| Chapter 5 |
| The following morning, at 9am, Reese was sitting in front of her bowl of cereal, unable to touch it. She had barely eaten two spoonfuls, and she had spent quite a horrible night, lying awake in her bed for a long time. He had kissed her. She knew that secretly, deep in her heart, she had wished for that moment to happen, but now that it actually had happened, she just couldn�t realize it had. What if it was just a dream, her imagination making her believe that it had happened�? She felt at a complete loss and couldn�t do anything but sit there and wonder. How long had she been in the kitchen? The cereal was more than soggy now so it might have been quite a while. Everything around her seemed so irrelevant, even unreal. And suddenly the phone rang. She didn�t really take any notice and let it ring until the answer machine started. �Reese, it�s Michael� I� I thought you�d be home but �� She suddenly jumped off her chair and ran to the phone. �Michael???� �Reese�! I thought you were not home because the phone rang for quite a while�� he said, sounding rather confused. �I�m so sorry Michael, I was in the bathroom�� She knew it was a lie, but it was the best she could think of for the moment. �Well, I said I would call you, so here I am�� he said, slightly laughing. And then it stuck her like lightning; it was true, she hadn�t dreamt. He had said he would call, and she had replied she couldn�t wait� It was true� �Reese?� �Yes? Oh, sorry�� �Are you alright?� �Yes, yes� I beg your pardon Michael, but I will admit honestly that it took me quite a while to realize what happened yesterday night. I spent all morning trying to convince me that it was not a dream�� �Well it wasn�t and I would like to see you again Reese.� Those words brought a huge smile on her face. He wanted to see her� �The thing is, you will understand that I can�t really go outside and stroll in the streets of Miami� Would it be so terrible if I asked you to come back to the hotel�?� �Not at all! You don�t even have to send a limo; I remember the way.� �Oh great� When do you think you might be ready�?� �Erm� well I will need quite a while before I look decent again because I didn�t sleep much last night�� �I�m sorry�� �Well, don�t worry about it. Erm, I don�t really know how long I will need.� �Well, I have another meeting in a few minutes. I think it will last for about an hour�� �That�s perfect! Let�s say that I do what I can to be at the hotel in an hour and a half, OK?� �That�s perfect. I will see you then.� �See you�� she replied. Oh God� First question: what was she going to wear??? She went to have a look in her wardrobe and finally chose some black trousers and the dark green shirt that she had worn on the set one day. Then she went in the bathroom and it took her quite a while before she thought her face looked alright again. She had definitely not slept enough and it was visible, but a bit of make-up would surely help. When she got dressed, she already thought that it was getting better, and she decided to put some green eye shadow that would remind of the color of her shirt. Not knowing what to do with her hair once again, she put it in a ponytail. Maybe she would let it down again before arriving to the hotel� ***** Unfortunately, driving there was not as easy as she thought it would be, and she got stuck in traffic jams. She finally got there about fifteen minutes late and ran to the reception desk. �Hi,� she said awkwardly, �Erm, I�m supposed to meet Mr. Jackson�� She didn�t really think that she would manage to go through with that; anybody could say that they were supposed to meet him. �And you are?� the man asked politely. �My name�s Conelly, Reese Conelly�� �Can you please wait for a second.� He went through a door and came back with Tony! �Good morning Miss Conelly.� �Good morning Tony.� �Michael sent me downstairs to make sure they allowed you in. He was a bit worried because he said you were supposed to arrive fifteen minutes ago�� �I know and I�m so sorry� There were awful traffic jams and though I left a bit early, I ended up being late�� He led her upstairs, to Michael�s suite. He knocked, and opened the door. There were still people from the meeting earlier on and Michael smiled and slightly waved at her when she came in. Tony gave her a cup of tea and asked her to wait for Michael in the smaller salon, next-door. About ten minutes later, the door finally opened again and Michael came in, looking very embarrassed. �Reese I�m so sorry; I thought the meeting would completely be over by then� And Tony said you were caught in traffic jams� You would think that the streets would be quieter on a Sunday. Maybe it wasn�t such a good idea to ask you to come around�� �Don�t say that�� she interrupted him, standing up and walking towards him, �I couldn�t have stayed at home anyway; I had to see you again�� He looked at her, deep in the eyes, and they both knew what the other one wanted. Without a word he walked towards her, his heartbeat increasing every second, not taking his eyes off her, until he was very close to her. This time she made the first step and leaned towards him until their lips touched. It started as a �shy� kiss, like the night before, but they slowly deepened it as he put his arms around her waist and she wrapped him in hers. The kiss got deeper and deeper, until they broke it, out of breath. He pulled her even closer. �Oh Reese, I haven�t stopped thinking about you all night and all morning�� he whispered, nesting his face in her neck. She felt in Heaven while wrapped in his arms that way. �Michael� What is happening to us?� she asked, stepping back. �I mean �� �I know what you mean, but I don�t know how to explain it either� Something magical is going on between us Reese. I never believed in love at first but you proved me wrong! Oh Reese, I�ve never felt that way for anyone� I feel so afraid and so thrilled at the same time!� And as he said that he put both hands around her face and kissed her gently, smiling and laughing. �This is a very new life starting for me Reese� I am a lonely person but I want you in my life.� ***** Hours, days and weeks seemed irrelevant to Reese from that moment on. She no longer had a real sense of time, especially when she was not with Michael. She would get up, go to work, eat, come back home, go back to bed and do all this again as if it was juts automatic. Steve was out of town for quite a while so she had no reason to go out or talk to anyone. When she was on her own, the only thing she was looking forward to was being with him again� He was so perfect; everything she had always wanted. He was a real gentleman and being with him was so different from being with other �regular� guys. And he seemed to try and dedicate every spare minute he had to her, calling her or even visiting her sometimes, even if he preferred being in his hotel or apartment. When Steve got back, he invited her for lunch and she decided to tell him everything. It had been long since she had last talked honestly to someone else than Michael. �What?!� he shouted. He had been so surprised that he hadn�t been able to keep it low and now people were turning around and looking at them. �Sorry� You must be jokin� Reese.� �Would I joke about something like this? I thought you knew me Steve� Don�t you trust me? This is not exactly something that I can say to anyone. I don�t even think I should be saying it in a public place�� �Well I, I do trust ya, but still, it�s a bit of a shock!� �I know, it was one to me as well when it first happened. I thought I had been dreaming, until he called and said that he wanted to see me again�� �When did it happen?� �Beginning of the month,� she replied, blushing. �I didn�t want to tell anyone �cause it seemed so impossible�� �W� What did he do?� �He called me once and asked if I could spend a day with him. I didn�t know what he meant, but I said yes �cause there was no way I could say no. So I spent the day with him. We went to a hospital for children �� �Well, not exactly a nice date�� �Oh it wasn�t a date!� she said, blushing again. �To be honest I don�t know what it was. But I had a nice day and it allowed me to see the �real� him� I was about to go home when he asked me to have dinner with him, alone�� �Really???� he said too loud again, carried out by the excitement. �Uhuh. So we had dinner in a nice little restaurant. It was lovely, and he�s such a nice person to be with� After that we went back to his hotel and he asked the chauffeur to take me home. Well that was after he �� She stopped, looked at her hands on her knees and blushed even more. �No need to say, I can imagine what happened�� he interrupted, smiling at her. �Shit, so since then, you guys are dating, right?� �Uhuh�� �Wow, I must say I�m impressed! I mean, I�ve always wanted you to find someone nice who would respect you and treat you the way you deserve it� But Michael Jackson!� he added, lowering his voice, �That�s not exactly what I expected� I mean, it�s great of course!� �Steve, do you think it can work?� �Of course! Why not? He�s a man, you�re a woman, you love each other, what could go wrong?� �I don�t know� I guess I�m just a bit nervous, that�s all.� �Don�t worry, I�m sure it�ll be alright! I wish you guys loads of happiness�� he said, stretching him arm over the table to touch her hand. It sounded as if they were married and he was wishing them happiness for the future or something like that� She looked up, met his eyes and smiled at him. He had always managed to comfort her somehow when she needed it. ***** One day, on a Friday evening, as she was waiting for him to call to tell her what they would do during the weekend � that is to say, if they could see each other � the doorbell rang. She went to open it and discovered two bodyguards right in front of her door. �Erm, well� Can I help you gentlemen?� she stuttered. They moved aside and behind them Michael appeared, smiling at her. He was carrying a bag. �Thank you guys, I�ll call you,� he said as he stepped into her apartment and let one of them close the door behind him. Reese was still in a state of shock and was simply looking at him. �Michael� What�s all this?� she finally asked, puzzled. �Well,� he said with a killing smile, walking towards her and wrapping her in his arms, �I didn�t know what to do this weekend and I thought that it was a bit boring for you to come over again, so I thought about coming over to your place for once� How about that?� �Wait a minute� You mean you wanna stay here for the weekend?!� �Sure! Is there a problem with that? And moreover, I keep thinking that I�m gonna start touring quite soon�� Her smile momentarily disappeared. �Michael, what if my apartment was a total mess right now?� �I could always give you a hand I suppose�� he replied, staring at her. �So that�s it, you�re staying? Really?� she asked, still not believing it. �Yes I am Miss�� he replied with a tender smile, bending towards her to kiss her. �I wanna see what weekends are like in your apartment, when you�re on your own�� �You mean that you don�t want to do anything special? It can be pretty boring you know.� �I don�t care. I wanna have a �normal� weekend, try and remember what it�s like�� �Sure�� she said with a smile. �I�ll make you a cup of tea to start with.� Fifteen minutes later, they were comfortably sitting on her sofa, watching TV. Michael seemed to at ease in her apartment. Of course for a few minutes he was a bit �hesitant� to start with. But he soon got confident, helped her in the kitchen to prepare a little snack and even ended up searching in the cupboards instead of asking where everything was. Michael suddenly looked at her and took a deep breath. There was something he wanted to talk about. �Reese, can you listen to me for a second?� he asked, putting the volume down. �Sure. Is it something important?� �Quite, yeah�. You see, as I said earlier on, the start of the tour is getting nearer every day.� �I know that,� she said with an ironic smile. �Well, here is what I wanna tell you� I don�t want to do this on my own. I can�t leave you behind for that long; it�s just not possible. So� would you come with me on the tour�?� Her expression froze for a second. He was actually asking her to cone with him on his very first solo world tour� She felt an explosion of joy deep inside her, but after a few seconds her brain started working again and took over. �But� it would mean giving up everything I have here. My job most of all. I can�t �� �I�ve thought about that,� he said, interrupting her before she had said no for real. �You don�t need to work, Reese, you don�t need money! I can provide you with everything you want, everything you need� You know I can, and you know I will�� �Michael, shhh, listen to me please� I know you can and you surely would do this for me, but I can�t accept� I can�t live of your money, not now�� He looked at her deep in the eyes and she could see resolution in them. �Fine,� he said, �I won�t do this tour then. I�ll cancel it, cause I�m not going on my own.� �Michael� You can�t do that!� she said, standing up. �Think about all the fans who already have their tickets. What are you going to tell them?!� �It all depends on you Reese�� �You can�t do this to me! You can�t give me such a responsibility!� �So come with me, please� I�m not asking you to stay for the whole of the tour, but at least for a while, please�� He was looking at her with puppy eyes, begging her to come with him. �What should I tell my boss then?� �Well, tell him you�re going on holiday for a while for instance�� �What about the truth? That would be easier, no?� �No, you can�t do that!� he suddenly said, looking scared. �Please Reese, don�t talk about it.� �And why not???� she asked, startled. �Oh I see� I�m your girlfriend, but you keep me secret, is that it?� �You have to understand. It�s not that easy. You must have thought about it before we started this relationship!� �I did think that it wouldn�t be easy, but I never thought you�d want to hide it like this, hide me�� she said, disappointed. She walked away and went straight into the kitchen. She didn�t pay any attention to him as he walked in and stopped by the door, looking at her. �Reese, please don�t make this harder than it already is. Please�� �What I am supposed to do Michael? Try to think about what I feel� Would you want to live in secret all the time? Would you like it if your partner didn�t want to tell anyone about you? Would you???� �Some people know about you�� �Oh yeah!� she said in the most ironic way. �People like Tony I guess. I�m sure they only know because they need to�� she added, lowering her head to try and hide the tears, pretending to concentrate on her washing-up. He left the room, grabbed his bag, called his driver and left her apartment. |