Verity's in Love Ch. 04

The headline would be 'What now for Fleur and her Kiwi hunk now that she was leaving for the UK?'

Once she was back in the UK there would be the shock announcement that they had broken up and Stephen was to be reconciling with his former wife.

"There's no way that Verity would agree to that."

"Of course she will; it would be the ending she would want."

"Get off. We haven't even agreed to get back together. How the hell can I give her the expectation of that?"

"You are not even going to ask her?"

"Like hell I will."

Fleur organized a dinner party in a private room at a top line restaurant for Stephen and all of his friends she had met. She actually invited Verity but she refused to go.

Marlene and George were invited of course, so was Frederick and Charles. Leda was invited and she asked if she could bring a client who just happened to be in New Zealand at the time. This was a big surprise as Leda never paraded her clients as a rule. This was her sole female client, an American she called Maria. Nobody knew who Maria actually was but it meant all the members of the dinner party had to be pre-vetted by Maria's private security. Rachael arrived by herself expecting Verity and was disappointed at her non-appearance.

Pania and her husband Ihaia were the last to arrive, Pania exclaiming, "Stephen, you have your new whanau." Fleur looked puzzled but Pania explained that Stephen and Verity did not really have an extended family; Pania said that as a Maori the whanau was an important part of life especially when support was needed. "Collectively people are stronger with a good supportive whanau. When times were pretty bad, I told Stephen to gather a whanau to support him, and look what we have now, Stephens Pakeha Whanau." Pania looked around, "Except for Verity." She said quietly; putting the room into a brief downer.

"Wouldn't she come?"

"She's a bit pissed off with me and Fleur."

"Oh no; She doesn't really know you Fleur, does she?"

The conversation tracked away at that point but after a few courses of the degustation menu and several bottles of wine the conversation turned from food to the Fleur and Stephen story. What had they done, where had they been; precious little together as it turned out. Fleur had enjoyed her first visit to the country and had used her free time to travel around incognito without Stephen. Fleur and Stephen's time together had been largely governed by contract.

Oiled by the wine and much to Stephen's embarrassment the conversation slipped into the personal territory of Stephen's predicament.

"What are we going to do with you Stephen? Are you going to make up your mind with Verity? We all thought the plan was that you two were going to start dating or something toward reconciliation," Charles was straight to the point.

Stephen head down peering at his empty plate, replied, "The thing is I'm committed to the family but let's face it, Verity was in love with this guy. She was never like that with me, not that way.

In getting back together she is going to be comparing her feelings for him with me. She is never going to love me like that."

"Have you talked to her about that?"

"No, but it's obvious isn't it."

Leda spoke up. "It's not a law of the universe Stephen. Have you tried? Do you want to try?"

"We are just civil together. We hardly talk when I come into Charles's."

Charles piped up, "She does actually love you Stephen."

"How do you know? Have you talked to her about it?"

"No, but it's obvious. Every time you come into our office she sits behind her desk, does not do any work and follows you around with her eyes with that hang dog expression of hers. She can't keep her eyes off you."

"Well, what the hell do I do about it? She doesn't say anything."

Marlene joined the conversation at this point. "I suspect you have given her the impression that you would not believe her if she did."

Stephen pondered his own lingering lack of trust and realized that's what was holding him back. Could he believe it? Remembering his conversation with Fleur he resolved there and then to try; "Ok, Ok, I want to but how do I break through this conundrum?"

Leda's turn, "Sometimes the simplest thing can be a spark. Smile at her, Stephen. When you visit Charles and she looks at you, smile back. It will be a kind of public declaration, she may well respond to that."

"We smile when we are together with the kids."

"But is the smile for her or the family?"

"Well OK, I smile at her at Charles's Then what?"

"Whatever comes naturally."

"But I don't feel like smiling. The whole thing is depressing me."

Leda again, "you don't have to feel like it. Just smile and do it regularly. Once you get positive reaction, smiling will come naturally; then talk to her, make jokes, flirt a little."

"This all sounds forced and trite to me. OK, I'll give it a go, start with the smile, I suppose."

Marlene asked if Stephen had thought about approaching Verity about the end of the script.

"In the circumstances, definitely not."

At that point they returned to, 'the Fleur and Stephen story' to discuss future planning.

The American, Maria who had been relatively silent up to this point suddenly became interested in the whole scenario and seemed to be listening intently to what came next. Fleur came up with a plan largely with the photoshoot in mind but there would be a win-win if they could get Stephen and Verity to get over them selves.

Stephen was a little taken aback, 'Over ourselves?' That's a bit rich coming from Fleur he thought. He was thinking of Marcus but did not mention it.

"Stephen should get his head out of his arse and start being pleasant with Verity, woo her and ask her out on a date." Fleur had obviously had a little too much to drink and was in full flight when her bombshell came. "I'm going to befriend Verity and invite her for a high tea."

The group went silent with that.

"Why would you do that?" asked a bemused Stephen.

"The poor woman thinks you and I are having an affair."

"She knows damn well that the whole think is manufactured."

"Does she?" Fleur stared intently at Stephen. Stephen was confused for a few seconds but remembered their evening together. Fleur continued, "I think I owe it to Verity... and you Stephen. I think I have come close to destroying any chance of you too getting back together, and with everything else, I don't want that on my conscience."

The others were quiet, puzzled about what Fleur was saying. Nobody knew about Fleur's evening with Stephen.

Marlene, slightly embarrassed in not knowing just what Fleur was alluding to, interrupted officiously to get the conversation back on track. "Right you two, I'll give you a week to sort your selves out and then I'll ask her myself. I guess it will be too bad if she doesn't agree and I'll have to think of something else. After all it is my script."

"Yes Ma'am," the reply from Fleur.

"Stephen murmured something about it being 'must kick Stephen week', then cleared his throat, thought for a second, then announced, "OK, I get it, that is a plan. Either I do something now or I have to walk away. I can't let this slip."

With that there was applause from the table and a call for a toast to Stephen and Verity.

Maria stepped in spoke up about her observations.

"Guys, Guys, I can't believe what I am hearing. Look, I am new here; just tell me to shove off if you think I am overstepping the mark. It seems to me from what I am hearing that you are all losing track of reality. This Verity must be totally confused. I feel so sorry for the lady. She will believe what's in those magazines you know. People do. She thinks you are the one's telling her lies."

Leda was looking sideways at Maria with some concern but did not interrupt as Maria continued.

"But the lies are really in the magazines. Marlene you should be utterly ashamed of yourself. There should be a law against you. You make up all these fantasies. You call it reality when it's not. You journalists complain that the people don't believe you anymore and it's because you do this shit."

Marlene indignantly cut in, "Hey come on Maria; you, an American would know of the importance of free speech. What's wrong with a bit of fantasy?"

Maria replied; "Because it is a fine line, freedom is not an absolute; there is a point when the freedom for one individual will impinge on other's freedom.

"OK, I get that, "Marlene replied,"But journalism these days is based in opinion. We couldn't operate without freedom of speech."

"That's all and well, Marlene, but let's take opinion for example. Opinion is free speech but there is a point at which it becomes straight lies. Lies affect people in various ways, usually negatively. Now the question; is lying exercising freedom and for whom? What are the consequences on the people being lied to, what about their freedom?

These reality programs like yours, they are all scripted. They are lies just like many of these so called opinion pieces by these supposed respected journalists. People don't know they are scripted and they want to believe they are real."

Marlene stuttered trying to find a repost to Maria's argument.

"I tell you what; Maria continued," it makes me want to give my line of work up. It seems like I am surrounded by fantasists wherever I go. It is hard to be interviewed by someone who has a modicum of reality these days. Marlene, are you really going to make this load of shit a reality series, just to completely destroy these good people's lives for the entertainment of the great unwashed?"

Rachael broke her own silence, "Isn't it ironic that the collective voice of Verity's collective whanau is trying to repair the fall-out from the effect of Marlene's exercise in individual freedom.

You Stephen, just forget all this shit, go back to Verity, eat humble pie and rejoin the human race. Do you have the guts for that?"

The party was zapped. There was dead silence as all cogitated on what was just said. Marlene sat fuming.

Maria continued again, "I would hope in the coming world that we would be seeing through some of this excessive bullshit but I come here to a country I thought I admired and I find a love story being totally manufactured for the magazine using a celebrity who should show some responsibility.

All these women readers will believe every world, including Verity who refuses to believe it is being manufactured even though it is being blatantly manufactured by those around her."

This struck a chord with Stephen, "I know women dream of romance and happy families. Verity's no different I guess. She is an intelligent woman and she has the potential to do so much. I think I am standing in her way with this stuff. We should go forward together."

Maria turned to Stephen, "People, men and women, believe what they want to believe whatever the facts might be. They make up their mind and ignore anything to the contrary. It is nowhere more apparent than in my business; I can tell you. Stephen, what is your belief that is holding you up?"

Stephen was startled by such a direct aggressive personal question from a stranger. He sat bolt upright dithering. "Oh shit, Its trust..I..I don't trust her I guess."

So what recent evidence do you have that you can't trust her?"

"I..I..I suppose, none."

"See, belief, no substance.

So knowing your belief what are you going to do? What do you think she thinks about you? "

The penny finally dropped for Stephen, "she thinks that I no longer love her."

"Easy isn't it. Prove to her you actually love her. Make her believe you love her. Do what Leda says. Trust me, she will respond, you'll respond and hey presto it will all come naturally, do it! Only by being together can you learn to trust her. Trust comes with familiarity. You will never learn to love her with a big emotional wall standing between you and her. "

This whole embarrassing conversation was somewhat alcohol fueled leading to Fleur piping up, with a crazy smirk on her face, "Yeah do it Stephen or else we will all excommunicate you from your whanau!"

A side wards glare from Pania silenced any follow up.

Stephen thought about what he had heard. He could not think of any alternative. He was cornered, embarrassed and resentful about what he considered a blatant intrusion in his private life. But they were his friends, his and Verity's whanau, well most anyhow.

Fleur, who had sobered a little from Pania's rebuke, was feeling contrite and viewed Stephen empathically. She determined to get Stephen alone and manufactured some rationale about leaving with him in a shared taxi.

Maria noting a now stony atmosphere realized she had badly overstepped her welcome and in attempting to lower the atmosphere, finished with; "Hey I'm sorry. I know I've gone too far, lecturing you. I'm going to blame the drink, but in saying what I did, I do realize you guys are trying to repair this thing and the kindness motivation is real. In my world we seemed to have lost any semblance of kindness, we have become too excessively individualistic. The pendulum has swung too far; far too far. Maybe we need to find kindness again before it's too late."

Fleur got her wish and shared an Uber with Stephen. Marlene was concerned as Fleur had drunk too much and she was in charge of Fleur's welfare and security. But Fleur could be strong willed and against her better instincts Marlene relented. Marlene had never been aware of Fleur's earlier tete-a-tete with Stephen so had no cause to imagine there might be contractual problems.

Stephen sensed that Fleur badly wanted to talk to him so relented when she asked him in for a nightcap in her apartment. Settling into Fleur's lounge, she made them each hot chocolate with a dash of brandy.

"I felt sorry for you, Stephen, this evening, having to put up with all that, especially that woman Maria."

"Yeah, I wanted to tell them all to fuck off but then maybe it was all true and we..... I needed to hear it."

"Marlene looked shattered."

"Maria may have been a bit harsh but Marlene will get over it. She does not hold a grudge and knowing her she will see that Maria was talking a lot of sense. I suppose Marlene had never looked at it in the way Maria saw it.

Maria was right of course. We were wrapped up in the whole thing, never thinking of the consequences. We are stuck though. We will just have to see it though. God knows what I am going to do with Verity. I will give it a try; I do want to. I have these fears though. She may be a little gun shy after her Brad fantasy, then again maybe she is vulnerable to it all happening again with some other scum bag."

Fleur nodded wisely, "You can over think these things, and it's a risk, only a risk and we have to cope with risks every day."

"Do you know, she is actually really intelligent, I mean very intelligent and unfulfilled. She suffers from depression; I think that is a factor in it. She did have post-natal depression; this mental thing makes me a little afraid of her, I guess."

"You've got the strength and courage to get over that Stephen. May be fulfillment is the key."

"She wants to write; produce the great New Zealand novel."

"You think she can do it?"

"I think she can."

"Then encourage her."

Fleur turned the conversation to Brad.

"What about Brad? You must have hated the sod."

"Sure did, at times."

"You must have wanted revenge."

"Sure did. I got it, I destroyed him. I went to his sentencing, you know. I made sure he saw me. I had the biggest smirk on my face."

"Did you have something to do with his exposure?"

"Let's just say I took a great deal of satisfaction from a job well done."

"God, if it were me I would have paid some friend to knee cap him or something."

"You wouldn't really do that would you? I can't imagine you hiring a hitman."

"No, of course not but we all think these things. I'm no thug."

"Funny you should say that. I do have a mate, well a sort of mate, who is a gang leader. I met him when I was working on a building site in my Uni holidays. He was a steel fixer. Somebody tried to take him out, dropping a scaffolding pole onto him. It was someone from a rival gang. I saw it happening and tackled him out of the way. It nearly took me out as well. Needless to say the other guy disappeared and I had a friend for life. He turns up on some of my construction sites occasionally and we still have a beer together.

He is one mean guy. I thought of using him then I thought, nah. I'm better than that. It's too easy. The cowards way out to get someone to do your bidding. What can you do? Nobble him? Nah, that's just pain. Kill him? No, that's not me, no way. I could never live with myself. Everyone deserves a shot at redemption.

It struck me that if I was caught for that I would destroy my own life. Where's the satisfaction in that?

I have friends with more intelligence than that. He can be destroyed with integrity and he was. He got his comeuppance and a reasonable stretch to ponder it. He also gets a shot at redemption. I'm more than happy with the outcome.

Hey, you didn't get me in here to talk this shit. What's up with you, Fleur?"

"I have decided to go back to Marcus."

"Do you think he will have you?"

"I can only try. I'm going to get some psychiatric help. What Maria was talking about struck a chord for me too. As an actress I have difficulty separating real life from a role. I want to be flattered, I want the limelight but I want Marcus as well. I think I need Marcus. He is so much like you it is not funny. You've given me insight into how he must feel. Somehow I need to be more tolerant I don't know but I want to give it my best shot."

"You realize he is going to have the same problem as Verity with what he will have read in the press."

"I've thought of that, but I have you and Verity as an example, haven't I?"

"Well good luck to that. Tell you what, want a tip from worldly experience. Don't accept fantasy propositions from women's magazines."

"Got that."

*****

Stephen commenced his side of the plan the following day. He manufactured a reason to visit Charles' studio. Stephen was nervous knowing that Verity was well aware of the dinner the night before.

Stephen entered the studio and he immediately noticed that Verity knew he was there. He tracked through the room conscious that Verity was watching him so he deliberately passed her desk and as he did so he glanced at her and smiled; the reaction was what he dared to expect.

She smiled back. Old Asperger Verity smiled. Not only that, it was a dazzling smile; it was as though in one instance a glass wall had shattered between them.

Stephen was stuck for words. He found himself smiling back, a genuine grin. His mouth stumbled out, "you want a coffee?"

"OK!" and Verity was up out of her chair and Stephen followed her into the tea room.

"How was the dinner last night?"

"Ok, I missed you being there."

"Oh , I'm sorry, I just couldn't, I didn't really know Fleur; awkward you know."

The conversation turned to Hugo and Amos but there was lightness to the conversation that had not existed before. It seemed like the right words were being said by both of them.

Stephen thought, 'my smile did that?' It was as though a simple smile had unlocked the tension that had existed between them. Stephen did not want to labour the issue so he made an excuse to leave but he determined to come in every day that week.

The second morning, again he smiled. This time it was less forced and in no time there was a happy conversation. Verity announced that Fleur had contacted her saying she was sorry that Verity could not come to dinner and had invited her to tea. Verity was nervous about it but was chuffed at the invitation. She worried about what to wear. It seemed that Fleur's celebrity status and her direct approach to Verity had cancelled any suspicions that Verity had about a possible affair.