All Was Golden in the Sky

“It was very nice of you to invite me to your release party, Annie.” Hannah pursed her lips as she swirled her pink champagne in its flute, evidently pleased with the bubbles and taking a quick sip. “Damn, very nice,” she cooed.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, you pretty much threatened me when I didn’t respond to all your calls when we were in Florida, so…” Brendon and I had pretty much ignored all of Hannah’s calls for the remainder of our trip, although not necessarily intentionally. Once she had called when we were on Rockin’ Rollercoaster, another time during Fantasmic!, and really I don’t know why she ever expected me to answer around bed time. Sleep and sex always were the priority around then.

Hannah just shrugged. “Excuse me for wondering how the trip was going! You know how jealous I was that you guys got to go.” She sighed and glanced around the room. “So many fabulous people. I bet they all get to go to Disney World on a whim whenever they want, too.”

Bless her, but she could be quite the dramatic shit. Instead of allowing myself to get annoyed with her, I just smiled like I usually did and looked around, too. She was right—there certainly were some pretty fabulous people. Celebrities were strewn about the room like they were decorations, and judging by the furs on some of the other guests there had to be Rockefeller descendants there too or something. I was feeling pretty casual in my Always gown, but then I remembered—these people were there for me and my clothes.

So fuck them, I looked fucking fabulous.

Brendon was off mingling, having already become annoyed with Hannah’s continuous huffing. I could see his head bobbing around on the other side of the room, and when I couldn’t see that, the reflection from his suit in the lights gave him away. My little rock star had recently acquired a fascination with all things old-Vegas, and so of course the showy suits came along with it.

But hey, they were damn sexy. Shine on, baby.

Effie, whose name I learned was actually Barb, was waving at me a few people down, and I seized the opportunity to excuse myself from Hannah. Hannah didn’t seem too fazed; recently single after she and her boyfriend split, she seemed to have placed her eye on some gentleman across the way who greatly resembled a young George Clooney. More power to her.

“Annie, darling, there you are!” Barb gushed, grabbing my forearm and tugging me close. “Everyone simply loves the clothes, you know. Some people are even trying to place orders, can you believe. I told them that I’d have to talk to you, of course, but we can discuss that more later.”

Yes, much later. When I hadn’t had two glasses of champagne and far too many pigs in a blanket.

Barb’s eyes flitted over the room, seeming to bask in the revelry of it all. “Such a great turn out, too. After a night like this, sales are sure to be through the roof.”

“It’s still surreal to me,” I said. Was that Zooey Deschanel waving at me? Dear lord. I don’t think I’d ever get used to seeing celebrities around. Luckily there were some more normal looking people walking around, too, some that I recognized from going to parties with Brendon and others who just seemed to be friendly fashion lovers.

“Hate to interrupt,” a voice said behind me, and I felt my blood run cold. Barb and I both turned to face him, and Shane flashed a smile which can really only be described as a lecherous grin. “Just been dying to catch up with you, Anne dear.”

The dick! Of course he’d invite himself, on a night when there were cameras everywhere and I couldn’t slam my fist into his face. And on my night!

I turned to Barb with the smallest smile I could muster. “Would you excuse us?” Glaring at Shane, I headed off in the opposite direction; I knew he’d follow, and sure enough, I could hear his clunky footsteps trailing behind me. My eyes locked with Brendon from across the room and his face darkened upon noticing my shadow. My last glimpse of him was him shimmying between the mass of bodies to head over towards me, and then I turned to face Shane.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, no longer feeling obligated to keep the venom from my voice.

His smile was so eerie, like an eel slithering through seaweed. “It’s a pleasure to see you, too, Annie.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. His eyes brightened and the smile turned into a slit. I felt a hand settle on my hip and looked back to see Brendon glaring at Shane, holding me close, almost like he was holding me back.

“As pleased as we are to see you, I think you need to leave.” Brendon’s voice gave me chills; if words could be daggers, his would have been machetes.

Shane just laughed, throwing his head back as if Brendon had told a very good joke. “I forgot how charming you can be, Brendon. It’s no wonder Annie adores you so much.” His eyes snapped to me. “That is why you like him, isn’t it? The fame and fortune certainly have nothing to do with it.”

“Fuck you,” I said, ignoring Brendon’s warning pinch in my side. “You keep trying to paint me as some gold digging bitch, but you don’t even know me. You don’t know anything about us.”

“On the contrary,” Shane interrupted, holding up a finger. His eyes roamed over us, and it felt like he was using X-ray vision with the way he was leering at me. “I know quite a bit.”

While I tried pondering over what the hell he was talking about, Brendon cleared his throat. “Look, Shane, I’m not above having you escorted out. So how about you save yourself the embarrassment and just leave.”

“Why would I leave? I’m here to celebrate with Annie on her night.”

Brendon took a step closer to him, and I could feel the heat of his fury radiating off of him. It amazed me how composed he could look in his anger, teeth clenched and voice level as if having casual conversation. “Exactly, you fucker. This is Annie’s night, and I will be damned if you spoil it for her. So you and your sleazy self get the fuck out, or so help me—“

“Is that a threat, Urie?” Shane smiled, appearing unaffected by Brendon’s words. Personally I would have been terrified, but I was too busy being touched by how protective Brendon was being. When Brendon didn’t answer, Shane turned back to me. “You know, I’m sure it’s just a flaw in the postal service, but neither Ryan nor I have received an invitation for your upcoming nuptials,” he said.

“No need to blame the postal service. You’re not invited.” My voice came out as flat as Shane’s character.

The sneer seemed to be a permanent feature on his face, and his eyes flicked down to my hand. “I figured as much. That really is a pretty ring, Annie. Must have taken years of digging to get a rock that big. Your throat must be pretty impressive.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Brendon spat, grabbing Shane’s elbow and tugging him away. Shane cackled the whole way to the security guard standing by the window, and waved at me as the guard escorted him out. Brendon looked livid when he walked back over to me, his fists shaking at his side. “How the hell did he even get in here?” he asked.

I shook my head and reached up to fix his hair. “I have no idea. Thank you for getting rid of him though.”

“I’m getting really fucking tired of all his little comments,” Brendon seethed.

I couldn’t help but giggle, and he gave me a wary look. “At least it’s not your character he’s attacking! I’m the one he keeps implying is a gold-digging whore.”

He sighed and pulled me into a tight hug. “Annie, I love you. I don’t want anyone saying shit about you.”

“Brendon, you love me, so of course people are going to say shit about me.” We pulled apart and I nuzzled his nose with mine. “Unfortunately it’s just part of the curse of being a music wife.”

His lips shot up in a grin. “Hmm, music wife, huh?”

I giggled and tugged on his hand, pulling him back into the fray of people. “Well, music girlfriend now. But only a couple more months!”

“I cannot wait,” he smiled, turning me to face him and settling his hands on my hips. I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, and he swayed us to the music playing overhead. “I especially can’t wait for the honeymoon,” he winked, wiggling his eyebrows like a goof.

We’d agreed to try to refrain from having sex again until our honeymoon, in an effort to hold slightly to tradition and also because we thought it’d make the night one to forever remember. Knowing us, however, the whole effort was proving to be very strenuous.

“Me either,” I smirked, pressing my lips to his in what I hoped was a tantalizing kiss. I’d endured a month without his loving before, and so I knew I wouldn’t break as easily as he expected. That didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy still being a tease to mess with him. After all, three months was a long time—I knew we’d both end up breaking, but the competitor in me wanted it to be him who caved first.

“Annie! There you are.” Barb’s voice held a shrill edge to it she only had when very excited about something. It took a great deal of effort to pull away from Brendon, and I could hear his exasperated sigh. I gave him another week tops.

Barb pulled me away from Brendon, flashing him the faintest of apologetic smiles. “It’s time for you to say a few words, Anne,” she explained, tugging me towards the center of the room. “Thank whoever you want, talk about the clothes. That sort of thing.” Everyone had crowded around, the music muted, and I had about five seconds to mentally prepare myself before Barb forced me in front of a microphone. “Everyone, Anne Greene!”

Of the two of us, Brendon was a much better public speaker. He’d been performing since he was 18, a public icon at the same age that I was when I was starting college. Sure, I’d done drama performances, but there was a significant difference between reciting lines to an audience comprised of parents and speaking out of your ass to an audience of celebrities and rich people.

“Um, hello.” Quite a few good natured laughs. Two words and I was already a hit. I chuckled a little awkwardly and scratched the back of my neck. “Um, so, I’m not actually too used to speaking in front of people. I’m sure that’s hard for you all to believe, given how eloquent I’m being right now.” More laughter. On a roll, Anne.

“Thank you all so much for coming tonight. I know I don’t know a lot of you, but I really appreciate that you all took the time to come out here for Always. This whole thing is still new and whatnot to me. I want to start by thanking my friend Hannah for even talking me into doing this; Pete Wentz for getting me started; and of course, Brendon Urie, who is undoubtedly the best support a girl could ever ask for. Love you, Bren.”

Hannah was beaming, her hands clasped together under her chin. Brendon was standing next to her, and he winked at me with a smile. I glanced over at Barb, and she moved her hands to indicate I should continue. With a deep breath, I turned back to my audience.

“I’m sure you all know this from our mission statement, but I started Always because I wanted to give girls and women alike the opportunity to feel beautiful. Obviously I’m not the skinniest or tiniest, but it doesn’t make me dislike my body any less. We’re all built differently, and sometimes our clothes don’t always reflect these different body types accurately.

“I’m not blaming other clothing lines for the uneven representation of body types. Our society has us trained to strive for size 0s, and has us believing that beauty can only be achieved by looking like the models we see on TV or in magazines.”

I gestured to myself with a shrug. “Well, in real life, some of us have boobs. A lot of us have butts. And we want clothes to make us feel as gorgeous as we are. We determine what beauty is, and the truth is, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. With my clothing line, I want women to always feel beautiful, because you all are.”

It felt weird to have people applauding for me; it felt even weirder to have said all those things off the top of my head. Barb was beaming when I stepped away, and the people from Nordstrom looked very pleased with themselves.

Hannah pushed Brendon out of the way to give me a hug first, and she buried her face in my shoulder. When she pulled away her eyes were a little red, and I wondered if she had been crying.

“You sounded so damn mature up there, Annie,” she said, and I noticed the trails on her cheeks where tears had tread. The girl wore too much foundation sometimes. “I’m so proud of you!”

Brendon enveloped us both into a huge hug, somehow lifting us both off the ground despite our protests. “You girls get so damn emotional, I swear.”

His smile always had a way of calming me down, as if he knew exactly what it took to settle me. For the rest of the night, I forgot about Shane’s rude intrusion, at least for a time. I didn’t want Brendon to see just how much he affected me. Because as tough as I tried to act, it still got to me. But I guess it’s just part of the curse of being a music wife.