exes, fights, and flaws

"You will rue the day you crossed CC Babcock."

Her name in that nasal tone stopped her in her tracks in front of the kitchen door. It had been a long day, and it was only two in the afternoon. She needed coffee, and with Niles out shopping and Maxwell at the theatre, she had assumed the coast clear. Fran was bound to be picking up children or dropping them off or doing…something. Surely.

Apparently not.

Her curiosity got the better of her and she walked in just as Fran was hanging up the phone.

"Cordless phones are fine if you wanna get something done while you're yapping, but I sometimes miss the satisfaction of slamming the phone down to get my point across."

Fran set the phone on the counter and walked over to the coffee machine, taking two mugs out of the cupboard and pouring them both a cup. She added some creamer to her cup, leaving the other black, and put two slices of Entemanns cake on a plate. Putting it all on the table, she sat down and gestured to the other chair for CC.

Coffee and cake with the nanny had not been in her plans, but she couldn't go back to the office without finding out what that phone call had been about, so she sat down.

She tried to be nonchalant, asking, "who was that on the phone just now?"

"Chandler." Fran shrugged.

CC froze.

"Don't know why he's trying to reach you, talking about wanting to take you to some gala or something. What makes him think he can just call here as if nothing happened?"

Fran was getting worked up again, but narrowed her eyes when she looked at CC.

"He can't. You know that right?"

Intellectually she did. The way he dumped her right before her gala, leaving her with Niles as her only option for an escort had been horrible. And for what? Because she paid him too much attention?

But when he called her yesterday with the same question he had just asked Fran to relay, she hadn't immediately said no.

"It's no big deal. He needs to take someone, I have nothing to do this weekend anyway, so why not?"

"Why not!?" Fran nearly exploded.

CC shrugged.

"Y'know, I don't think I'll ever understand you." Fran shook her head.

"What do you mean?" Nothing about this whole conversation made sense to CC. Fran coming to her defence with Chandler. Fran apparently wondering about her, trying to understand her. Maybe the distance she had always assumed existed between them had just been coming from her?

Fran took a good look at her.

"I mean… Look at you. You're smart. Gorgeous. Successful. Funny. You could have any man you wanted. And yet…"

CC raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going.

"You date such losers. Some are actual losers, and I should know, because somehow you date them right after they dump me. And the rest just don't appreciate you."

Defensively, CC nearly snarled, "oh, and you do?"

Fran shrugged. "Why are you even considering saying yes to Chandler?"

Sighing, CC slumped in her chair. "You think it is as easy for me as it is for you, to find someone. But the men in my circles want a trophy wife. And the men you date… don't like me either once they get to know me. Apparently Chandler didn't mind me that much if he's asking me out again."

Fran shook her head, taking a bite from her cake and sipping her coffee.

After a while she broke the silence, "it's not, you know."

CC hummed, tilting her head.

"Easy. It's not easy for me either. All people see is the way I look. As soon as it turns out I've got something to say and won't just be a pretty face, they skip out. They can never look beyond my family, my faith, my looks or my class. No one takes the time to get to know me."

CC had never looked at Fran's situation like that. She'd always seen a woman who did everything to get a man, any man, starting with dressing the way she did. But what if she looked the way she looked just because she liked it? CC had stopped dressing for men a long time ago, and there was really no reason why Fran couldn't have done the same.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. I just thought…"

"That I would stop at nothing to get a man? Maybe. I don't want to end up alone. I want a partner. I've always imagined myself married, my own home, children. And the older I get, the slimmer my chances. So maybe I am desperate. But I'd still rather be alone than be less than I am with someone else. So I do have standards. So should you."

"I… I know." CC deflated.

"So. Chandler can take a hike?" Fran narrowed her eyes at CC.

"He will rue the day he crossed CC Babcock." CC laughed.

Fran joined in, and grabbed CC's hand on the table, giving it a squeeze. "I'm glad. You deserve better."

CC hummed, and finished her coffee. She put the mug back down resolutely.

"So, Fran," Fran turned to CC at the mention of her first name, "are you doing anything this Saturday? I hear there's a gala, very exclusive, press and everything."

Fran's eyes widened and she cocked her head, before smiling and nodding in understanding. "I'm free. Sounds like fun."

"Let me call my shopper at Saks, we'll put a look together. Show Chandler exactly what he let slip through his fingers." CC cackled, and to CC's delight, Fran soon joined her.