Along Came A Prince (34 page)

“You’re exceeding
your allotments here,” she said when the kiss ended.

“I don’t have any
allotments anymore. You love me, and that canceled them out. Stacia, my love, why
don’t you turn off the light now and come back into my arms?” he suggested.

Stacia shut the
light off and snuggled next to him.

“There’s one thing
missing,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“A kiss
goodnight.”

“Only one?” she
asked.

“Only one...I
promise.”

♥♥

When they got
home, Clay and Stacia stored their bags in their respective bedrooms, and she
retrieved a message on her answering machine from Hal.

“Hi, Stace,” his
voice said. “I got a call from Nathan. He wants us to come to the studio to see
the progress they’ve made with
London Affair
. Call me.”

She picked up her
phone and made arrangements to meet him at the studio that afternoon. She asked
if Clay could come along, and Hal assured her that would be fine.

By one in the
afternoon, Hal, Clay and Stacia were settled in chairs in the projection room
at Starlit Studios. Nathan and Arthur completed their small group.

“First of all,” Nathan
began, “you need to understand this isn’t the finished product. In the
beginning, thanks to the magic of our new software, we were able to
electronically insert everything filmed to date into the old footage. Arthur
had to match all the movements Stacia did with Audra’s. What was left over, we
had to paint out frame by frame. We also had to match the background lighting and
shadowing from the remake to the old one. In other words...” He took a deep
breath before continuing. “We had to make the impossible possible.”

“And here’s what
we came up with,” Arthur said. He called the projectionist to start the film.

As the screen lit
up, the haunting melody from
London Affair
filled the room. The words, “Starring
Stacia Saunders and Mark Bennett in...” flashed across it.

Scene by scene of
the film played just as the original had appeared. Nathan’s and Arthur’s dream
to replace Audra with Stacia had become a reality. Seeing Mark acting alongside
her made her feel as if she’d time traveled back to 1949 when the movie was
first filmed, and it seemed like he’d been alive, standing face to face next to
her as she played out her role as Victoria. Stacia didn’t know how the critics
and the audience would like the final effect, but to her, Nathan and Arthur
were geniuses in upholding and surpassing the technological discoveries of the
twenty-first century.

Any lasting doubts
she wasn’t Audra in a past life melted away as she watched the movie. She knew
now why it was so easy for her to memorize her lines and Audra’s movements. She
had done it all before. Bittersweet feelings of love for Mark, the horror of
what he’d had to live with after her death, and sorrow at the way he’d chosen
to die rushed through her. She studied Clay, thinking how glad she was destiny
had given them another lifetime together. She reached for his hand and held it
tightly. He was her soulmate, and all she wanted was to keep loving him
forever.

The movie ended
with a memorial to Farrell, as Nathan had promised. When the credits flashed on
the screen, some identical scenes containing Audra and Stacia were shown on
both sides of the scrolling names. The haunting music that had also played at
the beginning of the movie filled the room.

Clay leaned over
and put his arm around Stacia. He guided her face toward his and kissed her. “I
love you, and I’m so proud of you,” he whispered in her ear.

“I love you too,”
she whispered back.

With her hands on
the sides of his face and his placed over hers, they clung to one last
passionate, yet sweet, kiss. The room was dark as a starless night, accented
only by the white letters of the credits. When the screen turned black, they reluctantly
pulled away from each other, and as the lights came back on, the small audience
applauded loud and long.

“I’m thinking from
that response you’re pleased with what you saw,” Nathan said.

“It’s awesome,”
Stacia exclaimed. She glanced at Clay, hoping he got the message she meant the
same word for their kiss.

“I think everyone
connected to this movie will go home with an Oscar.” Clay stared straight into
her eyes, and from the expression written there, she knew her parallel message
had been received.

She wondered if he
was trying to tell her that her part of the kiss deserved an Oscar too, because
she sure thought his did.  

“I wish
you
both were writing the movie reviews,” Arthur commented.

“It can’t help but
be a success,” Hal announced. “Stacia’s acting complements everything you two
did.”

“You’re right
there,” Nathan said. “I agree with Clay. She will be nominated for an Oscar.”

“And you and Arthur
will be right next to her receiving yours,” Clay added.

“I almost forgot,”
Nathan said. “We’ve sent a copy of
London Affair
to our anonymous
financial backer, Sam Prescott.”

“Sam?” Stacia was
stunned.
Why would he want to back this movie?

“He gave us
instructions to tell the two of you today that he was the backer. He said since
he was Hal’s new stepfather, his son had a right to know, and he feels very
close to you also, Stacia,” Nathan said.

Stacia looked at
Clay. “Did you know this?”

“From the
beginning,” he said.

“But why? Why
would Sam want to finance this particular movie?”

“Maybe he believed
in us and our dream,” Nathan suggested.

“I’m sure he did,”
Stacia said.
But there had to be another reason.

“Whatever the
reason,” Hal stated, “I’m predicting he’s going to make a lot of money from
this production.”

Stacia looked at Nathan
and smiled. “Maybe Sam will finance
Gone with the Wind
for you and Arthur.
Then you’ll have your entire dream.”

“While I love all
this positive talk,” Nathan remarked, “there’s the possibility
London Affair
might flop.”

“With your genius
and Stacia’s acting, I don’t think so,” Clay said. “You’ve got a winner.”

“We’re giving a few
scenes to ET next week,” Arthur said. “We should get some feedback then because
they’re asking for input on their website.”

“While we hate to
rush out of here, Arthur and I have to go because we’ve been working night and
day on the final touches.” Nathan stood up to leave. “We need sleep.”

“I’m glad you all
liked the movie,” Arthur said as he joined Nathan at the door.

“Clay, do you know
why Sam backed this movie?” Stacia asked as soon as the two men had closed the
door.

He nodded. “Audra
was Sam’s older sister.”

Stacia was instantly
astonished with this revelation. “They were brother and sister? You can’t be
serious.” She shook her head, wrinkled her brow, and squinted her eyes to try
to make sense out of the words Clay had just said, but it didn’t help. She
wanted to hear the rest of his story. “Please go on.”

“When Audra died,
it almost killed Sam and their parents. Shortly after her death, his parents received
a check for a million dollars. Audra’s contract read that the studio had to
insure her for that amount. Within a year of her death, both of Sam’s parents
died also. He believes it was from having their hearts broken. At any rate,
because of all this grief, Sam took the inheritance and devoted himself – maybe
a better way of saying this is – he drove himself night and day to make more
and more money. He didn’t stop until he’d become one of the richest men in the
world.”

“And so this movie
is a memorial to her memory?” Stacia asked.

“Mostly. When he
heard about Nathan’s and Arthur’s plan for remaking
London Affair
, he
figured why not invest in it? Then he happened to see you, Stacia, in a movie
and your resemblance to Audra was amazing. He decided then that no matter what
it cost, he would back it, providing you agreed to play the starring role. He
started his campaign to woo you, so to speak, by sending you the tickets for
Caviar-On-Ice.”

“And Helen. How
does she figure in this?”

“When she was in
the movie, as you know, she was nine. Sam visited his sister on the set during
the shooting. He was about sixteen at the time. Helen developed a huge crush on
him that summer and followed him everywhere. He was too old for her, of course,
but he was always nice and polite to her. Years later, they met again. Helen
was married at the time. Sam wasn’t. He fell in love with her then but nothing
happened. He never told her. Then he married his wife, and although he loved
her very much, a part of him still cherished Helen in his heart.”

“That’s a
beautiful love story, isn’t it Hal?” Stacia asked. “I’m glad we got them
together. They deserve all the happiness in the world.”

“And they’re
having the time of their lives, according to their phone calls home,” Hal
commented as he checked his watch. “I hate to leave, but I have an appointment
shortly. Thanks, Clay, for telling me about my mother and Sam.” He waved
goodbye and left.

“I was thinking of
something else, Clay,” Stacia said. “If Sam was Audra’s younger brother, and
because I am Audra reincarnated, then that makes me Sam’s sister.”

“You’re right, it
does.”

“Do you think we
should tell him about us being regressed and what we figured out?”

“I don’t know,
Stacia. In one way, it should make him feel good to know his sister’s been
reincarnated and sharing this lifetime with him. Yet, I’m not sure if he could
handle that...or if he’d believe it. He already feels some bond with you
because of your resemblance to Audra. I believe he’ll have a very special
relationship with you whether he knows you’re his sister or not. Let’s wait and
see what happens. And now that everyone’s gone, I have some questions for you. Did
I hear you correctly? You still love me? You didn’t just say that last night
out of sympathy to pacify me because I had a rough nightmare?”

Stacia shook her
head.

Clay took her hand
and pulled her up. His arms encircled her, and his kiss surpassed any feeling
she had ever had in her life.
Was it possible to take a rocket ship to the
moon and play among the stars?
The way that kiss felt, it definitely was.

“Are you sure you
weren’t carried away by all the emotion in
London Affair
?

She shook her head
once more, and another spectacular kiss replaced the first one.

“Tell me again,”
he said when the kiss ended.

“I love you, Clay.”

“And I love you,
but I have one more question for you. Where do we go from here?”

Stacia and Clay
left Starlit Studios in her sports car and were headed for her condo, when
Clay’s cell phone interrupted their conversation.

“Mother, what’s
wrong?” Clay asked the second he answered it. “I’m having a hard time
understanding you. You’re crying too hard. Try to calm down and tell me what
happened.”

Stacia thought
Clay’s deafening silence as he listened to his mother was as ear-shattering as
if a sonic boom had exploded in the car. She kept driving, unable to
concentrate on anything but the most basic steering motions. Her heart pounded
erratically as she kept glancing at Clay’s face, while her instincts repeated
the message,
be prepared for bad news.

“No, he can’t be,”
Clay said. “I’ll leave immediately. Hang on the best you can until I get
there.” He shoved the phone into his pocket.

“What’s wrong?”
Stacia asked as she glanced at him. His suntanned face, which only moments ago
had been smiling and happy, had now turned ashen and somber.

“My father...”
Clay began, his face grimacing as if the words were too painful to speak. “He’s
dead,” he finally concluded, staring into space out the front window.

No...maybe
there’s been a mistake
, her mind denied. Her hands gripped the steering
wheel tightly, and she fought the urge to pull over to the side of the freeway.
She checked ahead to see if there was any place to stop. Seeing no road signs
and nowhere to stop safely, she willed herself to continue driving in the heavy
traffic.

“His main
objective,” Clay said slowly and quietly, “since his country was overrun was to
gain it back. I knew he’d planned to use guerilla force. I just didn’t know
when. I can’t believe he left when I wasn’t home and without telling me.”

“Maybe that’s why
he did it now when you weren’t there and couldn’t stop him. Then, if anything
happened to him, your mother would still have you.”

“I couldn’t have
stopped him, but I would have gone with him…if I’d have known.” He shook his
head. “No. I’m sure everything fell into place, and he just went.”

“How...” Stacia
started to ask, but stopped herself.

“Was he killed?”
Clay finished for her. “He was shot, along with a mafia friend of his, Sonny
Marcellini, and about fifteen of Sonny’s men. They were ambushed and executed
as they left the plane to meet their supporters.”

“I’m so sorry.”
She reached out to him and covered his hand with hers. “Clay, if you’d gone,
you would be dead too,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Chills
rushed through her as she blinked back the tears forming in her eyes.

“Probably. But
maybe I would have made a difference. Perhaps somehow I could have saved his
life. Now, I’ll never know.” He closed his eyes and put his hand over his face,
as if he were blocking out his unbearable grief.

“Maybe you could
have, but if he was with a mafia boss and his men, how could he have had better
protection? They know ‘street smarts’ and how to survive and how to kill. They’ve
done it all their lives. Yet, you say they were killed...all of them. Don’t try
to second-guess destiny, Clay. No matter what else you believe, you must know
it wasn’t your time to die.”

“Aren’t you
second-guessing destiny when you say you can’t marry? How do you know what will
happen if you do? Or if you don’t?” His words came out in a mixture of grief
and sarcasm.

“You’re right. I
can’t know. I’m letting my feelings guide my future and doing what I think is
best for us. You’re trying to step back into the past and want to change it,
but whatever’s happened before this moment in time is irrevocable. There’s a
vast difference between what each of us is doing.”

“Right now,
Stacia, it doesn’t make any difference to me.” Sarcasm gone, he seemed almost
resigned to what had happened. “I guess I’ve been preparing myself for this day
for years now. We’ve had a lot of arguments about it, but he wouldn’t give up
his goal or even consider the fact that I could be right. I kept trying to
change his mind, but now it’s too late. My father’s...” He looked out the side
window of the car. “The psychic was right, I did get slapped hard. Now I remember
whose face I saw in my nightmare – my father’s.”

Silence filled the
car as there was no answer she could give to his declaration.

“My father was a
good man,” Clay reflected minutes later. “He always loved my mother and me. He
let his obsession to win back his crown control his life. Everything he did – from
the friends he made, to the money he acquired, to the power he was able to
exercise – was geared toward taking back his country.”

“What happens now?”

“To me? Is that
what you’re asking? Will I take up where he left off?”

Stacia nodded.

“What was right
for my father is not necessarily right for me. He did what he had to do, and
I’ll do what I must do.”

“Which is...”

“I told my father
many times I didn’t want to be king,” he said emphatically. “That decision
remains unchanged. I’ve always been happy at home. I don’t mind running
SwissDen, but anything beyond that is out of the question. I cannot take up his
crusade for him.”

“What will your
mother want you to do?”

“My mother will
agree with my choice. She loves SwissDen.”

“Will your father
be buried there?”

“Mother wouldn’t
let him be buried anywhere else. They’ve had too many happy years living
there.” He took out his phone. “I need to make a few calls. I’ll try Sam
first,” he said as he punched in a number.

The rest of the
way home was filled with Clay’s voice as he called person after person, giving
Stacia an update whenever he finished one. “Sam and Helen will be there before
we are,” he said. “I’m assuming you’ll go back with me. I’d like you with me
through this.”

“Of course I
will,” she said.

She pulled into
her garage as Clay finished his call to the airline, reserving a private jet to
return home to SwissDen.

♥♥

Stacia packed as
quickly as she could and almost finished ahead of Clay. As they hurried to the
airport, she couldn’t help but remember their last trip speeding through the
streets of L.A. This time they didn’t have to worry about a killer shooting at them.
Yet the stress of thinking you could be killed could not compare with the
finality of death itself when someone you loved actually passed on. Hope was
stomped out when the final breath was taken but remained alive and glimmering
until then, no matter how bad the situation was.

The grief of
losing his father had settled heavily on Clay. She didn’t know what to do to
comfort him except hold his hand, which she did all the way to the airport.

The private jet
he’d chartered was waiting for them when they arrived at LAX. And when the
plane touched down at SwissDen, Helen and Sam met them. The next day Clay was
kept busy consoling his mother and making decisions for the king’s burial. The
two things his father had not designed in his palatial resort were a funeral
home and a cemetery. Who needed these in paradise?

The king’s body
had been sent to Geneva, and preparations for the funeral services were
performed there. Then the funeral director accompanied the king’s remains on
his final journey back to SwissDen. The funeral itself was intimately private
with only the people the king had loved most attending. The queen, Clay and Sam.
Helen and Stacia, the newcomers, were also included and supported the three
mourners the best they could.

The burial took
place in a secluded area next to the rose gardens with the intention of
designing and building a family mausoleum as a final resting place.

In the days
following the funeral, Stacia, Helen, Sam and the queen spent most of their
time together. Clay had to take command of his father’s bank, establishing right
away the continuance of the same sole leadership his father had always
demonstrated.

Outside SwissDen,
new decisions were also being made. The mafia’s new boss was chosen, and Clay
immediately set the precedent of dealing with him over the phone only. He
extended no invitations to him to visit SwissDen because, unlike his father, he
saw no need to cultivate any type of friendship with the mob. Clay doubted they
would bank elsewhere because of the privacy maintained at SwissDen and also
because of Switzerland’s low tax rates.

But one invitation
Clay had presented still was in effect – Josie and Ryan arrived at SwissDen as
scheduled.

“We had doubts,
Clay, about whether we should come at all right now,” Josie said as soon as
they stepped off the plane, and she’d offered her condolences along with a hug.

“You’re welcome at
my home,” he replied, “at any time and under any circumstances.”

“I’m sorry about
your father,” Ryan said as he gave Clay a man hug and patted his back.

Clay nodded his
thanks. “My mother’s waiting to meet you both.”

Once inside, Josie
and Ryan’s quiet enthusiasm about the magnificence of the palace eased some of
the morbid tone that had settled over the king’s home. Clay and Stacia escorted
them to the atrium, and Clay introduced them to his mother.

“Stacia has been
very comforting to me and my son during this sad time. I’m pleased to welcome
you to my home. I’m going to leave you young people to yourselves now, but I’ll
see you all at dinner,” the queen said as she left the area.

“What do you want
to see first?” Clay asked. “Your suite or a tour of SwissDen?”

“The tour, of
course. I’m very excited to see the rest of your home,” Josie said.

“Okay, let’s go.”
Stacia started to walk slowly toward the outside door. She tried to harness her
enthusiasm, but she couldn’t. She grabbed Josie’s hand and walked faster. The
men quickly followed. “The resort area is amazing. Clay’s father designed
everything here, and his mother decorated it. There’s no place on Earth that
can compare to this Shangri-La. SwissDen can entertain you, yet it has peace
and quiet if that’s what you want.”

“You sound like a
travel brochure, Stacia.” Josie said as they reached the parking area. “Your father
must have been a wonderful man, Clay. He had to love you very much.”

Clay wiped a tear
from his eye as they took their seats in the red cart. “He was and he did.” 

Stacia sensed his
sadness, so she tried to be upbeat. “You two look like you’re pretty blown away
by SwissDen,” she said as they drove out of the parking lot and into the resort
area. “I felt the same way the first time I saw it.”

“It’s
unbelievable,” Ryan remarked. “And you grew up here, Clay? I can see why you didn’t
want to leave.”

“There are beautiful
places to see everywhere. My father tried to take bits of each of them from
different countries and recreate them here.”

“What a legacy of
beauty he’s left you,” Josie said.

Clay turned off
the engine when they reached the waterfall parking lot. “We’ll walk from here.”

“This is my
favorite place.” Stacia hopped out of the cart first, her excitement at going
to the waterfall as strong as it always was whenever she went there. “I return
to the waterfall every time I meditate,” she said.

“So do I,” Clay
added as he took Stacia’s hand, and they started to cross the bridge over the
lake together.

“You do?” Stacia
asked.

“That doesn’t
surprise me,” Josie said as she joined them. “You already know my theory about
you two being soulmates.”

“You three talk a
different language than I do,” Ryan inserted. “Soulmates. Meditation. Waterfalls.
Maybe you’ll have to give me some lessons on how to meditate, Josie, so I can
keep up with the rest of you.”

“Anytime.” Josie
stood on her toes to give her husband a quick kiss. “Clay, I can’t believe your
father designed this on top of a mountain.” Josie paused for a moment,
transfixed, as she looked at the waterfall. “I can feel his spirit beside us. The
only reason you can’t see him is because the vibration of his dimension is
faster than ours. He can’t slow his vibration down, and we can’t speed ours up.
There are certain times during the year when it becomes easier to contact the
spirit world. Vibrations can change on days that were important to the person
who has passed over and the person left behind. Birthdays, anniversaries, Halloween
and other special days.”

“If he is here,”
Clay said, his voice breaking, “I hope he knows I love him.”

“I’m sure he does.
Why don’t the three of us try meditating? We won’t do anything fancy. Just
meditate in our own way,” Josie suggested. She turned to Ryan. “Honey, you can
enjoy the waterfall, if that’s okay with you.”

Josie’s idea
established a new routine. Every day Stacia, Clay and Josie would meditate
together at the waterfall, while Ryan spent his time learning the technology of
the security at SwissDen. Clay introduced him to the chief of security at the
palace and gave the chief permission to answer any questions Ryan had. Dominic,
the sixty-something man was an encyclopedia of information regarding security
measures, and the two men shared many interests and became good friends during
the ensuing days.

After one intense
day of learning about SwissDen’s security, Ryan remarked to Clay, and the women,
“Now I know how you knew so much about security when you came to rescue Stace and
bring her here. You must have been spoon-fed that stuff by Dom.”

Clay laughed. “I
guess I was. He’s like a second father to me. I spent a lot of time with him
when I was growing up, listening and learning everything he taught me, and most
of it came in handy later.”

Stacia was glad
things turned out so well for Ryan because Clay, Josie and she spent hours away
from him whenever the three of them meditated. Ever busy, at times, Stacia felt
as if she was a program director at a resort. After meditating, she tried to
make certain Josie and Ryan had plenty of time to share alone. Since Helen and
Sam were on their honeymoon yet, she also attempted to do the same thing for
them. Then she worried about the queen, trying to respect her need to grieve
and making sure she had someone to talk to when she wanted to talk. But above
all else, Stacia worked hard at trying to keep the queen from being lonely.