Tuesday 13th September 1983.
Standing at the table in her office, a bunch of flowers laid out in front of her as she arranged them nicely in the vase while listening to a bit of soft music as it played in the background. The flowers had been given to her this morning by Isabella but had been sent by Philippe, who was still in France, along with a card that lay unopened on her desk. Today would have been her and Rupert's twenty fifth wedding anniversary, the first without him and neither of her sons could make it home.
Slipping another rose into the bunch already arranged, Clarisse sensed Joseph entering her office quietly. He had only been at the palace a little over five weeks and she had already picked up when he was present without her actually looking, or seeing him, no matter how quiet he was. Continuing, she waited a moment before finally speaking.
"Do you realise that you have caused quite a stir with my maids?" She asked, her focus remaining on her flowers.
"I have?" He replied, surprised that she knew he was there.
"You have," she nodded, slipping a bit of foliage between some flowers "they all have crushes on you. Even Mrs Hughes has taken a liking to you."
"Mrs Hughes? Really?" He answered and watched as she nodded.
"I know, I was surprised too." She nodded as he made his way over to her "now, what do I owe this early visit from you this morning?"
"I just came to make sure you were alright, and to see if there was anything you needed?" He said, watching her study the bunch of flowers a moment before slipping yet another flower into the vase.
"I'm alright, thank you, and no I don't think I need anything at the moment." She answered and finally looked at him as he stood looking at the flowers. "I won't be going out anywhere today either, actually I won't be doing very much at all today so you can have a relaxing day off."
Looking back at her, he bowed his head "as you wish, but I will be on hand just in case."
Giving him a small smile, she nodded and looked back at the flowers "thank you."
"You're welcome," he said, watching her a moment longer before walking out, leaving her to finish her flowers.
And once she was finished arranging her flowers she moved over to sit at her desk, finally opening the card Philippe had sent her.
"Dear Mother, this is just a little note to let you know that I am thinking of you today and to say sorry that I couldn't be there. France is beautiful but I'm sure you knew that already, Han took me to Paris for a few days last week and I have fallen in love with the place, definitely will be visiting there again soon. I am really sorry that I'm not there with you but I'm not ready to come home yet. Oh, which reminds me I saw this amazing quote the other day and I wanted to tell you, because it's really helped me I'm hoping it will help you too.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.
I love you, mother, and I will see you very soon. xx"
Once she had finished reading she stared at the card a long moment before putting it back in the envelope and looking across at the window, replaying the quote over and over in her mind.
Early Afternoon.
Walking into the kitchen, Clarisse stopped when she saw one of the maids talking to Joseph, who sat at the kitchen table. Clearing her throat she watched as the maid quickly stood up straight, bowed and left the room as her Queen watched. Turning her head, she looked back at Joseph as he sipped his coffee.
"See I told you," she smirked, walking around to the teapot and poured herself a cup of tea as he lowered his cup, placing it back down on the table in front of him.
"Yes, you did," he nodded and turned in his seat to look at her as she stood with her back to him, sipping her tea "but you do know that I'm not interested, right?" He asked as she slowly lowered her arms before turning to look at him.
"I know," she nodded and looked down at her cup as she held it in both of her hands a moment before looking back up at him. "I wonder if you could do something for me?" She asked, changing the subject as she moved to sit opposite him at the table.
"Anything?" He said, watching her as she placed her cup down in front of her.
"Well every year on my, on our anniversary Rupert and I always had a fancy dinner with the boys and today, with him not being here and with Pierre and Philippe unable to make it I fancy a change. I want something completely different, nothing fancy, just something easy." She said, studying him "can you help?"
Nodding, he thought a moment "of course, leave it with me." He answered, giving her a small smile "if you trust me, of course?"
"Always," she smiled and watched as he nodded.
"Then I'm on it," he said and gave her a small smile "is seven alright, or is that too late?"
"Thank you, and yes that time is perfect." She nodded, giving him another small smile before sipping some more of her tea.
Shortly after, Isabella made her way towards the kitchen but stopped when she heard her sisters and Joseph's voice. Stepping closer to the door, she slowly pushed it open just enough to peer inside where she watched them talking, and she soon found herself smiling as she watched the scene before her. Her sister was actually laughing, for the first time since Rupert passed and not wanting to disturb her Isabella decided to leave them too it. So stepping back, she turned and walked away from the door heading to find Charles.
That Evening.
After having a soak in the bath Clarisse slipped into her pyjamas and robe and made her way into her suite to find Joseph standing by her coffee table. Averting her gaze down, she saw pizza boxes on the coffee table and a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket.
"It's different," he smiled as she looked back up at him "like you requested?"
"Yes it is different, isn't it?" she said, walking over to him as he held out a glass of wine to her "and different is what I wanted so it's perfect, thank you."
"You're welcome," he said as she took the glass from him and took a sip "now that my job here is done I'll leave you to relax, enjoy your pizza and wine." He said, making his way over to the door.
"Stay, please?" She said and watched as he turned to her "I don't really want to be on my own, not this evening," she said and looked down at the pizzas on the coffee table beside her a moment before looking back up at him "and there's plenty of pizza here to share."
"Alright," he said, finding himself nodding as she smiled.
"Thank you," she smiled and passed him her glass as he made his way back back over to her "have this one and I will get another glass."
"Thank you," he said as he took it from her before watching her as she walked around to get another glass from the drinks cabinet.
Sitting down, she poured herself another drink and they both tucked into the 'different' meal that she requested as they talked, catching up for the first proper time since Joseph arrived at the palace.
x-X-x-X-x
Sorry it's a bit rubbish, am working on them being better.
