The sound of the birds chirping outside was the first thing I heard when I got out of my deep sleep. It had been ages since I didn't sleep that well, and I was enjoying the feeling of being well-rested for once.
With my eyes still shut, I turned around with a little content smile, pulling the warm covers up to my chin. When I opened my eyelids, a frown formed on my face as I finally realized I was in a bed I didn't know, in a room I had never seen in my life. I immediately sat up in bed in a swift motion, and looked at my surroundings. The last thing I remembered was being in the car with Michael and Bill, on our way to Neverland. I didn't have any memory of going to bed. None.
When it hit me, I brought my hand to my forehead, and felt my cheeks heat up since I was blushing hard. I understood that I fell asleep in the car, and that Michael or Bill probably carried me in there.
"Oh hell no," I said to myself, as I sank deeper in the mattress, and buried myself under the covers.
It was only late at night when we arrived at Neverland, around four in the morning. With the long day I had, I couldn't fight my tiredness anymore, and ended up falling asleep in the car. As promised, Bill came to pick us up at one in the morning sharp, so we left Alice and Carl at the loft after we spent the rest of the evening with them. I was delighted to see that Michael got along pretty well with them. In the car, he explained to me that he felt safe around them, because he felt understood, which was rare for him. He told me how hard it was for him to mention his vitiligo, but it wasn't with us. I was happy to see that he felt as safe as me when I am around him.
Throughout the night, Alice couldn't help but be awkward around Michael, and I found this quite cute. She would start to stutter whenever he asked her a question, or she would just start to stare weirdly a him at times. Michael found this hilarious, though.
Slowly, I uncovered myself and tried to push away that feeling I had in my guts: I felt incredibly embarrassed.
And that feeling would stay with me or a little longer.
I looked at the clock on the nightstand, and realized it was almost noon. My eyes widened as I got out of bed in a swift motion. I started to run around the room like a mad woman, and opened the different doors to find where was the bathroom. When I found it, I didn't waste another minute and took off my clothes, almost tripping over my own two feet in the process, and went into the tub. It definitely was the quickest shower I ever had.
Wrapped in a white towel, I jogged out of the bathroom, and scanned the room with my eyes, looking for the bag I brought along with me with clean clothes, and other personal items. When I spotted it on the chair by the bed, I took my clothes out, which consisted in a pair of high-waisted jeans and a white crop top, and got dressed rapidly. As my hair was still wet, I dried it with the towel for another minute, and went back into the bathroom to apply some moisturizer over my face, along with a bit of under-eye concealer. As I wasn't on duty, I allowed myself to put some gray eye shadow on my eyelids, and that was it. I didn't like make-up that much.
My hair was still wet and wavy, but I decided it would stay that way, since I was a little bit in a rush. I didn't want Michael to wait for me all day long to get prepared. It was already embarrassing enough to wake up at noon when invited at someone's house.
I grabbed my oversized denim jacket from the back of the chair, and left the room. I had no idea where to go, since I didn't have a clue about where I was. I looked on my right and on my left, and noticed I was upstairs. I hesitantly went down the stairs, only to arrive in the hall of the house. I had no idea where to go, but luckily, a maid came to my rescue.
"Good morning, ma'am," she sweetly greeted me. "Please follow me, breakfast is waiting for you."
"Thank you," I told her gently, as I followed her across the house. Everything was made of wood: the floor, the stairs I took, the pieces of furniture,... It was magnificent. Every decorative item seemed so expensive that I was scared to touch anything, afraid it would break under my touch. While crossing what looked like the living room, I took a glance at the many framed pictures on the sideboard. I recognized his sister Janet, since she was the second Jackson family member that I could identify. Concerning the rest of the family, I wouldn't be able to name any of Michael's other siblings.
"Ma'am?" the employee called, with that same gentle voice.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, once I caught up with her again. "Is Michael waiting on me?" I asked curiously, as I followed close behind her.
"Oh, Mr. Jackson isn't up just yet," she chuckled slightly, and I frowned. I felt a weight being taken off of my shoulders. "He probably worked all night long again."
"I thought he'd be up before me. Does he often sleep in like this?" I wondered, as we arrived in a smaller room.
"He does. He works a lot during the night, so he's not much of a morning person," she explained, and I nodded, chuckling internally. I was totally mistaken about Michael's sleeping routine. "Please, take a seat," she offered kindly, and I sat down at the round table by the window. "What can I get you?"
"Oh um, coffee, please?" I asked gently, with a hint of uneasiness in my voice. It was always the same feeling I had when I was at Neverland: I felt a little embarrassed to be treated like a queen because I was never used to it.
"Is that all? Maybe you'd like some scrambled eggs? Or some cereals?"
"Oh um, I'll take some scrambled eggs, then. Thank you," I politely said, as the maid just nodded her head before disappearing to some place. While I was waiting for my breakfast to arrive, I dreamily looked through the window, and got lost in the beauty of the place. Everything about Neverland was soothing. It seemed like the grass was greener than any other place, that the air was purer, and the atmosphere was lighter. I felt good when I was there, almost as if I was home.
My reverie was interrupted by Michael's employee bringing me my food. The smell of coffee quickly invaded my nose as she set my cup in front of my, along with my plate. Quickly after that, she disappeared again in some place over the gigantic house.
I didn't realize how hungry I was until I had my eggs just under my nose. While I wanted to wait another couple of minutes to see if Michael would join me, I couldn't resist, and started to eat without my host.
"Even the eggs taste better here", I thought to myself, and snorted at my own thoughts.
"I knew you were a coffee person!" Michael exclaimed as he barged into the room, which got me almost choking on my food.
I swallowed what I had in my mouth, and chuckled a bit at his excitement, "good morning to you too," I teased, smiling in one cheek.
"Sorry, I forgot my manners. Good morning," he smiled sweetly, as walked towards the table. He pulled the chair next to me, and sat down with me. "I could smell the coffee from the hall. I would have bet you were a coffee drinker."
"I would be a zombie at work if I hadn't coffee to keep me awake," I told him. "Don't you like it?"
"Not that much. I'd rather drink tea, smoothies or my all-time favorite, orange juice," he explained. His employee arrived in the room, and brought him a glass of juice. "Can you bring me scrambled eggs too? Thanks, Adrian."
"I'm thankful for this woman. Without her, I would probably be lost in that house," I told him, dead serious, which got him giggling. "What? I'm serious, don't laugh!" I swatted his arm playfully, which got him even more giggling.
"I'm sorry. I tried to wake you up last night, but you seemed to be in a deep sleep. I didn't want to take the risk to wake you up, so we took you upstairs," he explained, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I was so embarrassed. "Aw, don't be embarrassed!" Michael cooed, as he grabbed my forearm that was on top of the table. "Bill said you're as light as a feather."
"Oh God," I muttered, as I hid myself behind my hands. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you."
"Literally, you ended up on my shoulder," Michael chuckled some more, and I blushed even more behind my hands. "Come on, don't hide that pretty face of yours," Michael gently said, removing my hands from my face. "You had a long day, you were tired, so you fell asleep. What's wrong with that?"
"N—nothing I guess?"
"Nothing," he verified with a reassuring smile. Adrian came back with Michael's eggs. "Now let's eat, we have a long day ahead of us."
***
"And here we are in the hall again. Now that I showed you around, I do hope that you won't get lost around the house," Michael joked, and I giggled at his remark.
"If I learned to know UCLA like the back of my hand, I think I might be capable not to get lost in here. Right?"
"We'll see about that," he smirked teasingly again, and I playfully rolled my eyes at him.
"Don't play the smart ass with me, Mr. Jackson. Now I know where your bedroom is, I might sneak in and scare you in the middle of the night," I smirked back, and he gave me an incredulous look.
"You wouldn't do that," he said, but he didn't seem to believe his own words.
"You'll have to find out," I shrugged, as I walked past him, patting his shoulder gently.
I heard Michael snort from behind me, as I walked out the door, closely followed by my host. We were on our way to the movie theater where Michael's staff settled everything for the interviews to take place. I was quite excited to be doing that, to be honest. I felt honored that Michael chose me to be the one in charge of such a huge responsibility, that is forming his medical crew. He trusted me enough to help him hire the best people to fulfill that task.
Instead of taking the golf cart, we chose to walk there since we had some time to kill before the beginning of the interviews. The day was beautiful: the sun was back after a few days of hiding behind some big ugly clouds, and it felt good. Because of his skin condition, Michael had his fedora on, along with a casual long-sleeved red shirt. I didn't know how many of them he had, but he had plenty. Red seemed to be his favorite color, and it did suit him pretty well.
"I can only imagine how this place must be alive when you have family around. I understood you were a big family," I casually said as I looked around, taking Neverland's beauty in.
"We are," he forced a smile, as he looked at his feet.
"Did I say something wrong?" I asked, frowning, as I noticed the change in Michael's demeanor.
"No, no! It's just that—I uh, I haven't talked to my brothers for weeks," Michael confessed on a more serious note, as we were both walking side by side. "Even months."
"How come? Did you argue with them?"
"It's just—no, not really. Things are quite complicated," he sighed heavily, as he stopped walking to sit on a wooden bench on the side of the stoned path we were walking on. I joined him there, and noticed the sadness that was taking place in his eyeball. "My family is complicated."
"What's complicated about them?"
"It's just--," he sighed yet again, as he rubbed his palms on his black jeans. "Joseph wants me to go on stage with my brothers again, and they're all putting so much pressure on my shoulders that I can barely be around them," he explained, and I felt bad when I noticed how saddened he was by this situation. "Jermaine has been calling for weeks, but I can't even pick up the phone. I can't take the pressure or the reproaches."
"Jermaine is your older brother, is that right?" I asked innocently. I was quite embarrassed to ask this because most people knew exactly who Jermaine Jackson was, while I had to ask to be sure.
"Yes. He's always been very protective over me during the Jackson 5 years. But things have changed, you know? I don't need to be protected anymore, I'm a grown man. My brother and my entire family tend to forget that," he sadly said, and I scooted closer to him to take his hand in mine. I squeezed his hand gently to show him some support. Both of our hands were intertwined on his lap, and the feeling of his palm against mine seemed natural already. It's like I belonged just there, I could feel it deep inside of me. "I love them, but I can't be around them for my own sake."
"Did you tell them that?" I wondered gently, as I watched him concentrate on our hands.
"I told my mother and my sisters, Janet and La Toya. They understand me, but my brothers and father... It's more complicated than that. They want me to go on stage with them again, but I don't want to," he explained, and he turned his head in my direction. My face was inches away from his, which took my off guard. It took me some long and awkward seconds to look away from his perfect face. "I—I'm sorry," he apologized, blushing slightly, before going back to playing with our hands on his lap. "I shouldn't be bothering you with my family drama."
"Hey," I said right away, as I let go of his hand to bring it to his chin. I turned his face toward mine, and looked deep into his eyes. "You're not bothering me, okay? I am here for you, you can talk to me about anything."
The sparkle in Michael's eyes had my heart melting. Whenever he laid his eyes on me, I felt like I was the most beautiful woman in this world, and I sure hoped he felt the same way. To me, at that instant, he was my priority, the one and only person I wanted to make happy.
As a response, Michael got closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. The way he pulled me close to his side was one of the best feelings I ever had to experience. Every muscle in my body lost tension as he rubbed my arm gently, and, despite the heaviness in my stomach, I could feel my inner self erupt with bliss at the feeling of him pressing me to the warmth of his body.
"Where have you been all these years, Hayley Thames?" he asked with a hint of regret in his voice. His breath tickled my ear as his chin was rested on top of my head.
"I was around," I chuckled a bit, as I took Michael's hand, that was hanging from my shoulder, in mine. "I'm here now, it's all that matters. I'm not going anywhere."
A silence fell upon the both of us, and Michael sighed sadly which alarmed me. I left the comfort of his arms to look at his facial expression, and just how I guessed, he had this worried look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked right away.
"I just—I lost many people because of my busy schedule and crazy life style. I—I don't want you to be part of the people I loose because of it."
"I'll be there whenever you'll need me," I told him, but he didn't seem quite convinced, as he kept looking down. "Michael, I promise." This got his attention, as he made eye contact again. "I'm not leaving you."
"I might be off to New York City for a while next week, but I'll make sure to call you. Every night if I am able to," he seriously said, and I smiled at his sweetness. "You have no idea how cold hotel rooms feel when you're alone."
"I'll gladly keep you company if my schedule allows me to," I smiled reassuringly. "I'll probably have tons of things to tell you. Starting with Alice and Carl's thoughts about you."
"Jeez, I hope I didn't intimidate Alice too much," he giggled, and I did the same thing, thinking about Alice's awkward behavior. "Carl seems to be very protective over you."
"He is. He hates to see me feeling blue. I can see how it's killing him to see me sad," I explained, as flashbacks from a few days earlier started to play in the back of my head.
"You should never be allowed to feel sad. Your smile is too beautiful to be replaced by tears," he shyly declared, which brought a grin on my lips at his compliment. "I—I hope you'll be able to work things out with your grandmother while I'm away," he switched topic, stammering a bit as he was visibly embarrassed.
I sighed, "I hope things will go back to normal. I just wish she could tell me why she asked me to stay away from Hayden," I admitted, as I started playing with my fingers on my lap. "What's so horrible about him that she doesn't want me to find out?"
"Whatever it is, she probably does this out of love for you," Michael wisely pointed out, and I nodded slowly, sighing yet another time.
"How am I supposed to live my life knowing some parts of it are blurry?"
"Do you think you'll be able to? Ignore this blurry parts, I mean."
I pondered for a few seconds, just looking into space. I didn't ask myself if I was ready to live my life like nothing happened while my grandmother obviously knew something I didn't. Something important.
"No," I shook my head. "I'm thinking about this day and night, making up the worst scenarios in my head. I need to know who he is."
Michael twisted his mouth, and he nodded his head in understanding. "If you want to find him, you need to keep in a corner of your head that, for whatever reason your grandmother told you to stay away, she did it for you. Because she loves you."
"I'll try to remember that," I nodded, and sighed heavily, throwing my head back. "I don't even know where to start. I don't know a thing about him, all I have is this old picture of a sixteen year-old boy named Hayden."
"
Maybe I could help you find him?" Michael gently offered, and I turned my head in his direction. "I—I mean, if you want to."
Michael's offer brought me back to the vision I had the day before. I remembered how him; the person I presumed was Hayden and I would end up in the same room, at some point. What if this vision appeared to show me that I'd need Michael in the future concerning Hayden? What if it appeared to let me know that I needed to accept Michael's offer? That he'd be the person that would lead me to Hayden?
I wasn't going to take the risk to miss the opportunity to meet with the mysterious person my grandmother was trying to keep me away from.
"I'd like that, yeah."