6 Lingering Doubts

When Stella got inside Fred's office the frown on her forehead persisted. Fred noticed it but did not comment. He knew that Stella doesn't like him prying into her life. He also knew that if she wanted to share something she would. Absently Stella came over to where Fred was sitting and stood behind him leaning onto his chair. It was a familiar stance that did not require much thought. Fred could feel her breath fall on his shoulder and it was comforting.

"Did you tell Reagan anything about me?" She asked Fred who was snapped out of his reverie.

"No, I never made any explicit mentions of you. Why do you ask?" he asked back.

"She referred to me as Ms Wilson. I don't think anyone in this office calls me that. Everyone calls me Stella."

"That is because you are too friendly with the staff," Fred accused.

"So you told her to call me Ms Wilson?"

"I never mentioned you to her. My relationship with her is purely professional," Fred emphasized.

"Then how does she know my last name?"

"You do realize that everyone knows who you are. You are my closest friend and I am the face of M chain of hotels and BLIC. It is impossible for you to be not known. Have you never googled your name?" Fred asked amused with Stella's obliviousness.

"Who googles their own name?" Stella spat back in disgust.

"I do. I like to keep a tab on whatever the rumour it is that is circulating about me. The last time I checked we were engaged to be married for over two years but then I cheated on you with a blonde and that is why you changed your hair colour. However, I had made you sign a prenup and so you can't leave me completely but you refuse to marry me." Fred explained.

"Who believes all these convoluted tales?"

"People with a lot of time on their hands gobble these gossips up and that leads to a lot of sales. I don't mind as long as there is nothing to substantiate any claims."

"But people think that we are engaged to be married," Stella seemed appalled at the idea and it hurt Fred a bit to think that the idea would be so repulsive to her even when it was far from reality.

"Do you want me to sue the journalist who wrote the story?" Fred asked in earnest, trying to placate her.

"No, I don't. I have a better idea. Let's make the story a reality," Stella said with a straight face.

Fred turned around to take a closer look at her as she said it. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. Let us get married. I was going to ask you anyways," Stella said. Being a lawyer she had mastered the art of lying and though Bartoli was a better negotiator he couldn't imagine that Stella could lie to his face. However, Stella had no intention of letting Reagan Adam play with Fred and her friendship. As a friend, she may be replaceable but as a wife, she would be inseparable.

"Why would you ask me to marry you? You know that I can't get married. I can't have a relationship. You never know who is trying to hurt me and they will go for the closest thing they can find to me and that will end up being you. Now you are just a woman I forced to be with me, a woman who hates me and a woman glad to be rid of me. The reason I allow the rumours to circulate is that they allow your safety. The moment I put a ring on your finger you are in danger," he elaborated.

It was nothing that Stella had not heard before. "Give me a security detail like the one you have," she suggested.

"Why do you want me to marry you?" Fred asked.

"I met someone this weekend, someone I knew a long time back, someone who put me off relationships. He is getting married at my uncle's church. I kind of told him that I am glad to be rid of him because I met a better man and I lied to him that we are already married. I don't think he knows that I am the Stella Wilson that is living with Frederick Bartoli yet. Once he does I am sure he would be eager to reveal the news of our secret wedding. And even if the media doesn't my uncle will and I don't like lying to my uncle. I was thinking of getting a paper marriage just to turn my lie into a truth." What Stella said was mostly true however, save for the part where she would have to lie to her uncle. Her uncle understood her perfectly and she could just explain to him why she had lied to Stanley if the situation ever demanded it. But it was the perfect excuse to save Fred from the clutches of the seductress that Reagan Adams was trying to prove herself to be.

"I will talk to Rupert about the paper marriage," Frederick said after a few minutes of assimilating her words.

"I am not marrying Bert, Fred. I have no interest in tying myself to a guy who is more pretty than me. Please marry me and end my misery. You never want to get married. So this is perfect for you or rather you are perfect for it," Stella argued.

"This is just about your uncle, right? To the rest of the world including our friends, we will be just flat-mates. No one can know of our actual relationship and I don't want you to do any proving to that ex of yours as well," Fred confirmed.

Stella smiled knowing that Fred had never refused her anything in their years of friendship.

"When do you need to be married?" Fred asked her casually.

"Before the weekend," is all she said before a knock on the door informed them that their coffee had arrived.