dchthirteen

Faith got off the plane in sunny California, stepping out into the hot mid-afternoon sun was a shock th her system after the past two weeks spent in the blustery January-in-Illinois weather. Her cashmere sweater that had been so cuddley and fluffy, comforting and warm just a few short hours ago, now was irritatingly prickly and hot. Stepping down onto the tannenbark she felt like a super star herself, being greeted by the short, heavy set man in a black suit and tie, as he held the door to the limo open for her.

�Mr. Bledsoe is anxiously awaiting you arrival Ms Adams.� The short heavy man smiled warmly as he held the door ajar for the young woman to enter the lavish automobile that stood idling on the airport runway. Faith wondered just how much this man knew of her, and her purpose for this trip back into the world of her recent dream and suddenly she felt like a fish in a bowl herself, like the world knew her inner-most secrets� not an entirely pleasant feeling. Sliding into the deep luxurious comfort, this was no livery hack, this was the real deal� top level executive officer coach at her disposal. The bar was stocked, the CD player hummed, the rack beside it filled with shiny discs to choose from. This wasn�t just a nice place to visit� Hell, she�d gladly live here, right in the back seat of this enourmous car. She switched on a light overhead and quickly checked the mirror she had retrieved fro her purse to make sure the California sun hadn�t melted her make-up. Satisfied that she was fit for a meeting with her possible, soon-to-be employer, she settled back in comfort to enjoy the ride to �wonderland�.

Tami sat down and stared at the cursor poised over a blank page. She had clicked on �write letter� over a half hour ago, and gone for coffee twice while staring at the blank screen. A wicked grin spread across her face at the irony of her predicament. Never one to be short for words, not only was she now speechless, she wasn�t even sure who she wanted to be speechless to more; her friend Bryan, her friend Eve, her friend Tony, or Tate, or Oh My God� the new mysterious member of the Mysteryfanpage message board, who had labeled himself Mysterious Subject � it couldn�t be, could it? The possibility was simply astounding. After all this time of wishing, hoping, daring to dream of the possibility, she was left speechless at the very thought of his appearance on the board.

Tami abandoned the blank screen to click onto the first of the general messages that had been left over two weeks ago. As the image flashed up onto the computer screen she remembered the thrill of the first time she had seen this message� and the name that accompanied it� Mysterious Subject, indeed, ha, she laughed to herself� he wasn�t being TOO obvious� that was part of the catch� the problem in her mind. What if it was TOO obvious, what if it wasn�t really him� just some prankster pulling a cruel joke. Would HE really write to them. Would HE be so obvious� Well, then again, really obvious would have been to simply write his name in the space marked user name� not some description� still, the questions tumbled about in her mind� how would they ever really know? Her attention was drawn back to the screen, blue letters framed in black with those beautiful eyes looking down on the framed message�

Dearest Friends:

Your warmth and caring for me, now and in the past, has not gone unnoticed.
My silence is not an indication of a lack of interest, rather, perhaps a display
of necessary protection. But fear not, for you have not been abandoned. My
heart breaks to know that some of you have felt that I�ve left you or deserted
you, choosing others and ignoring your love� Nothing could be further from
the truth, my friends, alas there are some things over which I have no control.

Trust also that this time around, �haha� things WILL be different.

Please post your e-mail address here so that I might respond personally to you
in the future.

Sincerely,

Mysterious Subject

Scrolling down the page to count over one hundred and twenty-five responses to the original post she laughed out loud� every single one of the mystery board members had posted their e-mail addresses on the board and some 75 �new� members to boot. Poor man would get writer�s cramp (haha) responding to that many people. She wondered how many of those one hundred and twenty-five he had actually written to. His response to her had been short and sweet, well actually, rather curt.

Write to me at: MJJceoJackcorp @ hotmail.com

Then below that was a corporation address that read: www. Jacksoncorp/ex/mj_ceo/mikefiles.htm

Nothing else� that had been the entire message, almost four days ago. She hadn�t responded yet, what exactly did you write to the object of all your dreams? The possibilities were endless. She fought the urge to be too familiar. Feeling she had known him for years, wasn�t the same as actually knowing him personally for years, she knew� it was difficult though, to know so much and still so little about someone. To have thought about that person endlessly for years, knowing fully well that that same person hadn�t even known on a personal level that she had existed, just a figure in space� an accountable number amongst millions of fans. She didn�t want to gush on and on like a �school girl� either, she was a grown woman for Christ�s sake� and she didn�t want to say the same things she was sure everybody else would be saying too. How much she loved him� how much she loved his music� his compassion. When is the new album going to be released. So for four days she had written absolutely nothing to the one person in the world she had wanted for years to have the chance to meet. In fact, in four days she had written absolutely nothing to anybody� not even a note on the message board� she was pretty sure her friends had begun to think she had fallen off the face of the earth.

At that very moment, the little blue box of the messenger service popped up to display the announcement that Bryan had signed on and almost instantly a message screen appeared � the boy didn�t waste any time did he.

�Hey�

The bright red words appeared on the screen in front of her.

�Hey� she replied, still suddenly uncomfortable with one of the people with whom she felt the very closest to normally.

�Where the hell have you been?�

Well, she thought with a smile� let�s cut to the chase, but it was just what she had needed to loosen up � a good old fashioned scolding.

�Are you gonna spank me for being bad?� she quickly typed before she lost her nerve and retreated once again into a cage of blank pages.

�Damn right, now of all times for you to pick to clam up.�

The screen blinked and the next line appeared as if by magic� the magic of the internet�s super highway of communication�

�What�s going on with you? Have you written him?�

Tami sat back and wondered how he would respond when he knew she hadn�t� It didn�t seem possible even to her that she hadn�t even said hello, how are you, what�s new� or screw you� nothing to the mysterious message that had appeared�

�No, I don�t know what to write. Have you?�

�Of course girl� how could you be just sitting there on your hands not saying a word? I told him all about myself, and how much I appreciated his work� what�s so hard about that? Get your fingers moving � he did send you his address didn�t he?�

Suddenly she could feel his embarrassment over the lines at the possibility that their mysterious guest had NOT written to her.

�Yes.. he sent it�. But it is difficult.�

Marvin Bledsoe nervously paced the length of his Los Angeles office carefully avoiding the stacks of paper and notebooks that littered the floor of what could have been, if cleaner, an impressive office. A clean office was a sure sign of someone with nothing better to do, he thought, quickly catching himself before stepping on the the latest edit copy of next week�s post. Glancing at his watch, it was nearly noon� where were they? The skies were clear, the weather calm, certainly no reason for the plane to have been late. Just as he was about to pick up the phone to shout at his secretary for information on airport delays� the intercom buzzed, announcing the arrival of his anxiously awaited guest.

The control board glistened in the overhead light, everything else surrounding the empty studio was bathed in darkness, all was still, save for the lone figure working the sliding buttons on the board. The music droned on through the headphones, but Mike was uncharacteristically still, unmoved by the rhythm, hardened to the emotion that was screaming in his ears. Deftly adjusting the controls his mind knew what sounded right, but at the moment his heart no longer cared. By his left hand lay a piece of paper. A computer print out� a simple typed letter in response to his e-mail.

Dear Mr. Jackson

I have been a member of this community for as long as I can remember.
It is the best way I have found to keep up with your life. These people, who
Call themselves your fans, are some of the warmest and kindest people I
Have ever known. Many say they owe it to your example. It�s good to
Know you have touched so many lives� I wish I could say the same�

It was signed simply BJJ

Then underneath, an afterthought, it said

PS-Mom says dinner anytime

Faith knocked on the partially open door of the cluttered office, giggling when the pudgy man nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush to the door. Reaching out to grasp Faith�s hand, shaking it violently, she could barely control her laughter as the little guy looked like he was about to explode.

�I�m so happy to meet you Ms Adams. Please sit down.� He led her over to the couch, brushing off a pile of papers and motioned for her to sit. Then, for the next four hours, Faith recounted her tale of life over the past seven weeks, and Marvin just sat back behind his desk, with his pudgy hands clasped together in front of him, smiling. He was looking smack dab in the face of the mother load!