Fran and Maxwell stare at each other in horror.
“What is Nigel doing here?” Fran whispers, almost panicking. “He is supposed to be in New Jersey. He wanted to check out a new club. Do you think he followed me? What if he knows everything?” Maxwell shakes his head.
“No, I can’t imagine that.” At that moment, the doorbell rings again impatiently.
“Don’t open the door! Don't let him inside!” Fran begs Maxwell.
“I have to open the door. He probably knows I'm at home. I should at least hear what he wants. I guess it's something completely different”
“And if not? What if he noticed something?”
Fran is literally shaking with fear. But Maxwell is adamant to let his brother in.
"Listen, the best thing would be, you sneak into the kitchen and hide there. I'll guide Nigel into the office and as soon as we're there, you leave the house before he sees you here."
Fran can only nod. While Maxwell hurries to the door, she sneaks through the back hallway to the kitchen, praying Nigel won't find her there.
“Finally! I’m already putting down roots here!”
Nigel hisses at his brother as soon as he opens the door.
“I'm sorry, Nigel. I'm just not used to opening the door by myself anymore. I completely forgot that Niles isn't at home.”
“Yeah, yeah. If you have to survive without your beloved butler!”
“What do you actually stop by?” Maxwell asks a little anxious.
“I need to discuss something important with you. It’s about Fran!”
Maxwell's heartbeat stops for a moment. He tries to stay calm on the outside.
“Then let’s go to my office.”
Maxwell leads Nigel to the office as inconspicuously as possible. There he offers him a cognac, which Nigel gratefully accepts. Then Nigel thinks of something.
“Can I make a quick phone call?”
"Sure!"
Nigel picks up the phone and dials a specific number. He waits impatiently and hangs up again.
“That’s weird!”
“Excuse me, what’s weird? Who were you trying to call?”
“Fran! But she doesn’t seem to be in the hotel suite or maybe she’s just sleeping. In any case, very odd that she’s not answering the phone.”
“You really seem to be worried about her?!” Maxwell remarks with a slight undertone.
“Of course I’m worried. I love her! After all she’s my girl, my fiancée!”
Maxwell feels a stitch when Nigel refers to Fran as his fiancée. He frowns disapprovingly. Nigel, however, interprets the frown quite differently.
“You don’t really believe me that my feelings for Fran are real.”
“What makes you think that? I didn’t say anything.”
“Your face says more than 1000 words!”
“Can you blame me?! So far, you didn't exactly shine in the role of the loyal and caring partner. In the past with your previous love affairs, it wasn't even worth it to remember the name of the respective woman.” Nigel grins cheekily and answers casually.
“Everyone grows up sometime.”
“So you’re telling me that you truly love Fran?”
“Of course I love her! Why do you ask me that?”
“Well, the whole thing happened pretty fast back then. You hardly even knew her.”
“If it’s the right thing, why wait any longer?! Not everyone is as hesitant as you, my dear brother.”
Everything in Maxwell wants to scream out.
“So you are sure that you want to spend the rest of your life with her and that you will be faithful to her?”
Maxwell knows the question is actually totally ironic considering what he and Fran did earlier. But he just has to know.
“The rest of my life, that sounds pretty prosaic.” Nigel laughs. “Who knows what tomorrow will bring. We live in the here and now. And if you really want to know it , yes Fran is the perfect match for me. She looks amazing, all my friends envy me. She is passionate and we have a lot of fun together. And yes I can imagine to make a true commitment to her including also loving only she. OK, I admit, that may not have been the case at the beginning. Back then I saw it more as a game and to be honest I was very surprised that she actually followed me onto the boat. But now after I spent so much time for her, I really developed strong feelings for her. It's completely different with her than with any other woman before and we are very happy. That means....”
Nigel pauses, like he doesn't know how to continue. Maxwell stares at him in nervous anticipation, wondering what comes now.
YOU ARE READING
You can not take back love!
FanfictionFran followed Nigel on the ship. Now they are engaged and live happily together in Paris. Than they come to New York for a visit. Fran and Maxwell are captured by their old feelings for each other. Maxwell is in a dilemma, Nigel is his brother but F...
