Behind The Mask

Chapter 39

Anouk’s POV

I wake up to the feel of something warm moving up and down my face.

“Hey, there...You got me worried...”

I blink a few more times and I begin to process the sensations around me: the warm touch is Michael’s hand and the soothing voice is his. I see him seated on a chair and I’m lying on a hospital bed. There is worry etched on his face.

“How are you feeling, Nooki?”

“I am...I don’t know what happened to me...”

“You were taken ill after Janet’s party...”

He looks sideways and I realize that he tries to hide something from me.

“What happened?”

“We’ll talk about that later on.”

He stands up and bends above me, placing a kiss on my forehead.

“You are safe and alright now, this is all that matters.”

He is right. I feel so weak, and I don’t see myself able to process complex information. I sink back into the pillow and close my eyes.

“Are you tired? Do you want to sleep now?”

“Not really. I just...I can’t focus on anything right now.”

“Just relax....I’m here, remember. If you need anything...”

“Go and have some rest....go home.”

“No way. Plus, your mother and Manny are on the way.”

“You....you told them?”

“I had to…I didn’t really have the time to think of a cover when I rushed you in here…The paparazzi found out…she saw on TV…”

“Oh God!”

“Don’t worry...I’ll arrange everything. They won’t get to you, baby. I promise you.”

I close my eyes and some weird sounds and images come back to me. I’m in the ladies restroom...I’m doing my shot...I hear an evil laughter....I remember now...I remember everything! I want to cry, but I feel too weak even for this. Everyone knows...Janet, her friends, her tour crew....Soon the whole world will know....thanks to that bitch. Every little chance I had for a normal life is gone. I feel tears streaming down the sides of my face, and I can’t even wipe them away.

“Nooki...Nooki please don’t cry! Don’t cry, baby...”

“I have never...ever felt so humiliated in my entire life! I was....I was brought into custody...during the anti-Apartheid protests...they said horrible things to me....but I never felt so humiliated. That beastly woman took all my dignity away!”

“No, Anouk. She didn’t take your dignity. She lost hers...if, indeed, she still had some to lose. I will see to it that she suffers consequences for tonight. My sister, too.”

“How?”

Michael squats next to me to be at my eye level. His fingers wipe away my tears tirelessly.

“Baby....my sister and I, without false pretenses, have a big word to say in the music industry....and in the best social circles. Lisa will find her social agenda very empty soon enough...And her plans of building a musical career will never come true. And...to put an end to her harassment, I will get a restraining order against her, both for you and me. If she ever approaches us again, she will enjoy the services of the LAPD correctional facilities.”

“Do whatever you consider appropriate, Michael, but I’m telling you this plainly – if I see that beast of a woman again, I’ll kill her. I’ll throttle her with my bare hands.”