Wait For You - 'Look After You' Sequel - A Michael Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter 11

Evelyn
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The door closed.

The click echoed louder than it should have. I stood there, still facing it, still waiting for his voice to come through again, some part of me expecting him to knock a second time.

He didn't.

My chest was tight, way too tight. The air in the room felt thick. I took a slow breath, pressed my palms against the table, and willed my hands not to shake.

You're fine...You're fine.

I told myself that until the words lost their shape.

The lamp by the bed hummed faintly. My laptop screen had gone black. The mug of tea had gone cold hours ago.

It was all exactly the same, but nothing felt right anymore.

I sat down, finally, my body giving out before my mind could. My pulse was still wild.

It had been years since I'd seen that look in his eyes.

The same one that used to tear through me. Except this time, it wasn't curiosity. It was confusion. Like he didn't recognize me.

Like he didn't want to.

And maybe he was right not to.

———

Morning came too fast.

The Velvet Room was already humming when we arrived, low lights, dark suits, men speaking in low voices near the bar, the faint scent of whiskey and smoke still hanging from the night before.

It was the kind of quiet that didn't mean peace. It meant deals.

It meant someone was always listening.

Luca and I were led upstairs to the back conference room.

The curtains were half-drawn, sunlight spilling thin over the black marble table.

A decanter of bourbon sat untouched at the center, along with a thick folder of ledgers we'd been told to review.

I glanced at the clock. Ten minutes past start time.

Michael wasn't here.

Of course he wasn't.

Luca shifted beside me. "He's testing us," he muttered.

"I know."

"He always was a showman."

"He was never a showman," I said quietly. "He was the storm after one."

Before Luca could answer, the double doors opened.

Michael walked in like he owned the floor, black suit, dark tie, not a wrinkle in sight. No apology. No explanation.

He closed the doors behind him with a deliberate click that made everyone in the room straighten.

He didn't speak at first. Just scanned the table, eyes flicking over the notes, the faces, the way I sat at the head seat.

Then, that faint half-smile...the kind that wasn't a smile at all.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said finally. "Had a few loose ends to cut before I came."

I leaned back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. "I didn't know we started operating on your schedule."

"You don't," he said smoothly. "You're just sitting in it."

The air went still for a beat. Luca cleared his throat, trying to pull the focus back to business. "We'll start from the top. Evelyn's outlined the expansion for Club 30s. We're building out a west division... distribution, supply, payroll. But we're short on ground operators. The east side's clean, but the south is still—"