Name.
Shauna sat on the red velvet sofa in the back room at Armani, a room so private that even some of the sales staff didn't know it existed. It was the room behind the VIP section, the one where ultra exclusive clients would go for fittings that no one could know about. While those sort of things were usually reserved for seasoned actresses nominated for an Academy Award or teen starlets fresh out of rehab, this particular situation called for the same kind of discretion. No one knew that she was here save for her two companions. It was certainly the last thing she had expected when her BlackBerry rang in the middle of her 6 a.m. yoga class. And yet, here she was, watching from her perch as her client tried on the finest that Giorgio himself had to offer.
"I'm just not sure about this hemline, Amber," Giorgio announced as he tugged on Vince's jacket impatiently. He was known as a perfectionist in the fashion industry and had insisted on flying in from Milan personally to attend to Vince's needs. There were few events more important than a man's wedding, and Vince had become one of his favorite men in Hollywood to dress years ago. "This silver tie is perfect for your eyes, Vince. You did a great job picking it out."
"He had nothing to do with it," Shauna piped up as she scrolled through the relentless list of missed calls on her phone. She should be at the office working on the schedule for the pair of television teen bimbos from the CW, but she had never been able to tell Vince no. Much like Ari, her first allegiance was to the tall and lanky drink of water from Queens. He was so much more than a job to Shauna, he was family. "It's his manager over there."
Eric rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he watched Vince turn on the pedestal. It was bad enough that he had been stuck in the clothing store for hours, but now he was being held responsible for Vince's fashion choices. He was already accountable for the rest of his best friend's life, so why not blame him for picking out a stupid tuxedo? "Look, how much longer do you think we're going to be here? Even the guys don't know that Vince is here. They're going to freak when they figure out what is going on. We need to get him out of here before someone catches wind of where he is."
"I assure you that my staff will respect Vince's privacy," Giorgio promised him with his thick Italian accent, looking at the two seamstresses assisting him with the fitting. The young women nodded obediently before jotting down measurements on their clipboards. "Mr. Murphy, I understand that you are just trying to protect your client but you should really relax a little. After all, I believe that Vince is your best friend as well. You should be celebrating this marriage with him!"
"Yeah, E, you should be celebrating!" Vince agreed. Eric rolled his eyes at his best friend as Shauna chuckled appreciatively across the room from him. "Aren't you happy for me?"
"Thrilled, Vin," Eric deadpanned before returning his attention to his BlackBerry. Turtle had already called a half-dozen times, not to mention the fifteen texts that were sitting unopened in his inbox. Ari had already sent him a couple emails, and Drama had left a voicemail a few hours ago.
Vince reached down and snatched the phone, tucking it in his breast pocket. "This is my day, E, pay attention to me," he teased as he admired his own reflection in the mirror. "What do you think, look good? I mean, do you think my bride will like it?"
Eric barely looked at him before waving his had dismissively. "You look fine, Vince."
"Fine?" Vince cried incredulously. "Fine?!? We're talking about my wedding day, E. I am about to commit my life to the person that I love most in the entire world, and you tell me that I look fine?"
"You're starting to sound like a girl, Vince," E warned him before appraising him again. "You look good, you know you do. C'mon, I don't need to feed your ego. I don't think the world can handle it getting bigger than it already is, man. Let's just pay for the tux and get out of here. I have stuff to do, and you're supposed to be reading that stack of scripts Lloyd sent over from Ari's office."
"You're talking to Vince about working during his wedding tux fitting?" Shauna asked Eric, her perfectly plucked brow arched. As the mother of three, she had that maternal guilt thing down pat. Eric looked down at his hands almost shamefully as she chided him, reminding E for a moment of his own mother. "Really, Eric? I would expect a little more out of you when it comes to your best friend."
"Look, I think I've done pretty good here. I was a good sport the first two hours, kept my mouth shut the next two and haven't complained these past two. We're encroaching on the seven-hour mark here, and while I appreciate that Vince needs the perfect custom suit for his wedding, I do have a life of my own."
Vince glanced over at Eric. He could see that his best friend was nearing a breaking point. "Alright, Shauna, ease up on E a little bit. He's right. I was supposed to read those scripts last night and I kind of put it off. I just got caught up in wedding plans. It's hard to do everything on the sly when everyone in Hollywood wants to know your business," he retorted. From anyone else, it could have sounded like a complaint. Vince said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were completely normal that he was planning a secret wedding. The last thing the tabloids expected was for their beloved playboy to end up in wedded bliss. "Giorgio, do you have everything you need from me? My manager here is turning into a caged animal."
The designer looked over his notes for a moment before nodding. He leaned over and kissed Vince on both cheeks per usual European custom and sent him on his way with a promise to call as soon as the tuxedo was ready to be picked up in a few days. It and Vince would be on a plane to Paris a few hours later. Eric expected the whole city to be buzzing with gossip about the wedding by the following morning. His head hurt just thinking about it.
The boys walked Shauna to her car before retreating to their own dark SUV idling at the curb. "Look, I know this sort of thing isn't really in the deal, but I really appreciate you coming along with me today," Vince told Eric as they pulled out onto Rodeo. "You only have to put up with it for a few more days and then everything will be over."
Eric leaned back in the plush leather seat and regarded Vince for a moment. "Vin, I've known you for 25 years. For as long as I live, it will never be over," he laughed. He was always stuck right in the middle of Vinceland. He had this crazy energy that managed to pull everyone into his orbit. "It's not that big of a deal. You need me there, you know I'm going to be there. That's how it's always been."
Vince nodded before turning to look out the window quietly. There was a car full of paparazzi driving along side of them, an everyday occurrence in the life of a movie star. While they could be a burden, Vince secretly thought he would miss the camera flashes if they were to ever go away. It was both perplexing and exhilarating to think that anyone cared enough to pay thousands of dollars for a simple snapshot of him eating lunch with the boys or shopping with E or working out with Drama.
Eric's cell phone rang as they turned onto Sunset to head for Le Petit Four for a late lunch. "Eric Murphy," he said without even looking at the screen. Vince could tell that it was Shauna by the way E held the phone a few inches from his ear. "Calm down, Shauna. I can't understand what you're talking about through all the cursing." Vince watched as E listened for a moment before turning a distinct shade of pale. "We're headed to the house now. Call Ari, meet us there."
"What happened?" Vince asked as Eric angrily disconnected the call. He made a sharp turn and maneuvered the car in the opposite direction back toward the house. "E, say something."
"Someone talked," E said shortly. "Everyone in Hollywood will know you're getting married by the time Variety hits our doorstep tomorrow morning."
Vince tried not to panic. There was a reason that he had elected to keep this a secret. He was in love, but he didn't want his wedding day to be tarnished by hovering helicopters and social-climbing crashers. No one knew beside Eric, Shauna and the few people helping make arrangements. He hadn't told Drama, Turtle or his mother. With all this going on, he began to worry. What if his fiancée backed out? It'd be so easy for all this chaos to become overwhelming.
Shauna and Christy were already waiting in front of the house when Eric pulled up. Thankfully, Drama was filming today, and Turtle had some kind of study group for the business class he was taking. "Ari's on his way," Shauna told Vince as they exchanged kisses. Eric was wringing his hands, pacing the stone driveway as anxiously as Vince felt. "Jesus, Eric, settle down. You've got to get your head together before Ari gets here. I already briefed him over the phone. You need to be prepared."
However, Eric didn't have much time because exactly two minutes later, Ari was tearing up the driveway. He was already half way through a screaming tirade when he got out of the car, bypassing Vince and heading straight for Eric. "How could you keep me out of the loop, Pizza Boy?" he screamed. Vince was fairly sure it was impossible for anyone's face to turn that shade of red and still be able to breathe. "How the fuck did you forget to tell me that not only is my star client getting married, but he's fucking marrying another guy?"
"Hey, enough," Vince spoke up, slipping between the two to stop the conflict before it got any worse. He saw the way E's fists were balled up at his sides, a surefire sign that he was about to strike any minute. He gently pressed Eric back, their eyes locking as Vince did his best to put distance between the two of them and Ari. "Now listen, I'm putting Shauna in charge of how we deal with this. We are going to sit down and talk about it rationally, or I am just going to decide what to do on my own. Got it, Ari?"
Ari was still fuming but nodded silently in agreement. Shauna and Christy led Ari in the direction of the bar, leaving an exhausted Eric and anxious Vince in their wake. They followed Vince's team of handlers into the house and collapsed on opposite ends of the same couch in the living room. Ari downed a tumbler of scotch and then another before pinching the bridge of his nose in deep concentration. "Alright, we need a plan," he said once he had calmed his breathing down enough to where he could actually speak coherently. "What do you got, Shauna?"
"Do you think they'd figure it out of I started going by Vincent Chase-Murphy professionally?"
Everyone glared at Vince, no one harder than E. "Not funny, Vince," he said between gritted teeth.
"I laughed," he shrugged before returning his focus to Shauna. His publicist spent the next hour laying out her plan, with Ari adding his two cents here and there. Eric was mostly quiet, only nodding agreeably at the parts that seemed to work for him. Finally, after he had heard what they had to say, Vince leaned forward and looked at Shauna. "So, bottom line, what are my options?"
"You can come forward and tell your story. You can say nothing and deny everything. Or you can actually do nothing and not get married," she outlined. "Listen, as your publicist, I have to tell you that the last option is your best one right now. You have every right to be out and proud, but I think it's a little early to do that when you're still working through everything on your own."
"No way." Vince is shocked when those words come from E rather than him. "I am marrying Vince at the end of this weekend whether Hollywood likes it or not. He can do the interviews. He can say no comment. I'll support him either which way, but I'm not going to let you convince Vince that the best thing for him is for us to not get married."
"Honey, I actually agree," Shauna smiled genuinely. "As his publicist, I have to tell him that. As his friend, I'm going to tell him that I will work this however he wants me to because I know how happy you make him and you both really deserve to have this."
"Ari?"
The agent looked over at Vince when he said his name. "Yeah, okay," he agreed reluctantly. Like Shauna, Ari knew that Vince went far beyond the usual client-agent relationship. He was his friend, someone that he cared about in a way that most people would never get from Ari. Outside his kids and wife and probably Lloyd, Ari didn't really love that many people, but he loved Vincent Chase. "If this is what you want, if this is what you need, we'll make it work. Shauna and I will do our best to protect you, but you need to be prepared for the fall out."
Vince looked at the end of the couch where Eric was staring back at him, and he knew that he could deal with Hollywood throwing him away like yesterday's news as long as their relationship could make it through. They'd made it this far. A little gossip had nothing on a relationship that had outlasted most careers. "Alright, so we're getting married."
"We're getting married," Eric repeated. "Wow."
"I was serious about what I said earlier."
"What's that, honey?" Shauna asked as she looked up from the checklist Christy had already scribbled down on a legal pad.
"Do you think they'd figure it out of I started going by Vincent Chase-Murphy professionally?" he repeated. Eric only glared at him again. "What? It totally worked for Courtney Cox after she married David Arquette."
"Well, I'm no David Arquette," Eric asserted.
"Yeah, true," Vince agreed. "You're much hotter and funnier and probably even a better actor. Alright, so you can take my name. I think Eric Chase has a nice ring to it."
"Vince," Eric moaned, the two of them having their own conversation as if no one else was aorund. They'd always been like this, since they were six years old and had developed their own secret language. .
"I got it!" Vince announced. "Mr. and Mr. Vince and Eric Chase-Murphy."
"Oh, God, is it too late to back out?"
"Yup," Vince smiled, "you're stuck with me."
"Yeah," Eric replied affectionately. "I guess I am."
