Beauty

Chapter 15

   Michael awoke when the sun had shone from the window and directly into his eyes. He pressed the palm of his hand into his eyes to ease the burn as he went to get up. It was at that moment that he felt the weight of something holding him down. He removed his palm and looked over at Callie who was sleeping to the right of him. She lay her head on his shoulder with her arm draped around him and her fingers resting on his opposite shoulder. She had her leg stretched across his hips. Michael admired the smooth tan skin that her short flannel shorts revealed. The soft waves of her golden hair hung over her face and spilled over onto the black button up he was still wearing. She looked peaceful... like an angel. Michael couldn't bear to wake her.

   He took her leg gently in his hand, taking a moment to admire once more the smooth skin. He looked back over to the beauty resting her head on him. His lips were so close to her and he fought the urge to kiss her. 'Now is not the time.' He scolded himself. He sighed and gently lifted her leg enough so that he could slide out from under her. He slowly inched himself out from under her leg and then from her upper body, allowing her to slowly slip down onto the bed. She stirred at first and Michael froze watching her cautiously. Then Callie rolled over to her other side and drifted simply back to sleep. Michael breathed a sigh of relief and then tip toed to the bathroom.

   Michael unbuttoned his shirt and pulled a towel and wash cloth out of the linen closet. He turned around and placed his hands on the counter on either side of the sink. He looked intently at the little brown spots on the backs of his hands and along his long thin fingers. He then did something he hardly ever did anymore. He looked to the mirror and looked his reflection up an down. He examined the spots of skin in sharp contrast to one another and then allowed his eyes to travel to his face. He hardly ever went without make up in front of anyone. But she had seen him. She didn't gawk, she didn't laugh, she didn't judge him. 'You. Are. Wonderful.' Her words echoed in his mind. 

   Michael felt a smile stretch across his face and then he was laughing. 'She is something else.' He told himself. 'She's not like the others.' 

   He took his eyes away from the mirror and walked towards the shower, stripping off his clothes lazily as he went. He stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. He allowed it to run over his body, painful at first and then soothing. He let the water cascade over him as he lost himself in thought. He pictured it purifying him, cleaning his broken soul and all of the damage was washed away. Michael became a new man. He wasn't about to let his past and his fears drive away the angel that had walked unknowingly into his life. He refused to lose her. 

****

   Michael stared at Callie still sleeping peacefully on his bed. He was now showered and dressed. He had noticed the time, already 12:30, and knew his animals would be angry that they had not been fed yet. Callie needed her rest, she had been through so much the last few days, so Michael let her sleep. He slipped quietly out of his bedroom and out of the front door. He stopped and let the sunlight warm his face for a moment before retreating behind his hat and walking on the path towards the zoo. 

   As he walked he could not stop himself from smiling. He looked around and noticed that everything, the trees and the flowers, all looked brighter. The scent in the air was so much sweeter than it had been before. Michael laughed at himself. 'You, my man, have caught the love bug.' He imagined his older brother Jermaine speaking to him and laughed even harder. 

   As he walked to the other side of his own personal amusement park, Michael reflected on the events of the night before. After Callie had run, panicked, from his room he quickly dressed and ran after her, afraid that she might leave him. He had first run upstairs to her room only to find it empty. In a panic he had run from the house to search the grounds for her. He made his way down to the front gate. 

   "There's no story... Get out of here!" He had heard Callie's voice as he made his way down the path and then it sounded like someone had fallen. "You stupid broad!" Another voice exclaimed and Michael heard the sound of a hand slapping against skin. When they came into view, Callie was standing there holding her face glaring at a man in a trench coat. 'Paparazzi- evil scum.' Michael said to himself as Callie yelled at him. "This is private property, you scum! You need to leave! Right now!" Michael saw the man pull back his hand and Callie flinched away from him. It had taken Michael a moment to assess the situation and realize what was happening. But as he saw the reporter pull back in order to hit Callie... who was defending him... he felt himself fill with rage. He had never felt so angry before in his life and it frightened him. It also empowered him. He had run forward, opened the gate and grabbed the man's hand before he could hit Callie... again, he had already hit her once. And with that thought Michael felt his free hand swing around, form a fist, and connect powerfully with the paparazzi's nose. 

   The man fell to the ground and stayed down. Michael took a moment trying to calm his inner beast. He wanted to kick him over and over, to make him suffer, to make him pay for what he had done. But Michael was not a violent man and he knew it was the monster inside of him making him think these things. So he stood there breathing deeply- in and out, in and out- until he felt the beast subsiding as he warned the man never to return. 

   Michael stopped, frowning at the memory. He felt a pang of guilt now. He was not one to support any type of violence. 'It's done now.' He told himself. 'Move on.'

   He continued on his way to the animals and thought about what Callie had said to him and how she had embraced him. He couldn't remember a time when a woman, besides his mother, had made him feel so loved. His fans, he knew, tried but he still felt that they were more in love with the fantasy than who he really was. And then there was Lisa. Michael stopped and forced his thoughts in another direction. 

   Callie had fallen asleep in their embrace and Michael had lifted her up in his arms and laid her on his bed. He went to gather some pillows to sleep on the couch when she had opened her sleepy eyes and gave him an innocent looking pout. "Stay with me?" She asked sweetly. "Please?" As soon as he had climbed into the bed she had laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped herself around him. She fell back to sleep peacefully with a smile on her face. He lay awake watching her sleep. He watched her body rise and fall with every breath she took and rubbed her arm with his own hand before succumbing to sleep himself. 

   'I could go to sleep that way every night, for the rest of my life.' He smiled to himself. He had reached the cages and Had started feeding the animals. But his mind and his heart were still in his bedroom, lying in bed with Callie.