Marlon Brando asks a favor of Rose Taylor, a woman of color, to participate in a staged arranged marriage with him. Scandal arises from Marlon's drastic decision. Things get heated as they realize that things aren't so artificial at all.
#2 in #bra...
Marlon suggest we just go to City Hall instead of having a big wedding. He explained that he wanted to make it as easy as possible for me. Having a large wedding with a ton of publicity would only make me uncomfortable. After all, I lived a pretty private life.
"Absolutely not." Marlon's manager, Tony Malone, insisted from behind his desk. "I will not have you ruining your career because you want to marry her."
Marlon and I sat in the two chairs situated in front of Tony's desk. I was filled with embarrassment as Tony went on about how a marriage between Marlon and I could never do.
"You said it yourself, she's a beautiful girl!" Marlon motioned toward me.
"I saw her photograph but I didn't expect you to want her for this!" Tony complained. Marlon scowled as he looked off to the side.
"Tony, I didn't take you as this kind of fella." Marlon mumbled.
"I'm a real nice fella! I have lots of colored friends! But when it comes to her this just can't be!" Tony shouted. I glared at Marlon, and in my eyes he knew he had to fix Tony before I fixed Tony for him.
"Hey, how about we stop talking about the girl like she's not here?" Marlon asked, then he took my hand. "It's either you let me use her or I'm leaving."
"Leaving what?" Tony leaned back in his leather chair. "The next movie I got you in?"
"No. I'm leaving Fox." Marlon let him know. Tony stared at him, he was at a loss for words.
Then, Tony stood up from his desk. "Hey, how about you and I have a little talk outside?"
Marlon stared at Tony for a long while. Then, he slowly stood up. The men stared for a moment, the desk in between them. Then Tony walked around and wrapped an arm around Marlon. The two of them exited the room, shutting the door.
There was a frosted window in the door, so you could see the silhouettes of the two men. Tony was short and stump, Marlon was tall and built. Both of their hands moved passionately as their muffled voices boomed on the other side of the door.
Tony pointed a very strong finger at Marlon. Marlon huffed and looked away, then began shouting something again. It was hard to make out exactly what was being said, but I could tell Marlon was putting up a good fight.
Suddenly the door opened again and the two men began coming back into the room. I quickly turned around to face forward, pretending as if I wasn't attempting to eavesdrop. Marlon took his seat next to me once again and Tony sat in the large leather chair behind the desk again.
"Alright, Rose." Tony smiled. "You see, Marlon is real adamant about having you as his girl so I guess you're it. Now, I just want you to know I have nothing against you it's just that—"
"Mhm." I squinted at Tony.
"You'll give her everything." Marlon looked toward me. "The clothes, the makeup, the hairdressers. She'll be treated like any other wife of a star."
"But she's not your wife." Tony remarked. "She's a set-up."
"I said you'll give her everything." Marlon repeated. "I don't care how much it'll cost. If there's any surplus, I want it charged to me."
Tony looked over to me again. I wore a shocked look on my face. I could've believe this was all happening. He nodded with a smile.
"That can do." Tony said to Marlon.
From that moment on, I was treated like Marlon's doll. The whole day was spent tending to my appearance. He immediately took me to a boutique that is known to be where all of female stars go. There, a short woman in a Dior suit and a tape measure around her neck appeared from the back.
Marlon stood in the corner of the room in his grey tweed suit. On his head he wore his own hat. It was tilted off to the side. He watched intently at everything that was being done. He made sure that I was being treated correctly by the staff. I stood on a small platform that was surrounded by mirrors on one side.
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"Very nice." The designer said as she measured my body. "So many women come in here asking for a diet to gain weight. She already has it right where she needs it!"
"That's always been one of her best qualities." Marlon grinned as he watched me get measured. I shot him a look from where I stood.
"If you keep moving, I might mess up the measurement." The designer looked up at me.
"She can move as much as she wants." Marlon walked over to use with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The designer stood up slowly, then nodded.
"I was finished anyway. Just rechecking things, that's all. Let me go in the back and see what we have for her." The designer said with a nervous voice.
"Say, why don't you?" Marlon squinted. The designer scurried to the back of the store. I turned to Marlon.
"Will you please behave yourself? She's only doing her job." I frowned.
"I'm still upset at that fiasco we had in Tony's office. That guy is absolute slime, I tell you—" Marlon went on and on, but I put my hand up.
"It's over." I told Marlon. "Don't take out your anger on those who didn't do anything."
The designer returned with a rack of clothes. It included clothes from all of the big designers, Balenciaga, Charles James, Jaques Fath. I'd made a great living in my career, but I'd never spent the money to spoil myself. That day, I can definitely say Marlon spoiled me.
He enjoyed helping me choose the clothes, telling the designer what he liked and what he didn't like. He also was sure to make comments about which parts of my body should be brought in more. But one particular dress got Marlon's attention in a way I hadn't seen before.
I opened the dressing room door and stepped out into the showing room. The designer held my hand as she helped me step up on the platform. I smiled as I looked at the pearl colored dress, but then my eyes caught Marlon's in the reflection of the mirror.
Marlon slowly removed his hat from his head, his wavy hair flapping forward onto his forehead. He stared in awe as his fingers combed backwards into his hair. His lips parted as he took in my appearance.
"You look stunning." He finally said. My cheeks got warm as I rubbed my hands down the side of my body.
"I feel amazing." I looked down at the dress. "I know we're not doing a reception or anything, but I think I want to wear this."
"That'll do just fine." Marlon shook his head slowly as his eyes stayed on the dress. I turned toward him, looking down at him from the pedestal. He took my hand and helped me step down.
The dress was so fitted to my body, I stumbled a bit when stepping. Marlon gracefully caught me, holding me close in his arms. One hand was at the small of my back, the other had his hat on my back. My chest pressed to his, big neither of us tried to move. In that moment, our agreement to keep our arrangement platonic went out of the window. Both of our lips began inching toward each other in one synchronized movement.
Then the designer began returning from the back of the store. "Will you be taking... oh. I'm so sorry." Both of us let go of each other.
"We'll take it all." Marlon placed his hat on his head.
