Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 42

Sophia blinked.

“What are you doing there, waiting, of course you’re welcome here,” she said, trying to be thoughtful despite the pain she was going through.

The door swung open before shutting moments later.

Clarisse headed for the ottoman in Sophia’s quarter’s.

Her visit definitely wasn’t accounted for, and seeing as Clarisse was the main reason Sophia had drunk in the first place.

Whilst Sophia wanted to ask Clarisse why she was here, she decided not to.

“Clarisse,” Sophia greeted with a subtle nod.

Clarisse smiled warmly.

“Sophie,” she greeted in return.

Sophia muttered, ‘Screw not asking her.’

“So, uh, what brings you here?” Sophia asked curiously.

Clarisse chuckled.

“Well, when I heard you had gotten drunk and was suffering a hangover, I just had to come,” Clarisse joked.

Sophia nodded slowly, adding sarcastically, “So no one told you I woke up in Nicholas’ bed, half-naked. Amazing to know, truly.”

Clarisse’s eyes widened. All residual anger she held for Sophia melted away.

“Come again?” She asked.

She’d ghosted her for one day and this’d happened.

“You woke up in hotstuff’s room?” Clarisse asked.

Sophia shut her eyes, “Do not call him that.”

“He is not hot,” she blatantly lied.

Clarisse mumbled something before saying, “Sure.”

She then asked, “But, did that really happen?”

“Have you ever known me to lie?” Sophia asked, raising a brow.

“Fair point.”

“So, how’d you end up there anyway?” Clarisse asked.

Sophia shrugged, “Nicholas brought me back to the palace.”

“Whilst I was drunk,” she added. Despite the fact it was obvious, she just felt she needed to get it out there.

“And the tattered dress?” Clarisse asked.

Sophia groaned.

“Who are you getting all this news from?” She demanded.

She quickly went silent once she realized there was well a chance Emilia had discovered this news as well.

“So as long Emilia doesn’t know about this, it’ll be fine,” she hoped.

“Julia as well,” Clarisse added helpfully.

Sophia nodded. “Right.”

There was a huge elephant in the room that no one desired to speak of, but they seemed to be getting along just fine so they decided to put it off for now. Even though they were delaying the inevitable.

“So… from experience sake, what’s getting drunk like?” Clarisse asked.

Sophia laughed, which caused her body to ache in pain.

She hid the pain with a cool poker face.

“Just a word of advice, if you’re thinking of drinking one too many alcoholic beverages and intend to get drunk, don’t,” Sophia warned.

She joked with her sense of dark humour, “Or you’ll end up like me and wake up on a prince who’s practically a stranger’s bed.”

Clarisse – thankfully – snorted in return.

Visibly amused, she said dryly, “Duly noted.”

As she and Clarisse talked, Sophia began feeling nauseous.

She’d decided not to say anything, since, apart from every other time she’d gladly make everything about herself, she thought worrying Clarisse wasn’t needed unless necessary. Besides, it was all just a hangover. It’d be gone by tomorrow at the latest.

But, being the friend Clarisse was, she quickly noticed Sophia had been uneasy ever since she’d come. She automatically assumed it had something to do with her and her intrusive questions when really, it was her hangover symptoms acting up.

“I’m not pestering you, am I?” Clarisse asked concernedly, her brows furrowed.

Sophia shook her head.

“Not at all,” she admitted.

“It’s this hangover that’s pestering me,” she said next, letting Clarisse into what was actually causing her discomfort the entire time.

She was mostly an extrovert, and although she did enjoy peace and quiet every once in a while, Sophia was never one to appreciate being left fully alone. After all, she’d suffered from abandonment issues from the past which she hadn’t really gotten over yet.

Clarisse pursed her lips.

“Ah,” she said in realization.

She discerned the best thing she could currently do was to leave to give her some time to rest.

“I should leave, shouldn’t I.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Sophia said reluctantly.

“I truly don’t mind you being here, you’re not a bother,” Sophia admitted truthfully.

Clarisse beamed.

“That’s sweet of you but it really is best if I leave,” Clarisse said, underestimating her shortcomings.

Sophia opened her mouth, wanting to protest, but it was overdue. Clarisse had her hand on the handle as she was just about to leave.

“Claire, hold on,” Sophia stopped Clarisse, bringing her to a halt.

“There’s something I haven’t told you yet,” Sophia managed to tell Clarisse.

It was now or never.

It was now she’d tell what she’d been needing to say or never saying it at all.

“Listen, Claire,” Sophia started.

Claire turned a heel to face Sophia. She wondered what this was about.

“For how I treated you earlier on, two days back especially, it was unacceptable,” Sophia admitted, fessing up to her mistakes. Something THE Sophia Windsor was never known to do: admit her mistakes.

“I should’ve heed you,” Sophia admitted.

“And therefore, I’m sorry,” she said, her voice smooth, sincere and absolutely genuine.

Clarisse stood there, glued to her spot in a state of shock.

“Sophia Windsor, apologizing, wow… that’s a first,” Clarisse noticed.

“A first and most likely a last,” Sophia admitted.

Clarisse stared at her.

“What?”

“I’ve never been the type to regret my actions and apologize,” Sophia shrugged.

“I just do what I choose to do and move on without any guilt or remorse,” Sophia said next, taking a sip of saffron tea that’d been cultivated from Sanguis. As rare as saffron was, nothing was too rare for royalty, certainly not an extremely labor-intensive crop.

She glanced at Clarisse, placing her cup down.

“See, I’m just trying to be completely honest with you.”

Clarisse grinned in appreciation for her friend who was clearly trying to put up an effort, even though she hadn’t explicitly mentioned she was.

“If this is how you behave during a hangover I propose you get drunk more frequently,” Clarisse snickered.

Sophia shook her head.

“Oh I refuse to come anywhere near alcohol. I’ve had enough alcohol for a long while.”

“A long while as in a couple days at best or months?”

“Educated guess,” Sophia retorted.