Behind The Mask

Chapter 43

Michael’s POV

“I wanna spend…Time till it ends…I wanna fall with you again…Yoooouuuuu…..Wild thing…You make my heart sing…You make it everything….Pretty woman….”

“Michael, STOOOPPPP!”

Anouk is laughing hysterically, seated in my lap. I brought her to my studio today and I started playing, fooling around, ad-libing for her, just jumping from one song to another.

“Yooooouuuuuuu aaaaaareeeee myyyyy deeestinyyyyyyyy….”

“MICHAEL!”

“Hey pretty baby, with the high heels on….You give me fever like I’ve never ever known….”

“Miiiiiichhhaeeeellllllll….”

She whines and wiggles in my lap which does nothing good for my composure.

“And Iiiiiiiiiaaaaahhhhhiiiiiiiii will always loooooovvveeeee yoooooooooouuuuuuuu aaaaaaaaaahhhhiiiiiiii will always loooooveeee yoooooooouuuuuu!”

She spins around, straddling me and yanks back my head by the hair none too gently. Her lips crash over mine and her tongue invades my mouth. She sucks in my breath ravenously and her hands are gripped in my hair, holding me captive under her commanding kiss.

“Whoa! Baby…” I breathe out once she allows me.

“Stop being so silly, Michael.”

I snicker.

“Why?”

“Because you make me feel so...mushy and girly and...”

“And?”

“And so damn much in love with you, that it scares me!”

I cup her face and kiss her tenderly.

“Don’t be scared. I feel the same about you and I’m not scared. I feel it like a blessing. I’ve lived so many years doubting I would ever feel true love. I thought that bits and pieces are all I’ll ever had, a snatched moment here and there. But ever since you came into my life, I feel a sense of contentment. I feel that I can relax and revert to my daily routine without being afraid that you’d go away.”

“Did she leave you alone? When things were good between you?”

I know exactly who “she” is. And I nod.

“She would up and go without notice to visit her mother for days. At one point, I did the same, thinking that she’d get jealous or something....Silly me even went out on a fake date with Karen, to get her attention. She paid back by going on a week-long vacation with her ex-husband.”

“That woman did not love you. Babe, if you ever take anyone out on a fake date, I’ll storm the place, cause a horribly embarrassing scene and drag you back home by the ears. And I’ll make sure that every woman out there watching the exclusive live footage on ETOnline knows that you’re my man and they’re gonna get grief if they try anything on my watch.”

I look at her solemnly and I know that she means it. I can totally see her, rushing inside in a rage, cursing aloud in English and Afrikaans and putting me on a leash. This is love, true love. It fights, it yells, it doesn’t give up.

I was about to answer when something vibrated from my pocket. I let out a sigh as I reached for my mobile phone.

“Yes, Teddy. Oh, no! Really? It’s today? Damn, I forgot all about it. Yeah, I’ll be there. Just have everything ready, I wanna do this as quickly as possible. Sure, thanks. Bye.”

Anouk stood up from my lap.

“Call of duty, huh?”

I nod and hug her.