Prada Doesn’t Make Glass Slippers
He was still sound asleep when Mara woke. She turned onto her side to watch him, to try to analyze him. He seemed to have some kind of power over her and she couldn't define it. No matter how much her mind protested, her body responded to his touch. Here he was this near stranger who had no definable past with the exception of a character from a film that was pretty much bombing at the box office. Had she finally, in her loneliness, gone over the deep end? Was this all a figment of her imagination, a very vivid figment? The feel of his hand sliding up her thigh and the appearance of a soft smile on his face said it couldn't possibly be. It was his hand because both of hers were folded under her head.
"You're insatiable, Max."
"For the finer things in life, love."
"Do you see me as one of the finer things?"
"I see you as a diamond in the rough." He turned so they were facing each other. "Mara, we may never know why I ended up here. There must be something I need to do. It's the only viable explanation I can come up with one exception."
"Tell me what the exception is. I'm curious." she replied as she nuzzled his nose with hers. He seemed to be brining her affectionate side to the surface and that's a hell of an accomplishment. Mara had certain emotion buried pretty deep and that particular one was at the bottom.
"Maybe I'm here to be with you." he responded with a small kiss to her bottom lip. "Possibly there is some higher power that determined you needed someone like me."
"Oh?" Backing up a bit, she propped her head on her elbow. "What if its the other way around? What if this so called higher power reckoned you needed someone like me?"
"Either way." he admitted. "It doesn't matter, Mara. We're together."
"I'll but that. Max, I never meant for this to happen, I didn't bring you to my home with hopes of romance and the likes. You seduced me, not that I'm complaining, mate."
"It wasn't difficult, love. Do you know how beautiful you are, how special you are?" He propped himself up so they were eye to eye again. "What man in his right mind wouldn't want to be with you?"
She smiled sweetly and dropped her gaze away from him. "All of them that I know, Max, except for you."
"There, you have it than. We're meant to be. An unlikely mix I'll admit but we compliment each other well."
"Either that or you're afflicted with a silver tongue."
"I didn't hear any complaints about my tongue last night."
"Cheek!"
"Indeed. Come on than. Get up. We have a full day ahead of us, Mara; dinner at the Four Seasons for one thing."
A short while later the two of them were parking her car at Neiman Marcus in King of Prussia. It was the only department store she could thing of that fit the description Max had given her. He wanted a place where they could purchase quality off the rack. Although South Street was loaded with boutiques, Neiman's had a variety of name brands such as D & G and Gucci all in one spot.
They headed straight for woman's wear and Mara felt like a fish out of water. She had no idea how to buy something of this natures and twice Max had gently slapped her hand down when she lifted price tags to check. She lifted a D & G print cocktail dress from the rack and held it up to her but Max shook his head. Mara didn't even recognize most of the designer’s names as they passed racks of clothes by Sue Wong and Shoshana. Max nixed them all until finally he saw something he liked. It was a Badgley Mischka cocktail length dress in a flattering light green, iridescent and almost peridot in color with a lace overlay.
"Try this on, Mara, I think it was made for you."
Of course she checked the price and shook her head. "Max. I haven't spent that much money on my entire wardrobe for the past three years."
"Humor me, love Try it on."
"I don't reckon it will cost anything to do that." she shrugged. Seeing their interest in the dress, a middle aged sales woman scurried over.
"Let me help you with that. This color brings the highlights in your eyes out, miss. It’s a perfect choice for you." The woman pointed to a chair for Max to sit while Mara changed. She showed her into the dressing room as she worked at upping her commission on this potential sale, speaking of how magnificently Mara could accessorize the dress with a nice Diane VonFurstenberg bag and shoes.
Mara did enough tugging and smoothing to slightly annoy the assistant. "My dear, that dress drapes perfectly on you. It’s as if it was made for you. You're friend has a good eye for fashion."
"I don't know about this. I've never worn anything like it."
"Step outside and show him. I'm sure he'll love it."
With a sigh Mara did what the woman asked. She stepped out of the dressing room and looked over at Max who'd raised his eyes slowly to look her up and down. He was speechless at first.
"Mara., you’re a vision of loveliness. I ...I ..." he stood up and turned her so she was facing a three paned mirror. Placing his hands softly upon her waist, he met her eyes from her reflection. "You're magnificent, grand. I'll be proud to have you on my arm Mara Mackenzie.
For as much as she protested, she knew he was right. The dress fit her curves as if it had been sewn on her. Though her eyes were blue, the soft green color of the garment brightened them and her hair to perfection. She stood on her toes to imagine what a pair of heeled shoes would make her legs look like and it brought her height up just enough for him to turn his head to kiss her neck. "We'll take it." He said just loud enough for the sales woman to hear.
"Max." Mara sighed. "It's so dear...I don't ..."
"Shush. We'll take it." he insisted. "Shoes, a handbag and jewelry too." he turned to the sales assistant and nodded. The woman smiled seeing her commission dollars inflate.
Dressing Max was an easy task. He chose an Armani Collezioni three button suit. The men's department assistant pinned up the sleeves and said "We can have the tailoring done in a few hours, sir. Would you like it delivered?"
"No. I'd like it done in an hour or less and I'll wait for it. I'm sure you can accommodate me. Neiman Marcus has a reputation to uphold."
"Indeed, sir."
It was the tone of Max's voice that set the assistant to work ASAP. He had an ingrained ability to convince or to make one believe they could do things by insisting it be so. The suit was ready in forty four minutes.
Packages were loaded into Mara's car and Max insisted on driving back to her flat. Driving is after all like riding a bike. Once you learn nothing seems to erase the ability. Mara was silent for a bit as they got onto the Schuylkill Expressway but not for long.
"Max, why are we doing this?"
He turned to glance at her over the bridge of his nose. "There's no sense in earning a shed load of money without enjoying it, Mara. I told you I had a penchant for the finer things in life and if this is where I'm to be than I'll make the best of it."
"What if I don't fit in this plan, mate. I'm not a Prada sort of woman. I'm working class."
"Listen to me. You work to earn money. Money is something that if handled correctly, it can go to work for you."
"What do you know that the financial advisors from the company who represents us don't?"
"The explanation is simple, love. The advisors in the firm that handles your investments are greedy bastards who insure your money works for them first and you get what trickles down. In a way, I've managed to circumvent their cut and their interference thus making your money work directly for you."
“... and you."
"Yes, admittedly."
"I see." she went silent again after that. Max finally drew a breath and spoke.
"Mara, I want this night to be special for you. You said that you've always wanted to have dinner at the Four Seasons and tonight your dream will come true. You're Cinderella going to the ball. Can't you see that?"
Max had a plan and perhaps he saw this night as a way to let her in on it. Truth be told, it didn't include her and he wasn't sure how she'd take it but an evening spent living a fantasy may just soften the blow a little bit. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt her. After all she did technically save his existence and she did provide the stepping stone he needed to reclaim the real Max Skinner. She gave him comfort and fulfilled his basic needs. For that he was indebted to her but in his mind there was only number one right now.
They returned to her flat and dressed. When Mara emerged wearing the new dress, with her hair done up and a bit of well placed makeup, Max was once again in awe of her.
"You look beautiful, Mara." He took her hand and twirled her around.
"You don't look so bad yourself, mate." she stood back and admired how well he wore his clothes. Her heart fluttered when he took her in his arms and kissed her softly but there was a cloud of confusion in her mind. She knew she wasn't in love with this man yet she found him breathtakingly attractive and she's shared her bed with him none the less. It wasn't love; it was a combination of lust and loneliness. Of that she'd convinced herself.
"We should go. There is only one showing of your film and it starts in twenty minutes."
They'd arrived at the small artsy cinema just in time for the opening credits. There couldn't be more than four or five other people there to view the film so it left the choice of seating wide open. They chose to be dead center sixth row and neither of them talked much during the film. Mara glanced at him every so often to gauge his reactions but he was stoic throughout. She never let on that his pursuit of Fanny made her feel slightly green. Fanny was a beautiful strong woman and the character made Mara feel inferior. Why should she care? Now there's some food for thought.
He still seemed unaffected as he took her hand when they walked out of the cinema. Max even smiled a bit as he said "I'm glad we chose to see the film before dinner. Did you enjoy it?"
"Yeah, mate. It was fun." her afterthought was left unspoken and it included the phrase for the most part. Max was a bit of an asshole until the end. They chatted about his character and how he felt at being here all the way to the Four Seasons. Max waited until they were seated and their dinner was ordered before he got down to business.
"Mara, I've something to ask you. You see, I think I know why I'm here and after seeing my film my thoughts have been reinforced. I was wondering something." he paused to give her a chance to respond.
"Go ahead, Max. Ask away."
"I was wondering if you'd consider giving me a loan. Not a large one mind you. Just thirty thousand US dollars or so. I'll pay it back with interest. I can promise you that."
"Do I have that much money?"
"And then some."
"What...what do you need it for?"
"I need to go away. I need to go to New York City and do something there."
"How long will you be gone?"
"Indefinitely."
"I see." her expression turned to one of sorrow. She knew this day would come but not so soon. Max was way out of her league by her reckoning and sooner or later he had to move on."
"Mara. This is something I need to do. You'll understand. I promise."
She looked away from him at the first sign of tears. There's no way she could let him see her cry over this. "When would you be leaving?"
"First thing in the morning, if you'll give me a lift to the airport. I could take a cab. No worries."
"It's alright, Max. I'll lend you the money and I'll take you to the airport." she managed to look back at him. "If you don't mind, I've sort of lost my appetite. Can we go home now?"
Max shook his head no. "It's not midnight yet ...Cinderella."
TBC