Author's note: The previous chapter was posted on 6 February 2011 and as weeks turned into months and years, I wondered how I was going to pick up this story again. I wrote and finished several other Princess Diaries fanfics and I published outside the PD fandom also but that only partly explains for the gap between chapters 20 and 21. Three years ago I could see The elevator going into a certain direction. I felt that most readers wouldn't appreciate that direction and that made it hard to continue writing. If there's anything I learned however it is that there is no way to predict what people like. I know what I like though and the elevator is on the move again.

Chapter 21 – Out in the open

Most people have a professional relationship with a so called boss; be it a manager, a teacher or a principal. You will very likely not be an exception dear reader and therefore you'll be able to relate to the following: a boss who is known to be a bully can growl and curse and no one will think anything of it, but a boss who is known to be a diplomat only has to speak calmly and unsmiling for people to get nervous.

I wouldn't mention a boss if it didn't relate to the story. Is the boss Arthur Mabrey? He is a man in love and his employees never before enjoyed working for him as much as they do now. Then there's Joe. He assured the Queen that she would always have his friendship and he meant it. Of course just like the Viscount he feels that friends can become lovers. The guards working under him have yet no reason to complain about him. That leaves Joe's boss…

OoOoOoO

´She is a little edgy these days…´ housekeeper Mrs Fabrice told first dress maid Miss Breton during coffee. Miss Breton, who had heard a rumour about the housekeeper having received a royal rebuke for making a mistake, bit the inside of her cheeks.

´She normally isn't like that when an official visit comes up...´ Mrs Fabrice continued.

Someone who uses dots to end a line wants someone else to either finish it or to provide information. Miss Breton however was a discrete woman and she wasn't tempted to tell the housekeeper that Her Majesty was so edgy that she barely allowed her maids to touch her when they helped her dress.

´I think she's thinking about His Majesty a lot these days,´ she said, ´Their wedding day is approaching after all.´

´Of course! That must explain for it,´ Mrs Fabrice said. Her words dripped with relief. ´She will be in Berlin on her wedding day, won't she?´ Mrs Fabrice's question had an undertone that said Her mood will be worse on that day and you'll have to accompany her.

´I'm sure Her Majesty will enjoy a change of scenery,´ Miss Breton remarked and she ended with such an enormous full stop that the housekeeper quickly changed the subject.

The two women mentioned just now were among the few privileged that interacted with the Queen on a daily basis but most people at the castle hadn't noticed a change in the Queen's behaviour. Joe had and he knew what had caused it. When the Queen and he were together in her suite he acted like a friend and not like a would-be-lover but it didn't escape him that Clarisse barely looked at him on those occasions.

A few days before the visit to Germany Joe walked into the Queen's office for a security meeting and for the first time in days he was greeted with a smile. The Queen gestured toward a chair opposite her desk and said that she had an idea. Even before he seated himself Joe's mind started filling in the idea. It was pure Romance he came up with. Halfway an enumeration of things to bring to a private picnic he told himself to pay attention to what Clarisse said.

´ - that it would be good for Teballi to come to Germany.´

Joe took a moment and replied: ´I would rather have the second-in-command stay at the Castle but if you want him to accompany us, I will assign someone else to be in charge here.´

Clarisse smiled self-consciously. ´You didn't listen to me did you Joseph? I want you to stay here.´

Clarisse looked forward to the trip to Berlin. Apart from the destination being likeable in itself, the journey would allow her to skip two sessions of Parliament. While the MPs would be engaged in their games of politics, she would tie the Genovian - German bonds. Arthur Mabrey's deep voice wouldn't enter her ears and she wouldn't feel him look at her. The way he eyed her made her very aware of her body even though his look was guarded with respect. Joseph's gaze had the same effect on her. The look of love that sometimes graced her friend's features when they were together made her want to cry.

Joseph was commenting her idea about Teballi. Clarisse told herself that she only needed a few days alone and she wondered how Joseph's goatee would feel on her skin when he'd kiss her neck. She shook her head to banish the unwelcome thought and Joseph stopped talking.

´I need some time alone,´ she whispered.

Joe was speechless and even after Clarisse had cleared her throat and remarked that it would be good for Teballi to prove his worth he had only recovered enough to nod.

´Good,´ the Queen took over the meeting. ´That is settled then. Will you inform him?´

OoOoOoO

What was Joe to do? On the day of the Queen's departure to Berlin he accompanied her to the airport and the moment she was out of sight he felt lonely and useless. Back at the castle he made his rounds and did his paperwork and when he couldn't think of anything else to do, he went to the gym. He tired himself until he felt that he would fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes but he proved wrong. Once in bed the questions that he had suppressed for days attacked him with full force.

Is it a good sign that she wanted me to stay here? Would she have asked it if she merely felt friendship for me? Does she need time alone to make a decision? What if some time won't do? What if she asks me to leave? She said she wasn't angry. She told me that my sweet declaration moved her. My sweet declaration. It moved her.

Joe sat up. ´Dios mio,´ he whispered. Sweet and moving went fine with friendship but they were no companions for love. Joe dismissed his idea almost instantly. He thought of the many things that moved him regarding Clarisse and he contemplated that love might not even exist without the lover being moved by the object of his affection.

Joe closed his eyes, determined to fall asleep. What had he said? What had he said when he'd declared his love? What had he said or done that had made her need time alone? What had she said?

After five minutes of tossing and turning Joe dressed himself to bring a surprise visit to the monitoring room. He sent the guard on duty on a round past the cameras in the castle so he himself could check their reach (indeed!). Once alone Joe entered several codes to get access to classified tapes. Can you guess what Joe will select?

The first time he ran the tapes, video only, he saw himself stand in the Queen's office, holding a tea-tray. He played it a second and third time and Clarisse's response kept unsettling him. It was a sensation he had not experienced when he'd actually stood in her office. What he'd noticed back then was that when he'd walked in Clarisse had been absent-minded. Why? He entered another timeframe on the video-tape and to his shock he saw Viscount Mabrey. Clarisse opened a curtain. She spoke. Mabrey spoke. The nobleman kissed her hand and left.

Joe hammered a few commands on the keyboard. Joe watched Charlotte enter the Queen's office followed by Viscount Mabrey. He now heard every word of their exchange. He saw Clarisse staring ahead of her until he had entered with that bloody tray.

Her later statement that his declaration was sweet and moving was mere kindness. How absurd it must have been to her! Joe watched himself leave the office and he couldn't imagine that his step would ever be as light as it had been then. When the Queen of the Netherlands appeared on the scene, Joe forced himself to stop and secure the tapes.

OoOoOoO

Joe wasn't the only one who had replayed his declaration of love. Arthur Mabrey had to rely on his memory so he was seemingly in a worse position than Joe. Seemingly for Joe had hoped that he was getting closer to Clarisse because she saw him every day (and knew that he loved her) whereas Arthur understood from the lack of a new summons that Clarisse might have meant what she had said about friendship. It had made him think hard about their last meeting and he focused on a particular line: I can't choose.

Choose between work and friendship? Between friendship and love? Between love and work? It just didn't make sense.

Re-reading the Hector Williams issue of Country's Voice Arthur, smiling at a picture of the Queen, suddenly noticed Joe Romero in the margin of the photo. You may recall that Arthur had considered the fact that the Head of Security might be attracted to his Queen and the idea now re-occurred to him.

OoOoOoO

All the way in Germany Miss Breton had a good time for her Queen was relaxed and kind. Naturally the dress maid didn't know that Her Majesty's behaviour was caused by the fact that her suitors weren't anywhere near.

The Queen had planned to sort things out in Berlin; to formulate the lines to tell them that she truly couldn't offer them more than friendship. She wished Joseph had not spoken about his feelings and yet she pictured feeling his gaze. She preferred Arthur not to have declared himself and yet when she'd enjoyed the view from her hotel suite she'd pictured him standing behind her placing an arm around her waist.

B had mentioned that knowing that someone loves you is a powerful aphrodisiac. Clarisse had an overdose of it. She'd tried to bring herself release but she usually ended up crying out of frustration. Why had they told her? Bastards!

Joseph loved her. He was the same observant protector he'd always been, but he'd now give his life for her for love which moved and frightened her. Arthur loved her. He was the same sharp politician she'd known him to be, but he was not vicious anymore. It moved and thrilled her that she was the cause for his altered behaviour.

She told herself that she could be happy if these men would simply be her friends.

OoOoOoO

With the Queen being abroad the Viscount couldn't hope to run into her in her gardens. He took a walk there nonetheless for he liked to be where she had been and without thinking about it he went to the pavilion. Nearing it he heard guitar music. The melody was tender and strong, playful and confident and it made Arthur envision a starry night, a fireplace and Clarisse. Not wanting to stop the musician from playing he silently entered. The guitarist heard him though and he turned around. It was Joe Romero.

It took Arthur one look to know that he faced a rival indeed.

´You!´ the men cried simultaneously.

Joe put down his guitar and rose. Arthur stepped closer. Joe's leather jacket suddenly laid on the floor. Arthur's coat followed suit. As if they were getting instructions from a choreographer, they simultaneously stroke at the other. Again and again. They didn't speak for neither of them wanted to defile her name. Even a 'Get away from her!' would be too much.

Instead of cursing and yelling they glared, circled and punched. But their fight -real as it was- had a ritualistic quality about it: what could they do? The oldest parts of their brains simply wanted their opponent to be gone. Hit. Punch. Kick. Kill. But the youngest part of their brains knew it couldn't be. She. Will. Hate. Me.

They both wanted to face her again but they also needed to face themselves and as a result they were facing a dilemma. Arthur, receiving far more blows than he could return, was the first to solve it. After punching the air next to Romero's head and hurting his fists on body parts he'd expected to be soft, he finally had the pleasure to see his rival bent over, as a result of a lucky kick. Arthur took the opportunity to stammer backwards. Feeling sore and sick he dropped himself in a window seat. Panting for breath he noticed that his opponent had already recovered. Was Romero a bloody android? Well, at least Clarisse would be defended as best as could be.

Which made him realise: ´Why - aren't - you - with her?´

´By her command.´

In the silence following his reply Joe hesitatingly sat down next to Mabrey.

´You - love her - too,´ Arthur whispered.

Joe replayed the line in his head. He was sure that Mabrey being out of breath didn't mean he was out of spite, but the man's statement didn't have an undertone. In a barely audible voice Joe heard himself say: ´I have reason to believe that we declared ourselves on the same morning.´

Arthur moaned as he pictured how Clarisse must have felt.

´Friendship only?´ Joe curtly asked.

Arthur nodded. ´She said - that she can't choose.´

A watch started peeping: his owner had to leave for the House of Parliament. The Viscount cleared his throat as if to speak. He rose, collected his coat and left.

Many heartbeats later on Joe picked up his guitar but he didn't elicit more from the instrument but a few sad notes.