Free Celebrity Bride by Alison Kervin

and grammatically perfect. 'Are you OK? Call me if you want to talk. Love Mandy.'
    'I guess I was naive,' I tell Rufus, and I guess I was. After all, I've been cutting pictures and articles about Rufus out of magazines since the day I met him. I, above everyone, should be well aware of how much publicity he gets.
    'I went to the hospital to visit Great-Aunt Maude,' I tell Rufus. 'That's when they must have seen me and thought I was going for a boob job.'
    'Listen. I don't want you to worry,' says Rufus in that calm way of his. It's OK for him; he's become immune to it over the years and he knows that his friends and family will know it's all made up. My mum read it and asked me whether my cup size had changed dramatically because she was planning on buying me a nightie for Christmas. 'Noooooo,' I said. 'It's all made up.'
    'Are you sure?' she asked, as if this was something I might have had done and then forgotten about.'
    'Yes, I'm sure. It's not true,' I said defiantly, but she wasn't having any of it.
    'It must be true; it says so – in the paper. Go and buy it. It's there in black and white.'
    Rufus can see I'm miles away; I'm mentally scanning through all the people who might have read the paper and establishing to what sort of conclusion they may have come. I'm forced out of my dreamlike state by the sound of Rufus's mobile.
    'Courty!' he shouts into the phone. 'How ya doing, buddy?' There's a pause during which Rufus smiles from ear to ear as he listens to his friend recounting a story of some kind.
    'Ha, ha, ha,' Rufus says in reply, his voice rising with every laugh. 'And you had it coming to you,' he adds, pointing abstractly at the wall as he does so. 'You had it coming, bud. Now, hold on, let me put you on loudspeaker so you can talk to Kelly . . . Can you still hear me?'
    'Sure can, buddy.'
    'Kelly, say hi to Mr Brad Court, one of my oldest friends.'
    'Hey, less of the "old", Tarzan,' says 'Courty', adding: 'Kelly, are you there?'
    'Hello,' I say nervously. 'Nice to talk to you.'
    'Hey, it's great to talk to you too,' he says. 'How's it going with old misery chops?'
    'Hey,' Rufus shouts, over my shoulder. 'Watch it.'
    'It's going OK actually,' I say. 'He hasn't introduced me to the world of baseball yet though; I understand you're a real fan.'
    'God, I love your accent,' he swoons. 'It's soooo sexy.'
    'Enough,' shouts Rufus over my shoulder, taking the phone. 'I need time alone with the accent now, so you, my friend, are history. Talk soon, buddy.'
    'Sure thing,' says Courty. 'Nice to talk to you, Kelly. If you're as hot as your accent then Rufus must be one hell of a —'
    Gone. Rufus cuts his friend off in his prime and tucks the phone back into his trouser pocket, looking over at me.
    'Courty's a really nice guy. He's a proper, decent, honest guy; he's like your friends Mandy and Sophie. People like that don't worry about what's in the paper. They know the real person behind the headlines and they take no notice. Don't worry too much about what the likes of Katie Joseph write. She's really not worth worrying about. Just concentrate on having a lovely time today, getting ready for the party tonight,' he says. 'Remember Elody's coming over to meet you at 3 pm. I'll be at a lunch, but she's eager to meet you before tonight.'
    'A lunch? Oh . . .' I hear myself saying. I've spent the past week nailed to my boyfriend's side; it feels odd that he's going out without me.
    'Yep. I have to; a work thing,' he says, before standing up and walking towards the door. 'It's about a new role and to firm up details for a promo tour. All very dull . . . but I have to go, sweets. Anyway, you'll have tons to do before the party tonight, won't you? I know what you girls are like.'
    Tonight – ah yes, the party I've been dreading since I arrived here a week ago. I secretly hoped that Rufus might want to cancel the party after the article in the paper this morning. 'We can't do the party now, dear, can we?' I say, before urging with