Chapter 11: Lucky Livie

Olivia Fahringer had no idea how long it took to prepare for one evening out in the public eye. Maybe a normal night out would not take quite this long, but she had spent the past seven hours being massaged, manicured, exfoliated, moisturized and glamorized. Luckily Kathy had been with her through all of it and therefore, she had been thoroughly entertained with Kathy’s chattiness. Once she was dressed, the two attendants who had been assisting her finally allowed Olivia to look in a three paneled full length mirror to study the result of their day’s work.

“Absolutely spectacular!” Kathy cooed, standing next to Olivia in a vintage black dress that made her idiosyncratic hair look even pinker somehow.

“Thank you,” Olivia smiled unconsciously, feeling like a princess in her gorgeous Carolina Herrera original dress.

Josef entered the room just out of Olivia’s line of sight and he quietly studied her happy face and fantastically adorned figure for several long moments. Her dark hair hung softly around her shoulders in smooth, loose curls reaching below her shoulders. Her lips were painted in the same saturated deep shade of crimson hued gloss as her ultra flattering dress. Staring at her stunning beauty made Josef feel like the proudest man alive.

“Exquisite,” he whispered just loud enough for Olivia to hear. She turned toward the sound of Josef’s voice and felt her stomach flip as he approached her looking undeniably desirable in a black Armani suit with a crisp white shirt underneath accentuated by a black skinny tie. His hair was perfectly tousled and his mahogany eyes mesmerized her as he took Olivia into his arms and gave her a fervent kiss. Everyone else in the room had tactfully disappeared upon his arrival, unbeknownst to Olivia.

“You’re so handsome,” Olivia smiled up at Josef when their kiss had ended.

“Thank you,” Josef returned her smile and kissed her again. “You are so stunning, my Liv-a-Liv, that I want to skip the premiere and take you home to ravish you. What do you say?”

“Hey, where did Kathy go?” Olivia ignored Josef’s sexual overture, though it had her grinning from ear to ear.

“She left to go to the premiere.”

“I thought she was coming with us.”

“No, she’ll arrive separately with her husband. It’s just you and me.” Josef grabbed Olivia’s hand. “Are you ready? The limo is waiting for us when you are.”

“Yes, I’m ready,” Olivia said the words aloud, but in her mind she was more nervous than she would ever let Josef know. She wasn’t only nervous for the obvious reasons of being in the spotlight, but she was also nervous because she hadn’t been a back to a movie theater since she first went with Josef about a month ago. Olivia entered the stretch limousine followed by Josef and although there were plenty of seating choices, they chose to sit next to each other.

“So,” Olivia asked as the vehicle smoothly glided forward, “when you’re being interviewed, should I hang back or stand next to you?”

“Well, you should do whatever you’re most naturally comfortable with. I’d like for you to be by my side, but I don’t want to force you since it’s not a big deal either way.” Josef paused for a moment and continued, “There will not be as many media interviews as there would be if this were the Academy Awards or the Grammy’s. Movie premieres have more fans who turn out than anything, so just be natural.”

“Who are those guys on motorcycles? Are they your body guards or something?” Olivia inquired, noticing three cyclists following the limo closely.

“No, they’re paparazzi. Didn’t you see them snapping photos of us as we exited the spa?”

“No, I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah, they wanted to get the first pictures of me out in public with my mystery girlfriend,” Josef laughed. He placed his arm around her shoulder and caressed her bare arm. “I missed you.”

“Me too,” Olivia sighed. She hadn’t seen Josef in nearly a week and it had felt excruciatingly long. What was even more daunting than that was the fact that they would be together this weekend, but then he would be leaving for pre-production in San Francisco.

At his prompting, Olivia filled Josef in on some school projects she had to work on this upcoming week and some tests she had just completed. Josef began to fill her in on some of the people she would be meeting that evening and before they knew it, their limousine was in line behind a few others waiting to pull up at the start of the red carpet. Both of them began to look at their reflections in the drop down mirrors, making sure they were camera ready.

“Tell me what you think of my on camera smile,” Olivia commanded. Josef looked at her and she was making the goofiest facial expression he had seen anyone make and he began to laugh musically, feeling his jitters melt completely away. He had been to events like this before, but he always got a little anxious just beforehand.

He reached over and gave Olivia a quick peck on the lips. “If you smile like that, the whole world will fall in love with you.”

“Okay, I will,” Olivia teased. She reached out and brushed away a smudge of lipstick she had left on Josef’s lips and quickly reapplied more gloss.

“You’re so beautiful,” Josef whispered in Olivia’s ear as he climbed over her to exit the limo when it was his turn. He got out and stood there, holding his hand out for Olivia to step onto the red carpet.

As soon as her strappy shoe made contact with the ground, Olivia saw abrupt flashes of light from every direction. When she was standing next to Josef, arms linked, and they took their first step forward together, the crowd erupted in very audible murmurs. They both had wide smiles stretching from ear to ear, looking like the perfect celebrity couple.

“Josef, over here!” A peppy blonde with an E! microphone in one hand and a video camera to her side waved him over.

“J.M! This way!” Another interviewer called. Josef began to make his way over to the girl who had first called him, holding Olivia’s hand tightly while she stayed closely by his side. Olivia was amazed at the thousands of Parker Owens fans who had turned out just to watch people arriving at the premiere. They were barricaded behind metal dividers, many reaching over with note pads or pictures hoping for autographs.

“Here we are with Josef Mercutio who just arrived here at the Parker Owens 4 world premiere. How are you this evening?” The reporter held her microphone out toward Josef’s mouth.

“I’m doing very well, I’m excited to be here, Julie,” Josef replied, having interviewed with Julie before.

“Well you look absolutely fabulous. Who are you wearing?”

“Armani.”

“You can never go wrong with Armani, can you?” Julie laughed and angled toward Olivia. “And is this your mystery girl?”

“Yes,” Josef tightened his grip on Olivia, placing his arm around her waist, “this is my girlfriend, Olivia.”

“Olivia, it’s great to have a name to go along with the face,” Julie quipped. “And who are you wearing?”

“Carolina Herrera,” Olivia said meekly, her throat slightly dry.

“You’re dazzling!” Julie complimented. “Now, tell us Josef, what can Parker Owens fans look forward to seeing in the latest installment?”

“I think the fourth film is the best so far, Julie. The fans can look forward to lots of action; there will be some more mature and essential elements incorporated since Parker is getting older. Like the other three films it coincides closely with the book.”

“Thank you so much for your time Josef!” Julie said graciously as Josef steered Olivia over toward another interviewer with a large camera.

“J.M.!” The reporter waved. “I’m Annabelle Carson with People Magazine. Who are you wearing?”

They went through a nearly identical interview with Annabelle as they had with Julie. Olivia hadn’t even noticed the other celebrities swarming around them, but as she stood there while Josef began signing dozens of fan requested autographs she recognized Hannah Jeffries and Noah Finn, who were Josef’s co-stars in the Parker Owens movies. Hannah caught Olivia’s eye for a moment and she smiled politely, but didn’t make a move in their direction.

“What’s your girlfriend’s name?” A rabid fan screamed to Josef.

“Olivia!” Josef called loudly.

“Olivia! Over here! Can I have your autograph?” Several fans began to jump up and down, waving pens and note pads. Olivia was a bit surprised and Josef smiled at her and nodded, letting her know that she should sign if she felt comfortable.

She grinned at the fans who were yelling random compliments, such as “You look so pretty!”, “I love your hair!”, “Nice dress!” and “You’re so lucky!” She had unconsciously signed her name Livie instead of Olivia, since in most of her classes she went by her nick name and therefore signed her papers that way. She heard a group of girls begin to call her “Lucky Livie” over and over again. She couldn’t help but laugh, because for a different reason than the average fan, Olivia really did feel very lucky.

Josef signed countless more photos and notepads before it was time to go inside and take their seats. He took Olivia’s hand and began to lead the way, inquisitively whispering in her ear, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Olivia responded cheerily.

She made it through the entire movie without a noticeable panic attack; however, just like the last movie she saw, she couldn’t recall a word of it. Not even having Josef’s gorgeous face on the screen helped her to concentrate entirely. She felt embarrassed when Josef leaned over at the end and asked her what she thought of it.

Olivia gave him a guilty smile in response and he laughed. “I don’t like watching myself on screen, so I tuned out a lot of it too. Come on, we have to go find your roommates since they’ll be riding in our limo to the after party.”

Josef scanned the section Rebecca and Sarah should be in and once he locked eye contact with Sarah, he waved them down. All of them, including Rebecca’s friend Ave and Sarah’s boyfriend, whose name happened to be Joey, piled into the back of the spacious limousine and rode the short distance to the after party. The four who had actually paid attention to the film couldn’t stop saying how incredibly fantastic it was.

Exiting the limo at the after party was less nerve racking for Olivia than before because there were no visible reporters and no cavalcades of screaming fans either. Once inside, Josef began to introduce Olivia to the other cast members and she discovered that Hannah Jeffries and Noah Finn were really warm and welcoming. Thankfully, neither one had asked Olivia what she thought of the movie.

Josef’s sister and mother were also in attendance, but Olivia noticed they were not hanging out together. She wondered if Amy and her mother got along well since it seemed that their personalities were almost opposite.

“Joey-baby!” A large, tall man with thinning brown curly hair enveloped Josef into a bear hug lifting him about two inches off the ground. Josef slapped his back and grinned. “You did an excellent job, Josef. The movie was as good as I knew it would be and your acting job was even better than that!”

“Dan Murphy,” Josef couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke, “I’d like you to meet my girlfriend Olivia Fahringer. Olivia, this is my agent and sometimes friend Dan Murphy.”

“Nice to meet you, Livie-baby! They’re already calling you ‘Lucky-Livie!’ I heard about it on the drive over here after the movie.” Dan shook Olivia’s hand but he kept talking before Olivia could greet him. “I’m telling you, Joey-baby, this girl is good for your image. Don’t mess it up.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m with her, Dan. She’s really great for my image,” Josef said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care why you’re with her, but I’m telling you to keep her around!” Dan boomed with laughter and excused himself to go and speak with the director.

“He’s a ball of energy, isn’t he?” Olivia laughed.

“Yeah,” Josef nodded, “I think he has ADD or something.”

“Well, I need to use the ladies room, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course. I’ll be over with Amy when you’re done.” Josef kissed her cheek and Olivia left. She made her way into the large bathroom and was surprised that it was empty except for her. That almost never happens. She picked the first stall and it took her a longer time than usual because she had to be careful of her dress with its full skirt. She stopped all of her whooshing around when she heard a familiar voice.

“Miranda,” Maura McNamara’s tone was dripping with anger, “I’m warning you to stay away from Josef.”

“And just how are you going to stop me?” Miranda looked cheekily upon Maura and laughed evilly. “We’re going to be in San Francisco together next week.”

“Yes, on a professional basis, you will be together. But otherwise, you need to keep your distance.”

“I’m the best thing that ever happened to Josef Mercutio,” Miranda glowered. “And don’t for one second think that some sixty year old hag is going to scare me away so easily, Maura.”

“He’s happy for a change,” Maura’s tone changed to pleading. “Please, just let him be happy.”

“He’s happy with what? Some street girl? Puh-lease,” Miranda chortled. “I’m ending this conversation.”

Olivia heard the bathroom door open quickly and Maura let out a sigh of discontent. When Olivia heard the door open a second time and silence shrouded the space, she washed her hands and went off in search of Josef. Wow, so Miranda Chase really is a witch, she thought. And maybe Maura McNamara isn’t such a bad person after all.

When Olivia finally found Josef, he was where he said he would be. She tried to put thoughts of Miranda Chase out of her head, but every time Olivia saw her gaunt figure fluttering to each part of the room, it was hard to not replay the conversation in her mind. It was basically the middle of the night when they climbed back into Josef’s limo and made their way to Malibu.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Josef asked Olivia when they walked inside his house after spending the car ride in almost total silence.

“Oh,” Olivia hesitated. “I guess I shouldn’t keep secrets, right?”

“Did you like it when I kept my secret from you?” Josef teased, walking straight up the stairs, carrying Olivia’s overnight bag that Kathy had placed in his limo earlier.

“No, you jerk,” Olivia laughed. “Well, I overheard your mother and Miranda having a conversation while I was in the bathroom.”

“Oh great,” Josef sighed, entering his bedroom and loosening his tie. “That must have been a sugary sweet exchange. What did they say?”

Olivia repeated the conversation almost verbatim as Josef continued to undress. She kicked off her shoes and began to remove all of her jewelry. “So basically, Miranda wants you back, which we already knew.”

“Can you blame her? I’m totally irresistible.” Josef flexed his muscles.

“Ha-ha,” Olivia giggled. “I can’t blame her, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I don’t like it either. Just ignore her, Liv. I don’t even know why I was ever with her.”

“Neither do I. She’s seems so… evil.” Olivia turned so that she was no longer facing Josef. She gathered her hair up, exposing the back of her dress. “Will you help me with my zipper please?”

“Gladly,” Josef slid the zipper down before he had even finished speaking his one word reply.

“Thanks,” Olivia walked into the bathroom. “I’ll be out soon.”

She began to struggle getting her strapless bra off, with hooks that went from the middle of her upper back down to her lower back. Two attendants had been helping her when she put it on and now, she wasn’t able to reach the multitude of hooks in the middle. She opened the bathroom door and stuck her head out.

“Um, Jos, can you help me for a second?”

“What do you need?” Josef was there in a second.

“I can’t unfasten my bra.” Olivia’s face flushed.

“Let me see if I can figure it out. Mwahaha!” Josef laughed wickedly. He easily unhooked the section she had found to be stubborn, and Olivia held the hanging bra in place once it was loose.

“Thanks.” Olivia did not turn around, she just waited for him to leave, but he didn’t. Josef began to seductively kiss her neck, placing his hands on her hips. Olivia closed her eyes and thought about something that would make her unhappy so that she wouldn’t give in to him so easily. “Stop, Josef.”

“Why?” he pouted.

“Not yet.”

“Why not? I love you, Liv. Please.”

Olivia felt like she was being mean, torturing him like this, but she had made a promise to herself that she wasn’t going to do it with him so soon. She had made the mistake of becoming too close to Josef emotionally, and she knew that if she added in a physical component, that would make their impending separation even that much harder.

Josef continued to kiss Olivia’s neck again when she didn’t object right way. He moved his hands lower on her hips, down to her thighs. He felt her body begin to quiver and he assumed it was in pleasure until he moved his left hand to her waist and felt a single tear splash on his wrist. Immediately he turned her around and hugged her tightly to his body, reached swiftly to the side and grabbed a towel to wrap around her like a cape.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Olivia’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry, I just… you know I cry about everything.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“No, I’m mad at myself. I’m so cruel to you.”

“Oh stop,” Josef chuckled. “You’re being dramatic, and that’s my thing. You can’t take it away from me.”

“I promise I’ll be ready soon…”

“It’s okay, Liv. If you told me right now that you would never be ready, I would still want to be with you because I love you.” Josef meant the words he had just told Olivia, though the actual thought of it was excruciating.

Olivia thought of how Josef would be leaving for San Francisco in less than two days. She decided that she wanted to have a little fun without going all the way, so she proposed a compromise.

“Well, if it wouldn’t be too difficult for you to… restrain yourself, you can join me in the shower.”

Olivia dropped the towel and her bra then began walking to the shower. Josef stood there gaping, unable to move. His first reaction was to tell her to that he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself, but then he kicked himself realizing he shouldn’t throw away the opportunity.

“I’m coming in,” he shimmied out of his boxers, “but I’m warning you. There’s a ninety nine point nine percent chance that you’re going to have to make me leave.”

Olivia laughed musically, but sure enough, less than sixty seconds after entering the shower, she made him get out.