Alright everyone, here it is…the meeting! What an ordeal!
Just let me say, I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, but I didn't want to wait forever before posting something. What you read a few days ago was the beginning of what I thought would be one big chapter about 'the meeting', but when I realized how far away from finishing it I was, I lopped off what I'd managed to write and made it an obnoxious cliffhanger. I do apologize…it was a passive-aggressive manipulative thing to do. Or writer's block – it depends on how generous you feel like being.
Thanks to the usual suspects of reviewers - you keep me thinking and considering new ideas (Like not using cliffhangers...got it).
Anyway, hope it was worth the wait
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"You don't like pears?" Clarisse said, teacup frozen mid journey to her lips, genuinely stunned.
Rupert shook his head laughing slightly, "No. Never have."
She looked at him, trying to gauge if he was joking, but he seemed sheepish enough to be sincere. She bit her lip trying not laugh that the future King of the pear capital of Europe hated pears, and said sympathetically, "That must make for some very difficult state dinners."
He said wearily, "You have no idea how many pear and cheese desserts I've eaten against my will. When I think of how many more of them are in my future, all I can say is thank God I like cheese."
She laughed and said, "Well, perhaps I can talk to my father. He works for the Ministry of Agriculture, you know. Maybe he can change the national fruit to…what's your favorite fruit?"
He said strongly, "I love kumquats."
She blinked. Again, unable to tell if he was kidding, she decided it didn't matter and said slowly, "Oh, well, … are you really going to be able to have any fun presiding over a 'Kumquat Ball' every year?"
Her dubious tone of voice as she said 'Kumquat Ball' made him laugh. He said, "Ah, yes, I see your point." He said hopefully, "Bananas are a favorite of mine."
Neither one of them said it out loud, but the words 'Banana Ball' floated through their heads and they both chortled a bit.
She said, "Well, rest assured, I won't tell anyone that you don't like our beloved national fruit."
Feeling expansive, Rupert impulsively asked if she'd like a tour of the gardens. She was agreeable and as they began walking he pointed out particularly interesting architectural features – otherwise known as the one's he remembered – and chatted lightly. Rupert was feeling much more like himself, Clarisse having unknowingly saved him from a crisis of confidence in his own judgement. He was enjoying his afternoon immensely.
Almost from the start, their time together seemed less like an interview and more like two people spending a sociable afternoon getting to know one another, even when discussing more impersonal subjects: politics, school, general ideology. He was not surprised to find her intelligent and capable, but it was her demeanor while discussing these well worn topics that spoke most strongly to Rupert. She was articulate, she listened intently when he spoke – rather than just waiting for her turn to speak (Sophia being credited with prompting him to add that trait to his list of criteria), and in the few instances where they saw a particular point differently, she managed to disagree without seeming to arguing with him; a quality that, in his experience, could not be taught (again, Sophia leaped to mind). And blessedly, if she was nervous (Why hello, Elizabeth), she hid it well. On a more personal level, she told charming stories, seemed sincerely interested when he regaled her with his own tales, she smiled easily, she was inquisitive and solicitous…all in all, she was delightful, comfortable company.
As they walked together, he snatched little glances at her. Now that she was out from behind a cup of tea he could see that she was rather nicely put together. She was tall but not statuesque, thin but shapely. She was blond and while he usually preferred brunettes, her coloring set off her very blue eyes. Clarisse had beautiful blue eyes. It sounded like the most tired of clichés, but she did; he was struck by them immediately.
Watching her now, he tried to decide if she was beautiful. He'd been going back and forth on this question all afternoon, to no conclusion. She had a weird sort of beauty – it was subliminal…or was on a time-release or…something. It didn't hit you right between the eyes, it was subtle. It occurred to him that, oddly, she was at her most stunning when she wasn't smiling. The combination of her smile and the freckles that were sprinkled across her nose made her look 'cute'…and made him feel old. Well, older. Yes, older.
He didn't know how much weight to put to it but decided, for now, while it was slightly unsettling, it was by no means fatal. Putting the issue aside for the moment, he decided to ask Clarisse what he'd thought was a simple, straightforward question that, nonetheless, seemed to stymie both his former interviewees. Elizabeth was silent for at least two minutes before he just asked another, easier question and Sophia looked at him as if he lapsed into Greek.
He said, casually, "So, tell me a bit about your life. Aside from school, work and being asked to have tea at the palace, what is occupying your time these days?"
She smiled slightly, considering his question for a moment, and said, "Well, my friend Natalie is getting married in September and asked me to be her Maid of Honor. From what she tells me, she is going to be occupying a lot of my time in the near future."
He said smiling, "Ah, well, I was my brother Etienne's best man, but all I had to do was ensure sure his tuxedo was buttoned properly and make a toast that wouldn't anger my mother. Though, remembering all that my sister-in-law was worried about, I imagine a Maid of Honor has a longer to-do list."
She said, "Yes, things always seem to be a bit more intense on the bride's side of the aisle."
He said, "So, who is your friend? Would I know her family?"
She said, "Natalie Tate? Her father Michael is head of the Mathematics Department at The University of Pyrus."
He said immediately and without shame, "Oh, I avoid math at all costs, so I'm sure I don't know the man."
Clarisse laughed and said, "Oh, mathematicians aren't so scary. He's a very nice man. And a wonderful teacher. Natalie herself is a mathematics major at Genovia University, with a 4.0 grade point average, no less."
He said, "Ah, another smart girl; they travel in pairs, obviously."
Clarisse said deprecatingly, "Well, truth be told, when you're a student, it's terribly handy to have a friend who's a math whiz. It's rather like having a dentist in the family."
He laughed. She said with a smile, "Algorithms or not, I'd be lost without Natalie. I'm honored to be her Maid of … Honor." She chuckled again.
He said jokingly, "Well, keep me in mind if you find yourself without a proper escort for the wedding."
Lightly, she said, "Yes, I'll be sure to send you a 'save the date' card."
He looked sidelong at her for a moment as they walked along the path. He hadn't planned on speaking of the proverbial 600 pound gorilla in the room, he hadn't even gotten close to discussing it with either Elizabeth or Sophia, but he was curious about what Clarisse thought. More than that, if any subject was likely to rattle her it would be this one, so it stood to been an interesting test.
He said thoughtfully, watching her carefully, "So, what does Ms. Tate think of all this?"
She looked over at him and said, " 'All this'? You mean…'The Invitation'?"
He smiled and nodded, "'The Invitation', yes."
She said, "Well, not surprisingly, she's…fascinated. Excited. Absorbed. Astounded. Curious. Pick an adjective." She finished with a smile.
He nodded for a moment. A picture started forming in his mind of this very calm young girl walking beside him, talking to her best friend about how she'd been invited to the palace and he realized Elizabeth, Sophia and Vanessa must have also had similar conversations. Remembering his own experience with his peers when he was as young as these women were, he continued knowingly, "I take it this whole process has been the talk of the University?"
She said openly, "Oh, yes, very much so. It's not everyday that the palace makes its presence known quite so directly, after all."
At her comment it occurred to him just how little he'd thought about the actual day to day disruption his 'invitations' might have caused. Having taken the time to broach the subject with Clarisse, he was beginning to really see how insinuating himself into the lives of these women might have created wall to wall chaos for them; something that probably should have been apparent to him when he met Elizabeth and saw how completely shaken she was. And how unsmiling Sophia was.
Clarisse, however, was made of sterner stuff, apparently. Nothing about her outward demeanor would indicate she might be dealing with something even remotely as tense as being the subject of rumors and speculation by everyone around her. By all appearances, things were as they always had been for her.
He ventured gingerly, "I hope my 'invitation' hasn't wreaked too much havoc in your life."
She said, tactfully but with humor, "Well, I admit, at first it caused a bit of upheaval; mostly internally. Though, God knows, my parents will never be the same again."
She continued after a moment, more quietly, "I've grown more comfortable with the whole 'process', as you call it. The only person I've spoken to at length about this has been Natalie, so it hasn't been my every conversation with every person I see; that has helped keep things from getting too overwhelming. Really, when I think of it, my everyday comings and goings haven't been effected much at all."
She paused and said almost as an afterthought, "Though, after today I imagine that will change."
Rupert hesitated a moment, considering her comment. She was exactly right. This was the point where things were going to get much more complicated. And much more public. He'd conducted these interviews at a breakneck pace specifically because knew he only had so much time to make a decision before the press got hold of names and started digging into backgrounds. He didn't want to be caught with 18 young women still in the running when the press got wind of the story so he'd met at least three sets of parents each day in the first stage, and allotted himself only two days for the four young women he'd wanted to meet. Vanessa, in fact, was slated to attend a light supper with him at 7:00 p.m. that very evening. After today, keeping the press at bay would be unrealistic.
Clarisse – and Elizabeth, Sophia and Vanessa for that mater – must already be dealing with the private citizen's version of the press: the dreaded grapevine – a staple of every neighborhood and school. Again, when thinking of his own experiences at school, he could specifically remember people who'd gotten into a froth about something as ridiculous as who wasn't asked to a mixer. This situation – communications from the palace, meetings with the Royal Family – must have greater Pyrus, and specifically, the University, fairly exploding with talk.
Quietly, he stated rather than asked, "People know you are here, then; that you are among those asked to meet with me about a possible marriage."
She nodded simply, "Yes."
He looked at her for a moment waiting for something else; a nervous laugh, a shaky sigh, the restless wringing of hands, something to indicate that the past days had been distressing. Yet, she said nothing. Her expression didn't change, she kept walking sedately beside him, eerily calm. She seemed, in fact, to be waiting for him to say something.
He thought of a number of things to say, things like 'Are you sure you want this', 'Doesn't all of this scare you?' 'Does anything?'. After a pause he simply stated the obvious, "You seem to be handling it all rather well."
She looked at him, and said reasonably, "Well, you are the Crown Prince, after all. It's not as if the public nature of your life was lost on me. From the beginning I knew any involvement on my part in your search, no matter how small, would be public domain."
He nodded mutely, unable to argue with her logic, but slightly disconcerted by her poise. The pressure of being judged by the monarchy of one's nation, sight unseen up to this point, was vulnerable enough a position. Add to that the editorializing of your peers, peers who were not being considered for the job and were probably none too generous in their opinions, and what you have is enormously stressful situation. If you survive all of that, the prize you get is being taken from your previously private existence and sentenced to a lifetime of that same unrelenting scrutiny, only now from millions of people who don't even know you.
It was not everyone who could handle the prospect of that kind of strain; again, Elizabeth leaped to mind and he felt guilty for being so unforgiving of her nervousness. As he walked beside the decidedly not-cracking-under-the pressure Clarisse he realized that Elizabeth's reaction was the more…understandable. Clarisse's bearing was admirable…but unnerving.
They had been walking in silence for a bit, each lost in their own thoughts when Clarisse said evenly, "Don't get me wrong, the prospect of being publicly dissected while everyone offers their opinion of me and speculates whether you made a smart choice even to consider me is… absolutely terrifying."
He exhaled a laugh and said, "Oh, thank God, Clarisse."
She looked over at him, eyebrows furrowed, not getting the joke. Reading the confusion on her face Rupert said, "I was beginning to think it would take kryptonite to scare you. It was a bit…intimidating to think you were born without any silly human foibles like… dread, worry, insecurity, crabbiness. All the things I embrace in myself, you understand."
She shook her head, looking even more baffled and said, "Hardly." She continued after a moment and ventured a compliment, "You certainly don't come across as someone with any dread, worry, insecurities or…what was the other one?"
He supplied helpfully, "Crabbiness."
She said, "Yes, Crabbiness."
He said, "Well, you've only just met me. I'm rather like an onion with many layers."
As if to say, 'I rest my case', she said smiling, "As am I." She paused before saying, "Although, I don't know if I like thinking of myself as an onion."
He thought for a moment and said, "A rose…with many petals."
He was amused to notice that he'd caught her off guard with his comment and she seemed, if only momentarily, to be at a loss as to what to say. 'Note to self' he thought, 'Quickest route to rattling Clarisse: Compliments.' He should have known.
She regained her footing and smiled as she said, "Thank you. I do like that better."
They were walking back towards the palace, having made the rounds of the gardens, when something occurred to him. He said, "If people know I asked to meet you, then you must know the names of who else received invitations, yes?"
She paused for a split second and admitted, "Yes."
Rupert asked, "Are you acquainted with any of them?"
He'd intended the question to be casual and in the spirit of making conversation on their way back to the palace, but as soon as it was out of his mouth he realized how loaded a question it actually was.
He hurriedly backtracked, saying, "Oh, Clarisse, please don't feel obliged to answer that. It just occurred to me that you might know one of the other women and simply asked out of curiosity. I apologize. I didn't mean to put you in an awkward position."
She considered him for a moment and said, "Well, I'm not going to offer opinions, but, yes, actually, I do know two of the three."
Two? Forgetting his clumsy question for the moment, he was immediately fascinated. Not only by this illicit glimpse into the life of his candidates, but once again by Clarisse's mature disposition. The more he talked to her, the more complicated her side of things revealed themselves to be, yet she betrayed none of it. The discretion it required, and would continue to require after he made his decision, to negotiate not one but two interpersonal relationships tangled up in this venture was mind boggling. State secrets would certainly be safe with this woman.
Clarisse continued, "I'm friends with Elizabeth and Vanessa."
His old reliables! He definitely owed Elizabeth an engraved apology for all he'd inadvertently put her through. He asked, completely taken in by the intrigue of it all, "Close friends?"
She considered his question for a moment before saying, "Well, we're all on the same 'friendship arc', if you will; connected by Natalie. She met Vanessa at art camp when they were 11 and became friends when they discovered they both lived in Pyrus. Elizabeth and Nat's mother went to school together, and when The Channing's moved back to Pyrus about seven years ago, their mothers' resumed their friendship so Nat and Liz spent a lot of time together. Natalie and I went to school together and when we were eight our teacher paired us to sit together on the bus when we took a field trip to the Public Library. We've been best friends ever since."
He nodded, considering the complications he'd inadvertently introduced along this 'friendship arc'. Not quite knowing what to do, if anything, with this information, he said, "Just to be above board, I've met with Elizabeth, though not with Vanessa."
She nodded calmly, "I know."
She knew. Of course she knew. He wanted to laugh at how off-balance their dynamic was at the moment. Suddenly, he was the one who didn't know what to expect while she was a veritable font of confidential information. He idly wondered if she already had state secrets.
He said, "So…you know. Then you've talked with both of them about this?"
She said, more discretely than he knew, "I saw them both after they'd received their invitations and they told me when they were going to meet you. I hadn't received my invite at that point, though, so I don't know if they know I'm here now. I've not run into them in the last two days."
Reeling from the sheer intricacy of negotiating such a predicament, none of which seemed to give Clarisse a moment's hesitation from what he could tell, he said slowly, "A rather delicate situation."
She laughed a bit and said, "You have no idea."
Noting his inquisitive reaction, she said by way of explanation, "You might want to rescind your invitation to be an escort for Natalie's wedding. She's considering asking them both to be bridesmaids."
He burst out laughing at her outrageous joke. When he noted that she was simply looking at him and smiling, he asked, "You're joking, of course?"
She shook her head 'no' and said, "Don't tell anyone – Natalie still has some culling to do and is iffy about…one of them."
He just said, "Oh, my Good Lord. To be a fly on the wall at those dress fittings." Realizing what he'd just said, "For the conversation, of course. Not…anything else. Nevermind."
They both laughed and continued walking the short distance to the palace in comfortable silence. Rupert made a decision during the time they meandered back and when they'd reached the front entrance of the Palace, he turned to Clarisse, and said suddenly, "I would like to invite you to dinner with my family."
He watched as she silently absorbed this and continued quickly, "You don't have to give me an answer right now."
She nodded and said sincerely, "I'm honored by your invitation."
He said, "I'll contact you in the next day or two, but Clarisse, I want you to understand that you don't have to accept." When she said nothing, looking slightly confused, he clarified with a deep breath, "You were right…things are getting to a point of no return and you need to consider that; not that you haven't already. More than anything, I want you to understand that you do have a choice in this matter. I'm not sure it's clear that you do, but it's an enormous thing that is being asked of you; if you decide that would rather not pursue…this, I personally will understand."
She looked at him for a long moment processing the implications of what he'd said. Finally, she said quietly, "I do appreciate hearing that. Thank you. And I look forward to your invitation."
After a pause, she smiled at him and said, "Once again."
He smiled warmly and said, "Oh, I'm famous for my invitations."
TBC of course