It was one hour into the car trip and Clarisse was staring out the window, looking as if she were about to cry. Joseph noticed that she was feeling a little upset, so he took her hand and held it in his. She smiled slightly at him and resumed looking out the window.
"You're having regrets."
"No, I'm not. It's just…I've spent so much of my life there and it's kind of hard to leave."
"Try not to think about it."
"Oh believe me, I've tried."
"Then try thinking about all the fun we're going to have. All the freedom. All the romance. All the children."
She smiled and thought for a moment, "All the children?"
"Hmm? Oh, I was just thinking…"
"Just thinking what? How many children do you think we're going to have?"
"I don't know. Two, three."
"I'm terribly sorry, Joseph, but I already have two. And another one on the way. I think that will be more than enough for me, thankyou."
He drew his attention away from her, "I was just thinking about it, that's all. I haven't planned anything if that's what you're thinking."
"You're upset, aren't you?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You look upset."
"I'm not. I was simply stating my thoughts about the subject."
"Alright then."
They sat in silence for a while. It was Clarisse who finally spoke, "I'll tell you what, if males ever discover how to conceive children, I'll think about us having another."
He realised that she was being silly and decided not to say anything while she sat there biting her lip in order to contain her laughter.
"I can't believe we're finally here," Clarisse announced as she stepped out of the vehicle.
"Home sweet home!" Joseph moaned, tired from the trip.
She got out her key and unlocked the door to take a look inside. It was a nice place; freshly painted walls, new carpets, polished floorboards, no cameras.
Clarisse looked around and ran her hand over everything while Joseph walked close behind her. He observed her hand and waited for the perfect opportunity to lift it to his lips. He then put his arms around her waist and softly kissed the back of her neck.
She turned around and whispered in his ear, "Joseph, be a dear and unload my luggage please."
He wasn't too pleased that she had ruined the moment, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"Please do be careful with mother's candelabra," she yelled, as he walked out the door.
A smile of excitement fell upon her face at the thought that this was their home. It wasn't a huge palace with it's own area code, but that didn't matter; it was a small mansion, with a tennis court and a pool. That's what mattered.
She purposely collapsed onto the couch and rested her arms behind her head.
Later...
"Is that the last of them?"
"Yes dear, every last one. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and rest my back."
"Thankyou darling, I'll be with you in a moment."
She attempted to make a pot of tea, but gave up and walked into the bedroom. She placed a jug of water and two glasses on the bedside table, then crawled onto the bed where Joseph was lying face down.
"Exhausted?"
"You could say that."
"I would have carried them in myself, but as you know, I can't do any heavy lifting."
"I know."
She started rubbing her hands up and down his back.
"That feels nice."
"I'm glad. Do you know what I feel like doing tonight?"
"Sleeping?"
"Eventually, but, I was thinking that since tonight will be our first night in our own home and there won't be anybody around, we could…"
"Take a walk?"
"No, I was thinking of something more…romantic."
"A candle-lit dinner?"
"No, it's something that involves just us two."
"A jigsaw puzzle?"
"Listen, if you don't stop playing these games, you can forget about it all together. Now are you ready to stop being silly?"
She noticed that he had fallen asleep and walked out of the room, "Well that's the last time I play the tart for you, Joseph!"
Later on, Joseph awoke and found that Clarisse was no longer there. It was 8:30pm so he decided to get up and investigate, "Darling, are you here?"
He looked around the whole house and found her sitting at the well-set dining table with her head in her hands. Joseph rushed over to her and asked her what the problem was. She pointed to the kitchen. It was in a real mess; there were "chopped" vegetables everywhere, broken matches around the stove, dirty dishes in the sink and various out of place utensils.
"You tried to cook?"
"I'm sorry. I never learnt how to do it properly."
"That's okay, I think it's great that you had a go at doing something you've never done before, but I have a word of advice, a chicken belongs in the oven, not in the rubbish bin."
She smiled and banged her head on the table.
"Perhaps I should make us something to eat."
"No, it's far too late."
"Then how about some take-away?"
"Take-away? I'm sorry, I don't believe I'm familiar with the concept."
"It's when you order food from a restaurant and they deliver it to your house."
"How very extraordinary. I've never heard of it before."
"You have lived one sheltered life, Clarisse."
"It's not my fault. My life was decided for me."
"Up until now?"
"Yes."
"I'm glad you decided to think for yourself for a change."
"Me too."
"So what do you feel like eating?"
"I don't feel like eating."
"But you have to eat."
"There's still some food left in the fridge."
"Then I will cook us a quick meal. Lovely place-setting, by the way."
"Thankyou."
It only took half an hour for master chef Joseph to whip up something to eat. It was a simple, but satisfying pasta salad.
"That was delicious."
"Yes, I thought so too."
"Shall we retire?"
"You go ahead, I think I'll take a shower first."
"Well then, I'll see you in bed," she giggled and ran off to the bedroom.
Joseph cleared the table and decided that the dishes could wait until the morning.
Sorry for all the lateness, but I'm in my final year of high school now and it's not the holidays anymore, so I go to bed at a decent hour.
Anyway, from this chapter and onwards, I'm turning this into kind of a sitcom, so it will probably be even more out of character. But look at it this way, if Clarisse had run off with Joseph, she wouldn't have turned out how she did in the film. Oh, and I didn't mean to make her look dumb in this chapter, but hey, a queen probably wouldn't know how to cook anyway.
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