RENDEZVOUS | Michael Jackson Fanfiction

2. Just Good Friends

"Sounds like you're looking for Mr. Perfect," Michael said sarcastically after he listened to Jo's laundry list of what she was looking for in a man. "Newsflash: he doesn't exist," he told her bluntly before he took a sip of the hot chocolate that Jo bought with her. It was a rule that they agreed to abide by after Michael's tardy streak. The late person must bring treats. In Michael's defense, there was always something that came up since the due date for his album was fast approaching but he made sure to make time to see her. For some odd reason, the roles were reversed tonight and he got to rub it in her face when she arrived late. Although he must admit, it was cute to see her walking towards him with an apologetic smile while holding two cups of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows.

It's been three weeks since their first meeting and they've met almost consistently since then. Jo was like a window to normalcy that Michael never had. She was a consistent and steady presence in his otherwise, insane and unpredictable life. His fondness of her grew the more he spent time with her. He's developed, dare he say it, a crush but Jo remained oblivious to that fact, fortunately. Michael couldn't blame her. His disguise didn't exactly flaunt his best features. If she were to feel the same about him, it would've meant that Jo liked him for himself and not as Michael Jackson.  

"I'm not settling for anything else," Jo replied with her head held high.

Michael chuckled and shook his head. Jo can be stubborn in her ways at times but she was very young and naive when it came to the matters of the heart. "Jo," Michael's gentle yet stern voice started. It was his way of easing her to the hard-hitting truth that he was about give her.

Jo tilted her head towards him with her eyes partly covered by her jet black hair. Her lips thinned into a smile as a way to tell Michael that she knew he was about to say something (the truth) that she didn't like but she'll hear it anyway. "What?" she said with the smile still on her face.

The way Jo smiled at Michael was endearing. It made him wonder if she ever noticed the effect that she had on him. There had been countless of times when Jo had diminished him, a usually well-spoken man, into a stuttering fool. It's always the little things. The way she looked at him; the way she laughed at his, sometimes, corny jokes; the way she smiled at him; the way she accidentally rubbed her shoulders against his. Everything. Everything about her was beguiling. 

"Look," Michael cleared his throat. "You're too busy looking for this guy high and low but I think you're neglecting the fact that you need to turn that mirror on yourself and ask, 'what am I doing so that I can grow and mature to be the right person for that guy?' It's not fair for you to ask a man to be all that for you when you can't be all that for him."

Jo's mouth dropped slightly. There it was. Michael's mic drop moment. He always had a way to make her see things from a different perspective. "Okay, okay..." she held her hands up as a sign of surrender. "You may be on to something."

"I'm always on to something," Michael slightly tipped his drink towards her before he took another sip.

"Cheers to that," Jo held her cup to concur and sipped along with him. "So tell me," she said before she licked the top of her lip for any foam residue. "When did you become such a sage when it comes to love. You've been around, huh?"

Michael almost choked on his drink which made Jo throw her head back and laugh in response. "Really? I almost died," he said before chuckling along with her. "But to answer your question, 'no'. I haven't been around." Michael looked down on his cup as the marshmallows dance around his hot chocolate while he slightly swished his cup in a circle. "I've always been a very deep person. When I was little, people told me I was a grown man trapped in a little boy's body." Michael shrugged. "It's both a curse and a gift. My mind travels very often and it's hard to sleep sometimes. Sometimes I don't. I can't."