The Caged Passion ( A Michael Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter XXII

Thursday October 22, 2009 11:15AM

Michael

I should have listened to my instincts...

I always listen to my instincts...

Why didn't I listen to my instincts?!

I had a bad feeling that evening... I knew something terrible was going to happen and now this. I stared down at the three tabloids Frank roughly tossed on the table in front of me. Several other members from the team were seated around the same table. He was red in the face from the thirty minute lecture he had just given me about smearing my name and what happens to big celebrities when their image is suddenly demolished. I wanted to say. 'Well you know what?! Maybe I'm tired of being pop's 'good boy!' The forever innocent little child star... I'm not that kid anymore. I'm a thirty year old grown ass man and if I want to look at strippers then damnit that's just what I'll do!'

But of course, I didn't have it in me. I just listened and tried not to let my face reveal embarrassment as he went on in front of the other people.

"Can I speak now?" I asked politely as he paused.

"Yes, sir. I'd love to hear what you have to say for yourself." He said his fat self-down hard in the chair. So hard, I was expecting the chair to fall apart under him. It creaked under his weight. He tensed up as if expecting the same thing I was.

I pressed my lips together and my cheeks filled with air as I tried to hold back the laugh. I clear my throat and gave a fake cough as I collected myself.

"I wasn't at a strip club. I was at my friend's show down the street. I had no idea there was even a strip club that close or I would have been more careful of where I had Malik park us." I explained softly.

"This is why you have no business going places alone. You have to be aware of your surroundings at all times!"

"I understand that. I'll fix this. I'll explain..."

"It doesn't matter! It's already out there! People are already running with this story."

The door opened and another suit walked into the room. Frank stood up again and stared the man up and down for barging in on our meeting.

"Ticket sales have been steady on the rise over the past twenty four hours... Particularly in America. Looks like Americans like the new bad boy Michael Jackson."

Frank rolled his eyes dramatically and breathed a heavy sigh. "You lucked out this time, kid. Next time, Be. More. Careful." He pointed a chubby finger at me.

I just smiled at him and leaned back in my seat feeling a bit relieved. Now to explain this to my mother... and above all Janet. I probably owed Arilynn one as well. I'm sure she was wondering why I skipped out on Paris with her to hang out on the poorer side of Vegas in what the tabloids were called a 'trashy' strip joint.

1:15PM

I left the meeting, grabbed some lunch, dealt with the crowds, and returned home to Havenhurst. My mother was out at a routine doctor's appointment so I went straight upstairs and to my room. I entered looking down at the floor and noticed quickly that someone had been in here straightening things up...

I lifted my head getting ready to get furious that someone had been in here without my permission.

Elizabeth Taylor spun around at the same time with a big smile on her face. "Well, there he is! What in the world have you been up to, you?!" she wrapped me up in her loving arms. I barely had time to take in that she was really here. Though Vivian was the realest person in my life right now, up until then Elizabeth had been the realest person I knew in 'Hollywood.' But she was more like a mentor to me than anything else. A really affectionate one, and her affection has gotten me through some really lonely times in the past.