Truth or Dare

Maxwell closes his eyes trying hard to fall asleep but it doesn’t seem to happen. His head is spinning from everything that had happened that evening. What would have happened if Margaret hadn’t walked in? How far would they have taken it? Judging himself he knows he wasn’t able to stop. He just had to have her. Why? Why was she like poison to him and couldn’t he function as a normal person when she was near? Since when did his feelings become so complicated.

With Sara it was easy. They were young and they fell in love. He was always comfortable around her and felt protective towards her. Their lovemaking was warm and gentle, it wasn’t at all like….. Well, Fran was soft and tender as well. The way she was always touching him, comforting him and making him laugh. But she had that whole dangerous side to her. He felt pure lust and passion this night like he had never experienced before in his life. He fantasised about her in a way he never did about Sara. And he needed it. He needed this fire. He couldn’t imagine himself with any other woman anymore. The way she had felt beneath him was incredible. He turned into a wild animal who just needed to possess her. How could this raw lust be love? It confused him immensely. He had to stay away from her. She took him out of control, he couldn’t have that. He was the head of this household, a grieving widower. The way his body reacted to Fran was totally uncalled for. He had to get back to a business relationship with her.

With that last thought he fell asleep.


The next morning everyone sits down for breakfast. Niles notices Maxwell not saying a word and only staring at his plate. Fran is babbling with the children but seems distracted as well. Niles is curious what is going on.

Fran is deeply engaged in a conversation with Brighton about the importance of gymnastics at school. Unnoticeable she glances at Maxwell and her heart sinks as she sees hiss dark mood. This was exactly what she feared but she wasn’t about to let him slip through her fingers.

After breakfast Maxwell retreats to his office were CC was already waiting for him. “Wow do you look like crap today? I knew you had too much to drink because you were babbling all kinds of nonsense last night.” CC just can’t let the opportunity go.

“Let’s just get to work” Maxwell mumbles as he sits behind his desk opening some files. “The backers will be here in an hour.”

The meeting goes horrible. Maxwell can hardly keep his head to it. Besides his splitting headache his mind keeps travelling to the previous night. She has bewitched him and he has to get out of that.

In between Fran is drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Niles takes this opportunity to find out what has happened. “Did you sleep well?” he ask innocently.

“Yeah, slept like a rock after all that wine” Fran answers casually.

“Didn’t that scream wake you up then?” he just had to know what happened. He knew it was something big and couldn’t stand being left out.

Fran shrugged “What scream, I didn’t hear anything.” She knows Niles is fishing for details but she just loves playing with him like this. She really needs some diversion and this is just too funny.

“Mr. Sheffield seemed rather distracted, don’t you think?” he tries again, eyeing Fran suspiciously.

“Oh, he might have a headache after all that brandy last night.” Fran couldn’t hold her giggle anymore.

“Or maybe he has taken a bad Jewish snack” Niles tried boldly.

“Actually it was a very good Jewish snack but he was interrupted…” Fran winks at Niles who can’t stand it anymore.

“Okay Miss fine, enough with this game. Just spill it!”

Fran turns around and looks at Niles. “Oh Niles, it was magic! He kissed me right there on the stairs and it got really heated… until… Maggie choose to come down for a midnight snack or something and now Mr. Sheffield is totally embarrassed and will probably never speak with any of us again” Fran finishes.

Niles mouth drops “Were you…?” he starts.

“Come on Niles take your mind out of the gutter. We were totally decent but, well, we were making out. It’s not something you want to see your father doing. But I talked to Maggie and she is okay with it.” Fran sighs.

“So, our little boy did make his move?” Niles is smiling. It was a good step. Okay, the outcome wasn’t all that great but to him it was a step in the right direction. He took Fran in his arms and spoke softly. “It’ll be all right Miss Fine. He’ll come around.”

In the office the meeting was finally over and CC had gone to the theatre to run some errands. Maxwell was left alone with his thought until there was a soft knock on the door.

His heart suddenly feels like stone. He doesn’t want to face her. But there she is.

“Hi Mr. Sheffield can I come in?” Fran tries to hide her nervousness.

“Yes, of course Miss Fine” Maxwell does his best to form a little smile. He can’t help looking her up and down. She looks fabulous as always in her red skirt and tight black turtlenecks. Her black leather boots reach until right under her knee, which makes her upper leg look even sexier.

Fran notices directly that she is being watched. Suddenly it seems like not all is lost yet. She just has to be gentle now as he is very vulnerable.

She props herself on her favourite position on his desk and crosses her legs. Maxwell tries to just focus on her face and smiles at her gently. He hopes she won’t mention last night again. He just wants to go on as if nothing ever happened.

“Mr. Sheffield” she starts her sentence in her familiar way. “I just wanted to tell you that I talked to Maggie last night and she is fine with it.”

Maxwell coughs. Darn it, she did want to talk about last night. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. Fran looked up as he now towers above her. She could see his struggle.

“All right, thank you. But… what exactly did you tell her?” he actually didn’t want to go there but he just had to know. He puts his hands in his pockets and starts walking towards the couch.

“I told her that nothing had really happened and ….” Fran swallows not really knowing how to phrase this.
“and… how I feel about you. I thought it best to tell her the truth. She is seventeen, she deserves that.” Fran turns around and looks at Maxwell sitting on the couch. He has his elbows on his knees and looks straight at her.

“And how do you feel Miss Fine?” He couldn’t resist. He was too curious. There he went again. He had promised himself to let the incident go and never speak about it again.

Fran knew she could expect this question. She hopped from the desk and walked towards him. She saw him back away, leaning into the back of the couch. She smiles as she bents over him until her lips reach his left ear.

Maxwell’s muscles tighten as she comes close. He feels her breath near his ear and closes his eyes.

“I think you know” she whispers as she presses her lips right under his ear. The kiss is soft and lingering. When her lips come off his skins she stands up again and walks away leaving Maxwell breathless.

As she closes the door Maxwell puts his head is has hand. He moans softly. What did that mean? Does she love him or just wants him? Does he love her or just wants her? How could he describe this overwhelming feeling he has? He has always been good at resisting women. All these beautiful actresses day after day, being interested in him for his money, status or whatever. They were all young and had bodies like a rock. But he was never interested. He was proud of that self-control. Where other men made mistakes, getting divorces and ending up having wild but crazy adventures with tall blonde women, he always remained sane. Until now. Since she walked into his life she had slowly taken down that sane wall around him. He was like a puppet on strings in her hands. And the worst part was that he liked it. Even worse, he simply loved being around her and being like jelly in her hands. To be honest, last night he felt so much more alive than he had felt in the past years. He loved the way he could turn her on. She wanted him, she wanted him so bad and he did that to her. He had driven her crazy like she always did to him. At that moment she could have asked him anything and he would have done that, just to please her. Just to make her want him more.

Maxwell stood up and paced through the room. But bloody hell, she was his nanny. The nanny of his children. He couldn’t do this to them, to Sara. By getting lost in Fran he betrayed her. He would betray Fran as well. She was so much more to him than this gorgeous hot woman. How could she be both? His companion, his support, his friend but also the woman he wanted to ravish as she sat on his desk. He had to keep the boundaries straight between them. It would ruin their friendship if he would ever touch her the way he wanted. Everything would change and he couldn’t do that to them, to her, to anyone.