"What About..." (MJ Fantasy)

I'll Take Care of You

~~THE NEXT DAY ~~

"Sweetheart we do have to be there by a certain time. This is why I Set your clothes out for you." Michael says, urging me to hurry up.

"I'm almost finished." I say, walking out of the bathroom.

I pull at the turtleneck and Michael smiles at me.

"You look professional." He says, fixing my pants.

"I feel like I'm getting a rash." I say, rubbing at the turtleneck again.

"Dont complain. You have to adopt a business mindset and it starts with your clothes." He explains, taking my hand. "Now come on. You need as much rehearsal as you can get." He says, walking me out to the car.

We get to the agency and I do my exercises while Michael and Rhonda are talking. I need to talk to Rhonda. I need to make sure we're on the same page with all of this. I trust Michael, but I just want to make sure my manager is doing what she is supposed to be doing. I go into the office and they are gone. I frown. Where did they go? I walk into another room and Michael comes behind me. I jump and hold my chest.

"You scared me." I breathe out.

"What are you doing back here?" He asks.

"I was looking for Rhonda. I need to talk to her about my schedule and other things." I say, picking with my turtleneck.

"I have your schedule. I will make sure you don't miss anything." He says.

"Okay but I still have to talk to Rhonda." I say, wondering why he doesn't want me to talk to her.

"You will start shooting in four months so you need to go back in there and practice. That was our agreement remember? If you don't want to practice in this setting anymore then I can just pull you from here and put your where I think you should go." He says, raising his eyebrow.

I shake my head. "No. I love it here." I say.

"Well your partner is waiting." He says.

I go back into the auditorium and smile at my partner and we begin going over the lines. Michael comes into the auditorium and watches us for a while. When we are done with the scene he shakes his head.

"How long have you been doing this kid?" He asks my partner.

"Six years Sir." My partner says to Michael.

"Well clearly we need someone with more experience. This isn't just some random acting class. This is my wife's acting classes and she is preparing for a movie therefore we need someone who knows exactly what they're doing." He says, crossing his leg over his lap.

"Sir, I am more than qualified to work with your wife and I know the script forwards and backwards. If there is something that specifically bothered you about the scene we can work on that." He says to Michael.

"She does not have to work on anything. She was perfect. You were the problem. You've been doing this for some time now, but I'm just gonna be honest here: you can't act. You bring nothing to the table for me and it's just not going to work." Michael says, motioning for Rhonda to come over to him.

Him and Rhonda start arguing and he stands up, towering over her.

"Trust me honey you are just as disposable as that rookie actor on stage so you better watch your mouth around me. The kid is done." He says, walking out of the auditorium.

My partners mouth drops and he walks over to pick up his backpack. Rhonda walks on stage.

"I'm sorry. For whatever reason Michael just didn't see eye to eye with me on this." She says to my partner.