Lies, Lies, Lies

10

Mark almost felt his soul leave his body. He was at a meeting with his label about the whole Liz situation.
-'The thing is Mark...you have a contract, and I know the circumstances are complicated, I know that. We all do. But if you try to pull out of this gig, all the royalties in all the songs you've recorded will go directly to the label. Meaning...', -'Meaning no money, and no prestige because my name will not be on the record as a producer or writer, I fucking get it' he sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, -'We know the album is almost done. So why don't you just...try and make it work. We'll even move Liz to California until you guys finish it so you don't have to leave your family', Mark's blood pressure skyrocketed, -'I-is there no other way?', -'No Mark. This is the only thing we can say to you as of now. Either you finish this album or all your work will be in vain'.
***
-'Gaga where's the shoes I-', -'I can't find them can you believe it?' She responded absentmindedly to her stylist while looking at her cellphone, -'You cant find them?', -'No sir, I don't know where the box is' she mumbled, and shrugged, -'Im sure there's other options though' she frowned, -'Yeah yeah, I just thought those Zanottis where perfect', -'Yeah, I guess'.
****
Liz smiled wide at Mark as he arranged the guitars at the studio that the label had provided, just an hour away from his Malibu home, -'What' he said, -'Imm so happy to work with you again....I'm sorry about what happened back at your house Mark, I promise it will never happen again', -'It better fucking not or I'm calling the police and exposing you', Liz bit her lip, -'I guess we can't hide it anymore...listen I know you're like almost 30 years older than me but...there's something about you that has me completely hooked' she admitted, -'Sometimes I wish Stef wasn't in the way', Mark chuckled and laid a portrait of him and his family beside the mixing board. It was a beautiful picture he always put out for inspiration.
Liz looked down, -'Imm sorry that's terribly personal', -'And out of place if I might add' he said, rolling his eyes, -'I know. How bold of me, I apologize', -'....Lwts get going with the song shall we, since I'm fucking forced to work with you again'.
****
-'Mommy I got applause today' Gianluca held Scott's phone tightly with excitement, -'Applause?! Oh my god you played in front of all those adults and-', -'Yes! The teacher said he liked me very much, and everyone applauded', Gaga's eyes filled with tears. Gianluca was absolutely brilliant with the violin and him just being 8 and already getting a standing ovation from much older musicians made her incredibly proud, -'Are You sad mommy?', he asked with a pout, -'No son, these are happy tears, I am so proud of you. You're such a star already', -'Thank you mommy', -'Tell Scott to get you an ice cream, whichever you want, you deserve it...and go to mama and papas and wait for me there, I'll bring you a gift tonight', Gi gasped and nodded, -'Can I share my ice cream with Noa?', -'You sure can! I love you, I'm proud of you, wait til your dad hears this!'.
****

The family of four sat on the living room. It was quite late at night but they had waited for Mark to arrive from the studio. He shot Gaga a tired and angry glare, she knew it had to do with Liz. They would talk about it later.
Cynthia, Joe and Natali also sat with the family.
-'So? What do you have to tell your people, Gi?', Gaga asked her son with a smile.
Gianluca nodded, -'Well...you guys know I'm with my violin class...', -'And where do you go?', -'Tisch school of music and arts', -'And what happened today?', -'Well...I played a song for the class today and I got a standing ovation from my classmates and teacher', -'And...?', -'And they even called the director of the school orchestra to come and listen!', The whole living room cheered, -'That's AMAZING!', -'Now how many people are in your class, Gi?', -'Like....a lot. Like hundreds', Gaga smiled proudly, -'You know son. You remind us of ourselves' she said, pointing to Mark and herself. Mark nodded, -'We are so proud of you, all of us. You're talented and a good boy AND! On behalf of your mother, Noa and I...we have decided to gift you something special'.
Gianluca' eyes lit up.
Gaga told Noa to go grab the gift from under the couch.
The small girl obeyed and pulled out a rather heavy item wrapped in an electric blue shiny gift paper with a golden bow on it.
-'Open it please'.

Gianluca gasped. Before this eyes, a navy blue leather and gold violin case with 'G. Ronson Germanotta' etched at the bottom of it.
-'But mommy, this is for grown ups' he opened the case and it was empty.
Mark chuckled, -'Son, we have decided to order you a Stradivarius violin. It's being made just for you in Italy as we speak. We thought it would be special if you kept it until you grew up and old enough to play it. We are so proud of you and we wanna encourage you to just keep going'.
****
-'Aren't those violins super expensive?', Natali asked her sister while Gaga was having dinner, -'Yeah quite a bit but I think he deserves it...I don't want him to feel abandoned or lonely like I did I want him and Noa to have full support and feel
Good about themselves', Natali nodded, -'Lets hope the violin doesn't grow legs and disappear  like your shoes'