Sit down… Let’s get you ready!

It was that time of day, their almost daily rendez-vous. They spent most of their time together, of course, but these were moments they spent all alone. Far from the crowd, and the cameras, and the questions.

Alone, together.

He lit up the vanity, and looked at her almost makeup-free face in the mirror. He knew, better than anyone else, all the lines that the years had carved around her lips, and in the corner of her lips. Only with him did she allow herself to be so vulnerable, so bare, so true.

For them, she had to be her flamboyant self at all times. Perfectly put, chin up, theatrical in her most glamorous gowns… Catching their gazes, collecting the ”Oooohs” and the ”Aaaahs” as she walked by. She was the star.

He picked up the brushes on the vanity, and waited a second, choosing carefully the colors that would compliment her evening dress the best. Her face was his canvas, one he had worked his magic on for decades now… And she knew she could trust his steady hand as he painted her lips crimson red.

Of course he was secretly jealous of her. Well, no so secretly. She knew. He also had this artistic drive in him, he dreamt every night about stepping on that stage, and getting the audience’s love thrown at him with an enthusiatic applause, and a few ”encores”… But he was doomed to live in her shadow. He couldn’t blame her. They were so different, after all.

He fixed her fake eye lashes, and peeked in the mirror again. He knew no one could make her more beautiful than he did. She knew it too, and he could see it in her perfectly smocked eyes. They both knew that despite her being jealous of his tranquile life, and his unfulfilled need for her jetset ways, they just couldn’t live without one another.

A timid knock on the door announced that the show was about to start.

He picked the wig delicately from its stand, and adjusted it on his head. Placing every lock of hair patiently, he admired the now complete metamorphosis. His ultimate art. She was back and he was gone. The spot lights were waiting for her…

Show time!