Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Princess Diaries characters, make no money from this, purely for enjoyment!
Fallen - part 13
Unlike Joseph it took Clarisse rather a few hours to go to sleep. She checked on him almost every hour, he still slept; she thought of calling a Doctor then wondered how she'd explain a King sleeping in her bed. That was of course if the Doctor recognised him.
She passed an hour or so in mindless tasks,collecting his only bag from the car and after staring at it on the kitchen table for a good thirty minutes finally decided to open it. A couple of shirts, trousers, wash things, toothbrush, some kind of organiser, a charger for a mobile phone… meaning he must have his mobile phone somewhere, she mused. His damp jacket hung on the back of a chair near the stove and she checked his pockets locating the phone and bringing it to join his other belongings. It was turned off, she left it that way. She also found what she thought must be his wallet, she thought royalty never carried money, credit cards must be a different matter.
She packed it all back into his bag in a rather neater fashion than she'd found it before draining her glass of wine. She polished of the bottle, with nothing to eat neither. No wonder her head was spinning. Deciding there was little else she could do that night she made a weak attempt at cleaning the kitchen up; locked the door and went up to bed.
Joseph was sleeping deeply when she entered the room; he must have woken at some point though because his trousers were lying on the floor. She picked them up and folded them lying them on the chair with his shirt. She was still learning the house and as such had to turn a lamp on as she collected her night things. He never even stirred as she opened drawers and took out clothes for the following day and found her dressing gown and night creams.
Casting one more glance at him and deciding he looked remarkably comfortable she left him alone for the night and retreated to the spare bedroom. It did still smell of paint and she relented and had to open a window slightly to allow some air in, unfortunately it was still raining so she also had to lay a cloth on the windowsill to catch any stray drops.
It was with a spinning and confused head that she fell into bed, her heart even heavier. It wasn't the fear of what he might say tomorrow that scared her, it was the realisation that she knew exactly what he was going to say and she wasn't at all sure she could cope with hearing it.
When she woke the following morning the rainhad ceased and Clarisse was greeted by warm sunlight on her bed. She lay there for a while wondering just how the day would turn out, what surprises were in store for her. It was Sunday, she usually ate with Rose and Martin on Sunday evening. She must call them at some point.
She showered with a chair against the door just in case, there seemed to be no need to have lock fitted on it, besides there was an en suite in her room. After she dressed and went downstairs, the weather was actually turning out to be glorious and she happily opened the door in the kitchen and spent a few moments surveying her garden and if last night's horrid weather and caused any damage.
After making a pot of tea she returned to her room with a cup for Joseph. She placed it on the bedside cabinet but he still slept. Gently she eased open the windows to allow some air into the room and then returned downstairs.
Clarisse stood on her tiptoes to reach over the sink to the plants that stood in the windowsill.
"There my dears, it's hot today." She said as she watered them.
"You talk to your plants." A warm voice was behind her.
She turned to him, leaning against the door watching her, wearing a black dressing gown.
"Well, good morning… or should I stay good afternoon."
"Ah, sorry, what time is it?"
"Almost 1:00, I guess you were tired." She moved to the stove and lifted the lid on the pan sitting there. "I'm making soup for lunch, I figured you could heat it later if you… well, are you hungry?"
"Yes, yes, it smells good, did you make it?"
"I'm not wholly incompetent in the kitchen." She glanced over at him smiling. "You look better."
"I haven't slept like that in…" he stopped, staring at her. "Clarisse."
She reached to the cupboard and took out dishes. "Yes."
"Clarisse…" his voice softened and she sensed him moving across the room to her.
She felt her body stiffen immediately, she didn't want him to touch her, she couldn't cope with that.
"How long will you be staying?" She asked abruptly.
"Erm, I'm not sure it, well, I can go to a hotel if you prefer."
"Here?" She put the dishes down and turned to face him.
He nodded. "I came here to see you."
"You've seen me."
"To spend time with you."
She shook her head. "But you don't do that kind of thing, you can't just jump up and decide to come here and expect…"
"I expect nothing, I only hope." His voice was gentle, his gaze penetrating.
"What will people think?"
"They think I'm on my annual holiday, hiding away somewhere private."
"And security, this can't be safe." She was flailing, spilling out those hundreds of thoughts that had prevented her own sleep the night before.
"Only Richard knows I'm here. And James of course, for the security angle."
She paused, Richard, oh she'd treated that man badly. She wondered if Joseph understood, or even knew.
"If you want me to leave then I will, I'll go now. I didn't come here to scare you or isolate you, I needed to see you, I needed to know…"
"Know what?" She whispered.
He moved closer to her, she gripped the side of the table she leant against, he was too close, too close… she jumped, almost screamed in frustration as the telephone rang startling them both.
She stared at him, silent, she couldn't read his expression.
"I need to get that." She said as the telephone rang again.
"Of course." He stepped aside to allow her to pass and she reached for the phone on the wall.
"Hello, Rose hi, yes I know… later. A-ha…" She could feel Joseph mere inches behind her, one of his hands was resting on the side next to hers, his body was almost touching hers, she could feel the heat coming from him. Part of her was terrified yet part of her was almost throbbing, she longed for him to reach out and touch her, was willing him to do it.
"Yes Rose I'm still here, yes it's lovely, a barbecue sounds good. Listen can I call you later and let you know if I can make it. No it's not that I don't want to, I'm feeling a little run down today, too much decorating, I'll call you, I promise before 5:00. Okay, have a good day. Bye dear."
She replaced the receiver but remained standing where she was, not daring to turn for fear of being face to face with him so very close.
"Your sister?" he said gently.
"I hate lying to her." She replied.
"No need to." He moved his along the counter closer to her.
"There's every need, what would I say?" She stood up straight and he stepped backwards a little giving her the opportunity to move out from the little cove they'd created. "What the hell would she say?"
He sighed deeply, lost for the moment as to how to maintain the conversation. "Soup's burning." He offered lamely.
"You can't burn soup."
"Well it's bubbling quite a lot then."
"Ohh…" Frustrated she lifted the pan from the heat and jumped as her fingers caught the outer rim of the pan.
"Hey, careful." He reached for her scolded hand but she grabbed it back.
"Why the hell are you here, why couldn't you leave me alone?" She demanded. "Why?"
"You know why." He said gently.
"You missed me, what a lousy reason."
"Clarisse, don't talk to me like that."
"I was just getting over you!" She shouted. "I was just…"
"I can't get over you." He raised his voice in return. "Lord knows I've tried, I'm lost without you."
She threw her head back. "You hardly know me, not really, not the real me."
"Then I want to learn every little bit."
"Lost without me…" she shook her head. "You have no right to say such things."
"I didn't mean to upset you."
"But you always do." She was the one shaking now, clutching her hand like a child. "You do." She took a deep breath in an attempt to keep the tears at bay. "I need some air."
"Let me walk with you, please, there's so much to say."
"No, I need a moment alone, to think…"
She walked directly past him and out of the door with no idea where she was heading.
Two hours later with the sun blazing high in the sky Clarisse finally took the familiar pathway across the field away from the cliff edge towards her house. She'd walked this path many times now, hardly ever meeting another person, it was blissfully quiet and relaxing and reminded her why she'd spent so much money on the property. Wiping her forehead she kicked the loose sand from the bottom of her sandals as she entered the garden. Her skin smelt of the sea, salty and fresh, and her mouth was dry and sore. She crossed the lawn, mentally reminding herself to go and put the sprinklers on later or the grass was going to suffer from this heat.
The back door stood open as she'd left it and as she entered the house she'd almost forgotten why she'd left so abruptly in the first place. The sight of Joseph's bag standing by the table reminded her but she chose to ignore it and went directly to the sink, dropping the bag she'd been carrying for the past 30 minutes into the bowl. Swinging open the fridge she took out a jug of water and poured herself a tall glass full taking a long deep drink of it.
"You were gone a long time."
She took her time in turning to face him. "Yes I know, I had lots to think about." She took another drink. "Tell me are you planning on going somewhere?" She indicated his bag.
He shrugged. "You don't want me here, I'm only causing you more pain, I'll go."
"How long is thisvacation supposed to last?"
"Two weeks, well I had planned on taking two weeks for myself."
She interrupted him. "Then you'll need more clothes I think." She finished the glass of water off. "Now I need to wash my face and put some cream on before my skin dries up completely. Do you know anything about lobster?"
"Err, Lobster?"
"I walked to the harbour and got fresh lobster for dinner, they need washing and preparing…" she smiled at his expression. "You're worse than me, don't worry I'll manage. It would be a help if you could water the garden though."
"I… of course. Clarisse, I'm a little confused."
"Aren't we all, most of the time." She rinsed her glass and stood it to drain. "You want to talk to me, and I suppose, although I hate to admit it, I want to talk to you too. So…" she swung round to face him again. "Let's just see how we get on shall we." She reached into a drawer and then moved towards him holding a bunch of keys. "The little one lets you into the gardening-shed where you'll find the hose, you might want to put the sprinklers on."
"Thanks." He smiled shaking his head.
"Good job you're a keen gardener."
"Roses are my forte." He reached to touch her hand but she moved away quickly avoiding him once again.
"Now I must call my sister and invent some reason as to why I'm going to miss her delicious barbecue."
She bustled out of the kitchen leaving Joseph more than a little unnerved by her sudden change in attitude, yet he was undeniably encouraged by it all the same.
Author's Note: Not an overly exciting chapter but i hoped you enjoyed it just the same, have to get them plodding along together so-to-speak :-) Please let me know what you think xx Rhonda
