Fran and Maxwell are in love and engaged. Then Fran has a confrontation with her past. Nigel comes back and Maxwell learns about Nigels proposal and the fact that Fran almost left him forever. Fran tries her best to explain herself to Maxwell and to convince him of her love
Coming to terms with the past
Fran Fine didn't know what to do first. In a week, she would marry the love of her life, Maxwell Sheffield and the preparations were still not done. She sat in the living room with her best friend Val and the two Sheffield daughters and discussed the next steps.
Fran held a clipboard in her hands and read loudly what still needs to be done.
- Niles had to pick up the rings and was not allowed to forget to check the engraving
- the place cards needed to be chosen.
- it was necessary to call the hotel again, whether everything was arranged with the reservations of the foreign guests and ...
Suddenly, Fran's clipboard was torn from her hand, someone bent over her and whispered.
"and you should not forget to give me your vows in front of the altar!"
Fran looked up and saw the grinning face of her fiancé.
"Maaaax, give me my notes back, now!"
She tried her best to sound angry. Maxwell held the board even higher and demanded a kiss. Fran pulled his head down and kissed him with all her passion and started to tickle him. Of course, Maxwell did not take this easily. He threw the board on the couch and tickled Fran back, who then began to squeak terribly.
Val and the two girls stepped back and strolled towards the kitchen. Grace and Maggie rolled with their eyes. As much as they loved Fran and looked forward to the wedding, this fuss was really too much.
Maxwell suddenly shouted.
"Oh, I am late, I have to go. Nigel is coming from Paris today. "
He grabbed his jacket and blew a hand kiss to Fran and was already out the door.
'Wow, Nigel is coming today, and I haven't seen him for a long time', Fran thought.
Then she stood still and began to panic. Nigel, the ship, the engagement, and Maxwell had no idea about this all. She stormed into the kitchen, the girls were gone, just Niles and Val were there drinking tea. She approached Val and tried to speak as impartially as possible:
"Come Val, you wanted to help me choose the jewellery." She dragged Val up with her. Val was stunned. They already made the decision and the jewellery were settled.
Fran pushed her into her room and immediately started babbling.
"Val, it's a total disaster. Nigel is coming and Maxwell has no idea what happened during his last visit. What shall I do?" After some thinking, Val realized what Fran meant.
"You never told him?!" she asked, puzzled.
"No, first I thought, why should I tell him, after all, we weren't involved, then I didn't dare anymore and at some point I just forgot. I haven't thought about Nigel ages ago."
Fran paces nervously around her room, chewed her nails and trembled.
"And if you just stay silent and ask Nigel not to blab?" Val suggested.
"No! I can't do this!" said Fran decidedly,
"We will be married. There is no way that I can share such a big secret with his own brother for the rest of my life. I must explain it to him somehow. Hopefully, Nigel hasn't already told him everything by now."
Maxwell and Nigel came home a short time later. Fran was relieved to discover that Nigel had not chattered. Fran walked up to Nigel to greet him. He grabbed her in his arms and whirled her around,
"Well, darling, how is my favourite soon sister-in-law?" Fran felt very uncomfortable with Nigel's tight embrace. She kept the distance and said casually. "Couldn't be better!"
As she spoke, she snuggled up to Maxwell, who immediately put one arm around her waist.
He asked Niles to carry his brother's suitcases into the guest room and asked if dinner was ready. Niles nodded and went to the upper floor with the luggage. Maxwell gave Fran a kiss.
"Go ahead, I just need to make a quick phone call to CC."
Fran waited until he disappeared to the office, and then she hissed at Nigel.
"Listen, Maxwell has no clue what happened between us back then and I want to tell him everything myself, so I ask you to keep your foot still!"
Nigel strolled towards the dining room, sat down at the table and shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"Don't panic, sweetheart, Maxwell and I we've never tell each other details about our flings, whereas Maxwell, unlike me, never has much to tell."
Fran took place at her seat and looked with disgust at her future brother-in-law. His behaviour annoyed her. She no longer understood at all what she had found so attractive about him last time.
Although the atmosphere during dinner was relaxed and Niles had once again outdone himself, for Fran the meal was an ordeal. She couldn't wait to be alone with Maxwell and at the same time she was terrified of this moment. Would he understand what had happened to her back then? Could she convince him that this episode had no meaning for her anymore?
After dinner, the children went into their rooms and Nigel also retreated because he felt the jet lag. Maxwell fetched a bottle of wine from the cellar. Fran and he sat down on the terrace in front of his office as they had done so many nights before. Fran sat on his lap, both sipping their wine and enjoyed the silence of the eve. Maxwell caressed and tickled her neck with his nose before he started to spread little kisses all over it. Fran enjoyed his tenderness, but one thought kept pounding in her head.
"You have to tell him! You have to tell him!"
But she just couldn't bring herself to destroy this blissful moment with a confession.
"I love you!"
She whispered barely audibly, then she kissed him and her fingers played with his curls. For a while, they exchanged sweet caresses and enjoyed their love. Finally, they went to their rooms for the night. When Fran closed her door behind her, she went to her dressing table and gazed at herself in the mirror.
"You're a pathetic coward, Fran Fine!"
She got ready for bed and swore to herself that tomorrow she would finally tell him the truth.
The next morning, Fran woke up early. She had slept terribly. She put on a robe, combed her hair and made her way down. She hoped Maxwell would be awake and she could talk to him. In the kitchen, Niles was busy preparing breakfast when Fran came down the stairs. He told her immediately that Maxwell had to go to the theatre very early this morning. Obviously, there was still a lot to organize before the honeymoon. However, he had left a good morning greeting for her. He pointed to the kitchen table. A beautiful bouquet of flowers stood in a vase and a card was leaning against the vase.
Fran was happy when she read the card. She felt the butterflies in her stomach, but at the same time, her bad conscience was nagging at her even more. All day, she waited impatiently for Maxwell to come home from the theatre. Early in the evening, she sat in the living room when Nigel and Niles came down the stairs in their best suits. Fran asked them if they plan to have a nice man bonding together. They both laughed out loud and said.
"Quite so, we will pick up Maxwell from the theatre and kidnap him to a bachelor party, whether he wants to or not."
Fran stared at both with horror. Nigel stroked her cheek.
"Don't worry baby! We'll bring him back to you in one piece."
Fran snorted, annoyed and pulled her face away. Then the truth had to wait until tomorrow. She spent the evening with Gracie, watching videos until Gracie fell asleep. Fran quietly left the room and went down the stairs to the kitchen to make herself a hot cocoa.
Suddenly, she heard the front door slamming violently, and stormy steps rushed towards the office. She immediately got a bad feeling in her guts. She looked at the clock and noticed that it was far too early for one of the men to be back from the party already. With insecure steps, she walked slowly towards the office. The door was open and she could see Maxwell sitting with his coat in his chair with a picture in his hand. For a brief moment, she hesitated whether there would still be a chance to sneak away, but her conscience won. With small steps, she entered the office.
Maxwell looked up and his gaze revealed to her immediately. He knew about Nigel and Maxwell saw by her expression, she knew that he knew. Maxwell stared at Fran as if he were seeing her for the first time. Ever since Nigel spill the beans that he proposed to Fran and wanted to take her with him on the ship, his thoughts were turning around like a roller coaster. The idea that Fran might now be his sister-in-law was unbearable to him. Images of Nigel and Fran kissing each other or perhaps more appeared to him.
Fran sat down on the green couch and pleaded barely audibly.
"Please, Max, come and sit with me, please!"
Maxwell saw the tears in her eyes. Finally, he took off his coat and sat down beside her but stared straight ahead and remained quite stiff when she put her hand around his shoulder. Fran gathered all her courage and started talking.
"I love you, Maxwell. You have to believe me. I know I should have told you the whole story with Nigel a long time ago. I was just a coward and afraid of your reaction."
Maxwell gazed at her. He saw the anxiety and insecurity but also the love in her eyes. He gave up his rigid posture, turned to her and took her hands into his. Fran prayed this to be a good sign and continued. "You know, back then when Nigel showed up here, I was in sort of a midlife crisis. I felt stuck and Nigel made me laugh again. Everything was so simple, carefree. When Nigel proposed to me, I was confused. Deep inside, I knew this was all wrong, but then I thought it would be my chance to start a new life. And everything went so fast. I only came to my senses when I stood at the pier and saw the ship drifting away. It was like waking up from a dream..."
Maxwell nodded and sighed.
"I still remember how sad you were when I came home that night and I knew it was not because of your ankle. I kind of realized that something was wrong with you, but I couldn't get myself to ask you for the reason. Somehow, I understand why you wanted to elope with him. Nigel always knew how to enjoy life and captivated everyone with his charm and you should know I'm not mad at you. But the realization that you might have just disappeared and the children and I would have been all alone by now, this is painful and it hurts. Ever since Nigel spilt the beans, I've been thinking about it and then I have these images in my mind like you and him..."
"Shhhhhhhhhhhh stop."
In a hasty movement, Fran shut his mouth, threw herself into his arms and sobbed.
"I'm soooo sorry. I love you so much and I'm truly happy to be with you and the kids. You are my family, my home. I never want to leave you again."
Her tears were streaming down, and wildly she began to kiss his face. Maxwell grabbed her in his arms.
"I'll never let you ever leave me again. You are stuck with me for the rest of your life."
They laid together on the couch for a long time, kissing and holding on to each other arms. They both felt an incredible relief until the exhaustion and fatigue invaded them. They were just about to get up when Fran held Maxwell back once more.
"With Nigel, um, I mean, what you must know, we've never made love... I admit, we shared some kisses, but that's all. And I never had the feeling I have when you kiss me."
Slightly embarrassed, she looked him straight in the eye. He kissed her and took her into his arms. He felt the last lump in his throat loosen.
Later, Fran layed curled up in her bed, feeling an infinitely great relief and an eerie longing overcame her. She climbed out of the bed and snuck out of her room to Maxwell's bedroom. Actually, they made the agreement to sleep in separate rooms during the engagement period, but Fran knew that she would only be able to sleep this night, cuddled up in his arms. She opened the door and hushed in. Maxwell was still awake, reading.
"Hey young lady, what are you doing here. You know it's not appropriate for an engaged woman to sneak up into the bedroom of her boss."
Maxwell grinned at her. Fran climbed into the bed, snuggled herself in his arm and replied.
"Luckily, I am engaged to my boss and if I'm not allowed to fall asleep in your arms tonight, I won't get any sleep at all."
"That would be not so bad at all" said Maxwell in a mocking serious tone.
"Then you have plenty of time to work through all the points on your clipboard."
"Maaaax, you're terrible!" she started hitting him with one of the pillows.
He took the pillow away from her, laughing.
"And you're pretty cheeky. But we can talk about whether I'm willing to share my comfortable king-sized bed with you. How about breakfast service tomorrow morning!" Fran nodded.
"Okay, deal."
Then, both made themselves comfortable under the sheets. Fran was almost asleep when she muttered. "But on our honeymoon, that's your job!"
End
I love the episode 5x21 "The Best Man" So I created my own story how Maxwell get known about Fran and Nigel. I hope yoü will enjoy it and I would appreciate any kind of feedback.