Author's Note: Thank you for all your kind reviews… I wasn't sure about the punch, but I'm glad you all liked it!
There was a shocked silence for a moment as everyone, almost as one, stood up and looked down at Viscount Mabrey, sprawled on the floor… some of them were hiding smiles.
He, meanwhile, was staring dumbfounded up at Clarisse, standing watching him with a cool and blank expression on her face.
"You crazy…" he began, but then faltered when Clarisse just continued staring at him, and she realised that he knew he had gone too far. She felt strangely calm and contained as she gazed down at him while, behind her, the other men let Joseph go, and he tried to put his arms around her, but she shrugged him off.
After a moment, as two of the parliamentarians who had been standing behind where he had fallen, helped Mabrey off the floor, Clarisse turned to address her stunned granddaughter, ignoring everyone else around her.
"I'm very sorry, Mia, but would you mind excusing me from the rest of the evening? I'm beginning to get a dreadful headache, and I would like to lie down," she said in her normal voice, but she wasn't looking directly at Mia, but past her, to the painting on the wall.
Now that the justified anger had died away, she was beginning to feel guilty.
"Of course, Grandma," Mia said softly, stunned at what she had just witnessed, but so very proud of her grandmother. She didn't care what anyone else thought- she was just proud of her.
Clarisse ignored the stares from everyone around her as she slipped past Charlotte and made her way through the tables, eyes averted. She knew why she had done that, she had been so angry at him for what he had said, and although she now felt better, she also felt ashamed of herself…
After telling Mia on numerous occasions that royalty was never meant to 'lose it', she had done just that, and on the evening of Mia's first dinner, no less, by listening to the drunken ramblings of a bitter man.
She kept walking at the same steady pace she always did, determined to leave the dinner with some of her dignity in tact, but no one could, thankfully, see the tears that were beginning to spill from her eyes as she silently left the room. She was painfully aware that everyone was still staring at her, and she was anxious to get out of their sight…
Once she was, and in the cool hallways of the palace, she began to walk even faster, concerned about getting away from what had happened inside the ballroom… she couldn't even imagine what Joseph and Mia would think of her…
0000
Meanwhile, back inside the ballroom, there was still a heavy silence as everyone tried to make sense of what they had just witnessed- the cool and contained former Queen of Genovia had punched Viscount Mabrey in the face. Even the table where he had been sitting was quiet- it was a rare thing to see Clarisse control like that, but most of them knew that it had been a provoked attack, and Arthur Mabrey deserved what he had got.
Joe was torn between following his clearly upset wife (which he knew she was, even though she didn't show it), which he desperately wanted to do, or make sure that Mabrey finally got the message had been longing to give him for years. He decided to give Clarisse some space for a little while and he stepped forward and grabbed the jacket lapels of the now standing Viscount, a livid look on his face. The Viscount was no longer drunk or belligerent- in fact, he looked rather stunned and frightened (the same look of fear Joe had seen in his eyes in the stable) and he didn't protest at what Joseph was doing.
"I'll say this once, and I don't ever want to say this again… If I ever… and I mean, EVER… see you anywhere near my wife, Amelia or Nicholas again, or even hear you publicly defaming them in anyway, you can be sure that I will follow through with the threat I made to you in the stables… and I am NOT joking!" he snarled so softly that only Mabrey heard him, but he wanted to make sure that the man got the message.
After giving him one more glare, he let go his lapels, and Mabrey was about to turn away when suddenly… Joe's clenched fist came flying through the air, connecting hard with his face, and Mabrey fell through the arms of the parliamentarians still standing there, and onto the floor again, blood gushing from his nose. He glared up at Joseph, but there was nothing he could do… he really had gone too far, and he knew it.
Joe suddenly realised that everyone was still standing and staring at him, but when he turned to look at Nicholas, Sebastian and the other two men, they were all giving him smiles. He grinned back, feeling better, but then sobered up as he thought of his wife.
"Your Majesty," he began apologetically, turning to Mia. "If you would excuse me…"
"Of course, Joe… someone else needs you more than we do… could you please make sure that Scott and the rest of the guys come and escort Viscount Mabrey and the rest of his table out of the palace," she said in an authoritative voice, and Joe grinned proudly at her- she was going to make a fine Queen.
"No need to worry, Your Majesty, we're here… we saw the whole thing," Scott said from behind her, winking at Joseph, and Joe turned to see two of them helping Mabrey up, while the rest of them were ordering the others from the table.
For a moment, he wished he was doing the ordering around, but now he had more, important things in his life… especially his marriage…
"Joe… isn't there somewhere else you need to be?" Mia asked gently, and Joe only nodded as he walked away, his thoughts now turning to Clarisse. As he made his way through the tables, however, he was surprised to feel some men clapping their hands on his shoulders for a moment, and then hearing them beginning to clap.
When he arrived at the doorway, he turned to see them giving him a standing ovation…
0000
Joseph first called into the kitchen to get an ice pack- judging by how hard she had hit him, he suspected that her hand would be rather sore, and the ice would prevent bruising in the morning- before going down to her garden… whenever she was upset, she usually went to her garden.
To his surprise, she wasn't down there, sitting in the pagoda, and he wondered where else she could be. She wasn't in her former study, or in the library, and then he realised that whenever she really wanted to escape from the world, she retreated to her suite.
The hallway outside the suite was very quiet- most of the guards had been given the night off- and Joseph was feeling a little apprehensive as he let himself into the suite. None of the lights had been turned on as he crept into the room, and he wondered where she was, even if she was there at all.
As he made his way into the bedroom, he noticed her shoes and coat tossed carelessly into a corner, and realised that she was there… only where… before he looked at the sliver of light shining out from under her dressing room door, and knew she was in there.
"Clarisse…darling, where are you?"
"Go away!" came her muffled voice from behind the closed door of the dressing room, and Joe walked over and tried the door knob- it was locked.
"Clarisse, sweetheart, please come out… I'm worried about you!" He kept his voice low and calm, but he was feeling rather anxious about her.
"I'm fine… why don't you go back and join the others? I'll be fine- I'll go to bed…"
"I'm not going back, I'd rather be here with you… please come out, Clarisse, I want to talk to you…"
"I don't want to talk to you or anyone… I made a complete fool of myself at dinner tonight, and I know that people are going to be talking about me for a long time to come… please go away!"
She managed to say the first part calmly, but tears began welling again as she thought of having to face all of them again… especially Joseph and Mia…. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing the stunned looks on their faces…
"Even I wanted to 'go away', my love, I'm not… I'm not leaving you here on your own, especially when you're so upset…"
"I'm not upset… How can you even bear to be around me now? I embarrassed my granddaughter on one of the first big nights of her reign, and I don't expect anyone to forgive me for that… or let me forget!"
"What's there to forgive?" Joseph protested as he sat down on his side of the bed, switching on a light on the way and stared at the closed door in front of him.
"That was an unfair attack on the people you care most about, Clarisse, and you had every right to do what you did… I was very proud of you when you did that!"
"But I shouldn't have done it… a member of the royal family never 'loses' it… I've told that to Mia a million times, and I now must look like a hypocrite to her for losing it… and in front of parliament, no less!"
There was a slight pause, before she added in a small voice: "You were proud of me?"
"Of course I was, my darling, and I'm sure that most of the people in that room were… and Mia most definitely! Now, are you going to come out and join me?"
There was a pause, and Clarisse was trying to decide whether it was time to face the music- Joseph wasn't angry at her, in fact, he sounded rather delighted at what she had done- but then he spoke again.
"Take your time… I'm still just thinking about that time you and I managed to go for a swim while the rest of the palace was asleep…."
"Oh yes… you were determined not to let me leave the palace alone!"
"Could you blame me? That's another example of a time when I wouldn't leave you alone, and I'm glad that I didn't… Anyway, it was such a beautiful night…"
The evening was still warm, but cooling down slightly, as they silently made their way through the garden to the path that led down to the forest and the lake, guided by the moonlight and Joe's torch.
"What a beautiful evening," Clarisse sighed happily as she gazed up at the moon and star filled sky, breaking the silence between them.
"Thank goodness it's beginning to cool down a little… I felt a little sorry for all of those people who wore all those hot dresses!"
"Yes, and you were the most sensible, with your light dress… still, I can't believe how hot it was today… I don't think I can ever recall a day being hotter than today!"
"And it was made all the worse by the fact that the air conditioning was broken…"
"Speaking of the air conditioning, when will that be fixed?" "Tomorrow, according to the repairmen… By the way," Clarisse continued in an amused tone, remembering something else she needed to discuss with him. "Do you happen to know what happened to the extra fan that was allocated to the kitchen? It seems to have gone missing!" She had heard rumours that the security boys had 'borrowed' it, but she was interested to see what Joseph would say about it.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently, secretly cursing that the palace was always such a grapevine of gossip and spies, but he also knew that Clarisse was onto him.
Clarisse grinned over at him in the dark for a moment, admiring his profile, and wishing that she could see his expression- she could always tell, through his eyes, whether he was fibbing or not.
"Who do you think you're dealing with here, Joseph? We both know that I can't lie to you, and I suspect it's just the same with you- you can't lie to me… I just wish I could see your face, then I'd be able to tell whether you're fibbing or not?"
"Why didn't you go swimming with the others before?" he asked after a pause, and Clarisse chuckled softly to herself- his avoidance to answer the question merely confirmed her suspicions.
"Can you really imagine the Queen of Genovia swimming in the lake with a whole group of men…? Men, I might add, who would all try to seduce me if Rupert… not that they would ever succeed!"
"I wouldn't let them even try," Joe said firmly, and Clarisse reached over and patted his arm.
"I know you wouldn't- that's why I always feel safest with you… But, seriously, can you really imagine the scandal if I had come down with them? None of the women went anyway… besides, I really didn't feel like it…"
"Until now," Joe finished with a chuckle and then stopped, seeing the reflection of the moon shining on the surface of the lake. "I do believe, Your Majesty that we are here!"
"Good," Clarisse said as she put her towel down on the ground, and then began to unbutton her dress, careful to keep her back turned to Joseph… she trusted him implicitly, but she still felt rather shy around him. "Thank goodness you can't see me right now!" "I could," Joe teased impishly, waving the torch light so that it bounced around her, and Clarisse clutched her dress tighter around her. She wasn't really horrified, she trusted him that much, and she loved the fact that they were flirting with each other… The flirting was usually more discreet, but whenever they were alone…
"You wouldn't dare… You cheeky man…"
"No, I wouldn't… what colour is your bathing suit, by the way?" "How… it's blue," Clarisse said as she hurriedly took off her dress, and then walked gingerly into the water, shivering as she felt the cold water brush her feet.
"Royal blue, like your eyes, or light blue, like the sky?"
"Dark blue… but I didn't think you noticed things like that, Joseph?" she teased as she turned to look at him, her expression soft.
"I always notice things like that, Clarisse," he replied as he sat down on the edge of the lake, and then chuckled. "Didn't you ever realise that your eyes are a beautiful colour of blue?"
"I guess I never realised that," she said lightly as she walked out further into the lake, and then dove into the water. He kept his torch trained on where he had seen her disappear, and was relieved when she emerged, wet but smiling, a little further out- obviously treading water.
"How's the water?"
"Cold, but lovely… why don't you join me?" "As I told you when we left, I didn't have time to collect my swimmers with me, and I'm not going to get into the water fully dressed." "You could always swim in your trousers," Clarisse said flirtatiously as she splashed water in his direction, and Joseph quickly moved away from the water.
"I don't think so… but you have a good time for both of us!"
He discreetly kept the torch away from directly shining on her, but he could see where she was as she did a few swimming strokes in one direction, then the other, but suddenly he realised that the water was too quiet…
"Clarisse… where are you?" he asked after a pause, a little worried about where she was, and he leant forward slightly, torch focused on the water, to see if he could see her… she might have swum out further, but he couldn't see anything…
Just then, he heard a twig snap behind him, before someone's hands gently pushed him, and he found himself falling into the water…
"HEY!" he shouted when he sat up in the water, and aiming the torch in front of him to find out who had pushed him… Clarisse was standing there, laughing very hard as she looked at him, and Joe had to grin himself.
"What did you do that for?" he complained, but he wasn't angry… in fact, the water was lovely and cool…
"I just wanted to… and I did warn you that you might be pushed," Clarisse said calmly as she leaned over to offer him her hand. "But I bet you feel better now, don't you?"
"Yes, a little… but I can see that you're shivering, so maybe we should go back…it is after midnight, after all, and I wouldn't like you catching a chill," he added, seeing the disappointed look on her face.
"Alright… but could you do one more thing for me?"
"Anything… what?" "Since we're away from the palace and the cameras…" she began as she stood in front of him, a towel cover her shoulders. "And I know you wanted to do it before…" "Do what before?" Joe was momentarily confused, before Clarisse leaned closer.
"Kiss me," she murmured with a slightly seductive smile, and Joe had to laugh before he happily did as she asked.
"That was a good evening," Clarisse chuckled weakly through the door of the dressing room. "I can't believe that you actually didn't see me coming!"
"I thought that you were swimming in the lake, as you had planned to do, and I didn't think that my Queen wouldn't actually follow through with pushing her Head of Security into the water… but, as usual, you surprised me! You were quite a mischievous lady that night, but that's one of the many sides of you I love so much… Now, are you ready to come out of the dressing room, or am I going to have to break down the door?"
"Alright..." Clarisse said quietly as, from inside, she stood up, and he heard her unlock the door.
The door opened slowly, and his heart ached when he saw her face in the light- it was tear stained, and so full of guilt and shame that Joseph instantly stood up and walked over to her, enveloping her in his arms.
"I still feel so ashamed, though… I wish I hadn't wrecked Mia's night like that…" she whimpered softly as he led her back over to the bed. He sat up against the pillows and, moving over, pulled Clarisse onto the bed to sit next to him, but she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of, my love, and you weren't the one that destroyed the night…not at all… it was Arthur Mabrey who did that… You were doing what was right- standing up for your family, and I was very proud of you when you did that…Besides, didn't you tell me before that you always wanted to knock someone out?" he teased gently, and she chuckled as he handed her a tissue from the box next to him.
"That's right…"
"So, there you go- you've done something else- knocked someone onto the floor!"
"You know, I wish that I had done that on other times when people really got on my goat," she said thoughtfully as she sat up against the pillows, his arm still around her shoulders. "But, then again, I was supposed to act appropriately as Queen…"
"I bet Phillipe would have got a kick out of it," he teased gently, and Clarisse laughed.
"Yes, he would have… he probably would have punched him when Arthur was interrupting Mia's speech the first time! He would have probably kept going- he was always a good boxer when he was at college…"
"Yes he would have, but I wouldn't have blamed him at all- in fact, I would have joined in… By the way, how is your hand?" he asked, suddenly remembering the ice pack sitting on the bedside table, and he looked at Clarisse's right hand with concern.
"Oh… a little sore," she said, rubbing her knuckle and fingers pensively. "I never realised that punching someone would hurt so much…"
He took her hand in his and examined it carefully- it seemed a little red, and there was some swelling, but she seemed to be able to move her fingers normally.
"Here," he said softly, handing her the ice pack. "Put that on your hand to prevent any more swelling, and minimise bruising… I hope your hand isn't broken… it doesn't seem to be, but we'll have to see in the morning…"
"I doubt it," Clarisse said with a chuckle. "I'm tough!"
"Yes you are… and I wonder how Mabrey is now… After you left, I…"
He was interrupted by a timid knock on the double doors, and Clarisse looked at Joseph, panic visible in her eyes, and he knew that she didn't want to see anyone tonight.
"I don't think I can see… not tonight…"
"Don't worry, I'll see who it is," Joe said soothingly, rubbing her shoulder for a moment. "Why don't you get ready for bed, and I'll be back soon…"
Joseph made his way through the still dark suite, turning on a lamp as he went, and he opened one of the doors to see Mia, Charlotte, Lily and Sheila Motez all standing there, looking anxious.
"Hi… we came to see how Grandma is…" Mia began softly, and Joe smiled as he stepped into the hallway with them, closing the door behind him.
"She's fine… embarrassed and rather ashamed at what happened…"
"Why should she be ashamed at what happened down in the ballroom? There's only one person that needs to feel like that, and he's currently on his way home!"
Mia looked outraged at what Joseph had said, and the other three nodded their agreement.
"That's what I'm currently trying to explain to her, but she still feels that she let you down."
"Well, you can tell her that she hasn't let me down, and never will, in any way, shape or form, and what she did was necessary and right… I mean, Viscount Mabrey was trashing our family, and if you look at it from Grandma's perspective, he was bagging her son, her husband and her granddaughter all in one, as well as her own reputation! He deserved everything he got… and you were the icing on the cake!"
"Thank you," Joseph said modestly. "I've always wanted to deck that man for many years, and it felt good to finally do it."
"So I've heard," Mia said with a smile. "Anyway, we all just wanted to see how she was… and please tell her that I'm not angry at all with her… in fact, I'm really proud of her!"
"I will," Joe said with a smile before the women turned to leave, and he disappeared back into the room, locking the door behind him.
When he went back into the bedroom, Clarisse had already changed into her nightgown, and was sitting in her side of the bed, holding the ice pack on her hand.
"Who was that?" she asked, and he was relieved that she looked more relaxed.
"It was Mia, Lily, Charlotte and Sheila, all wanting to know whether you were okay or not… I said you were fine," he said as he changed into his pyjamas and got into bed beside her.
"Was Mia angry at all?"
"No… she actually got a little angry when I mentioned that you felt guilty about what happened… she said to tell you that she's not angry at all, but she's in fact really very proud of you!"
"She is?" Clarisse looked at him quizzically, and he cuddled her close.
"Of course she is, and I'm sure that you'll find that most of parliament would have agreed with what you did… You didn't notice it, but I saw that a lot of them looked angry as his speech went on!"
"But you were too busy trying to pull you away from Charlie and James so you could hit him yourself."
"Well… I have something to confess," Joe said, getting a little flustered. "I was going to tell you before, but Mia came in, and I couldn't…"
Clarisse smiled- he was getting flustered, and she found it adorable and endearing.
"Darling, you're rambling…" Clarisse said as she put a hand on his pyjama shirt, and looked at him. "What exactly happened after I left?"
"Well, I intimated that if he came anywhere near you, Mia or Nicholas again, I would follow through with the threat I made to him in the stables… and then I punched him… I think I may have broken his nose!"
Clarisse's eyes had widened in surprise as she listened to his story, a small smile on her face, but once he had finished she laughed out loud as she picture the Viscount falling onto the floor for the second time in five minutes.
"We really are two of a kind, aren't we?" she joked as he gently brushed the top of her hair with his lips.
"I didn't ever think I would see you do something like that… but I'm sure that no one else will forget it for a long time! I know that I won't, but I was very proud of you tonight… and you said that nothing interesting ever happens at those types of dinner!" he laughed.
"Alright, they usually aren't interesting… but this was almost like the time I attended my first state dinner as Rupert's fiancée…"
"Was that the story that involved the suit of armour and the pig?"
"No," Clarisse laughed. "That was the following year… but this one was almost as bad, just because it was my first… There wasn't anything eventful that happened that night, but I discovered just what my future mother in law really thought about me!"
"She was rather a scary woman… I'm glad I never worked for her," Joe shuddered as he thought of the dour yet rather attractive Queen. "How did you find out what she thought of you?"
"Our marriage was arranged, and my father was one of the richest landowners in Genovia, but she always seemed to think, and make clear, that I was slightly below her beloved Rupert on the social scale…"
"Kind of what Mabrey intimated about me last night," Joseph remembered with a grimace, and Clarisse rested her head on his shoulder.
"Yes, but they were both wrong… anyway, yes she was intimidating, and we were engaged for two years but I never really could not feel frightened in her presence… but that dinner was the one where I met Charles and James- the two men you met last night- and they spent most of the night trying to flirt with me, and making a lot of jokes… they weren't too discreet, either…
I couldn't stop laughing, even when they were rather cruel, and it annoyed her greatly… I still remember her throwing me the coldest stare I had ever seen, and it stopped me in my tracks… After dinner, before I went home, she gave me a ten minute lecture on behaving appropriately… 'You may not be married to my son yet, young lady, but you are expected to behave as if you are now!" she imitated her, wincing at the memory, and Joe hugged her close.
"You poor thing," Joe said sympathetically. "What did Rupert say?"
"He wasn't pleased either, but he didn't stop the boys from coming to dinners over the years, and they became very good friends of mine… I hope they become friends to you too."
"If they are good friends of yours, I know that I'll be friends with them as well!"
0000
The next morning, Joseph examined Clarisse's hand again as soon as they both woke up, and he was relieved to see that it wasn't broken. There was a slight bruise around the knuckle, but she was still able to move her fingers and hand without any stiffness.
"Thank goodness your hand's okay," he said, relief obvious in his face and his voice, and Clarisse smiled as she took her hand away gently with a smile, and looked at it. She wouldn't admit it to him, but she had been rather worried about her hand- she had never hit anyone before, and she had really hit Viscount Mabrey very hard. Thus, she too was relieved when Joseph declared it unbroken.
"I told you I was tough," Clarisse joked, relief waving over herl. "But you are so sweet to be concerned…"
"I just wanted to make sure that everything was alright," he said as they both got out of bed and threw their bathrobes on. Now that they didn't have any functions to attend, there was no rush to get dress. Joe had crept out earlier to unlock the door, but neither of them could have imagined what met them when they stood in the doorway of the living room- a number of bouquets and boxes of flowers sitting on her desk.
"What on earth…" Clarisse began as she walked over to the desk, and reached for the first car on the nearest bunch of flowers. Joe watched curiously as a smile began to creep over her face.
"What is it?" he asked curiously as she handed him the card, which read:
"Dear Clarisse
We always suspected that you were a volcano underneath the surface! So proud that you knocked the Viscount out in round one! Looking forward to round two!
Charlie and James"
"Cheeky so-and-so's" she muttered under her breath, and then noticed that there was an envelope addressed to Joseph. "Here's one for you!"
"Joe,
We always knew that you two were a perfect match- last night just confirmed it! Maybe you should take up professional boxing as a pair! Keep up the training, and we might buy you a boxing bag for Christmas!
C & J"
He chuckled quietly to himself, and then handed the card for Clarisse to read, and after a few seconds, she laughed out loud.
As it turned out, the rest of the flowers were from the guests themselves, and all included messages of support for both of them.
"I guess you really made the night more interesting!" Joe joked as they left the flowers and messages sitting on the desk, and went to have breakfast.
"And you were the stunning conclusion…" she teased before she was interrupted by a knock on the door, and then in bounced Mia when she was bidden, a huge smile on her face.
"Good morning, Grandma," she said with a significant smile as she collapsed into a nearby chair, and Clarisse blushed. "How are you…and your hand…feeling this morning?"
"I'm fine… I… I'm awfully sorry…"
"You don't have to finish that sentence, Grandma, and I'm not going to listen to it… I'm not sorry at all! I take it that Joe gave you my message last night?"
"Yes, but I just wanted to make sure…"
"No need to worry about it at all… apparently it must have leaked to the press, because Elsie is raving about it on her show!"
"What?!" Joe said, startled, before reaching for the remote and turning on the television, switching to the channel that broadcast Elsie's show.
"According to an unnamed source, the state dinner that Her Majesty held last night turned out to be more entertaining than usual… After an eventful speech from Viscount Arthur Mabrey, now former member of parliament, Her Majesty Queen Clarisse punched him out and then, according to eyewitnesses, she left soon after… Not only that, but then her husband did the same thing…Viscount Mabrey had neither confirmed nor denied the story, and the palace is unavailable for comment, but we sure would like to know whether this story is true or not!"
"Oh really…" Clarisse said lightly before she reached for the remote on the table, and switched the television off, as Joe stared at her.
"You're really not worried about it?"
"No… the people I was concerned about are right here… besides, I'm not Queen anymore, and it might enhance my reputation…" she said with a laugh, and Mia giggled along.
"So, what else happened after we left?" Joe inquired, and Mia laughed again.
"Well, the evening kind of ended once the Viscount- who was clearly stunned at what had happened- and his entourage of merry men were escorted out of the dinner by Shades and the team… Joe, why on earth didn't they come in before it got so out of hand? They could have taken him out before he got too far into his speech…"
"I have no idea why he didn't, but I suspected that Scott enjoyed Mabrey getting his comeuppance!"
"I don't blame him… anyway, the evening finished after then, but James and Charles made sure that I tell you both that you should go into boxing… both of you!"
"Yes, we got a message from them," Clarisse said wryly, waving her hand in the direction of the flowers sitting on the desk, and Mia laughed.
"I can see that everyone who attended last night pretty much supported what you both did! I noticed that everyone looked pretty mad when he was sniping on about you… I guess that shows how much they all respect you, and respect Joe as well…"
"I think you're exaggerating a little," Joe said with a grin, but Mia gave him a significant, serious look as she headed towards the door.
"I'm not… everyone really respects and likes you both a lot… you guys need to realise that!" before she disappeared with a laugh.
