Chapter 2

The short ten minute journey back to my apartment actually took thirty minutes as Javon insisted that we would take a detour just in case anyone had spotted MJ – as he called his Boss affectionately, leave the club with an unknown woman.

Michael agreed to Javon’s recommendation by saying “we can’t be too careful can we BJ?” I could’ve sworn I saw that sh*t eating grin again as he said this.

As we climbed into the backseat of the black Escalade it suddenly dawned on me that I was indeed in the presence of Michael friggin' Jackson! I mean I had been a fan of his music since I was a little girl, probably like every other kid born since Thriller was released, but OMG. Why me? How did I get so ...lucky?

As he took a seat next to me I couldn’t help but have this feeling of nausea wash over my body and I began to swallow in deep gulps of air hoping that the sickness feeling would fade. Closing my eyes slowly as the car began to move, it took a lot of restraint not to throw up on the superstar sat beside me.

“Ava are you okay?” asked the soft but low spoken voice of the man sat beside me.

I nodded my head and looked up at Michael’s concerned face. The past few hours seemed like a daze as the effect the alcohol had had on me started to wear off. I nervously shook my head yes and began to fidget with my hands (something I always seemed to do when I was stressed, nervous or worried).

These past few hours felt like a daze and as I started to replay the events of this evening in my mind the sickness feeling began to rear its ugly head once again.

I had enjoyed the couple of hours spent talking with Michael. He had seemed like a genuinely nice person who seemed concerned about what Lucas’ intentions were with me as he expressed them not long after we were introduced.

*Flashback*

“Ava...can I ask you a question?" Michael said as he handed me the coca-cola that Javon had kindly gotten for me.

“Sure Mr. Jack...uh, Mike. What would you like to know?” For some reason as soon as it eventually dawned on me that it was indeed THE Michael Jackson sat next to me it felt kinda strange to call him Michael. Don’t ask me why, but the need to address him formally kept appearing until he had insisted that I just call him Michael or Mike if I’d prefer.

“Lucas told me that you might be working for him so I ...uh, well I was curious as to what field of work you were in....?” 

For the ninetieth time tonight I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as he finished his question whilst never loosing eye contact with me.

Immediately my gaze dropped down to my fingers that were twisting and pulling themselves without my control in my lap. What do I say? Do I tell him the truth? Do I admit that tonight I was going to sell out my dignity to a man I barely knew because I admired the life my cousin was living? How shallow does that sound?

I had these doubts and had asked myself these questions a million times it seemed over the past month. But it was only when I had worked a particular long and sh!tty shift at the Ghostbar where some rich guys thought it’d be fun to see how far they could push my patience, that I thought what the hell! You see some of the clientele at this haunt that was frequented by many of today’s rich and famous, thought because they were indeed rich that they could get away with anything they pleased.

This particular night I had already worked an eight hour shift when my boss Stephen had asked if I could cover one of the girls who had called in sick. Knowing full well that I needed the extra money, Stephen always knew he could rely on me. So I had a bite to eat, reapplied some makeup and braced myself for another eight hours. The night had been quite low key until 11.30pm when this group of guys on a bachelor party took residence in the area I was looking after. Normally bachelor parties were kinda frowned upon at this bar due to the select clientele it held but because the best man was a well known football player with the NFL, Stephen turned a blind eye.
For the next three hours I let the guys talk to me anyway they wanted whilst I took their drink orders and constantly kept their orders flowing. Ignoring the “oooh there must be a keg in your pants cos I would love to tap that ass” or “girrrrl your daddy must’ve been a baker, cos you got a nice set of buns" and“how ‘bout you sit on my lap and see what pops up.” Well you get the idea.

So when the soon-to-be groom tried to get up, obviously about to hurl, did he stumble into me and the drinks tray I was holding and proceed to vomit onto my chest, that at that precise moment in time did I expect to see Ashton Kutcher pop up from somewhere with his Punk’d crew. Realizing quite quickly that I wasn’t even famous so why would Ashton Kutcher even bother to Punk me? Did I reach my breaking point and ran to the ladies room before the flood gates opened and I was made even more of a fool out of.

As I sat in one of the toilet cubicles in just my bra and skirt, my soiled shirt thrown angrily to the floor, the tears came as I sobbed for what seemed like an eternity. I was sick of my sh!tty life and I was sick of always trying to make ends meet. Was it my fault my mother left my father when I was just six years old? Was it my fault that I didn’t finish high school because I had to look after a sick father? Was it my fault that I couldn’t get a decent enough job because I couldn’t finish high school?

So that was the exact moment that I decided I wanted to live the good life like my cousin Shawna. In my heart I knew that by me agreeing to Shawna’s introduction to Lucas, I would surely end up losing a little, if not all of my dignity. But didn’t I do that tonight I thought? Hearing those so-called men hurling abuse and sleaze my way all night, feeling them grope and touch me when clearly I wasn’t interested, well I might as well get paid good for this type of behavior in the process I reasoned with that little voice in my head.

As I looked up to Michael waiting patiently for my answer I decided I was going to tell him the truth. I hoped that he would try to understand where I was coming from and didn’t judge me too much. I already felt ashamed for putting myself in this position and the way I was feeling lately, I didn’t want a complete stranger to pass judgment on me.

So, I took a deep breath and let it all out so to speak. Only just not about what it was Lucas did for a living and what he wanted me to do, but also about how I ended up in Vegas to begin with and the reasons behind my permanent move here.

Maybe it was the alcohol but anyone would think I had verbal diarrhoea. I couldn’t stop myself. I normally hate to talk about myself but I really needed to vent and Michael just sat there and listened. He nodded when he agreed with something I said, he took my hand whenever he sensed I was getting upset, he never took his gaze away from my face, but mostly he listened and it felt ... good. Real good.

He didn’t appear disgusted in me at all once I paused enough to let him speak. Although he was pretty disgusted with Lucas I realized after I asked him to repeat something he said under his breath. Words to the effect of “fu**ing piece of scum.” Imagine that I thought, the King of Pop cursing as I chuckled to myself. I didn’t think he did that kinda thing.

For the next two hours we began to converse about anything and everything. He loved my funny stories of the pain-in-the-ass celebrities that would frequent the bar I worked at. He asked me what I liked to do for fun and I told him I loved to dance. Then realizing that I was sat in the presence of one of if not the best dancers in the world I routinely started to blush. He thought my constant blushing was sweet and openly flirted with me by touching my arm.

When he announced that he enjoyed my company but had to leave shortly after I had returned from the ladies room, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Normally when in the presence of a man in an intimate setting like a date or just one-on-one chatting, I feel anxious and uptight. But with Michael so easy to talk to, it felt like I had known him all my life and I didn’t want this evening to end.

I think he sensed my disappointed and when he offered to take me home my usual uptight-ness must have kicked in because he was quick to rephrase his question. God he’s so ... sweet. 

*Back to the present*

I really didn’t want this evening to end and I could sense that Michael didn’t either but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to invite Michael into my apartment - after all he was still a man. I could just see Shawna’s reaction now if see could see this scene unfold. No doubt if she were here she woulda rolled out the red carpet, excuse the pun, to get Michael into our apartment. All that girl saw was dollar signs when it came to men, but in a way sometimes I wish I could be a lot more like her. At least she was frigid or uptight.

As we pulled up to my building, Michael turned in his seat and took one of my hands in his. They felt soft yet rough at the same time and something between my legs started to stir again.

“Ava before you leave I just wanted to say I uh really, really enjoyed your company tonight. I don’t make a habit of going to clubs, come to think of it I try not to go out in public that much at all but sometime I need to feel normal ya know?” He looked into my eyes as he said this and I thought to myself ‘who is this man? How can everyone be so wrong about him?’

He’s not whac*o at all. I’ve dated whac*o before and this guy certainly wasn’t that. As I seemed to get lost in those bambi like eyes my breath caught in the back of my throat as he said “I don’t normally act this forward with women but...I...uh...was wondering if maybe...maybe I could get your uh...your number?”

Again the redness returned to my cheeks – damn I’m easily embarrassed but I could’ve sworn the faint color of red could be seen on Michael’s face also.

“Mike I too have enjoyed your company and in a way I feel I owe you for ... well for...kinda saving me tonight.” I looked at my hand being held by Michaels as he said, “But....”

“Huh? But?” I looked back up to his face confused at what he meant.

“I don’t know it just felt like there was a but on the end of that statement” he said as I observed the disappointment written on his face and realized my mistake of how I must’ve sounded.

“No, No there isn’t a but. I just...well...I...I’m not used to being treated so nice I guess by men. I really mean that I feel I owe you and well ...sure...I’ll give you my number.” Would he really call me? I mean it was nice of him to ask for my number but chances are he’ll forget all about me as soon as I leave this car, right?

Looking back into those deep dark eyes I think I now understand what it means to catch a glimpse of someone’s soul. He seemed to touch my heart with his willingness to let me look into his eyes as if he wanted me to see something that he was afraid to show himself. He once again seemed so genuine. My previous doubts were now replaced with hope and excitement. I wanted him to call me, I hoped with all my heart that he would.

“Do you have a cell phone?” I asked him shyly.

He pulled out a shinny looking cell from his trouser pocket.

“Whoa is that an iPhone?” I couldn’t contain my excitement as I had seen the advertisements for these for a while now. You couldn’t even buy those bad boys in the shops. Well not until July if I remember correctly.

“Yea, they’re not on the market to buy yet but Apple sent me a free sample” he chuckled, “I guess they thought it’d be good advertising for them if i get pictured using one. I still don’t know how to use the darn thing though. My son has been teaching me.” He looked so coy as he said that.

“Okay well I’m pretty good with technology, I should be able to put my number in your phonebook for you.” 

As he handed me the shinny looking cell, I could feel him watching me as I started to go through the different menus and successfully saved my number for him. I simply put Ava as the contact seeing that there weren’t any other Ava’s in his phone but I chuckled to myself as I recognized some pretty famous people names. Woa I’m saved before Beyoncé - how cool is that?

Handing him back the phone he smiled and asked if it would be okay to call me tomorrow.

Nodding that it would be okay I then lent over to place a soft kiss to his cheek. I could feel his arms come behind me and he gave me a hug goodbye.

“Talk to you tomorrow then Mike” I said pulling away and exciting the car.

He smiled and nodded as I closed the car door. As I turned to walk towards my building I could sense that he was watching me and all I could think was ‘please, please, please god don’t let me trip up, oh and god if you are listening please, please, please let him call me tomorrow.’