Clarice

We were outside when her outburst began again. "So you think you have won don't you, but I haven't finished with you."

"I have spoken to the conveyancer, settlement is on Friday. I have arranged for the movers to begin moving furniture in on Saturday."

"You fucking bastard, we shall see about that. You could at least have given me time to find alternate accommodation."

"You have had at least two months to make arrangements to move out. You have until Friday".

She turned on Clarice. "You! I bet it was you that put him up to this just so that you can get your arse into our bed so that you can rub my nose in it, how you are better than me. Well I've got news for you sister, you'll never be better than me and sooner or later your wonderful James will see that and come to me begging for me to take him back!"

Clarice took my hand. "Take me away from this before I tell her exactly what I think."

"Good-bye Maureen, you have until Friday to move out."

As we walked back into the office Roger came to the door of his office and beckoned us in. "Well, how did it go?"

"I'm officially a free man."

"But not for long." Clarice said, hugging me.

"So I suppose that you'll be wanting some time off, will you?"

"Not straight away. I have movers coming in to move our stuff from Clarice's apartment so that we can place that on the market, then we'll probably have to go shopping for whatever else we'll need to make life comfortable, and then we'll think about tying the knot. We will want some time off for our honeymoon."

"Okay keep me updated. When you get back from your honeymoon and are able to focus on your work again, I want to have a word with you."

"What is this about?" I was curious.

"That will have to wait until you're back, both of you."

"That's strange, I wonder what this is all about." I said as we walked to my office. The other staff seemed to be in on our news going by the comments that we got along the way.

To say that we were horrified when we arrived at the house to prepare for our furniture would be an understatement. Maureen must have gone through at least a dozen cans of spray paint going by the graffiti on the walls. The signs were disgusting, mostly directed at Clarice and what was going to happen to her cunt, and that had nothing to do with my involvement, mostly that it would be infected by some insidious disease and rot off.

I quickly rang the movers and told them to hold off on the move. I then rang the police and reported the damage. "Do you know who might have done this?" The Constable asked as he took photos of the wall art.

"I suspect my ex-wife, she was not happy with the outcome of our divorce hearing."

"But for her to do this? If it was her, she needs help."

"We are aware of that, but we can't force her to get it. I don't want to tell you what to do, but there's a hardware store a couple of blocks away, if she bought the paint there they'll have a record of it."

"That's probably as good a place as any to start. Now how can we get in contact with you, I assume that you'll want to get painters into repair the damage."

"We were going to move in today, but that's out of the question. As soon as you give us the go ahead, we'll get the painters in."

"How did the move go?" Roger asked when we got to work on Monday.

"It didn't, Maureen trashed the place before she moved out. The police are investigating and then we'll have to get painters in to repair the damage. So, I guess that we'll have to postpone the wedding."

"Why?" Roger asked. "I know that you want to get married as quickly as possible, although why the rush, unless," He paused to look from Clarice to me.

"No, it's nothing like that, although we aren't going to wait too long, it hasn't happened yet."

"What I'm going to suggest is that you bring the wedding forward and the painters can do the work while you're away. If you leave your keys with me before you go off on your honeymoon I can arrange it all for you, consider it my wedding present to you."

"Why is he doing this?" I asked Clarice when we were back in the office.

"I don't know, although I get the impression that he wants to make sure that we are happy and will continue to work here. He thinks a lot of you, at least that's what I hear from Liz (his PA)."

Moving the date of the wedding wasn't a problem, it was only going to be a small affair, just immediate family and a few friends. The people at the reception venue was understanding, they were able to bring the date forward because they didn't have a booking on the new date. There was a small charge to cover the caterers and the guy making the wedding cake. Clarice's bridesmaid and my best man were able to fit in with the new arrangements so it was all go for the Saturday after next.

I don't know why I expected our wedding to go off without a hitch, it didn't. The first sign of trouble occurred as Clarice and her father were entering the church. From somewhere behind the people standing outside the church, most of whom had no connection with us, a balloon soared, glancing off the photographers arm as he lined up for a shot off the beautiful Clarice, it splattered against the wall of the church, leaving a large amount of bright red paint running down the stonework. Clarice stepped over to the photographer. "Get someone to call the police and tell them that the person that did this was Maureen Scott, my soon to be husband's ex-wife." She re-joined her father and entered the church as if nothing had happened.

I was in for a shock. Clarice had told me that her mother had to fly in from interstate where she has been looking after her grandmother who'd only just been released from hospital. She hadn't mentioned her father, just that he'd be there, and I didn't want to push the issue, but here he was, walking down the aisle with Clarice on his arm, none other than Roger, our boss.

"Later." Clarice whispered as she stood beside me.

"You're not wrong." I whispered in return.

It all became clearer when the father of the bride stood up to make his speech. "Clarice and I have waited for this day for years, and even up to a couple of months ago I wasn't sure that it would happen. I have a confession to make, when James first came to work for my company I saw in him someone with a great deal of potential, but I needed to be sure, so I placed a spy to observe and report. So that he didn't get suspicious she used her mother's maiden name. Then the spy, Clarice here, chose to fall madly in love with him and this told me that my instincts weren't wrong, that he was a man that I could groom to take over from me when I retire. But it wasn't all plain sailing, oh no, you see he had an impediment, a wife, just a minor problem, not. James had this sense of duty that I was looking for, but it meant that he wasn't going to abandon his wife, even though he had a very good reason to. For years he put up with her and I had to put up with Clarice sobbing on my shoulder that she loved him and wanted his wife dead. Then the great day arrived, a year ago he left her, finally, and a new man was born, a happy man, and dare I say it as his boss, a more productive man, and the person who was instrumental in that happiness was Clarice. They leave here as husband and wife for life with my blessing, and my relief. She's all yours mate, come back refreshed, we have a lot to discuss when you get back."

When it was my turn to speak, "I knew that this was going to be a special day, I was marrying the woman that I love beyond words, and who never ceases to surprise me and who, it turns out, has been a very naughty girl for keeping that little secret from me,"

"I have been a very naughty girl and I need to be punished." She said in a false stage whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear. (There was a mike close by). This brought Laughter from the guests.

"Clarice has been physically by my side for years, I just didn't realise the emotional bond until a year ago. She, since then, has shown me something that I was unaware of, true love and true happiness, and how to return that love and happiness. We discussed the need for this wedding, and while we both agreed that it wasn't necessary, everyone who knew us knew how much in love we were and how much we meant to each other, this wedding was mainly for our families, it is us telling them that we are committed to each other. Clarice, my darling," She stood next to me, "I will love you in all ways and always." We kissed to the cheers of those there, linked arms and drank the champagne.

Our honeymoon was so great that we forgot all about the mess that we had left behind. We had a small self-contained apartment right on the beach and within easy walk of a whole range of exotic eateries, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't eat too much, and kept it. Clarice had bought two bikinis with her, one that was almost decent to wear in public, and one that was positively indecent that she told me was for my eyes only. That she wore this for no more than five minutes at a time is a testament to its indecency. I had a pair of budgie smugglers (Speedos) that I wore in public and for a short time in private.

Our time was mainly spent walking along the beach, swimming in the surf. I resurrected my body surfing skills to the point that I didn't get dumped by trying to catch the wrong wave. Clarice proved to be a strong swimmer and quickly picked up body surfing. We enjoyed catching the same wave and riding it in to the beach.

Two weeks after the wedding Roger met us at the airport with our house keys in his hand and drove us to our new home. I don't know how much he had spent on the renovations, and the new furniture that was installed.

"I know that you intended to take your time and do much of this yourselves, but I have a very selfish motive for doing this, I don't want you being distracted with this when you get back to work," he looked at his watch and I though he was going to suggest that we drop our bags and go with him to the office, "On Monday. I'm off to the salt mines, 'til Monday." With that he left us.

I had to admit that whoever chose the furnishings had taste and practicality in mind, the king sized bed afforded us a great deal of room for our sexual endeavours.

Fit and tanned, we walked into the office on Monday morning and spent the whole morning with Roger while he mapped out our future, my long-term and Clarice's until she was forced by necessity to retire. I would work closely with Roger, learning the finer points of running the business and when Clarice had to stop I'd get a new, "Fat and ugly" Clarice said. PA.

I got a call from the police. "Mister Scott, your ex-wife has been before the Magistrate over the damage to your house and tossing that paint bomb at you wedding, she has been given a suspended sentence and released on a good behaviour bond, one of the conditions is that she seek treatment, and that she sees that treatment through until she has a psych evaluation and is given the all clear. Because she has been ordered to seek psych help in the past and has chosen not to see these through, if she breaches any of the conditions this time she will go to gaol for a minimum of twelve months. She also has to pay for the repairs to the church and that isn't going to come cheap, the building has a heritage listing and there are protocols attached to any work done on the building."

Six months after the wedding Clarice announced to Roger that she was three months pregnant, I had known for some time, and three months later, a week after Roger announced his retirement, Clarice finished work and was pleased that I inherited Liz, Roger's PA along with the job and office.

Looking back on my pre-Clarice life it was pretty awful, but since she has been a part of me, I couldn't have wished for a better life.