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Los Angeles, California
Michael Jackson -- May 29th, 1992
Location: 1111 S Figueroa St; Staples Center
Ana had also been invited to see this rehearsal as well. But this would be our last one in the states. In two days, we would fly out to Munich to continue rehearsals.
I was more than excited for this tour to happen. Although I was hesitant to do it, it was always great to go and visit different places around the world. To see different cultures and visit the children. It was a wonderful thing.
I just wish that Ana could come along with me, then we wouldn't have to go through the motions of not seeing each other. But I knew that it was easier said than done. As soon as she stepped off that plane with me, her face would be in the news.
And I wanted our privacy to be kept for as long as it possibly can. So her coming on tour with me was out of the question.
I stretched my arm out to my side, queing for the music to stop. But of course, Brad had to be the difficult one this time. Everyone kept playing the music.
"Stop... stop" I formed my hands into a 'T' for timeout. "You know what this means, Brad?"
"It means stop—"
"It means stop," I stated, huffing with the mic up to my lips. "so why didn't you?"
"I wasn't paying attention, boss." Ricky, my drummer laughed from beside him.
I chuckled as well, and pushed my strand of hair away from my eyes. "You have to know when it's time to stop, when it's time to transition, and when it's time to pause. You gotta sense when I'm ready. If you can't, then what are you gonna do?"
Brad sighed softly, holding his hands up. "It won't happen again, Mike."
"I know." I smiled. "Don't worry, you're not fired" he smiled as well. "....yet." Then his smile dropped, making everyone laugh.
"You're serious?" He asked, but I simply turned away, heading off stage for a few minutes.
"We'll resume in thirty minutes, fellas. Get your minds back on track and try to cool down," I said into the mic, as I went to stand in front of Ana. "We have to get this right."
I heard simultaneous okay's and 'yes boss' from everyone as they put their instruments and/or microphones on the floor of the stage, and went to take their break. Ana, who was deeply in tuned with the book she was reading, looked up at me once I towered over her.
"I can't see the words. Would you mind.... you know" she moved her hand a little bit. "getting out of the way?"
"Sorry." I chuckled, sitting next to her. I leaned over to get a good look at the book she was reading. "What are you reading?"
"Gerald's Game," she replied, mindlessly, as she flipped the page.
"Is that the book you were telling me about?"
"Mhm."
"Are you almost finished?"
"Not even close, why? Do you need something?"
I pouted lightly crossing my arms. "I want to talk to you. You know we're not going to see each other after this?"
Ana bit her lip, not even bothering to look up from the book. When she was into her novels, nothing could take her out of them. "Don't remind me. I already cry myself to sleep at night."
"Smartass," I muttered, finally reaching to grab the book. She gasped in protest as I closed it, and sat it under my leg.
"Give it back, Michael. I'm not even finished!" She exclaimed, trying to push me.
"Talk to me first. Did you know that it's rude to have a book in your face while someone's talking?"
"Did you know that it's rude to talk to someone while they're reading?"
"I've never heard of that" I laughed. "You have forever to read, but not enough to talk to me. So talk to me."
"I was going to before you took the book from me" she finally gave up and let out a big sigh, crossing her arms in defeat. "You have no sympathy for personal space Michael Jackson."
"I do so, Annalisa Jolee Green." I poked her nose with my sweaty finger. She groaned in disgust and jerked her head away.
"Don't ever do that again, sweaty McGhee."
A laugh left my lips. "Can I, Sweaty McGhee, kiss you?"
Ana put her hand to her chin, playfully in thought. "Hmmmm, under one condition."
"What do you request, mi'lady?"
"Unlimited access to Neverland, and, you give me my book back.. now." She gave me a smile and held her hand out.
I furrowed my eyebrows before letting out a high pitched laugh. "Really?"
"Really."
"...okay," I gave in. As I grabbed her book, I pushed my lips onto hers. The book was in her hands, but she threw it aside and placed her hand on my cheek, getting deeper and deeper into the kiss.
We hadn't even noticed that all eyes were now on us. But I was the least bit of worried. My tour members knew what would happen if they disclosed any information of my private life to the media. But just for safety measures, NDA's were indeed signed.
When we pulled away, opening our eyes with stupid smiles on our faces, LaVelle whistled a cat call while everyone else 'ooooo'd like immature kids. "Mikey's being spicy," he teased, making the guys laugh in agreement.
I shyly looked down and away from their stares. Ana giggled softly, grabbing my hand.
"You shouldn't be so embarrassed," she told me.
"I can't help it." I giggled and shrugged. "LaVelle, you're fired."
"And I know I'm not" he chuckled. "I'm your favorite."
"Like he would really favor you, over me, his best choreographer," Dominic Lucero, my assistant choreographer said.
"You guys are his favorites until Travis comes and steals the show from the both of you," Jennifer Batten, who was my lead guitarist, said.
Everyone then started to laugh. "That's the truth," I decided to play along. "LaVelle, you're only my favorite until Travis comes."
"Oooohhh!" Everyone said, teasing LaVelle, who kept a confident smile on his face.
"Alright, alright" I held my hand out to stop them. "You all are my favorites, and some of the best people I've worked with. Including you, Brad." He laughed and shrugged.
"That means a lot coming from you, chief."
I shook my head. Ana was smiling from beside me. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing. It just... seems like I'm around family when I'm here. Everyone is so nice and friendly. That's amazing," she replied, softly. I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. These guys are like my family. They're one of the few that I really trust and not feel like they're cool with me for one thing. It's great."
"I feel like that's rare in your world. Having people that you can really trust."
"Yeah" I nodded. "but now that I have you, it doesn't feel rare anymore."
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Los Olivos California
Annalisa Green -- June 3rd, 1992
Location: 5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd
Saying goodbye to Michael was quite emotional, and hard to do. Call me dramatic, but I cried a river watching him get on his private jet. I really wouldn't see him for a while. It felt like a part of my soul left with him.
My greatest gain, however, was getting the code to the gates of his home. It was a joke, but he allowed me to hang out with his staff at Neverland whenever I wanted. And I'm sure that most of my free time would be spent there.
Today was the first day of training Macaulay. I was very serious about it. Nothing would make me more happy than hanging with Mac, aside from Michael..
At times Mac could be a bit inappropriate and bad, but overall he was a great kid. I looked forward to hanging out with him more.
I gave him the honors of driving us to the Neverland basketball court. It was a completely bad idea. I felt like I was in multiple car accidents riding with him.
"Slow down!" I screeched, seeing the carousel inching closer and closer. "We're almost here, slow down!"
"I am!" He laughed loudly, doing the complete opposite of what I said.
I quickly gripped the sides of my seats in fear that we would flip over soon. He was a very dangerous driver, even worse than Michael. I'd never ask him to drive ever again.
Finally we stopped, abruptly, in front of the court. Mac cheered, grabbed his ball, and got out of the golf cart as if he didn't just try to kill us.
"Come on Ana, we have no time to waste!" He bounced the ball, going for a layup and terribly missed.
"That's why you missed!" I yelled, slowly stepping out with my ball. "I'm never letting him drive again," I mumbled, taking a deep breath.
When my jittery nerves calmed, I walked to the court, ready to teach him.
"Let's start with the basics, yeah?"
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Day 59 ^^^
Am I miscounting the days?
I feel like I am. 💀
Anywhoooo, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
There will be a time skip coming soon. Maybe skipping a month or two. 😁
Thank you for reading. We're almost to 6k. 🥰🥰🥰
Bye. 💞
- nae 💋