I'm sure it's too early for decent cell phone technology, but Joe had a call and was only reachable by cell.

And yes, I do like to believe Philippe is that cheeky. In fact, I am probably pushing it a bit with everyone's personalities in this chapter. But I have my reasons. (And it was fun!)


Despite the fact that it happened in a palace with a room set up as an informal home theatre, movie night for the Renaldis was fairly typical. It happened most Saturdays, when there wasn't some function occurring. Sometimes, if the ball or state dinner or other obligatory event ended early enough, everyone would retreat to their respective chambers to quickly exchange their formal attire for more comfortable loungewear, and then meet back in the screening room for a late-night showing.

It evolved though. Once the princes got a little older, Rupert's attendance became spotty. He better understood the importance of participating in family activities while Pierre and Philippe were young children, but failed to see the purpose behind such trite experiences as they grew.

On occasion, Antoine and Victor would stay if it happened post-party, but quiet Saturdays were usually time off for them. After Joseph appeared on the scene, he would often sit in as the security staff's official presence. He would tuck himself into a corner and resist their invitations to move closer and watch with them.

That changed the evening he brought ice cream and movie candy. He had been in town in the afternoon, and on a whim, picked up his movie theatre favorites before swinging into the ice cream parlor that was Clarisse and the princes' weakness. When he walked into the screening room that evening, he suddenly felt embarrassed by the gesture. They could call to the kitchen and have gourmet, well, anything if they wanted movie treats. He almost slipped back out of the room to ditch the snacks, but the boys spotted him - and the bag he held inconspicuously by his side. They pounced on him in a second and relieved him of his burden. He had never seen two teenage kids so utterly delighted by boxes of cheap candy. He received a place of honor on the sofa that night.

He had done it without ulterior motives, but when he saw the look of glowing gratitude on Her Majesty's face, triggered by her sons' happiness, he vowed to come bearing gifts to every movie night thereafter.

Joseph had started his job in the summer, and in the fall, Pierre was off to school. Philippe, a perpetually cheerful child, showed up for his first solo movie night looking as though he'd lost his best friend. Joseph and Clarisse sat on either side of him, and for the first time, did most of the talking. Their conversations and comments grew increasingly frivolous and nonsensical as the evening wore on, and Philippe, seeing a new side to both adults, couldn't resist responding in kind. By the end of the movie, he was back to his old self.

Joseph had behaved out of affection for the young prince, and was concerned he had overstepped his boundaries, but when he saw the look of adoration on Her Majesty's face, he renounced every last doubt.

Eventually, Philippe went away to school, too. The first few Saturdays passed without notice, but about a month into the school year, Joseph was helping out with the nightly security check when he found the door to the screening room ajar. He knocked on the door before pushing it open all the way, and saw Clarisse sitting on the sofa in front of a blank screen.

He could have kicked himself for not making sure the tradition had continued.

The following week, he mentally added "Saturday movie night" to their schedule underneath "Tuesday night checkers" (the regular kind, with tea or coffee). He told himself he did it for her, but the next time movie night had to be cancelled for an evening at the opera, he found himself, he was certain, more disappointed than Clarisse.

It had become a comfortable routine between the two of them as their friendship grew and strengthened, with the princes rejoining during long holidays and popping in as shorter ones permitted.

Then the night happened when they admitted the depth of their feelings for each other. Afterward, they had been unsure about continuing any of their usual recreational activities, but finally Joseph insisted on trying to keep movie night as a much needed respite for the queen. Leaving a very deliberate space of a cushion and a half between them, they fidgeted through the first hour of the movie before Clarisse decided they were being unreasonable. They only had a few hours of leisure time each week to spend with one another; why waste it being awkward? He agreed, and after that, the challenge was to keep from becoming too comfortable with each other.

Which they managed to do, admirably, for several years.


Two Years Ago

A particularly busy summer was followed by preparations for the annual Pear Festival, and movie night had been all but abandoned.

Finally, early October saw the first free Saturday in months. After dinner, Pierre and Philippe, who had come back for the festival, showed up at exhausted Joseph's small apartment just before he got in the shower. He was surprised to see the princes at his door. Without a word, they grinned widely and held out their hands - full of all Joe's favorite movie candy.

"There's something else," Philippe declared, like a kid with a juicy secret. "Wait 'til you see. We borrowed it from one of the vendors at the festival!"

Not convinced their loot was enough to entice him, they made their worn-out friend promise to meet them in the screening room after they fetched their mother. Not one to usually deny them, and actually perking up at the thought, he hurried through his shower, got dressed, threw on some cologne just to be fancy, and hastened to join the others.

He was greeted by the scent of popcorn. Entering the softly lighted room, he saw the princes had finagled a movie theatre-style popcorn maker from one of the street vendors. (Sometimes, he thought, it was good to be royal.) All the other goodies were heaped unceremoniously on a low table in front of the old, comfy sofa. It was the one room Clarisse never had the heart to update - too many happy memories.

Halfway through the movie, the princes were passed out. Pierre's final year of undergraduate studies was proving to be fairly intense, and he was exhausted. Philippe, at the age of twenty, still required indecent amounts of food and sleep. The four of them just fit on the sofa anymore when everyone was awake, but in their unconscious states, the boys sprawled out and took up even more room.

"I'll bet when they're sleeping like this, you wish you had at least three more," Joseph teased from a squashed position at one end of the sofa.

Clarisse was pinned against the arm of the other end by her younger son. His head lolled onto her shoulder, and she gingerly pushed at him in an attempt to extricate herself. "I don't know," she said, making a face when she realized he had been drooling on her. "I'm just glad to watch the movie without their obnoxious commentary. They find themselves very humorous."

Joseph laughed quietly as he finally managed to stand up. He walked over and extended a hand to her to help her up. "And through a classic like this. I thought we'd raised them better than that." It had slipped out as a harmless joke, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt nervous. Clarisse laughed, and he relaxed again.

They moved to the settee against the back wall behind the princes and settled down, relishing the extra room. It didn't take long before the novelty of personal space wore off, and Joseph chanced scooting closer to Clarisse. She looked at him, a little surprised, then smiled and leaned into his side. It was so easy for him to put his arm around her, so natural for her to snuggle in. He glanced at the sleeping forms of the boys - no, young men now - and thought of all the times they had dozed off on that sofa. How many times he and Clarisse had helped them to bed when they were younger. It would be easy now to gently shake them, to wake them enough so they could stagger off to their rooms. Then Joseph and Clarisse could amble off, hand in hand, to retire to their own room, the night ending like it should for any normal married couple.

Except they weren't married, of course. They certainly weren't normal. And Pierre and Philippe were not his sons. He didn't want to pretend, yet sometimes the lines blurred between a pleasant reality and an even more pleasant fiction.

He looked down at Clarisse, who was closer to him than she had been in ages. They had grown careless with their relationship. What had changed over the past year, neither could say, but the flirting had escalated and the temptation had become stronger. Shortly after the Christmas holidays, he had found himself in her sitting room. They had been drinking harmless holiday drinks one minute; the next had found them lying on the sofa, wrapped around each other, one kiss deeper and more passionate than the one before, until he believed they would finally succumb. Somehow they had separated from one another, a result of superhuman willpower he never would have thought he possessed.

It happened again, later in the spring. In the back of the limousine, of all places! He cringed to think of it now, how reckless they had been, allowing themselves to be caught up in a moment with nothing between them and the outside world, but a privacy screen and a few tinted windows. After that, they had distanced themselves, a new set of unspoken rules dictating that physical contact be kept to an absolute minimum to preserve the integrity of that final, uncrossed line. They hadn't really needed to talk about it, to state the obvious: how easy it would be to just let it happen; how hard it was to resist.

Suddenly, Philippe startled them all with a deafening snore. Joseph and Clarisse jumped apart and Pierre was jolted awake. He glared at his brother, who managed to be loud and uncouth even in his sleep.

"Dear Lord, I can't imagine Mama making a sound like that," he mumbled. Then a little louder as he rubbed his eyes, "Joe, does he get that from you?"

"Definitely not." Joseph shot a sideways look at Clarisse, who had a strange expression on her face. Apparently, it would be easy for all of them to give in to the family fantasy.

Pierre leaned over and flicked Philippe's ear. His arm jerked up to swat at the sensation, and the abrupt motion caused him to fall off the couch. Pierre laughed without shame.

Disheveled and frowning, Philippe struggled to a sitting position. "Hey, what the f -"

"Tsk, tsk! There is a lady present." Pierre's interjection was quick enough to save his disoriented brother, but his expression showed delight in the near slip.

"Mama!" Philippe cried by way of lodging a complaint.

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Pierre," she intoned out of habit, "don't flick your brother's ear."

"Like this?" he said, reaching over and doing it again. "Don't do this, you mean?"

"Pierre," his mother warned lazily.

Philippe was far from appeased by her intervention. "Joe, arrest that man!" he commanded, pointing at his brother.

"If you want to sleep peacefully," Clarisse told him sensibly, "fall asleep in your own bed. Anywhere else, and you're fair game."

"You sound like Pierre!"

"She sounds like you," Pierre laughed. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end for a change?"

Philippe, not finding any sympathy, stood up and declared his intention to go to bed. Then, rubbing his stomach, he said, "I think I'll stop by the kitchen first."

"Perhaps, Your Highness," Joseph said lightly, his address deliberately formal, "you would prefer to call for something."

Pierre chuckled at the implication, and Clarisse pursed her lips, obviously in agreement with Joseph.

Philippe took in all their reactions and rolled his eyes. "Seriously? One time - one time! - I slipped out that side door. Honestly, it was years ago -"

"It was last Easter," Clarisse stated wryly.

"How long before a man can be trusted again?" he pleaded pathetically.

"You'll have to take that up with Victor," Joe said. "He did not take kindly to being wakened in the middle of the night with news that his charge was missing, having snuck out after he had gone home for the evening."

"There you go!" Philippe exclaimed triumphantly. "That's all you need! Victor hinted at the consequences should something like that happen again. You don't think I'd cross him, do you?"

Pierre broke into the conversation. "It would take a pretty stupid man to cross Victor twice," he mused. "Of course,…" He looked pointedly at Philippe.

Philippe's smug smile transformed into a withering glare. "Thanks a lot, bro."

"Go on, Philippe," their mother said. "I trust you."

His eyes lit up. "Do you, Mama?"

"Yes. Just take your brother with you."

Philippe pouted while Pierre snickered.

"I don't trust either of you," Joe said. "You have twenty minutes to be back in your rooms before I switch on the cameras to make sure you're safe and sound."

Both princes looked at him, wide-eyed and incredulous. "Are you serious, Joe?" Pierre demanded.

"Really? You think we're so devious?" Philippe accused.

"No," Joe replied, matter-of-factly. "I remember being twenty. Go on, both of you." He ignored the curious stare being given him by the queen. "The clock is ticking."

A baffled Pierre sauntered out behind a grumbling Philippe. "Alright then. Good night."

"Good night, my dear boys," Clarisse called after them.

Joseph went over to turn off the movie, the long-forgotten film nearly over anyway. Clarisse picked up the empty candy wrappers and cartons to drop them in the waste basket, and deposited the unopened boxes in a tin they kept on a sideboard. Then they made their way out, switching off lamps as they went.

They strolled quietly through the palace, past the footman on guard and into the private hall leading to Clarisse's suite. At the door, she turned to Joseph. "Would you like to come in?"

He laughed darkly in reply.

"I mean, for tea or… Well, for tea, I suppose." It seemed the safest option.

"I would love to, but I intend to make good on my threats to your sons."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Do you really? You sounded serious, but I thought you must have been joking."

He shook his head. "Victor tipped me off before he left this afternoon. Apparently, there was an auburn-haired beauty whom Philippe kept, uh, coincidentally bumping into at the festival -"

"Say no more," Clarisse interrupted. "I would rather not know." He chuckled. She rested her hand on the door handle. "Well, then, I guess this is good night?"

He nodded once. "Good night."

She pressed the handle down and pushed the door open slowly. She walked into the room, then turned to look at him, her expression one of unabashed desire. Without a word, he moved toward her, cautiously but deliberately, until he was next to her. Gently, he took her in his arms and pressed her to the door, closing it as they leaned against it together. He lowered his face to hers to kiss her, unhurriedly, languidly. The kiss intensified until it wasn't just their lips engaged. Their breath deepened, setting a rhythmic ebb and flow to the motion of their mouths that eventually rolled through their bodies until - arms lips tongues hips knees - they merged into one heaving, undulating embrace.

Joseph reached past Clarisse to lock the door. The click of the lock sliding into place paused their activity. He held his breath, waiting for her reaction. She resumed the kiss with a searing passion, drawing him back in, and he happily, euphorically surrendered.

Then his cell phone rang.

"Ignore it," she breathed.

He tried. It wouldn't stop.

"Don't you have voicemail?"

"Whoever is calling must have hung up and redialed immediately." He could barely speak with her lips trailing down his neck. Hell, he could barely stand.

"You should answer then," she reasoned, but without conviction. "It might be urgent."

"This is urgent," he said before branding her mouth with another fiery kiss.

The phone stopped ringing…and then started again.

"Dammit!" He eased away from her and grabbed the phone from his pocket. She watched him, listlessly leaning against the door for support and reaching out to trace her finger along the buttons of his shirt.

He flipped open the phone. "What?" he barked. His head snapped up, causing Clarisse to straighten, alarmed.

"Who?" she whispered.

Philippe, he mouthed.

She leaned forward, placing her ear near the phone. She could just make out her son's voice.

"My camera's not on. Pierre said the light is still off on the camera in his room, too. I know you're not one to make idle threats. Are you on your way to the security hub now?"

"Yes," Joseph said, rolling his eyes and tucking in the bottom of his shirt that the boy's mother had started pulling out moments earlier. "I am."

"Did you walk Mama back to her suite?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"What's that new guy's name? Shades, is it? Isn't he on night duty?"

"I believe so. Why?"

"Just wondered. I was thinking, if I called down there and asked him to switch on the camera in Mama's suite, what would we see?" Philippe laughed as he realized he'd left Joseph speechless. Clarisse's sharp intake of breath was followed by a seething exhale as her eyes narrowed in anger. "That's what I thought. Tell Mama I said, 'Good night.'" Laughing again, he hung up.

Joseph snapped the phone shut. There was a long and uncomfortable silence. "Well," he ventured, avoiding her eyes, "I guess this is good night."

Clarisse, going back and forth between furious and mortified, needed another few moments to find her voice. "Yes. I suppose it is," she replied staring at the phone in Joseph's hand. Finally, they both fully regained their senses, and began moving at the same time.

"See you in the morning, Clarisse."

"Yes, in the morning," she said, moving aside as he tried the door. It was locked. He swallowed a few impolite words as he flicked back the lock with unnecessary force. He yanked open the door and walked through. He turned to see Clarisse leaning her side against the edge of the door. He softened at the sight of her expression - wistful and wanting.

"Tu eres mi vida y mi aliento."

"Tienes mi corazon por siempre," she replied.

He reached out and touched her face.

Then he was gone. To the security hub. To turn the cameras on in that little brat's room.

Philippe wasn't going anywhere tonight.

To be continued...


I'm not sure what exactly the princes would have thought of Clarisse and Joseph's relationship, but I think they fell in love with him, too. (And heaven help Elsie for attacking either Clarisse or Joe.)

Thanks, as always, for reading. And thank you for the reviews - the ones you've left for me, and the ones you're going to write as soon as you're done reading this. Right? Am I right? ;)