The Cinema - A Michael Jackson Fanfic

Four

~~~ /AN/ HI!! Just to let you know that the dotted lines (-------) are simply switching between two POVs. It happens once in this chapter, where it converts from the protagonist's, to Michael's, back to the protagonist's. Enjoy! :) ~~~

I barely got any sleep last night after dwelling on the evenings events. Everything kept replaying in my mind - being creeped out by Michael Jackson, meeting Michael Jackson, speaking to Michael Jackson. A couple of my friends were fascinated with him and had all his music, and I hadn't felt the attraction until now. If you studied him enough, he became almost captivating. This 'bad' exterior he wanted to relay wasn't coming through to me - especially after our conversation. Shaking my head, I got out of bed and clambered into the shower like a zombie.

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The next night was the first of two London Wembley shows so I was on my way to get practising. Even when I was being escorted into the building, paparazzi overwhelming me as usual, all I could think about was my encounter with a girl last night. It happened in the cinema. She worked there, and there was something about her that was fiery, almost daring. I liked that a lot. Slipping through a secret passage, I made my way into my dressing room to find my friend Jack waiting for me. He came out here with me, and didn't look too impressed.

'Where were you last night? I thought you said you were going to the cinema, not Timbuktu!' Jack yelled. I giggled at this.

'Jack, would you calm down? Sorry, ok' I replied lightly.

'Where were you? Did you meet some lady friend? Does she have any friends for me?' He exclaimed in his loud way, making me chuckle once again.

'I barely know her, Jack! But, what I DO know is that she seems lovely. She's angry and quick to put up her guard, but I can tell she's lovely deep down. Like, real nice. There's something interesting about her. And she ain't too bad on the eye either' I winked at him before he gave me a jokingly filthy look, forcibly chucking one of my costumes at me.

'Man, you treating women like slabs of meat. It's nasty' he sneered as I lightly punched him on the arm.

'You know that ain't true! I wanna get to know her more. She wanted to know so much about me, and I got so caught up, I didn't even ask for her name' I slowly realised. Sometimes I could be so self absorbed.

'Man, take her out to dinner or somethin! Girls LOVE that shit' he added with a nod, now throwing a white glove at me for me to catch.

'Eh, I dunno man. We'll see, we'll see' I confirmed as I caught the glove in one hand and picked up the costume in the other, heading out the door towards the main stage.

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I tapped my nails across the desk as I waited for my friend Taylor to confirm everyone had exited the auditorium. I had to step out of my fantasies and get back to work now. Michael Jackson wouldn't even be able to come here every night, let alone him wanting to. Interrupting my thoughts, she stepped out.

'Hey, you go girl!' she whizzed around the corner.

'Thanks so much' I sarcastically called, my eyes rolling to the back of my head. Just as I was about to step inside, she called my name out. I snapped back around.

'Hey girl, my friend got me and my friends some tickets to a Michael Jackson concert in a couple of nights time at Wembley, and literally everyone is talking about it! Do you have tickets?' I froze. My heart felt like it had slowly crept up into my mouth. 'B?' She questioned, wanting my answer.

'Um...no??' I replied, a bit too tentatively.

'Ok then, see you later!' She waved goodbye and walked off innocently. I remembered how to breathe again as I lost sight of her. That was weird. I thought she was going to talk about him more, and I wasn't ready for that. No thanks.

I pushed my way through the double doors, the massive credits looming over my head. Slowing down, I stood in front of the screen and scanned around the room. Without meaning to, my face fell when I found no Michael Jackson. I didn't particularly want to see him, neither did I find his company particularly enthusing, but there was something about him I had to know more about. I climbed the first steps, sweeping up some left over sweets from the floor. Just as I ducked down to clean it further, a voice startled me, causing me to hit my head on a seat as I sprung up.

'Did I scare you?' Michael chuckled, casually standing above me, resting his arm on a railing. My eyes widened as I realised he was back, my arms darting to rub my scalp automatically.

'Of course not...haven't you noticed I don't get scared?' I replied, raising my eyebrow as I stood up.

'I beg to differ' Michael giggled. The room went silent for a few seconds and there were awkward glances before I knew I had to say something.

'How are you from yesterday? If you came to talk abo-'

'I'm fine.' He persisted like yesterday, cutting me off. The absence of noise was frustrating.

'Why are you even back here? Shouldn't you be eating caviar and drinking champagne at a 5 star hotel somewhere?' I wondered aloud, changing the subject. It genuinely did interest me at how...normal he seemed. At my questions, he chuckled again.

'You'd be surprised how different I am to that' he smiled, looking down at his scuffed black loafers. The silence had reappeared, deafening this time. 'Ok, I'll tell you the real reason I'm here' he sighed, flopping into a seat nearby. Suspicion grew within me as I had no idea what to expect from him.

'Because you're dying of boredom? Because there's nowhere nice enough in England for you to stay? Because you like my company?' I dully threw around options, pretending I didn't care.

'Now, all of those are completely not true apart from the latter. You're the first person in this country to speak to me, and I know your ways are harmless. What do you say you join me for breakfast tomorrow in Chelsea? I wanna know more about you. Try and figure you out' he finished, smiling. Before I could process any of this, I choked on my own source of oxygen.

'Chelsea?! That's like the most expensive part of London! Chelsea my ass' I scoffed. It became awkward as I remembered who this was - he could probably afford anything. 'Sorry, it just shocked me, that's all. I've never really been.' He stared at me blankly for a while. I didn't catch on at the fact that he actually wanted an answer.

'So, what do you say? Fancy experiencing it?' He pressed. I couldn't understand why he was asking me out for breakfast, but convincing myself he was a normal human being and that this outing was purely platonic, I found myself automatically agreeing.

'Sure, if you're that desperate to know me' I joked, the first smile appearing on my face since I'd first met him. I felt his eyes burning on to me, maybe because he was fascinated with the fact that I actually could smile, just like I was fascinated with the fact that he wasn't SUCH a jackass as I had thought he would be. He quickly stepped out of his gaze.

'Great, I'll see you at 9:30 am at the Chelsea Gardens. In fact, I'll send a car to collect you, whatever time you like' he offered.

'Car? No thanks, I'll be arranging a cab' I laughed, not ready to adjust to this popstar lifestyle. I barely even knew him yet!

'See you then. Bye!' He waved as he strutted down a few steps and smoothly left through the fire exit. I watched him in awe and continued to look at the door long after he had gone. I shook my head as if to get out of this mess. I couldn't believe I was actually beginning to care about this whole situation...