Michael simply returned her stare. "Do you regret you came here?"
"I had no choice, don't you know that by now?"
A lonely tear slid down her soft cheek. He reached out and caught it, cherishing the sparkling drop, wishing with all his heart she'd ne...
"So, you sure you're gonna stay here?" He wandered around the room, touching her bed, touching the dresser, giving it the grand King of Pop inspection. Lisa had to smile. She knew he wasn't happy with the arrangement, but she had to give him credit. He was trying hard to pretend this was not bothering him.
"I told you, I'm staying here for now. Riley is still in her new school and I don't want to move the kids again right now."
The face he made did not go unnoticed. It really went way beyond her understanding what his renewed problem was with her being closer to the Church. Despite his recent subtlety, she had noticed his increasing questions about her more recent treatment options. Of course, Lisa had put up a solid defense- letting him know that he had no right to question her choices. However, somehow his method must have been working again. This was not the first time, his way of asking certain questions or raising certain topics ever so gently, without pushing at all had given rise to doubts. In the past, she had been so close to seeing things his way- she had trusted him absolutely. That was before the pendulum had swung the other way, giving her whiplash, knocking her to the ground with the heavy certainty that he was manipulating her. Trapped between two versions of who was trustworthy and who was not, it felt the safest option to freeze and not think about it right now. Still... Some of the things he raised really only expressed her own doubts, which she more often than not suppressed as a matter of habit.
Funny, how she had been indoctrinated to worship truth...but that seemed to only pertain to a truth created and espoused by leaders of the church. When she had asked or questioned, she was warned to stop being rebellious by disrupting harmony. Brainwashing, Michael had called it in the past in some of their fights. What if he was right? Then again- who was he to accuse others of trying to control her thinking? She had handed herself over to him so absolutely and completely- and it had almost destroyed her. So, why would she fall for his crap again? Just because he has shown up with flowers, and the gentleness, kindness, and gentleness she had once mourned and thought buried?
Not to mention the promise of his eyes, his lips...his touch...
Watching his long fingers inspect her comforter and then pick up the pictures on her nightstand sent shivers through her. And no, it was not the least bit cold on this May day in Florida.
Michael looked up and caught her eyes on him.
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"What's wrong? You ok? Dizzy, sick? Here- sit down. You need your rest."
Yes, something was indeed wrong. Very wrong. A fatal error in calculation when she had decided to not have him kicked out of the hospital- or at least her room. Somehow, she had been pulled back into his world. And of course, as always, there was no way of protesting. How do you carry posters and banners for a cause you could not even identify? What nefarious action aroused this code red of her alert system? And yet- there it was...she felt more than knew the take-over was in progress again. How the hell did he do it? How did he conquer her whole being without leaving any trace? His ways were undetectable and yet highly venomous. Michael had a unique talent for totally hypnotizing people without them ever noticing the loss of conscious thought or willpower. Before they knew it, they'd happily turn themselves inside out only for the chance to be around him.
