We Were Happy Once

Ch. 17 On the Road Again

Michael became distant as his tour dates neared. He was constantly pacing and practicing and perfecting his dance moves and having meetings and rehearsals everyday. I would see him late at night and even then his thoughts were on the upcoming tour. The night before he was scheduled to leave I was reading in bed when he came in. I looked up and smiled. He absentmindedly paced around the room before blinking and looking and around, resting his eyes on me with a look of relief crossing his features. "Hey baby" he said, sighing loudly. "Hey" I responded with a sympathetic expression. He walked over and sat down on the bed, resting his head in his hands. I moved and sat next to him, rubbing his back. Michael looked up and wearily smiled, and wrapped his arm around me, kissing me on the forehead. "Michael let me come with you, please. I can't sit around here all day, completely alone." He sighed. "Bethy you have to stay here and plan the wedding. You can come towards the end when you're done but there's stuff someone has to do here." I shook my head, frustrated with the situation. It was true, I did have to plan the wedding. Or at least help. But Michael never fought me this hard when it came to traveling with him. However he did present a good point. Someone had to stay behind and help with the wedding plans, because our wedding date was set only a week after he came back. I lifted my hand and gently stroked his face. He closed his eyes and sighed. He pulled me onto his lap and whispered "You know I don't like this baby I want you to come, you know that don't you?" I nodded, as I stroked his face. I kissed him softly, his hands slid down my sides as he kissed me deeper. I moaned and slid my fingers through his hair. We slowly fell back on the bed, kissing and moaning and giggling. Michael pulled away for a second and turned off the lights.

After a long night, early that morning Michael was quietly getting ready to leave for his flight. I half woke up, looking around and spotting Michael coming out of the bathroom to grab the last of his things. He looked over and saw me groggily trying to get up and he chuckled. He strode over and knelt down, gently pushing me back down and kissing me softly. "Go back to bed baby." I groaned. "Nooo I want to see you off." He chuckled again, kissed me again, and whispered, "I love you. I'll see you soon Bethy." "Nooooo Michael don't leave let me come." He smiled. "Go back to bed, love." My eyelids, already closing. "I love you Michael." I mumbled before drifting back into sleep.

I woke up again, and Michael was gone. I rested my head in my hands, disappointed and sad. I started to get up, groaned, and sat back down. I noticed a note on the bedside table. I smiled as I recognized Michael's sloppy cursive handwriting on the envelope spelling out "Bethy" on the front. Next to it there was some orange juice and a breakfast platter. I laughed and opened the letter. "Dear Bethy, I know you wanted to say goodbye but you needed rest. I'll be just fine, don't worry. I'll call you everyday. I love you, I'll think about you everyday. Love, turd." I chuckled and ate the food, then got ready for my first day without Michael.