CHAPTER 2

 

Hey, hey, my 1-2 readers! 😄

Instead of posting just one chapter today, I’m going to post two because one of them felt a bit like a filler, and I wanted to keep the plot rolling.

Hope you’ll enjoy them!

 

Chapter 2

“I could stay if you wanted me to, you know.” She gave him a warm grin while zipping up her skirt and he returned the smile, his eyes never leaving her tempting body.

“I have a bunch of meetings first thing in the morning and I really need to get some sleep tonight.” He wasn’t even lying. Business people were on his ass again day and night, there were new ventures to discuss, new plans to make, new possibilities to seize. It was both exciting and scary at the same time, but mainly it was an amazing change from what he had been experiencing up until last month.

Now he was the one calling the shots again.

He lay sprawled out on his bed with his hands behind his head, the blanket only covering the lower part of his naked body. His hair a mess, his clothes scattered all over the room. And he was feeling good. Comfortable. Nice and relaxed. Finally, after a very long time.

Michael gave her body another up and down while she continued putting on her clothes.

She was very easy on the eyes. Tall, slender, toned. Her caramel skin soft and perfect, her long straight dark hair reaching almost to her waist and her dark brown eyes always giving him that irresistible ‘come-fuck-me’ look. What else could a man ask for on a slow Tuesday night like that one?

Yes, Avery was beyond stunning. But there was even more to her. She was also sweet, smart and funny and mainly had that one upside a lot of women lacked.

She knew when to say goodbye.

And even though she would always make sure Michael knew she was very open to the possibility of spending the night, she never seemed to get her panties in a bunch when he politely declined her offer.

They had met a few years earlier and according to his then manager, she had no problem agreeing on every little condition written in the NDA women like her had to sign. And Michael really appreciated her making everything so much easier and way more enjoyable.

“I would let you take a cat nap...” Avery giggled and sat down on a chair to put on her shoes. “Pinky swear.”

He watched her beautiful long legs and grinned shaking his head when he saw her wink at him playfully.

“No, you wouldn’t.”

Of course she wouldn’t. Michael knew her better than that.

It wasn’t like he indulged in these one-night stands often, and honestly, in the last two years, it had almost never happened. Sex had been the last thing on his mind when his whole life was falling apart, and he feared he was going to be locked up for the rest of his days.

When the trial ended, however, and he was finally free, he made a conscious decision to get his life back…

… all of it …

… including this aspect.

And Avery was just about perfect for dipping his toe in the kiddie pool again.

“You might have a point. I can hardly keep my hands off you.” She smiled at him. “I’ll see you again, right?”

Oh, there it was. Just when he thought she wasn’t like the others.

Instead of rolling his eyes at her clinginess, Michael smiled sweetly, not willing to take a hint even if it slapped him right in the face.

They used to hang out a bit before the trial and when he called her a couple days ago, she wasn’t even trying to hide her excitement.

And so he had his driver pick her up and they had dinner in a small, elegant restaurant he had booked just for the two of them. And then, when everything seemed to be going smoothly, he decided to take a chance and invite her for a nightcap to the Hideout.

Now it was almost two in the morning, the room was only dimly lit from a small lamp on the nightstand and from the moonlight that was coming through the window, and shockingly enough, he was getting really tired and sleepy.

“Of course you will. I’m up to my eyeballs with work but how about I call you over the weekend and we figure out something fun to do?” He smiled at her and she stood up slowly making her way to him, kneeling on the bed and looking into his eyes.

“Sounds perfect.” She kissed him deeply and he returned the kiss. A few seconds later when the doorbell rang, they both opened their eyes and he slowly pulled back.

She seemed to understand…

“Bye, Michael. It was an amazing night.” With that she disappeared through the door and he let out a sigh.

It was an amazing night indeed. Quite frankly every night that didn’t include choking on his tears or being paralyzed by fear of ending up in prison was nothing short of amazing.

And he really had been counting his blessings ever since that crucial day in June.

June 13^th… the day all hope was restored and the verdict breathed new life into his half-dead body.

It wasn’t all so simple, though…

On the way back from the courthouse to the ranch in one of his SUVs, he had broken down and cried, his head placed in his mother’s lap. He was sobbing uncontrollably not even trying to stop himself, knowing they were tears of joy and relief, as well as heartbreak, exhaustion and hurt.

He spent the next couple of days in bed, trying to regain his strength while everyone in the house ran around, taking care of him and making sure he was getting enough sleep and eating plenty of food.

And no matter how much work it had taken, he indeed felt that he was getting better and better every day, though the nightmares of Sneddon taking him personally to his cell never really stopped.

And so he had to make a decision to make his brain deliberately ignore any memories and flashbacks of the dreadful trial, and every time they crossed his mind, he systematically chased them away…  except for one.

Her.

There was no doubt Lisa had helped him a great deal, Tom said her testimony had made an extraordinary impact. But after listening to her on the stand, he worried something might have switched inside him as well.

Gone was the animosity he had remembered feeling every time his brain flashed some of their memories at him, and absent were all the grudges he thought he had been holding, too.

As in an out-of-body experience, he watched the wilted flower, he thought he had killed years ago, bloom anew and the realization shook him to his core.

Yes, he was a master at glossing over anything he found unpleasant, especially certain emotions that felt too raw for his comfort and admitting to his mistakes was out of the question, too.

But hearing her admit that he had broken her heart really threw him for a loop.

And it wasn’t just because he wasn’t used to facing his own flaws, but also because she was usually just as good at keeping her feelings bottled up.

After everything had been said and done mother suggested he send her flowers and a note but he refused. Too impersonal.

No, to his complete and utter shock Michael found himself actually wanting to find her and talk to her. Thank her personally.

He owed her that much, right?

And so one day while sitting in his study with nothing else to do, he tried dialing her old number, but wasn’t really surprised when the line was dead. It had been too long since they last spoke.

Then he proceeded to ask a couple of mutual friends for her new number but quite shockingly there was nothing. No lead. Nada.

Initially, Michael maintained a cool stance, but soon he found himself going down the rabbit hole, pulling all the strings he could think of, trying to get in touch with her.

However, even his connections failed to get her number.  

As if she had walked out of the courtroom that day and vanished into thin air.

His phone had been ringing off the hook ever since the verdict and people suddenly wanted to be friends with him again but the one person he wanted to hear from never called.

One day, however, one of his maids found him at the pool where he was hanging out with the kids and informed him his ex-wife was on the phone. Michael jumped up and ran to his study like a maniac picking up the phone as fast as he could only to sigh in disappointment right away.

Debbie.

“I’m so happy about the verdict, Michael!”

“Yeah, I haven’t had time to thank you yet. Thank you, Debbie. Your testimony helped me a lot.”

“It was all true, Michael.” She said and he sat down feeling frustrated and running his hand through his hair. For a minute there he had thought he would hear Lisa on the phone and now he felt more annoyed than he was actually willing to admit.

Then again, his relations with Debbie were cordial and he intended to try and keep them that way, making things easier for everyone.

His polite mask snapped back in place.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime. You can always count on me. I just want you to know that.” She cooed sweetly before clearing her throat somewhat nervously and then dropping the Fat Man of questions right on his head. “How are the kids?”

‘Oh, there we go.’

Michael counted to ten taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down. Good relations or not, it was not going to go down that road.

“Michael? Are you still there?”

“Um, yes… and they are great, thanks for asking.”

“Well, I was thinking we could do a family lunch or a little trip. It would be nice. I haven’t seen them in forever. And you, for that matter.” She suggested making his brow furrow and his lips press into a thin line, a silent testament to the turmoil raging within him.

Over his dead body. No, scratch that. Even if he died, he would make sure first, she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near them. And quite frankly, he wasn’t really interested in seeing her, either.

“Debbie, I don’t think our contract allows something like that.” He stated matter-of-factly.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. His mind started wandering, looking for an exit strategy.

Where was the emergency eject button when you needed it?

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It had only been four minutes, but it felt like four years.

Suddenly he realized how draining these situations were for him and remembered the wise words of his therapist.

‘Always put yourself first, Michael…’

Smart man.

And so he decided not to drag out the conversation any longer.  He actually didn’t need to. They had a deal and that was it, nothing more and nothing less. And he had held his part of the deal.

Now it was time to move on.

Michael cleared his throat and jumped right into one of his well-rehearsed fibs he had learned to use lately, cutting off whatever she was still yapping about.

“Hey, I.. gee, there’s someone on the other line, I’m sorry but I really have to take it. Tom said we still had more legal stuff to discuss. But thanks for calling and thanks again for helping out. I greatly appreciate it. Bye, Debbie.” He quickly let out, the lie sliding out like oil on a hot pan.

He heard her mumble something but he hung up before she finished whatever she had been saying and let out a long, exasperated breath, flopping back in his chair like a man who had just escaped a burning building.

‘Wrong ex-wife! Was the universe too stupid to understand he wanted to talk to the other one?!’

He sighed again and stood up to head back to the pool. At that time he was sure Lisa had disappeared from the face of the earth…

Michael heard the main door close and smiled inadvertently. With Avery now safely on her way back home, he could finally try and get some sleep. A quiet, peaceful moment just for himself. He turned off the light, buried his face in the soft pillow and closed his eyes.

But why did he want to talk to Lisa so bad? Mother might have been right, flowers would do. Perhaps a note. And a box of chocolates. She always loved the ones with raisins and almonds.

‘Michael! Sleep! Now! Forget about her!!’

If only he could, though.

Those hooded blue eyes seemed to be haunting him every time he closed his own. And horror of horrors, it happened even after spending a great night with another woman.

What the hell was going on? Had he forgiven her all of a sudden?

No way, all her lies had cut to the quick…

 

He shook his head, hoping the jolt would trigger some signal to his mouth, urging it shut, because just moments before, he could have sworn he felt his jaw hit the floor…

What did she just say??

With his mother standing right in front of him smiling at him innocently, he wasn’t sure if he was having a nightmare or it was just another dumb Jackson family prank.

“Don’t sulk, Michael and come with me. We’re having meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I thought you liked that.”

Yeah, right. He could bet she had gotten thirty pieces of silver for her treacherous meatloaf.

She grabbed his arm and dragged him gently over to the dining room where a family dinner was taking place.

He had loved those once upon a time. A huge table, good food, laughter, his nieces and nephews as well as his young cousins running and goofing around. Lots of love and happiness.

And now he finally had time to join them again and he had been pretty excited.

Well, that was before he stepped in his parents’ house and was informed of the new circumstances, of course.

Michael growled something unintelligible but if there was one thing he had never ever mastered in his life, it was saying no to his mother.

They walked into the dining room and everybody greeted him enthusiastically, a bunch of the smaller kids running to him and hugging him all at the same time almost knocking him over.

“Hey, kiddos… how have you guys been??” He said and smiled, forgetting the elephant in the room for a second while ruffling their hair and tickling them. Kids never failed to make him forget everything bad happening around him and he just loved their genuine lightheartedness.

They laughed and giggled calling him names before running back to the table and he finally looked up and nodded at Jermaine and Randy who were sitting at the end of the table close to him. Then his eyes wandered over to La Toya and Janet. And then, right next to her, he saw the cause of all his recent nightmares.

Lisa.

She was looking back at him and smiling softly as if she hadn’t ripped out his heart and tap-danced on it just two months ago.

He saw her hesitate a little before nodding at him but hell would freeze over before he would even acknowledge her presence.

Over the last two months he had built a fortress around his heart, barricading himself against any danger and shutting her out into the icy wilderness of his indifference where she rightly belonged.

She had her lovely family she could be eating meatloaf with right now, so what was she even doing here? Hmm??! She had a mother… the jewel of the Presley family, always loving and caring, open-minded, with a warm smile on her lips.

‘Yeah, right.’ He scoffed to himself.

And then there was her lovely ex-husband no.1. Mr. Presley. Never brought home any bacon, let alone meatloaf but Michael was sure Lisa had never seen it as an obstacle.

And what about the new guy he had read about? A guy who’s unpronounceable last name would probably soon turn into Presley, too? Why wasn’t that doofus making meatloaf for her in her kitchen now?

He made a face and walked over to the one last empty seat. Not too close to her but he knew his mind wouldn’t be at peace until he was at least on a different continent.

“Hey, brother. How have you been?” Jermaine asked to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Was pretty good.” Michael muttered, feeling the heat rise in his face. “Up until like five minutes ago. Not so sure now.”

Awkward silence again.

Somebody kicked his shin under the table but with so many people around he couldn’t tell who it actually was.

He hid his yelp by clearing his throat and instead focused on the meatloaf and potatoes on his plate, which the cook had brought while he was busy ignoring the evil intruder.

God, he was livid. If he could he would just stand up, grab her, walk her to the window, open it and throw her out. They were on the ground floor and there was a lawn with very soft grass outside so he could afford to do just that. She would be okay. Then he would close the window, sit back at the table and eat his dinner in peace.

“So, are you getting ready for the tour yet, son?”

Count on Joseph to turn any situation into talking shop. But for once Michael actually appreciated it.

“Um hum…” He nodded still staring at his meal and pushing his peas around with his fork. “I am.”

“When are you leaving?” Jan asked and he looked up at her, narrowing his eyes. Another Judas in the room.

“Not until August next year, I don’t think. Plenty of time. We’re still on the fence about some things.”

“Can I come with you, uncle Michael? Can I??” Stevanna jumped in her seat and gave him a genuine, toothless grin which made him smile. At least somebody was on his side and totally unaware of the tension in the room.

“Maybe you can fly over with your dad and visit. How about that?” Michael said softly and gave the little girl a big warm smile and a wink.

“Awesome!” She chuckled and he lowered his head again to make sure he wouldn’t take even a fleeting glimpse of that two-faced, lying, betraying and, heaven forbid, god damn beautiful snake in the grass sitting too close to him for his liking.

He reached out for his glass and drank a bit of water before taking a forkful of the potatoes and looking at it closely while half listening to his mother talk about her plans to visit relatives in Indiana soon.

Oh, sweet! Maybe Lisa would like to accompany his mother and get some more brownie points to use against him later?? That would be just great, wouldn’t it?

While he was examining the texture of the mashed potatoes, his sour stomach made sure his brain understood that, if swallowed, all the food would be thrown up in a matter of seconds, and he put the silverware down. He cleared his throat and pushed his chair back.

“Excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom.” Michael said and made his way out of the room quickly only noticing his mad dash caused another wave of silence. He couldn’t care less, though. He needed out.

Once in the hallway he ran up the stairs to find his refuge in his former bedroom and the moment he closed the door behind him, he leaned against it and banged the back of his head desperately two or three times.

The gall of that woman!! He wanted to rip her head off.

How dare she ambush him there, in his parents’ home, hogging his family for herself? What was supposed to be a fun evening was now totally ruined.

And what was her deal anyway? She herself had decided to leave that family when she had filed for divorce two months ago. It was her choice. And now what?? She would hang out with Janet, party with her, call mother and come visit her?

He clenched his fists at his sides, knuckles turning white with the force of his grip, as if trying to contain the pent-up anger coursing through his veins. His jaw tightened, muscles working beneath the surface as he fought to keep his emotions in check.

Michael managed to drag himself from the door to the bed where he sat down putting his face in his hands.

He couldn’t even stand the idea of her. All the broken promises. All the lies. All the unfulfilled dreams. Her deceitful smile and her phony tears.

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there when he heard a soft knock on the door.

Oh, great. Mother came to guilt trip him about leaving the table.

‘Michael - the black sheep of the family. Always rude and badly behaved.’

Yeah, like it was him who had ruined the night.

The door opened slowly and he looked up only to see his oh-so-lovely ex-wife poking her head inside with a tentative smile.

She couldn’t be serious.

Astounded, he remained silent just staring at her like a dumbass.

“Hey you… I… Can I come in?” She asked softly and he felt himself shaking his head but for the sake of everybody involved in that mayhem, he decided to stay quiet and hope his body language would do the talking instead.

It didn’t.

She seemed to hesitate for a second or two and then walked in and closed the door behind her quietly, leaning her back against it just like he did minutes ago. Only she wasn’t banging her head. No. Quite the contrary. She was smiling. Coyly and reluctantly, but she was.

He narrowed his eyes at her sizing her up. Okay, it was probably time to speak up. He hadn’t seen her since the night she begged him to try again and now he finally had a chance to have it out with her just like he had been dreaming of.

Showdown.

“Get out of here.” He snarled at her and his words dripped with venom, each syllable laced with the seething anger boiling beneath the surface. “Out of the room and out of this house. And don’t come back. Ever. I’m not playing, Lisa.”

His tone was harsh and cold and sounded foreign even to him but it seemed to have the exact impact he was hoping for. He saw a hint of fear in her eyes and smiled faintly to himself.

‘Good. Now turn and run for your life, little girl.’

But… she didn’t. No. She stood still, her eyes glued to his, trying to read in them and he quickly averted his gaze, just to be safe.

“I just want to talk.” She said in a conciliatory tone after another long minute of complete silence. “Look, if I had a white flag, I would have brought it here with me.”

She tried a soft smile but he didn’t give a damn anymore. He was so done with her. After what she had done to him, after filing for divorce when he thought they were going to try again, he had no idea how that presumptuous monster could think he would want to invite her back into his life.

He looked at her coldly and stood up and even though his head spun, his eyes stayed fixated on her.

“Why are you even here, Lisa Marie? One would think you’d be with the future husband no. 3? Congratulations, by the way…read about the big love story. I bet a lap dog like him makes a much better boyfriend than me. What I don’t understand, though, is why you’re playing all these sick games and wasting your precious time here with my family?”

His tone was heartless, devoid of any emotion and he saw her wince.

“Funny you read the tabloid now. Thought you hated it.” Okay, she was fronting now. He knew that move. She was losing it.

“Comes in handy when I want to keep up with my ex-wife’s love affairs. There’s so many.” He said cocking his head and giving her a sarcastic half-smile.

‘Wanna play, Lisa? Okay, let’s play!’

He saw her tighten her jaw and smiled smugly. Yeah, he was hitting some nerves there. Soon enough, she would yell, throw things, and then run off… Exactly what he wanted.

Lisa opened her mouth only to close it again and he saw her bite her lip. Her chest heaved with each breath trying to rein in her rising fury.

But then something switched in her face.

“Michael.” She sighed, her short-lived irritation deflating, turning into defeat. “Quite honestly, I… I'm more interested in whether you've read my letter. And to answer your question, I like your family. Your mom invited me and I just thought it was really sweet of her, is all.”

Wait, what? What was going on here? She didn’t bite? No yelling and no accusations? No flying vases? There was a big porcelain one within an easy reach, right on the dresser to her left.

Weird.

His turn to hesitate. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other while staring blankly at her.

“Have you?” She added a few seconds later and he snapped back.

Oh, the letter. Of course he had read it. Once… twice… three times. Possibly a hundred times.

Her apologies and promises.

And his tears falling on the paper smudging the letters that were supposed to convey her allegedly suppressed love.

“Threw it in the fire… sorry.” He tried bluffing but forgot those things never really worked on her. Time for her to cock her head and give him a half-smile.

“No, you didn’t.” She stated matter-of-factly and peeling herself off the door, she took a few steps towards him.

Michael froze.

She was suspiciously calm and composed. Who was this woman and what had she done to his short-fused, fiery ex-wife?

Okay, she called his bluff but he might as well just do the same and get the upper hand back.

He took a step towards her, too and raised an eyebrow at her in an unspoken challenge.

“Is that why you’re here today, Lisa?” He hissed. “Wanna start working on all those babies you promised?”

There was no point in pretending he hadn’t really read it. He knew she knew better.

He saw her smile.

“Maybe.” She said and with a couple more deliberate steps, she closed the distance between them, the air around them thickening with tension.

Lisa touched his arm lightly through the fabric of his shirt and he felt as if he had just stuck his fingers into an electrical outlet, the intensity of how much he had missed her touch shocking him profoundly.

He cleared his throat.

Okay, that was so not going the way he had planned. He needed to grab her and kick her out of the room. And fast. 

Every time he thought about meeting her again after the divorce, he imagined a million different scenarios. Usually they involved him snubbing her or telling her something that would hurt her the same way she had hurt him. But not a single one was even remotely similar to what was happening in that room right that minute.

Lisa ran her fingers down his forearm while her eyes stayed glued to his and no matter how much he wanted to jerk away and tell her to keep her hands to herself, he never did.

No, instead he just stood there drowning in her beautiful blue eyes.

She took another tiny step closer and Michael felt her body press against his. He took a deep breath.

What was she doing?

And what the hell was he doing??

And why did she have to look so damn beautiful and smell like strawberries and cream on a hot summer afternoon?!

Fuck!!

He was trying to find the answers to his questions but it was obviously too late because his brain gave up on him and he grabbed her face and started kissing her like a maniac, all the circuits exploding at once. His tongue forced its way into her mouth and he moaned loudly when his attack was met with equal fervor.

‘Just one kiss, then you’ll kick her out.’ He thought.

Yeah, right.

She reached up and tangled her hand in his hair while he felt her other hand grab his shoulder and press her body into him even more. Michael felt drugged by her mouth, her lips and her hot tongue.

There was no tenderness in the kiss, only need and passion mixed with anger and pent-up tension and he grabbed her shirt and ripped it, buttons flying all over the room.

She didn’t complain.

Instead, she just deepened the kiss and moaned loudly.

And right at that moment, as their all-consuming kisses tried to convey the passion, lust, and love they still felt for each other, they began writing yet another chapter of their story…

Michael felt as if he was climbing a rickety ladder — aware it could collapse at any moment, yet irresistibly drawn to the exhilarating highs it promised.

Even if it meant hanging on just by his fingernails.

He scooped her up and carried her a few steps to the bed, where they tumbled down together.

Michael kissed her like hungrily, like he couldn't get enough, his hands wandering over her sides, grazing her ribs before sliding to her back. With a quick flick, he popped open her bra, letting it fall away…

Once again, she was seeing someone else while he had her in his arms. Was that how he had imagined his life?

Of course not.

Still… if she had been serious about those nine kids, they had better start working on them as soon as possible…

 

He jerked and sat up on his bed groaning. Why? Why was she suddenly everything he seemed to be able to think about??

Dammit.

He got up angrily and made his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, stumbling over his shoes in the hall and stepping on the metal prong of his belt he had thrown on the floor earlier that night.

“Ouch, god dammit!!” He swore loudly and grunted. All he wanted was to get some sleep and now he was all riled up again after the half-dream, half-flashback of their hot encounter at Hayvenhurst.

Once in the kitchen, Michael opened the fridge and grabbed a plastic bottle suddenly realizing how parched he was, when in his peripheral vision he saw the little red light on his answering machine blinking.

Somebody must have called while he was in the bedroom with Avery.

Damn.

An immediate feeling of guilt hit him like a hammer. What if something had happened to the kids and his mother who was watching them for the night wasn’t able to reach him?!

He quickly walked over and pressed play hoping it was just La Toya calling him drunk from a bar or something equally irrelevant.

‘Hey Mike … sorry to bug you this late.’ Michael sighed with relief. The kids were okay. ‘It’s Logan…’

Logan was an LA photographer, and in all honestly not a very good one, who loved to rub shoulders with celebrities and somehow always managed to get into every club, party or an event no matter how snobbish.

They had met years ago at Donald’s birthday party where he had gotten without being invited or without knowing anyone at all and Michael found it hilarious.

‘Listen, I don’t have that number you seem so hell-bent on getting but I …’

All of a sudden, Michael got worried for the first time.

What if something had actually happened to Lisa? He had been so consumed with his own battles that not even for a minute had he thought she could have been sick or something like that.

No.

It would have been all over the tabloid. Somebody would have heard.

She was just fine.

He just needed to find her.

‘… anyway… what I do know is that Miss Presley is going to attend the fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital this Saturday. I thought you might make use of that information. I’m going to be there too.’

Of course he was.

‘So, hopefully I’ll get to see you there! It’s not easy to get on the guest list but I’m sure they’ll love to squeeze you and your millions in!’

Michael heard his heartfelt chuckle before the machine beeped announcing the end of the message.

Hmmm…

Interesting.

He took one more swig from the bottle and turned off the light in the kitchen walking back to his bedroom with a huge grin plastered on his face, avoiding the goddamn belt on the floor.