A Tender Touch

\.You Deserve It./

Saturday, - July 23, 1988

"Soo...What do you think we're gonna do?"
I asked him, looking at my watch to find out it was already after midnight although I had just arrived.But it was perfect timing for the plan I had in mind.
"Well, I don't know!Aren't you gonna give me a hint or something?"
I sighed, teasing him.
"I don't know...Maybe I should be mean and wait here until you guessed it..."
I tapped my heel on the carpet.
"Oh, come on."
He whined, looking at me with almost pleading eyes.
"Okay, okay.Let's see how I could help you."
I giggled.
"It's one of the thing you wanted yo do before you die.You know, the things we talked about yesterday up here."
"Mhh..."
He nodded his head as I saw his lips forming to a playful smirk.
"I'm gonna get married!To...you."
I laughed, shaking my head.
"No, that's not what I planned for tonight.I'm sorry..."
He chuckled, tapping his chin.
"Too bad.Well, what else did I tell - I'm gonna be a father!"
"MICHAEL!"
We both started laughing like little children.
"Concentrate yourself...Geez."
I playfully punched his chest.
"Ouch!"
"Michael, that wasn't even hard!"
"Well, maybe you hurt my feelings then!"
He rubbed his chest, acting as if I'd just beat him up or something.I rolled my eyes, still smiling at him.He chuckled.
"So, any other ideas?"
I politely asked.
"No, I - ahhh!"
He exclaimed.
"You're gonna make me watch the sunset!"
"Finally!Yeah I'm - wait.Sunset?I thought you meant sunrise?"
Why can't I just do something right?
"Yeah sunrise.Didn't I say that?"
He looked at me confused, still having a huge smile plastered on his face.
"No you - you said sunset...But yesterday - well I thought you meant sunrise."
I explained, my head hanging down.
"Yeah!Sunrise.I just slipped up, that's all!I meant sunrise, really."
I looked up at him since I felt his hands being laid on my shoulders.
"Oh, okay.Then it's gonna work!"
I smiled at him.
"And - where do you wanna do that?"
He asked, wondering.
"Well, just promise not to say no directly after I told you, ok?"
I asked, taking his left hand into mine.He slowly noddded, waiting for me to answer.
"Ok, so I thought about watching it at a...field, as you said.The only little really really small problem is that this field is about 1 hour 30 minutes away from here.Which is - if you think about it - actually not even that long of a drive and-"
"Ok."
I heard his voice.
"What?"
He looked into my eyes, taking a deep breath out.
"I said: Ok.We're gonna do it.You would've convinced me sooner or later anyway!"
"That's so cool!It's gonna be so wonderful..."
I smiled at him, giving him a quick hug after pulling away again.
"Good decision, Sir."
Patting him on the shoulder, I felt his hands being put around my waist.
"We just - have to make sure no one notices and that there'll be nobody who could recognize me."
He said,  staring into my eyes.
"Yup!"
I quickly turned around to grab a black wig and sunglasses out of my purse as I held them up in the air.
"Already thought about that!"
I proudly let him know.
"Of course you did..."
He giggled, shaking his head.

On the way to the farm...
"I'm so happy we do this!I mean I can't promise when or even if we'll really get there since I'm stupid - but still, that's gonna be great!"
I said, quickly looking to the side where Michael was sitting and then focusing back on the dark road.
"Don't say that you're stupid.You're very clever, trust me."
"Thanks, I'm just making fun...You wanna listen to some music?"
I asked.
"Sure!"
I put my hand towards the radio but instead of feeling the volume button, I was touching something way softer.I quickly looked at the wooden radio inside this car I just rented a couple of days ago and saw that Michael had put his hand on the button too.I looked at him as I found his eyes already being glued on me.He didn't even seem to think of putting his hand away so I quickly grabbed the steering wheel again.
"Sorry."
We both apologized in unison, causing us to laugh.
"You can choose what we could listen to, go ahead."
I said.
"Ok."
I heard him switching between the different radio stations until I heard the melody of The Way You Make Me Feel playing.I tilted my head to the side.
"Hey, that song is quite good, isn't this one of the hits from this guy...What's his name again?"
I smirked at him as he acted totally unknowing.He shrugged his shoulders, leaning towards me.
"I don't know, isn't this from...I think the name starts with M."
"Oh, you mean...Marvin Gaye - or isn't that a woman's voice?Madonna...Mariah Carey?Or could it be that guy...Michael Jackson?"
"Noo, he can't sing that well, you sure that it's him?"
Michael asked, raising his eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, I think so..."
He chuckled, looking at the street.
"You surely would've been a good actress as well, Mira."
I saw him smirk at me as I started giggling again.
"You too though.I mean - a good actor, not actress of course!"
I shook my head, causing him to laugh.

About two hours later...
"And...where do we need to go now?"
He asked, now standing in front of my car as I walked around it to approach him.
"Well, since I've never been here...I don't really know - but I'd say it's this way."
I said, pointing towards a small forest path which seemed to lead directly towards the fields.
"Ok, then let's go...Wait!Is this even legal?"
"Mhh...Well, I don't know.I've never done this before, Michael!"
I explained.
"Girl, you're getting me in trouble."
He said, walking next to me and chuckling to himself.
"Oh, you're very welcome Sir."
I sarcastically answered, smiling at him.

"Look!I think we're here."
He tilted his head to his right.
"Wow!I didn't think this field was that big..."
"Well, I guess that's why it's called a farm - but it looks really stunning!"
I said, my eyes wandering over the immense lavender field in front of us as the almost full moon shed his light down on the many lilac and purple flowers.
"You wanna go and sit down there?"
I asked him, taking a first step into the field.
"Yeah, sure!"

"I think you can take your wig and the sunglasses off now..."
I whispered, looking at his mostly covered face.We had placed ourselves right in the middle of that field after it took us about 10 minutes to find out where the sun would be rising soon.
"Oh, yeah - totally forgot about that."
He said, placing the wig and sunglasses next to him on the blanket.
"Oh, look look look!"
I squealed as the first shafts of sunlight started to show up at the night sky.
"Oh, that's so beautiful!"
He happily exclaimed, looking at the sky and then back at me.
"Thank you -  for all of that."
He smiled at me, his eyes looking tired but still remained to sparkle.
"No problem, you deserve it so so much to be happy...I'm glad you like it."
I said, pulling my knees closer to my chest as I still looked up at him.He warmly smiled at me as I turned my head back to the sun which was starting to rise above the whole field before I would get too lost in his eyes.I then carefully laid my head on his shoulder and soon after felt his being on top of mine.I smiled to myself - not just for the fact that the silence between us wasn't even awkward but rather comfortable but also because the light of the sun slowly started to paint the purple lavender dark red, almost looking like a ruby.So many colors were now playing with each other, creating the kind of scenery you want to take a photo of and hang it up above your bed - of course with Michael sitting there too.

Back at the hotel...
"Do you-"
He yawned.
"You've got everything?"
"Yeah..."
I giggled, not being able to choke my yawn too.
"Sorry."
I smiled, apologizing.
"It's okay, I'm tired too."
He assured me, looking into my eyes as we walked towards his door again.
"Then...Thank you for tonight."
He said as I turned around to face him again.
"Well, thanks for coming with me..."
I smiled, tired from staying up so long.
"Do you - have to work tomorrow?"
He asked, sounding worried.
"No!I don't - fortunately.If I would, I'd probably fall asleep there anyway."
I chuckled as his eyes met mine again.
"Wait...are we going to see each other again before you leave, or..."
"Well, we're leaving tomorrow or Monday, I don't know...But you can give me your number if you want and then I call you in the next days."
"Yeah, sounds good.Do you have a little piece of paper or something?"
He quickly turned around and walked through the big living room.
"Yeah, wait a second!"
He shouted on his way to his bedroom.

"Here."
He said, handing me his already opened note book along with a black pen.
"Thanks."
I gave him a quick smile, writing my telephone number and name on the blank paper.
"You also need the address?"
I asked, looking up from the little book.
"Sure, if I'll decide to fly over and come visit you there."
He smirked.
"So...is this a yes or no?"
I asked, giggling.
"Yeah, write it down - please."
He chuckled as I wrote down my full address also.
"There you go."
I smiled, handing the things back to him.
"Thanks!"
He slowly took the note book and pen out of my hand, putting it to the side.
"Ok, then - I think I have to  go now, I'm almost falling asleep standing."
"Yeah, I'm tired too."
He gave me a weak smile, tenderly putting his arms around my waist as I felt my body being brought closer to his chest.With him lightly patting my back and my hands wrapped around his neck, I wanted this moment to never end.But reality hit me when I found our bodies already being pulled apart again, although our eyes kept being lost in each other's.
...