After Joseph had dismissed the crowd with little more than a shake of his head and a flick of his wrist, they quickly left the airport and were taken to the hotel. Clarisse was shown to the finest suite available and Joseph and Charlotte were given rooms down the hall. With Clarisse's maids and the rest of Joseph's security team still missing, Charlotte took command of several bellboys to get all of the luggage from the car to the three rooms. Clarisse ordered tea for two, which she shared with Joseph in her sitting room.
"Is Shades still not answering?" she asked him, seated on the sofa beside him.
"He isn't. I was ready to give him the sack, but now I'm beginning to get worried. It isn't like him to disappear this way and then not to answer his calls."
"Have you tried calling any of the others?"
"Yes, all of them. No one answers."
Clarisse was very concerned. "Do you think we should call the police?"
"Not yet. I'll give them a few hours. There might have been some misunderstanding about our plans. Shades and his crew could still be wandering around Heathrow Airport looking for us."
"I do hope Marie and Susannah are all right."
"They're fine, Clarisse."
"Yes, I'm sure you're right. They are grown women, after all."
"Exactly. Now stop worrying."
She smiled. "Joseph, will you join me for dinner?"
He grinned. "I will, whether you like it or not. I'm afraid you're stuck with me."
She set down her tea and picked up a menu from the table. "I'm sure we can find something delicious from the kitchen here. Tell me what you'd like and I'll order it for you."
Joseph plucked the menu from her hands. "You'll do no such thing. I will order. Or Charlotte will."
"Oh, yes. Charlotte. I should invite her to join us, of course. How could I have forgotten?"
"It will be rather cozy, just the three of us."
"Yes," she acknowledged. "And with much better company than I would have had for the dinner I would be attending back in Genovia."
He nodded recognition of the compliment. "And I'll have the best company in the world," he said quietly.
"Yes," Clarisse agreed evenly. "Charlotte is a very witty conversationalist."
"That's not what I meant, as you are well aware."
She turned away, a blush covering her smiling face. "What did you mean, exactly?" she asked, though she thought she knew the answer.
He reached for her hand and kissed it. "I mean that you, my dear, are the only company I'll ever need."
"It's been a long time since you called me that."
"You told me not to," he reminded her.
"So I did. I should scold you, then, I suppose."
"I try to disobey your orders every so often, just so you remember that I still can."
Clarisse didn't immediately have a reply for this provocative statement, but in the end she refused to be drawn into an argument. "Well, you may continue to disobey that particular order as often as you please."
His eyes widened a little. "You'll change your mind tomorrow," he speculated.
She turned back to him and spoke deliberately. "No. I don't think I will." She held his gaze steadily for a few seconds, then looked away again.
He looked down at her hand in his. "Thank you, my dear."
She waved her free hand in the air. "It's nothing. You needn't thank me."
"It is not nothing," Joseph argued. "It means a great deal to me."
"You mean a great deal to me," Clarisse murmured.
"Clarisse."
"Yes?"
"Would you look at me?" She faced him. "And will you say that again please?"
She swallowed. "I said you mean a great deal to me. You must know that, Joseph."
"It's still good to hear you say it."
Clarisse smiled, then rose from her seat and went to the window. She couldn't see the ground through the thick fog surrounding the hotel, which made her feel like she was floating above the clouds. Her conversation with Joseph had done nothing to dispel the surreal feeling of the afternoon. After standing at the window for a while, her thoughts turned inward and she blushed again at the memory of her blunt speech just now. It wasn't a secret, exactly, how she felt about Joseph, but they also didn't usually talk about it openly.
"Clarisse," Joseph whispered in her ear.
"Oh, you startled me!" She turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, my dear. You were deep in thought."
"I was."
"Is anything wrong?"
"No, but Joseph, I-"
Suddenly, his mobile phone rang. Joseph sighed, irritated at the interruption, but he reluctantly answered the call, pacing the room as he spoke. "Hello? Shades, where the hell are you? What?! Why?" He listened for a while. "Well, nothing can be done about it now, but we'll talk about it when I get back."
"What's going on, Joseph?" Clarisse asked.
"You'll never guess where Marie, Susannah, Shades, and the rest of our team are."
"Where?"
"They just landed in Pyrus!"
"What?!"
"They misunderstood my instructions."
"They certainly did! What in the world did Shades think you said?"
"That you were flying back to Genovia today."
"Are you sure this was an accident?" Clarisse asked suspiciously.
Joseph's eyebrows rose. "As much as I am enjoying our cozy little chat, I did not orchestrate it. If I had it my way, at least one member of my security detail would be with me right now."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Because when they are all in Genovia, I can't sleep."
"Surely you don't have to watch my every move," Clarisse protested.
"No, but someone has to guard your door all night and Charlotte is not qualified."
She laughed. "What a mess this is. I'll be sure to let you sleep on the plane tomorrow."
Joseph finally relaxed again. "Thank you. I'm going to need it."
To be continued…
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