The Accidental Wife (Emily and Julian)

I'm in my office at home, working on some new designs. I have been thinking about the new fashion show I'm supposed to prepare for. It's a year away, but sometimes a year isn't enough.

It's been a week since Silas and I agreed to make amends. Some may think that he had me under his spell that night, but I wasn't. Lately, I've been thinking about our relationship and all that has been happening. When I left the divorce papers for Silas, I had a firm belief that we weren't going to make it. I thought that we had reached a dead end; however, things have changed.

I can tell that Silas is trying his best and I'm not going to walk away from him while he's doing his best. I still love him with everything in me and if he manages to get it all together, I'm not going to walk away from him.

As I'm thinking about the best colour for the design I'm working on, my phone rings. This is Silas.

"Hey there," I say while eyeing five different shades of orange.

"Hi, Rosie. Do you have time to meet? It's kinda important." I can tell from his tone that something is wrong. I can imagine the look he has on his face and I'm not fond of it.

"What's going on, Silas?" I ask, pushing the colours away. Is he in trouble? Is something wrong? Is he hurt? Does he want to tell me that he has relapsed?

"Well, my alcohol addiction has been outed to the media. We need to meet with my publicist. Do you think you can do that? The anxiousness in his tone makes me forget all the designs I'm thinking about and working on.

"Where is the meeting? Can you send me a location?" I ask, already making my way to the bedroom to change since I'm in a pair of sports shorts.

"I will send you everything. Thank you, Rosie." He sounds grateful and relieved. Did he think I'm going to refuse to help him out in such a dire situation?

I'm about to tell him something, but the intercom rings. "Hold up, Silas. I think the guards want something."

"Hello, is everything all right?" I say, picking up.

"Ma'am, we need to call extra security. A lot of reporters are outside, and they want to talk to you." My eyes widen upon hearing that.

I take a deep breath before heading to a window that allows me to see the front of the house. My office is on the other side of the house and the windows overlook the backyard, so I barely get to hear anything if the windows are closed. Surely, there are at least ten reporters, and the guards are doing everything in their power to keep them away.

"Silas, I may not be able to come as quickly as you want me to. I'm sorry, but there are a lot of reporters outside. I need more time," I apologize. I know that he's already stressed, and I hate that I'm currently adding more to that stress, but this is out of my hands. "Reporters? I will come pick you up, okay?" he tells me.

"No, Silas. If you come, they will get wilder, and this is the last thing we want. We want them to leave. Listen, I will just tell the guards to call the security company to get me more guards, so I can leave, yeah? I promise it's nothing." I'm trying to calm him down even though I'm not calm at all. Reporters freak me out because they tend to act like wild animals, hoping to get the latest news even if they're going to put somebody else in danger.

Silas is aware of how they make me feel. "Are you sure you'll be all right until the guards arrive?" he asks me. I love how he treats me with so much care and love. I miss this side of him. I'm not saying that he stopped caring, because I know Silas. He will never stop caring about me. He never stopped. He simply stopped showing me that he cared and I'm a person who

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prefers actions over words...

"Yes, I'm sure, but..." I stop myself from talking, feeling stupid.

"But what, Rosie? What do you want, cupcake?" he speaks softly.

"Do you think you can stay on the phone with me until the guards arrive?" I hesitatingly ask.

"of course, cupcake," he says, making me smile.

He stays on the phone with me for more than thirty minutes, giving me the comfort I'm looking for. While waiting for the guards, I try to force myself to stay away from the windows. I know that my anxiety will worsen if I keep looking at the reporters and I think Silas also knows that too, so while being on the phone with me, he keeps reminding me to stay away from them.

Thankfully, the guards don't take too long to arrive. I stay on the phone with Silas as one of the guards take the driver's seat while I take the backseat. There's also another guard in the passenger seat and a car behind mine that has three other bodyguards. I'm not sure if this is an exaggeration, but I don't want to take any chances. I won't be leaving on my own too; Silas will be with me. This is enough for our protection.

When I arrive, I find Silas waiting for me by the building's entrance inside the garage. Once I'm near enough, he takes me in his protective embrace and kisses the top of my head.

"You're okay, right?" he softly asks, and I nod while smiling at him. I know that he doesn't mean to check on my physical health. He wants to make sure that my nerves are under control. "Let's go." He takes my hand in his and we head towards the elevator. "Should I worry about this meeting?" I can't help but ask as the elevator door closes.

"No, cupcake. Nobody is going to force you to do anything you don't want. Whatever you're going to hear is nothing but suggestions, yeah?" he tells me, and I slowly nod. Something inside of me tells me that Silas knows what his publicist is going to talk to me about. We reach his publicist's office and sit down beside each other. Andrea, his publicist, is well-known in the field and she knows how to help her clients maintain a good image. No, scratch that. She doesn't help them, she makes them maintain a good image whether they like it or not. And she knows how to clean up messes, no matter how huge they are.

"Rosie, you're aware that having news about Silas's addiction surfacing out of thin air while he's close to returning to the field is quite bad and a kind of attention we don't want, right?" she tells me.

"Of course, I'm aware of that." For all my life, I have been surrounded by cameras and flashlights. I know how ruthless reporters can be and how nosy the media is when it comes to big families and public figures.

"We're going to need your help," she says, which is something expected. When Silas asked me to come, I knew I had a role to play. I just don't know what that role is and apparently, Andrea is going to fill me in.

"I don't mind helping. Do you want me to issue a statement? Should I make an appearance at a press conference with Silas?" I wonder, but she shakes her head. I look at Silas and the worry I see on his face indicates that he knows what she's going to ask of me.

"We need more of you," she starts then inhales before continuing, "I know that things haven't been good between the two of you, but I need the two of you to put your disagreements aside and act like a united front."

What does she mean by that? Aren't we already showing a united front in front of everybody?

But we're already doing that," I point out. Again, she shakes her head.

"Reporters are nosy, Rosie. They have their way to find out everything. We don't want them to find out that the two of you aren't living together." I can already feel where this is going, and don't like this.

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Sat, Dec

7

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""What

are

you

exactly trying to

say?" I ask

even

though

I know

the answer,

butBelongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

I just

want

to make sure that

I'm

not jumping

to any conclusions.

you

"I need to live under the same roof, go out

on dates

social events together. You may also need to

attend a few of his games once he makes a comeback. This should go on for at least six months." She drops the information

on me.

regularly and

attend

I

look at Silas and find him looking away,

as if

he's running away from my eyes.

"Did you know she's going to ask this of me?" I

"I calmly ask him. .This is not what we agreed on. He told me he was going to give me the time I needed. This isn't him giving me time. This is asking

me to rush my plans.

"I told you you're not obligated to agree to any do," Whe says.

of this, Rosie. I'm not going to force

you to do anything you don't want to

Andrea rushes to say. The look she shoots

"But of course, your help is incredibly needed, and it will make a huge difference,"

husband the moment he reminds me that I have a choice doesn't escape my notice.

at my

"I need time to think this through," I tell them, standing up.

"It's his reputation that is at

stake, Rosie," Andrea reminds me.

"Stop pressuring her. She is free to do whatever she wants," Silas tells her in

I appreciate the way choice at all. I I know

him first without a

Silas has my back, underscoring that I will what I need to do, because when it comes second thought.

a

stern tone.

always have a choice, but the thing is, I don't. I don't have a

and the way the media portrays him, I'm going to put

to Silas

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