Behind The Mask

Chapter 5

Anouk’s POV

I prop my head against the plane seat and sigh. On my way home….finally! Now I can forget that I had a cowardly, double-crossing father…Now I can forget the humiliation we’ve gone through at the hospital…Now I can forget….No! Damn it, no! I can’t forget about Michael. I just can’t. Since that dinner out we’ve spoken on the phone a few times. There is something hard to define about this man. He surely is full of determination and pretty much king of his empire. He is his own trade mark and top brand and he runs the whole business of being Michael Jackson successfully. Everything with his name and face on it sells like bread. And behind the whole PR and show biz machinery is a surprisingly modest guy with clear, down to earth ideas and simple tastes. He confessed that he’d rather grab a bucket from KFC than go to a fancy restaurant. He only goes to that restaurant, by his admission, for business or to impress a lady.

Well, I was impressed, I have to admit. But this changes nothing. There’s a huge ocean between us geographically, and an entire universe in terms of life style. Plus, I am really in no mood to trust him. Or any other man, for that. Mom met dad as regularly as possible, in an airport. She dropped her purse, he picked it up for her and…the rest is history. So, if a regular meeting between two regular people leads to disaster, what can I say about meeting the most famous man and being stalked by him for 2 weeks in a row, until he tricked me into having dinner with him?

No, no! It is a bad idea. Bad, bad, bad! Hell no! I am SOOO not quoting his song! It is a terrible idea. Okay, he didn’t make a song named Terrible, so I’m on safe grounds.

I land in Pretoria in a sickened mood. Flying is not my thing. After all, if God intended people to fly, He would have given us wings. Period. I smile, though, when I see mom waiting for me.

“Mama!” I scream like a whiney kid after the first day at school.

“Nooki! You’re back, finally, Godzijdank! Let me look at you! Oh my baby, you lost some weight! I told you to stop churning things in your mind.”

“It’s over now. Let’s go home. How’s the tourist season?”

“Bad, really bad. Everyone is going to that Phantasia resort they opened recently, and we only have an elderly couple, who are checking out in 3 days, anyway.”

“Oh, mama! That’s bad.”

“We’ll manage, mijn kind. It’s not like we’re about to hit the bottom of the sack.”

We’re driving in silence. I look around and feel relaxed. This is home, this is where I belong. Away from lying fathers and overbearing pop stars...Michael again! Why in God’s name can’t I give it a rest? Why must my perverse mind return to him again and again and fucking again?!

“What is it, Anouk?”

“Nothing, mother. Absolutely nothing.”

“You are acting a bit hyper...Come on, tell me!”

“Really, mama, it’s nothing! Just a silly guy who chased me around for a bit while I was in LA.”

“Really? What kind of guy? The creepy type?”

“No. Actually rather cute...and standing in a category of his own.”

“How so?”

“Well...let’s just say he’s not like everybody else. But still....just silly. Forget about it, mom.”

“OK...”

My mom knows there’s more to it than I presented it, but keeps her counsel. I like her for that. She never tried to barge in my soul and ideas on the principle that she’s my mother and she knows best.