A/N: Hello Hello everyone! This story is getting good now and I can barely contain my excitement as I continue to write it all down. Thank you to Shara Michelle, Kittensbreath, slm38, mewkazurinu2004 and LaurenLaneLover for the wonderful reviews. Anyways here is chapter 10 and I hope you all enjoy. I know I did!

Chapter 10-Opening Night

It was opening night of Niles' play and C.C. could barely contain her excitement. She had received the play ticket in the mail several weeks before, just like Niles had promised.

Although they talked on the phone frequently within these last couple months, they rarely saw each other because Niles' had been extremely busy with production.

C.C. had used these last few weeks to work on herself. She'd been hitting the gym daily and had lost about 15 pounds. This morning she had treated herself to a manicure and pedicure as well as gotten her hair done in order to look her best for tonight's show. This would be the first time she had seen Niles in about a month in a half.

She put on her makeup thoroughly and precisely, applying her foundation, powder, blush, eyelid primer, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara and lipstick. She was happy with her face and she smiled at herself in the bathroom mirror. She then sprayed a sprit of perfume to each of her pulse points.

Next she walked over to her closet and pulled out several dresses debating on which one she would look the best in. She had, of course, bought a dress specific for this night, but now she was questioning whether or not she had made the right decision.

She surveyed the dresses on her bed and decided to put the one on that she had just bought. It was slightly more revealing than what she was used to. It was made of a black silky material. It had a slit in the front that went about a quarter way up the thigh. The top was cut, in which her cleavage was shown nicely, but there was still a little left to the imagination. The dress had an elegant silvery embroidered pattern at the v cut of the dress.

Perhaps, the sexiest thing about the dress, however, was the way in which the thick spaghetti strap like straps crossed on the upper back and around her sides. The bottom half of her back was completely showing. This was something that C.C. rarely did when wearing formal attire, or any attire at all for that matter.

She looked at herself in the mirror and thought that she looked good enough. She went into her jewelry box and pulled out the matching earrings and bracelet that she bought to go with the dress. Then she went into her closet and pulled out her heels, which had a similar pattern to that of the v cut on the dress.

Once she was completely dressed, she surveyed the finished product in the mirror. Her hair looked gorgeous. It was in an up do with a few loose strands that were slightly curled and hanging at the sides of her face. She checked her makeup once more and when she was satisfied, she headed to the living room to retrieve her purse.

It was time to go and so she headed out of her apartment down the elevator. She planned on taking a cab, knowing the traffic would be atrocious and parking spaces would be limited.

Of course, while in the cab, she started to think about everything that could go wrong and became extremely nervous. She actually started becoming self-conscious about her appearance as she sat there in the cab thinking about what she would say to Niles when she saw him. She hoped to get the opportunity to get to talk to him after the show. Of course he would most likely be attending the cast party and she understood that, but she just needed to see him, even if it would only be for a few minutes.

She arrived momentarily, paid the cab driver and slowly stepped out of the cab. Of course, she didn't realize just how elegant she looked, and how many men's heads were turning at the sight of her because she only had her eyes on one.

She walked up to the bar and ordered a small glass of wine, hoping it would be enough to calm her nerves. She hadn't had a drink in several months, so she knew her tolerance would be lower, not to mention she really didn't want to overdo it on her true love's big night.

Downing the glass of wine, she felt better and walked to her seat and sat down. Her seat was pretty decent only 5 rows back from the stage and in the middle section. She couldn't wait to see his play brought to life.

She watched as more people walked in and she continued to look for him.

There was still no sign of him as the theatre continued to fill up. She was about to give up her search for the time being as she had been watching for a while and just when she was about to stop looking and open up her playbill, she saw none other then, Niles himself. Thoughts immediately raced through her mind as her heart pumped a mile a minute.

Oh there he is. He looks great. Not many people can look both devilishly sexy and extremely elegant and classy simultaneously. My God, he pulls it off so well. I always thought he was gorgeous but the lavish lifestyle has certainly done wonders for him. He cleans up insanely well.

And with that she shut the play bill and continued to stare at him, entranced by how handsome he looked and how he brimmed with confidence as he shook hands with other members of the production team.

…..

Niles couldn't wait for his most special piece of work to be brought to life. He had worked on this play for a couple of months now and although there were days in which he came back to his new apartment with a splitting headache, he knew in the end that this would all be worth it.

Opening night was completely sold out thanks to the name Andrew Lloyd Webber and exceptional publishers and marketing team. He had sent C.C. her ticket in the mail and he continued to scan the room hoping to see her soon.

He, of course, was expected to shake the hands of all the people involved in the production and funding of the show. This made it slightly difficult to find her, but he continued his search with every spare second he had, nonetheless. He scoured the room once more and was close to turning around and sitting down, when he saw her.

She looks radiant. She is the most beautiful creature in the room.

Niles continued to admire her from afar and took a mental picture of her appearance. Their eyes finally meet and Niles stood up about to walk over to her, when none other then, Kat Saxon walked up to him. Of course he was still staring at C.C., until she interrupted his thoughts and eye contact.

"Niles. I am so happy to finally get the opportunity to see your breathtaking play. Even the rehearsals blew me away. "

Niles was still mesmerized by C.C. and paid no attention to her advances.

"Niles, hello, you there."

Finally, he snapped out of his reverie.

"Oh yes, of course, what were you saying?"

And just as she was about to ask him about his lack of attention, the lights dimmed down, signaling that the play was about to start. He would have to talk to C.C. when it was over. He hoped that somehow, she would be able to connect to his work and realize just how real his feelings were for her.

…..

C.C. couldn't wait for the play to begin. She was ready to see just how talented Niles could be not only at writing, but at casting and producing as well.

She wondered who that floozy was that had rudely come up to Niles and broken their eye contact.

Just the type of woman I can't stand, throwing herself at him so desperately, please as if he'd go for that.

But she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy as the younger women had stolen his attention from her.

…

C.C. was enjoying every second of the play. But it wasn't just pure enjoyment. The connection she felt while reading the work was even stronger as she saw it brought to life. She knew it was something she could relate to and by the time she had seen the 3rd and final act, it clicked in her mind exactly what this play represented.

Oh my gosh! The reason why I connect so well with the female lead is because the female lead is me! How did I not see this before? He wrote the play about me, no wonder I felt like I could relate to it so well. Well if he wrote a play about class struggles with the 2 characters falling in love and ending up together that means…

And with that thought in mind, she finally knew the truth. He loved her too. It was such a magnificent feeling knowing that the person that she loved with all her heart felt the same way about her. She needed to find him.

…

The play was over and Niles could immediately tell that it had taken well with the audience. It brought out a variety of emotions in everyone, but with a sweet and happy ending, the audience members left feeling very uplifted.

Now he needed to find C.C. to make sure she knew the truth. As he was about to walk away and look for her, many different people, wanting to congratulate him for a successful open night, approached him.

Of course, he felt obligated to thank all these individuals. At the end of this line of people, was none other then Kat Saxon.

"Congratulations, Niles, your play was wonderful and I could tell the audience loved it."

With that she extended her arms, offering him a hug. He figured it would be rude to leave her hanging, so he gracefully accepted the gesture and they embraced.

However, this would prove to be a bad decision. As Niles was in the arms of this younger woman, his bright blue eyes scanned the room and they met the slightly lighter blue eyes of C.C. He saw the expression on her face change drastically and as quickly as their eyes met the contact was broken.

C.C. turned around and took off running out of the theatre. She knew that floozy was trouble and the slight pang of jealousy she had felt before, had turned into an enormous volcano about to erupt in the form of tears as she ran out of the building.

She needed to get a cab quickly, for she would let no one see her cry over a man who clearly had his eyes on a younger cheap looking harlot.

Not seeing an open cab anywhere in sight, she just kept running. It was now starting to rain and what started out as a few little sprinkles evolved into a torrential downpour in the matter of seconds.

Normally, this would have bothered her, but she didn't even notice it due to the fact that she was too busy worrying about showing her emotions in front of the rest of the world.

Of course with this urgency to get away and catch a cab she had no idea that Niles had rushed out the door immediately after he saw her take off and was following her every move.

He had known this woman for 20 years and tonight would be the night that he would not let her get away.