Chapter 8 – Just A Kiss, pt. 2
Contrary to what other people may have said, the press did not directly take orders from Mikey M. If he wanted them to write a story about him, he had to first convince them that he was doing something news-worthy.
Reports that he had been seen kissing the princess of Genovia at a party were interesting, yes, but it was not news. At least it wouldn't be news until there was a picture of them together, preferably in an unambiguously amorous pose. Creditable sources had to confirm that there was a relationship. Maybe a comment or two from Mikey M himself vaguely alluding to his new romance. And then let the media fill in all the details about how much in love they were and how long it was going to last.
The morning after René's party, Mikey M found Jen in Miragnac's breakfast room. He said, "Have you talked to your media friends yet? I want everyone to know that we're staying in France."
Jen was used to taking his instructions without question, but she hesitated this time. "What about Princess Amelia?" She was very reluctant to ask the question. She knew as well as everyone else that he never discussed his personal life, not even with the people he would consider his friends.
"I told Mia last night that we're staying at Mirabeau."
"I mean what do you want me to say about her?"
He knew that Jen and the others genuinely did like Mia, so he was not surprised that Jen wanted to treat her differently from all the other women he had been romantically linked to. Of course Jen did not know just how different Mia was to him. Jen and the others only knew that Princess Amelia was a sweet young lady, and that she never went out with a celebrity like Mikey M before.
"Don't worry about protecting her from media attention. She's been living in front of the cameras since she was fourteen. She's a pro. So deal with this like you've dealt with things like this in the past. Deny everything."
Jim and Angus were also already down to breakfast at that comparatively early hour, so they were also listening to the conversation. Everyone except Mikey M was going back to London that afternoon to pack things up for the move. He wasn't going to leave France until he had seen Mia again. He wasn't going to let her back out now.
Jim said, "I thought she came with a prince last night. You mean she's really…"
Mikey M's friends had good reason to be confused about Mia and him. Mia and he had been meeting merely as polite acquaintances up to now, and there was still the lingering mystery of why he was banned from entering Genovia and why he was on such bad terms with Mia's father. But he was not going to explain anything more than he had to.
So he gave Jim a cold look and said, "Believe it or not." He left the room knowing that his friends would be gossiping about him as soon as he was out of earshot.
If people who had seen Mia and him together the previous night still had doubts about them, people who heard the gossip second- and third-hand would have even bigger doubts. They would need to make a big public appearance, as soon as possible, before the buzz died down.
Mikey M hadn't gone far from the breakfast room when he was stopped by Prince René in the halls. He hadn't expected his host to be out of bed so early after the previous night's revelry, but René looked wide awake. He still was very excited about the game he had gotten his cousin involved in.
"Good morning, old friend. Is Mia coming over tonight?" René asked, of course in French. He had finally accepted that Mikey M was not actually from Genovia, in spite of his Genovian accent when speaking French, but he would not accept that Mikey M was really an ordinary American. He still insisted that French had to be Mikey's native language, so he would speak in French with him and in English to everyone else in his entourage.
"I haven't talked to her since last night."
She had run off very quickly after he kissed her. He remained, and he very cautiously avoided answering any questions about whether he was actually involved with Princess Amelia. Make everyone curious. Keep them guessing. When everything becomes clear, they'll be even more interested.
"Mia must come. I'll arrange everything. Your people are leaving this afternoon, right? I'll dine out. That way it will be just you and her, it will be perfect. My cooks are fantastic."
René started describing his favorite dishes in great detail and would have composed the menu for the evening while still standing in the hallway had he not been called away to answer a phone call. Dinner alone with Mia would be a good start. The staff at Miragnac would know that they had been dining alone, which could help the gossip, and they would be able to compare schedules and see what sort of joint public appearances they could make.
René reappeared, looking even more excited. "Good news! I've been summoned to the palace. Phillipe is going to lecture me about putting Mia in awkward social situations. So I can invite Mia for you."
Mikey M couldn't call Mia up on the phone or stop by the palace himself, but he didn't want to have to rely on René's discretion and persuasion to get Mia to agree to come. René meant well, but he had no idea what was really going on between Mia and him. As far as René knew, Mikey M knew Mia from their childhood and was now going to make a show of dating her because of their friendship. René also didn't understand just how unwelcomed Mikey M was to Genovia. So he would do something stupid like invite Mia in front of Prince Phillipe and Grandmère.
"I'll invite her myself. Where can I get some paper? Just make certain she gets the note, and no one else sees."
René happily played the role of the messenger between Miragnac and Genovia. He returned in a few hours with a big grin and a message back from Mia.
"I have plans for dinner tonight. I have plans for dinner every night for the entire month of July. Francine says there are some openings in late August. –Mia. [Then added in a different color ink, no doubt scribbled in a hurry:] Get René to send a car to the opera house at 11 pm tonight. I'll be there."
She was coming. Wow. He hadn't realized how uncertain he was about whether she was going to come until he had read the note. She really wasn't going to back out. This was going to work out.
René waited until Mikey M had read the message, then said, "I told you she'd say yes, didn't I? She wrote the first part in front of Francine and Ted, and I thought it was very bad of her. But then she found me in the halls and added the other part. You don't mind I read it, do you? We're all old friends, so we have no secrets, right?"
No secrets, right. He could glare all he wanted at René, but the young prince would never understand why Mikey M was so insistent on his privacy. So all he could do is smile and say, "Thanks for your help."
"You want to know how things are at the palace, don't you? Phillipe says you're dangerous and obsessive. Don't take it personally. He must not be a fan of your music. Clarisse says you're not good enough for Mia, but that isn't very surprising, is it? She says you should stick to your 'kind'. Isn't that great? I wouldn't mind being able to stick to your 'kind', and I said so. Mia was already done talking to them when I got there, so she just sat there and listened. Then she went off to see Francine and Ted – that's when Phillipe tried to get me to throw you out and block you renting Mirabeau – and then I found Mia and gave her the message. I did well, didn't I? You are lucky to have a friend like me."
He was not surprised to hear Mia's dad and grandmother's objections to him. Phillipe wanted Mia to think that he was still the crazy, desperate ex-boyfriend. Grandmère never took Michael Moscovitz seriously as Mia's boyfriend, so she was not going to think that Mikey M was any better. Francine was part of the family, so she could never openly support Mia doing the exact opposite of what Prince Phillipe wanted her to do. And Ted would be fired in a second if he helped arrange rendezvous between Mia and Mikey M.
Mia was going to disregard all the advice from her father, grandmother, and her trusted assistants in order to see him. They all were going to have to get used to him being in her life, at least for the next few weeks. Some of those dinner engagements were definitely going to have to be cancelled. He was willing to share her with Genovia, but he wasn't going to wait around until she had time to see him. He was just as important as her ambassadors and visiting foreign leaders.
The rest of Piaget's Children and their accompanying staff left Miragnac in the afternoon, all to return in two days to move into Mirabeau. René made the arrangements for the car to pick up Mia, and Mikey M waited. And waited. It was after midnight when the car returned with the princess of Genovia in the back seat.
He startled her by appearing in the front hallway as soon as the door opened. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt, not exactly the clothes one would wear to meet with the man she was supposed to be dating.
"Umm, hi Michael – M! I mean, Mikey M." She looked around the foyer for possible witnesses, but not seeing their comparative privacy, she said quickly, "I look terrible, I know. These are my pajamas. I'm supposed to be in bed. Grandmère thinks I'm up to something so she kept on sending people to my room. That's why I'm late. Sorry."
"I'm glad you came."
If other people were present, she would play the role of the perfect princess and he would play the part of the super-cool rock star, but neither of them knew how to behave when it was just them. Not even François was there this time. It was the first time they had actually truly been alone. But then René's butler appeared to take Mia's coat and offer them drinks, and the two went into one of the formal parlors like good, proper guests.
Mikey M told the butler that they were not to be disturbed, then he made certain all the doors were closed fully. He sat down on a chair a few feet away from Mia's and wondered what he was supposed to say now.
"So…" Mia began awkwardly. "I should get back to the palace before people realize I'm gone. They're probably going to catch me anyway, but at least I want to try to get away with it."
She looked much more natural in just her pajamas. She even sounded differently. She seemed much more like a twenty-five-year-old version of Mia Thermopolis than the boring Princess Amelia Renaldo of Genovia. Mikey M knew Mia Thermopolis, and he was massively disrupting his normally scheduled life in order to help that Mia he had known and loved. He felt sorry for Princess Amelia and hoped she would be happy. But she would never be just Mia Thermopolis again, so after he helped her for a month they would go their separate ways.
"The car can take you back. I'm sure René would let you stay in one of his empty guest rooms here tonight, but I wouldn't want to give your dad a heart attack."
She smiled and didn't contradict him. If Prince Phillipe thought that this was more than a social visit, he'd be gathering up the Genovian National Guard at once and launching a full-scale invasion across the border. If Prince Phillipe knew about the visit at all, he would be increasing border patrols to catch Mikey M if he happened to take one step into Genovia, and then he would prepare a special cell in the deepest dungeon of the castle just for him.
Mia said, "Miragnac is so quiet tonight. Where is everyone?"
"René's out somewhere. I didn't ask where, but he said he wouldn't be back until morning. All my people are back in London. There's a lot of packing to do."
"What about you? Don't you have packing to do, too?"
"I wanted to see you before I left."
"Oh."
He wanted to ask her about the resistance she must be dealing with at the palace, but he didn't want to pry into her personal life. She would have to deal with her deranged relatives herself because there was no way he was going to help her there. If it could be managed, he would love to avoid ever seeing Prince Phillipe and Grandmère.
So instead of talking about her, he stuck to the matter at hand: their future together. More importantly, the big events they should go to in order to maximize the publicity of their relationship without taking much time from both their busy schedules.
He gave her a list and said, "Those are a few events I absolutely have to go to. You should come, too."
"We'll see." She looked like she would rather throttle him for trying to tell her what to do. It was OK for Ted and Francine to dictate her life and arrange appearances for her, but she didn't want him to do the same. Then she actually read the list. "Oh my god, you could get me into these places?"
The frosty princess was gone, and Mikey M smiled. "So it looks OK to you? No kings visiting or olive oil conventions on those dates?"
"If the president of the United States wants to visit Genovia when I could be at the International Music Awards, Grandmère can handle him. This is so cool. I need to get a dress, don't I? I hope there's enough time. I'll get something really cool."
He hadn't seen her look so happy since she was back in high school. All the annoyance of dealing with the press and creating a fictitious romance between Mia and him was going to be worth it. The prospect of making appearances with him was already making Mia happier. By the end of the month, she would probably be getting invitations of her own to events.
"What about you? Are you doing anything cool outside of Genovia that I can go to?"
Mia shook her head no while she read his list over again.
"Do you really stay in Genovia all the time?" he asked.
She shook her head no again. "You'd be totally bored to death if you had to go to the places I go to. They're all about politics, even when they're supposed to be about something else like art or the environment. It gets so boring."
"How do you know I'd be bored?"
"You have better things to do, trust me. Don't you remember all the totally boring places I took you back … you know, back then?" She automatically looked over to the door, just in case someone heard her slip.
He had never found the stuffy, formal affairs back in New York to be boring. At the time he had imagined that he was preparing for his official role of Prince Consort – he really had no clue he was going to get dumped before things ever got that far – so he would listen and even take notes about who was there and what everyone had said. No one had ever paid him any attention; he was just Mia's young boyfriend. He wondered what it would be like now. Would the government officials acknowledge that a greater percentage of the international community knew who Mikey M was than who the president of Spain was?
"If you ask, I'll go. If you can get me into Genovia, I'll even go there."
"Really?"
If she thought the official events were so bad, why was she so committed to doing her duties and going to them? He would love to go and see Princess Amelia in her element. Did she talk about politics all day, too? She was going to one day lead an entire country by herself, so she would need to meet all the important figures in international politics.
"It could be educational," he said. "I'm very good at charity events, too. I'm good with getting media attention."
"I know. That's why I'm here, remember?" She looked at her watch and said, "It's getting late. I'll take your list and see whether Ted and Francine have a huge panic attack over it. Ted will totally be on our side. Francine may have to say other things, but she's really with us, too. She'll have to help me find the right clothes."
Thank god Mia would be able to wear better clothes. But he didn't want her to feel more self-conscious about how she looked these days. He said, "I'm going to London tomorrow. I'll be back on Tuesday. I'll be in touch."
He called for the car to come around, and he walked her to the front door. It was odd to see Mia without a bodyguard. What better time for Euro-trash terrorists to kidnap her than now that she was sneaking around the palace grounds alone at night? But he didn't have the right to tell Mia to be careful. She was only his girlfriend for show. In the end, she would have to take care of herself.
And then Mikey M noticed something in the distance. The moonlight had briefly reflected against the lens of a camera, a few hundred feet away hidden in the hedge on the front drive. Miragnac's front entrance was well-lit. There were no obstructions between the camera and where they were standing. It was perfect.
"Wait, Mia," he said, just as she was opening the car door. She turned around, ready to ask what he wanted.
Hopefully the photographer's lens was powerful enough, because it would have made for one hell of a picture: Mikey M and Princess Amelia sharing a lingering, intimate kiss. He had his arms around her so she wouldn't be able to pull away too quickly and thereby ruin the shot. When he finally did let her go, Mia had that same deer-in-headlights look of shock she had had when he kissed her the night before.
"What was that for?" she asked. She was the only woman he had ever kissed who needed an explanation for why.
"Practice," he said. "And there's a photographer hiding in the bushes. We've been caught. So don't worry about not being seen when you get back. Just let the car drop you off at the entrance."
"My dad is so going to kill me." But her panic was quickly replaced by a different emotion. She actually smiled and said, "This is going to be fun, isn't it? It's like we're playing a big trick on everyone." She then gave him a friendly peck on the cheek and disappeared in the car.
Mikey M stayed on the front steps and watched the car go down the long drive way. Mia was right. They were just playing a big trick on everyone. It was all a game. But, wow. She kissed him. He hadn't expected that.
Contrary to what other people may have said, the press did not directly take orders from Mikey M. If he wanted them to write a story about him, he had to first convince them that he was doing something news-worthy.
Reports that he had been seen kissing the princess of Genovia at a party were interesting, yes, but it was not news. At least it wouldn't be news until there was a picture of them together, preferably in an unambiguously amorous pose. Creditable sources had to confirm that there was a relationship. Maybe a comment or two from Mikey M himself vaguely alluding to his new romance. And then let the media fill in all the details about how much in love they were and how long it was going to last.
The morning after René's party, Mikey M found Jen in Miragnac's breakfast room. He said, "Have you talked to your media friends yet? I want everyone to know that we're staying in France."
Jen was used to taking his instructions without question, but she hesitated this time. "What about Princess Amelia?" She was very reluctant to ask the question. She knew as well as everyone else that he never discussed his personal life, not even with the people he would consider his friends.
"I told Mia last night that we're staying at Mirabeau."
"I mean what do you want me to say about her?"
He knew that Jen and the others genuinely did like Mia, so he was not surprised that Jen wanted to treat her differently from all the other women he had been romantically linked to. Of course Jen did not know just how different Mia was to him. Jen and the others only knew that Princess Amelia was a sweet young lady, and that she never went out with a celebrity like Mikey M before.
"Don't worry about protecting her from media attention. She's been living in front of the cameras since she was fourteen. She's a pro. So deal with this like you've dealt with things like this in the past. Deny everything."
Jim and Angus were also already down to breakfast at that comparatively early hour, so they were also listening to the conversation. Everyone except Mikey M was going back to London that afternoon to pack things up for the move. He wasn't going to leave France until he had seen Mia again. He wasn't going to let her back out now.
Jim said, "I thought she came with a prince last night. You mean she's really…"
Mikey M's friends had good reason to be confused about Mia and him. Mia and he had been meeting merely as polite acquaintances up to now, and there was still the lingering mystery of why he was banned from entering Genovia and why he was on such bad terms with Mia's father. But he was not going to explain anything more than he had to.
So he gave Jim a cold look and said, "Believe it or not." He left the room knowing that his friends would be gossiping about him as soon as he was out of earshot.
If people who had seen Mia and him together the previous night still had doubts about them, people who heard the gossip second- and third-hand would have even bigger doubts. They would need to make a big public appearance, as soon as possible, before the buzz died down.
Mikey M hadn't gone far from the breakfast room when he was stopped by Prince René in the halls. He hadn't expected his host to be out of bed so early after the previous night's revelry, but René looked wide awake. He still was very excited about the game he had gotten his cousin involved in.
"Good morning, old friend. Is Mia coming over tonight?" René asked, of course in French. He had finally accepted that Mikey M was not actually from Genovia, in spite of his Genovian accent when speaking French, but he would not accept that Mikey M was really an ordinary American. He still insisted that French had to be Mikey's native language, so he would speak in French with him and in English to everyone else in his entourage.
"I haven't talked to her since last night."
She had run off very quickly after he kissed her. He remained, and he very cautiously avoided answering any questions about whether he was actually involved with Princess Amelia. Make everyone curious. Keep them guessing. When everything becomes clear, they'll be even more interested.
"Mia must come. I'll arrange everything. Your people are leaving this afternoon, right? I'll dine out. That way it will be just you and her, it will be perfect. My cooks are fantastic."
René started describing his favorite dishes in great detail and would have composed the menu for the evening while still standing in the hallway had he not been called away to answer a phone call. Dinner alone with Mia would be a good start. The staff at Miragnac would know that they had been dining alone, which could help the gossip, and they would be able to compare schedules and see what sort of joint public appearances they could make.
René reappeared, looking even more excited. "Good news! I've been summoned to the palace. Phillipe is going to lecture me about putting Mia in awkward social situations. So I can invite Mia for you."
Mikey M couldn't call Mia up on the phone or stop by the palace himself, but he didn't want to have to rely on René's discretion and persuasion to get Mia to agree to come. René meant well, but he had no idea what was really going on between Mia and him. As far as René knew, Mikey M knew Mia from their childhood and was now going to make a show of dating her because of their friendship. René also didn't understand just how unwelcomed Mikey M was to Genovia. So he would do something stupid like invite Mia in front of Prince Phillipe and Grandmère.
"I'll invite her myself. Where can I get some paper? Just make certain she gets the note, and no one else sees."
René happily played the role of the messenger between Miragnac and Genovia. He returned in a few hours with a big grin and a message back from Mia.
"I have plans for dinner tonight. I have plans for dinner every night for the entire month of July. Francine says there are some openings in late August. –Mia. [Then added in a different color ink, no doubt scribbled in a hurry:] Get René to send a car to the opera house at 11 pm tonight. I'll be there."
She was coming. Wow. He hadn't realized how uncertain he was about whether she was going to come until he had read the note. She really wasn't going to back out. This was going to work out.
René waited until Mikey M had read the message, then said, "I told you she'd say yes, didn't I? She wrote the first part in front of Francine and Ted, and I thought it was very bad of her. But then she found me in the halls and added the other part. You don't mind I read it, do you? We're all old friends, so we have no secrets, right?"
No secrets, right. He could glare all he wanted at René, but the young prince would never understand why Mikey M was so insistent on his privacy. So all he could do is smile and say, "Thanks for your help."
"You want to know how things are at the palace, don't you? Phillipe says you're dangerous and obsessive. Don't take it personally. He must not be a fan of your music. Clarisse says you're not good enough for Mia, but that isn't very surprising, is it? She says you should stick to your 'kind'. Isn't that great? I wouldn't mind being able to stick to your 'kind', and I said so. Mia was already done talking to them when I got there, so she just sat there and listened. Then she went off to see Francine and Ted – that's when Phillipe tried to get me to throw you out and block you renting Mirabeau – and then I found Mia and gave her the message. I did well, didn't I? You are lucky to have a friend like me."
He was not surprised to hear Mia's dad and grandmother's objections to him. Phillipe wanted Mia to think that he was still the crazy, desperate ex-boyfriend. Grandmère never took Michael Moscovitz seriously as Mia's boyfriend, so she was not going to think that Mikey M was any better. Francine was part of the family, so she could never openly support Mia doing the exact opposite of what Prince Phillipe wanted her to do. And Ted would be fired in a second if he helped arrange rendezvous between Mia and Mikey M.
Mia was going to disregard all the advice from her father, grandmother, and her trusted assistants in order to see him. They all were going to have to get used to him being in her life, at least for the next few weeks. Some of those dinner engagements were definitely going to have to be cancelled. He was willing to share her with Genovia, but he wasn't going to wait around until she had time to see him. He was just as important as her ambassadors and visiting foreign leaders.
The rest of Piaget's Children and their accompanying staff left Miragnac in the afternoon, all to return in two days to move into Mirabeau. René made the arrangements for the car to pick up Mia, and Mikey M waited. And waited. It was after midnight when the car returned with the princess of Genovia in the back seat.
He startled her by appearing in the front hallway as soon as the door opened. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt, not exactly the clothes one would wear to meet with the man she was supposed to be dating.
"Umm, hi Michael – M! I mean, Mikey M." She looked around the foyer for possible witnesses, but not seeing their comparative privacy, she said quickly, "I look terrible, I know. These are my pajamas. I'm supposed to be in bed. Grandmère thinks I'm up to something so she kept on sending people to my room. That's why I'm late. Sorry."
"I'm glad you came."
If other people were present, she would play the role of the perfect princess and he would play the part of the super-cool rock star, but neither of them knew how to behave when it was just them. Not even François was there this time. It was the first time they had actually truly been alone. But then René's butler appeared to take Mia's coat and offer them drinks, and the two went into one of the formal parlors like good, proper guests.
Mikey M told the butler that they were not to be disturbed, then he made certain all the doors were closed fully. He sat down on a chair a few feet away from Mia's and wondered what he was supposed to say now.
"So…" Mia began awkwardly. "I should get back to the palace before people realize I'm gone. They're probably going to catch me anyway, but at least I want to try to get away with it."
She looked much more natural in just her pajamas. She even sounded differently. She seemed much more like a twenty-five-year-old version of Mia Thermopolis than the boring Princess Amelia Renaldo of Genovia. Mikey M knew Mia Thermopolis, and he was massively disrupting his normally scheduled life in order to help that Mia he had known and loved. He felt sorry for Princess Amelia and hoped she would be happy. But she would never be just Mia Thermopolis again, so after he helped her for a month they would go their separate ways.
"The car can take you back. I'm sure René would let you stay in one of his empty guest rooms here tonight, but I wouldn't want to give your dad a heart attack."
She smiled and didn't contradict him. If Prince Phillipe thought that this was more than a social visit, he'd be gathering up the Genovian National Guard at once and launching a full-scale invasion across the border. If Prince Phillipe knew about the visit at all, he would be increasing border patrols to catch Mikey M if he happened to take one step into Genovia, and then he would prepare a special cell in the deepest dungeon of the castle just for him.
Mia said, "Miragnac is so quiet tonight. Where is everyone?"
"René's out somewhere. I didn't ask where, but he said he wouldn't be back until morning. All my people are back in London. There's a lot of packing to do."
"What about you? Don't you have packing to do, too?"
"I wanted to see you before I left."
"Oh."
He wanted to ask her about the resistance she must be dealing with at the palace, but he didn't want to pry into her personal life. She would have to deal with her deranged relatives herself because there was no way he was going to help her there. If it could be managed, he would love to avoid ever seeing Prince Phillipe and Grandmère.
So instead of talking about her, he stuck to the matter at hand: their future together. More importantly, the big events they should go to in order to maximize the publicity of their relationship without taking much time from both their busy schedules.
He gave her a list and said, "Those are a few events I absolutely have to go to. You should come, too."
"We'll see." She looked like she would rather throttle him for trying to tell her what to do. It was OK for Ted and Francine to dictate her life and arrange appearances for her, but she didn't want him to do the same. Then she actually read the list. "Oh my god, you could get me into these places?"
The frosty princess was gone, and Mikey M smiled. "So it looks OK to you? No kings visiting or olive oil conventions on those dates?"
"If the president of the United States wants to visit Genovia when I could be at the International Music Awards, Grandmère can handle him. This is so cool. I need to get a dress, don't I? I hope there's enough time. I'll get something really cool."
He hadn't seen her look so happy since she was back in high school. All the annoyance of dealing with the press and creating a fictitious romance between Mia and him was going to be worth it. The prospect of making appearances with him was already making Mia happier. By the end of the month, she would probably be getting invitations of her own to events.
"What about you? Are you doing anything cool outside of Genovia that I can go to?"
Mia shook her head no while she read his list over again.
"Do you really stay in Genovia all the time?" he asked.
She shook her head no again. "You'd be totally bored to death if you had to go to the places I go to. They're all about politics, even when they're supposed to be about something else like art or the environment. It gets so boring."
"How do you know I'd be bored?"
"You have better things to do, trust me. Don't you remember all the totally boring places I took you back … you know, back then?" She automatically looked over to the door, just in case someone heard her slip.
He had never found the stuffy, formal affairs back in New York to be boring. At the time he had imagined that he was preparing for his official role of Prince Consort – he really had no clue he was going to get dumped before things ever got that far – so he would listen and even take notes about who was there and what everyone had said. No one had ever paid him any attention; he was just Mia's young boyfriend. He wondered what it would be like now. Would the government officials acknowledge that a greater percentage of the international community knew who Mikey M was than who the president of Spain was?
"If you ask, I'll go. If you can get me into Genovia, I'll even go there."
"Really?"
If she thought the official events were so bad, why was she so committed to doing her duties and going to them? He would love to go and see Princess Amelia in her element. Did she talk about politics all day, too? She was going to one day lead an entire country by herself, so she would need to meet all the important figures in international politics.
"It could be educational," he said. "I'm very good at charity events, too. I'm good with getting media attention."
"I know. That's why I'm here, remember?" She looked at her watch and said, "It's getting late. I'll take your list and see whether Ted and Francine have a huge panic attack over it. Ted will totally be on our side. Francine may have to say other things, but she's really with us, too. She'll have to help me find the right clothes."
Thank god Mia would be able to wear better clothes. But he didn't want her to feel more self-conscious about how she looked these days. He said, "I'm going to London tomorrow. I'll be back on Tuesday. I'll be in touch."
He called for the car to come around, and he walked her to the front door. It was odd to see Mia without a bodyguard. What better time for Euro-trash terrorists to kidnap her than now that she was sneaking around the palace grounds alone at night? But he didn't have the right to tell Mia to be careful. She was only his girlfriend for show. In the end, she would have to take care of herself.
And then Mikey M noticed something in the distance. The moonlight had briefly reflected against the lens of a camera, a few hundred feet away hidden in the hedge on the front drive. Miragnac's front entrance was well-lit. There were no obstructions between the camera and where they were standing. It was perfect.
"Wait, Mia," he said, just as she was opening the car door. She turned around, ready to ask what he wanted.
Hopefully the photographer's lens was powerful enough, because it would have made for one hell of a picture: Mikey M and Princess Amelia sharing a lingering, intimate kiss. He had his arms around her so she wouldn't be able to pull away too quickly and thereby ruin the shot. When he finally did let her go, Mia had that same deer-in-headlights look of shock she had had when he kissed her the night before.
"What was that for?" she asked. She was the only woman he had ever kissed who needed an explanation for why.
"Practice," he said. "And there's a photographer hiding in the bushes. We've been caught. So don't worry about not being seen when you get back. Just let the car drop you off at the entrance."
"My dad is so going to kill me." But her panic was quickly replaced by a different emotion. She actually smiled and said, "This is going to be fun, isn't it? It's like we're playing a big trick on everyone." She then gave him a friendly peck on the cheek and disappeared in the car.
Mikey M stayed on the front steps and watched the car go down the long drive way. Mia was right. They were just playing a big trick on everyone. It was all a game. But, wow. She kissed him. He hadn't expected that.