Chapter 4 – A little bit of C
Sweet dreams don't come easily when there's a lot on your mind. Clarisse was leaning against the pillows on her bed, staring at her wedding ring. She was a widow. But during this weekend the thought that she was a woman had presented itself to her. A single woman. It prevented her from falling asleep. Or perhaps she felt she didn't deserve another sweet dream like the one she'd had last night. Ridiculous! she scolded herself. Dreams are free. If I dream about... Joseph... doing You Know Wh-. Making love, Clarisse, that is how it's called. Dreaming is perfectly innocent! And healthy. You have blood running through your veins.
She yawned. Removing the pillows, she laid down, fully intended to have a wonderful dream. A skin that tickles when he's near...
OoOoOoO
´Good morning!´
´My my, someone is merry this time of day,´ Beatrix replied.
Clarisse shrugged and smiled. Beatrix poured her friend tea, a twinkle in her eyes. ´Will you join me for a tour on the grounds? Amid the trees there's a tennis court and a swimming pool as well. It's in the opposite direction from the stables.´
´I'd love to,´ Clarisse replied, spreading her napkin on her lap. ´A tour? Are you thinking of buying the place?´
Beatrix nodded.
When they left the mansion four guards accompanied them. The Dutch Queen objected but agreed when she was told that a photographer had been spotted, at the fence near the stables.
´Annoying press mosquitoes. If I buy this place,´ she told her friend as they continued their walk, ´I will have the fence replaced by a wall.´
´That would be best.´
´And I will have a swing made on that branch.´ She pointed at a huge tree.
´The little ones will love that.´
´So will this big one,´ Beatrix laughed.
The tennis court and the pool were just what they should be: simple and beautifully situated.
´This place will provide a lot of good memories.´
´It will,´ Clarisse agreed, inhaling the scent of earth and wild flowers. The friends relished in the sight of the sunlight shining through the trees.
´I was thinking C, this might as well be a mutual project.´
Clarisse glanced at her friend. ´I can't deny that I am a bit jealous because you found it first B but don't think that now that I am here, you are obliged to share the candy.´
´Ha! This is a perfect meeting place for us. We might as well buy it together. We have been friends for over forty years, we are not going to argue about it.´
Clarisse sighed happily. ´You're on B!´
OoOoOoO
Joe, whose room was situated at the back side of the stables, saw the Queens come near, engaged in a lively conversation. He needed to face his Queen and though he still didn't know how to approach her, he walked down the narrow staircase to greet her at least. He found Their Majesties studying the window-frames. The Dutch Queen spotted him first.
´Good morning Mr Romero.´
´Good morning Your Majesty. Your Majesty.´
´Good morning Joseph.´
She smiled at him and for the first time since his arrival Joe acknowledged the beauty of the grounds. He asked them if they had heard about the photographer. His Queen told him they had and that they would not walk to the front side of the stables.
The Queens disappeared inside the building to come out ten minutes later, talking about real estate. When the Dutch Queen received a phone call on her mobile she suggested that her friend would go back to the mansion without her. ´Or you could check if there is a hammock in the summer-house?´
Two Dutch guards followed their Queen's guest so Joe couldn't claim he should go after her as well. He felt the Queen of the Netherlands watching him. As she listened to what was said on the other side of the line, she mouthed something: Go after her. Talk to her. This was followed by a "what are you waiting for" look. Joe was so flabbergasted that he didn't even greet her as he went after his Queen.
OoOoOoO
It seemed as if the forest came to life with her walking ahead of him. Having been a marine, he appreciated the shelter and food a wood provided, but the sheer beauty of it had been made clear to him through her eyes. Things he had not noticed before became worth while when she cherished them. Roses? Flowers like any other, but it wasn't until he had seen her enjoy their colour, scent and shape, that he had started to admire them. Opera? It's dramatic power had been lost on him until he'd seen how it could move her.
And she doesn't know it.
The Queen stepped into the little summer house. Joe followed her and gave the Dutchmen waiting outside fierce glances to tell them to stay out. He found his Queen checking stuff on a shelf against the back wall.
´What are you looking for Your Majesty?´
The sound of his voice didn't startle Clarisse. She had known for some time he was guarding her. She recalled the first part of last night's dream:
Dr Banner had been in the drawing room, looking like Joseph. He'd turned muscular and green but that had not frightened her. She never was afraid when Joseph was near and besides: Joseph-Hulk had glanced at her with big puppy eyes. The granddaughters on the pictures had started to sing and at ´let me be your lovin' teddy bear´ the Hulk had nodded enthusiastically.
Joe heard a smile in her voice when she answered him.
´I'm looking for a hammock Joseph. I don't know if there is one though.´
Joe checked the contents of plastic boxes and found pillows. When he turned around he stared at her ankles. The Queen had climbed a small ladder to check a high shelf. She saw a piece of cotton cloth.
´I am sorry ma'am.´
´You didn't find one?´
She pulled at the cloth with one hand using the other to hold on to the ladder. Joe steadied the ladder for her. It earned him a smile. He didn't see it though for his eyes were fixed on the floor.
´Oh!´
Joe stifled a curse. The pile of cloth had reached the floor via his head. Still, he kept holding the ladder while she descended it.
´Are you all right Joseph?´
She sounded concerned and reached out her hand. Her cool slender fingers caressed his head.
´I am fine ma'am.´
When she retreated her hand it contained a big black spider. She gently put it down.
´I am sorry for the remark I made. It was out of line. I regret making it. I offer you my apologies.´
A skin that tick- Clarisse decided she'd better go outside. The situation looked far too much like the start of the second part of her dream when Joseph had been himself again.
´Let's see if this is a hammock.´
They unfolded it in front of the summer house.
´Ah!´ Beatrix commented, walking toward them. ´A wind screen, well, you can't have it all.´
OoOoOoO
Beatrix watched her friend, elegant on a lounge-chair, reading a book. Clarisse hadn't said a word about her conversation with Joseph. Beatrix didn't worry though. In almost every drawing she'd made of Clarisse her friend had a sweet smile on her face that couldn't have anything to do with Dostoevsky's novel.
They spent hours in the garden. Reading, talking, sketching. Sometimes Beatrix would walk to the kitchen for refreshments, sometimes Clarisse would. Beatrix had a feeling that Joseph hadn't returned to the stables after installing them in the garden. Especially not since he had insisted that this particular spot would be perfect. Clarisse had been willing to agree and Beatrix hadn't mentioned the fact that they could be observed from the kitchen. She was sure Joseph had made himself familiar with all hiding places by now and that he hadn't used shower lotion.
´Would you like some strawberries B?´
´I'd love to!´
Clarisse closed her book and picked up the empty water-bottle.
OoOoOoO
Joe saw his Queen approach. He left the house via the front door instead of hiding in the store room again. What he couldn't know was that she spotted a butterfly and that she followed it around the house to the front side.
´Joseph!´
´Majesty.´
Having spent a few days with Beatrix had made Clarisse more blunt. Still, when she addressed Joseph, she watched the butterfly. ´Joseph, would you have offered your apologies had my friend been a man?´
Silence. She looked at him.
´If he had been your... friend, yes I would have.´
He swallowed. A suicidal devil made him continue. He watched the butterfly. ´If he had been your "special" friend, I...´
King Rupert had embraced her, kissed her. He, Joe, had handled that, hadn't he? He was her husband. He had the right. Joe got red spots in his neck. The King hadn't had the right to spend the night with her. He had been privileged to do so and he hadn't fully appreciated it. Joe remembered how angry he'd been when the criminologists had glanced at her last Friday and how he'd felt when thinking about her spending the night in lover B's bed.
It would have been her choice to make. If she wants to -.
´I...´
If she would find a lover at her beg and call, like he had feared she had, would he be able to live with that? He took pride in being a professional. If she was safely in her suite he should be content. But to know that someone would make her smile and moan... Stop it!
´I...´
Here he stood: a stammering fool. Any moment now she could walk away, upset again. It was none of his business if she - .
For the second time that day he felt her hand on his skin as she cupped his cheek. He might have lacked words but his eyes had spoken volumes. He looked at her and gasped when he saw the loving look in her eyes. Without thinking he caught her hand and kissed her palm, never breaking eye contact.
BOING BOING
She withdrew her hand and stepped back.
´Catch it Vilais!´
The addressed guard ran around the corner of the house, following a ball.
BOING
´A cripple could have caught it! Loser!´
Dilson rounded the corner too, a good humoured smile on his face. Not having a ball to chase like Vilais, he was the first to notice his Queen and his boss. Her Majesty was ascending the stairs to the entrance, holding an empty water-bottle.
Picking up the ball, Vilais turned around, to find the head of security glare at him.
Boing
Just after the Queen had disappeared into the house, guard Capras showed up. Feeling the tension he tried to explain things. ´Sir. I hope you don't mind we're using your basketball. The Dutch didn't need our help they said. So we thought... Perhaps you would like to play with us?´
Silence.
´Sir?´