One Night Stands & fiancées

This is a long chapter and I thought about cutting it down but a lot of history is given through Rose's mind and I wanted everyone to sort of get a feel for how I see a more mature Emmett. No worries Emmett will be fun

-Octoberangyl

Chapter 4

Mr. McCarty meet Mrs. McCarty

So here I stand. I am in Emmett J. McCarty's office at McCarty industries. His lovely secretary Tanya had let me in and said that he would be back in about 15 minutes from his meeting. She was nice enough; I bet he shags her like Royce shags his secretary. Men are pigs.

The pictures that lined the shelves in his office were shocking, many of them were of his sister Emmy, she was a famous model but most of the images of her in his office were obviously personal photos. I picked up a family portrait of the McCarty's and could remember a time when I didn't loath Emmett, Emmy and I were still speaking to one another, at one time she and I had been really good friends, but after what happened with Claire it was a dividing line. She sided with her brother or I guess when I distanced myself from Emmett I had distanced myself from her as well. She barely tried to speak to me since I started to give Emmett the cold shoulder. The McCarty family built every hotel my father owned while another branch in the company dealt with the interiors, at one time in my life I had wanted to work with them but instead I took a job in an art gallery.

I heard the door open and turned to see Emmett entering, he had a confused look on his face and upon turning to face him I heard him sigh audibly after he looked my body up and down.

"What?" I asked confused as to why he was sighing as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He shut the door completely and took steps towards me. "To be honest when I heard you were here the first thought I had was that you were pregnant, obviously you are not. So forgive my appearance of checking you out"

I could tell by looking at him that he was just as uncomfortable being around me as I was around him. That morning we had simply yelled at one another for an hour before I had finally found all my clothes and returned to my room. The only agreement we had was that we would not tell a soul and act like nothing happened. I had seen him a handful of times the remainder of the cruise but we avoided each other well.

"Oh god no! Wow I am most certainly not. You are forgiven, I guess after 3 months I can understand you jumping to that conclusion" I laughed nervously. I hadn't even feared that after that night, I had simply gone on and not realized the blessings my periods had been since the trip.

"Ok well that's out of the way. Um what can I do you for?" my eyes grew wide and his followed, "I mean what did you want?"

I had to give him props; he always looked like a moron. I had never met a guy with his body and brains most were morons who thought of nothing but working out and sex. "Yeah I ugh, don't really know how to say this" I stuttered taking the glass of clear liquid he had given me. Vodka thank god, I needed this to calm myself.

"Well it can't be too bad, I mean you're not pregnant so just spit it out" he laughed. He really seemed to be calm, I was about to blow his mind.

"Oh you'd be surprised" I said nervously before downing the rest of my glass.

He sipped his again and raised an eyebrow at me before his eyes bugged out "Whoa did you possibly pass on an STD to me from your man whore fiancé?" he exclaimed, suddenly looking terrified.



My eyes popped out when he said STD, but when he added Royce to the mix I wasn't really surprised at his reaction, Emmett knew Royce, and he had been the one to tell me to stay away from him, which was nice of him considering I was being a total bitch to him about Claire. "NO NO"

He let out a relieved sigh and then chuckled nervously, "Ok, wow. Um so what then Rose?"

I took a deep breath and held my glass out to him. He refilled it and preparing himself for some scary news he couldn't even imagine he topped his glass off. "I'm on edge here, I mean not STD's not a baby, what the hell else is there?" he asked after I remained silent.

"We're married" I spat out fast. It sort of ran together and I could tell he didn't understand me due to the furrowing of his eyebrows.

"Come again?" he asked.

I couldn't bring myself to say it again and instead I pulled the piece of paper out of my purse just as his desk top intercom buzzed and Tanya's voice echoed through the room.

"Emmett your mother is on the line"

Emmett was staring at the paper however, his mouth wide. He looked at the speaker and pushed a button. "Tell her I'll have to call her back please"

"Will do" Tanya's voice responded.

I watched as Emmett took in all the information on the paper. He was now partially sitting on his desk. He quickly downed his drink and slammed it onto the desk. His silence was painful, I suppose he did better than me, I passed out.

He opened his mouth to speak but when he looked at my scared face he stopped and looked back at the paper before grabbing the bridge of his nose. "We didn't wake up with rings, I mean after that night my cousin suggested this scenario but we didn't wake up with rings on" he said, his eyes were still downcast his hand covering most of his face. "We didn't wake up with rings" he said again looking at me, he looked as desperate for information as I was about that night.

"I know Alice asked me and I said no rings, I mean just my engagement ring but don't they like supply tin things for spur of the moment stuff" I said falling onto the love seat in his office. It wasn't that comfortable, Royce's sofa was extremely comfortable.

"Alice?" he asked. "I thought we weren't going to tell anyone"

I quickly glared at him, "Obviously you told someone, everyone I told kept their mouths shut, as for Alice she is my wedding coordinator and surprise surprise with me when I found out" I said standing to punch a finger in his chest. "So don't give me crap about telling someone"

He raised his hands up in surrender. "My father is going to kill me" he simply said.

"Your father is going to kill you. Emmett my father is going to slaughter me and then send me off to a convent! I'm supposed to be getting married in a month!" I shouted, how dare he worry about what his father thought. He didn't have to tell them, I did. "You can get a quiet annulment I have to explain why I need to push this wedding off again"

Emmett did a double take of my face; the quick movement of his neck had to of hurt him. "Whoa why are you still marrying him, I saw your loving fiancé at the Green Tavern last week with Lauren Mallory"

I growled and sat back down. "I have no choice on the matter; I will have nothing if I don't marry him. Even you should know I'm not dumb enough to marry Royce without being aware of his side ventures" I couldn't believe Emmett thought that little of me. "I'm no dumb blonde!" I shouted the last part.

"I know, I never said you were dumb but I figured you smart enough to get out of marrying that slime. Don't your parents know about his reputation?" he asked coming to sit beside me and refill my glass I didn't even remember finishing it.

"Oh please he's sewing his wild oats!" I impersonated my father.

"Fuck" was the only word Emmett could muster.



"I mean what the hell am I supposed to do?" I asked. I really didn't know why I was asking Emmett for advice but I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"This is really shitty timing for an annulment, for both our families" he sighed leaning his head back onto the couch back.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. I knew why this was bad for mine, but not for his.

"Oh we just broke ground on hotels in Dubai and Egypt" he mumbled. "Fuck"

"Please think of something else to say besides fuck Emmett I know you have a brain use it" I scolded. His head shot back up and he glared at me.

"Forgive me but I have a company to be concerned about, my own reputation to think of while all you have is your socialite reputation to consider. Think about someone other than yourself for crying out loud Rosalie" he chided.

"Excuse me! I have a reputation to uphold as well, so fuck you Emmett" I shouted in his face.

We stared one another down for a few seconds. "Ok so what then?"

I rested my head in my hands again. "I don't know, I mean every solution my friends come up with all points to just postponing the inevitable" I groaned, I could feel the tears welling in my eyes.

"What inevitable?" he asked sympathetically.

"Marrying Royce, no matter how I spin this it all ends the same, just months later" I was crying now. I didn't want to marry Royce; I would sell my soul to the devil to be able to stand him up at the altar.

"So you really do hate him?" he said rubbing my shoulder. I only nodded my head. "More than me?" he asked after a moment. I nodded again and sobbed.

"I don't hate you, I never have, I just hated what you did" I explained.

"What did I do exactly, all I remember is one day you were talking to me like a human being and the next you were glaring at me, making fun of me and cutting me down at every turn" Emmett asked confused. I looked up at him to see he looked a little angry now.

"You treated Claire like trash" I stuttered. Wow this was not why I came here.

"How so? She dumped me!" he shouted slapping his chest to further punctuate that he was the one dumped.

"Gee I wonder why Mr. Let's have sex, sex, and oh did I mention sex with a little verbal abuse tossed in for some flavor" I shouted right back at him. By now our noses were inches apart and he looked like he was about to explode. How had we gone so quickly from freaking out to yelling at one another, fuming?

"Excuse me!" Emmett shouted gripping my wrist; I guess I had been unconsciously poking him hard in the chest with my finger.

"Let go!" I seethed through clenched teeth.

"Look I don't know where you got the idea that I ever spoke down to Claire, but you are dead wrong" he said releasing my wrist only to have back me up against the wall. With every step he had taken towards me, I had taken one away from him. He was big and likely 100 muscle you would have counter stepped as well.

"Gee I dunno Emmett, maybe from a reliable source" I quipped sarcastically but instantly frowned when my backside came in contact with the wall, or bookshelf I wasn't sure.

"Oh really. I never spoke down to Claire. Claire and I had an agreement and though I shouldn't have to tell you what I'm sure Claire made clear to you, fuck buddies. We never dated. We never celebrated an anniversary. We only called upon one another for sex or sexual favors" I could feel every inch of Emmett McCarty, crushing me against the wall which I was now sure was a bookcase. I could feel at least 4 shelves digging into my thighs, lower back, shoulder blades, and head. It was hard to meet someone's eyes when you were limited on motor functions and air.



It took every ounce of strength I had to lift my hands from my sides to push against him. This was entirely too painful. Before I could even push the slightest bit I glanced up at him and felt a sharp pain in my head. The whimper that fell from my lips seemed to translate enough and before my hands could make contact with his chest I was no longer pinned. He had taken a few long strides back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… are you ok? I'll get you some water…" he was stumbling over his words, remorse was evident on his features and I could tell by the scared tone of his voice that he really was remorseful.

I stepped away from the shelf and rested a hand on the back of my head, this was partially my fault, if I hadn't been in such a hurry to shout at him I would not have tilted my head fast enough to scratch it like I had. Of course most my discomfort had been caused by the clip holding back half of my hair.

Before I could even process he'd moved again my hair was free from the clip and Emmett seemed to be examining my hair or head. I would have swatted him away but for some reason his closeness and the soft caresses of his large hands made my stomach flutter. I rested my free hand on my abdomen while my other one fell from the back of my head to my lips.

"Sorry did I hurt you? Again?" the last question was thrown in as an afterthought I was sure but I shook my head.

"No I just slammed the clip into my head" well obviously he had figured that one out, possibly why he'd taken the thing out before I could.

"Shit I thought I jostled you and that was how you smacked your head" he said grazing the tender flesh below my hair.

I hissed sharply as he brushed over the indentions left by my clip and quickly threw a hand up and my head forward only to have my wrist caught and then I felt his arm wrap around my waist, my backside flushed once more with him.

"Whoa, steady now" I heard him whisper just above my ear.

Had I been swaying? I did feel a little light headed but I assumed it was from the pain.

"Here sit" he said leading me from behind to the uncomfortable love seat.

"Fuck buddies?" I said once I was seated. I was now looking up at him confused.

He seemed surprised that I was finally responding to his earlier confession but then he looked at me, I didn't quite understand the look.

"That is what I said"

Ok now I knew the look. The are you stupid one.

"She was in love with you" I said feeling a touch desperate.

"Well if she was in love with me than she never said anything. I told her I thought we should cut back because Dana showed interest in me and Claire agreed. When Dana and I didn't work out Claire and I went back to what we had and then Claire ended it, no reason. I mean she didn't give me any, but fuck buddies don't really need a reason" he sighed sitting beside me.

"But she was always at your apartment, spending the night, fuck buddies don't sleep together?" I struggled for some reason, "Do they?" I asked after a moment. I really knew nothing of the topic.

He seemed amused. "Well generally no, Claire never spent an entire night with me, it was seriously badda bing badda boom" he chuckled, his whole face was red.

My skin was flushed I could tell, I was discussing sex with Emmett, again way off topic from my reason for being here. "Did you really just say that?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

He shrugged and chuckled with me. After a few moments of dissipating laughter he finally spoke, his tone was serious. "Did she tell you we were a couple?"

I looked up at him and nodded. I hadn't talked to Claire in over a year until after the cruise, I had called her for some reason or another, I don't know possibly to panic, or to get reassurance that Emmett was the villain. Perhaps I should have told her what happened.



"Wow" was all he said before standing back up.

"Please stop moving around so much its making me nauseas" I said closing my eyes. He had stood up pretty fast and I really shouldn't have felt sick but I did.

"Sorry" he said quickly sitting back down. I only knew he had because I felt the cushion move when he reclaimed his seat beside me. "It's just I don't know why she would say that, the whole fuck buddy thing was her idea"

"Maybe she was hoping you'd ask her out" I said turning my head slowly to glance at him.

BINGO! Claire was always first to whine when things didn't go her way, she was never really straightforward about anything, so it is possible that she slept with him and decided one day he would see her as more.

"No she called it off because she found out I knew about the other guys"

"Other guys?" I asked confused.

"Yeah she apparently had that same arrangement with a few guys, Royce included" he finished.

I visibly blanched at the sound of his name. Royce and Claire? How had I missed that?

"You didn't know about them?" it was a question and judging by the look on his face he actually felt bad for being the bearer or bad news.

"No, I mean I just never thought Claire would have gone for Royce" I said in shock. Claire hated Royce, she complained all the time about him, even told me I was a moron. She distanced herself from me… then it hit me. If she had done what she had to Emmett, then maybe she wanted more from Royce and now hated me because he wouldn't settle for her.

"I told you to stay away from him" Emmett sighed. "Claire and Royce were screwing for years apparently"

I didn't know what to say about that. Claire and I had been close all through college and I never thought she would fall for Royce's load of bull like I had. She knew how unhappy I was with him and why I continued to date him. If it weren't for our parents I would have dropped him quickly, but I couldn't do that to my parents, the people who raised me and kept me in the life to which I had grown up in. I never had to look at a price tag my entire life and ask myself if I really needed to spend the money. I needed Royce, if I didn't marry him it was made quite clear, albeit not in these exact terms, that if I did not marry into another family of our class and financial standing I would lose everything. The only things I know how to do are things that go with my life, planning functions, being a hostess, learning from my mother what is expected of a good little wife. One would think we still lived in the olden days where marriage was forever, and in our world it was forever. My marriage to Royce would start and end with one stack of paper. The pre-nup stating I got squat in a divorce, even if I did not file for divorce I was screwed. I was also under contract to produce a male heir within 5 years and I was also expected to become pregnant within the first year of marriage. So archaic, maybe the King's should have produced more children and saved me from my fate of being the woman to carry on the bloodline. Just because every King for the last 100 years had produced a single male heir didn't mean I would. Both my parents came from families of mostly girls.

"Rose?" Emmett called pulling me from my thoughts, if only he knew what all was expected of me. I was willing to bet that Emmett's parents did not set their standards so high. They let Emmy become a model and forgo a true degree in college to jet off all over the world and pose in skimpy clothes and she has done so without sullying her family with scandal. Oh wait I was about to do that for them.
"Alice had an idea" I said before fully thinking this out.

"What kind of idea?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

"The kind of idea that could go two ways, pissing off our families even more than they would be if we just got a quickie annulment and didn't tell them, well at least not your parents, save them the 

embarrassment, but…" I was rambling and Emmett seemed to already have thoughts on this, wait until I was finished I am sure he'd have loads to say.

"I'd have to tell them, proper channels to keep it confidential and not hurt the company, yadda yadda yadda" he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah well, I mean… well then I guess both ways will go… oh god maybe I should just spit out her idea and let you point out all the issues" I sighed putting my head back in my hand.

"Yeah spit it out and we'll iron the whole thing out over dinner, I can't cancel my next meeting" he said with a smile.

"Yeah well maybe I should just wait till dinner to even say it, if you feel anything like I do about this idea of Alice's than you could be very distracted in your meeting" I sighed still not looking at him.

"Nah just spit it out otherwise I will be going through some pretty horrible scenarios the rest of the day" he sighed.

"Fine. So here it goes, and the only reason I'm even mentioning this is because Alice insisted I at least bring it up" when he began nodding his head and urging me to get on with it with his hands I resituated my position on the love seat. "We lie and say we've been secretly seeing one another for months, that the cruise was a ploy to spend some time together away from prying eyes of our home area, you proposed and we got married deciding to just deal with our families upon our return" he still looked calm so I continued. "Anyways we waited till now to say anything because I wanted another shot at getting my parents to reconsider Royce so at least we wouldn't have to deal with him" I finished, I looked to him to see an amused smile on his lips.

"Wow, Alice is thorough" he chuckled.

"Yeah well since meeting Royce she doesn't care for him either. She insists that any alternative would be better and even told me I should consider a torrid affair with the pool boy and not be at all discrete about it" I groaned, Leo was gay and the thought of pretending to be attracted to his over the top, cliché gayness just made me feel sick. How was that supposed to work?

"Isn't he gay?" Emmett seemed to remember Leo; of course I'm sure Leo hit on him.

"Yes, then she told me I should just lie and say I'm pregnant with some one night stands baby. I pointed out my parents would thoroughly look into that one before even breathing a word to Royce or his parents" I was really beginning to feel stupid and desperate. I still couldn't believe Emmett and I were getting along, especially with the present circumstances surrounding us.

"Ok well, my place at 8 and we can talk about the plethora of choices surrounding our predicament" he grinned.

"Wait how do I explain where I'm going?" I asked knowing my mother would already be questioning my absence from her luncheon.

"Just tell them you are eating with your husband. I'm sure they'll understand" he said in a serious voice before chuckling at the look on my face, "Lie, get Alice to cover for you, she sounds crafty"