Upon arriving at the Consulate, Charlotte was waiting for Clarisse at the top of the stairs... And that could only mean two things... Work or problems! With some bad luck, it could be both…
"Welcome, Your Majesty. I hope you rested and enjoyed your trip." Dear Charlotte. Three days of dealing with the Queen's unexcused absence and, still, she always had a welcoming smile on her face.
"Thank you, Charlotte. It was a wonderful three days. And how were everything here?
"Everything is fine here. Everything fantastic. Nothing to worry about, or at least not too much. I even think…" Clarisse put her hand on Charlotte's arm so she would stop talking.
"Charlotte? You're not very good at lying, dear."
"I know, Your Majesty…" Charlotte lowered her eyes. She adored the Queen and abhorred people who insisted on making Her Majesty's life a real hell.
"Tell me Charlotte… Or rather, let me guess… Parliament? The press? My mother?"
"You got them all, Your Majesty. I'm sorry."
"I thought so too. Is my mother here?"
"Yes, she is, Your Majesty. She's been here every day. I didn't know what to do and I thought I shouldn't disturb your rest. There are so few days when Your Majesty can be at peace."
"You are precious, Charlotte." Clarisse took a deep breath and momentarily closed her eyes. "Well, let's get started, shall we? Tell my mother I'll be waiting for her in my office in fifteen minutes."
"I will, Your Majesty."
Clarisse climbed the stairs that led to the private wing of the Consulate, wondering where Joseph was. And the little green-eyed monster started to make her imagine that he could be with Frederica . When she entered the office and closed the door, a hand covered her mouth while an arm grabbed her waist and pulled her.
"Shhh. It's me Clarisse!"
"Joseph! Don't you ever do that again." Clarisse freed herself from his arms as she desperately tried to control her breathing and panic. "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you and I wanted to steal a kiss from you." Joseph approached her and put his arms around her waist. "Aren't I entitled to a welcome kiss?" Clarisse smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips and let go of his arms again. Joseph looked at her, with a mixture of confusion and hurt.
"Joseph, we are at the Consulate. Someone could come in at any time. I can't take any chances."
"But we can be careful, Clarisse."
"This is not being careful, Joseph."
"I apologize. Probably yesterday I misunderstood… I seemed to hear you say that you loved me." Joseph walked away from Clarisse and went to the window.
"My feelings haven't changed since yesterday but you know my conditioning perfectly well. My question being… Do you accept them or not?"
Joseph was a hot-blooded man. A man used to being in charge and getting what he wanted. And he wanted Clarisse. He loved her! The problem is that Clarisse couldn't distance herself from the Queen. Joseph continued to look at the window, in silence. Clarisse approached him.
"I know perfectly well how I feel about you, Joseph. I know how much good your constant presence does to me, your wise and gentle words, the warmth of your hands, the passion of your kisses…" Joseph knew that she was almost leaning against him, he felt her breath on the back of his neck but he didn't move. He didn't turned around, afraid that he wouldn't be able to contain himself and would grab her in his arms and kiss her with all the passion he felt. "But I can't act on my feelings, Joseph. And I know that you want and deserve much more. And I can only give you this… Stolen moments. So I ask you to consider before answering me… This is just what I have to offer."
Joseph took a deep breath and turned towards her, standing inches from her face. With his fingers, he fixed the hair behind her ear and smiled. A sad smile but full of immeasurable love.
"I am the man in black… I am used to the shadow. And I will remain in the shadows until one day I am allowed to kiss you in broad daylight, without fear of anyone seeing us." And he kissed her softly on the lips. Clarisse put her arms around his waist and whispered against his lips: "I love you." Joseph hugged her tightly. He felt privileged to have the love of this extraordinary woman, who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and still had time for him!
C/J
When Charlotte announced Pamela's arrival to the Queen, she politely thanked her, leaving the young assistant, as well as Clarisse, astonished. Afterwards, she went to Clarisse and greeted her with two kisses on the cheek and a hug.
"How are you, Clarisse?"
Meanwhile, Frederica had asked one of the guards to tell Joseph that she wanted to speak to him without fail and that she was waiting for him in the garden. . Taking advantage of Clarisse and Pamela's conversation and wanting to resolve things with Frederica once and for all, Joseph went to see her. Frederica was sitting on a bench next to a fountain, opposite Clarisse's office. Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was a misunderstanding with the Queen. When Frederica saw him, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him on the lips. Despite being taken by surprise, Joseph grabbed her wrists and gently pulled her away. Frederica did her best to contain the fury she felt at his rejection.
"I missed you so much, baby."
"Frederica, we already talked about this. There is no need for us to do the same again. You have your life and I have mine."
"Joseph, can you at least explain to me what happened? We were so good together. We made love…"
"No. We certainly didn't make love. That night was a mistake and I apologize for that."
"I don't understand, my love. Was it something I did or said? Please make me understand. You know I'm completely in love with you and I thought you felt the same way about me. And suddenly, you leave my life... I don't know what to think. I am devastated. In addition to losing the love of my life, I also lost my best friend. My confidant, my advisor… Joseph, tell me what made you change. Please, I beg you." Frederica grabbed one of his hands and lowered her head. With her other hand, she pretended to wipe away her tears and suddenly letting go of him , she began to walk towards a garden bench, under a camellia tree. Joseph looked at her without knowing what to say. He had never handled women's tears very well. Especially from beautiful women. Mechanically, he followed her and indicated the bench to sit down. Frederica grabbed his hand again and Joseph didn't take it away. He sighed deeply and thought that, as a general rule, this was how the trouble he found himself in, began… A beautiful woman asking for his attention.
"Frederica… " She placed her fingers on his lips, stopping him from continuing to speak. He moved his head back a little and continued. "Frederica, I am not a man to have meaningless adventures. I confess that I felt flattered by all your attention. You are a beautiful woman and there certainly won't be many men capable of resisting you. But for me to get involved with someone, there has to be love. And I don't feel that way about you. Forgive me if I made you think there could be something more between us, than friendship. I was a fool and I ask you to forgive me." Frederica lowered her eyes and placed her forehead against his shoulder.
"But I miss you so much… I don't want to lose your friendship, Joseph. This is very important to me."
"You will have my friendship as long as you want it. But more than that, I can't give you."
"Then that's exactly what I accept, Joseph. You are very important to me, like no man has ever been. And I'll do anything to not lose you!" Frederica remained leaning against him, silent and Joseph didn't move either. It was an unusual situation and one that left him embarrassed. He didn't want to hurt Frederica but he had ABSOLUTELY NO intention of hurting Clarisse. Absolutely out of the question! And, if he wanted to carry out his intentions, the best thing was for him to get out of there. It would be hell to make Clarisse believe that he was sitting there with her sister, purely as a friend. And that a hug between friends was normal... And that a friend laying his head on our shoulder is normal... Oh God...
However, in Clarisse's office, the conversation was strange to say the least... Clarisse was torn. Did Pamela consider her completely stupid?
"Pamela…"
"For God's sake, Clarisse. Stop calling me Pamela. I am your mother, for all intents and purposes. Why do you insist on hurting me like that?"
Clarisse was stunned. This was sick. She ignored Pamela's question and, still with her eyes fixed on her 'mother', put down the cup of tea.
"Let me see if I understand… You intend to be at the Consulate throughout my stay here and, when I return to Genovia, you intend to spend time at the Palace… To meet my granddaughter and to strengthen ties… With me!"
"Exactly, darling. I can't explain why, but ever since you told me that I have a great-granddaughter, I haven't been able to think about anything else. And it made me see how much I regret not having followed your life. I was so blinded by the anger I felt at your father's betrayal..."
"Pamela, as you will certainly understand, I don't believe a single word of yours."
"I understand you Clarisse. If I were in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way. One of the reporters who interviewed me when I made the press statement…" Clarisse immediately looked at Pamela. All the alarms rang in her like a chime of bells.
"What do you mean? What press statement?"
Pamela tried to look mortified.
"Oh dear… Where did I have my head? Forgive me darling. I totally forgot to tell you. This morning, when your sister and I left the hotel to do some shopping, we were waited by a crowd of journalists. I don't know how they found out we were staying there…"
"I'm sure you don't." Clarisse said between her teeth.
"They bombarded us with questions about you. What were you doing in San Francisco, if it was true that the heir to the Throne lived here, if you were involved with your bodyguard, if you were going to abdicate the throne…" Clarisse perfectly understood the reference to Joseph in the middle of the supposed questions but she remained impassive as if she hadn't noticed it. "Until one of the journalists asked me if it was true that my relationship with you was bad… And I almost fainted. How can these people, who don't even know us, dare to make such serious insinuations?" Pamela said angrily. "Please don't be mad at me. I, without thinking about the consequences, replied that it was outrageous to make such insinuations. I told them that we had a wonderful relationship, that we were very close and that the proof of that was that you… you had invited us to stay with you in San Francisco and that, after returning to Genovia, we would stay at the Palace for a few months…" Clarisse took a deep breath. If she didn't calm down, this conversation was going to generate an argument of Biblical proportions and Clarisse couldn't afford to find Amelia, in a chaotic state of nerves.
"And what did you say about my granddaughter?"
"Well… I confirmed it, of course. It would be ridiculous to deny it, considering they already know she exists and is here, somewhere in San Francisco."
"I can not believe this…"
"Clarisse, what could I do? I was caught off guard…"
"Two words, Pamela… NO COMMENTS! Since I married Rupert you know the protocols. And this is really important! There are no statements to the press without first being approved by the Palace! Never! Whatever the circumstances! And you know that well, Pamela!"
"Stop calling me Pamela! I am your mother!"
"You are not! And as for staying at the Consulate, as I already said, this property is not mine and I will not invite anyone to stay here. I'm sorry but you will have to continue staying at the hotel. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a very busy afternoon."
Pamela got up, irritated at not being able to stay at the consulate but happy that Clarisse had not mentioned the Palace in Genovia.
"Of course, my dear. I'll wait for your sister in the living room. She is talking with Joseph."
This time Clarisse almost lost her composure. It was worth her many years of training as Queen, to be able to maintain the Royal pose and not reveal what was actually going through her head and heart.
"As you wish."
"Won't you want to talk to your sister?"
"You two arrived together. If she had the slightest intention of seeing me, she would have come here first and then gone to see her boyfriend. From now on, my time is completely occupied. Please, send her my regards and tell her I look forward to seeing her the next time she is at the Consulate." Give her my regards? She was referring to her sister and not a member of Parliament! But who did she want to fool? Joseph and Frederica together? It irritated her to the bone. Control yourself, Clarisse. Pamela got up and, with a charged expression, went to the door but stopped before opening it.
"I would like to meet my great-granddaughter…"
"I already told you that my granddaughter doesn't know about the existence of her paternal family. And I don't want her to be overwhelmed by all this. As soon as it is convenient, I will tell you."
Pamela nodded and left. "Arrogant and petulant!" Pamela thought, but the ends justify the means. Frederica deserved to be Queen and would be! It was just a matter of time. And with Arthur's help, everything will be easier. Pamela ran into the Butler and asked him to inform Frederica that she was waiting for her in the limousine. With long strides and livid with fury, Pamela got into the limousine, closed the partition so the driver couldn't hear the conversation and made a call...
"I didn't expect a call from you at this time of night, my dear. Did something happen?"
"Oh Arthur, I'm sorry. I totally forgot about the time difference, love. But actually, I really need to talk to you. You know how Clarisse upsets me."
"Calm down Pammy…"
"I love it when you call me Pammy! You make me feel young again!"
"My Pammy, youth is a state of mind. For me, you will always be young, darling. And you can't let your daughter stress you out. The time has come for her to pay for everything she did to her father, mother and sister! You have always been an extraordinary mother and the proof of that is in your youngest daughter. Your eldest daughter will certainly have taken after her father… But you have to calm down, Pammy. It's very important!"
"I wish you had come with me. Your presence calms me and gives me strength. I feel very alone here."
"I understand you and nothing would give me more pleasure than being there with you, precious, but my commitments were unchangeable!"
"I know but sometimes I think… that you are avoiding me…"
"Oh… How could you think such a thing? I am the ideal groom. I give you all the attention in the world, I spoil you, I adore you!"
"But you've already postponed our wedding date twice! And that makes me deeply insecure. I accepted a civil and private wedding, because of our plan, but I don't understand what's stopping you from getting on a plane, coming to me and we can get married here! That, in my opinion, was proof that you truly want to be with me!"
"If that's what you want, this time tomorrow, we'll be married!"
And, the next day, when Clarisse was getting ready to meet her granddaughter, Pamela and Arthur Mabrey got married...
