Chapter 14 – Change of Plans, pt 1
"This is not going to work," Mia proclaimed on Wednesday morning.
That was not the most promising beginning of Mikey M's day. He could wake up now and deal with Mia panicking and thinking too much about all the obstacles they would now have to face if they wanted to stay together, or he could keep his eyes closed and pretend to still be asleep.
"I look like Margaret Thatcher," Mia said next. "It's even worse than yesterday."
He tried not to smile and ruin his fake-sleep act. Mia was just complaining over the phone to Francine about her clothes. He had already heard variations of this argument plenty of times before. And he knew he could end it. Both Mia and Francine always listened to his fashion advice.
He yawned loudly and theatrically threw the sheets to the side of the bed so he could get Mia's attention. She was standing in the bathroom, dressed in a tasteful business suit similar to what she had worn the day before to Parliament. She had been glaring at her reflection in that dull suit while talking on her cell phone, but she could see the movement of the sheets in the bedroom in the mirror. Her eyes widened and she smiled; she noticed he was up.
"I'll—I'll talk to you later." She put away her phone and came into the bedroom. When she smiled like that, she actually could look her age, even when she was wearing Margaret Thatcher's cast-offs.
Of course Mikey M was used to waking up in bed with beautiful women who adored him. That's what successful rock stars did all the time. The band was always on tour or about ready to go on tour, or else he would be leaving soon to go to some other event in some other country with some other group of famous, attractive people. He was experienced in the art of the casual affair.
He was flying back to London soon. There was no way any sort of real relationship between Mikey M and the princess of Genovia could last. It was all going to be over before it even began. They were going to go their separate ways and return to their separate lives.
But still, in spite of everything, he was smiling just as much as Mia. It was absolutely crazy, but he really did love that girl. Even more unbelievably, she loved him. And now they were together, as they should be.
"Morning," Mikey M said.
Mia was too inexperienced for her to be comfortable with the situation. Genovian princesses don't have flings. If René's description of Mia's personal life was at all accurate, Princess Amelia Renaldo did not date at all. She certainly did not seduce innocent men in dark gardens and have her wicked way with them. Now, the morning after, she was awkward and nervous and, still, happy. Really, really happy.
Things would be different now between them, and it was up to him to set the new tone. He was tired of all their games with each other and with the rest of the world. They did not have much time to spend together, so they might as well enjoy it.
He said, "I am going to brush my teeth and then I'm going to kiss you, so you had better stay right there. OK?" He looked around and found where he had thrown his shirt the night before. If Mia was fully dressed, he would at least wear a shirt with his boxers. Pajamas hadn't been his primary concern last night.
Mia watched him as if he were the most fascinating creature in the world doing the most miraculous thing in the world. She would not have thought to complain about his breath if he kissed her now, but a man must have some strict principles in his life, and Mikey M believed that one cannot kiss a woman without brushing one's teeth in the morning.
Mia sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "All right. Go ahead." He could just lean over now and kiss her -- No, teeth-brushing first. Then kiss. He got out of bed and ran his fingers through his hair while he walked over to the bathroom.
"Why can't my hair do that?" Mia said. Now it was her turn to watch him in the bathroom mirror while she was in bed.
"Do what? It's too long." He looked at his reflection to make a critical assessment of the state of his hair, but then he saw Mia still sitting on the bed watching him. She was much more interesting to watch than his hair. Which really did look perfectly ordinary and boring and too long to him.
"Your hair just flops the right way," Mia said.
The future leader of Genovia liked the way his hair flopped. Smiling made brushing one's teeth more difficult. But the task was done, so he could give Mia the kiss that she deserved for being, well, Mia.
"When do you leave for London?" she asked.
"We start sending things back tomorrow. I leave when I want. I can't stay here, but I'm sure René would let me stay at Miragnac for a bit longer." He hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but he knew he could not leave the area now. In another week he'd have to get back to his work on his album, but he could take some more time off. He had his princess now.
"You're going to visit," he said more as a statement than a question. Yes, Mia would come to London, so they would not have to really break up yet.
Except they were going to break up today. Damn. The petition. Parliament.
"So, that's going to be it? Sometimes I visit?" Mia was no longer smiling. They both knew that this was the way things had to be, and he didn't want to dwell on it. He'd much rather make her smile and get her to disobey the tacit business-formal dress code at the sessions of the Genovian Parliament.
"I'd come over and stay in the guest wing at the Genovian royal palace if I wasn't going to be arrested," he said, "but don't worry about that. Not now. You need to get changed."
"Changed? But I'm already dressed."
Whenever Mia spent the night at Mirabeau, Francine would send over clothes for the next day. So all the clothes Mia had at Mirabeau were yesterday's and day's boring suits. And the simple light pink sundress she had bought last weekend. She had changed out of that dress once they had returned to Mirabeau and found the Francince-approved outfit waiting for her, and Mia hadn't thought of taking the dress back to Genovia with her.
Mikey M found where the chateau staff had put the dress in his closet, and he found mixed with his own shoes the sandals Mia had bought. Mia felt more confident when she was looking good, and she had looked really cute in the dress. Plus when they faced all the cameras, she'd want people to see her in pink, not beige.
He came out of his closet and handed the dress and shoes to his princess. She looked at the clothes, then looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm going to Parliament for the vote today, remember?"
"You look nice in pink."
She half-smiled, but she wouldn't let herself acknowledge that he was right. She had to always think like a proper princess. "I know you've been helping me improve my clothes and image all that, but people don't wear pink to Parliament. It's—it's just not done. I can't." She still held onto the dress and shoes.
"Why not? We're just staying long enough to hear the results of the vote, right? Then we have to hold our press conference." He went into the closet to find something for himself.
"Because it's not— Wait, 'we'?"
"What did you say yesterday? We're engaged, so wherever you go, I go. It's not like your dad can arrest me again. Right?" He changed into a light gray button-down shirt and black trousers. They would be the only people in the entire Genovian Parliament building not in suits.
"But the plan was for me to go to Genovia this morning, then come back here for the press conference with you," Mia said, but she didn't sound very convinced by her argument.
"The plans changed." He came out of the closet and checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Mia was right. His hair really did flop in place correctly.
"Yeah, they've changed all right." Mia looked at him, then looked at her dress, and smiled. The alteration of the plan was accepted, and she now needed to get changed quickly so they would not be late.
They did not have time to join the others for breakfast at Mirabeau. Mikey M told Jen that he was now going to Genovia for the morning, and then the princess and the musician left in the royal Genovian limo to go to Parliament.
"We're going to really talk about the future some time, right?" Mia asked during the ride.
He didn't see what they had to discuss. He now recognized that he loved her, but he was still Mikey M. He still had his obligations to Piaget's Children. She said she loved him, but she was still Princess Amelia Renaldo. She was never going to neglect her responsibilities towards Genovia. As was going to be proven that morning, he would never be accepted as Mia's prince consort. Prince Phillipe was not going to drop all the charges against Michael and let him ever visit Genovia. Mia and Michael had no long-term future together.
But there was still the very pleasant short-term future to contemplate and enjoy. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Sure. But later, OK? We have to become unengaged first."
"Don't remind me. I'm keeping the ring, though." She looked down at it now. "We have no idea what we're really going to say at the press conference this afternoon, do we? I mean, before we were going to talk about how we're forced to stay apart, but now..."
"Now we're going to tell them that you're still going to wear my ring, and I'm still going to take you out whenever I can. We can't get married. So what."
Mia still would eventually need a real Prince Consort. Mikey M would only be a complication in her life so long as they were romantically involved. She needed a boyfriend – a husband – who could be a support for her. Once she was the Crown Princess, she wouldn't have time to fly to London to see him.
Once she was Crown Princess, she'd be able to drop the case against him, and he would be able to visit her. Not that that would change the situation much. He would still make a terrible Prince Consort. He had to tour. He had to keep making music. He had his own life, completely independent of her.
So they would eventually have to end their relationship. Perhaps they'd fall out of love. They'd eventually have to accept the reality of their situation. They were adults. Love was only an emotion. It couldn't magically make their lives compatible. Nothing could.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
The car was pulling up in front of the Parliament building. The reporters, photographers, and TV crews were already out there, waiting for them. Mikey M said, "I'm fine. How long do you think this should all take?"
"Not very long. Come on, we have to go in. If the guards at the door don't let me in because I'm under-dressed, I'm blaming you."
"François and I will beat them up if they don't tell you how stunning you are looking today."
They had their picture taken many times and from many angles on their way from the car to the building. No time for questions, no interviews, there would be a press conference in the afternoon at Mirabeau for that. The guards at the front door were more surprised to see Public Enemy #1, Mikey M, come in than to see Mia wearing pink.
"I'm out on bail," he explained.
Of course everyone already knew that, but he was still not expected to come casually walking through the front doors. The guards called to report his arrival to Prince Phillipe, and Mia, Mikey M, and François walked down the corridors to the main chamber of Parliament. Mia greeted many of the government officials they passed in the halls. She may usually spend her days drinking tea with the spouses of world leaders, but she had gotten to know a lot about how her country's government worked. She would have fit in with the rest of the government drones if she wasn't wearing the pink dress.
They stopped outside the doors to the main chamber of Parliament. The official roll call was still taking place. Then would come the big vote. Mikey M did not know what the protocol was for Mia and him. Would they stand in the front and make one last plea in the name of Love? Or would they sit in the visitor's galley and try to deduce based on the members of Parliament's facial expressions what they voted for?
He did not want to go in there. Mia didn't look all that eager to open the door, either. Seeing the vote would mean watching their engagement be broken. Maybe if the doors stayed shut forever, they could forget about the reality of their situation and just have fun together.
"I don't want to go..." Mia began, then she shook her head. She was bracing herself for the unpleasantness on the other side of the door. She already looked miserable.
Mikey M took her by the hand and pointed to a portrait on the wall, next to the doors they were still standing in front of. "Is that Grandmère's husband?" he asked.
Mia bit her lip, still trying to decide whether to just go through the doors. She took a step towards the portrait and looked at it. Cowardice won. Mikey M was relieved. "Yeah. I never met him. He fought against the Nazis."
"Like Grandmère's tea with Hitler and Mussolini?"
Mia smiled weakly and shook her head. "For real. Grandpère kicked a lot of Nazi butt. I'll have to take you to the Genovian history museum. They have his medals."
"I'll believe it when I see it. But if he did marry your grandmother, he must have been a very brave man."
Someone walked by them and went into the chamber of Parliament, but Mia didn't make any move to follow. She waited until the door was closed, then she looked back at the portrait of her grandfather. "Grandmère says he adored her. Maybe she used to be nice or something."
"Right." Mikey M walked over to the next portrait, a few more feet away from the doors to the chamber of Parliament. He wanted to put as much distance between the vote in Parliament and them as possible. "Is he your great-grandfather?"
"Yes. He married someone in René's family – a great, great aunt? I don't know, but Grandmère does. She's always telling me about my dead relatives. Anyway, it's all his fault that we're stuck with René now."
René may not be the most responsible and respectable member of the Renaldo extended family, but everyone liked him. Mia could complain about him, but even now she was smiling about being stuck having to support him. Mikey M now genuinely liked his "old friend", Prince René, too. René was the one who got Michael to come back to Genovia to see Mia, after all. So Mikey M had only charitable feelings towards Mia's great-grandfather.
"I thought you were keeping René around so you could marry him once you get rid of me." He was rewarded with a punch on the arm for that, and a genuine, happy smile.
The doors opened again, and this time Francine came out. "Mia! Oh, wow, Mikey M, you're here, too. It's about time for the vote, so you should go in there."
Mia gripped Michael's hand more tightly. She shook her head and said, "I don't think we're going to go in. OK?" That question was directed towards Michael, not Francine. Of course he had no objections to that. Francine was surprised, but she did not try to make Mia change her mind. She went back inside, and Mia walked over to the next portrait.
"Great Aunt Josephine. They must have moved this portrait closer to the front since she died recently. She's Sebastiano's mother, so she hated me. If it weren't for me, her son would be the heir to the throne."
"'Hate' is probably too strong of a word."
"Oh no, she really hated me. She told everyone that I was not a legitimate heir because Mom and Dad were never married. And she tried to convince people to have me take a paternity test because my mom was an artist and therefore must have been sleeping around. Great Aunt Josephine was awful. Great Uncle Giorgi was really cool, though. Let's go find him."
Mikey M and François followed her around the corridors of the Parliament building for over an hour. She wanted an escape from what was going on in the main chamber, so she tried to forget it was happening at all. But they couldn't keep finding more Renaldo and Grimaldi portraits forever.
Francine came down the hall, walking very quickly. The vote must be over.
"Mia, Michael, there you are," she said. Then she hesitated. Bad news. Mikey M had been expecting their petition to be refused. That was all part of the old plan. He was still disappointed though.
Mia also interpreted Francine's silence the same way. She was no longer smiling and prattling about relatives now. She shrugged, in a very un-princess-like manner, and said, "Well, we tried."
"The vote was 63 to 20," Francine said. "That's more in favor of your petition than we expected. There were a lot of abstentions, too."
That was a minor victory. A very, very minor victory. Mia tried to smile like she was pleased with that part of the news, but she ended up just shrugging again. "Yeah. Well, I guess we should have our press conference."
Jen and René were the most enthusiastic participants at the afternoon press conference. Mikey M was usually able to hide what he was really feeling from others, but today he felt like everyone there could sense his true mood. He didn't want to lose Mia again, but he knew he had to.
"This morning's results were disappointing," Mia said, "but not completely unexpected. I wish it could have turned out better for us. But, well, we're not a piece of legislation, so just because we've been vetoed by Parliament doesn't mean we can just end everything. I mean, I love Michael, and he loves me, and we're going to stay together."
This was not anything like what was supposed to happen according to their old plan. They were only going to make it more difficult for themselves when they finally did go their separate ways. But it was the truth, and for once Mikey M didn't mind that his personal life was being discussed candidly in front of an audience. He was always hiding. This time he'd let everyone in on the secret: He was in love with the wrong woman. She was in love with him, but that didn't make her any less wrong for him.
Eventually Jen declared the end of the press conference, and Mikey M and Mia could disappear. He went to the studio, and Mia followed. The recording equipment was already being packed up, but his guitars were still out where he left them. He sat down and picked up his acoustic guitar. Mia sat on the piano bench next to him.
"How long are you going to stay?" Mia asked quietly.
"Around here? A week. I really have to get back to finish working on the album. You'll visit." He knew her days were always filled with public appearances and dinners. She had already cancelled her appointments for last weekend to be with him, so who knew when she would be able to make time in her busy schedule to come to London. But she had to.
"A week?"
"Yeah."
"I guess that's better than nothing, right?" She leaned over and kissed him. She was right. They had to live for the moment; enjoy the short time they had together; enjoy the week. She stood up and said, "I'll call ahead and tell everyone at the palace to get the guest quarters ready."
"The palace? I was just going to stay with René."
She grinned, and Mikey M knew it was hopeless to resist. She was a princess with a plan. "You said this morning that you'd stay in the Genovian royal palace if you weren't going to be arrested. You won't be arrested this week. You're not scared, are you?"
This had to be the worst idea since, well, their engagement. "Your family hates me."
"Only Dad and Grandmère, and that's just because they care too much about me. So say you'll come, and I'll call Ted and Francine."
How could he say no to his princess? "OK, fine. But only if you show me the Genovian history museum."
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(Note: I'm really, really, really, really sorry about how long it took for me to get around to writing this part. I didn't think it would take so long but, well, um… Thanks for patiently (and impatiently) waiting. The next part is being written now. Thanks for reading!)
"This is not going to work," Mia proclaimed on Wednesday morning.
That was not the most promising beginning of Mikey M's day. He could wake up now and deal with Mia panicking and thinking too much about all the obstacles they would now have to face if they wanted to stay together, or he could keep his eyes closed and pretend to still be asleep.
"I look like Margaret Thatcher," Mia said next. "It's even worse than yesterday."
He tried not to smile and ruin his fake-sleep act. Mia was just complaining over the phone to Francine about her clothes. He had already heard variations of this argument plenty of times before. And he knew he could end it. Both Mia and Francine always listened to his fashion advice.
He yawned loudly and theatrically threw the sheets to the side of the bed so he could get Mia's attention. She was standing in the bathroom, dressed in a tasteful business suit similar to what she had worn the day before to Parliament. She had been glaring at her reflection in that dull suit while talking on her cell phone, but she could see the movement of the sheets in the bedroom in the mirror. Her eyes widened and she smiled; she noticed he was up.
"I'll—I'll talk to you later." She put away her phone and came into the bedroom. When she smiled like that, she actually could look her age, even when she was wearing Margaret Thatcher's cast-offs.
Of course Mikey M was used to waking up in bed with beautiful women who adored him. That's what successful rock stars did all the time. The band was always on tour or about ready to go on tour, or else he would be leaving soon to go to some other event in some other country with some other group of famous, attractive people. He was experienced in the art of the casual affair.
He was flying back to London soon. There was no way any sort of real relationship between Mikey M and the princess of Genovia could last. It was all going to be over before it even began. They were going to go their separate ways and return to their separate lives.
But still, in spite of everything, he was smiling just as much as Mia. It was absolutely crazy, but he really did love that girl. Even more unbelievably, she loved him. And now they were together, as they should be.
"Morning," Mikey M said.
Mia was too inexperienced for her to be comfortable with the situation. Genovian princesses don't have flings. If René's description of Mia's personal life was at all accurate, Princess Amelia Renaldo did not date at all. She certainly did not seduce innocent men in dark gardens and have her wicked way with them. Now, the morning after, she was awkward and nervous and, still, happy. Really, really happy.
Things would be different now between them, and it was up to him to set the new tone. He was tired of all their games with each other and with the rest of the world. They did not have much time to spend together, so they might as well enjoy it.
He said, "I am going to brush my teeth and then I'm going to kiss you, so you had better stay right there. OK?" He looked around and found where he had thrown his shirt the night before. If Mia was fully dressed, he would at least wear a shirt with his boxers. Pajamas hadn't been his primary concern last night.
Mia watched him as if he were the most fascinating creature in the world doing the most miraculous thing in the world. She would not have thought to complain about his breath if he kissed her now, but a man must have some strict principles in his life, and Mikey M believed that one cannot kiss a woman without brushing one's teeth in the morning.
Mia sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "All right. Go ahead." He could just lean over now and kiss her -- No, teeth-brushing first. Then kiss. He got out of bed and ran his fingers through his hair while he walked over to the bathroom.
"Why can't my hair do that?" Mia said. Now it was her turn to watch him in the bathroom mirror while she was in bed.
"Do what? It's too long." He looked at his reflection to make a critical assessment of the state of his hair, but then he saw Mia still sitting on the bed watching him. She was much more interesting to watch than his hair. Which really did look perfectly ordinary and boring and too long to him.
"Your hair just flops the right way," Mia said.
The future leader of Genovia liked the way his hair flopped. Smiling made brushing one's teeth more difficult. But the task was done, so he could give Mia the kiss that she deserved for being, well, Mia.
"When do you leave for London?" she asked.
"We start sending things back tomorrow. I leave when I want. I can't stay here, but I'm sure René would let me stay at Miragnac for a bit longer." He hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but he knew he could not leave the area now. In another week he'd have to get back to his work on his album, but he could take some more time off. He had his princess now.
"You're going to visit," he said more as a statement than a question. Yes, Mia would come to London, so they would not have to really break up yet.
Except they were going to break up today. Damn. The petition. Parliament.
"So, that's going to be it? Sometimes I visit?" Mia was no longer smiling. They both knew that this was the way things had to be, and he didn't want to dwell on it. He'd much rather make her smile and get her to disobey the tacit business-formal dress code at the sessions of the Genovian Parliament.
"I'd come over and stay in the guest wing at the Genovian royal palace if I wasn't going to be arrested," he said, "but don't worry about that. Not now. You need to get changed."
"Changed? But I'm already dressed."
Whenever Mia spent the night at Mirabeau, Francine would send over clothes for the next day. So all the clothes Mia had at Mirabeau were yesterday's and day's boring suits. And the simple light pink sundress she had bought last weekend. She had changed out of that dress once they had returned to Mirabeau and found the Francince-approved outfit waiting for her, and Mia hadn't thought of taking the dress back to Genovia with her.
Mikey M found where the chateau staff had put the dress in his closet, and he found mixed with his own shoes the sandals Mia had bought. Mia felt more confident when she was looking good, and she had looked really cute in the dress. Plus when they faced all the cameras, she'd want people to see her in pink, not beige.
He came out of his closet and handed the dress and shoes to his princess. She looked at the clothes, then looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm going to Parliament for the vote today, remember?"
"You look nice in pink."
She half-smiled, but she wouldn't let herself acknowledge that he was right. She had to always think like a proper princess. "I know you've been helping me improve my clothes and image all that, but people don't wear pink to Parliament. It's—it's just not done. I can't." She still held onto the dress and shoes.
"Why not? We're just staying long enough to hear the results of the vote, right? Then we have to hold our press conference." He went into the closet to find something for himself.
"Because it's not— Wait, 'we'?"
"What did you say yesterday? We're engaged, so wherever you go, I go. It's not like your dad can arrest me again. Right?" He changed into a light gray button-down shirt and black trousers. They would be the only people in the entire Genovian Parliament building not in suits.
"But the plan was for me to go to Genovia this morning, then come back here for the press conference with you," Mia said, but she didn't sound very convinced by her argument.
"The plans changed." He came out of the closet and checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Mia was right. His hair really did flop in place correctly.
"Yeah, they've changed all right." Mia looked at him, then looked at her dress, and smiled. The alteration of the plan was accepted, and she now needed to get changed quickly so they would not be late.
They did not have time to join the others for breakfast at Mirabeau. Mikey M told Jen that he was now going to Genovia for the morning, and then the princess and the musician left in the royal Genovian limo to go to Parliament.
"We're going to really talk about the future some time, right?" Mia asked during the ride.
He didn't see what they had to discuss. He now recognized that he loved her, but he was still Mikey M. He still had his obligations to Piaget's Children. She said she loved him, but she was still Princess Amelia Renaldo. She was never going to neglect her responsibilities towards Genovia. As was going to be proven that morning, he would never be accepted as Mia's prince consort. Prince Phillipe was not going to drop all the charges against Michael and let him ever visit Genovia. Mia and Michael had no long-term future together.
But there was still the very pleasant short-term future to contemplate and enjoy. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Sure. But later, OK? We have to become unengaged first."
"Don't remind me. I'm keeping the ring, though." She looked down at it now. "We have no idea what we're really going to say at the press conference this afternoon, do we? I mean, before we were going to talk about how we're forced to stay apart, but now..."
"Now we're going to tell them that you're still going to wear my ring, and I'm still going to take you out whenever I can. We can't get married. So what."
Mia still would eventually need a real Prince Consort. Mikey M would only be a complication in her life so long as they were romantically involved. She needed a boyfriend – a husband – who could be a support for her. Once she was the Crown Princess, she wouldn't have time to fly to London to see him.
Once she was Crown Princess, she'd be able to drop the case against him, and he would be able to visit her. Not that that would change the situation much. He would still make a terrible Prince Consort. He had to tour. He had to keep making music. He had his own life, completely independent of her.
So they would eventually have to end their relationship. Perhaps they'd fall out of love. They'd eventually have to accept the reality of their situation. They were adults. Love was only an emotion. It couldn't magically make their lives compatible. Nothing could.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
The car was pulling up in front of the Parliament building. The reporters, photographers, and TV crews were already out there, waiting for them. Mikey M said, "I'm fine. How long do you think this should all take?"
"Not very long. Come on, we have to go in. If the guards at the door don't let me in because I'm under-dressed, I'm blaming you."
"François and I will beat them up if they don't tell you how stunning you are looking today."
They had their picture taken many times and from many angles on their way from the car to the building. No time for questions, no interviews, there would be a press conference in the afternoon at Mirabeau for that. The guards at the front door were more surprised to see Public Enemy #1, Mikey M, come in than to see Mia wearing pink.
"I'm out on bail," he explained.
Of course everyone already knew that, but he was still not expected to come casually walking through the front doors. The guards called to report his arrival to Prince Phillipe, and Mia, Mikey M, and François walked down the corridors to the main chamber of Parliament. Mia greeted many of the government officials they passed in the halls. She may usually spend her days drinking tea with the spouses of world leaders, but she had gotten to know a lot about how her country's government worked. She would have fit in with the rest of the government drones if she wasn't wearing the pink dress.
They stopped outside the doors to the main chamber of Parliament. The official roll call was still taking place. Then would come the big vote. Mikey M did not know what the protocol was for Mia and him. Would they stand in the front and make one last plea in the name of Love? Or would they sit in the visitor's galley and try to deduce based on the members of Parliament's facial expressions what they voted for?
He did not want to go in there. Mia didn't look all that eager to open the door, either. Seeing the vote would mean watching their engagement be broken. Maybe if the doors stayed shut forever, they could forget about the reality of their situation and just have fun together.
"I don't want to go..." Mia began, then she shook her head. She was bracing herself for the unpleasantness on the other side of the door. She already looked miserable.
Mikey M took her by the hand and pointed to a portrait on the wall, next to the doors they were still standing in front of. "Is that Grandmère's husband?" he asked.
Mia bit her lip, still trying to decide whether to just go through the doors. She took a step towards the portrait and looked at it. Cowardice won. Mikey M was relieved. "Yeah. I never met him. He fought against the Nazis."
"Like Grandmère's tea with Hitler and Mussolini?"
Mia smiled weakly and shook her head. "For real. Grandpère kicked a lot of Nazi butt. I'll have to take you to the Genovian history museum. They have his medals."
"I'll believe it when I see it. But if he did marry your grandmother, he must have been a very brave man."
Someone walked by them and went into the chamber of Parliament, but Mia didn't make any move to follow. She waited until the door was closed, then she looked back at the portrait of her grandfather. "Grandmère says he adored her. Maybe she used to be nice or something."
"Right." Mikey M walked over to the next portrait, a few more feet away from the doors to the chamber of Parliament. He wanted to put as much distance between the vote in Parliament and them as possible. "Is he your great-grandfather?"
"Yes. He married someone in René's family – a great, great aunt? I don't know, but Grandmère does. She's always telling me about my dead relatives. Anyway, it's all his fault that we're stuck with René now."
René may not be the most responsible and respectable member of the Renaldo extended family, but everyone liked him. Mia could complain about him, but even now she was smiling about being stuck having to support him. Mikey M now genuinely liked his "old friend", Prince René, too. René was the one who got Michael to come back to Genovia to see Mia, after all. So Mikey M had only charitable feelings towards Mia's great-grandfather.
"I thought you were keeping René around so you could marry him once you get rid of me." He was rewarded with a punch on the arm for that, and a genuine, happy smile.
The doors opened again, and this time Francine came out. "Mia! Oh, wow, Mikey M, you're here, too. It's about time for the vote, so you should go in there."
Mia gripped Michael's hand more tightly. She shook her head and said, "I don't think we're going to go in. OK?" That question was directed towards Michael, not Francine. Of course he had no objections to that. Francine was surprised, but she did not try to make Mia change her mind. She went back inside, and Mia walked over to the next portrait.
"Great Aunt Josephine. They must have moved this portrait closer to the front since she died recently. She's Sebastiano's mother, so she hated me. If it weren't for me, her son would be the heir to the throne."
"'Hate' is probably too strong of a word."
"Oh no, she really hated me. She told everyone that I was not a legitimate heir because Mom and Dad were never married. And she tried to convince people to have me take a paternity test because my mom was an artist and therefore must have been sleeping around. Great Aunt Josephine was awful. Great Uncle Giorgi was really cool, though. Let's go find him."
Mikey M and François followed her around the corridors of the Parliament building for over an hour. She wanted an escape from what was going on in the main chamber, so she tried to forget it was happening at all. But they couldn't keep finding more Renaldo and Grimaldi portraits forever.
Francine came down the hall, walking very quickly. The vote must be over.
"Mia, Michael, there you are," she said. Then she hesitated. Bad news. Mikey M had been expecting their petition to be refused. That was all part of the old plan. He was still disappointed though.
Mia also interpreted Francine's silence the same way. She was no longer smiling and prattling about relatives now. She shrugged, in a very un-princess-like manner, and said, "Well, we tried."
"The vote was 63 to 20," Francine said. "That's more in favor of your petition than we expected. There were a lot of abstentions, too."
That was a minor victory. A very, very minor victory. Mia tried to smile like she was pleased with that part of the news, but she ended up just shrugging again. "Yeah. Well, I guess we should have our press conference."
Jen and René were the most enthusiastic participants at the afternoon press conference. Mikey M was usually able to hide what he was really feeling from others, but today he felt like everyone there could sense his true mood. He didn't want to lose Mia again, but he knew he had to.
"This morning's results were disappointing," Mia said, "but not completely unexpected. I wish it could have turned out better for us. But, well, we're not a piece of legislation, so just because we've been vetoed by Parliament doesn't mean we can just end everything. I mean, I love Michael, and he loves me, and we're going to stay together."
This was not anything like what was supposed to happen according to their old plan. They were only going to make it more difficult for themselves when they finally did go their separate ways. But it was the truth, and for once Mikey M didn't mind that his personal life was being discussed candidly in front of an audience. He was always hiding. This time he'd let everyone in on the secret: He was in love with the wrong woman. She was in love with him, but that didn't make her any less wrong for him.
Eventually Jen declared the end of the press conference, and Mikey M and Mia could disappear. He went to the studio, and Mia followed. The recording equipment was already being packed up, but his guitars were still out where he left them. He sat down and picked up his acoustic guitar. Mia sat on the piano bench next to him.
"How long are you going to stay?" Mia asked quietly.
"Around here? A week. I really have to get back to finish working on the album. You'll visit." He knew her days were always filled with public appearances and dinners. She had already cancelled her appointments for last weekend to be with him, so who knew when she would be able to make time in her busy schedule to come to London. But she had to.
"A week?"
"Yeah."
"I guess that's better than nothing, right?" She leaned over and kissed him. She was right. They had to live for the moment; enjoy the short time they had together; enjoy the week. She stood up and said, "I'll call ahead and tell everyone at the palace to get the guest quarters ready."
"The palace? I was just going to stay with René."
She grinned, and Mikey M knew it was hopeless to resist. She was a princess with a plan. "You said this morning that you'd stay in the Genovian royal palace if you weren't going to be arrested. You won't be arrested this week. You're not scared, are you?"
This had to be the worst idea since, well, their engagement. "Your family hates me."
"Only Dad and Grandmère, and that's just because they care too much about me. So say you'll come, and I'll call Ted and Francine."
How could he say no to his princess? "OK, fine. But only if you show me the Genovian history museum."
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(Note: I'm really, really, really, really sorry about how long it took for me to get around to writing this part. I didn't think it would take so long but, well, um… Thanks for patiently (and impatiently) waiting. The next part is being written now. Thanks for reading!)