The Chairman

While Daisy and Tom evaluated their relationship Stella was trying hard to sleep. Tom's words haunted her. How could he want an annulment so soon after a wedding for which he had flown the who's who of New York to. After wrestling in bed she did the only thing she could do. She went and knocked on the only door she knew would give her some answers.

And so she knocked. And she knocked again. Apparently the guy was out cold. On her eighth knock the door finally opened and out came a groggy man.

"What is it your highness?" He began sarcastically but then as he saw who it is that was knocking his tone suddenly changed. "Stella? What happened?" He asked concerned.

"I can't sleep. Do you really think that Daisy and Tom are going to get an annulment tomorrow?" She asked.

"That is what kept you awake at night?" he asked in amazement.

"She is my friend. I care about her. You have no idea how much she loves him. I don't think even she realizes how much she loves him. I have seen her cry herself to sleep just because he blocked her after knowing less than a week." she explained.

"So, you believe in love at first sight?" he asked her amused.

"No, of course not. Daisy and Tom they connect on a level only they can understand. Call it cupid, pheromones, mindsets, what you will but they seem to click and being his best friend if you don't intervene you would be allowing him to make a big mistake."

Right then Fred realized that Stella was far more than a pretty face and a hot body and despite how much she fawned over Rupert she wasn't a woman to run after artificiality. A part of him wondered whether Rupert and her would connect on that level she spoke of. It sent a pang of hurt through him. But Rupert deserved a happy ending unlike him.

"Do you want to come in and talk? I could ask room service to send some hot chocolate." he offered her.

"At this hour? You are out of your mind." Stella concluded.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I only invited you to talk. I am too old for you anyways.You are hardly a few years older than Rose." he flushed at her words.

"I meant room service won't be available at this hour" Stella said softly, a crimson blush spreading across her face. Fred realized his mistake but didn't know what to say to get the awkwardness out of the air.

"Who is Rose?" It was Stella who asked.

"She is Rupert's foster daughter. She should be sixteen in a few months." Fred announced.

"Rupert Mornington has a daughter? How come the media never got wind of it?" she asked.

"The media has been paid a handsome price to keep their mouth shut and she has been named Rosaline David to avoid the paparazzi as much as possible." Fred explained.

"I don't see it. Rupert Mornington, foster father! Did he know the parents?" she asked curious.

"I can't tell you the truth Stella, because the truth can hurt lives. But I can tell you the rumour that Rupert doesn't mind spreading. Rose is his illegitimate child of his dead valet's wife. But there is a lot more to that story which I am not at liberty to disclose."Fred said in a hushed tone.

Suddenly realizing that they were still standing at the door Stella looked both ways before pushing past Fred and into his room. "Are you sure you can get hot chocolate at this hour?" she asked skeptically.

"You forgot who owns this place." Fred said before picking up the phone and placing the order.

A heavy silence hung in the room before it was again Stella who interjected. "How did you come to work for the Chairman?"

Fred couldn't help his smile. "I don't work for him. We are partners. He is just a miser and great with his finances and was able to multiply his profits so fast that he bought majority of the shares and thereby attaining full control while I served a crusade against my own famiglia." Fred explained.

"I don't understand the crusade part" Stella confessed.

"You aren't from around New York so you don't really know but the Bartollis were one of the most vicious mafia in the country at one point of time and my father was the boss. He wanted to me to take over but I refused. Instead I studied criminal law and brought them down one by one." Fred explained.

"You are a lawyer!" Stella exclaimed.

"I tell you that I come from mafia and the only thing you get is that?" Fred remarked.

"But you said you brought them down and that you studied criminal law. Do you mean like in a college?" she asked.

"Yes in a college. I became a lawyer and worked as the government prosecutor against the mafia till I was removed from my position once my entire family was behind bars. Though we could pin several smuggling and human trafficking cases on my family no one managed to get a single cent that my father had amassed because he had a way of turning black money to white. As a result I inherited a lot of money which I didn't want to use. Initially the Chairman and I set up a business to keep the money circulating and the profit would go to trusts and charities. It was his idea that we should take a part of the profit as salary for running this operation. He always has a knack for hospitality because he never had a home of his own. The first hotel we started was my family bungalow. Now there are a few more than a hundred hotels worldwide." Fred concluded.

Stella was inspired by the story so much she all but forgot about the situation with Daisy and Tom. "Then I have to say that the Chairman is a spineless bastard, keeping you under him while he should be the one grateful to." Stella concluded.

"You really don't understand. He may be the Chairman but I am a Board member and the second in command. Also he hates the media and he pushes me to be the face of the company. But having an heir to a mafia as the head of an international business never seemed like a good idea. So he took on this mysterious persona to protect me from all the mud thrown around by the paparazzi."

"I actually had a friend who dated the Chairman for a while. He promised her marriage and everything but then left her pregnant and lonely till she was forced to abort her child. But that somehow affected her reproductive system and she is unable to conceive further." Stella said.

"That is a crap load of bullshit. The chairman has never dated in his life until recently."

"A guy as powerful and rich as the Chairman is not sexually active. You really expect me to believe that?"

"I didn't say that. I said he never dated. His women used to be always willing and by the hour. He has a fixed set of prostitutes that he was regular at. And he never slept with a woman who is not one." Fred explained.

"Oh really? So it's like how Tom explained that he only slept with whores?" she asked.

"It is not like how Tom explained. It is exactly what he explained. Tom only slept with prostitutes. But I am rooting for him consummating the wedding with Daisy very soon."

It took a while for the words to register. When it did Stella found it hard to remain seated. "You mean...you really mean...Tom is the Chairman?" She gasped.

Fred mutely nodded.