Could it be?
Fran stares at the pictures, spellbound. Thousand thoughts race through her mind. Helpless anger creeps up inside her and she feels some tears welling up. She bites on her lip to stop herself from crying out loud. Because that would be terribly embarrassing in front of all these strangers.
She eyes suspiciously the girl on the photo. She looks typical for a daughter of wealthy parents. She is pretty and elegant, although the complete opposite of her. Fran wonders for what reasons Maxwell went to the concert with her. Up until now he had only mocked the girls he knew from the high society. Repeatedly he assured her that he fell in love with her because she isn't as conceited, condescending and cold as these girls. He couldn't possibly have changed his opinion in only one week. Maxwell always told her on the phone how much he missed her and how much he was looking forward to holding her in his arms again. It couldn't all be a lie. She simply refused to believe that.
But the more often she looks at the picture, the more her jealousy gnaws at her and she gets incredibly sad. Her excitement about London and especially about Maxwell has vanished. She would have preferred to ask the pilot to turn around and fly back to New York. During the rest of the flight, Fran thinks about the best way to confront Maxwell, or maybe it would be wiser not to see him again at all.
When the stewardess announces that they will be landing soon, Fran packs up the newspaper to put it in her bag. She takes one last peek at the article and suddenly a completely different thought occurs to her. Maybe everything is completely different? Newspapers often write presuming facts in a wrong way just to make them more interesting. It is not proofed that Maxwell took this other girl to the concert as his date. Maybe he went there alone and just happened to stand together with this gentleman and his daughter when the picture was taken.
Fran decides to give Maxwell a fair chance to explain himself. Maybe one talk will put the matter to rest very quickly. Still Fran wonders why Maxwell didn't tell her anything about the concert or this Chastity Claire. But maybe he just forgot. After all, they had only spoken on the phone for a short time, so it could be that he didn't think about to mention it. When Fran gets off the plane, she is in a perfect mood and full of confidence again.
As soon as Fran enters the arrival hall with her luggage, she quickly forgets her sorrow. She tries to find the Kents' driver when she suddenly hears two child' voices.
"Frannie! Frannie!
"There you are!"
Before she has time to react, the two girls have already reached her and hug her so hard that she almost falls over. Fran kneels down next to them and embraces them warmly. The two girls don't want to let go of her and jump around her.
"Frannie, you're finally back. I have so much to tell you."
"Me too, Frannie, me too. I have to tell you everything that happened at school."
"No! First you have to listen to me. There was so much going on in kindergarten..."
Both girls continue to chatter incessantly until Fran briefly pulls both of their hair.
"Hey you two! My eardrums are about to burst. You can tell me everything later in peace and then one at a time please."
In the meantime, the driver has also reached the small group.
"Hello Miss Fine, it's nice to have you back with us. I'm sorry for this attack but the two girls wouldn't leave me alone until I promised them to take them with me. I hope you don't mind."
"No, it's okay. I was looking forward to see them both again."
On the ride home, Fran has to listen to everything the girls did experience the last week. Susan impatiently tugs on her sleeve.
"Did you bring us something nice?" Meredith's eyes widen too.
"Oh yeah! You promised us that you would bring us something great!"
"Have you ever checked your play room? It's overflowing with stuff." The two girls react disappointed, but Fran smiles mysteriously.
"Well, we can go on a treasure hunt trough my suitcase later. Maybe we can find something for you." The two girls cheer loudly.
"And you know what? We're going to turn it into a small competition. Only who manages to be completely quiet from now on and not say a single word can go on the treasure hunt later."
Both mouths immediately fall silent and the driver winks at Fran through the rearview mirror. At the Kent mansion Fran is also warmly welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Kent. But both are surprised, however, that their two daughters still are jumping around Fran, but neither of them makes even a little noise.