21/01/02
I cannot begin to express the joy I'm feeling right now.
Clarisse has agreed to come on vacation with me after a long year of my begging her to take some time off. As far as anyone knows, she's taking a one week long trip to Fiji to rest and relax on the hot sand of the beaches, far, far away from Genovia and away from work. No work means no Charlotte, which means it will be just her majesty and myself. The reason everyone thinks I am going with her is because she needs protection, even in a country that's never even heard of Genovia – how many people have? As her protector I must take refuge in a room inside her hotel suite, but I don't actually plan on spending much time in it at all, because I'd prefer to take the opportunity of sleeping in the same room as Clarisse without people standing outside the door becoming suspicious.
Clarisse is under the impression I asked her to come away with me because I wanted some alone time with her, which is the truth, but not the whole truth. The reason I asked is because, unbeknownst to her, I am going to make her my fiancée. For far too long I have been putting it off and now I found the perfect opportunity to ask. I can picture it now, a Fijian sunset, gourmet dinner on the terrace, desert, dancing closely, then I hand her the ring, she says yes and after five long nights of love-making, we return to Genovia and announce our engagement. I'm quite confident she'll accept my proposal because we spend practically all of our free time together, we more often than not share a bed, she always seems happy to see me and I her, we haven't fought or argued for almost three months – the last fight we had was of course her fault, because she refused to come to my private birthday dinner at my son's house. Long story short, she made up for it by throwing a ball for me at the palace and dancing with only me all night. It was great and it made me think she might finally want to go public, which I will soon find out if true or not.
02/02/02
Scary date, 02/02/02 – all the same number!
Clarisse still has no idea what I'm planning for this holiday, I on the other hand have been growing more and more excited every day. Once again I am 30,000feet up in the air with my lovely girlfriend sitting across from me, I'm trying as usual to draw her face and as usual am having no luck in perfecting her features, so I'm just going to give up now and read some of the magazines she's brought along.
I believe this flight is going to go on for quite some time, Fiji is exactly on the opposite side of the world from Genovia – the furthest place away possible, apart from New Zealand. Yes I think we're in for a loooong flight indeed, at least 24 hours I'd say. That gives us plenty of time to…talk or whatever.
04/02/02
Okay, we just landed a few hours ago and I am dead tired, as we were in the air for about 26 hours altogether I think. Clarisse slept against my shoulder for most of the time, while I sat there either watching her or reading the woman's magazines she brought along, which are disguised as real books. I scored a pleasing 92 percent on the quiz, "How much do you love your partner?"
Those things always make me smile.
I also read more about "how to please your man" and "how to tell him it's not your first time". Useless to me since I'm not gay, why Clarisse is reading it I have no idea, she probably just wants a good laugh.
When we arrived at the hotel two hours after we flew into the country, Clarisse almost fell asleep from exhaustion. She practically collapsed in the lobby, so I (tired as I was) had to hold onto her as she walked. Nobody recognised who she was which was a good thing, people just think we're a couple honeymooning together, I believe. It's not surprising they don't know her because they barely speak the same language here.
Our date is scheduled for the night after tomorrow, I've taken a look around town and decided that it's going to start off with the two of us dining together at a public restaurant, then dancing at a little club I saw on the way to the hotel, then a stroll along the beach where I propose and she accepts. After that who knows what will happen? We may go back to the hotel, we may spend the night on the beach…oh the possibilities.
05/02/02
Well I'm all rested now, refreshed and healthy. The chairs on the jet, although quite comfortable, are nothing compared to the luxury of a king sized bed and a woman for whom the word beauty was made. Instead of sleeping in my designated room, I of course slept with her majesty. If I had a pebble for every time we've slept in the same bed over the years and not made love, I would have one very long driveway. I can still count on one hand the amount of times Clarisse and I have actually made love, which I think is a good thing because it shows we're not just after each other's bodies.
Clarisse and I ate dinner in 'our' suite tonight and I sat there the whole time staring into her eyes dreamily, thinking, 'at this time tomorrow night you'll be my fiancée!'
She still doesn't expect a thing.
06/02/02
All is well…all went well…what I mean to say is I'm engaged!
This afternoon at about 4pm I asked Clarisse to start getting herself ready, as I knew it would take a little over two hours, so I anxiously waited outside the bathroom rearranging my jacket, figuring which was the best pocket to place the ring in and hoping to god she didn't come out wearing green or dark blue.
As I nervously stood outside the door twiddling my fingers, the clock struck 6pm and I watched eagerly as the door to the bathroom slowly opened and Clarisse walked out wearing the most beautiful dress I have ever seen her in. It was pink, which was a good thing because that meant she was in a very good mood, it was long, which meant she was in a very, very good mood and it was a low-cut V-neck, which meant she was expecting something later on. Come to think of it, it was kind of like the one she wore the night we first danced together, the night her breasts were larger than normal, the night I realised I was in love with her. It wasn't what I was expecting her to wear, something red or black would have been more appropriate for dining and dancing, pink is what one would wear to a ball. Damn those women's magazines, they've warped my mind! I'm a fashion critic!
Nevertheless, Clarisse looked beautiful, more beautiful than ever.
After commenting on the gown I kissed her on the lips and linked my arm in hers to escort her to the car (I took the liberty of hiring one yesterday). It's a very nice looking automobile – silver coloured, smoothed edges…I don't know very much about cars, except how to drive them, but this one was really nice.
I helped Clarisse into the front seat, drove her down to the restaurant, seated her at the table and ordered from the menu. Over dinner, we talked about various things, family, friends, relationships, us…a quite enlightening conversation, as she informed me she only realised she had true feelings for me a few weeks before she told me she loved me. Pfft…I realised a few DECADES before that!
To go with our dinner I asked for their finest bottle of red wine, which tasted quite nice considering I'm not the biggest fan of wine. Clarisse must have loved it because she drank three whole glasses, I only had one because I was driving. After dinner I helped her walk down the street to the club, but they were playing music Clarisse didn't approve of, so it was back to the car and straight to the beach. I started getting nervous as we walked hand in hand past all the people who were "moon-baking" on the sand, because they were all young people and Clarisse and I are old…I mean older, she'd kill me if I said old. For that time of night it was awfully crowded, people were everywhere! The most common were young couples feeling each other up underneath their picnic blankets. I made a mental note to prepare a blanket for the next time I'm planning a romantic evening.
After walking for a whole mile or so, I noticed Clarisse was stumbling, which I assume was the wine's fault and also mine for allowing her to bring the bottle along. Eventually we reached a more secluded area where I noticed there were three separate lumps under three separate blankets and they were all moving.
I wasn't sure how much beach there was left, so I pondered sitting her down there, but after observing the moving blankets a bit more, I decided it probably wasn't the ideal place to propose to a woman, especially since she said, "Joseph, is this the reason we're here?"
I replied with, "My darling, I can assure you I wasn't aware of the beach becoming a brothel after sunset."
She giggled slightly and took my arm as an indication she was ready to keep going. Walking further and further down the beach, we finally found a quiet, non-occupied spot. That's where I sat with her and made my already prepared speech:
"My dear, sweet, darling Clarisse," I read, "ever since I laid eyes on you I've felt a burning passion. You are the most beautiful, the most intelligent and the most strangest person I have ever met. I have (on and off) been in love with you for almost thirty years counting. We may have had our ups and downs, but I think we have something really special together."
She nodded for me to continue, I pulled the small box out of my right pocket and placed it gently in her hands, "What's this?"
I held my hands over it and spoke slowly, "Clarisse, will you do me the honour of becoming Mrs. Joseph Alexander II?"
I slowly lifted the lid of the box, which caused her to throw her hand over her mouth and stare in shock, "Oh Joseph."
I smiled and brought her hand to my lips, "I would kneel, but-"
"You want me to marry you?"
"I have for many years now."
She took a very long sip from the wine bottle and stared at the five-diamonded gold band, "Well I don't know what to say."
"Say yes."
She shook her shoulders, unintentionally swayed a bit and nodded, "On a night like this, how could I say no?"
I took that as a yes and threw my arms around her, happiness flooded through my veins and I felt like leaping around in the sand. I didn't though, instead I released her, removed the large rock from her finger, tossed it away and slipped on the ring I bought for her two or so years ago. I don't know where her former ring is now, I assume it's still lying in the sand on the beach, soaking up the moon rays. Bon Voyage, Rupert.
After she accepted my proposal we danced closely together as I sort of sung/hummed 'Once upon a dream'. Her head rested on my shoulder as we held each other tight and swayed around in circles. Later I noticed she seemed tired and even later than that I noticed she had fallen asleep on my shoulder. The next thing I noticed was the empty wine bottle, she had drunk it all by herself and passed out without me even noticing.
Even though it hurt my knees severely, I managed to carry/drag her all the way back to the car. We went past all the moving lumps under the blankets and all the young couples groping each other until finally we reached the parking lot. I had to restore some energy to my body before driving, so I took a powernap for fifteen minutes and I was ready to go.
It was a hard task to get Clarisse back up to the hotel room, but since she's paying six hundred dollars a night for the room, two concierges carried her up for me. They laid her down on the bed and left, leaving me to admire her beauty and kiss her goodnight, that is after removing her dress and pulling the covers over her. It's at that point I decided to write my journal, so here I am sitting as happy as can be, grateful she's agreed to marry me, unable to wait until we get back to Genovia. I'm going to be a Prince Consort! But most importantly, I'm going to be married to the love of my life.
07/02/02
Oh god.
I knew it was too good to be true.
Our engagement I'm talking about.
When I woke up this morning, I smiled to myself and buried my face in Clarisse's hair, causing her to stir and wake up, causing her to take in her surroundings, causing her to notice the ring on her finger, causing her to wonder, "I don't remember going to a vending machine. Where has my ring gone?"
I lowered my eyebrows suspiciously, "That is your ring!"
She fiddled with it trying to get it off, but it already seemed attached to her, "This isn't my ring, what are you talking about?"
"That is your ring, I gave it to you last night."
Finally it came off and she threw it against the wall, "That's not my wedding ring, it's one of those cheap plastic cheap twenty cent ones from the gumball machine!"
I couldn't believe she said that, I paid so much more than twenty cents for it! Sooo much more, "Clarisse, what's wrong with you?"
She got out of bed and started lifting up pillows, "What's wrong with me? My wedding ring is missing, I have a naked finger and I have a terrible headache, that's what's wrong!"
Her search led her to the bathroom, "Where is it!"
I ran my hand over my face and pulled the covers off, climbing out of bed and slowly walking towards her, "Clarisse, it's not here."
"What? What do you mean it's not here? Where is it?"
"You left it on the beach."
"Why would I do something like that?"
I stared at her in utter shock, "Because you don't need it anymore."
"Yes I do!"
"Do you not remember last night?"
Her hands were on her hips, "Of course I do, we had dinner and came straight back here."
"If that's what you think, then I'd say we have different opinions on what happened."
"Why, what's your version?"
"We ate dinner, we went to the beach, I proposed marriage, you accepted, you passed out, I brought you back here."
She blushed in a sad way and put her hands on her face, "I thought that was a dream!"
"I can assure you it was one hundred percent real."
"Oh…"
She dropped to the floor and put her face in her hands, "Joseph, I don't mean to hurt you, but I was drunk. I didn't know what was going on."
"What so you've changed your mind?"
Her eyes fixated themselves on mine, "I'm so sorry…but if it's any consolation I had a wonderful evening."
I felt so hurt by her at that moment, "Why?" I asked.
She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
"You don't want to be my wife. Why?"
"Because…"
"That's not an answer."
Slowly she made her way over to me and in one movement, took my hands and sat me on the bed, "Joseph, I can't marry you."
"Why not? Nothing's stopping you, you're not married."
"Joseph, I'm the queen, we forget that far too often."
"Are queens not allowed to marry?"
"Not the busy ones."
"Busy?"
"I spend so much time working, I wouldn't have any time for you. We'd just drift apart and I don't want to lose you."
"That's a bullshit reason and you know it."
"Trust me, it happened with Rupert. I used to get so annoyed when he didn't spend time with me, I often had to tie him to the bed just so I could ask him how his day was. I don't want that to happen to us. Also," she lowered her head, "I have a duty. As queen it's my duty to put work before love."
"Funny how only in situations such as this you remember you're queen."
"Joseph."
"Look I'm sorry I asked, I wouldn't want my feelings for you to interfere with your work."
I grabbed my trousers from the chair I draped them over last night and stormed off to my room with her tailing after me.
"Joseph, wait!"
She grabbed my arm and looked into my eyes, "I didn't say I never wanted to marry you."
"What, so maybe later on…"
"Maybe."
"Maybe? Great, and when you refuse again I'm left to wonder what could have been if only I hadn't waited."
"I can't please everyone, you know."
She left after that, probably expecting me to chase after her, but I didn't. I stayed where I was and punched the pillow in frustration. I find it implausible that she was so drunk that she couldn't remember saying yes to me. Perhaps she just said it because she didn't want to spoil the moment and then the next morning she decides to lie by saying she "forgot" just so she could save her reputation from being ruined by someone like me.
08/02/02
This morning when I woke up to check on Clarisse, I couldn't find her. I checked the whole suite, but she wasn't there, so I phoned the manager and he said he saw her getting into a limousine earlier. I took a wild guess as to where she was and after a ten minute drive down to the beach, I found out I was right. I walked all the way to the place we sat last night and spotted her crawling around on the ground in search of something, "What are you doing?"
Her voice sounded squeaky and upset, "I'm looking for my ring, I can't find it."
I must admit I'd never seen her in that position before, crawling around in the sand digging for gold. It wasn't something a queen was supposed to do.
Eventually tears started to stream down her face, but I remained where I was – it wouldn't have done me any good to get down on my bad knees and crawl about looking for something I'm glad to be rid of. The ring was not found, she spent two hours looking for it and eventually broke down and buried her head in the sand. For some reason I felt no sympathy, I didn't feel like reassuring her, nor did I feel like taking her in my arms, I just asked her when she wanted to leave.
Ever since we got back from the beach she's been quiet, she hasn't spoken, she hasn't eaten, she hasn't even picked up a magazine. She just sits in the chair by the window, smoking of course, and staring out at the beach, while I watch her from the couch thinking, "It's just a ring from your dead husband, get over it!"
I hate it when she gets into these moods, it's quite annoying because I get frustrated when she doesn't answer me or make eye contact. Well, if she's still like this tomorrow, I think I'll make myself scarce.
09/02/02
I seem to have spotted Clarisse's ring at one of the stalls in the market, I was just walking past looking for souvenirs to purchase and I spotted it in all its shining glory. Clarisse would have a fit if she saw how it was being presented – hanging from a bar held by a piece of string. I stopped my searching to stare at the ring that seems to be forbidding Clarisse from marrying me, and I thought for a moment about buying it back for her. Instead I decided to question the man, "Where did you get this?"
I pointed at the dangling ring and he replied, "You buy, tweny-fi, you buy?"
I cleared my throat and spoke clearer this time, "Where did you get this?"
"Tweny-fi?"
"I asked you where you got this."
"I find him, tweny-fi?"
"Where? On the beach?"
"Ya, on beach, I find him, tweny-fi?"
Deciding to leave the ring where it was, I continued my search around the marketplace. I find it amusing how that man was selling her ring for twenty-five dollars, seeing as though I believe it is worth at least one thousand times more, but he obviously doesn't know that.
This ring is haunting me now, I can't help but wonder if I should go and get it or not, or at least tell her where it is. On one hand it would make her happy, on the other hand it would probably lower my chances of ever getting her to fully commit herself to me. I don't understand why she's so attached to that damn ring, or to him, she wouldn't stay faithful during her marriage, but as soon as he dies it's all about "honour". I am so angry, mainly because the smell of Clarisse's cigarettes has leaked into my room indefinitely, but also because she's been doing nothing but sulking. It's a ring! JUST A RING!
11/02/02
Because of my growing frustration last night, I went downstairs to the bar and met someone.
As I walked up and placed my money on the counter, an already seated man tapped me on the shoulder. That man was Dale, my former arch-nemesis. Surprisingly he said hello and asked me to take the seat next to him, which I did with great caution. Forgiveness was what he wanted, he told me he'd been a prick and he was truly sorry, I accepted his apology and we had some drinks together. He told me of his family, I told him of mine, he told me he's here on his silver wedding anniversary and not thoroughly enjoying himself because his daughter is on the verge of dying from cancer. He's quite upset about it, he said it really makes you think about how precious life is. We talked for a while and he told me he owns a farm where they breed dogs and he said that to apologise for everything he's ever done to me he would give me one. Like that's going to make up for months of torture, oh well, his heart is in the right place - I think if we spend some time together we could become…friends?
Somewhere while he was talking I got lost in thoughts about Clarisse, how one day she'll be gone, as will I. It scares me, it really does. It makes me think I should reconcile with her instead of ignoring her, it makes me think that every moment together could be our last and I don't want to be angry with her in-case one of us does happen to die suddenly. Of course the chances of that happening are very slim, but you never know.
After five drinks and a coffee, I said goodbye to Dale and promised to meet up with him soon at his farm in Genovia. I feel somewhat happy that we met up, I'm more relaxed now and it really took my mind off Clarisse.
As I stumbled all the way back upstairs, because of the effects of the alcohol, I almost forgot what room I was supposed to go into. Luckily I fell over in front of our door when Clarisse was receiving her dinner from the room service man. She was staring at me with a disgraced look on her face, yet she didn't speak – she just took a drag from her cigarette and sat over at the table. After I managed to get myself up from the floor I joined her and watched as she ate her dinner making no eye-contact with me whatsoever. Eventually she took the cigarette away from her mouth long enough to ask me where I'd been, "Joseph, where have you been?"
"Out."
That's it, that was all that was said until we finished eating half an hour later, "Joseph I afraid I must inform you that I'm not leaving this island until I get my ring back, go and find it!"
I didn't like the tone she used with me, it was so demanding and cold.
"I did find it, some guy was selling it at the market."
Her eyes lit up, "And you got it?"
"No I didn't."
"What!"
She sounded angry, "You found it and you didn't bring it back to me?"
"No, it was out of my price range, I won't pay more than twenty cents for a ring remember?"
"Joseph…I need that ring."
"You don't."
"It's the only thing I have left to remind me of Rupert."
"Is that as well as, or apart from the palace, the paintings, the photos and his child. You remember your son, Pierre, don't you?"
She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, "Oh I understand now, you're jealous! Jealous of Rupert!"
"I am jealous of him, you didn't love him, yet you accepted his proposal the first time he asked. When I, someone who's loved you from the beginning, asks for your hand in marriage, you say no. So yes, Clarisse, I am jealous."
Her mouth opened to say something, but no words came out, all she could do was stand there, crossing her arms while I slid out of my chair and made a dramatic exit to my bedroom and fell asleep.
When I woke up a few minutes ago, I wasn't quite sure if we'd had that fight or not, usually when I get drunk I remember things quite well, but this I wasn't sure of. That is until I opened my eyes and watched as Clarisse quietly left my room, she must have been in here all night because from what I remember she was wearing the same clothes she was wearing last night.
Still 11/02/02
After lying in bed for half the day, I decided to make Clarisse's apparent depression disappear by going down to the market and buying her ring back from the man, but when I got there the man said he had just sold it. He pointed to a woman, so I followed her and watched as she walked into the public toilet – and that's all I watched until she came back out, I feel I must mention. When she did come out I said, "Hello, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I couldn't help but notice you bought a ring from that gentleman over there."
She looked me up and down a bit and replied, "What's it to you?"
"I was just wondering if I could see it."
"Oh no, no way. I've heard about people like you, I show you the ring and you make off with it as well as my handbag."
"Oh no, no, no, I'm not that sort of person I can assure you."
"How do I know that? I don't know you."
I decided trying to reason with the woman was a futile cause, so I dug out my wallet, "Here, I will give you twenty dollars if you show it to me and another twenty if it's the one I'm looking for."
"So I got something you want?"
"Not exactly, it's something that belonged to, or should I say belongs to my…boss. She misses it terribly and-"
"Alright, I'll show it to you."
"Thankyou."
"Fifty bucks."
"What!"
"You wanna see it or not?"
I thought for a moment, this woman was some sort of con-artist, "Fifty dollars? Forget it!"
My wallet went back in my pocket momentarily while I waited for her to reconsider, but she didn't, she just shook her shoulders and turned away, "Oh well, you don't wanna see it-"
I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, "Fifty it is."
She searched through her purse and I held out the note, "Here."
Snatching the money from my hand, she pulled out the ring and I observed it, "That's not it, sorry to bother you."
I turned to leave, but she caught my arm, "Hey, that's not the only one I bought."
"It isn't?"
Three more rings came out of the bag, one was somewhat familiar, "That's it! That's the one!"
My hand went back in my pocket, "Here, here's the twenty dollars I promised you-"
"Uh-uh, oh no. You give me a thousand dollars and I'll give it to you."
I was shocked, this was a very opportunistic woman, "A thousand dollars? One thousand dollars? You've got to be kidding me."
She looked at her watch and tapped her foot, "Do you want it or not?"
I subconsciously shook my head, "Yes!"
"Then gimme the money."
I reluctantly handed it over and took the ring from her hand, "Nice doing business with you, mister."
That was the low point of my day, being cheated by a woman…and not just any woman, she was a woman wearing a wide-opened blouse and a mini-skirt.
The high point of my day was when I got back to the hotel and dangled it on the end of a piece of string in front of Clarisse's face. She almost sucked up her cigarette and swallowed it when she saw her prized possession, "Oh my god!"
She put it immediately on her finger and turned around to hug me, "Thankyou so much, I'll never take it off ever again."
The words echoed through my mind, "Never take it off ever again, never take it off again, never…again."
Shaking my head in attempts to bring myself back to reality, I took the opportunity to smell her hair and instantly wished I hadn't, the last time she washed it was four days ago and she's been smoking non stop since then, and I'm sure not just cigarettes.
Anyway, the point of the story is that she's happy again, so no more complaining about her god-damned ring which I paid one thousand and fifty dollars for, no more asking me to buy cigarettes for her in the middle of the night, which by the way I absolutely refused to do. Life is just perfect. Per-diddly-erfect, oh except for one thing, this trip was a waste of time and money! And I don't think I'm "with" Clarisse anymore, another bad thing…is there an upside to this vacation? Hmm…only that we're leaving tomorrow…
A/N: Okay, I know I was going to go onto the second movie in this chap, but I decided not to cos I honestly think he would have asked her sooner and not just once. This took me like 5 days to write cos I kept either getting distracted, or I'd lose interest. Sorry for the slow update, last time I updated, my computer blew up the morning after and I had to get a new case n stuff, but yeah, to make up for it, this chapter is fricken long! And thankyou to all reviewers, I agree my story is better with them being out of character.
Lastly…OMG! It snowed today! (We haven't had any snow for fifty years). Of course it snowed everywhere BUT my suburb, which was a downer because I've never seen snow before, but I'm okay with it now.