A Bittersweet Kind of Love

Chapter 1

"Of course," he said nodding his head towards me.

I guess I should be jotting this stuff down. I grabbed a pen and notepad and wrote down all the little details she told my uncle.

"May I ask what the special occasion is?" I asked her with a smile when she stook a breath.

"It's my birthday," she said touching herself with a smile, as if thinking about it made her high.

"You're birthday? Wow, wasn't expecting to hear that," I thought out loud in error, shaking my head and looking back down at my paper.

"And why's that?" she asked sounding like I offended her.

I looked at her and my uncle seemed a little bit upset with me by the dirty look he was giving. "Well only because I thought your birthday was in the summer," I lied.

"Oh. No. Maybe you're thinking of Michael. He's the end of August."

"Cool me too," I said. I knew Michael's birthday though and I was well aware it was three days after mine.

"Will Mr. Jackson be attending the party?" Uncle Leo asked.

"Oh I don't know. He's depressed," she said waving him off.

"Still? He's been back home from rehab for a few months now, right?" Uncle Leo not-in-the-know again.

"You must've not heard. He relapsed, sweetheart. He's been back home for two weeks and he's still—I don't know. But I want to check out the lounge area." She waved it off again.

"Well of course my, lovely one." My uncle grabbed her hand and walked her over to it.

Psssh. Two weeks? My point exactly. I wouldn't expect for her to want to throw a big birthday party when her husband seemed to be going through a rough time. Canceling his world tour to check into rehab after he nearly OD'd in his hotel room. And then just a month after release, relapsing and having to check in again?

Carrying on about her party, she looked so carefree like she didn't have a worry in the world. But maybe he wanted her to throw the party. Maybe he said hey, life goes on and let's not dwell on this. Maybe I was being too judgmental. Still sad though.

Even as months turned into years, I still pocketed hope that I'd meet him again one day. I knew he was very reclusive but after that crazy night in '91, I believed anything was possible. And now his wife was throwing a party at my hotel so there was a chance we'd cross paths again. I couldn't expect much though. If he showed up, he'd probably keep himself secluded from her spotlight. But it would be nice to just see him, to find his eyes in mine one more time. I wondered if I'd get that melting feeling again. And wondered if he smelled the same. I didn't remember the exact scent but I could recollect the way it made me feel. And his hair...so full and thick and long and curly and probably soft as silk. Too bad I didn't get to touch it.

"Kayah?" Uncle Leo called, snapping me out of la-la-land. "The party is in two weeks so I need you to start making arrangements for it now."

"It's an invite-only party," Leila added. "I don't care if you're a member or a hotel guest. If I don't know you and you're not on my guest list then you can't come in."

"But usually when someone of your caliber throws a party here, they..." I stopped because my uncle gave me that look again.

"Well I'm not anyone, honey. I'm Mrs. Leila Jackson. That's Mrs. Michael Jackson. I do what I want." She smiled at me.

"Understood." I smiled back. "I'll send out a notice to everyone."

"Yes, just tell them it's a private party. Oh and Ricky, I want my after party to be up in my hotel suite. So after 3 am comes rolling around, I'll invite all the real important people back up to my suite for a little end cap on the night. That won't be a problem, will it?"