Veve: her Lawyer? really? hmmm maybe... LOL Who knows haha Thanks for commenting ;)

Honkytonangel: We will find out sooner or later who the Mystery Man is/was ;) Thank you for your comment :)

tengland2: Well all I can say is, Joe done it to his best friend, Clarisse. Who knows it may be Scott ;) we will find out soon I am sure ;) Thank you for your comment :)

Thanks to the people who took the time to read and to you who commented ;)

Happy New Year Everyone 3

...Continued.

Seeing some of the guests off, Clarisse started cleaning up the mess left from the party.

"Mom, leave that for the maids in the morning" Pierre smiled over at her

"yeah, come and enjoy yourself with us" Sofia smiled holding her hand out to her

"no it's alright darling" Clarisse said putting the bag down "I am going to go for a walk instead" she smiled and turned to walk out

"are you ok?" Sofia called after her

"of course" she called back and left the party room

"who'd wanna go for a walk at 3am?" Sofia smirked while looking back at Pierre and Greg

"beats me" Pierre laughed

They all carried on enjoying the party as Clarisse went for a walk.

As she sat on the bench in the gardens, Joe came over with a glass of wine for her.

"I thought you might like this?" he whispered as she looked up

"thank you" she smiled taking the glass as he sat down next to her "are they still enjoying themselves in there?" she asked looking at him

"of course" he nodded putting his arm along the back of the bench behind her "I must say, you threw a great party" he smiled as she looked at him "thanks for letting me come"

"you are welcome and thanks" she smiled "well we had to get you here seeing though Greg was going to propose"

"indeed" he nodded

"again you didn't mind me giving him your ring, did you?" she asked looking at him

"no of course not" he smiled "it was perfect" he said looking back at her "thank you"

"you're welcome" she nodded and sipped some of her wine

"I am glad we are alone though, I need to talk to you about something" he said moving a tiny bit closer to her

"oh" she said looking up into the darkness "whats that about?"

"what happened the other day?" he said as she quickly looked at him

"it should never of happened" she whispered "I had only just called it a day with you no who" she said frowning

"I don't regret it happened Clari, it was amazing" he whispered "it felt great holding you again" he said as she continued to look at him

"it shouldn't of happened Joe, it was wrong and I should never of let it happen" she said looking back out into the darkness

"oh come on, you can't sit there and tell me you didn't enjoy it" he whispered in her ear "we have been together many many times, I know when you enjoy it by now" he smiled against her ear then sat back "and you enjoyed it"

she quickly looked at him "Joseph, please"

"honestly Clari, I will never ever regret what happened that night" he whispered while looking into her eyes "and even that kiss earlier, there was a spark" he said watching as she bit her bottom lip "and now your now biting your lip" he laughed while turning in his seat and drank some of his drink

"you are mean" she whispered looking back at him "yes I enjoyed it and I admit it felt good you holding me again but Joseph that is as far as it goes"

"oh come on Clarisse" he said looking at her and lowered his head kissing her shoulder

"no" she said moving away from him

"Clari..." he whispered while moving closer and kissed her neck as she closed her eyes and bit her lip again "that's it" he smiled against her neck as she put her hand on his arm while he ran his hand up her thigh

"no no no" she said standing up pulling herself together "I can't let you do this to me again" she said starting to walk away

Joe jumped up and grabbed her arm pulling her back, holding her close to him.

"you want it too, I can feel it" he whispered against her ear

her heart starting to beat faster and faster as he kissed her neck again

"no...yes...no" she said looking up at him "oh I don't no" she signed in frustration and looked into his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her "I dream about you, even when he was making love to me I wished it was you" she sighed "this isn't right" she said looking down at her hand on his chest "how do I no if I gave you another chance you won't do what you did before?" she whispered while looking back up

"I did it once, and trust me it will never ever happen again" he whispered back "its you I want, I was stupid and I'm a fool for hurting you" he said not taking his eyes from her as she turned her head "Clarisse, please give me a another chance"

"Joseph, please don't do this, not now" she answered looking up into his eyes

he looked deep into her eyes "I would like to love you more" he said moving his hand up onto her neck "I love your hair, I love your eyes, I love the way you talk, the sound of your sweet voice, the way you move and walk" he nodded and carried on "I love how cute and adorable you are, I love how passionate you are, I loved the things we shared together, I loved the places we've been together" he smirked

She couldn't help but smirk "Joe..."

"please let me carry on" he answered and took her hand in his, kissing the back of it "I love the way you watch me when you think I don't notice, I love the way you sleep, the way you lay, the way you kiss me, the noise you make when you kiss me, I love how fantastic you feel in my arms" he smiled softly "the way you hold my hand, the way you cup my cheek, the way your body feels against mine" he lowered his head and whispered in her ear "I love the way you make love to me" he lifted his head and noticed she was blushing "I love the way you run your hands over my back, the way you grope me" they both giggled "the way your legs feel around me, I love your skin and how its so soft" he said looking into her eyes lovingly as she looked up at him "I love everything about you Clari and I was stupid enough to mess it all up" he whispered "oh and I love the way you write, the way you sit at your desk, the way you are in charge, I love it when your in a mood" he smirked "actually I find you sexy when your angry" he smiled as she giggled "I love you in that red dress and miss you in it too" he grinned "it would look great with those shoes Sofia got you" he smiled against her cheek "I love the way you dance, I love how you take my breath away"

She put her hand up, placing her finger on his lips "I think I get it" he raised his eyebrow "you basically love everything about me?"

"yes" he whispered against her finger "that's exactly it" he smiled as she lowered her hand "please Clari, I miss you, I miss us"

"I don't no Joseph" she said shaking her head a little, not taking her eyes from him "I just don't no"

"please" he whispered "I miss you so much, it hurts" he said as tears pricked his eyes

She stood studying his face for a few seconds.

"Mom" Sofia called out

"just a minute" she called back as Joe let her go "I need to go.."

"I know" he nodded "just remember I love you, and I always will" he placed a kiss on her cheek and watched as she started walking off, then came back and stood in front of him

"I'm sorry" she said putting her hands up, cupping his face "I don't no if I can put myself through that again" she watched as he nodded and she kissed him softly then stood back "I'm sorry" she said folding her arms as she headed back to the Palace

After trying for ages to get to sleep, she gave up and headed downstairs for some breakfast, knowing everyone will be still sleeping. But was surprised to find Charlotte sat in the breakfast room.

"your up early" she said walking over and got some breakfast and coffee

"could say the same about you" Charlotte answered while watching her "is everything ok?"

"um" she said walking over and sat at the table "I don't no" she shrugged

"well I am here if you ever want to talk, I know we work together, but you are my Mother in Law and a very good friend" Charlotte said looking at her

"thank you Charlotte, that means a lot" Clarisse smiled and started eating her breakfast

"you are welcome" she smiled and drank some of her tea then looked at her "Joe stayed late last night didn't he?" she asked as Clarisse looked at her

"yea, he wanted to talk to me" she said looking down at her plate for a second while resting her arms on the table "he actually begged me for another chance" she said looking up at her

"oh" Charlotte answered "what did you say?"

"I couldn't" she shook her head "he went through things that he loved about me and yes it broke my heart, then he started crying" she said looking at her with tears in her eyes "and I walked away" she whispered as she started to cry

"aww Clari" Charlotte jumped up and wrapped her arms around her shoulders

After a few minutes Pierre came in and took over from Charlotte, who walked out and left them to it, where Clarisse actually talked to Pierre and allowed him to be there.

"you no something" Pierre started as Clarisse wiped her eyes with a tissue "I think by next New Years Eve, you and Joe will be back together"

"oh that's nonsense" she said slumping back in her chair

"its not" he answered while looking at her "I saw how you was acting with him yesterday"

"what?" she said looking at him in surprise

"yes with the kids, how you was allowing yourself to get caught up with him" he smirked as she gasped "you have feelings there still and I know what he did was wrong but clearly you still love him" he watched her as she looked up at him "listen, put yourself first for once in your life and accept it Mom"

she shook her head "there is nothing to accept, there is no more me and Joe"

"yes because you keep telling yourself that" he watched as she stood up "let the wall down Mom and live again, please" he said as she stopped at the door and looked over at him "I know the girls will be very happy"

"and you? what about you?" she asked

"well..." he started "I hate him for what he's done, but I know how much he makes you happy and will get used to the idea of you two being together again"

"I can't" she answered and walked out leaving him sat there

He sighed and shook his head, knowing it was no good talking to her.

She headed back up to her suite to try and get some sleep before she over does it with the coffee, only when she walked into her bedroom she noticed Olivia was in her bed.

She slipped her dressing gown off and climbed in next to her.

"Mom" Olivia whispered while turning onto her back

"it's alright darling, go back to sleep" she said looking at her

"are you ok?" Olivia whispered while snuggling up to her

"I am now" she smiled and kissed the top of her head

"I love you" Olivia whispered

"I love you too" Clarisse whispered back and closed her eyes

A few hours later, Clarisse awoke to find Olivia gone. Noticing it was nearly 2pm she sat up in surprise, had a quick shower and got dressed.

When she was ready she headed downstairs and had a quick snack in the kitchen while talking to the maids. Afterwards she checked how everything was going for the dinner, then went for a walk up to Philippe's grave to do some thinking.

After Sofia was ready she headed to find Clarisse, realizing she hadn't seen her for a while. But couldn't find her, so she headed downstairs and into the living room where everyone else was.

"has any of you seen Mom?" she asked

"not for a while" Pierre answered

"actually, neither have I" Greg answered

"hmm" Sofia answered while looking at them "the dinner is about to be served and she's not even here"

"thats odd, seeing though she arranged it" Pierre answered while standing up "but I am sure she is fine" he walked over to her "so don't worry"

"I can't help it" she said looking at him then walked out

"just like Mom" Pierre chuckled and followed her

Just as he did, Clarisse came through the front door.

"thank you Paul" she smiled and turned to see Pierre and Sofia stood looking at her

"whose Paul?" Pierre asked

"the guard" she answered "he saw me walking home so gave me a lift" she smiled and started walking towards the stairs "I will be down in a few minutes"

"Ok" Pierre answered as they both stood and watched her walk up the stairs then he looked at Sofia "Paul, maybe?" he asked as Sofia gasped

"oh yeah... maybe" she answered and looked up the stairs then back at him

After a while she came back down, ready for the dinner to find everyone sat in the dining room waiting.

"sorry I am late" she smiled walking over to her seat and sat at the head of the table "I went for a walk and completely lost track of time"

"thats ok" Pierre smirked down at her

"now I am very hungry, so lets get this dinner under way, shall we?" Clarisse smiled and sipped her drink

After dinner, everyone mingled a bit and Clarisse sat talking to Hannah and Peter for a while, then disappeared up to her suite.

She sat reading for a bit while thinking, then started writing out a letter. Finishing it a couple hours later, she sealed it in an envelope and popped it into her drawer, then settled down for the night.

ooOoo

Not my best part I know, but I am excited to get the next one underway. Who knows what may happen in it ;)