Finally, chapter 13! I'm sorry for the delay. Workload – I'm sure you get it.

Evidence

Chapter 13: Fran

Fran Fine considered herself a good person.

She loved her friends, wanted to see them happy and was generally accepting of their choices, even when they were way too stupid.

(She had made her share of mistakes, in life, and she was best friends with Val. You learn not to criticize.)

But this thing about Niles and Miss Babcock was too much, even for her.

She was reaching now the place she had feared to come and still knew she had to. Stopping for a moment after waving at the doorman, Fran put a nail in her teeth and frowned in worry – and not just because she had just discovered her nails were not as shining as they should be.

It had to do with the woman she was ready to meet in a few moments, when this lift the nanny was waiting for stopped at the penthouse of the building.

Fran started thinking about what brought her here.

She had noticed Niles was going through some kind of change when he started making excuses to be protective of Miss Babcock without bothering to hide it too much: he would take her to the penthouse when she worked late and admit he had come home by the back door just to not share the details with Fran; he would enter the office not to just pester the blonde, but to make sure she didn't say anything too harsh to Mister Sheffield; he would block the door to maintain the partners apart after a scene that had been tense to the businesswoman and could end badly for her career.

(That part of the locked door had been especially concerning to Fran: she had approached Niles later about it, stressing the fact she had helped him by pulling Mister Sheffield out of his obsession over talking business, and made clear she wanted to see his gratitude in the form of information.

Her friend didn't even flinch: he just thanked her and refused to comment on what had happened inside the office.)

Fran was not a fool when the subject was feelings: Niles was getting nicer to Miss Babcock, she was apparently softer towards him and the possibility of it being in an advanced status of him getting hard about her while she was bad to him was very high.

(The brunette still grimaced at the kinky possibilities. She was really not ready for that.)

She was trying to be light about it, but the truth was that Niles' continuing refuse to let her in the loop was hurting her feelings. It meant he didn't trust her with something that was serious to him.

(And, yes, it meant it was serious to him. Oy.)

To top it all, she had to make an effort to not mix things and be sure she was not just acting jealous over her friend and the possibility of him wanting a serious relationship with the Ice Queen, of all people.

Fran entered the lift and adjusted her purse while the doors closed.

It was not like Fran wanted Niles to herself. Well, when she came to work in the mansion, she knew Niles had an eye on her. She had noticed him, too: he was gentle, clever and in good shape, for an older guy. Fran was more into the tall-dark-handsome type, but she couldn't think of the stuffy Mister Sheffield that way, in the beginning, and Niles' presence during her day routine was getting more and more comfortable: it was him who taught her how the people's schedules worked, which were the children's more important antics, which were their boss' patterns of behavior…

(Thinking of that, he was always very ambiguous about Miss Babcock: he mocked her, but never expressed seriously what he thought of her. Fran should have noticed before how he was not able to be sincere about that woman…)

Anyway, the nanny learned to appreciate the butler's wit and all the precious information he was willing to give. She knew he had done part of it for the pleasure of gossiping and showing how much he knew, but she was sure a big part of it was the fact he liked her and wanted her to succeed and stay with the family.

In a surprisingly short time, she had joined him in the homey routines, and having tea together over small chat, or reading magazines while he cooked created a warm feeling of companionship between them.

More than this: Niles made Fran feel cared every time he laughed sincerely at her jokes and seemed to found her kind of knowledge endearing and valuable (what was not a frequent thing for her).

(He defended her against their boss more times than it was wise, in fact.

He was more than likeable at a variety of occasions, in fact.

He was rather impressive when he wanted, in fact.)

And he made sure he found her attractive, too, what was not new to Fran, but was a nice change of pace, once usually she was not considered worth more than physical praise from clever guys.

She had to admit, they had even been flirting: Niles had pointed out to her how much he liked her looks; he had shamelessly showed Mister Sheffield she was better raising the children than the two of them at that point; he had been up in the middle of the night to help her dig a pair of shoes she was really fond of, after Gracie had insisted Imogene liked them enough to have them buried with it…

And, suddenly, it was over.

Yes, he still was the caring guy and the sure friend, and the intimate conversations were there, yet, but the sexual undertones were not. Niles changed the gears and stopped insinuating anything about them, and started insinuating things about her and Mister Sheffield.

Of course, Fran soon realized he was right, and she was the one for the millionaire. However, she couldn't deny she had a strange feeling when she first noticed the butler had changed his attitude.

She had had her share of being bumped in life, but it was different: he accepted her completely, and he still behaved like he adored her and would support almost anything she did, but the spark of desire had suddenly disappeared, as if he had magically switched it off. This was confusing.

After some time considering it, Fran decided Niles had seen the kiss Mister Sheffield gave her the first opening night she went, and he must have thought that place was not his. It explained why he had simply stepped aside – she guessed he was not the kind of guy who just sleeps around at any opportunity, and he would never pursue anything with her after seeing there was a good possibility of her and his boss to hit it seriously.

Seeing now how he had started acting different around Miss Babcock, the nanny realized Niles had probably been pining over the socialite for years; his feelings towards Fran had been of friendship and attraction, surely, but never the passion he saw between her and Mister Sheffield, and that was because he knew real passion: it was what he felt for Miss Babcock.

It meant all of this time, even when he was trying to build something with her, Fran, he was just trying to suffocate something deeper and stronger.

It made Fran worried, because that guy had always been a source of level-headedness for the family. He had been there for them, being the no-nonsense one. What would happen now that he was falling so hard for someone, that, even being a very strange and complicated situation, he couldn't refrain from letting the evidences of it show?

And especially, how would he deal with the fact this someone who was breaking his long-built fortress was a person like CC Babcock?

When she first started thinking about it, Fran decided it must be a fling. She had seen their interactions before, and they always bordered on flirting. Sometimes, they bordered in physical violence, too, and she just assumed they would be on the edge of something for a lifetime, without really acting on it. She supposed for some reason they would never have what was necessary to change things between them.

And she must confess she liked things how they were: Niles supporting her and dedicating his time to get Mister Sheffield to commit. That was good.

However, now it was obvious that, if Niles wanted Miss Babcock to himself (it still sounded surreal even in her mind, as a possibility, but she had to deal with it), he would seize any opportunity to throw Fran in the arms of Mister Sheffield – it would take the man away from the blonde definitively.

Even fearing the outcomes of it, Fran knew this new situation was not that bad to her – Niles would still be interested in helping her. The point here was the possible influence Miss Babcock could have over him, if they got close enough to start something that resembled a romantic and mature relationship.

She smiled lightly at the luxury around her and soft music playing, and remembered how incredible it was when she had to give up being in denial about this whole situation: she had gone to that dancing club with Val, and what she saw there were evidences she couldn't pretend she hadn't noticed anymore.

The lift stopped, the doors opened and Fran got out of it.

She had just promised herself to go out more – she had been stuck with Mister Sheffield for such a long time she was beginning to get worried about getting out of shape in dating. So, she accepted to go dancing with Val, last Friday.

To her surprise (and bad surprise), she was not enjoying herself at the club they chose. She just kept observing the people in the crowded dance floor and thinking about her own desire her boss was with her, there, moving along her and not being the proper man he thought he had to be.

Val came to her with their drinks, 'What's happening, Fran? You have a horrible face!'

'Thank you, Val. That's exactly what I wanted someone shouting at me here', Fran took her drink and sipped it.

'Sorry. I just want you to have fun. That's what we came here for!'

'I know, sweetie, I know', she pulled Val in a friendly hug and they let go as quickly as possible, because some guys were already looking at them and probably fantasizing things. They sat side by side at the bar stools and Fran resumed her whining, 'Just look at these people, Val. How they are connected to each other. How they dance as if they had found the one for them…'

'Yeah, I like to watch, too', Val agreed, looking hungrily to the crowd and never noticing the stare Fran threw at her unintended creepiness. After some time she pointed at a couple with her finger, 'Wow, look at those two! It shows they're quite close'.

Fran squinted to see who she was pointing at, 'Ah, I've noticed them before. The blondes, isn't it? They are really getting it on. I was making my mind on yelling for them to get a room'.

'Why? Everybody is bumping at each other… People are kind of jumping at the songs…'

'Those two are almost jumping each other, Val', Fran sighed and sipped her drink again, 'Maybe I'm just jealous…'

'I didn't know you knew them'.

'I don't, Val, I meant… Aaaaawwww, I love this song!'

It had just started Let's give them something to talk about, and Val joined Fran in the recognition, making her own Aaaaaawwwww and putting her hands on the sides of her face.

(The complete Fine-Toriello delighted recognition signs of something almost unbearable cute.)

Decided to have fun anyway, Fran took her friend's hands from her face and pulled her to dance. After some overjoyed moves, the girls started throwing looks at their sides to be sure there were available males already checking on them.

Fran saw the blond couple again.

They had got to a closer spot in the dancing floor, and they were taking advantage of the slower song to be snuggled against each other, now.

In fact, they were moving to the beat, but they were sharing kisses, too, and Fran could feel the tenderness from where she was, by the way they seemed to be in synch, in a different rhythm from the rest of the people around.

Tenderness and something more: the hands of the woman went through the man's hair, and his hands pulled her closer by the waist. The light was low, but the way their heads moved showed they were kissing leisurely, enjoying each other and completely lost to the world.

Fran sighed, went to the bar and took her drink to sip again. She thought they had a striking resemblance to Niles and Miss Babcock, but it could never be them, for a series of reasons:

-they were Niles and Miss Babcock, and they would never be together, dancing and kissing, in a public place;

-Niles usually spent his nights in the mansion, even the Fridays;

-Miss Babcock had no social life, no romantic life, and it was highly improbable she would ask Niles to change it;

-they were Niles and Miss Babcock.

Fran decided she was probably getting obsessed over them.

She sighed and searched the crowd for the couple, anyway.

They were clearly involved, and there was something about them Fran wished she could have, too.

(Why was Mister Sheffield so difficult? He made clear he felt something for her, but she couldn't imagine them like those two, letting the desire and the caring take over and just let things happen.)

She had to admit she could imagine Niles and CC Babcock, being so passionate about how they felt for each other, creating between them that kind of uncontrollable thing Fran wished.

(What meant, kind of tragically, that was more probable that the butler and socialite had an affair, than her and Mister Sheffield developed anything.)

Fran went back to dance with Val, drink in hand and feeling slightly pathetic at the whole situation. She glanced at the couple once more, just in time to see them pulling apart and the light flick on their faces.

She spitted some of her drink, 'Oh my God!'

Val looked at her gawking face, 'What is it, Fran? What happened? Was there something in the drink? A fly?'

The brunette didn't know how they managed to get out of the club without being seen by the unsuspecting couple, but they did.

She didn't want to confront them in such a situation.

She had to deal first with the image of Miss Babcock's profile with a happy and almost shy smile, her arms on Niles shoulders, and his tender look at her.

After some hours, lots of ice cream and rational thinking, Fran was on the verge of not interfering in the situation. She was not exactly Queen of Rational Thinking, but she had dedicated a lot of time pondering over the dilemma, and thought that maybe they were adults and had to be given time to deal with their own things.

She thought about talking to Niles about it, expressing her worries and offering help, and could imagine him blurting out something along the lines of The only help I need of you is that you keep Mister Sheffield to yourself.

(What would be cute and terrifying.)

But then, she saw the scene of the limo, yesterday, and she realized the person she had to talk was not Niles.

All the family had gone to the limo: Maxwell Sheffield, his three children and Fran herself. They were going to Maggie's school Saturday event. Niles was driving them, and he asked if Miss Babcock wanted a lift.

(Obviously, he masked it in a zinger: 'You're coming with us, aren't you? We need a powerful being to guarantee our safety and be sure we won't get lost… Wait. It has never worked. Sir, our personal voodoo is defective. We need an exchange!')

Fran remembered how the blonde rolled her eyes at him, and then asked if people was sure they were not stopping at the Fine's.

Niles pretended to find it a great idea, and grinned at her.

Maxwell was not happy by the butler's attitude and guaranteed they were going directly to the school. Of course, they still could leave CC at the penthouse in their way there.

She hesitated, looking at her business partner.

Fran saw the moment she looked back at Niles, and how her face changed at his more serious expression.

He was not grinning or joking, anymore. He was looking at her as if he really wanted her to come, and was just waiting for her answer.

And then CC Babcock accepted.

That would be enough evidence, for Fran. But it had more.

When people entered the car, the blonde stayed behind pestering Niles.

Until the last moment, she stayed with him, bickering while he made sure everybody was settled for the trip.

When he said something about her 'shutting up and entering the car', she answered with 'I won't risk you changing course, this time', and took the passenger seat, besides him.

Fran couldn't believe how effortlessly it had happened.

They chatted between themselves from the moment they got out of the mansion, and all the way to her apartment building.

Fran could hear Niles chuckling sincerely at the blonde's sarcastic comments at his supposed lack of any notion of direction, once he had to count on nanny Fine to go anywhere; and she would listen to the endearment in his voice when he answered her properly, pointing out how bad to her that her broom had turned useless after she gained so much weight.

Fran had a good view of them through the open inner window, and she watched their faces while they interacted.

They exchanged warm stares.

All the time.

(What was happening? And how was it that no one had noticed?

Well, sometimes she thought Grace had noticed, but that girl could keep a secret… Fran had to work on it later.)

When Niles parked the car for Miss Babcock to get out, the woman turned to the people in the back seat to, in a gesture that was clear evidence of her good mood, wish they had fun 'in the school thing'.

They thanked and wished her a good weekend.

While the rest of the family resumed their conversation, Fran kept observing the pair in the front seat.

She could swear for a moment they were leaning into each other to kiss good bye. They clearly had to refrain from doing so, and it was clear by their faces they were miserable over it.

(Fran was impressed she had never noticed it before – was it so hard for them to separate every time?)

Suddenly, Niles had his eyes wide and he looked down.

His face was of surprise, and soon he looked back at the blonde's face and smiled softly.

Fran was sure the woman had taken his hand.

And that was why, to be totally in peace with herself, Fran decided the next step was to confront Miss Babcock.

She had come to the penthouse, in this Sunday afternoon, after spending the day with her mother and discussing her own situation with Mister Sheffield in length. It made sense to end her weekend visiting the Blonde and making sure she knew Fran had an eye on her, and that she had to be careful with Niles' feelings, if she wanted to live without any horrible Jewish curses hanging over her head.

Fran breathed deeply and rang the bell. This promised to be a difficult conversation.