Hey everyone, thank you all so much for reading, leaving reviews and for following. I really appreciate the support and can't thank you enough.
Here's the next chapter for you, enjoy ;)
Saturday 22nd December 2007.
After checking into the hotel that she would be staying in for the next two nights and one that was recommended by Joseph, Clarisse made her way up to the suite that she had booked on the top floor with the help of Shades carrying her travel garment bags over one arm and pulling her small suitcase with his other.
Reaching the door moments later, Clarisse placed her overnight bag down on the floor and unlocked the door before stepping aside to let Shades go in first. "Where would you like me to put these?" Asked Shades, referring to the garment bags, as he entered the suite.
"Could you hang them on the back of the bedroom door for me, please?" Clarisse asked as she picked up her overnight bag and walked into the room, being completely blown away by how beautiful the room was.
"Of course," Shades said as he walked through into the bedroom and hung the carriers up on the back of the door before walking back out into the suite. "If you need me or Charlotte, we will be in the suite next door."
"Thank you, Shades, but please the both of you enjoy this little get away," Clarisse smiled over at him while placing her overnight bag down on the floor beside the sofa, "I will be fine."
"Thank you," Shades smiled back and made his way over to the door, "might see you at Gino's bar tonight then."
"You will," she nodded while placing her handbag down on the sofa as he walked out through the door, "see you later."
"Bye," Shades smiled as he closed up the door behind him.
Letting out an contented sigh, Clarisse slipped off her shoes and walked through into the bedroom where she was taken aback when she saw the beautiful four poster bed, complete with hanging drapes, in the room. Smiling, she walked over and admired the detail carved into the bed posters a moment before going to check out the bathroom.
Coming back out into the bedroom she removed the outfit that she would be wearing that night for Gino and Elly's Christmas party at the bar from it's carrier and hung it back up on the back of the door before stepping back to look up at it a moment. She had decided to be a little more daring with her choice of attire this evening and went with beautiful red, because it's Christmas, sleeveless knee length dress that had a vee that plunged a little more than usual, that would show off just enough cleavage to still be proper, but yet would hopefully drive Joseph wild in the process.
Smiling, she turned and walked back into the suite and over to the balcony doors. Opening them she walked out to admire the view when a knock came to her suite door.
Walking back inside and over to the door, she opened it to find a hotel porter stood there holding a huge Christmas themed flower bouquet, full of red velvet roses, holly, spruce branches, pine cones and red berries. "Good afternoon, these just arrived for you," smiled the hotel porter as he extended his arms towards her, passing her the flowers.
"Oh thank you," Clarisse smiled as she took them from him and stepped back while smelling them.
"And this too," he said, pulling an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to her as she looked back at him, "have a nice day."
"You too, thank you," she said and closed the door back up. Turning, she walked over to the dining table and placed the vase of flowers down before looking down at the writing on the envelope, a simple Mrs E, but she knew straight away who had written it.
Smiling, she opened the envelope and pulled out the note card. "Hello and welcome back to Italy, sorry I couldn't be there to meet you at the airport, or at the hotel, but I do hope you had a good journey? I am looking forward to seeing you later, and wanted to ask if you could please be ready by six for me to pick you up? See you later, love J xx" she read out the note to herself and smiled.
Sitting down on the sofa, she pulled out her mobile phone from her handbag and dialled his number.
"Hello you," Joseph said as soon as he answered the phone, "are you here yet?" He asked.
"I am, I'm at the hotel and have just received your beautiful flowers," Clarisse said and smiled over at the flowers sitting on the dining table before looking back down at the note in her hands, "thank you."
"Oh you're welcome," Joseph smiled, "sorry I couldn't be there or at the airport, I really wanted to meet you but something came up at the restaurant."
"That's okay, I will see you later on anyway," Clarisse said.
"Yes you will, and I can't wait," Joseph said, "this last two weeks since I last saw you have gone horribly slow."
"They certainly have and I can't wait to see you either," Clarisse agreed, "but listen, why are you picking me up so early if the party doesn't start until eight?"
"Because I thought we could go out to dinner first, spend some time together just the two of us for my birthday?" Joseph said, "we don't have to though if you don't want too?"
"Don't be silly, of course I would love for us to go to dinner first and spend sometime together," Clarisse answered, "just the two of us."
"Oh good," Joseph said, relieved.
"Ok well, I will let you go and I will definitely be ready for when you pick me up," Clarisse smiled to herself.
"Great, I look forward to it," Joseph said, smiling to himself too. "See you later."
"Yes you will, goodbye," Clarisse said and hung up.
Looking down at her phone, she put it down on the sofa beside her and dropped her head back with another contented sigh. Closing her eyes, her tummy filled with butterflies at the thought of seeing Joseph again after two weeks apart.
Later.
Hearing a knock at her door, Clarisse smiled to herself and walked over to answer it. She knew exactly who it would be but nothing could have prepared her for the sight her gaze fell upon when she opened the door. 'Oh god,' she thought to herself as her stomach somersaulted several times at the sight of him standing in front of her looking incredibly handsome in his suit, like he always did.
"Hello you," Joseph smirked and stepped closer to kiss her cheek as she closed her eyes, his aftershave filling her senses.
"Hello," she smiled and opened her eyes as he stepped back to look into her eyes, "you grew your beard again," she said and watched as he nodded and put his hand up to stroke his beard. Only then did she notice that he wasn't actually wearing a tie with his shirt and the top two buttons were actually undone, something he rarely done.
"I did," he nodded with a smile and watched as she bit her bottom lip, "well I see that you are ready to go," he said, gesturing to her already wearing her coat and scarf.
"I am," Clarisse smiled, "I told you that I would be."
"You did," Joseph chuckled as Clarisse tilted her head slightly to one side, "you certainly did."
"Shall we go?" She asked.
"Yes, yes, of course," Joseph nodded and stepped to one side, allowing her to come out of her suite and close the door behind her. "After you," he smiled, extending his arm down the hallway, gesturing for her to go first.
"Thank you," Clarisse smiled and began to lead the way as Joseph placed his hand on her lower back, like he used too. Something she loved him doing, and missed terribly.
"So, what do you think of the hotel?" He asked once they reached the lift and pressed the button.
"It's beautiful and the suite you suggested I book is amazing," Clarisse said and smiled at him.
"I knew you would like it," he said and turned his head to look at her as the lift doors opened, "especially the bed."
"Oh yes, that bed," Clarisse smirked as she stepped onto the lift and turned to face Joseph as he followed and stood in front of her, "wow," she said and smiled as he laughed.
Arriving at the restaurant a short time later, the waiter showed them to their table and took a drink order before leaving them a moment to fetch some menus and to get their drinks as Joseph helped Clarisse with her coat. "Oh good god," he mumbled to himself as she turned to face him. "You look absolutely great," he exclaimed happily, unable to believe she had been so daring, "breathtaking even."
"Thank you," she smiled and took a seat at the table, satisfied that she got the reaction she was hoping for. "You look quite handsome yourself."
"Well thank you," Joseph smiled and took a seat at the table opposite her as the waiter returned with their drinks and the menus.
After ordering their food, Clarisse took a sip of her drink and looked up at Joseph, "ok, I have an confession to make."
"And what might that be?" Joseph asked and watched as she put down her glass.
"Well, I have a present for you for your birthday, but it's sitting in my hotel suite," she said and smiled across at him. "After seeing you when you arrived to pick me up it completely slipped my mind," she said and watched as he chuckled.
"That's ok," he smiled up at her, "you can always bring it over to the house with you tomorrow."
"Yes, I could," Clarisse said and smiled.
"Talking about tomorrow, both Vicki and Alysse are both excited about seeing you." Joseph said and took a sip of his drink.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them too, I have their presents all ready to go," Clarisse smiled, "and yours too of course."
"Thanks, and yours are under the tree ready," Joseph said, "well the ones from the girls are, the ones from me I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Christmas Day to open them."
"Oh that's alright, it's only a couple more days," she smiled, "but talking of Vicki, does she know about us yet?" Clarisse asked and watched as Joseph placed his glass back down.
"No, not yet," Joseph said and shook his head, "but I think she might have her suspicions, what with me staying in Genovia for those four weeks and with you being here now and spending our Christmas Day tomorrow with us before we fly back to Genovia together on Christmas Eve."
"Yes, I suppose that is a bit of a give away. But do you want her to know?" Clarisse asked and rested her elbows on the table in front of her while tucking her hands up under her chin. "You know Pierre knows, so maybe Vicki should too. Unless you don't want her to know yet?"
"I know we still have a way to go yet, but I think I do want her to know, yes," Joseph said honestly and looked across at her, "I just didn't know how to tell her."
"I know we do, but we are getting there so maybe we can tell her together tomorrow, if you think she would be ok with it?" Clarisse asked while studying his face.
"Yes, she will be absolutely fine with it," Joseph nodded, "my god she was so angry with me for messing up in the first place, she didn't talk to me for a week because of it, so I know she will be okay to know we are giving it another go."
"There we go then, tomorrow we tell her," Clarisse smiled and reached one of her hands across the table, placing it on top of Joseph's hand as he smiled in return.
"I can't wait," he said, taking hold of her hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing the back of it as Clarisse smiled.
Later That Night.
"Well it's about time you both arrived, we were getting worried," Gino exclaimed as Clarisse and Joseph approached the bar where he was stood with Elly. "Did you get lost or something?"
"No, we went to dinner first," Joseph said while looking at him.
"Ahh okay," Gino smiled and looked at Clarisse, "good evening, beautiful," he said and stepped closer to kiss her cheek.
"Good evening, Gino," Clarisse smiled up at him as he stepped back, "thank you for inviting me to your Christmas party," she said and stepped closer to Elly.
"Hello darling," Elly smiled as Clarisse kissed her cheek, "and welcome back to Italy."
"Why wouldn't we invite you? You are one of our best friends and it did fall on Joseph's birthday so it's only right you are here too," Gino smirked and took a sip of his drink as Clarisse stepped back from his wife and watched them talk for a moment before they all moved to sit down in one of the booths.
"I just noticed that you don't have a bodyguard with you," Elly said as she placed her glass down on the table.
"Now why would I need a bodyguard when I have your amazing husband and this handsome man here," she said while smiling at Joseph lovingly, "to protect me."
"Aww," exclaimed Elly as they all looked back at her.
"Would you ladies be alright if me and Joe disappear for a bit, I got to talk to him about something," Gino asked as they all looked at him.
"Of course, we have our champagne," Elly smiled and watched as Joseph leant closer to Clarisse.
"We won't be long," he whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek and pulling back.
"It's okay, take your time," Clarisse said and watched as he and Gino stood to their feet. "Me and Elly have a lot of catching up to do." She smiled.
"Yes we do," Elly nodded in agreement.
"Alright, well we will be back soon," Gino smiled and he and Joseph walked away.
"So, how have you been?" Elly asked.
"I have been good, thank you," Clarisse smiled.
"I was going to say you are looking great, and daring," Elly smirked and gestured to her dress while taking a sip of her drink.
"Oh yes, it is a little daring for me isn't it?"
"God no, it's good to be a little daring every now and then, and it suits you," Elly said while placing her glass back down on the table and looked back up at Clarisse, "especially when you are trying to get someone's attention."
"I'm not trying to get anyone's attention," Clarisse declared as she picked up her glass of champagne and took a sip.
"Oh tush, you don't fool anyone," Elly smirked as Clarisse gasped and looked at her, "especially one of your closet friends," she said with a shrug, "besides, it's a bit obvious when you have been all Joseph has talked about since he returned from Genovia two weeks ago and is doing the exact same thing as you, dressing to impress."
"Alright, fine, we are giving it another go," Clarisse said as she leant closer to her friend, "but please don't tell anyone as we haven't told many people yet."
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Elly said with a tap of her nose.
"Thank you," Clarisse smiled.
"You're welcome," Elly replied.
Later.
Standing at the bar with Joseph, Gino glanced over at Elly and Clarisse as they remained talking at their table before looking back at Joseph. "Have you thought anymore about what you asked me about last week?"
"I have, everyday," Joseph said and looked over at the ladies giggling a moment before he looked back at Gino, "and I believe I am definitely making the right decision."
"I knew you were going to say that," Gino smirked and put his hand on the top of his best friends back, "just don't mess it up this time and break her heart again, or you will have me to deal with."
"Don't worry, I won't," he said, "I have learnt my lesson."
"Good, it's about time," Gino exclaimed and patted Joseph's back as they made their way back over to the table to join the ladies once again.
Towards the end of the night the band began to preform one of Joseph's favourite songs, so taking hold of Clarisse's hand he led her onto the dance floor before turning back to her. Stepping closer, he wrapped one arm around her waist while keeping hold of her hand down at their sides as she put her free arm up around his arm, placing her hand on the back of his shoulder as they began to sway slowly to the song.
"It's been amazing having you here with me tonight," Joseph said in Clarisse's ear before watching her lift her head to look up into his eyes, "thank you for agreeing to come."
"You're welcome," she smiled, her gaze remaining locked with his as they continued to dance slowly together. "Tell me, what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing," he said with a shake of his head and smiled, "as it's already come true."
Smiling, she reached up to kiss him before resting the side of her head back against his as they continued to dance together.
Later.
Holding one of Clarisse's hand in one hand and carrying her shoes in his other hand, they walked slowly down the corridor towards Clarisse's suite at the hotel. "Here we are," Joseph said reluctantly as they reached the suite and she unlocked her door before turning to him.
"Thank you for walking me up to my suite, and for carrying my shoes," Clarisse smiled up at him.
"You're welcome," he chuckled and smiled, "but before we say goodnight, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can," Clarisse said and smiled up at him as he stepped one step closer to her.
"Why did you agree to give us another go?" He asked as she placed one of her hands on his chest.
"Because I still love you, and want us to work," she said while looking down at her hand resting on his chest a moment before looking back up into his eyes.
"You do?"
"Would I be here now if I didn't?" She asked while tilting her head slightly.
"That's true," he said and stepped even closer, "I promise you that I'm going to do all I can not to let it happen again, as I really want us to work too."
"I know you do," she said and closed her eyes as he kissed her a moment before raising his head. "I love you," she whispered and reached up to return his kiss.
"I love you too," he said while putting his free hand up to cup her cheek as they looked into each other's eyes, "I better go and let you get to bed, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Yes, we do," Clarisse nodded and took her shoes back from him.
"I will be here early to pick you up," he said and reached closer to kiss her cheek.
"I'll be ready," she smiled and watched as he stepped back.
"Goodnight," he smiled and turned to walk away.
"Yes, goodnight," she said and just like that he disappeared onto the lift.
Letting out a sigh Clarisse turned and walked into her suite, closing the door behind her as she dropped her shoes down by the door. But just as she was about to walk across to the bedroom a knock came to her door. Turning back, her stomach somersaulted when she opened it to find Joseph stood smiling at her.
"I thought you were going?" She asked and bit her lip.
"I can't, I can't go and leave you alone," he said.
"Well you better come in then," Clarisse smiled and stepped back, allowing him to come in.
"I'm sorry, it's just this night, being with you, has been so amazing I don't want it to end," he said while turning back to her as she closed and locked the door behind them.
"Me neither," she answered honestly and watched as he stepped closer and put his hands on her sides. Putting her hands up to cup his face, Clarisse reached up and kissed him a couple times, the desire for him growing deep inside her where for the first time since agreeing to give him another chance she allowed herself to get lost in the moment and allowed him to take her to bed where they spent the night making love.