The Morning After

Part 2 of A Continuation of the Nose Knows

by

luvccniles
(luvccniles@yahoo.com)

CC pushed herself from the door with the rose still in hand. She slowly walked herself back to her bedroom and started to get ready for sleep. She brushed her hair and put on a pink silk peignoir. She found a small vase for the rose and placed it on her night table, she then pulled back the covers on her bed. She slid between the sheets and rested up against the headboard briefly glancing at the rose that sat next to her. She began replaying the events of the evening in her mind and started to have regrets about not inviting Niles to stay.

"What was I thinking," she thought. "I am such an idiot, I should have just let him in so he would know how I feel about him."

She sighed and leaned over to turn out the bed lamp. Just as she was about to doze off the doorbell rang. At first, she thought she was dreaming but then she heard the ring again. As she stumbled out of bed she grabbed her robe and headed for the door. The doorbell rang for a third time as she looked through the peephole. Surprisingly it was Niles.

She opened the door with a quizzical look on her face, "What the hell are you doing here at this hour? I thought you went home?" CC said in disgusted manner.

Niles looked a mess. His tie was undone and the top few buttons on his shirt was unbuttoned. "I was going to go home but I could not leave the front of your building." CC stared at him as she noticed he was shivering. She motioned him inside and then shut the door.

Niles stepped in as he finished his story, "I have been standing out on the sidewalk pacing and looking up at your window. It was only when I saw the light go out that I knew I had to come back up here and finish what I really wanted to say to you."

CC was shocked by what Niles was saying to her. "What did you forget to tell me?’

Niles was beginning to get very nervous and uncomfortable as CC was staring at him. His voice cracked when he spoke, "I wanted to tell you that…." He froze again.

There was a moment of silence before CC rolled her eyes in disgust. "What Niles? I am not getting any younger here." She said sarcastically.

Niles just stared at her.

CC began to head for the door. "Niles whatever it is you have to say, I am sure it can wait until morning." She stood there looking at him as she opened the door.

Niles still speechless walked through the door back out into the hallway.

CC started to shut the door as she said, "Goodnight Niles."

The door halfway shut when Niles finally got the nerve to speak. He put his foot in the doorframe in order to keep it from closing. "I wanted to tell you that I love you."

CC stared in disbelief. She could not believe what she had just heard. Niles pushed himself back into the penthouse and grabbed a stunned CC. He pulled her close to him and kissed her fully. The forcefulness of the kiss caused her lips to part and his tongue entered her mouth. He could taste her with every motion. His hands began to feel the curves of her body as he pulled her even closer. CC did not respond at first out of shock but after a few moments she realized what was happening and began to reciprocate. After a few minutes of passionate kissing, Niles pushed himself away from her waiting for a response. They gazed into each other’s eyes. Niles could feel her skin burning through the negligée but he did not know if that was out of passion or rage. Suddenly, CC threw herself back into his arms and began to kiss him just as passionately as he had kissed her. Her hands wound tightly around his neck as his tightened around her waist. Niles then broke the kiss, picked her up and headed towards the bedroom. CC continued keeping her arms around his neck as she gave him soft gentle kisses. No words were spoke but the body language said enough. Niles gently placed CC on the bed as he looked at her in the most loving way. CC closed her eyes and reached for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beams of morning sunlight softly fell on the face of a sleeping CC. She began to shift under the blankets when she felt a warm breath on the back of her neck. A smile came across her face as she rolled over on her other side her eyes still closed. She then caught a whiff of an awful stench. She spoke in a loving voice; "I have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom. You may want to use it." Suddenly she felt a wet tongue lick the side of her face. She quickly opened her eyes to see that Chester was right in front of her face. She sat straight up in bed and yelled as she was wiping her cheek with her hand, "Yuck! Chester, get the hell off of my bed!" She looked around the room for Niles but he was no where to be found. Then it hit her and a look of disappointment came across her face. "I can’t believe I dreamt that." Chester still sitting on her bed gave her a bark in agreement.

CC flopped back down into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. She mumbled under the blankets, "God. Why the hell did I let him walk away last night?"

Suddenly she threw back the blankets and jumped out of bed, "I have to see Niles today." She began pacing as Chester watcher her, "But today is Sunday. What excuse can I use to get over to Maxwell’s?"

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she looked at Chester. "You are going to be my excuse!" Chester whined and buried himself under her pillow. CC walked over to pick him up, "I thought I told you to get off my bed!"

CC put Chester down on the floor and went to get herself presentable as she finished working out her plan.

Meanwhile back at the Sheffield mansion, Niles sat at the kitchen table in a daydream. He began to wonder what might have been if only he had spoken up when he had the chance. He He The teapot on the stove began to whistle. Niles did not respond. Fran walked in and noticed Niles just sitting at the table.

"Niles, can you not hear the teapot?" She asked as she went to the stove and removed the kettle from the heat.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry Miss Fine. I guess I wasn’t paying attention." He said.

Fran began to pour the hot water into two mugs with the tea bags. She carried the mugs to the table handing one to Niles and placing the other in front of her. She pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Niles, what’s wrong? You look so sad." She asked in a concerned voice.

Niles started to prepare his tea, "Oh, nothing Miss Fine. I just had a long night and I guess I am a little tired."

"Really?" Fran asked in a curious manner. "So you and Miss Babcock had a nice time together. Is there anything you need to tell me?" she continued to tease him.

Niles got defensive, "No Miss Fine!" he exclaimed. "How can you even mention such a disgusting notion to me." He gave her a devilish grin as he took a sip.

Fran just laughed, "Your right Niles." She headed out of the kitchen towards the living room; "I can’t even imagine you two together. What was I thinking?"

Niles’ grin left his face as Fran walked out. He knew in the back of his mind that he and CC came closer than ever before to admitting their feelings for each other.

Maxwell was heading down the front staircase when the doorbell rang. He went to answer the door when a smiling CC walked through.

"Hello, hello." She said with Chester in her arms.

Maxwell shut the door behind her and said, "CC what are you doing here, it’s Sunday for heavens sake?"

CC replied in a cheerful tone, "Well, I woke up this morning and thought that is was such a beautiful day so I decided to take Chester for a walk. Besides, I needed to pick up some paperwork that I forgot on Friday." CC had made her way further into the living room while quickly scanning the room for any sign of Niles.

Just then, Fran walked into the living room, "Oy Miss Babcock, you sure are in a good mood today. Did you run over a small child on your way over?"

CC began to reply not realizing Fran’s comment, "Well I was telling Maxwell that today…" She finally comprehended what Fran said, "Uh, no!" Just then Chester jumped out of CC’s arms and ran straight to Fran. CC just rolled her eyes, "Figures, the little traitor!"

CC turned around to find Niles standing right in front of her. Her heart began to pound in the middle of her chest. She could not wait to see him and now there he was standing right in front of her. All she could do was flash him her fabulous smile. She was hoping Niles would say something wonderful to her like he had the night before but instead he insulted her, "What are you doing out in the daylight?"

CC was devastated. Her beautiful smile morphed into a sad and cold frown. She could not even respond to him. Instead she looked right past him and spoke, "Maxwell, if you need me I will be in my office reviewing those contracts for the new show and looking over that script that was delivered yesterday." Fran was still holding Chester when CC walked by, "Nanny Fine will you please keep an eye on Chester while I work?" Fran nodded in agreement and CC headed for the office.

Before she could leave the room completely Maxwell called her back, "Oh CC don’t bother reading that new script. I already did and it was dreadful."

"Really?" CC responded surprisingly, "I had a tip that it was fabulous."

Maxwell answered in an arrogant tone, "Oh please! No one wants to spend money to watch a musical about two actresses in Chicago that are on trial for murder in the 1920s. On top of that, they are defended by a sleazy attorney."

CC reluctantly agreed as she left the room, "Whatever Maxwell. I just hope we are not making another mistake."

Niles was on his way out of the room too when Maxwell called for him, "Niles, I know that today is Sunday but I received a call from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s people and I need your help. It seems that Webber is going to donate scripts that are sent to him to Columbia University. The drama department is going to use them as examples of what not to write about. I think I should do the same. Therefore, I need you to go to the attic, find all of those old scripts, and box them up. There will be courier here in the morning to pick them up."

Niles had a look of anger come over his face as he responded, "Yes sir, I will get on that right away."

"Good man, Niles. You will be compensated handsomely." Maxwell said as he left the room.

Fran leaned into Niles; "You are going to need that compensation to pay for the hernia surgery."

Niles said, "I know."

CC managed to make her way to her office without shedding a tear. Although if she had been at home, she would have drowned her sorrows in a fifth of scotch, but she was not at home, she was at work so she decided to be productive. At least it looked like she was working. CC sat at her desk drawing lazy circles on her legal pad thinking about Niles for hours. She could not believe how mean he was to her after the lovely evening they had spent together. Then she started to get angry because he made her feel miserable. The warm color pallet of the setting sun began to spread across her desk. Before she knew it, the afternoon was gone and so she started to get her things together so she could go home. She looked up to see Fran walk by her office door.

"Oh, Nanny Fine." She said as she latched up her briefcase. "Where is Chester? I am getting ready to leave."

A worried look over powered Fran’s face, "Uh… I left him with the kids. Yeah, they wanted to play with him today."

"Well, can you please go get him? I want to go home." CC said in a disgusted tone.

CC stood there waiting for Fran to reply when she caught Brighton walking by out of the corner of her eye. "Hey you…uh Billy…no…uh…Brandon…uh…no…" she yelled as she chased Brighton down the hall.

Fran yelled from the office, "It’s Brighton!"

CC continued, "Yeah, right, Brighton." Brighton stopped and rolled his eyes waiting to hear what CC wanted. "Do you know where Chester is? I am ready to go home."

Brighton said, "No! I thought he was with you in your office."

CC started to get worried, "No. I left him with Nanny Fine."

Fran caught up with her in the hall and CC gave her a disapproving look, "Where did you leave Chester? I swear that dog can be such a pain in the ass."

Fran started to get defensive, "Well then why did you bring him?"

CC whined, "Because I wanted to spend some quality time with him."

Fran rolled her eyes, "Well, he could not have gotten very far. I am sure he is in the house somewhere. We will just split up and look for him."

CC replied, "Ooh good idea Nanny Fine. I’ll start on the third floor."

The three separated as Fran suggested. CC made her way to the third floor hoping she would not run into Niles along the way. She just wanted to get home and forget about the entire day. She rounded the corner when she noticed a door was ajar. She figured Chester might be in the next room so she walked inside. The door latched behind her as she made her way into the attic calling out for Chester. She turned around to leave when Niles was standing was right in front of her. She screamed and fell backwards into a stack of boxes.

She started yelling at Niles, "Niles! You idiot! You scared me to death!"

Niles just stood there laughing at her, "Don’t make promises you can’t keep" he said. Her arms were flailing as she tried to get up. Unfortunately, she could not get her footing and all of the movement caused her to fall deeper into the boxes.

Niles continued to laugh at her. At this point, he was having hard time breathing and tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Miss Babcock be still you are making it worse."

"Then help me! Instead of just standing there!"

"No." Niles said while trying to catch his breath.

"Niles, you better help me or I am going to tell Maxwell!"

"Ooh, I am really scared. I could leave you here and you would never be missed."

"Niles, I am warning you! Get me out of here!" CC exclaimed as she kicked her legs up and down.

"Oh, alright. Here give me your hand."

Niles lifted her out of the pile of boxes. The force by which he used caused her to be pulled right into his arms. Niles held her tightly around her petite waist as her arms wrapped around his neck. They both held each other, eye to eye, nose to nose, mouth to mouth. CC could smell the same cologne from the night before, which caused her to start breathing heavy. They each held on to the other a few extra moments before CC broke the embrace.

CC pulled herself away and began brushing the dust off her clothes, "You are such a pig. I can’t believe you were going to actually leave me there?" CC still straightening her clothes and hair continued, "You know I used to think that Maxwell was crazy for hiring you, then for a few years I thought he was a glutton for punishment. Now I realize he must be on a mission from God." CC gave him an evil looking smirk waiting for a response.

Niles just chuckled to himself and began working again. The memory of CC stuck in the boxes was satisfying enough.

CC immediately turned around and headed for the door. She reached for the knob and it came right off into her hand. "Niles" she said as she stared at the broken doorknob.

Niles just ignored her. He was sure she just wanted to give him another insult.

"Niles" she said again louder.

Niles still did not respond.

CC screamed, "Niles!"

Niles whipped around, "What is it you are nagging me about?"

CC gave him a look of desperation, "I think we may have a small problem."

"What did you do now!" he exclaimed.

"I just reached for knob and it came off in my hand." She responded in an innocent tone.

"Oh, just give it here." Niles grabbed the knob out of her hand and began to try to fix the door. Unfortunately, he did not have any success. Niles handed it back to CC, "You broke it, you fix it." Niles then returned to his work.

CC was in a complete panic. She wanted out of the attic. She wanted to get away from Niles. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She placed a cigarette in her mouth and began flicking the lighter; "This is it. I have found it. I am in hell." Niles quickly turned around, "Are you crazy? You can’t light up in here!" He exclaimed as he grabbed the lighter from her hand.

CC whined with the cigarette still in her mouth, "Why not?"

"Because," Niles replied as he snatched the cigarette out of her mouth, "All of these dried out antiques, yourself included, could go up in flames." Niles took the rest of the cigarettes and ripped them up.

CC’s mouth dropped then she complained, "Niles, those are expensive cigarettes." She knelt down to see if there were any to salvage. "God, you were so wonderful last night. What happened?"

"I sobered up." He said with a sarcastic smile. "I thought you quit anyway?" he added.

A frustrated CC answered back, "I did. But I have had some unsolicited stress lately and it caused me to fall off the wagon."

"In more ways than one, I’m sure." Niles mumbled.

CC started pacing the floor feeling very uneasy, so she decided to try to work on the door. She spent several minutes trying to manipulate the doorknob back into place. She was getting more and more frustrated with each attempt and began mumbling an explicative under her breath.

During one attempt she slipped causing her to slice open her hand, "Ouch, dammit." Her hand began to bleed.

Niles could tell with the tone of her voice that she really did hurt herself. He dropped a box and quickly went to her side.

"Miss Babcock, what have you done? You had no business messing with that door."

Her hand was bleeding badly. Niles took off his apron and ripped in half.

"Well if someone had been kind enough to help me, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt" she whined. "Do you think I need stitches?"

He tossed one half of the apron to the side and then wrapped the other half tightly around CC’s hand.

"I believe you may be acting a little over dramatic" he said looking up at her, "I think you will survive." He then took her bandaged hand, and placed it up to his lips and kissed it gently. CC almost melted right into the floor. That was the Niles she remembered from last night. So attentive and sweet.

There was a moment of silence before CC spoke again, "When do you think someone will find us."

Niles replied as her turned from her, "They will start to look hard around dinner time."

CC laughed as she sat down on an empty crate. Niles continued to work and CC just watched him. Again Niles was so attentive to her and it made her wonder exactly how he felt about her. She was starting to believe that she was misreading his signs and that there was nothing between them. She had a deep feeling however, that there was a spark between them and that thought made her eager to start adding fuel to the fire.

Niles had worked himself back into a corner, so a bored CC began to look through some old boxes. Most of the cartons were old clothes and toys from the children. There were a few picture albums, the kid’s baby books, Max and Sara’s wedding photographs and other private keepsakes of the Sheffield family. CC was admiring it all. She had always wanted a nice family but realized that it probably would never be possible. She had everything she ever wanted as far as wealth and career but a family was something money could not buy.

She looked around the attic for something else to snoop through when an unmarked box caught her eye. She pulled the container to her and sat back down on the crate as she opened the top. Inside were more pictures and memorabilia. She came across a photograph of a little boy. He was precious. The boy had blonde hair, blue eyes and was dressed in the most adorable sailor suit. CC smiled as she turned the photo over to find a date. She was surprised to see "Niles age 4" was wrote on the back. "He was so cute." She said in a sweet voice. She put the photo down and continued to empty the items and place them beside her on the floor. At the bottom was a keepsake box made out of cedar. The small chest was beautifully constructed and had a small latch on the outside. She turned the chest over to see an inscription etched onto the bottom. It had Niles’ name and the date 1973. Ironically, she and Maxwell had graduated that same year from college.

CC turned around on the crate, "Hey Niles, what is in this cedar chest of yours."

Niles quickly stopped what he was doing and made his way over to CC, "Miss Babcock that is very personal. Please do not open that chest."

CC was intrigued more than ever now. She stood up and held the chest protectively.

"Why not?" she teased. "What sort of secrets are you hiding in here Niles?"

Niles went to reach for the chest but CC just turned her back to him then tossed her head to the side to look back.

"There are no secrets. That chest contains very private memories for me. Now may I please have it back?" Niles had a worried look on his face. CC could tell that he really did not want her to see what was on the inside but she figured now was her chance to get even with him for being so mean to her earlier.

CC continued to tease, "Gosh Niles, I am really curious to see what’s in here. I bet there are pictures naked women or something equally disgusting." CC began to lift the latch on the outside of the chest. Niles began to panic. He lunged forward and grabbed CC from behind.

"Let go of me you barbarian!" She yelled.

Niles had his arms tightly wrapped around her from behind. CC held the chest even tighter. "Then give me the damn box and I will," he retorted.

CC broke free from Niles and ran to the other side of the room. She quickly opened the chest and took out the contents. Niles with a hurt and embarrassed look on his face turned away from her and sat on the crate. He bent over and put his face into his hands.

CC quietly looked through the contents, which were old newspaper articles and pictures.

The silence began to wear on Niles, "Well aren’t you going to say anything?"

CC walked to him and sat on another empty crate with the items still in hand. She had a look of shock on her face when she replied, "How long have you been keeping these?"

Niles looked up at her straight into her eyes, "Since the day I met you."

CC began to sift through the items again in amazement; "Niles I had no idea you had this. Look at this." She showed him a picture.

"I know. Look how young you were." He said as he took the picture from her. "This was you and Mr. Sheffield on your graduation day."

"That’s right." CC said. "Max and I had just agreed to go into business together."

"I know. I was there." He handed the photo back to CC. She stared at it adoringly.

"My God, that seems like a million years ago." She said shaking her head in disbelief.

CC started looking more closely into the items. "Oh my God, here is the ticket stub of mine and Maxwell’s first production. And here is the review in the New York Times. Here are all of our Playbill’s." CC began to smile and get excited about what she was looking at and Niles enjoyed watching her. "And look at this, here is the first production we did as Sheffield-Babcock Productions. Here I am at the Tony Awards. Niles why did you keep all of these things?"

Niles looked away from her and moved his eyes towards the floor; "I don’t know Miss Babcock. I guess I realized that you would probably never keep those sort of things so I thought I would do it for you."

CC took her hand and placed it under Niles’ chin then moved his face towards her, "Well I think it was very sweet of you…" A smile appeared on Niles’ face. He was pleased with her approval. She looked so beautiful. He tried to muster up the courage to kiss her but something held him back. He felt the time was not quite right yet. CC had paused in her thought then continued, "…in a sick and twisted way."

Niles pushed her hand away and abruptly stood up, "Fine. Go ahead and make fun." He began to grab the contents out of her hands.

CC had a confused look take over her face, "Niles, what are you doing. I am not making fun of you. I really do think it’s sweet that you have obsessed over me all of these years."

Niles gave her a disgusted look, "You know, I don’t think this is going to work out." By this time Niles had gathered everything up and placed it back into the chest.

"What?" CC said.

"This. This situation we have found ourselves in. The events last night. This whole cat and mouse game. I think we should just quite bluffing and put all of our cards on the table" At the risk of being pulverized, Niles wanted to put everything out into the open including his heart. He was tired of all of the games.

"What situation?" CC stood up to face him and replied in a defensive manner; "There is no situation between us Niles."

Niles walked right up to CC and looked her straight into her eyes. It was all he could do to keep from kissing her, "Don’t tell me you didn’t feel anything last night?"

CC started to get uncomfortable. She knew he was right about the previous evening but she was not ready to admit to it. "I don’t know what you are talking about?" She said defensively. "In case you have forgotten we had a business deal. Just because you tore up the check doesn’t automatically turn last night into something else."

A look of hurt took over Niles face. After CC spoke the harsh words, she new she had gone too far. She did not mean to hurt him. She just got scared and threw up her defenses.

The two stared at each other. Niles to hurt to speak and CC to scared to move.

All of a sudden, the door flung open. It was Fran with Chester in her arms. She could sense the tense moment, "Oh my God, how long have you two been up here?"

"An eternity." CC said in a hateful tone as she grabbed Chester and walked out the door.

Fran walked up to Niles, "Uh Niles, what exactly happened up here today?"

Niles looked down at the cedar chest; "To be honest Miss Fine, I am not real sure."

Niles knew what happened though. He realized that the best thing that ever happened to him walked out the door without knowing his true feelings.

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