Thanks to my wonderful reviewers:
Captain Weirdo – Yes, I am!! How about we do like VictoriaGrant said, hunt her down and then we kill her. Slowly, very slowly. OMG, what kind of example I'm giving to the future generations?
JUJUChick16 – Really, I haven't thought about that. I think I should retire, my readers understand more this fic than I am.
VictoriaGrant – No stones, and that's final. But we can move on with the 'I-HATE-HEATHER' club thing. Anyone else wants to join it, besides, of course, your multiples personalities?
bluegirl-783 – I think he is too… Can we understand what it's going on inside his mind? I mean, marry Heather, really, has he gone mad or something? Okay, I'm shutting up now.
Clarisse-von-Trapp – YAAAAAAAY!! One more Nanny's fan out here D I love it, I loveeeee it. Can you believe that I'm so brain damaged that I didn't figure out this whole Heather Miss Fine thing at first? Clarisse Renaldi had to point it out for me. I don't know, maybe I was subconsciously modeling her after Fran…
meggy – I don't think anyone likes her. God knows I don't.
Clarisse Renaldi – Well, I have four possible endings to this story, so, yeah, I don't have any idea how this is gonna end. YAY, THE NANNY'S QUOTES D Hopefully, I'll be using more of them soon. Anyway, I'm NOT going to forget 2012, missy. And I used a quote from you in this chapter; can you tell which one it is?
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Chapter 10 – Wake up to reality
Mia entered the library and found her grandmother sitting on a chair, reading a book. Mia watched her face for a few minutes. How could she remain so strong, act so carelessly when the love of her life was about to get married to another? Mia knew she cared, it was impossible not to. Not even Clarisse Renaldi, Queen of Genovia and the strongest person who had ever set foot on earth, could remain indifferent to the whole situation. It was true Clarisse was the person Mia most admired on the world, not to mention how much she loved her grandma, and because of that she decided she would take matters into her own hands if necessary.
"Hey, Grandma"
"Hello, Amelia" said Clarisse, not bothering to look up from her book.
"What are you reading?" asked Mia, trying to read what was written on the cover of the book.
"Oh, it's nothing." answered Clarisse, closing the book and hiding it behind her back. But she was not fast enough; Mia held up the book in her hands, triumphantly.
"'Hot Ice, by Nora Roberts. Fraternizing with the enemy already, grandma? I'm ashamed of you" Not giving Clarisse a chance to respond, she walked over to one of the many shelves filled with books and picked one. "Here, this is what you should be reading. It's classier"
"'Murder is Easy', by Agatha Christie. Mia, give me the other one back, this one is already giving me ideas to use with Heather, and I didn't even begin to read it"
"Yeah, like this one won't give you any ideas. What about, 'she could feel his hands, hot like fire, touching her cold skin, traveling up and down her body. Suddenly, she forgot everything. There were only two people on the world now, two people making love through the night…'''
"Amelia!" exclaimed Clarisse.
"Yes?" Mia said, innocently.
"Give it back!"
"No. No more Nora Roberts for you"
"But I was reading the best part, when they make up and…"
"And live together happily ever after. What's the point of reading a book when you already know how it's gonna end?" when she saw Clarisse opening her mouth to retort, she added, "Never mind. From now on, only Agatha Christie. It will give you something to think about, trying to solve all those crimes"
"If you want to make me read something classy, why don't you give me Jane Austen?" Clarisse tried.
"I repeat, what's the point of reading the books when you can watch the movies? No, no Jane Austen"
"Emily Dickinson?"
"Nope"
"Gabriel Garcia Marquez?"
"How can you stand it?"
"Charlotte Brontë?
"How many times did you read 'Jane Eyre'? Come on, grandma, be creative! I do love a challenge."
"Let me see, then… Paulo Coelho?"
"Is he what, Genovian?"
"As far as I know, Brazilian. I caught you off guard, didn't I?"
"As a matter of fact, you did. Who would have thought that the Queen of Genovia knew anything about Brazilian writers?"
Clarisse smiled. "There are a lot of things about me you don't know, Mia. Charles Dickens?"
"And that's why I'm spending my vacation here. I had to read Charles Dickens for school once, and I almost died of boredom"
"I'm really glad you're here. Margaret Mitchell?"
"I'm glad I'm not missing all the things that are happening. How many years since she first published a book? By now, everything had already gone with the wind."
"What, Joseph's engagement? J. K. Rowling?"
"Yes, and Heather. She sure is a hell of an event! What are you, a teenager?"
"What do you mean, 'an event'? J. D. Robb?"
"The woman is quite a sight with those extremely colorful clothes and that B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L voice of hers. I can't help but wonder how long Joseph will survive this marriage. Ha, don't you think I know J. D. Robb and Nora Roberts are the same person?"
"I often wonder that myself. But we must understand he chose to marry her. That's what he will do. Shakespeare?"
"Kind of difficult to understand why a person who isn't brain damaged would marry Heather. But will he? Too obvious."
"I'm giving up hope, Mia. He will marry her. He told me he loved her, and they even set a date already. P. D. James?"
"But you can't give up hope, grandma, don't you see? You just can't. And, besides, who said just because they set a date, it's guaranteed he's gonna marry her? Never heard of P. D. James in my whole life, which is saying much, mind you."
"Give me at least one good reason why I should keep hoping he'll give up on Heather and come to me. 'Come to me', it sounds lame to my own ears. Eleanor H. Porter?"
"We all will lose Joseph if they get married. And face it, grandma; you'll never be the same, being miserable for the rest of your life. Please, one can only read 'Pollyanna' once. Twice is too much, and I'm not even gonna ask you how many times did you read it."
"Why will you all lose him? As far as I was able to figure, I'll be the only one who'll be forbidden of his company by his soon-to-be wife. I can say that I won't be happy, but being miserable for the rest of my life is a little bit too drastic, don't you think? P. L. Travers?"
"Because Heather dominates Joseph, and I'm sure you had guessed that already. I know, I know, as much as unbelievable it is, it's the truth. Who would have thought that Joseph Bonnell, the Head of Security of the Genovia Palace and personal bodyguard of the Queen would turn out to be a submissive in-love guy? Sorry, did I say 'miserable for the rest of your life'? Because I meant 'completely, utterly and unbelievably miserable for the rest of your life'. Hey, come on now, grandma, Mary Poppins? These are children's books!"
"Yes, it's very plain to see that he does whatever she tells him to, and did you notice that he never seems to speak when she's around? Mia, really, I don't think I'll be like that. After all, I've got time to prepare myself for what's to come. And Mary Poppins, the movie, is wonderful, by the way. It was one of your uncle's favorite films when he was young. Nora Roberts?"
"It's a wonder he stills know how to speak, and I'll bet his ears hurts more in the end of a day with Heather than a pugilist's face would after three hours of being merciless beaten up by his opponent. You do NOT have time to prepare yourself, or whatever you call it. For God's sake, do you think I don't know he stormed into your office that day and told you he was engaged? He definitely caught you off guard, doing a much better job that what you're trying to do with me here. And, besides, the goddamn wedding is in two months! Stop with this Nora Roberts thing."
"That was quite a comparison, Mia, very creative. Who told you about it? How do you know he stormed into my office, and caught me off guard? And what if I said to you that I had seen that coming? Oscar Wilde?"
"Thank you, I like to think I'm brilliant. Which I am. Well, let's just say the walls in this castle have ears. And eyes, commonly known as cameras. I would say that this is a lie, a big one. ANYBODY could have seen that coming, grandma, mostly not you! Tell me, Clarisse Renaldi, when was the last time you and Joseph had sat to talk and just be friends before he told you about the engagement? I was wondering when you'd mention my dear friend Mr. Wilde"
"I can't believe it, Amelia Renaldi! You saw the security video? Oh, God, I had completely forgotten my office has cameras. Are you trying to say me and Joseph are not friends anymore? I highly doubt this is the case. Frederick Forsyth?"
"Yep, I did, and may I say so, I'm pretty much proud of myself for it. You should've seen your face; you looked like someone had died. No, I wouldn't say that you two are not friends anymore; it's just a case of neglecting the friendship. Did you ever think about it? So you know Frederick, huh? Who would have thought? I seem to be saying that quite a lot lately."
"Mia, that was completely impolite. And, well, I felt as if someone had died, and maybe, in way, someone did. I came to the conclusion that we are neglecting our friendship and long time ago, and alone. Thank you, but you did not tell me anything I didn't already know. You would be amazed with my knowledge of actual writers. C. S. Lewis?"
"And what do you intend to do? Will you watch this beautiful friendship die, or will you do something about it? Wake up, grandma! This wonderful thing you two have is slipping in between your fingers, and soon all that'll be left of it are the memories you're already forgetting, and, of course, Heather warning you to stay away from Joseph. I'll have gray hair by the time you finish reading The Narnia Chronicles"
"I didn't realize you had grown up so much in such a short period of time, Amelia. What do you suppose I do? Tell him I'm going to die if I don't have him by my side, if I don't see his smile everyday, if I don't look into his eyes? Oh, dear, I think I'm reading too much Nora Roberts. You saw that video too? Who else did, Joseph? I think that would be the only way to make him believe Heather is not what he thinks she is. Well, I guess even that won't be enough. Anne Frank?"
"If this is what you have to do, Grandma, then do it! If he won't believe you when you say this to him, kiss him and the hell with the consequences! You've loved him silently your whole life, and you were under the impression you two would be dancing around each other forever, and that would be fine. But now Joseph's got tired of it, and you don't know what to do because things are not going on as you had imagined they would. Show him you got tired of the dancing, too. Oh, please, Anne Frank? There's so much drama in our lives right now, we need something cheerful. You don't need any more heartbreaking."
"Mia, I can't just kiss him, he's engaged! What will he think of me? I'm his best friend, I'm supposed to back up his decision of marriage, not try to talk him out of it. How do you know I've loved him all my life? You seem to know more about the whole thing than I do, and I must say it's strangely comforting to have someone pointing out all the rights and wrongs. Yes, as ashamed as I am to admit it, it is true: I figured that, since I was Queen, and wasn't going to hand down the throne anytime soon, our platonic relationship would be enough for both of us. God knows I thought it was enough for me; how selfish I was. I never stopped to think that Joseph may have wanted more than what I was able to give him. But, of course, at that time I was also under the impression he loved me. Jules Verne?"
"Okay, so probably kissing him straight up isn't the best decision to make, but it would be just great to watch. You have loved him since he first walked into this castle, exactly twenty-three years ago. I was hoping I could shake some reality onto you. Well, I hate to be the one to deliver the bad news, but that platonic relationship isn't enough for Joseph. Maybe it had been for some time, but not anymore. And don't try to fool yourself, grandma: it had never been enough for you either. You wanted it to be, because you're Queen and couldn't afford to fall in love with anyone but the King. Don't blame yourself; you're only trying to have a comfortable life without have to face any consequences. As long as he was by your side, you both were fine. What had changed since the time you're under the impression he loved you? I would never have taken you for the adventurous kind."
"Who told you about all of this, Mia? Where did you find this kind of information? I was comfortable, yes, but he had never been. Once or twice, after Rupert had died, he made comments about wanting to get our relationship out of the shadows, but I dismissed them; we were doing so fine, why should we change the way things were done? There was no point in it. I guess I've always felt guilty because I've never fallen in love with Rupert, and worse, I had fallen in love with a member of the security staff. What changed? Please, Amelia! He is getting married! If, by any chances, you missed all the gossip going on around the palace, I'm repeating it to you: he is engaged, to be married on June, 20th. Do you understand it now, or do you want me to draw it for you?"
"Privileged information. Sorry, a detective never reveals her sources. Grandma, I think I have told you this before; Joseph's got tired of the waiting. Honestly, can you blame him? The woman he loves doesn't want to start a relationship with him. He wouldn't be waiting around forever, Grandma. So, here's what happened: Joseph got fed up with the whole thing between you two - or lack of a thing, if you know what I mean -, and that's just around the time he meets Heather. They start going out casually, because he does not want something serious; but when Heather proposes, he thinks there is no harm in accepting: he would lead a nice and comfortable life beside a woman who apparently is mad about him, and he would not have to think about you two all the time. They set up a date, and so what? This doesn't mean he does not love you."
"Honestly, Amelia, I think you're watching too many American movies. There is no happy ending on this story. It is over, I accepted this. There is no chance of a romantic relationship between Joseph and me, but I can still have my friend. It won't be the same thing, knowing that he won't go home to an empty room anymore, that she will be there with him every night, but I must get over it. I don't know if he'll want to continue working here at the castle, but I'm going to ask him that. You know too much, Amelia, you think too much. He may even love me, but he's not in love with me; he would not marry Heather if he were. Could you please stop talking about all of this? I am tired, I have a lot of work to do and this kind of conversation isn't leading us anywhere."
"And what will you do, pretend Heather isn't there when you talk to him, and lock yourself up in your perfect little world where only people you want there are allowed? Will you face reality, things as they are, the facts, or will you be forever trapped in your fairy tale? Open your eyes and look around you; the world is not the way you want it to be. I cannot stop talking about this, and I don't care if you want to hear the truth or not, but you're being stupid, Grandma. I never thought I would be saying this to you at any point in my life, but I'm not the slightest bit sorry. And I think it is leading us somewhere; at least I've given you something to talk about. The hell with all those plans me and Charlotte were making, the hell with strategies and attacks. Stop using you brain, and for once, think with your heart. I have heard people saying it to each other ever since I can remember, but I've never understood the real meaning of that until now. You have emotions like every other human being, and you don't need to keep the bottled all the time."
They fell in silence and stared at each other, both women stunned with the conversation that had just taken place. If anyone had said to Mia a couple months ago that she would be saying to her Grandmother she was stupid, the teenager would have laughed on the person's face. Clarisse could not believe her sweet granddaughter had said all those things to her, things she thought were impossible to go through the mind of someone so young. She was not hurt, for everything Mia had said was true, instead she felt relieved to have someone waking her up, telling her everything that had been in front of her for years, but she'd refused to see. Neither of them noticed their little game of writers fading; they didn't even know what they're doing it for anymore.
Mia, being the energetic teenager she was, could not stand the silence any longer.
"Grandma, I'm…"
"No, Amelia. Don't."
Clarisse walked up to Mia and did the unthinkable: embraced the young girl in her arms. Confused, Mia let herself be held by her Grandma, a woman who wasn't demonstrative, but who needed to let go for just a moment.
"I love you, Grandma" She didn't remember if she'd ever said it to Clarisse, but it felt the right thing to say at the moment.
"I love you too, Amelia. Mia" said Clarisse after a long pause.
Mia pulled back enough to look her Grandmother in the eye and smiled. Both of them were thinking the same thing: they'd never had a moment like this one, of total and complete understanding. It felt good, knowing that they had just bonded.
"I should get going; I promised Charlotte I would go to Pyrus with her." Mia said quietly, afraid that she was breaking the spell.
"Yes." Clarisse said and pulled back, sitting on her chair again. "Have fun, you two."
"We will" As Mia turned to walk out of the door, she seemed to remember something "I'll take this with me", and Clarisse laughed as Mia picked up the Nora Roberts book she had been reading.
"So it was because of this we were playing that odd game" said Clarisse, cheerfully.
"I think it was." Said Mia, relieved to see her grandmother smiling, and happy to know she was the one who had put it there.
"Thank God it's over; I was running out of writers"
"And I was running out of excuses for preventing you to read them." Mia opened the door but turned back once again "And, Grandma?"
"Yes?"
"The ending is always happy, remember that." She smiled and left.
As Amelia closed the door quietly behind her, Clarisse thought of how mature the girl was. Was she supposed to be like that? Shouldn't she be hanging out with friends right now, doing stupid things and laughing afterwards of how carelessly she'd acted? She certainly shouldn't be trying to help her grandmother and advising her so wisely. She wasn't acting like a teenager at all. But replaying their conversation in her mind once again, Clarisse understood. The shyness, the insecure eyes, the whispered words: Mia was still young and naïve about many things, but she'd grown up, not because she'd wanted, but because she'd gone through so many things in her life already. Things that had matured her in a way time could never had. She felt proud for her granddaughter.
Clarisse could feel a headache forming, and pressed her fingers to her temples. Just when she thought she was freed from them, they came back at full force. She decided she would think about the conversation she'd had with Mia later. She was much too tired for it right now. But a few words the girl had said still rang on her mind as she got up to pick a book to read: "The ending is always happy". She could not get the words out of her mind as she opened the book and stepped quietly into the world of Agatha Christie.
TBC
A.N.: Too confusing? Review, please. Press that little lilac button and tell me if you too, have thought of any ways of doing Heather in.