediately became worried about her health and mental welfare. As much as he enjoyed insulting her, now was just not the time.
He briskly walked over to her and spoke:
"C.C….are you alright?"
She turned around and looked at him, the sadness and pain captured in her bright blue irises.
"Niles, would you just leave me alone! Haven't you done enough to make my life miserable? The least you could do is let me wallow in it alone."
He hated seeing her this way. Even as a secretary, she always exhibited fire towards him. It broke his heart to see her defeated and it took all of the strength he could muster not to just run over to her and pull her into an embrace this very second. He feared she would run away, however and so he controlled himself from doing so.
"C.C., what is wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Why do you care? You've never cared about my feelings!"
He knew, of course, that he had never treated her lovingly, but it was never malicious on his part. He wondered now, however, if she had taken it as such. He decided it was time to tell her how he truly felt.
"I have cared, C.C.! I do care, so much! Oh God, I have been such a fool. I live for the insults we share, but I only thought of them as a game, our game that nobody could touch. It was the only way I have showed my feelings to you for so long."
"I love the games too, but Niles, don't you ever just get tired of it all?"
He pondered that question for a minute before answering her honestly.
"Not if the games are played with you. I don't know how else to say this, C.C…"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I love you, everything about you. The way you never let anything get you down at the office. You have been Max's secretary forever and you work just as hard now as you did when you started and you put your heart and soul into it all. I love the way you chew on your pen cap with your glasses on the edge of your nose as you read a script. I love the way your hips move as you enter and leave the room. I love the way you twist your head as you throw me a good insult. I love how you are afraid to be vulnerable. I love how you have no idea how beautiful you are. I love how infuriating you are. I'm flat out addicted to you Babcock, everything about you."
C.C. just took in his words are he confessed his undying love for her. He was nervous as she stood there in silence.
Slowly her lips upturned into a smile and she ran up to him before drawing him into an embrace and burying her head into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and the two of them just held each other, keeping one another warm as the moonlight shined down upon them.
Finally, they broke apart and sat down next to one another, backs against the concrete wall of the building, legs sprawled out straight in front of them, hand in hand.
They sat in silence, just reveling in one another's touch before Niles spoke once more.
"C.C. I'm not one for fairytales, but I believe this belongs to you."
He pulled out her shoe and slowly slipped it on her manicured foot, before holding the foot in his hand.
"It fits. I guess that means I'm yours, Jupiter!"
"Always, frump girl!"
And with that, they shifted onto their knees, cupped each other's faces and drew each other into a long, passionate kiss. They broke apart before C.C. groaned in pain.
"Oh God, was it that bad?"
"No of course not quite the contrary. I must have gotten glass in my leg."
Niles lifted up her dress and saw the little area on her shin where the blood had been drawn and the glass had pierced her skin.
"C.C. it isn't too bad, but I must get the glass out. Here, I have a little blade on my Swiss army knife that should do the trick no problem."
"That thing better be sterilized!"
"Here, I'll go in and sterilize really quick if that would make you happy."
"You're leaving?"
"Now the truth comes out. Babcock would miss me if I was gone!"
"You caught me, Jupiter! Ok, I trust you, it will be fine."
"Well, the nylons either have to come off or I have to cut a hole in them."
"Niles, I can't take them off sitting like this!"
"I'll assist you."
Before she could growl in protest, he had shifted up the skirt of her dress and had his hands on her waist, where began to pull the nylons down, taking in her soft cream colored skin with his finger tips as he slowly slipped them down her thighs, calves and finally her ankles. Just this contact alone made both their bodies twitch with desire. He couldn't help but place a kiss on the inside of her ankle and hearing her resonate sounds of pleasure at this simple gesture made him want to have his way with her on the rooftop this very second.
He, however, planned on nursing her back to normal working order, before he did any such thing. He shined the little flashlight on his keys on the wounded area so he could see the glass thoroughly. Seeing it, he used the blade to pry open the wound just enough to where he could grab the shard. With another tool on his Swiss army knife, he was easily able to grab the small shard before chucking it across the rooftop.
"Thank you, Niles."
"Not a problem, love. Would you like to go back inside, C.C., it is awfully cold out here."
"No, I love the moonlight."
"Well, I am not letting you catch cold before I have my way with you."
With that, he took off his suit coat and slipped it around her shoulders. He relished in the sight of the woman he loved wearing his jacket.
"Niles, how do you manage to be gentleman and a complete cad in the same sentence?"
"Years of experience, my love."
"Well, I must admit it is quite a turn on."
"Really, Babcock, you like that side of me?"
"Very much so! In God's name, I have no idea why!"
This talk was starting to turn him on as they sat together under the moonlight. His eyes were hungry with desire ready to devour her as he looked at her, wearing his jacket, the moonlight shone across her porcelain face. He wanted her this very second. He planted a kiss on her jaw line and moved down her neck. Her throat vibrated sounds of pleasure before she turned towards him.
Truth be told, desire was evident in her eyes as well and she crushed her lips on top of his. She parted her lips and he ran his tongue along them before entering her mouth. He explored the walls, taking in the taste of the chardonnay she had consumed earlier. Their tongues danced around one another rhythmically and entwined with one another as the two rolled around on the rooftop kissing passionately, the moonlight hitting them both. Quickly, Niles unzipped her dress and the two of them removed their clothing and undergarments. They took in one another. Niles couldn't get over how angelic she looked as the light hit every inch of her creamy alabaster skin. He looked like a Greek God to her as the moonlight bounced off his shoulders and broad chest.
The two of them made passionate love on the rooftop before scrambling to get their clothes back on. Niles couldn't help planting a few more kisses down her neck and right above the crevice of her breasts as helped her zip her dress back up.
"Niles, stop it" she said through a smile, knowing that this made her body beg for more.
"Alright, we'll continue this later", he smiled as he grabbed her hand in his.
They took the elevator down to the benefit, hand in hand. Niles had forgotten all about the date he brought and frankly he didn't care. He had the woman of his dreams already.
They heard singing as they walked back into the room where the benefit was being held. Fran was completely in her element, mesmerized as Barbra Streisand sang "The Way We Were."
Of course C.C. immediately noticed the arm wrapped around Fran's shoulder and knew immediately that it belonged to Maxwell Sheffield. C.C. couldn't help but smile at the sight of them, hoping that their simple contact would amount to more in the future.
"Babcock, you ready to ditch this joint?"
"Let me tell, Fran…actually you know what, I think Mr. Sheffield's got her covered. Yes, I'm ready", she smiled at him.
The two of them briskly walked out of the building hand in hand and got into the first open cab. They headed to Niles's apartment where they spent their first of endless nights together.
So with this analysis into the alternate lives of C.C. Babcock and Niles Brightmore, a common conclusion is drawn. They will always live for one another's insults and most importantly, they are always meant to be together. That's just the way it's supposed to be.
The End