Okay, guys, here's the next chapter for you. Which, to be honest, I wasn't even sure I was going to post yet after feeling, due to my anxieties and a few other reasons, that my writing isn't really that good. But I want you to know that I work really hard on detail and what I write in each and every chapter, and I really do appreciate you who read and take the time to leave a review on my work. Like you wouldn't believe. Even when I believe it is utterly rubbish myself.
Reviews are, after all, important to a writer, and we absolutely love getting feedback from what we have written for you. So thank you so so much.
Now, here's the chapter for you. I hope you enjoy it…
After having a shower and getting ready to sit out by the pool, Clarisse walked slowly over to her husband lying on the bed and perched on the edge next to him with a smile. "Are you sleepy?" She asked while putting her hand out onto his bare chest and looked down at him.
"I am a little, but I'll get up in a minute and jump in the shower, that'll wake me up," he smiled up at her and rested his arm out across her lap, his hand going to the side of her thigh. "I was just waiting for you to get ready first."
"Ah okay," she smiled and patted his chest twice with her fingers, the palm of her hand remaining flat, "well the bathroom is now free and all yours."
"Gracias," he smiled, smoothing his hand up and down the side of her bare thigh. "You look beautiful, as always."
Smiling, she glanced down at the white lace kimono that she was wearing over her floral print swimsuit before looking back up at him. "Gracias."
"You're welcome," he smiled, caressing the side of her thigh. "It's actually really nice seeing you in something other than suits and formal wear."
"Yes it is, it's a pleasant change," she smiled, and looked a moment down at her hand resting on his chest, the tips of her fingers brushing lightly through his greying chest hair. "I think while you are in the shower, I'm going to give home a quick call. Make sure everything's okay and as it should be."
"Okay, I'm sure it is, though. We would have heard by now if it wasn't," Joseph said, watching as Clarisse slowly nodded before finally looking back up at him.
"I know, but I fear Mia won't call if something has happened. She will keep pushing on," Clarisse said, somewhat sadly. Suddenly, she felt guilty again that she had left her so soon, even though it was her granddaughter who had practically pushed her out of the door to come on honeymoon in the first place.
"Reminds me of someone else I know," Joseph said, and Clarisse smiled. Albeit a small one. "Go on, take my phone," he smiled, nodding his head towards his phone resting on the bedside table next to them, before sitting up on the bed. "I'm going to go jump in the shower while you do that, but tell everyone I said hello."
"I will," Clarisse smiled as she put one hand down on his thigh and her other hand up to cup his cheek while leaning in closer to kiss him. "Thank you," she said and pulled back.
"It's okay," he smiled, watching her pick up his phone from the bedside table before getting to her feet. "I won't be long."
"Okay, there's no rush," she smiled before turning to walk over to sit in the chair by the open balcony doors and started looking through his contacts. Wondering who would be the best person to call. Mia or perhaps Charlotte, in case her granddaughter was already occupied.
Smiling, Joseph moved to sit on the edge of the bed a moment, simply watching her walk slowly over to the table. His gaze fell lower, eyeing the beautiful curve of her bottom under her knee-length kimono as she turned and sat down in the chair. Sighing happily he got to his feet and made his way into the bathroom to have his shower while trying to recall a time when he had last seen her wearing a swimming costume, but aside from the bikini that she had worn the other night in the jacuzzi, he couldn't remember a time when she had.
Hearing the shower go on a moment later, Clarisse made her decision and pressed the call button before putting the phone to her ear. Waiting for them to answer as she turned her head to look out at the view through the open balcony doors.
"Hello Joe," Charlotte smiled as she answered the phone.
"No, it's not Joseph, it's Clarisse," Clarisse smiled.
"Oh goodness, I am so sorry," Charlotte exclaimed and put her free hand up to cover her eyes in embarrassment. "I should have thought that it might be you calling. I'm sorry again, Your Majesty."
"It's okay, honestly," Clarisse chuckled, "but Charlotte, what have I said about what you call me now. It's Clarisse, please."
"I know it is, but I think it's just going to take time to sink in. I'm sorry," Charlotte replied nervously, her hand still covering her eyes.
"I know it will, and it's okay. I was only teasing you," Clarisse chuckled once again. "Anyway, I was only calling to check in. Make sure everything is okay with Mia, but I didn't want to call her first just in case she was in a meeting or in session with parliament."
"Oh I understand," Charlotte nodded and finally lowered her hand from her face, "but no, she's not in a meeting, or parliament, at the moment. I've actually not long left her in her office doing paperwork, and her phone is actually on the desk next to her. So she should answer pretty quickly if you ring her."
"Perfect, I'll give her a ring in a minute then," Clarisse smiled, her gaze remaining on the beautiful world outside as she rested her elbow on the armrest of her chair and tucked her hand up under her chin while crossing her legs. "Thank you, Charlotte."
"You're welcome," Charlotte smiled. "How's the honeymoon? I hope you are both enjoying the relaxation and being stress free."
"Oh we are, of course," Clarisse smiled and nodded. "Are there any messages for me?"
"Yes there are actually," Charlotte nodded as she reached for them on her desk. "You have a couple from friends, and one from Alizée too."
"From Alizée?" Clarisse asked in surprise and looked over at the bathroom door. Her hand lowering from under her chin to rest down on her thigh.
"Yes, she rang yesterday," she said, holding her phone between her ear and shoulder while looking for the said message. "I explained to her that you were away on honeymoon for the next couple weeks."
"Okay, thank you, Charlotte," Clarisse said and looked back out the open balcony doors. Wondering why she had contacted her. "What did she say?"
"Well she said," Charlotte started, taking the phone back in her hand while holding the note in her other hand in front of her. "Can you please call her when you return from honeymoon as there's something that she needs to speak to you about."
"She needs to speak to me about something? Okay," Clarisse said quietly, a million thoughts racing through her mind as she rose to her feet. "Did she leave a contact number?"
"Yes, she did," Charlotte nodded while looking at the note in her hand.
"Okay, great," Clarisse replied as she stepped out onto the balcony and pushed up the door behind her before turning to look out at the view. "Can you please text it over to Joseph's phone for me, and I'll give her a quick call now. Make sure she's okay."
"Of course, I'll do that as soon as we get off the phone," Charlotte nodded to herself.
"Thank you, Charlotte," Clarisse said as she moved over to sit in one of the balcony chairs.
"That's okay, and if there's nothing else, I'll let you go now so you can give Mia and Alizée a call," Charlotte smiled, "enjoy the rest of your honeymoon."
"Oh we will, thank you, Charlotte," Clarisse smiled while leaning to one side in the chair and resting her arm on the armrest. "Goodbye."
"You're welcome, bye," Charlotte said and hung up.
Looking down at the phone in her hands, Clarisse searched for Mia's number and pressed the call button before putting the phone back up to her ear, and once again crossed her legs while waiting for her granddaughter to answer.
"Heey grandpa," Mia said happily as she answered her phone.
"No, it's grandma," Clarisse chuckled.
"Oh, heeey grandma," Mia laughed while putting her pen down at the side of her paperwork, sitting in front of her on the desk and slumping back in her chair. "What are you doing calling me?"
"I just wanted to give you a quick call to say hello and to make sure you were okay?" Clarisse said as she rested her free hand down on her thigh.
"I am okay and doing really really well here," Mia smiled, "uncle Pierre, Charlotte, Sebastian, and everyone else have all been a great support."
"That's good, I'm really pleased to hear that," Clarisse smiled as she stared out at the ocean, feeling relieved that she was okay and managing well after her earlier worries of having left her to soon.
"See, you were worried for nothing, weren't you grandma?" Mia smiled, knowing that her grandmother had, in fact, been worried that everything wasn't well back home.
"Yes, I was," Clarisse smiled, and Mia laughed.
"Soooo how's the honeymoon going? What's Puerto Rico like?" Mia asked with a cheery smile. Excited to hear a bit about their trip so far.
"It's going wonderfully here. It's lovely and hot, and quite relaxing," Clarisse replied and bit her bottom lip before continuing. "But I couldn't tell you what it's like as we haven't been out to explore yet."
"Ooh grandma," Mia giggled and shook her head ever so slightly, knowing exactly why they hadn't been out to explore. "You have been there how many days?"
"I know, but we've been… well we've been busy," Clarisse said and closed her eyes, the memory of the last few days and what they had got up too coming to the forefront of her mind. Making her whole body tingle at the mere thought of them making love every chance they got since they arrived.
"I bet you have," Mia smirked, and her grandmother laughed. "Well that's what honeymoons are all about, isn't it? Spending most of the time making love."
"Mia," Clarisse exclaimed and covered her eyes with her free hand as she laughed nervously. Feeling embarrassed.
"It's the truth," Mia now laughed. "But I am glad that you are having a great time, though, grandma. Because, like we said before, you both deserve it."
"Yes, thank you, sweetheart," Clarisse smiled. "We are having the best time."
"That's good," Mia said with a smile, trying her best not to laugh, "anyway, where is grandpa? Is he okay? Or, have you worn him out already."
"Amelia behave," Clarisse exclaimed and once again laughed.
"Sorry grandma," Mia laughed too. "All joking aside, is grandpa okay?"
"Yes, he's okay. He's just getting ready, and then we are going to go and sit out by the pool," Clarisse smiled and let out a contented sigh.
"Oh lovely," Mia smiled and looked over towards one of the windows in her office, "it's grey, miserable, and raining here."
"It's lovely and hot here," Clarisse smiled as she glanced around at the view. "And the view is breathtaking."
"Well I know that you haven't been able to do much, being otherwise engaged and all," Mia smirked, "but I hope once you do start to venture outside, that you will take plenty of pictures."
"Yes we will, of course. Well, Joseph will," Clarisse nodded.
"Good, I can't wait to see them. Now, you enjoy the hot weather, grandma, and I hope that you and grandpa enjoy the rest of your honeymoon too," Mia said wistfully. "I unfortunately have to go now, duty calls and all. You know what it's like."
"Okay sweetheart, we will enjoy it, of course," Clarisse said.
"I bet you will," Mia smirked teasingly and laughed, "I love you both."
"We love you too, and can you please let everyone know that we both say hello," Clarisse asked.
"Of course," Mia smiled, "goodbye grandma, speak again soon."
"We will, bye sweetheart," Clarisse said, lowering her hand with the phone in down in front of her and hung up.
Seeing that Charlotte had texted over the contact number for her sister, like she had asked her too, Clarisse opened the message and hesitated a moment. Wondering if she should actually call her or not. But staring out at the view a long moment, she decided to just go ahead and ring her. She needed to know that she was okay.
After dialling the number that was sent to her, Clarisse sat forward, resting her elbows down on her knees while putting the phone up to her ear. "Bonjour," Alizée said, answering the phone after only a few rings.
"Bonjour Alizée, c'est Clarisse ici." Clarisse replied.
"Oh Clarisse, hello," Alizée smiled happily, "this is a lovely surprise, I thought you were away on honeymoon?"
"I am, but I just checked in back home, to make sure that Amelia was doing okay without me, and Charlotte told me that you had left me a message asking to call you. So, I thought while I had a few free minutes that I would call you now." Clarisse said.
"It could have waited until you got home," Alizée laughed. "There wasn't any rush."
"I know, but I needed to make sure that you were okay," Clarisse said and briefly closed her eyes at the sound of her sisters french accent. Her voice. A sound she hadn't heard for such a long time, but upon hearing it now, she realised just how much she had missed it. How much she had missed her.
"Oh yes I'm okay," Alizée smiled. "I'm not sick or anything."
"Good, and what about Laurent and your darling children?" Clarisse asked. "Are they all okay?"
"Yes, we are all good here," Alizée nodded. "Nothing to worry about."
"That's good news," Clarisse smiled, feeling relieved that they were all okay, and sat back in her chair, resting back against the backrest and crossing her legs.
"But what about you? Are you well?" Alizée smiled. "Are you and Joseph both enjoying your honeymoon?"
"We are, yes," Clarisse said and took her bottom lip between her teeth, her tummy somersaulting at the mention of her husband.
"Good," Alizée nodded. "I am glad that you are finally happy, Rissie, especially after having to put duty before anything else for so long. And having to live in an unhappy marriage all those years."
"Oh I am, Alizée," Clarisse smiled contentedly and held up her free hand to admire her wedding ring a moment before putting her hand down to rest on her thigh. "I'm very happy. At last."
"I know you are, I can hear in your voice just how happy you are," Alizée said. "And all I can say is, it's about time."
"Thank you," Clarisse said sincerely and closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. "Oh, while I think of it, thank you so much for the lovely card and the beautiful flowers that you sent. They really were beautiful."
"You're welcome. Well, I wasn't sure what else to send you, but I knew I wouldn't go wrong with flowers." Alizée said, and they both laughed.
"Oh no, you can never go wrong with beautiful flowers," Clarisse smiled and sat up a little in her chair before asking. "I got to ask, Alizée, but what's going on? Charlotte said that you needed to speak to me about something?"
"Yes I do, but it's something that I'd rather not talk to you about over the phone, especially since you are on honeymoon. So it can wait," Alizée said.
"Is it to do with Esmée?" Clarisse asked. "Did you get a letter from her too?"
"I did, yes. I was very surprised actually, especially since I haven't heard from her since the two of you fell out," Alizée nodded, "but yes it is in regards to that, and I take it, from how calm you are, and because you haven't mentioned anything about it, that you haven't read your letter yet?"
"No I haven't yet, I did open it, though, just to see if it was from her, but I never actually read it. I was waiting until we returned home," Clarisse said.
"That was a wise decision to wait, especially with what she put in it," Alizée nodded.
"Is it that bad?" Clarisse asked.
"Well if she has wrote to you what she has wrote to me, which I suspect that she has, then yes and you made the right decision to wait to read it when you get home," Alizée said, "and because of what it entails I am going to wait to speak to you about it. So, when you get home, can I come and visit you for a few days?"
"Well yes you can. Of course, you are welcome anytime. But why can't you just tell me now?" Clarisse asked.
"Because of what it's about, you are on honeymoon, and I don't want to be the one to ruin that," Alizée said and listened as Clarisse took a deep breath.
"Alizée, please tell me what's going on?" Clarisse asked as she rested her elbow on the armrest of her chair and put her hand up onto her forehead.
"I can't, Rissie, not over the phone," Alizée said sombrely and shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"Is she... is she sick?" Clarisse found herself asking as she closed her eyes at the thought that there was something seriously wrong with her. Because even though she and her younger sister hadn't had any contact in the last ten years, she was still her sister. And she was going to worry about her.
"No, it's nothing like that. As far as I'm aware, she's perfectly well," Alizée answered, and she could have sworn that she heard her whisper 'thank god' under her breath. "To me, she's just being her usual self."
"Ah okay," Clarisse nodded and lowered her hand from her forehead, resting it back down on her thigh as she once again looked out at the view around her.
"So anyway listen, when do you return home?" Alizée asked.
"In eleven days," Clarisse said.
"Okay, so I'll make arrangements to come out and see you for a few days sometime in that following week. Would that be okay?" Alizée asked.
"Absolutely," Clarisse nodded. "It would be lovely to see you."
"Yes it will," Alizée smiled. "I'll bring Laurent with me, and the four of us could all go out to dinner somewhere while we are there."
"Yes, that will be lovely," Clarisse smiled.
"Good," Alizée smiled. "I know we don't get to see each other very often, sometimes going a couple years in between visits, but I do love you, you know, and I think of you all the time."
"The same to you, too," Clarisse replied and looked down at the balcony floor. "But that will all change now that I'm no longer Queen."
"That will be nice," Alizée said. "Now, I'm afraid that I have to go, but please don't think too much about the letter. Or what I need to talk to you about, okay. Just enjoy your honeymoon."
"Oh I will. She's not sick or dying, so I'm not even going to think about it now," Clarisse said. "There is no way that I'm going to let her ruin my honeymoon."
"Good for you," Alizée smiled. "Please tell that husband of yours that I said hello and I'll talk to you soon, alright."
"I will, and please pass on my love to your family." Clarisse smiled. "Goodbye."
"I will, of course, goodbye Rissie," Alizée said and hung up.
Taking a deep breath, Clarisse looked down at the phone in her hand a moment, then up at the view. Completely unaware that Joseph was now standing out on the balcony by the door. "Who were you talking to?" He asked, having caught the tail end of her conversation, and watched as she turned her head to look over at him.
Bonjour - Hello.
Bonjour Alizée, c'est Clarisse ici - Bonjour Alizée, it's Clarisse here.