Loved In Pieces (30 page)

“Darling! You must get up!
” Franz woke me. “We need to get fab-u-lous.”

I woke up and extended my arms for him to hug me. He leaned over and pulled me out of bed, cradling me. “Happy birthday
,
Marie! I love you,
d
arling.”

I smiled as I stood up. “Love you, too, Franz. I’ve missed you every day.”

Rex hired
Franz
as his stylist and both
Mom
and I loved him.
He personally look
ed
over-the-top trendy
,
but he dresse
d
his clients perfectly. His clothes d
id
not flatter his own body because he
had
a false sense of self, but he kn
ew his client’s body
type
and chose
the most flattering clothes imaginable. I
asked
Franz
to
prepar
e
me for tonight
and
to select
the
clothes Manuel would
wear
.
My birthday party was a public event. I hoped Manuel could handle it. It was our first public date and I did not want him to feel scrutinized.
I emailed Franz Manuel’s sizes and he got Manuel something
casual but stylish
. I hoped Manuel wouldn’t feel stupid in the designer clothes.

I took a five
-
minute shower and put on my robe. Franz was ready for me in
M
om’s bathroom.
He started on my hair while I buffed my nails. When
he
finished with
my
hair, he was on to the
makeup
. I read a textbook. Franz finished before I f
inished reading
.

“I have just one more section to read. Is it ok
ay
?” I asked.

“Sure
,
darling! You look stunning as always.
You’re
a masterpiece. They say
you’re
the mode
rn day Mona Lisa
. It’
s such a pleasure to work on your exquisite canvas. Your features
allow such versatility!” Franz fiddled with my hair again.

“I see you in movies and in ads, but seeing you in person with
makeup
on just freaks me out,” Manuel interrupted. He had arrived and was standing in the doorway looking confused and pissed, actually.
With little warmth in his voice, Manuel added,
“Hi
,
Franz.”

I laughed, trying to lighten his mood. “
You’re
dating a celebrity. Sorry.” It didn’t work. Manuel’s face was sullen.

“Right on time,
” Franz announced, clearly annoyed. He expected a glowing compliment from Manuel, not
the
torch of brooding energy emanating from Manuel’s being. “Please get into your clothes. I put them in Marie’s
closet
.”

“What clothes?”

Manuel c
ould
be so clueless. His negativ
ity
was still searing the room. I explained, “I bought yo
u some clothes for tonight. It’
s going to be hard enough for you to see yourself online and in the tabloids. Are you sure you want to come tonight? I want to show you off but won’t be hurt if you bail.”

“Oh, right.
Of course I’m coming, Marie.
” He left to get dressed. Franz and I raised our eyebrows to communicate the apprehension we
experienced
. Within seconds
after Manuel left
, we felt lighter.

Franz added, “Darling, yours are here.” He pointed to
Mom
’s walk in closet. “You only need Spanx. The bra is built in. I’ll zip you up.”

I changed into a very sexy dress. It was a fitted wool jersey scarlet cocktail dress. It was short to show off my legs and had a deep V-neck to show off my natural breasts. The hem was lined with blue and purple sequins. It fit perfectly and was quite comfortable. The beautiful shoes were an open-toed red leather with a purple
stiletto
heel. I was going to struggle with them and
would put them on at the last possible moment. Bummer.

“I love the dress, Franz. You’
re amazing. Thank you!”

“
You’re
eighteen now so you c
an finally show off your
so very
sexy
assets
.”

Franz zipped me. He twirled me in my bare feet. We did a salsa, a little shuffle. I kissed his cheek. He beamed with pride, smiling appraisingly.

Manuel was in the doorway, clearing his throat.

Franz looked pissed and sulked to clean up his artist’s tools.

“I think you look
hot
!
” I said to Manuel. He was wearing a black stretch knit fitted cotton tee that showed off his strong chest and biceps and dark jeans with a handsome belt. The belt had an interesting buckle that was mostly covered by the hem of the tee. His chest looked bigger than normal and his waist looked thinner. The jeans looked perfect
but had some bling on them, which I knew he hated
. The shoes were nice, too. He looked sexy. Wow, I thought to myself. A tingle ran down my spine.

“Thanks,” he grumbled.

Franz looked at me, afraid to point out that Manuel needed some more work. “The hair? Could I?”

“Oh, of course, Franz. Thanks.
” I answered. I pointed to the chair and looked at Manuel. “
Manuel, please sit here. Franz will only take a minute.”

“What? No.” Manuel did not budge from where he stood. Now the torch
discharged
hostility. Poor Franz.

“Manuel, be good. This will only take a minute and it won’t kill you. Please, for me, for your mom’s scrapbook.”

“Fine,
”
Manuel
pouted and slammed his body down into the chair. Franz and I ignored
his little temper tantrum. I put on my jewelry and shoes.

Franz wet Manuel’s hair, put some gel in it, plucked
his
eyebrows, dusted his face and was done within five minutes. Manuel was
agitated
the whole time and his body was tense.

“Thank you, Franz! Manuel, you look great.”

Manuel did not look at himself in the mirror and stormed out of the bathroom. I shrugged an apology to Franz and kissed his cheek.
Then I followed Manuel
into the kitchen
.

“Manuel, why the hostility? You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do. It’
s your birthday.”

“No. I’d rather not go with you if
you’re
going t
o be pissed the whole time. It’
s hard enough for me to go in the first place since I get so nervous.
Seriously, Manuel, what’
s wrong?”

He sighed,
“I’m just not sure about your birthday present and got into an argument with my mom. She thinks my dad and I ganged up on her. It
’s
just…” He shook his head. “This day isn’t going well.”

“It
’
s okay if you bail. I’ll
come home
right after they sing me Happy Birthday and cut the cake
and then we can celebrate my birthday together
.”

“No. Jus
t stop going on about it, Marie!
” He immediately apologized. “I’m sorry.
I’m your boyfri
end and am coming to your party. I love you.
”

Franz was coming to my party, too, so we left when he was ready.
I figured Manuel made his choice and I would not take on any responsibility for his brooding.
Holding hands, but not speaking to
each other, Manuel and I walked with Franz
outside to the waiting
limo
.

“
W
here’
s my driver, Sashi?” I asked the driver. I needed to be sure he was legitimate.

The driver responded in broken English,
“He’
s sorry he could not make it. He left you this note.”

The note said, “Happy 18
th
birthday,
Liana
Marie. I’ve seen many of your birthdays and am sorry to miss this one. Please don’t offer anyone a ride with you. Be safe. I
took vacation and
will drive you soon.
—
Sashi.”

I looked at my texts from Sage and confirmed that Sashi would not be driving me.

We all
got into the limo and the new driver closed the door behind us.
The trip to Malibu was quiet.
Franz tried to fill the silence with ideas for what I’d wear to my summer awards shows.
Manuel had his arm around me and kissed me several times
but
I could tell that he didn’t want to look at me since I looked so different from the girl he loved
. T
hat the same girl was me
,
but I was
also
Marie Michael, the actor, or more accurately, I was Muse.

The first part of the party was at my favorite sushi restaurant off the PCH in Malibu. It
wa
s in a small strip mall with a grocery store anchor. I love
d
their black cod with miso, sea bass wrapped in bacon, and shrimp tempura sushi with filet mignon on the top. It was a
small
place so I only invite
d
forty
people for an intimate dinner. In planning the event, this
was the part of the night to which I looked forward
. Everyone there was special to me. I stayed in the same seat throughout the dinner and sat between Manuel and
Mom
who flew down for my birthday
.
She floored me when she gave me the title to our house on Flathead Lake in Montana. I loved going to our lake house, and it was now mine.

M
y guests moved about the room so that everyone had a chance to chat with me
and meet Manuel
. The music was low, so I didn’t have to yell or struggle to hear the conversation. It was perfect.

Next was the main birthday event. In the same shopping center, we transformed a large, empty retail space into a hot dance party. The birthday party was more of a Muse promotion than anything else. I recognized some of the set’s props in the decorations. We invited close to
four
hundred people and the press, of course.

Manuel did great the whole night. I introduced him to everyone and never left his side. He smiled but was definitely out of his element. He still had a hard time looking at me and mostly looked at my
chest
when he did look at me.
B
eing with Manuel made the night
much better than any event
I had gone to alone.

The party planner took me from Manuel to the center of the room for me to receive my birthday cake and blow out the candles. The cake was a several
-
tiered light pink fondant with white bows. The number “18” was on the ribbon of the bow. It was a beautiful cake. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and then I blew out the candles to a rushing sound of camera clicks. I smiled for the cameras and thanked everyone for celebrating with me.

I slowly made my way back to Manuel. He had not left the place from where he was standing with me before the cake presentation.

“You ready to go?” I asked Manuel.

We could barely hear each other even though we were right next to one another. He practically yelled,
“Can we do that? It’s your party?”

I
took his hand and headed toward the front door. The music was not as loud there. I
responded,
“Exactly. It’s my party and I can do whatever I want.”

He questioned,
“But shouldn’t you stay? Do you want a piece of your cake?”

I said
,
“I can’t eat cake. But you can get
a piece
if you’d like.”

“I’d rather go
,
but I don’t understand why you want to leave your own party. I can see that
you’re
having an
amazing
time.”

I look
ed at him and shook my head
.
I always le
ft
these parties early because I d
idn
’t like them. I
was
uncomfortable, hiding my nervousness. But he
watched
me and had decided that I
was having a great time. I
was
an actor
.
S
elf-promotion was
the
key to getting a good role, key to success, and a very important
, integral
part of th
e
business.
Even though I was free from some contracts, I was bound to Muse. I had a responsibility to enjoy my own party.