Winnie's POV
"Winnie, you've been staring at the phone for 10 minutes..." Clifton says slowly.
"I know, I know--" I shake my head, biting a hangnail. "I'm just nervous, what if it doesn't work?"
"Then we'll come up with another plan." he says simply. "I mean, what do we have to lose right?"
I nod slowly as he adjusts his glasses. "So what are you waiting for?"
I sigh picking up the phone as I dial, the phone begins to ring. "Sweet baby Jesus, please--"
"Hello?"
I freeze slightly. Michael.
I expected Tatiana to pick up, but maybe this is better. Michael was more laid back, and wouldn't ask questions.
"Heeeeeey, Michael...." I say awkwardly looking at Clifton as he rolls his eyes. I shrug sheepishly as Michael chuckles lightly.
"Winnie?" He laughs lightly. "Hey! How are you doing?"
"Good, great...." I giggle looking over at Clifton. "How's everything?"
"It's crazy, but everything is---" he pauses for a moment, before chuckling softly. "Good."
"That's good....uhm--" I bite down on my lip. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course..."
"So uhm, school is out in a couple of weeks and--" I close my eyes talking fast. "Can Clifton and I go on tour with you guys? Please? We won't be in the way or--"
"Slow down. Breathe." Michael chuckles."You want to what?"
"Go on tour--with you guys?" I ask sheepishly.
"With who?"
I blush. "Clifton--"
"That guy you hang out with?" Michael teases. "Do you have a boyfriend, Winnie?"
"NO!" I shout as Clifton stares at me strangely. I turn my back slowly, and whispers.
"He's right here..." I hiss making Michael laugh hard.
"I'm just kidding. But--do your parents know about this?"
I wince slightly. "Uh--no...." I say slowly. "I was kinda hoping that you'd ask them. You know it would be better coming from you then me--"
Michael laughs again. "Fine. I'll call them tonight; but Tatiana isn't here. She's with Sheryl--"
"It's cool! Tell her I said hey--and thank you!" I squeal before hanging up. I look over at Clifton grinning widely.
"Step 1 is now complete."
Michael's POV
I walk in the empty auditorium silently, my hands in my pocket. It was early in the morning and it was our last rehearsal before the concert.
After yesterday, Tatiana and I didn't speak the whole day. After I came out the bathroom, she was gone. She went to room with Sheryl, and I went to several interviews. That night she decided to spend the night at Sheryl's.
Then Winnie called asking if she could come on tour. It would be a good idea for her to be around Tati, and already several kids were going to be around on tour, anyway. So why not two more?
I run a hand through my hair, sighing out as I chew a piece of gum. All night I kept finding myself staring at the note trying to piece together who it is. I'm sure I've gotten crazy letters, but I never had them personally delivered to me.
It couldn't have been Karen. She didn't even know Tatiana was performing at the club--
Rachel?
I chuckle slightly shaking my head. "She's dead. Ghosts don't send letters." I mumble to myself.
I suddenly hear footsteps and I look up, squinting my eyes slightly. There was Tatiana onstage practicing the dance routine for "Smooth Criminal."
I quietly walk closer to the stage without her noticing.
I watch for a moment, before clearing my throat lightly. She stops immediately, jumping slightly before looking out at me.
"Hey--" I lick my lips as she blushes slightly.
"You should stop sneaking up on my like that all the time." she groans putting a hand over her heart. I chuckle as I climb up on the stage swiftly.
"You're here early."
"I couldn't sleep, so I took a cab here." she shrugs, making my eyes widen.
"You what?" I feel my heart race, my voice shaking slightly. "Tatiana-- why didn't you just come back to my room, or just have me bring you? I don't like the fact of you going somewhere alone. Especially now."
"Michael, calm down. I'm fine. It's no big deal, okay? Anyway the whole note thing is probably just some twist trying to scare me."
"Tati--no. I have a feeling th--"
"Michael, please.." she sighs pulling her wild curls up in a bun. "It's nothing, okay? I mean it's creepy but it's not anything to worry about."
"I'm just trying to take care of you."
"But I can take care of myself, too." she says slowly.
"So you don't want me to take care of you? I established yesterday what this is from here on out."
"Michael--I don't want to talk about this." she sighs out walking away as I follow her, slipping off my jacket.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't Michael." she says her jaw clenching slightly. "And I don't feel like arguing about this either."
I chuckle. "I'm not. But I don't understand why I can't take care of you."
"I didn't say that."
"Right, because you said you didn't walk to talk about it."
"You're fucking childish sometimes. I swear." she hisses as I smirk slightly.
"No, you're just not answering my question. We're in a relationship and you're expecting me not to be worried about things like this?" I shake my head. "Are you kidding me?"
"Because...you obsess over it and overreact."
"I'm just trying not to lose you for a second time Tatiana."
"Well when you did, I managed to do a great job taking care of myself."
Ouch.
"Well I'm here now, and I'm taking that responsibility. So I recommend you get use to it."
Tatiana's POV
"Over my dead body." I roll my eyes as he glares at me.
"That's exactly what will happen if you keep doing this."he mutters lowly.
I scoff. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. You have a wild imagination and you overreact."
"No. You didn't want to tell me because you are scared to open up to me." he says taking over his glasses, staring in my eyes intensely. "Let's not twist this back on me."
"Well if you have that theory, it does go back on you; because you made me that way."
He stays silent for a moment before sighing out. "Why are you such a difficult woman?"
"Because you're a difficult man."
Michael smirks softly before looking down. "I'm serious about this Tatiana, because I'm serious about us. I couldn't live with myself if I lost you again, when it could have been prevented. Please-- will you just make this easy on me?"
I sigh staring in his pleading brown eyes, before looking down. "Fine."
He smirks softly before pressing his lips against my cheek, pulling me by my hips against his body. "Thank you, babygirl."
"Yeah, whatever." I mumble stubbornly, secretly enjoying being this close to him. He chuckles, and leans in kissing my forehead.
"Stop being so sassy." he whispers. I giggle lightly, inhaling his cologne. It was a mixture of Allure Homme by Chanel, and Black Orchid by Tom Ford.
"I'm trying." I smirk.
He smiles, rubbing my back slowly. "It's alright, I like when your sassy....it's very cute if you ask me..." he giggles. "I love you---I never wanna loose you....I can't......" he bites his lip gently, holding me tighter.
"You won't." I whisper softly. He presses his lips against mine softly, kissing me softly.
"Good." he looks down, smiling slightly.
People start entering the auditorium and Michael leans in whispering in my ear; "Come back in my room tonight. And be ready." he says before walking quickly.
I raise my eyebrow as he slips on his glasses, talking to Frank.
Ready for what?
**
When I visit him that night, he's sitting, silhouetted by the floor-to-ceiling window of his hotel room, with the kind of view of the Hawaii skyline you see on a postcard or magazine, the setting sun turning all the glass high-rises blood red; with the beach.
He smiles at me when I come in, his eyes lighting up as he puts down the book he was reading.
"You're late." he chuckles as I scoff.
"No, you left early."
He shrugs. "I had a meeting to go too." he gets up walking over to the bed.
"So--I had an idea." he smirks as I raise an eyebrow.
"And what's that?"
"I want to go out. No guards, no paparazzi, nothing. Just you and me, in the city."
I stare at him blankly. "Michael--the beach is different. The city is chaos."
"I know." he says taking off his shirt going in the bathroom.
"And people will see you..." I say slowly.
"I know." he answers simply, from the bathroom.
"And. they'll.see.you." I repeat even slower.
He stays silent and comes out, grinning. I look up at him and bursts out into hysterics laughing.
There was Michael, wearing a pasted on mustache, baseball cap, jeans and a buttoned up black shirt. And to add to the tourist touch--he wore a fanny pack compliments of the hotel.
"Well aren't you beautiful--" he says in a deeper voice making me laugh harder.
"Oh my god, Michael...." I laugh as he smirks.
"I got you something too." he says throwing a wig at me.
"Where did you get this?" I laugh sitting on the bed, as I pull my hair in the wig cap.
"I always have this stuff." he smirks. "I just never use it a lot." he shrugs.
I get up as I slip the wig on giggling. It was a brunette wig, that was cut into a bob with blunt bangs.
Before long we are sneaking past security, making a break for it downstairs, almost sprinting down the first sidewalk as if we're being followed, giggling like kids playing hooky.
We browse through tourist shops together, flicking through postcard racks that he ends up buying half of because he thinks a postcard he bought himself in Hawaii is more impressive than almost anything else he could ever send anyone.
We walk through the streets faking accents, asking people to take pictures of us together in front of statues with a disposable camera I buy.
We pass a Tiki themed bar, and Michael begs to go inside.
Just imagine....sweet Michael in a bar. I couldn't help but giggle as we walk in. Entering, I feel conspicuous, there's only a handful of people inside and they're all middle aged. A slow Elvis plays in the background and Michael walks in his eyes lighting up.
He always said he wanted to walk in a bar and get a drink--and this in a way was his dream come true.
He walks right up to the barman who's donning a lei and Michael, in his cheesy New York accent he says, "Bartender, could you get me a beer."
I try to hold in a laugh, but the bartender looks at him and then at me blankly and says, "... Just any kind?"
Michael seems surprised by this statement, not having considered this response. He looks over at me blushing slightly, before whispering in my ear. "They have different kinds of beer?"
I bite down on my lip to keep from laughing. I keep forgetting how sheltered Michael was from the real world--and his innocence in it was very cute.
"Get the root beer. It's alcohol but it tastes like the soda." I giggle as he orders. I point to a bottle of wine behind the bartender and asks for a glass of wine for myself and then turns back to him, "I gotta go to the ladies. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
"Don't get lost. Stay put." I giggle as he chuckles. "Don't get into any trouble without me."
Michael smiles at me, "As long as you don't get into any trouble in there without me."
I go in the bathroom, smiling. Michael seemed more relaxed now that he was out, and it was nice to forget about the world--while being out into the world.
The irony.
When I come back, I see Michael at a table talking to a woman who had to at least be in her 80's.
"This is Gretchen. She's from Texas." he says smiling. He sounded more impressed by this fact more than he was about meeting some of the most famous people in the world.
Gretchen smiles sweetly, extending her hand to the both of us. "Sorry, I didn't catch your names."
"I'm Maria and this is..." I look over at Michael smirking at his mustache for a second, "Miguel."
Michael grins but doesn't look at me, taking a sip of his beer.
" Are you two married?"
Before I can say anything he says, "Yes."
"That's what I thought when I saw you both come through that door. I just knew it--" she smiles wagging a finger. "You know I was married for 60 years." she nods proudly.
"60 years?" my eyes widen. "Wow..."
"Oh yes--" she smiles. "My husband James and I married when I was 18. He died last year, unfortunately."
"Oh wow..." Michael stares at her, his eyes softening. "I'm so sorry."
"Oh don't..." she waves him off smiling. "He lived a wonderful, full life. Knowing I was apart of that is enough for me. You know, we use to travel all around the world with each other?" she smiles. "For a couple of old bats we sure knew how to have a good time,and I still do. It helps me remember the good times."
I giggle as Gretchen pulls out her wallet showing us pictures of her three children, and five grandchildren.
Michael holds it up close and smiles. I couldn't help but think about how he loved people like this. He loved when people spoke to him like this, just regular people. It made him feel human, connected, like maybe if they were comfortable talking to him, could see him as an ordinary guy, he wasn't as estranged from the world as he sometimes felt himself to be.
"Beautiful family," he tells her, handing it back.
The woman beams proudly, putting it into her wallet. "So do you two have any kids?"
I look over at Michael, who looks over at me. His eyes are soft for a moment, before he chuckles. "Eight."
I look over at Michael, my eyes widening, but he keeps a straight face.
"Eight!" Gretchen exclaims, putting a hand over her heart. "My goodness, but you both look so young!"
"Well, the oldest is nine," he continues by way of explanation and sips his beer nonchalantly. "Youngest just getting on a year, and the middle children are triplets."
I sip my drink to keep from laughing, as Gretchen's eyes grow wider.
Michael chuckles and winks at me. "Well--I kept her busy." he says making me turn red.
"You look amazing for eight kids--so skinny. I wish I had looked that good after the one. But of course you would look like that--the young man keeps you busy. That's why you have that figure."
Michael and I choke on our drinks as he bursts out into laughter, and I cover my mouth to keep from spewing my drink all over the bar.
"You make a beautiful family," she tells Michael finally and he smiles brightly, pulling me to him with his arm, "I know." He pulls her to him like she's his, like she's his family.
The bartender comes over and leaves the bill next to them and Michael picks it up.
Gretchen starts taking her wallet out but Michael stops her, "No, no, I'll get this."
"Oh no, honey. You got eight mouths to feed." she waves him off.
Michael smirks slightly. "Oh well--I'm a fisherman. It's no hassle. They'll be paying they're own way soon enough."
When Gretchen turns her head, Michael slips a huge tip under the receipt and some money in Gretchen's jacket. He gently tugs on my arm, nodding and we get up.
"It was nice meeting you." we say giving her a hug, and saying a quick goodbye before rushing out before she could notice the money.
We rush through the streets quickly, and it begins to pour down raining. We scream out, laughing harder running a few blocks down, giddy and tipsy , the rain draining through us.
By the time we are on our hotel floor, sneaking in our room. We burst into fresh fits of laughter, our wet clothes and hair sticking to our skin.
"Eight kids, Michael?!" I laugh as he giggles turning on the light.
"We were busy!" He looks up at me taking off his mustache, and teeth giggling. I slip off my wig as we continue to laugh hard.
Our laughs become softer, as we begin to stare at each other; the atmosphere in the room changing. He stares in my eyes intensely and looks down, swallowing hard.
And then something in that moment happened.
The three words spilled out of me, that I couldn't take back--and I didn't know if I wanted to.
"I love you..." I whisper out.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! IT'S ABOUT TIME FAM. I WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT FOREVER. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS.
I wanted to make this chapter extra long and special because of June 25th. We all definitely needed something to smile about.
Honestly this day breaks my heart more than anything, but I know God has him somewhere better.
I love you Michael, forever.
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xoxo,
moonwalkergal