CHAPTER 4

"Oh, God, you have GOT to be kidding!" CC said with a look of distaste after she walked out of Fran's closet to eye herself in the mirror. She was already wearing the 6th of the few shirts she had deemed 'not as trashy' as the rest of Miss Fine's clothes. She was beginning to worry she wouldn't find anything suitable.

Niles chuckled. "I don't think it's going to get any better than that one. At least it doesn't have spots or stripes or people might mistake you for an animal. Oh... Wait..."

"Oh, can it, Lysol! You're supposed to be helping me! Maxwell is not pleased with us and if we don't find something in the next few minutes, it's BOTH our asses on the line!" She pointed out.

"Yes but if he does hunt us down, he'll get you first!"

She looked at him in confusion.

"Your shiny new coat is a more visible target." He explained and then suppressed a chuckle.

"She frowned at him. "As opposed to your Fred Flintstone get-up? He'll recognize his hand-me-down suits a mile away. Don't think I haven't noticed that you wear the same ones everyday."

When she looked toward the closet once more, he stopped her negative thinking by adding with a sigh, "Miss Babcock, the one you're wearing looks perfect…ly fine."

"It's not very sophisticated. It's a little too… fitted for my taste."

"Ugh, Miss Babcock, it's a feminine shirt! They're meant to fit to show off the curves! It makes you look more womanly! You don't have to dress like a man to be taken seriously! Now put on your red lipstick, spritz on some of your Chanel No.5, fix the back of your hair and you'll look beautiful as always, for heaven's sake!"

CC was taken aback by the words that had bubbled from him so fast that she wasn't sure she had heard the last part correctly.

She said nothing and took the lipstick he was holding out to her. He stood from Fran's bed and began packing away the clothing he had taken out for CC to try on. He was relieved she didn't ask him to repeat that last bit that had slipped out.

While CC smoothed her trademark red lipstick onto her lips, she eyed him suspiciously in the mirror of Fran's vanity table. She caught him looking at her backside. His mind was obviously somewhere else if he thought that she couldn't see him. She smiled and turned to face him and he quickly averted his eyes.

"Well?" She waited for his opinion, arms stretched out as she did a slow twirl.

He looked her up and down. "Yesss." He mumbled more to himself than to her.

"Yes? Yes, what?" She asked.

His eyes shot up to meet hers. "Um. You look good." She started to smile. "You know, for you," he added then offered her a boyish grin.

She grinned and took her purse from him and put her lipstick into it.

"You should undo 2 or 3 buttons," he gestured towards her collar. Her brows furrowed in question but her heart beat out of rhythm.

"I- The male backers will enjoy it that way. I think that's how it's meant to be worn. It's how Miss Fine always wears it." he said with a shrug. She did as he suggested and noticed that he was finding it very hard not to watch her hands.

"CC!" Her boss bellowed up the stairs.

"Coming, Maxwell!"

Niles opened his mouth to shoot her a stinger.

"Don't even think about making a joke about me coming and calling out his name alone in my bedroom!" She pointed a finger at his chest, "And thank you!" She said in the same tone, "for the help and all."

She left to run downstairs and jump into Max's limo.