STAYING WITH MICHAEL was a dream come true for Ariah. Coming from a wealthy family herself, the young girl was used to staying in a luxurious setting. Yet, Michael's penthouse was so spectacular that the young girl was mesmerized from the moment she walked in. She loved it and she slept in a smaller room down the hall from his own master bedroom.
All night, Ariah wondered what Michael was doing in his room. She wondered if he went straight to sleep or if he had any bedtime routines. Her sleep was pretty sweet, for the most part. Typically, Ariah was an early riser. What she didn't know was that Michael was also an early riser. She quickly found that out when she decided to creep down the hall and peek into his bedroom around four in the morning. The light was on and seated on the majestic King-sized bed was Michael Jackson himself.
"Oh," Ariah smiled softly. "Good morning."
Michael looked up from a book that he was reading, somewhat startled. He started to blush. "Good morning, sweetheart."
"You're up early." Ariah pointed out, seeing that the sun was just coming up.
"You're up early." Michael winked at the young girl. "I get up early everyday, it's nice."
"Same." Ariah shrugged, looking around. "Your bedroom is beautiful."
"Come in, come in." Michael warmly invited her into his room. "Sit on my bed with me. I'm just reading."
"Oh." Ariah smiled, not knowing what was happening. She was starting to get nervous as she sat on the bed's edge carefully. "What are you reading?"
"Move closer.."
Ariah inched closer to Michael and he was just amused, watching her scoot closer to him. She was obviously shy and Michael thought it was adorable.
"Um, okay..." She blushed deeply and Michael ended up moving closer to the girl, since she wasn't where he wanted her. Ariah was literally shaking and Michael noticed that, still thinking she was extremely cute.
"Are you alright?" Michael asked, wrapping his arm around Ariah. "You're shaking."
"Yeah." She nodded quickly. "So, what are you reading?"
"This." The entertainer held up the novel he was reading. "The Blacker The Berry."
"Is it good?"
"Do you want me to read it to you?"
"If you'd like, you don't have to if you don't want.." Ariah spoke uneasily, not wanting to cause him any trouble. She was already embarrassed at the fact that they were laying in his bed together.
"It's no problem, sweetheart." He smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her temple, making her blush like crazy. "I promise."
"Read." Ariah snuggled closer to Michael, warming up to him rather quickly.
"Demanding much, but okay." Michael laughed and began to read to Ariah. She was listening for about a minute and the story was aesthetic, but she wasn't feeling it. She just listened to the sound of Michael's voice and her heart was melting.
"What do you think of that?"
"Of?" Ariah asked, seeing that Michael had asked a random question. Though, the question wasn't random. He had just read an entire chapter of The Blacker The Berry to her and she was just focused on the sound of his voice.
Not the words that were coming out of his mouth.
"What I just read?"
"What did you just read?"
Michael sighed, but he wasn't upset or anything. He was just curious in how she would answer his question because in this moment, the entertainer thought Ariah was the most adorable thing in the world. "Were you listening?"
"Listening to what?"
"To me!" Michael practically shouted in a joking manner, stifling chuckles that were itching to come out. "I read a whole chapter to you and you don't remember a single word, do you?"
"Do you want me to be honest?"
"Of course, I want you to be honest, Ariah."
"Well, I wasn't really listening to the words." Ariah explained to Michael, who just raised a brow at her. "I was listening to the sound of your voice. Sorry."
"If you wanted to hear my voice, you could've asked me to sing to you." He pointed out. "Y'know?"
"Yup, I know. I'm sorry." She apologized, feeling kind of bad that she made him speak unnecessarily. She wasn't interested in the book he was reading, even though it was probably interesting.
"It's alright." The entertainer pressed a kiss to her temple and both Michael and Ariah began to blush. "Would you want to eat breakfast now?"
"I would love to eat breakfast with you at four in the morning, sure." Ariah playfully rolled her eyes and Michael smiled at her.
"Great, because you're cooking."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, girl." Michael climbed out of the bed on his side. He wasn't wearing any pants, but he had on boxers. Ariah didn't notice until she looked down, but she quickly looked up at his face when she realized that fact. Michael didn't seem to notice that Ariah happened to glance down and he probably didn't think of it until he grabbed his pants. He quickly skipped into his bathroom, but he kept the door opened while he put his pants on. Since the bathroom wasn't in the sight of Ariah, he still continued to speak. "I can't cook, so I don't cook. But, since you're here.." A smirk crept onto his face as he walked out of the bathroom with his pants on.
"What makes you think I can cook?" Ariah playfully asked him, knowing she could put something decent together. "I'm literally 17."
"You'll be 18, when?"
"Maybe tomorrow." The young girl winked at Michael, causing him to laugh heartily.
"Girl, you're just like your father."
"How?"
"He quotes us all the time. I quote The Beatles in reply though." Michael laughed. "Drives him off the wall. Drives me off the wall, too."
"I get it." Ariah giggled, getting out of the bed herself. "Great album, by the way. I love it."
"I don't think it's all that," Michael honestly told her. "But thanks. I tried my best."
"I bet this Thriller album will be even better." Ariah hinted at the fact that she was elated for the upcoming project that he was planning to release soon. "I'm so excited!"
"Thanks, sweetheart." The entertainer gave her a gentle smile. "I'm hoping it's good."
"It's you, Michael Jackson." Ariah stated matter-of-factly. "Of course, it's going to be good."
"I just don't want to disappoint people." Michael shrugged. "That's all."
"I promise you won't." Ariah winked at him and Michael slowly came closer to her. This caused her adrenaline to start rushing because she didn't know what was happening. "What exactly are you doing?" She asked, looking up at the entertainer. He was standing directly in front of her, but he didn't reply. He just stared at her.
"You're just really beautiful, sweetheart." Michael spoke softly, pushing a free strand of her hair behind her ear. "I mean, my God.."
"Shh." Ariah giggled, feeling the uttermost heat rise in her cheeks. "You're embarrassing me."
"Am I?" Michael gasped playfully and grabbed Ariah's hand. "Come on, let's get you started on breakfast in the kitchen."
"Wait." She chuckled. "Don't you want to make the bed first?" Ariah motioned to the bed, where the sheets were all tangled and messy. Back at her own home, Ariah would never leave her bedroom without making her bed first thing in the morning.
Michael squeezed her sides, trying to get her to laugh. He was successful, seeing that Ariah let out giggles immediately.
"We'll get it later, I'm hungry."