"Niles! An overseas telephone call for you," called Edward.
As Niles took the receiver, he noticed his father giving him a teasing smile that puzzled him.
"What?!" he asked his father who was grinning like a Cheshire cate.
"It's woman…her voice is too shrill though but just the same…I can't believe there's so may women in your life Niles," said his father who was totally pleased.
Niles gave a slight laugh. "Father, I don't have 'lots of women' as you put. I'm a one-woman man you know. This is just my friend. The Nanny of Mr. Sheffield's children."
"How do you know it's her? It could be another woman," said Edward.
Niles' mouth curved into a smile.
"You mentioned the voice. She's the only woman I know with a voice that can give you nightmares."
His father left the living room to give him a little privacy and he greeted Fran a pleasant morning.
"Niles! How did you know it was me?" asked Fran.
Niles chuckled a little. "Oh, Ms. Fine, need you ask? Of course, the voice is a dead giveaway."
"What's wrong, Ms. Fine. Why did you suddenly have the urge to make an overseas call?" asked Niles.
He could feel Fran's smile on the other end of the line, and unlike CC who hardly eats a thing, he could tell Fran was indulging herself in the chocolate caramel cake he left on the fridge before going on vacation.
"Well, there's still a few minutes credit on Mr. Sheffield's home phone so I thought I'd greet you Merry Christmas and see how you're doing having been alone with Ms. Babcock for a couple of days now."
"It's still two days till Christmas Day. And if you're asking if CC and I have killed each other, we haven't yet, but we came quite close so many times. The English air must be doing her some good. She's been quite friendly and even-tempered since we've gotten here except where I'm concerned of course."
Fran burst into one of her nasal trademark laughs.
Fran was thrilled, she was sensing something with the way Niles was speaking. He must be coming to terms with how he truly felt about Ms. Babcock.
"Quite close to what? Killing each other or kissing each other? I know you Niles, you're not as stiff as a stick like your British employer who doesn't know if love hit him squarely in the eye. You're warm, thoughtful, and passionate. I bet you could hardly tell Ms. Babcock how you feel…"
He sighed, "You're right. I don't know how to tell CC I lo…"
"…loath her..."
He remembered himself and stopped before saying anything further.
"Ms. Fine trying to trap me I see."
"Oh Niles, stop lying through your teeth. Give me something juicy before I ran out of free credits or I'll hurt you," insisted Nanny Fine.
"Alright. No need to be vicious. Seems like Ms. Babcock earned the ire of a family friend of ours despite the fact she's been acting a lot nicer to everyone. Poor Ms. Babcock, got herself a nemesis without even doing anything. It's like her mere presence sends Kate's blood boiling. It really is quite unfair to Ms. Babcock."
A smile crept on Fran's lips. Why did that sound oh so familiar like it was the story of her life?
"So, tell me Niles…this family friend. Is she beautiful?" asked Fran.
"I don't know by other men's standards… sexy, tight-fitting clothes that show off her figure…"
"You're not talking about me, are you?" she laughed.
Niles laughed. "No, she's got dirty blond hair… but yeah, now that you mentioned it… kinda..."
"She must like you and see Ms. Babcock as threat," said Fran.
She was certain Niles wouldn't notice her… cause we're not his type, thought Fran.
I do hope he is not as oblivious as Mr. Sheffield who didn't notice that up till two years ago Ms. Babcock seemed to be hoping to be more than a business partner and sensing Mr. Sheffield's obvious attraction to her, made Ms. Babcock unfriendly towards her. Good she was now experiencing a dose of her own medicine. You really can't help who you get attracted to, almost perfect as she seemed, still Mr. Sheffield didn't fall for Ms. Babcock, and Niles' friend sexy as she was like me, and yet did not turn Niles on.
"Well, she does let me know every chance she got. But why would she be jealous of Ms. Babcock? I don't fancy her either," said Niles.
"Oh Niles, you're as awful as Mr. Sheffield… how can you both be in such denial over your feelings when your actions speak differently," protested Fran.
"Are you telling me I encouraged Kate that I like her?!" cried Niles.
"No! I meant she could immediately see in your actions how much you like Ms. Babcock!"
"You've got your antenna all wrong. Now hang up before you blow your whole paycheck into this overseas call," said Niles.
"Alright. Alright. I'll hang up. I see Ms. Babcock is a sore subject. Goodbye Niles and Merry Christmas."
As Niles hung up, he purposefully searched for his blond witch whom he had not seen the entire morning, checking his watch which had been adjusted to UK time, he noticed it was past 1pm and CC was nowhere to be found. Finding his father coming up the stone steps outside the front yard, he inquired about CC.
"Father, have you seen CC? asked Niles.
"She was up a bit early and said she had some things to attend to," said Edward.
A pang of distaste settled in the pit of his stomach. He hoped she did not run off to meet that intolerable old schoolmate of his and Maxwell's. Before any more unpleasant thoughts ran through his mind, he saw his friend Fred coming up the steps with a lot of Christmas packages in hand.
"Don't tell me you went Christmas shopping, old man," greeted Niles as he took some of the packages from his hand.
To his surprise, CC came up just a few paces behind him wearing white slim fit pants and a turtleneck, long sleeved sweater. Comfortable but still expensive looking, the gladiator flat sandals, showing her dainty looking feet. Just how many pairs of shoes did this woman bring? They've been here four days, and he had seen four pairs including the glass looking pumps at the party.
"I didn't. These are CC's" said Fred.
CC started stuffing the packages beneath the Christmas tree in the living room.
"I went to Bicester Village to shop for gifts for family and friends. Fred was not busy, so he offered to drive me," said CC.
"Thanks, Fred. I appreciate your help today," said CC, giving him a friendly peck on the cheek like a greeting you give to friends and relatives upon seeing them, or before saying goodbye, yet this did not seem to sit well with Niles.
"A handshake will do just as nicely," said Niles.
Niles seemed to have woken up at the wrong side of the bed. He looked at Fred, although he didn't say anything, but he looked like he could strangle someone.
"I should go now, Niles, CC," said Fred, seeing Niles was in a foul mood.
CC waved goodbye as he left but Niles ignored him.
If Niles had remained single because he had not found the right woman yet, the reason his friend Fred was single was because he was a womanizer. He loved going out with different women without commitment and he'd rather cut his arm than let him get near CC.
Taking out his bad mood on CC, he said through gritted teeth, "You could have at least told me where you were going. I could have gone with you to Bicester Village."
"I couldn't find you," she simply replied as she fixed the wrapped presents underneath the Christmas Tree.
"Did you check the back room? We are not living in a mansion. Just how hard it is to find someone. Perhaps, if you had exerted a little more effort in finding me than making plans with a stranger…"
"What stranger? Fred is your friend and that's the only reason I agreed to ride in his car going to Bicester. I didn't make any plans with him. He saw me hailing a cab and asking some neighbors about the closest mall, so he offered to take me. I wouldn't have accepted if he wasn't your friend since you were ten years old," explained CC.
He glared at her instead of being pacified by her explanation.
"Next time, as your host, give me the common courtesy of telling me where you are going!"
He turned his back on her about to walk out but stopped as her voice moved a notch higher.
"Why are you so angry? I'm used to you insulting me or humiliating me, but I don't deserve your anger, I have done nothing wrong. You're the one I should be angry with. You practically ignored me last night right after dinner. I was waiting for you to dance with me, but you would rather seat and chat with everyone but me. Even Kate had one dance with you."
After her outburst, she ran up the stairs to Niles' room without giving him a chance to respond.
Niles ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. He didn't expect himself to be jealous of the men that danced with her. Last night an unfamiliar sense of possessives overtook him. He wanted everyone to leave her alone because she was his. He also didn't know what was causing his irritable behavior. He was not usually a temperamental person, but could a lack of sleep have been causing this? Or his unsatiated desire for the blond? His mind would often wander at bedtime to the woman sleeping in his bedroom, and often time he was tempted to peek in the room and see what she looked like lying against his pillow, snuggled underneath his blanket.
Would she be wearing silk pajamas, a negligee, or will she be naked? Such thoughts would lead to a part of his anatomy screaming to be buried within her softness. He had never experienced being haunted by thoughts of any other woman in the past. Would this stop after he had a taste of her, he wondered.
They still have another five days in England. Can he survive without laying a finger on her?