After a long week of tip-toeing around the subject, Clarisse and Joseph had finally made love for the first time. It's not that he hadn't tried to get her in the mood, she was just a little reluctant to let him touch her because of all the rumours she'd heard about him being a user of women. Only after the coronation did she finally give in to him. He was so relieved when she had agreed, he'd been waiting for the moment ever since he could remember. Afterwards he felt very pleased with himself.

"Joseph, where shall we take our honeymoon?"

"You shall take it wherever you like."

"Don't you mean we shall take it wherever we like?"

"No. For example, I'm thinking of going to Moscow."

"Moscow? That sounds…fine with me, if that's what you want."

"You don't have to come."

"Yes I do, I'm your wife."

He let out a quick, "Ha."

"What does that mean?"

The phone lay beside the bed, he leaned over her and took it off the receiver, "Hello? Yes, I'd like to book a one-way flight to Moscow."

"A flight? One-way?"

He put a finger up to hush her, acting as if she wasn't there, "Joseph Poulovis…yep, aha, yep, yes."

"Joseph what are you doing? Who are you talking to?"

His hand covered the mouthpiece as he turned his attention to her, "What's your credit card number?"

She told him what it was and he repeated it into the phone, "Okay, thankyou, bye."

"What's going on? Were you really talking to someone?"

Dragging himself out of bed, he pulled on his pants and put on a shirt, then he headed for the bathroom. After a minute, he came back out and finished dressing himself, he then pulled a suitcase out from under the bed and started filling it with a few of his possessions.

"Joseph, what's going on?"

"I'm going to Moscow."

"Moscow? Did you book a flight for me, too?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

He zipped up the case and headed towards the door.

"When are you coming back?"

"I'm not coming back."

"You'd better be joking."

"Why would I joke about that? I've done what I came here to do, there's no reason for me to stay."

"What did you come here to do?"

"Originally I came here to see a good friend of mine, a friend who wanted to get you into bed. Unfortunately he passed on, but I made it my obligation to fulfil his dream, it took a little longer than I expected, but now that I've done it, I no longer have to stay."

A tear pricked her eye and she wiped it away before it could roll down her cheek, "You're not serious, are you?"

"Maybe I didn't make this clear to you. I used you for sex and now I'm leaving."

"So the rumours are true."
He nodded proudly.

"Why me?"

"Because you seemed impossible, you almost were, but then…"

"And that's all you ever wanted from me?"

"Yes."

"Why would you even bother spending so many years of your life trying to-?"

"It's not as if I wasn't having fun on the side, you were just the innocent queen that nobody stood a chance with, except me. It was inevitable that you'd fall for my charms, no woman can resist me."

"And I suppose you never really loved me?"

"I've never loved anyone in my life. Not even my dear, old, sweet, mother."

"Then why did you marry me?"

"It sealed the deal. I realised I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without that piece of paper, so I got it."

She couldn't control the tears that were now falling onto the carpet, "Was it worth it?"

He looked deep into her eyes, "You were worth every second."

She wondered whether or not she should be relieved about his answer. On one hand, if he thought she was worth it, it meant that she wasn't as bad at love-making as she thought, but on the other hand, it meant he'd won, he'd played her for years and had enjoyed the prize at the end.

Joseph grabbed his coat from the hook and wrapped it around himself, he then headed out the door to drive to the airport. Clarisse fell to her knees clutching her stomach when he closed the door, she felt used – how could he do this to her? He'd always given her the impression that he was in love with her. If only she'd listened to the rumours, she wouldn't have let him into her heart. How was she going to explain this to Mia? To Genovia? Perhaps she could pretend nothing's wrong, that he's on a business trip. Everything would be fine…wouldn't it?

In the morning she didn't feel the energy to get up, what was there to get up for? An empty suite, a busy granddaughter and friends that lived thousands of miles away. No, there was nothing to get up for this morning. She hadn't slept at all last night, she was angry with him. She spent the whole night crying and cursing his name wondering how he could so easily discard her after all they had been through.

The only thing she wanted to get out of bed for was a shower, she wanted to wash the pain away, wash his scent away as well as the sweat he'd covered her body in. Dirty is how she felt, he had used her! She was used!

Looking over at the clock, she noticed a photo of herself with him on their wedding day. She was happy then, she couldn't believe it was only a week ago. He seemed bored in the photo, she now realised. Only now did she notice how incredibly bored he looked. He didn't want the wedding, it was just a trap. A well-devised trap which she fell into.

So many thoughts were racing around in her mind. She knew that eventually she would have to get out of bed and start the day, so she threw the covers off herself and ran into the bathroom, suddenly feeling queasy in her stomach. The water felt somewhat familiar on her skin, she couldn't wash the memory of last night out of her mind, it was haunting her. She could still feel his hands on her body, his tongue in her mouth, his flesh sticking to hers…

It was too much. She scrubbed at her skin, trying desperately to clean off the filth, but nothing she did could remove it, he was stuck to her like glue. Perhaps spending the day helping Mia with all of her new responsibilities would help to clear her thoughts, working is how she always took her mind off things.

"…and Lilly was like, 'She should so take the day off and do something for herself' and then I'm like, 'Lil, she's got Joseph now, she'll probably spend the day in bed doing something for herself!' Hey grandma, how does it feel not being queen anymore?"

After pausing for a moment, Clarisse realised she hadn't heard a word her granddaughter was saying, "What?"

"I said how does it feel not being queen anymore."

"Oh it's…"

Charlotte and Mia exchanged glances as Clarisse studied the outline of the desk, "Grandma?"

"What? Oh, um…it doesn't feel any different, although I must admit I'm a little-"

Once again, she stopped speaking as the flashbacks of last night invaded her head.

"Grandma are you alright? Grandma?"

"No."

Stumbling over a chair on her way out of the room, she ran down the hall and held her mouth in order to keep herself from sobbing too loud.

"Charlotte, is something wrong with grandma?"

"Not that I know of, she seems pretty upset though."

"Maybe I should go talk to her."

"Your schedule is full, sorry."

"Oh, I'll wait until later then."

Clarisse vomited for the second time today, yet she still felt sick. Sick for believing him when he told her he loved her, sick for being manipulated and dumped, sick of him invading her thoughts. She wished he would come back and tell her that he really was just joking and really does love her, but she knew that he wasn't coming back. She just could not get over the fact that all he wanted was sex. How many other women had he done this to over the years, she wondered. Were they better than she was?

She decided that thinking about it wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she wiped away her tears away and walked back to her office.

"Grandma are you alright?"

"Yes, Mia I'm fine."

"Are you upset about not being queen anymore?"

"No, it's not that, it's...never mind. What work do we have here today?"

"Signing papers as usual. Don't we ever get to do any fun stuff?"

"Fun? Mia, one doesn't have fun being queen. It's not all tiaras and frocks…it's hard work, dedication…heartbreak."

She unwillingly allowed a tear to escape her eye, which she tried to wipe away before Mia noticed.

"Grandma, you can't deny that something is wrong."

"I'm fine!"

"No you're not."

Mia placed a comforting hand on her back and Charlotte left the room.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"It's Joseph."

"What about him? Is he sick?"

She shook her head, "He…he left me."

"What? Why?"

"He only ever wanted me for my body and last night he…and…"

"Oh grandma."

Clarisse wrapped her arms around her granddaughter and cried, "There's a lesson you can learn from yet another one of my mistakes. Men are pigs and should never ever be trusted."

"I can't believe this. Joe? He seemed so sweet, so charming, so-"

"Too good to be true."

"And how are you feeling about this?"

"I've never felt so betrayed in my entire life."

"I can imagine. So where is he now? I'd like to give him a piece of my mind."

"I assume he's enjoying some unfortunate woman in Russia."

She faked a smiled and continued, "Do you know what the saddest part is, Mia?"

"What?"

"I actually loved him. He was the only man I ever let into my heart and he betrayed me, he lied to me, he used me! If he were here right now I'd…I don't know what I'd do."

"Don't worry grandma, you've still got me, even if the only man you did ever love turned out to be a jerk."

"Thankyou darling."

It took Clarisse months to mentally recover from what happened and she vowed never to love another man ever again, and she especially would never let anyone into her body again. Joseph's memory would never be completely forgotten, as her dreams still turn into nightmares, but they become less frequent as the days go by. Clarisse feels somewhat re-assured knowing that the man she once loved will die unhappy, but she saddens when she thinks about how she's heading down the same road. She wonders if he ever spares her a thought when he's making another victim's "dreams" come true, she hopes he does. He needs to feel the pain she's gone through, he deserves it. Every night she prays for him to become disfigured so he can feel unwanted, too, just as he made her feel.

The End.

Just an idea I had last night after I went to bed. I decided to write this while the idea was still fresh. I will continue my other stories, I just have to go to school this week so I don't have as much time to write them. Don't worry, holidays start Friday.

I hate this new upload system the site has. Sooooo slow. Sooooo much more one has to click. I don't care for those flashing ads either. (Just thought you needed to know that).

R & R.