He closed the back of the truck. I feared the driver had seen me. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard a bolt go down. I listened to his phone call. I was certain my husband was on the receiving end.
—The diary of Megan Jean
Zack offered Mia his good arm when she exited the car. They were in front of Greg Finnegan’s television studio. Mia felt wrong being out in public like this, but nobody knew who they were or would pay them any attention. It looked like Mia was Zack’s wife, while Corinna was fortunate enough to have married Alex and Frank was a friend along for the ride. They entered the building. A single man sat at the desk.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
“We’re friends of Greg,” Zack said.
The man pulled out a list. “Greg has a lot of friends,” he said. “I need more than that.”
“Zack, Alex, their wives, and Frank.”
The man looked at the list and then looked back up at them. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Please follow me.”
He went into the back room. It opened up to a huge studio space. Mia saw Greg’s couches in the back corner. She remembered her parents watching the show every night. Her father had even once taken her mother to a taping. Her mother used to brag about it all the time.
“Usually this place is crawling with people,” he said. “But most of them are set up at the Marsden house for the wedding. I don’t get to head over there until later.”
The man clearly expected the group to react with jealousy, but everyone remained quiet. He stopped at a door that opened up to a small room. There were two couches and a vanity, complete with every makeup and hair care product Mia could imagine.
“Have a seat,” he said. “I’ll let Greg know you’re here.”
Everyone picked a couch and sat down.
“Shouldn’t this have been more covert?” Alex asked.
“Who’s here to hide from?” Mia asked.
It didn’t take long for Greg to come inside.
“Mia, sit down in the chair,” Greg said. “We have two hours to make you look perfect.”
There was a knock at the door and two workers came inside. They didn’t introduce themselves before one went for Mia’s makeup and the other for her hair. Greg had warned them about this. It would be too difficult to hide them inside the studio. It was easier to tell his crew Mia was his date for the wedding since his partner wasn’t feeling well.
Mia did not object. They didn’t need this cover to last forever, only a few hours. She didn’t mind when the men started pampering her.
“We have to get this finished quick,” the makeup man said. “But it shouldn’t take long. You are one lucky man. So nice of you to lend your wife to Greg.”
He was speaking to Zack, Mia’s fake husband. These men were used to treating women like property. Mia hoped that would change soon.
“If you don’t have enough time, stop talking so much,” Greg said.
That seemed to make an impression on the makeup artist. He didn’t open his mouth again.
An hour later and Mia’s hair was pinned up, giving the illusion that it was much longer. Her eye makeup was a smoky maroon, making the blue in her irises pop. The two crew members left the room, neither bothering to comment on her new look. As soon as the door closed Zack spoke up.
“Was that necessary?” Zack asked. “She doesn’t need to look so done up to speak the truth.”
“The American people think they’re watching a wedding,” Greg said. “If she doesn’t look perfect they will change the channel before she opens her mouth.”
Greg did have a point and Mia knew Zack wouldn’t understand. Frank, Alex, and Corinna gave no argument.
“It’s three o’clock,” Greg said. “I have to leave. You’re all alone in the studio. Stay in this room. I’ll be back by seven; we’ll go on the air at eight.”
Greg left the room like the tornado he was. Mia sat in the chair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She ignored the makeup and new hairstyle. The girl looking back at her wasn’t beautiful because of her features or makeup. She was beautiful because tonight she would start something that could not be undone.