Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Sixty Five

Paige knocks on the door and waits for a response. She doesn't hear anything, so she cracks the door and calls out.

She doesn't see anything and there's still no response, so she walks into the room. She follows the sound of water running in the bathroom.

The bathroom door is open and Michael's brushing his teeth with the sink running.

Paige walks up and leans against the door frame. Michael doesn't see her, so she says hi, trying not to startle him too much.

He looks at her through the mirror and she gives him a small smile. He puts a finger up to give him a minute to finish brushing his teeth.

While he wipes his mouth off with a towel Paige says, "Look, I'm sorry I've been cold to you. I don't really mean to, but I guess that's just my coping mechanism. And... I'm sorry for last night, it's just that I didn't expect anything like that, so I couldn't really control my reaction..."

"It's okay," Michael says.

There's a pause with them just looking at each other.

Michael turns away and opens a drawer to continue getting ready.

"But I just want you to tell me the things I can't remember so that doesn't happen again," Paige says. "I mean, if you can do that."

Michael looks up at her. "I can do that, I don't know so much as you're going to like it."

"It's okay," Paige nods a couple times as if she's trying to assure herself more than Michael.

Then she just turns around and walks out of his bedroom.

She runs into Paris in the hallway and they both stop when they see each other.

"Hi," Paige says. It's probably the most awkward greeting she's ever given.

"Hi..." Paris says back.

Paige tries to think of something to say.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Is all she's able to make up.

"Um, no. That's what I was actually going to ask Dad about," Paris says.

"Oh. Okay. Well if we don't have any food I can just run out and get some," Paige says.

"You can't do that," Paris explains. "You're a celebrity now and nobody's seen you in like a year, so if you just walk out it's going to be crazy. That's what we have Bill and Javon for."

"Oh. Right," Paige officially feels even more stupid than she did before.

Paris gives a smile for reassurance and walks past her into her dad's bedroom. Paige walks to the house's front door and goes out onto the driveway.

On her left is a trailer. She looks around and the only things on the lot are the house, the cars, and the trailer. The trailer looks infinitely awkward next to the house and fancy cars.

She walks over and knocks on the trailer's door. She hears some shuffling inside and then Bill opens the door.

"Oh, hello Mrs. Jackson," he says. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Is this where you guys stay?" Paige asks trying to look past him into the trailer.

"Yes, ma'am. Would you like to come in?" Bill asks.

"Oh, no that's fine," Paige says. "But could you show me around the property? I want to get a feel for it."

"Well then we can both get a feel for it because I barely know this place either," Bill says. He steps down and then closes the door behind him.

He looks at Paige and she motions for him to go first.

"Why don't we go to the back of the house, Mrs. Jackson? There's not much up front here," Bill suggests.

"That's fine," Paige says, starting to follow him around the house. "But Bill, can you please call me Paige and not Mrs. Jackson?"

Bill chuckles and nods. "Can do," he says, giving Paige a smile.

They walk a ways and Bill chuckles again.

"What's so funny?" Paige asks, chuckling herself. It's the first time she's laughed.

"Before, you told me to call you Paige, too," Bill explains.

"Oh. Well why have you been calling me Mrs. Jackson then?" Paige asks.

"It's professional. Since you didn't remember, I wanted to make sure you knew that. Also, it allowed you to make your own decisions," Bill says as they round the corner of the house.

"Oh," Paige was going to say more, but she stops when she sees the view.

There's more of those fields and rolling hills, but there's an intricate porch system with furniture, an outside fireplace, and a gazebo. Past the porch at the bottom of a small hill there seems to be a stable.

"Are there horses down there?" Paige asks pointing down.

"Uh, yeah, I think there's... two?" Bill says.

*Literally pissed right now because the rest of the chapter didn't publish and I lost it *

"I can't wait to see them," Paige smiles.

She continues taking in everything and she sees a building on the other side of the house.

"What's that?" She asks pointing to it.

"Oh that's the garage," Bill says.

"Garage? But the cars are in the driveway," Paige says to him.

"Those are the SUVs we use, but yours and Mr. Jackson's cars are in the garage," Bill says.

"Our cars?" Paige is still confused.

"The Dodge and the Mercedes," Bill explains.

Paige thinks about this. "The Dodge," she whispers. "That can only mean one thing!"

She takes off running to the garage, and she stumbles a few times because she's still not used to using her leg.

She gets to the side door of the garage and pulls it open and dashes inside.

She finds it parked right in front of her. She gasps at the sight of it since she's not used to the updated models.

She stares at it for a while admiring the body work. Then she steps up to the hood and pulls it open. She hooks it to stay up and looks at the engine.

Bill comes in behind her but she doesn't even pay attention to him.

She fumbles around in the engine. "This is some advanced stuff," Paige says shocked.

She sighs then, once again realizing how much she's missed.

She unhooks the hoods and begins to bring it back down. As she closes it, she notices a stain on the rim of the hood.

She scratches at it and after looking closer, she realizes it's actually dried blood.