Beauty

Chapter 18

Michael closed his bedroom door behind him, tossed Callie's shoes on the bed and rushed to get the phone off of the nightstand before whoever was ringing hung up. "Hello?" He sighed. 

   "Michael, where have you been? What in the hell were you thinking?" It was his manager, Frank, and he was in a mood.

   "Fraaaannnnkie! How's it goin' man?" Michael tried to put on his cool, calm and collected attitude.

   "Cut the crap Mike, I am in no mood. I am really in no mood. What in the hell were you thinking?" 

   "About what?" Michael asked innocently trying to stifle a giggle. Frank could really get worked up over little things and Michael liked to have a little fun with him.

   "You know damn well what! I know you hate the paparazzi Mike, but jeez did you really have to punch that guy? You broke his camera. He's threatening to sue! And what's up with this little girl you're messing around with, Mike? A lot of people are unhappy about that."

   Michael sighed. "Look, Frank, I know I shouldn't have hit the guy, okay? But he hit Callie first and I just got angry. And she's not some girl I'm messing around with. Her car broke down and I let her stay here for a few days. It's no big deal really. And she's of age anyway and... to be honest man, I really could not care less about what people think about me right now."

   At that Franks voice softened. "Man, I know it's been tough since Lisa-"

   "It's not about Lisa, Frank." Michael cut him off.

  "Michael-"

   "I'm fine man." Michael tried to sound as casual as he could. 

   "Okay. Well I've got to do some damage control. So I have to know the deal with this girl. You're not gonna announce that she's carrying your love child or anything are you?"

   Michael laughed. "I don't think you're gonna have to worry about that... Yea, okay...Yea, I'm sorry... Good bye."

   He hung up the phone and threw himself back on the bed. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He could only imagine how the press would drag this out for days, maybe even weeks. His stomach lurched when he realized that Callie would not be prepared for it. He was used to the press hounding him at every turn but she had never experienced that before. But he hoped they wouldn't have a chance of finding her if she went back home.  A pain stabbed his chest. Her parents would be storming the gates of Neverland tomorrow and she would leave his life forever. 

   'What if she doesn't want to go?' He thought to himself thinking of their kiss earlier. Thinking of it brought desire, arrousal and confusion. It had seemed like the most perfect moment until she ran away from him. 'What was that?' He wondered. 

   He thought back to what Frank had said, how things had been tough for him since Lisa had left. He was right and Michael knew it, but he wasn't ready to talk about Lisa... Not with Frank at least. As he laid there, Michael couldn't help thinking about the one person he would talk about Lisa with. 'Maybe,' he considered, 'she has some things she needs to get off of her chest too.'

****

   Callie pulled the pillow off of her face and flopped it down on the bed beside her with a big sigh. She threw her arms up behind her head and stared at the ceiling. She could not stop thinking about the kiss she had shared earlier with Michael and how she had run away from him in fright. 'He must hate me.' She thought in agony remembering how she had ruined a perfect moment because she was afraid of what it could mean.

   Since then she had spent the afternoon in her room, praying, thinking, and worrying about what the next few hours and even days might bring. Would he understand enough to forgive her? Where would a relationship with him go if they did decide to give it a try? And how far was she willing to go to separate herself from her past? 

   She was angry with her parents for lying but she hadn't been angry with God. Still, back in the pool she had felt herself ready to give up all of her morals and give every piece of herself to Michael, should he have wanted it. She was unable to control her urges around him and it worried her. She knew she would have a lot to lose should a relationship between them go sour. 

   'You're not even together and you're already preparing yourself for the break up.' She reminded herself. 'You are crazy.' She laughed off her ridiculousness and pushed herself up off of the bed. She had showered and changed into a flowery sun dress that flowed to the middle of her thighs. He damp hair lay in neat waves down her back. She walked to the bay window to look out at Neverland again. It was late, the sun was slowly starting to dip behind the mountains and the sky was darkening. Callie sighed knowing that tomorrow she might be dragged kicking and screaming to her parent's car and away from this paradise forever. Her stomach sank and she felt a desire to find Michael. She needed to talk to him before she was made to leave, she needed to know how he felt. 

   A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Michael peeked his head around the door cautiously. "May I come in?" 

   Callie's heart nearly jumped out of her chest at the sight of him. She nodded yes and he opened the door completely and entered the room. He had changed into a slim pair of blue jeans and a black button up shirt. His curls were neatly pulled back but a few dangled in his face. "You left these," He said holding up her shoes for her to see. 

   "Thank you." Callie whispered as she looked longingly at him. She wanted to talk to him, to cry to him, to let him know just how she felt about him but no words came. They stood silently in the room, eyes locked on one another. She started to feel uncomfortable from the silence and broke eye contact making Michael draw in a sharp breath as if he hadn't been breathing in the moments before.

   "Would you like to go for a walk? I have something to show you." Michael waited nervously for her answer. She nodded her head and smiled and he smiled in return.