A/N: It seems like this story just doesn't want to end! I tried to tie it all up here in Chapter 9 but the characters just took it upon themselves to have a good time at my expense (of time trying to write something that made sense…LOL!) I hope you enjoy what's presented in this chapter and I promise Chapter 10 won't take nearly as long to reach the posting stage.
Disclaimer: They still don't belong to me and I still only write for my own creative bent and the pleasure of those who are willing to read. No copyright infringement intended.
The 'Almost Made It to the End' Epilogue
Charles was making a second trip through the roundabout at the heart of the village when he noticed a slot opening up next to what looked to be Richard's Land Rover. When he pulled in, they were able to see the back of Richard's head as he was leaning over the passenger seat.
"Should I give a toot on the horn to let him know we're here?" asked Charles looking over Elsie's shoulder. Just then a very feminine hand appeared at the back of Richard's neck and quickly tangled itself in the hair at the back of his head.
"I think maybe we should give them a moment or two," giggled Elsie as turned back to find Charles leaning in to capture her mouth in a playful kiss.
Ten minutes later, the two couples were safely ensconced in a booth at the back of a small French restaurant with red and white checkered cloths and candles in empty wine bottles on the tables. Richard explained that it had been an Italian restaurant in a past life and the new owner purchased the building lock, stock and checkered tablecloths and decided to focus on the food and not the décor.
"Monsieur Clarkson," exclaimed a portly man dressed in a white chef's jacket and apron. "It has been too long since your last visit with us!"
"Marcel, it is good to see you too," said Richard reaching out to shake the chef's hand.
"I see you have brought new friends to sample Marcel's cuisine?"
"This is Charles Carson…" said Richard, pausing as the two men shook hands.
"And this beauty must be Mrs. Carson?" exclaimed Marcel as he bowed formally over Elsie's hand. Elsie looked over at Charles' who was sporting a decided smirk on his face as he waited for her to respond.
"It is very nice to meet you, Marcel," she said with a slight blush on her cheeks. She felt Charles' hand slide around her waist as he pulled her closer to his side and heard him chuckle before he planted a light kiss on her temple.
"And this one?" inquired Marcel as he turned his attentions to the other side of the table.
"Isobel Crawley," said Richard warmly as he turned to look at her face. Marcel didn't miss the movement of her hand to his thigh as Richard's arm went around her waist.
"Marcel hopes that we will be seeing a lot more of Ms. Crawley," he chuckled as he bowed over her hand as well.
"I hope so too," replied Richard softly, still staring into Isobel's eyes.
"Earth to Richard," teased Charles as Marcel stepped back and picked up all the menus while the waiter poured the wine.
"Please allow Marcel to prepare your lunch for you," he said when Richard finally pulled his attention away from Isobel with a puzzled look.
"And what is all the laughter about?" Richard asked grumpily as he watched Marcel walk back to his kitchen.
"Nothing, Richard," said Elsie smiling and reaching out to squeeze his hand. "It's nice to see you so happy."
"And it's even nicer to see the 'Old Bat' happy," said Charles with a side-long look in Elsie's direction.
"Charles!" Elsie turned beet red and slapped him on the arm.
Isobel laughed and turned to address Richard's amazed expression, "It's the loving nickname that Elsie bestowed upon me when I first became a client."
"How long have you known?" asked Elsie quietly, staring down at the tabletop.
"Almost from the first," replied Isobel nudging the side of Elsie's calf softly under the table. The touch surprised Elsie and she looked up to find Isobel looking at her with a kind smile. "I found it to be rather empowering at the time." Richard looked at her quizzically and she went on, "It wasn't long after Reginald died and Robert recommended Charles as my legal counsel for the new business. Charles drew me out of my shell by being complimentary and a bit flirtatious with me. I think Elsie had her eye on you, even back then, Charles."
"What makes you say that?" he asked looking over at Elsie who was still staring across the table at Isobel.
"Do you remember the evening you escorted me to the opera fund raiser?" Isobel took hold of Richard's hand to reassure him before she continued, "It was one of those events that went on all night and Robert took everyone out to a champagne breakfast the next morning and then we went back to the office to pick up our cars. You were looking extremely handsome and debonair as you escorted me down the hall to Robert's office and when I reached up to help you loosen your tie, I looked over your shoulder to find Elsie glaring daggers at the both of us." Isobel laughed at the expression on Elsie's face as she sat beside Charles in the restaurant booth, "Yes! Just like that! Anyway, it wasn't long afterwards I overhead two of Robert's secretaries saying they hoped he would find out that Ms. Hughes was referring to me as the 'Old Bat' and she would get fired."
Elsie finally began to relax as she realized that Isobel was not angry or hurt by the revelation. "And you never did anything about it?"
"I did," said Isobel with a smirk, "I marched straight into Robert's office and told him that if I ever found out that he had reprimanded you or fired you over it, he would have me to deal with!"
"I don't understand," said Elsie with a puzzled look on her face.
"It was a huge turning point in my life, my dear," said Isobel, "Knowing that I was a threat to a woman as strong and powerful and confident as you were…are, Elsie? That was the moment that I knew I would survive, that I could run my own business and be successful…and I have the both of you to thank for that."
"Yes, yes," said Charles with a wave of his hand, "I want to go back to the night of the opera. That was over five years ago…why did it take you so long to say anything, Elsie?"
"You and I didn't work very closely at that point and it took me a long time to figure out that you weren't actually interested in Isobel," she said moving closer into the circle of his arm around her shoulders. "You were quite the flirt back in those days and when Isobel started flirting back, I was devastated!"
"You and Charles?" asked Richard looking at Isobel, still a bit skeptical that nothing had passed between the two.
"Yes, I flirted with Charles way back when. Not as blatantly as I did when I began to suspect that his heart belonged to another," she smiled over at Elsie. "I noticed when you started to notice Elsie," she responded to Charles' raised eyebrow. "You would watch her walk down the hallway and the way that you would engage when you and she had to interact, spoke volumes." Charles looked into Elsie's eyes and was lost for a moment.
"Earth to Charles!" teased Richard and everyone laughed.
Marcel approached the table followed by two waiters bearing steaming plates of mussels, bass and filet. He poured them all another glass of wine and followed the waiters back to his kitchen. "Bon appetite!"
The foursome spent the next ten minutes sampling items from each other's plates before settling into their meals.
"So…exactly how long have you two been together?" asked Richard innocently.
Charles looked over at Elsie, who had just stolen a bite of his sea bass, before answering, "Not quite two years." He started to slide a portion of the sea bass onto her plate when she stopped him with her fork.
"It's more fun to try and pinch it when you're not looking," she said with a sweet smirk.
"It's rather remarkable," said Richard who smiled as he watched Isobel's fork slide away from his plate with a bite of his filet. "Except for the occasional remark such as that, the two of you act as though you've been together for years."
Charles looked thoughtfully down at his plate as Elsie piped up with an answer, "I suppose in a way we have been." He then turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, we have worked together for fifteen years or more." He nodded his head in agreement as she continued, "Isobel was right, I think I had my eye on you a few years before you began to notice me."
"I noticed you when you first came to work for the firm," he said with a small pout. "I noticed that you were awfully young to be coming in as a full partner." She elbowed him in the ribs and he grunted. "I also noticed that you were getting the job done and keeping your clients happy."
"Oh, Charles," teased Isobel, "You're such a romantic."
"Well…she was awfully young back then," he said defensively, "Besides, she always wore those conservative suits and kept her hair pinned up."
"Back then," said Elsie defiantly, "I had to dress conservatively and keep my hair pinned up so that stiff and stodgy lawyers such as yourself, would take me seriously."
"That's probably true," he said with a wry smile. "I did begin to notice when you started wearing those smart skirts and higher heels." He slipped his hand around the small of her back and started tracing lazy circles with his thumb. She relaxed against his side with a small hum and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I started wearing those skirts and heels hoping to catch your attention," she said with a laugh.
"And here I was thinking you'd never be interested in an old codger like me," he chuckled and planted a soft kiss at her hairline.
"And there I was thinking you'd never think of me as anything other than the Kid," she continued when she caught the puzzled looks on Richard and Isobel's faces, "He called me 'Kid' for the first ten years I was with the company."
"It wasn't ten years!" exclaimed Charles.
"Well, it felt like forever before you at least began to call me Miss Hughes..." her voice trailed off to a whisper, "and I don't think you ever even called me Elsie until the paint party."
Charles reached out and tucked a loose curl behind her ear and said quietly, "I don't think that I'd ever seen you as Elsie before then." She looked up and lost herself in his loving gaze. "You were my Venus in blue jeans." The sound of Richard clearing his throat and Isobel's giggle brought them back to the world around them.
"Venus in blue jeans?" asked Richard with a laugh and a smirk.
"Just never you mind, old man," replied Charles as he gestured towards Isobel, "You mind your woman and I'll mind mine."
"His woman!" exclaimed Isobel with indignation.
"Sorry, Old Bat," said Charles playfully and they all broke out laughing.
Marcel came over as one of the waiters cleared their plates and another began to pour coffee and transfer a platter of desserts to the table. "I have several new recipes for dessert. Please try a little of everything and then you can tell me which you prefer, yes?"
They all picked up their forks and began trying the array of sweets. Not wanting to put a damper on the festive mood at the table, Richard was hesitant to bring up the subject but wanted to be sure of the lay of the land before he and Isobel decided to stay for the weekend.
"I was surprised to get your text this morning, Elsie," said Richard.
Charles replied when Elsie stayed silent, "I was a bit surprised when she told me she'd sent it." He looked over at her as she sipped her coffee. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you." He looked quickly over at Isobel and smiled.
"Is everything alright between you two?" asked Isobel, taking the bull by the horns.
"Yes, well…we talked and I informed him in no uncertain terms that I would be pressing charges against Branson," said Elsie with a stiff upper lip and a shrug to her shoulders.
Charles' eyebrows about rose to his hairline at her remark. "And I informed her in no uncertain terms that I would support her in whatever way she needed me to." He turned his head and looked down his nose at her. Isobel and Richard looked at each other and both wondered if they would be better off climbing back into the Land Rover and heading back to London when they heard the sound of laughter from across the table.
"Don't look so glum, you two," said Elsie with a smile. "I did tell him that I planned on pressing charges and he still tried to talk me out of it. But we talked and finally got down to the root of what was bothering him."
"Seems I have to thank Richard for saving me…not for saving Elsie," said Charles as he raised his cup of coffee in a salute to Richard. "From Elsie's perspective, I was ready to murder Branson…and she's probably right, another few seconds and you may not have been able to pull me away."
"Well, if you hadn't grabbed him first, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have found myself in the same position," said Richard solemnly. "I'm just glad that he's no longer coming between the two of you. I think that is what I feared the most."
"Me too," added Isobel. Richard smiled and drew her closer to him.
"I promised you antiques this afternoon," said Richard motioning for the bill as Marcel bustled up to the table.
"You are Marcel's guests this afternoon, please." The portly chef waved and headed back to his kitchen after motioning for the waiters to clear away their dishes.
Charles raised an eyebrow when Richard laid a hundred euro note down on the table.
"Marcel recommends tipping his staff," explained Richard, "because he has an agreement with them that twenty-five percent of their gratuities go into a savings fund for them when they leave his service. He employs only the local residents and encourages them to use the money to attend university or open their own businesses."
"Well done," said Charles laying another hundred pound note next to Richard's.
"He's provided for a lot of young people to attend culinary school as well. He arranges with the schools to match funds and has even sponsored several of his former employees on full scholarships."
"A real philanthropist," said Elsie as Charles helped her on with her coat.
"I promised Elsie that we'd get the chance to play dressup while you shopped for antiques," said Isobel. "Are there any vintage clothing shops in the village?"
"Lucky for you," said Richard leaning down to kiss the back of her neck before settling her coat around her shoulders, "There's a shop right next door to Boardman's."
The two couples headed out into the chilly evening twilight.