PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 53 - Preparations

Sunday 5.45pm (2 weeks later)

I lay sprawled on Aaliyah's bed, sweatpants on, flicking through her monthly subscription magazines of Cosmopolitan.

"So...you're telling me you just asked for a spare seat and they just...gave you it?"

I laughed and purred sarcastically, "Aaliyah darling, haven't you heard who I am?" to which she snorted. I closed the magazine and rolled off the bed, sauntering over to the large mirror that hung in front of her bed, and walking up close to it to examine my bee venom face mask that my new manager Sebastian had provided me with before the Oscars tomorrow, before continuing non-chalantly, "What's one extra person to them? You're my guest."

I prodded at the thick substance spread all over my face, which was starting to dry at the outer edges, and picked up the original jar that stood on Aaliyah's dresser to read its contents. Hmm, only 1% of it was actually bee venom.

Aaliyah squealed and ran round the bed, throwing her arms around me tight as I pulled my face as far away from her body as I could so my face mask wouldn't go everywhere. It was kind of a no-brainer that I had to bring Aaliyah with me to the Oscars this year - she's been here from the beginning and I loved her for it.

Glancing at the digital clock she had by her bed,I pulled away from her embrace "Oh crap, I gotta get going."

I could hear her organise some of my stray stuff into my bag as I ran into the bathroom to rid my face of the gloopy substance.

Once I emerged from the bathroom, I could see that my bag was zipped shut with all my belongings safely inside, and my jacket placed neatly beside it on her bed.

"What did I do to deserve you?" I went to give my best friend one last hug.

"Why are you in such a hurry anyway? It's only 6."

"I know but Sebastian's put me on a very strict schedule until tomorrow. No alcohol for a week until the Oscars, expensive facials, and massages damn near every day. And I have to have at least 10 hours of sleep every night."

She was looking at me with a deadpan expression, eyebrows furrowed as if in confusion, "And you're complaining?"

I chuckled, "I'm not complaining, Lord knows I need a break from it all."

"Who's Sebastian anyway? Why his name sound so fancy?" She questioned, holding out my bag to me with a long outstreched arm.

"My new manager. Now that I've pretty much finished with Titanic I'm gonna need to find other jobs. He's gonna help me with pretty much every aspect of my career - from getting me new auditions, to organising PR."

"So I take it I'll be seeing a lot of him?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," we cheek to cheek kissed as I stood in the doorway, "don't worry, I don't think you'll be complaining. See you tomorrow." I winked at her as she stood with one hand on the door, once again confused as I rushed out.

I skipped down the stairs, two at a time, to the parking lot outside her apartment block. It had been nice to see her again, after months of travelling and working, and pretty much being around Leo 24/7.

I had been recommended a new manager to manage the 'career part' of my life, and Sebastian was the perfect candidate. He already had 5 years experience, despite being only 27, was very attentive with an eye for detail, and my God, he was attractive. Of course, not that I even had a desire of getting with him, nor was I tempted, but I knew an attractive person when I saw one.

The Oscars were tomorrow night, and I was practically shitting myself at the thought (to put it bluntly). Titanic had by far the most nominations, 14 in total, so it was set to be a big night for all of us.

//

I slowly slid my key into the lock on my front door, not making too much noise as it was already about half 10.

Opening the door, the dim light from the tv and the quiet gentle chatter of the tv welcomed me, and I could see Leo spread out on the couch.

"Hey," I closed and locked the front door "you're still up?"

He smiled tiredly, "I am. How was your day?"

I dropped my bag on the floor and hung my keys on the little hooks on the wall by the door, waking over to pour myself a cold glass of water.

"Good. Aaliyah's more excited about the Oscars than I am."

I leaned against the kitchen island counter as ai drank the glass in one go.

"Come on, don't lie. You know damn well you're gonna be like an excited puppy tomorrow morning. No one's more excited than you." He smiled lopsidedly.

I chuckled and washed the glass before leaving it to dry and walked over to him. Leo budged over to make more room on the couch, pulling me in and putting an arm around me as I sat.

"What are you watching?" I asked, not really bothering looking at the screen to even see for myself.

"Honestly," he huffed a laugh, "I have no idea. Some animal documentary. I've really just been sleeping with my eyes open."

I grabbed his wrist, that hung over my right shoulder, playing with the ends of my hair, to pull down his watch.

"Oh shit, look at the time." It was already nearing 11, and we had to be up for 7am.

"We gotta get going, we're already not gonna get enough sleep, if Seb found out he would flip." I scrambled myself up and tugged at his arm, trying to drag him up too.

"Seb," he mocked, "Sebastian isn't God, he can't tell me what to do."

I rolled my eyes playfully in front of him, trailing him into the bedroom behind me.

"Since when are you on nickname basis anyway?" I could hear the jealous undertones in his voice, anyone could, if they were listening. Every guy had a jealous side, only with Leo, it was hilarious, because he was one of the most wanted men in America, the world, even.

"Since he's going to be managing every part of my career and taking 10% of my earnings thank you very much." I smugly smiled at him, turning around and pecking him on the lips.

He smiled and pinched my butt, heading into the en suite bathroom, while I sat down on the bed and stripped off my jumper. Tomorrow was going to be one of the biggest days of my life, and I couldn't wait...