Okay.
1. Francie is not Freplica
2. Francie doesn't know about the CIA, Will knows (because of Taipei and all)
3. Who cares if Will is jealous of Vaughn? Sorry, Will is... not my favorite character.
Thanks for all your posts!
Chapter 10
Sydney and Francie emerged from the bedroom an hour later.
“Wow, Syd. I mean, wow” said Will from the couch. Sydney spun around, showing off her simple black dress. Her hair was half pulled back (like JG wore to the Oscars) with a clip. She laughed at Will’s reaction and at Francie, who was standing in the doorway looking proud of herself.
“Geez, you guys. You don’t have to act like parents watching their little girl go on her first date! You’re making me even more nervous!” she exclaimed. She was actually very anxious about going on a date with Vaughn.
“What are you so nervous about? You’ve already kissed, so you don’t have to worry about that. You already know he doesn’t have anything wrong with him, some kind of personality disorder, right? So you have nothing to worry about!” Will said from the couch, grinning.
Sydney and Francie exchanged a look. Guys just didn’t understand anything sometimes.
Vaughn stood outside her door, his hand reaching for the doorbell. He was pretty nervous about this, although he couldn’t imagine why. He hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid to embarrass himself. Vaughn had spoken to Weiss before he left, and could still remember his advice. “If you want to get yourself invited inside after the date, just ask if you can use her bathroom. That way, you’re already in her house and she can’t just kick you out!” Vaughn shook his head at Weiss’ advice. He always knew exactly the wrong thing to say.
Dingdong! The three of them froze. Then Sydney and Francie both sprinted for the door. Sydney won this time and opened the door, out of breath.
“Hi” she said shyly.
“Hi. Do you two always run to the door?” Vaughn asked her. Sydney and Francie looked at eachother and giggled.
“Not always. Just when there’s a guy on the other side. Especially if it’s a hot pizza guy, right Fran?” Sydney told him. Francie glared at her, remembering her 80-yr-old pizza guy.
“I see. Oh, hey Will” Vaughn said. Will waved from the couch and went back to watching TV. He was happy for Syd and he liked Vaughn, but he wasn’t ready to watch Sydney go off with another guy. Sydney grabbed her purse and went to the door. “I’m ready” she said. Vaughn smiled and opened the door for her.
“Bye you guys! I won’t wait up, Syd” Francie called as they walked out.
Getting into the car, Sydney got curious. “So where are we going?”
“Paris,” he replied with a mischievous grin. “I told you I’d take you there, didn’t I?”
Sydney smiled back at him. She couldn’t help but grin like an idiot when he gave her one of those knee-weakening smiles. “Vaughn, come on!”
“Why don’t you call me Michael?” he asked. Sydney was caught off guard. She didn't call him Michael because….
“I don’t know” she admitted, shrugging. “Maybe I’ll start. But tell me where we’re going.”
“You know I’m not going to tell you, right?”
“Vaughn, if you don’t tell me, I’ll-“ she threatened. Vaughn laughed at her and kept driving. She shook her head. Maybe a surprise was better.
They pulled up to a restaurant in downtown L.A. Sydney got out of the car, looking around her. “Now are you going to tell me where we are?” she asked.
“Le Beau Jolie” he told her. “Since you had a burger in Paris, you’re going to have French food in L.A.” He smiled at her and led her inside.
***
“Can you believe how rude that waiter was?” said Sydney, giggling.
“I know. Did you see the look he gave me when I asked for a salt shaker?” Vaughn replied, laughing with her. They drove into her driveway and got out of the car. Sydney grabbed his hand as they walked up the sidewalk. As they reached the door, he gave her hand a little squeeze. They stood there just looking at eachother for a second, taking in the moment, then Sydney started giggling.
“What? What’s so funny?” asked Vaughn.
“It’s just that before I left, Will told me that I didn’t have to worry about a goodnight kiss because we’ve already kissed” Sydney admitted, blushing.
“Well, Eric was giving me advice on how to get myself into your house so you wouldn’t be able to kick me out! Only he would spend time thinking about things like that.” Then Vaughn remembered all the countless hours he had spent daydreaming about Sydney. He looked up at her and saw her blushing. “Oh, I mean…” he stuttered. “I wasn’t going to do it. But Will was right, I am going to kiss you.”
Sydney smiled as Vaughn leaned over and kissed her. She felt like a teenager for the second time that night as her knees went weak. “Lucky his arm is around my waist,” she thought to herself. Then she just got lost in his passionate kiss.
Suddenly they heard a shrieking coming from the house, then a thumping sound and a slam. Vaughn pulled away, looking up at her house with a puzzled look.
“Was that Francie? Do you think she’s okay?”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “The shriek was her looking out the window and seeing us. Then she realized that we heard the shriek and she fell off the couch, ran to her room and slammed the door so she can pretend to be asleep when I come in.”
Vaughn looked at her. “She’s done this before?” he asked.
“Only every time.” They smiled at eachother again. Vaughn couldn’t help it, she was so beautiful!
“I love you, Sydney.”
Sydney’s smile widened. “I love you too…Michael. Goodnight.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Vaughn said. He walked back to his car and heard more shrieking coming from the house. Obviously Francie had given up on pretending to be asleep.
Francie was jumping around and talking so fast that Sydney couldn’t help but laugh.
“Omigod Syd, he’s so hot! And he seems so nice! Is he a good kisser? Where did you go? What did you eat? How long have you known this guy? Why didn’t you invite him in?” Francie asked all at once.
“Um, we went to a French restaurant, we ate food, I’ve known him for a year and I might have invited him in if you hadn’t been thumping around!” Sydney replied, sitting at the counter.
“Oh, I’m sorry! But I heard the car pull up and I just had to look out the window. You didn’t tell me if he’s a good kisser or not!” Francie said, not the least bit embarrassed. Sydney just laughed. “That’s a yes, isn’t it? It’s a yes! Oh, I’m so happy for you, Syd!” Francie said, hugging her.
“Thanks, Fran. I’m happy for me too! But I’m realy tired, I need to go to bed” she replied. Francie hugged her again, then they both went to bed. Sydney hadn’t unpacked from Paris yet and she knew that she couldn’t put it off any longer. She started putting her clothes away but stopped when she saw Vaughn’s shirt in the bottom of her bag. It wouldn’t hurt to sleep in it again, as long as she didn’t let Francie see her wearing it. She slipped it on and slid into bed with that calm feeling she had felt when she had been wrapped in Vaughn’s arms on the plane. “I wonder what kind of after-shave he wears” she thought to herself as she drifted off.
***