Behind The Mask

Chapter 58

It seemed that our hidden married life would be quite peaceful for a while. Of course, it couldn't be so....whom was I kidding? Did I forget whom I married? Before long, Michael was buzzing up with a new project. He would rope in a few fellow musicians and organize a few benefit concerts, one in South Korea, one in Germany. It was his clever way of being in the news in preparation for a new album. But of course, he would donate every single cent of the proceeds.

I had learned the working of his brilliant mind. Honestly, you can never tire or get bored next to a man like Michael. He is always so willing to learn and to share his knowledge, to talk and imagine possible new worlds and ideas. Even through the crappiest moods of my early pregnancy, he can still keep me alert and entertained.

I truly welcomed the opportunity to fly with him to South Korea. Manny was back in Pretoria. Mom and Wayne were deep into wedding planning. And I was feeling like shit. Dizziness, dry mouth, a bout of high blood pressure here and there...It was absolute hell some days, early in the morning, when I felt like the bed I was lying on was spinning madly round and round and I could not even hold onto it properly.

Pregnancy and type I diabetes are never good friends. So I welcomed the change, which would distract me from my daily woes. Also, I had never seen Michael at work. That was an irresistible bonus to everything else.

I was packing our things slowly and carefully. Michael is a messy packer. His designers, Bush and Tompkins are looking after his stage costume, thanks God. But for regular clothes, wife to the rescue! I get a sizable amount of white t-shirts from the wardrobe, fresh underwear (Hanes 32, simple tighty whities), socks (all of the same color, because Michael is prone to mismatch them and walk around with different colored socks), some comfy red shirts and black slacks...what else?

I sigh in defeat. I still have so much to learn about being a wife! I try to put my anger and resentment away and remember what mom use to pack for that lousy man I call my father when he was leaving for a long streak of time. I am still not sure if he flew planes or spent time with his other families, and I don't want to know, either. Well, the guy needed his impeccable pilot uniform....some clothes....what else?

I feel a bit dizzy and sit down on the bed among the half packed cases. I haven't even started packing my things and I feel exhausted already. I take an early insulin shot, just to be on the safe side and decide that I should have some healthy snack.

I wind my way down to the kitchen finding a new guy instead of our regular chef.

"Good afternoon, ma'am!"

The man is Asian and extremely polite, but I miss Kai, she's such a good fun.

"Hi. Um...don't let me disturb you, I'll just look in the fridge for a bit to snack on."

"Oh, no, ma'am! Mr. Jackson gave me strict instructions. No junk food for ma'am. Allow me to prepare you a quick burger with grilled chicken fresh herbs and tartar sauce."

I could not say no to that, my mouth was watering already.

"Alright...Sorry, may I have your name?"

"Wong, ma'am."

"Wong, please stop calling me ma'am. I'm Anouk."

"As you wish, ma...I mean, Anouk."

"Good. When people call me ma'am I feel like an old bat."

I devour the burger and thank Wong. I feel better already so I go back to my packing. I feel much better now and I start humming a song and dancing as I continue packing. I drop one of Michael's clean socks on the floor and I bed over to retrieve it. Suddenly, two arms capture me in a tight squeeze and I shriek in surprise and fear.