Fran surreptitiously tiptoed down the backstairs and stopped half-way down to check if Niles and Ada were in the kitchen continuing their conversation. Regrettably, the only things she could hear were the sound of the stove, the pan, and the knife as it hit the chopping board, indicating that Niles was preparing dinner but nothing else made a sound in the kitchen. She sneakily peeked and found Niles alone in the kitchen, a solemn expression on his face as he cleaned the tiger prawns on the tap.
Fran retreated upstairs in disappointment. She wanted to know what happened between Niles and Ada. She seemed to genuinely care about Niles, and she wanted Niles to be happy; to be loved and cared for by a woman.
She stopped by Gracie's room and discovered she was still in the shower, she slowly made her way down the main staircase to the living room, hoping to find Ada seated on the couch but found the living room empty to her chagrin. She glanced left and right as she stepped on the foot of the stairs, but Ada was nowhere in sight. She opened the door to the foyer, hoping to catch Ada as she walked away but her heart skipped a beat in startlement when she suddenly felt a hand on her arm, tapping her from behind.
"Eeh! You scared me half to death," gasped Fran.
"I'm sorry. I went to the bathroom. I was on my way out, but I was hoping to talk to you," said Ada.
Fran immediately knew it did not go well with Niles.
"I was looking to talk to you too," said Fran.
The two women stared at each other, each assessing the other but felt their conversation was inevitable but before either could utter a word, Mr. Sheffield appeared in the doorway.
"Well, hello, Ms. Fine. A friend of yours?" asked Mr. Sheffield politely.
"Oh no, she's uhm… Niles' friend. Her name's Ada. She came all the way from United Kingdom," explained Fran.
This sounded delightful to Maxwell.
"Oh, a fellow Brit. Welcome to America. How long will you be in New York?" asked Maxwell, putting down his briefcase for a quick chat.
"My flight is on Monday. I'm only here for a couple of days. I just have some unfinished business to attend to."
Her accent was lyrical, like Mr. Sheffield's and Niles', a nice queen's English and not the cockney English.
"A friend of Niles is a friend of ours, right Ms. Fine? Listen… uhm… Ada" trying to remember her name.
"….Why don't you stay for dinner, keep Niles company. It's not always that he gets to have a guest over, and I want to offer a fellow Brit some hospitality. Anyhow, CC won't be joining us for dinner, Niles has prepared enough dinner for everyone."
Fran smiled, "That's a great idea so you and Niles can have some catching up over dinner."
"Well, if it's not such a bother…." replied Ada.
"Nonsense, see you at dinner," said Mr. Sheffield before taking purposeful strides to his office, carrying his briefcase.
"Come on Ada, let's have chat in my room before dinner," invited Fran.
As the two women settled on Fran's bed, Fran handed her a Cadbury.
"Here. It'll calm your nerves. It always helps me when I'm a bit flustered about something," said Fran encouragingly.
Ada felt at ease with her. Fran had that effect on people as she was down to earth and friendly. Ada felt she could trust her, but would she be honest with her? Would she tell her about Niles' girlfriend or love interest? All she wanted was to know who replaced her in Niles' heart. Who was it that made him change. Was she as smart? Would she be prettier? Niles had never put weight on beauty as much as he put weight on brains in a woman.
"I'm also a woman. I know how you feel. Just two years ago before I came to work here my boyfriend of three years broke up with me and I was so devastated…" cried Fran as she leaned on Ada's shoulder.
"Did you and Niles broke up?" asked Fran.
Suddenly Gracie burst into the room, bringing a photo and several pins and ribbons in a bucket.
"Nanny Fine, can you braid my hair like this?" she asked, showing her a photo and handing her all the hair paraphernalia she was holding.
"Come here seat on the floor…" she commanded Gracie absentmindedly as she listened to Ada.
"Oh, Ms. Fine. I don't know why we broke up…." she was a little teary-eyed.
Fran handed her a box of tissues by her bedside as she brushed Gracie's hair, engrossed with her conversation with Ada.
Ada dabbed the tissue at the corner of her left eye.
"Niles and I met in college. He was taking up pre-law as he wanted to become a barrister, and I was studying to be a nurse. We met at the debate club and started dating not long after. We've been together for almost two years when his father passed. Money became tight and he needed to stop school and work for the Sheffield's. We both agreed to keep our relationship despite the distance…"
Ada paused and took a bite of the chocolate Fran handed her, thinking it would calm her nerves and encourage her to continue.
"That must be hard for both of you… Gracie, stop toying with my make-up…"
"I won't break any of them, I promise…" cried Gracie.
Fran and Ada didn't seem to hear her.
"Niles said he would only work or the Sheffield's for five years tops until he saved enough money to continue college and come back to England... but a few months before he was due back… he changed. His letters started sounding distant. His long letters were getting shorter, and his messages were becoming discordant. His letters used to be expressive as he talked about his day, his activities and his plans and dreams… then suddenly he just talked about different topics out of nowhere. Topics that did not seem related to us. One time he just he would go to Cornwall when he came back to England… Cornwall? Where did that come from? Not once before had he shown any interest in that place. Then on that same note, out of nowhere he talked about the correct way of roasting chestnuts. Tell me, is there such a thing? Then there was a time he spoke about the notes of the scent of this Burberry perfume as though he was a connoisseur. I don't know where all those topics were coming from," cried Ada, raising her voice.
Clearly their conversation was upsetting her. Fran raised her eyebrows. Why would Niles be talking about chestnuts. Was he addicted to them like Ms. Babcock?
"It's so unlike Niles to talk about silly things under the sun. Wonder what prompted that," said Fran.
"Here hold this side of Gracie's hair while I braid this part… and now… so you broke up with him because you got fed up with his strange behavior?" asked Fran intently, a ribbon between her teeth as she tied Gracie's hair.
"No… in a few months of that he broke up with me. Apologizing profusely, he said he had fallen for someone else. He tried to prevent it, but he just couldn't help himself and it was unfair to lead me on. He just wanted to be honest with me. He said he wanted me to be happy and he would understand if I would want to curse him and forget he ever existed in my life."
"What! With whom? I've known him two years and I haven't faintest clue," exclaimed Fran.
"Ouch!" Gracie yelped as Fran pulled her hair tightly by accident.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. It was an accident," she kissed Gracie to sooth her.
"I don't know… he never told me with whom had he fallen in love with. He stopped writing after that, but he still sent me birthday cards and Christmas cards wishing me well and apologizing endlessly for causing me pain. At first, I thought it was you when you opened the door, but then I realized it couldn't be you."
Ada gave her a slow smile, her tone a lot calmer as she finished the last bits of chocolate.
"How'd you know it wasn't me?" asked Fran curiously.
"Your voice…"
Fran stuck out her tongue and made a face.
Ada laughed. "I meant no offense. He must have talked about her once without him noticing it. He was talking about a lyrical tone that sounded heavenly when she read poetry or was it Shakespearean comedy?"
"I don't suppose you do Shakespeare, so I know it wasn't you," said Ada.
"I tried reading Titania's lines for Mr. Sheffield and Ms. Babcock, just for the fun of it when they were auditioning a new cast for Midsummer Night's Dream and I ended up giving them a headache that lasted three days," laughed Fran.
"Fran… I did try to move on for three years, but I realized none of the guys I dated were as nice and gallant as Niles…I thought that if he sees me, he will have a change of heart, that maybe we can pick up from where we left off… but now I see it was futile. He had truly moved on. Now all I want is to just find out who owns Niles' heart."
"That makes two of us," said Fran as she gave her a friendly pat on the back.
"I know who," uttered Gracie calmly and nonchalantly as she toyed with Fran's eyeshadow.
"Who?" exclaimed the two women.
"Hey, wait a minute. Why are you listening to adult conversation?" scolded Fran.
"I wasn't listening. I couldn't help but hear it. I'm right here," said Gracie.
"So, who is this woman," demanded Fran as though she more affected than Ada.
"It's not my story to tell. What if I'm wrong… but still… I can't help but notice…he did look rather entranced with her… I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again. Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note…"
The two women were hanging on to Gracie's every word like it was a drop of water in the middle of the desert.
"Was it an actress auditioning for the show?"
A strong, steady knock on the door interrupted their reverie as Niles opened the door on the fourth knock.
"Supper is ready."
Gracie jumped up in excitement. "Woohoo. I'm famished!"
She ran out the door before they could force any more clue from her.