Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll ✭ Michael Jackson (18+)

Three

———   Three　———

For the past two weeks, he roamed through her mind. During brunch with teachers, she'd feel the phantom of his warm fingers moving up her thigh. Flashbacks of their kiss would enter her mind while teaching. The dreams she had about them would have her waking up in a sweat in the middle of the night. He had a hook on her and she didn't know him for more than 24 hours. She made a call to a close friend to vent about it.

"Riles, it's gotten so bad that I'm dreaming about him." Dahlia muttered to her. "Often."

"That's bad because...?"

"Because he's not good, Riley. It'd be wise to stay away, but I'm so hooked on him for some reason. He's hooked on me, too. He even made me a guitar solo the first night we met. It's quite like Edward writing Bella's lullaby, but he's a rock star and the lullaby is a screeching electric guitar."

"How romantic." Riley lightly laughed. "All you do is wake up, eat, work, sleep. You need some excitement in your life and he sounds like it. Didn't you say he offered to take you on tour with him? Take a sabbatical to see what the guy has to show you."

"You can't be serious, Riley. You want me to take a sabbatical to bunk with a rock star?" She scoffed. "That's an insane idea. I can't leave the kids like that. They hate substitute teachers."

"Well, they're going to have to learn how to love them." She replied, shrugging. "Go, Dahlia. Explore everything you can and have some fun for once."

Taking Riley's advice, she decided to attend his next concert and see him after. She dressed in a pastel pink knitted off-the-shoulder sweater, skinny navy jeans, and white booties. She was thrilled to go back to the stadium to watch him perform.

Dahlia loved the sound of his raspy voice singing a sensual song against the bass guitars of two guitarists played in the background. He had on smudged black eyeliner, arched eyebrows, and curls resting on his shoulders, tucked behind his ears with a few strands of curls framing his face. He was in a white long-sleeve shirt tucked into black skinny-fit vinyl pants with studded straps wrapped down his legs and boots with buckles running down on the side.

A mix of marijuana and ecstasy made the jumping audience look blurry. Nothing around him existed. There was just him and his microphone stand. He was in love with the euphoric sounds of the vocals and instruments in his in-ear monitors sent him gave him. He was in a different dimension that he didn't want to leave.

Dahlia managed to catch his eye like before. She came into focus while everything around her remained blurred. The sweet and innocent aura of hers always seemed to ignite something inside him. She watched him fixate his eyes on her as he slid his hands along the microphone stand. Almost as if he was imagining the stand was her. Dahlia was close to overheating when she watched him. It had been two weeks since he touched her during a party in the middle of a crowd. It wasn't something she could forget. She hoped that wouldn't have been the last time.

As promised, he slung the guitar strap attached to his black V-shaped guitar over his shoulder and played her solo. Dahlia felt a rush of adrenaline at the first chord. If his guitar wasn't so loud, she would've been able to hear the sound of her fast heartbeat in her ears. She had a bright gleam in her brown eyes that he could see from the stage. It made him smile smugly. He loved seeing how sprung Dahlia was for him.

After the concert, Dahlia stood outside at the same spot from last time, hoping he'd come out for a smoke. She nearly contemplated going home as the cold breeze was slowly becoming unbearable. Soon, Michael stepped out of the stadium with a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a lighter. She watched him sauntered his way to her, his usual half-smile on his face.

Michael wrapped his finger around her belt loop and tugged her close to him. He held her jaw then locked his lips with hers. Dahlia didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck while she kissed him back. He moved his hands under her sweater and slid them up the warm skin of her body. He took a step further by trailing kisses along her jaw. The taste of her brown skin was as sweet as her aura. Dahlia was in a state of euphoria. She wasn't worried about the fact she was outside with a rock star kissing on her neck. He didn't seem to care about touching her in public, either. He gave her one more kiss before pulling away, leaving her in a brief daze. He knew how to take her breath away. Literally. She exhaled, forgetting she was holding her breath.

"My sweet Black Dahlia." He murmured. "It's always good to see you. You've been on my mind lately."

His intriguing confession brought her back into the present. She was on his mind? What exactly was he thinking about? She wondered if he had anything close to the intrusive dreams she had.

"What have you been thinking about?"

"Kissing your precious lips." He responded, lightly brushing her lips with his thumb. "Not these, though."

Dahlia gaped at him in astonishment. "Jesus fucking Christ, Michael!"

He chuckled. "Too foul for you? What happened to you not being innocent?"

"Perhaps I am by your standards." She responded, giving him an eye roll. "I really liked your set tonight. Your solo opening act, too. Elena."

"Ah, yes. My girl, Elena." He responded, fondly. "Our music explores the same themes. She and I have a running joke that her songs are responses to mine."

Dahlia knew she wasn't necessarily important to him. He wasn't either; he was merely a mystery she was curious about. Nothing more. But for some reason, what he said stung her ego.

"Everyone's your girl, I see." She commented in a passive aggressive tone.

"Oh, Doll, it's not like that! Elena's just a friend. She's not like you."

She raised her eyebrow. "And what am I?"

Michael tilted her chin up and delicately whispered to her.

"My Black Dahlia." He whispered, his lips brushing lightly against hers. "We're leaving to continue the tour next week. Come with me for a month. I promise I'll show you things you'd never dreamed of seeing."

Dahlia was still hesitant about the proposal. She was comfortable in her hometown with her daily bland and unexciting routine. But she craved adventure. She needed to step out of her comfort zone to experience it. She reluctantly agreed, pondering on what the hell she just signed up for.