Hey everyone, just wanted to thank you all for reading this story and to those leaving reviews :) I really really appreciate it and honestly can't thank you enough for your continued support.

Here's the next chapter for you all…

Memories Of Her Father - Part 5.

Putting his hands up gently onto the sides of her bruised neck and jaw, the kiss between them intensified and his arousal for her grew more and more as she slowly unzipped the zipper on his pants. But he knew, no matter how much he wanted this to happen, he had to put a stop to it, and now, before things went too far between them. "Clarisse," he said between two kisses before easing his head back just enough to look into her beautiful eyes, that were normally so full of love, desire, but not today, all he saw was nothing but sadness and sorrow.

"Shh, don't speak," she replied quietly with a shake of her head before reaching up to kiss him once again and slowly slipped her hands into the waistband of his trousers and began to push them down.

"Wait, Clarisse," he exclaimed and pulled back with a shake of his head, his hands now on her shoulders. His heart pounding in his chest. "Any other day, yes, but this doesn't feel right doing this, not today."

Looking down between them, Clarisse nodded as she realised that he was, of course, right. This shouldn't be happening today of all days. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said and looked back up at him taking a step back from her and buckled his belt back up. "I don't know what came over me," she said as she carefully stepped down from where she had been sitting on the edge of the table for the last several minutes and smoothed the skirt of her dress back down before folding her arms round herself.

"I'm sorry too," he said while stepping closer to her once again, "I think that we both got caught up in the moment, and as I said, if it were any other day it wouldn't have mattered. But you just buried your père today, your head is all over the place and I don't want this to be something that we would both later regret."

"Right, of course," she nodded and studied his face a brief moment. "I... I think I'm going to go and get changed," she said as she turned and began to make her way across her suite while smoothing one hand back and forth across her forehead.

"Ok," he nodded and watched as she made her way over to her bedroom before he took a deep, calming breath and turned to the french doors. His heart was racing, but he knew he had done the right thing by stopping what was about to happen between them from going any further. Not just because of what day it was today, and after everything that she had been through, but because they had officially ended things last week too. And sleeping together now wouldn't have been the best decision either of them could have made.

Reaching her door, Clarisse put her hand out on the doorframe and turned to look over at him. Watching as he slipped his hands in his pants pockets. "Are you still staying, or are you leaving now?" She asked sadly as he turned his head to look over to her.

"I'll stay for a while, yes," Joseph nodded, "but I don't think it's a good idea that I stay the night."

"Ok," Clarisse nodded and briefly looked down at the floor before turning back to her bedroom door. Slowly stepping into her bedroom, her eyes now full of tears, Clarisse closed the door behind her and leant back against it while pressing a hand to her stomach.

Her stomach was in knots over what had just happened between them out in her suite. In someway she was confused, felt rejected, that he didn't want her, but at the same time she felt relieved too. That him telling her no was what she actually needed to hear. It brought her to her senses after a very emotional week.

Once she was changed, Clarisse returned to her suite and walked slowly over to the drinks cabinet while slipping her satin robe on over her pyjamas and leaving it open. "Would you like a drink?" She asked while picking up the decanter and removing the lid before turning sideways and looking over at Joseph now sitting on the sofa.

"Sure," he nodded and watched as she poured them both a hearty serving of scotch before putting the decanter back down on the cabinet and picking up their drinks. Turning, she took a small sip of her drink as she walked slowly over to Joseph on the sofa and handed him his drink. "Thanks."

"It's alright," she said as she moved along the front of the sofa, slipped off her slippers and sat sideways on the opposite end of the sofa so she was facing Joseph sitting the other end. "When do you and Harry have to leave to go back to London?" She asked and brought her legs up, tucking them under her as she rested her elbow on the back cushions.

"In the morning," Joseph replied and watched as Clarisse nodded slightly while looking down at her glass resting on her thigh. "But, I'm always at the end of the telephone if you ever need to talk, or we can write," he said as she looked back up at him. "And I mean it this time," he said, giving her a small smile.

"I hope so," Clarisse nodded, "because I don't think that I can get through this if I don't have you."

"You'll always have me, you know that," Joseph said softly and leant to the side while reaching his arm across the middle of the sofa to her and placed his hand briefly on her knee before sitting back in his seat properly. "I may not be here physically, but like I said I'm at the end of the phone whenever you need me, day or night. I'm there."

"Thank you," Clarisse said and took a long drink of her scotch before resting her glass back down on her thigh and looking towards her french doors behind the sofa.

"I am sorry you know," he said while turning his head to look at her after several moments silence between them and watched as she averted her gaze to him, "for the way I left you last week."

"I'm not going to lie… it did hurt when I woke up to find you gone," Clarisse said as she turned her head to him before looking down at her glass. "But I understand why you left the way you did, so you don't have to apologise."

"Yes, I do," Joseph nodded and twisted his body slightly, so his back was now in the corner of the sofa. "I do need to apologise because I thought that it would be easier that way, to leave while you were sleeping, but I realise now that you deserve so much better than that. And for that I'm sorry."

"Are you sorry for handing in your resignation too?" Clarisse asked as she looked up and studied his face. Watching him as he took a sip of his scotch. "You know," she said and looked back down at her glass, still resting on her thigh, "Rupert never filed it. Never made it official."

"Didn't he?" Joseph said as he lowered his glass, resting it down on his thigh as his gaze remained on it. "I thought he would have the day I left it for him."

"No, he didn't," Clarisse said with a shake of her head. "So, if you wanted to change your mind and retract it. Then you know, you can."

"Don't get me wrong, Clarisse, I have really loved working here and being with you everyday," he said while looking at her as she looked up at him. "But I don't think me coming back to work here would be a good idea, not now."

"No, I suppose not," Clarisse replied sadly and took another sip of her scotch.

"Don't be sad though, I'm not completely abandoning you. I'm still going to be here for you, just from a distance," Joseph said as he watched her lower her glass and look up at him. "But I just feel that maybe it is time that I move on now and find myself a different job."

"Ok," Clarisse nodded and looked back towards her french doors.

"Do you remember the conversation that we had that day in the hospital a few years back, when Rupert was in with pneumonia," Philippe said as he sat down in the chair he had moved closer to his daughter and looked up at her, "and after your fall?"

"Bits of it I do, yes," Clarisse nodded and looked up at her father as he nodded too.

"I remember it because it's the first time you admitted your feelings for Joseph to me, I mean I knew about them already and had done for some time, but that was when you really opened up to me about how you truly felt," Philippe said and watched as Clarisse nodded.

"I remember," Clarisse said as she studied her fathers face a moment.

"Ok, good," Philippe nodded, "and do you remember what I said to you when you came to me that day and told me about the open marriage idea?" He asked and watched as Clarisse looked down at the floor.

"I do," Clarisse said and let out a sigh while leaning forward, resting her elbows on her knees and raising her hands to cover her face with them. "You told me to be careful, and not to get to caught up in it."

"I did," Philippe nodded while leaning closer to her and reached his hand out, putting it onto her back. Smoothing it up and down, to comfort her. "And as much as I love to see you happy at last, I do think that you have done just that. You've got so caught up being in love and being loved in return," he hesitated as she lowered her hands from her face and looked back up at him, as if she knew what he was going to say, "that you're forgetting who you are bunny, who you're meant to be. And no good can come from that I'm afraid."