Title - Our Secret Garden

Author - Lil Aussie Alias Chick

Summary - Sydney and Vaughn are under the public eye and must hide their relationship, fame has a price, could it be the love of their lives? SV

Disclaimer - I do not own or are affiliated with Alias

Hi everyone, I know I still have some unfinished fics but this idea came to me and I don't think it's been done before. Thankyou to Gen who gave me the courage and support to write again, you are an amazing author. Genevra

"Syd, in position 3 is Cojo and Vanessa, we've promised ET an exclusive, so you need to talk about the rumours your dating Ben Affleck, how you think your movie's debut at Cannes will be and what your working on right now, plus the usual crap."

Syd nodded at her publicist Gen, the rundown was simple, repeat everything you've been saying on record for the past month, it was all standard and virtually painless except for that tool Ben who wouldn't take no for an answer.

She stepped out of the limo to a loud rousing applause, even after the amount of times she had experienced that very reception it still made her smile and still puzzled her, she wasn't any different to her fans, she just had a different occupation. No sooner had the applause started the celebrity reporters began their campaigns to gain her attention; it reminded her of a group of sharks smelling blood and launching at the source. Not that some of the reporters weren't good people just trying to do their jobs in a respectful manner; she had a soft spot for the ET crew so she often gave them exclusives.

"Hi Cojo, Vanessa," Syd didn't have to fake the sincerity

"Hey Sydney, wow you look great what are you wearing?" Vanessa said in a manner befitting a close friend.

Syd smiled, she loved the sexy red Valentino dress she was wearing, it accentuated her tiny waist and long legs while taking attention away from her less than impressive bust, "Valentino, isn't it gorgeous?"

"Loving it," Cojo replied, "Now Sydney are you solo tonight?"

"Single and loving it"

"So is there any truth to the rumours of you and Ben Affleck?" Cojo continued

Syd inwardly cringed, "No not at all, Ben and I are not involved in any way, the rumours are all false."

"You know Sydney, Ben has been reporting to all his friends that it's only a matter of time and this photo was been published in the New York Times today" Vanessa said showing Sydney a picture of herself and Ben engaged in a kiss.

Unable to hide her shock she gasped leaving her mouth slightly ajar before Gen grabbed the magazine, she heard her muttering under her breath. With her publicist concentrating on creating a hit list, Syd was left to create her own media friendly version of the kiss. The dreaded kiss was one of Ben's advances gone too far, the paparazzi managed to catch the kiss but not Sydney pushing him off, screaming at him and finally storming off. "Well that was actually a casting but the director realised we had no chemistry, which actually turned out great for me as there would be scheduling conflicts with a couple of my upcoming productions." She said as convincingly as she could.

"Syd, Directors have fawned over you saying how you are the perfect leading lady as you make your male counterparts feel so at ease that it's hard not to fall in love with you, how did this one not work?" Vanessa countered.

"I'm sorry but there will be no further questions." Gen said ushering Sydney away down the red carpet past all the waiting reporters.

Ignoring Gen's advice Sydney exited the theatre the front way, she had enjoyed the past 2 hours of George Clooney, it had given her a chance to go over tactics to combat the Ben situation. Stepping out onto the carpet she strutted confidently to the nearest reporter she could find, smiling knowingly she ended up in front of Nelson Aspen.

Obviously surprised at not only Sydney stopping to speak to him but her appearance on the carpet, he quickly composed himself and made the most of his good fortune. "Sydney how do you feel about the rumours of Ben Affleck telling friends that the two of you are dating?" he knew that he was stretching the truth slightly but it elicited the answer her wanted.

"Nelson, Ben Affleck and I are not dating nor have we ever been involved in any way despite what appears to be photojournalism. I don't date men who are in the public eye; it makes relationships too hard and too scrutinised. I wouldn't want to be another TomKat, I try and live my personal life outside the media but like Tom and Katie if I dated a fellow personality there would be no chance of that, you won't be seeing me with any celebrities anytime soon. Actors especially, I already get to kiss my fair share of actors," she said with a laugh. "Thanks Nelson, Bye" Smiling as she walked down the remaining carpet.

Michael Vaughn slipped into a chauffeured car without being noticed, thankful for small miracles he lowered himself below the window to avoid the photographers lying in wait for parting celebrities. He normally avoided these events, being an athlete he didn't need this type of publicity unlike the many actors he'd seen. He'd made an exception to see his best friend Eric Weiss's Indy Film and to visit his country of birth. He'd been forced by his publicist to make at least a couple of appearances during the festival, today was his first, he was most definitely not looking forward to the rest.
With the amount of media in town for the festival local knowledge was imperative for avoiding them, although not strictly a local of Cannes Michael had spent many holidays there visiting distant relatives, he smirked at the memory, he seemed to have family members all over France. Driving strictly by memory he reached the outskirts of the town, he couldn't believe the dramatic difference between where he'd been just minutes ago to the peaceful farm lands. Hopping out of the car he breathed in deeply capturing the pureness of the land, releasing the breath he started on his way to his mother's favourite part of the botanical Gardens.

It had been years since he had been in the garden; it was a recreation of the secret garden in the movie his mother loved so much. He walked over to the one of the bench's hidden from the entrance; he was a man who enjoyed the few snippets of privacy he got. He was mildly annoyed but more curious when a brunette stumbled into his haven and onto the swing.

Please Review, I haven't written in a long time so I need all the support I can get.

- Yani