Chapter Six:
Carlotta cleared her throat and tapped on the crystal glass and everyone looked up from the
table. Chris stuffed one more mouthful of zesty baked ziti before he turned to face her. Carlotta
smiled at him reassuringly and he smiled back. Carlotta hadn't told him what this was all about,
all she had said was that there was big news to discuss. He didn't feel any need to be worried,
since it appeared that his younger sister was worrying enough for the both of them.
"I'm so happy you've all been here in Paris to share my home and my life." Carlotta began. "I don't
know how long I've been able to get along without you in that big, lonely house."
She paused for effect and turned to face Chris. "And you, my dear Christopher, have shown me just
how big and lonely that house is... Darling, don't you think it's time to start planning our wedding?"
Chris' mind didn'y quite comprehend what Carlotta had just said, then it hit him. Wedding? A
WEDDING?! All the blood drained from his face and the once moist, delicious ziti caught in his throat,
choking him and making him gasp for air. Chris heard one of the expensive silverware drop and he
looked up to see that it was Claire who dropped it. Her face was pale and she looked sick, blanching
as if the words that Carlotta had just spoken caused her physical pain. SHE wasn't the onewhom
Carlotta was talking to.
"Here," Jill said softly, offering Chris a glass of water.
Chris took it gratefully and took a big gulp. Unfortunately, it went down too fast and he started
to choke on THAT, spewing water all over the Armani suit that he was wearing. Some may have gone
on Carlotta's Dior oringinal.
"Take deep breaths," Carlotta suggested helpfully as she patted his back.
"I'm okay," Chris managed to squeak out. "I'm fine, really."
'Good, now stop CHOKING and maybe it will sound believable.' his mind told him. Taking a few deep
breaths, Chris managed a weak smile. "Our wedding?" he repeated, casting a questioning look at his
lover.
Carlotta nodded gently, "Darling, do you not remember? That morning you left, I asked if you
would marry me, and you said that you had so much to take care of first, but once Umbrella was over
with, you were all mine." Carlotta smiled radiantly at him and took his hand. "It's been a year
since that's been taken care of sweetums..."
Had he really said that? Chris racked his brain to try and remember. Think you idiot, THINK! He
managed another weak smile for Carlotta's benefit and nodded.
"Yes, love," he whispered and Claire let out a strangled, choked gasp.
Everyone turned to look at her and she stared down, ashen.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Carlotta asked her.
Claire flashed her a tight smile, her hand at the base of her throat. "Yes. Um... Chris getting
married...it's quite a shock. She reached for her glass of chardonnay and took an easy sip.
"Despite his free spirit, your brother is just the type to settle down." Carlotta said sweetly, and
reached across the table to squeeze Claire's tight fist. "Just think, we're going to be sister-in-laws!"
Chris could tell that the hip, teeny-bopper tone that Carlotta had taken when she said, 'sister-in-laws'
didn't ease Claire's tension, only made it mount higher.
"Sister-in-laws..." Claire purred uneasily, trying out the word. Then, deciding she didn't like the
way it fit, she forced a sickly sweet smile and grabbed her chardonnay and gulped it down in one
swig. Ugh, Chris groaned inwardly at Claire's sudden depression...TRES sophisticated...
"I love it." Claire said in an ironic tone, meaning that she meant the exact opposite. She put
on a tight, white smile and turned towards Chris. "I'm SO happy for you Chris-toe-pher." Claire said
in the way she used to when they were kids and she wanted to tease Chris for some reason.
With that, she grabbed Jill's chardonnay and polished that off too. She would've reached for Leon's
too, but he saw that coming early on and hurriedly rushed to take the wine glass deftly out of her
reach.
"You're sister didn't strike me as much of a drinker..." Carlotta whispered to Chris just as the
waiter delivered another bottle of champagne.
"She isn't." Chris replied back. 'But she probably will be.'
"Okay, good night everyone!" Chris called, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
"And I'm REALLY going to be in the Miss Paris Pageant?" Sherry asked Carlotta hopefully.
"That's right." Carlotta said enthusiastically, giving her a tight hug. "Good night."
"'Night." Sherry replied.
"And I'm going to get you the very best pageant consultant in the country. I have a strong feeling
you'll win."
Claire let out a gruff sniff before disappearing into the East wing. Chris stuck his hands into
his pockets and waited with Carlotta at the bottom of the ballroom stairs.
"Christopher, I must tell you something." Carlotta said, in a hushed, secretive tone.
"Yes?" he asked as they ascended the stairs and they linked arms.
"Well, it's kind of hard to say this." Carlotta paused briefly before continuing. "I'm not who you
think I am."
Suddenly a light went on in Chris' head. This was too good to be true! No matter what Carlotta
told him, if it was bad enough, it just might get him out of this mess! Chris crossed his fingers
and hoped that Carlotta had lied and that her husband was still alive, she killed someone or something
along those lines. Then he felt like throwing himself down the stairs just for THINKING the worst
about a woman who was nothing but wonderful to him.
"What is it?" he asked patiently.
Carlotta sighed and twirled her fingers in her hair and looked up at him, suddenly looking years
older. "I didn't get this house just by being the late wife of an ambassador."
Aha! Chris thought. Prostitution. He'd be able to get out of this faster than he'd thought.
"How DID you get all of this?" Chris asked, putting just the right amount of suspicion into his
voice.
Carlotta bit her bottom lip and took his hand to lead him out to the balcony. "Sit down, honey."
Chris sat down on one of the 19th century divans and looked up at her. "What is it?" he asked her,
wondering what could be weighing so heavily on her mind.
Carlotta sat down beside him and took his hand in hers. "Okay...before I married Ricardo... I
came from a very rich... very powerful family back in Italy... And that is how I got all of this."
she waved a disinterested hand to her villa as if it were an ordinary shack.
"That's the thing that you thought would be so horrible?" Chris asked her in astonishment.
"I'm a Principessa, love. Most men here think it's intimidating to get serious with an Italian
royal. You KNOW how brutal we are." Carlotta added with playful sarcasm.
Chris laughed uneasily and kissed her cheek. Sighing, he said, "Why would it bother me?"
"Oh, you American men..." she moaned as she took his head in her hands and kissed
his lips softly.
Leon tossed and turned on his bed, fluffing and re-fluffing the pillows that were as light as
air. Kennedy, it isn't the bed that's bothering you, the news about Chris' engagement is shaking
you up too. If it was shaking HIM up, what must it be doing to Chris? When Carlotta had dropped
her bombshell, Chris looked as if he wanted to get up and run away. Claire had looked like someone
had just come in and dropped a bloody, severed hand right into her beef wellington. Leon wondered
howshe was holding up after all this. She had drank three glasses of wine when even one half was
always more than sufficient in the past.
As if reading his mind, Leon heard a loud bang from down the hall. Feeling curious, he got up
and stepped out of his room. The hallway was dark and quiet and Leon began to feel that the first
bang was his imagination. Just then, there was another loud, 'CRASH' from Claire's room. Hurrying
towards the brier wood door, he gently knocked on it. After some shuffling, there was a gruff, "Come
in."
Grabbing and turning the knob, he opened the door and found Claire bent under her vanity table,
her hands scrambling to pick up the pieces of something that had broken.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned. Claire let out an annoyed growl, as if his concern infuriated
her even more.
"Stop standing there, mocking me." Claire ordered sharply. "Do you have any glue?"
Leon thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes. I do."
"Well, don't just do something, stand there!" Claire said ironically, her voice thick with angry
sarcasm and maybe even slurred a bit. "Leon, would you just get me the glue?"
Leon did a little jump and saluted her passionately before heading back towards his room. Sitting
on the arm of his bed, he bent over and opened the ebony, brass-inlayed Second Empire style
cassettone. He quickly riffled through his clothes and pulled out a box of Krazy Glue. Tossing
it up and catching it, he headed back to Claire.
"Here it is, my lady." he said gallantly as he tossed it into her lap.
"It took you long enough." Claire replied irritably.
Leon sighed as he sat down at her vantiy chair and watched as she fumbled cumbersomely with the
cap and tried unsuccessfully to glue back together the ivory figurine that she had dropped.
Finally, she let out a groan and threw it onto her bed. She dropped her head in her hands and
sighed deeply, her shoulders sagging in defeat.
"Oh, now Claire, don't feel too bad..." Leon said comfortingly as he picked up the discarded glue
and small statue. "Look, we can fix it."
"It's not the stupid statue Leon!" Claire erupted, her voice almost nothing but a distraught sob.
Leon let out an understanding 'hmph' and cleared his throat. "Well, what is it then?" he asked,
just for the sake of asking as he gently set down the statue.
"You KNOW what it is!" she moaned, her shoulders sagged even more until she practically had her
stomach pressed against her thighs. "MY GOD, CHRIS IS A FUCKING IDIOT!"
Leon made a clucking sound with his tongue before he placed his hand on her back. "It's okay.
Don't worry about it..." He paused. "Can I get you anything?"
"No--or, yes." she sighed. "Get me a drink."
Carlotta cleared her throat and tapped on the crystal glass and everyone looked up from the
table. Chris stuffed one more mouthful of zesty baked ziti before he turned to face her. Carlotta
smiled at him reassuringly and he smiled back. Carlotta hadn't told him what this was all about,
all she had said was that there was big news to discuss. He didn't feel any need to be worried,
since it appeared that his younger sister was worrying enough for the both of them.
"I'm so happy you've all been here in Paris to share my home and my life." Carlotta began. "I don't
know how long I've been able to get along without you in that big, lonely house."
She paused for effect and turned to face Chris. "And you, my dear Christopher, have shown me just
how big and lonely that house is... Darling, don't you think it's time to start planning our wedding?"
Chris' mind didn'y quite comprehend what Carlotta had just said, then it hit him. Wedding? A
WEDDING?! All the blood drained from his face and the once moist, delicious ziti caught in his throat,
choking him and making him gasp for air. Chris heard one of the expensive silverware drop and he
looked up to see that it was Claire who dropped it. Her face was pale and she looked sick, blanching
as if the words that Carlotta had just spoken caused her physical pain. SHE wasn't the onewhom
Carlotta was talking to.
"Here," Jill said softly, offering Chris a glass of water.
Chris took it gratefully and took a big gulp. Unfortunately, it went down too fast and he started
to choke on THAT, spewing water all over the Armani suit that he was wearing. Some may have gone
on Carlotta's Dior oringinal.
"Take deep breaths," Carlotta suggested helpfully as she patted his back.
"I'm okay," Chris managed to squeak out. "I'm fine, really."
'Good, now stop CHOKING and maybe it will sound believable.' his mind told him. Taking a few deep
breaths, Chris managed a weak smile. "Our wedding?" he repeated, casting a questioning look at his
lover.
Carlotta nodded gently, "Darling, do you not remember? That morning you left, I asked if you
would marry me, and you said that you had so much to take care of first, but once Umbrella was over
with, you were all mine." Carlotta smiled radiantly at him and took his hand. "It's been a year
since that's been taken care of sweetums..."
Had he really said that? Chris racked his brain to try and remember. Think you idiot, THINK! He
managed another weak smile for Carlotta's benefit and nodded.
"Yes, love," he whispered and Claire let out a strangled, choked gasp.
Everyone turned to look at her and she stared down, ashen.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Carlotta asked her.
Claire flashed her a tight smile, her hand at the base of her throat. "Yes. Um... Chris getting
married...it's quite a shock. She reached for her glass of chardonnay and took an easy sip.
"Despite his free spirit, your brother is just the type to settle down." Carlotta said sweetly, and
reached across the table to squeeze Claire's tight fist. "Just think, we're going to be sister-in-laws!"
Chris could tell that the hip, teeny-bopper tone that Carlotta had taken when she said, 'sister-in-laws'
didn't ease Claire's tension, only made it mount higher.
"Sister-in-laws..." Claire purred uneasily, trying out the word. Then, deciding she didn't like the
way it fit, she forced a sickly sweet smile and grabbed her chardonnay and gulped it down in one
swig. Ugh, Chris groaned inwardly at Claire's sudden depression...TRES sophisticated...
"I love it." Claire said in an ironic tone, meaning that she meant the exact opposite. She put
on a tight, white smile and turned towards Chris. "I'm SO happy for you Chris-toe-pher." Claire said
in the way she used to when they were kids and she wanted to tease Chris for some reason.
With that, she grabbed Jill's chardonnay and polished that off too. She would've reached for Leon's
too, but he saw that coming early on and hurriedly rushed to take the wine glass deftly out of her
reach.
"You're sister didn't strike me as much of a drinker..." Carlotta whispered to Chris just as the
waiter delivered another bottle of champagne.
"She isn't." Chris replied back. 'But she probably will be.'
"Okay, good night everyone!" Chris called, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
"And I'm REALLY going to be in the Miss Paris Pageant?" Sherry asked Carlotta hopefully.
"That's right." Carlotta said enthusiastically, giving her a tight hug. "Good night."
"'Night." Sherry replied.
"And I'm going to get you the very best pageant consultant in the country. I have a strong feeling
you'll win."
Claire let out a gruff sniff before disappearing into the East wing. Chris stuck his hands into
his pockets and waited with Carlotta at the bottom of the ballroom stairs.
"Christopher, I must tell you something." Carlotta said, in a hushed, secretive tone.
"Yes?" he asked as they ascended the stairs and they linked arms.
"Well, it's kind of hard to say this." Carlotta paused briefly before continuing. "I'm not who you
think I am."
Suddenly a light went on in Chris' head. This was too good to be true! No matter what Carlotta
told him, if it was bad enough, it just might get him out of this mess! Chris crossed his fingers
and hoped that Carlotta had lied and that her husband was still alive, she killed someone or something
along those lines. Then he felt like throwing himself down the stairs just for THINKING the worst
about a woman who was nothing but wonderful to him.
"What is it?" he asked patiently.
Carlotta sighed and twirled her fingers in her hair and looked up at him, suddenly looking years
older. "I didn't get this house just by being the late wife of an ambassador."
Aha! Chris thought. Prostitution. He'd be able to get out of this faster than he'd thought.
"How DID you get all of this?" Chris asked, putting just the right amount of suspicion into his
voice.
Carlotta bit her bottom lip and took his hand to lead him out to the balcony. "Sit down, honey."
Chris sat down on one of the 19th century divans and looked up at her. "What is it?" he asked her,
wondering what could be weighing so heavily on her mind.
Carlotta sat down beside him and took his hand in hers. "Okay...before I married Ricardo... I
came from a very rich... very powerful family back in Italy... And that is how I got all of this."
she waved a disinterested hand to her villa as if it were an ordinary shack.
"That's the thing that you thought would be so horrible?" Chris asked her in astonishment.
"I'm a Principessa, love. Most men here think it's intimidating to get serious with an Italian
royal. You KNOW how brutal we are." Carlotta added with playful sarcasm.
Chris laughed uneasily and kissed her cheek. Sighing, he said, "Why would it bother me?"
"Oh, you American men..." she moaned as she took his head in her hands and kissed
his lips softly.
Leon tossed and turned on his bed, fluffing and re-fluffing the pillows that were as light as
air. Kennedy, it isn't the bed that's bothering you, the news about Chris' engagement is shaking
you up too. If it was shaking HIM up, what must it be doing to Chris? When Carlotta had dropped
her bombshell, Chris looked as if he wanted to get up and run away. Claire had looked like someone
had just come in and dropped a bloody, severed hand right into her beef wellington. Leon wondered
howshe was holding up after all this. She had drank three glasses of wine when even one half was
always more than sufficient in the past.
As if reading his mind, Leon heard a loud bang from down the hall. Feeling curious, he got up
and stepped out of his room. The hallway was dark and quiet and Leon began to feel that the first
bang was his imagination. Just then, there was another loud, 'CRASH' from Claire's room. Hurrying
towards the brier wood door, he gently knocked on it. After some shuffling, there was a gruff, "Come
in."
Grabbing and turning the knob, he opened the door and found Claire bent under her vanity table,
her hands scrambling to pick up the pieces of something that had broken.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned. Claire let out an annoyed growl, as if his concern infuriated
her even more.
"Stop standing there, mocking me." Claire ordered sharply. "Do you have any glue?"
Leon thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes. I do."
"Well, don't just do something, stand there!" Claire said ironically, her voice thick with angry
sarcasm and maybe even slurred a bit. "Leon, would you just get me the glue?"
Leon did a little jump and saluted her passionately before heading back towards his room. Sitting
on the arm of his bed, he bent over and opened the ebony, brass-inlayed Second Empire style
cassettone. He quickly riffled through his clothes and pulled out a box of Krazy Glue. Tossing
it up and catching it, he headed back to Claire.
"Here it is, my lady." he said gallantly as he tossed it into her lap.
"It took you long enough." Claire replied irritably.
Leon sighed as he sat down at her vantiy chair and watched as she fumbled cumbersomely with the
cap and tried unsuccessfully to glue back together the ivory figurine that she had dropped.
Finally, she let out a groan and threw it onto her bed. She dropped her head in her hands and
sighed deeply, her shoulders sagging in defeat.
"Oh, now Claire, don't feel too bad..." Leon said comfortingly as he picked up the discarded glue
and small statue. "Look, we can fix it."
"It's not the stupid statue Leon!" Claire erupted, her voice almost nothing but a distraught sob.
Leon let out an understanding 'hmph' and cleared his throat. "Well, what is it then?" he asked,
just for the sake of asking as he gently set down the statue.
"You KNOW what it is!" she moaned, her shoulders sagged even more until she practically had her
stomach pressed against her thighs. "MY GOD, CHRIS IS A FUCKING IDIOT!"
Leon made a clucking sound with his tongue before he placed his hand on her back. "It's okay.
Don't worry about it..." He paused. "Can I get you anything?"
"No--or, yes." she sighed. "Get me a drink."