A Twist For Pop

Chapter 6 - Party Time

Michael is really happy with how well the rehearsals went but now we're back at the ranch having a late lunch, I've decided to change my clothes as I'm too warm in my jeans.I check my appearance in the mirror once more and smooth down my light turquoise dress, it has capped sleeves and is knee length, with it I've decided to wear flat white pumps and I have my long hair secured in a claw clip. Yep I look good, best go find Michael. I fling the door open and almost scream as I see a figure standing there 'oh Michael it's you' 'sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I was just coming to tell you that lunch is gonna be delayed for a while' he explains 'oh right, what would you like to do?' I ask. 'We could watch a movie' Michael suggests to which I agree and follow him as he leads me out of the house and across the lawn to another building. Inside is a stall with drinks and snacks but Michael doesn't stop there he continues walking further into the building before turning left into a room of considerable size. There are rows and rows of seats, well they're more like armchairs attached to the floor, the two of us sit down slap bang in the middle of the room.In front of us is a large highly polished, wooden stage maybe a foot off the ground with a silver curtain covering the back of the stage 'Where are we?' I ask confused looking around the room, 'this is my movie theatre' Michael replies nonchalantly. What? This man has a private cinema, how rich is he?! All I can do is gape at him until he places his fingers under my chin and gently turns my head until I'm looking back at the stage, the silver curtain is pulled back and the screen flashes to life as a horror film begins to play.As I watch the film I grip hold of Michael's hand securely since I scare easily, I rest my head on his shoulder and he rests his on top of mine. I feel him smirk when I turn my face away from the frightening scene on the screen. After a few seconds he releases my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders to comfort me, and that's how we remain for the rest of the film.Eventually though the film finishes and the two of us stand up 'you still scared?' he asks 'I was not scared' I protest turning around to walk away but Michael suddenly grabs my waist and shouts 'BOO!!'Causing me to shriek in horror and turn around to face him. 'Not scared huh?' he smirks at me, 'funny' I scowl making my way towards the door. I hear Michael chuckling behind me but I continue to march over to the door though before I can grab the door handle Michael seizes my hand twirls me around and pulls me into his chest where he hugs me against him tightly, 'it was only a joke' he mentions his voice full of sincerity. I stroke my hand down his face 'I know' then I smile at him 'but you're still a big kid' I stick my tongue out at him and dash out of the room with a shocked Michael chasing after me. 'Last one to the dining room does the washing up' I shout as I dash across the lawn towards the main house but Michael quickly grabs my waist and hauls me back causing us both to fall to the floor with Michael straddling me 'that's not fair Miss Macintyre, and you say that I'm a child' I grin like an idiot up at him.'How about we calmly walk across the lawn like responsible adults and eat lunch like well-mannered people' Michael suggests with a mock posh accent. I nod my head and he helps me to my feet, 'actually forget that' and before I can do or say anything Michael runs at full pelt across the grass 'what the... Michael you're such a cheat' I holler trying to catch up with him. Then the two of us skid into the dining room and end up tripping over each other and landing in a heap on the floor with both of us laughing hysterically.'What in the world' Grace exclaims walking into the room, 'just playing a game' Michael remarks trying to contain his laughter but Grace just smiles fondly at him and rolls her eyes 'come on you two, lunch is ready' we stand up and take our seats just as our food is placed on the table for us. Michael and I continue to chat as we happily much on our food, 'oh I forgot to mention I've been invited to Diana Ross's birthday celebration tonight, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me' Michael asks taking a sip from his red wine. 'I'd love to but I don't have anything to wear' I explain sadly. 'That's not a problem, I wanted to take you shopping anyway' Michael smiles 'is that a polite way of saying I have no dress sense' I raise an eyebrow at him to which Michael laughs before insisting 'no I love your dress sense but I want to buy you something' 'you don't have to' I insist. Michael waves his hand in a dismissive manner 'I know but I want to. You're my guest and you've become a dear friend and I'd like to spoil you' a loving smile tugs at the corner of his lips and I know a blush has descended over my cheeks.As soon as we have finished our food Grace whisks our plates away then Michael and I make our way outside and there in the driveway is a sleek silver Rolls Royce 'where's the driver?' I ask looking around but not seeing Garry anywhere then I notice Michael twirling a set of car keys around on his finger. 'You're driving... do you even know how to drive?' I ask 'of course I know how to drive, now come on climb in' Michael opens the passenger side door and I climb in then Michael walks around to the driver's side and climbs in. He revs the engine and we speed down to the gate and quickly drive out but surprisingly none of the fans jump on the car, probably because it's a different car and they're only used to him being in a limousine.After a short amount of time driving we pull up outside a huge department store 'aww it's closed' I mutter 'that's the point...' Michael mentions but I look back at him confused 'I rang ahead and asked them to close the department store for a few hours so that we can shop in peace without loads of fans around us' he explains proudly before climbing out of the car then walking around to my side to open the door for me. We stroll hand in hand into the department store 'Welcome Mr Jackson, I hope you enjoy your time here. If there is anything you need please don't hesitate to let me know' the owner of the department store greets then smiles at me, I smile back 'thank you' Michael says politely before leading me into a nearby clothing store.The moment we walk through the doors we're greeted by a young brunette woman wearing a black knee length cocktail dress, everything about her looks professional apart from the fact her breasts are practically spilling out of the dress since it's so low cut. She smiles warmly at Michael but just glares at me, what's her problem? 'We're going to a function tonight and I'd like you to help my friend here find a dress please' Michael mentions straight to the point then Miss Sour Face leads us over to the ladies section of the store.She sifts through the railing pulling out various dresses of various colours and styles and lengths and holds each one up to me as I stand awkwardly on a pedestal. Most of them I hate and by the look on Michael's face, I can see that the feeling is mutual but Miss Sour Face is adamant that I try them on, the first one is a grotesque moss green colour with gold embroidery and far too many sequins for one dress. I slip into it and can barely breathe then step back onto the pedestal to show Michael who shakes his head, when Miss Sour Face turns her head he makes a gagging face which makes me laugh.Upon hearing my laughter her head spins back around and once again glares at me before passing me another gown, if that's what it could be called. It's more like a scrap of material, it's so short and I have to hold the front panel closed because if I don't then my breasts will be completely on show. I stand on the pedestal and turn to face Michael 'maybe something a little less revealing and a little longer' he visibly squirms in his seat. Miss Sour Face continues to make me try on hundreds of dresses but there isn't a single one that I like and eventually we admit defeat, we thank her and leave the shop and enter another close by.The woman who greets us at this shop is a lot friendlier but this time her dress isn't low cut, instead it's the length of the skirt that is inappropriate every time she moves I get an eye full of her red laced thong. She is a lot more helpful and the dresses that she chooses are a lot more tasteful and are a lot more suitable for a high class function. The first one she hands me is a floor length navy gown with a halter neck and small beads along the waistline, Michael gives me a thumbs up and I grin then the sales assistant hands me another dress to try on, this time it's a sensational blood red off the shoulder chiffon gown with some small rhinestones on the shoulders which sparkles under the lights, it looks very Marilyn Monroe. I turn to face Michael and his mouth drops slightly but in an instant he resumes his unaffected composure 'I like it' to which I slightly shake my head at him.After I try on a few more dresses we have found three that we like so Michael pays for them and we make our way into another store, this time it's a jewellers and inside we are greeted by a very smartly dressed man who greets us warmly and automatically starts asking us questions on what we're looking for. 'We're going to a high class function tonight so we need something that's not too flash that it looks tacky but not something that's too simple that it looks boring' Michael is once again straight to the point. The man nods his head and begins showing us numerous necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings all of them I think are beautiful but Michael has something negative to say about almost everything that we're shown.Eventually though we finally decide on a white gold choker with lots of tiny diamonds embedded into it and a set of matching long earrings. As Michael pays I look around the showroom and my eyes land on the most gorgeous ring I've ever seen, it's a simple white gold band with vines cut out on the shoulders with a princess cut red beryl stone set into the centre but I glance at the price tag and have to do a double take thirty three thousand dollars. 'What have you found Evie' Michael asks as he comes to stand behind me, 'oh nothing' I answer not wanting to mention the ring. 'Marcel...' he shouts over the sales assistant 'can we take a look at this ring please' Michael asks pointing to the ring in the centre of the cabinet 'Mike no it's too expensive' I exclaim as Marcel unlocks the cabinet and removes the ring. He holds it tightly within his palm and explains 'this ring is made from 18ct white gold with the vinery details on the shoulders, embedded with half a carat of white IF diamonds and within the cathedral claw setting we have one of the rarest red stones available. A two carat red beryl, found only in select parts of Utah and Mexico, much rarer than a diamond and made only the more valuable as it has been faceted into a brilliant round cut to maximise its sparkle. Would you care to try it on' both Michael and Marcel look at me expectantly until I hold out my hand.Marcel slides the ring onto my fourth finger, it fits like a dream and just like he said it really does sparkle under the lights. 'Like it?' Michael asks glancing down at the ring 'Michael I love it but I don't want you to spend $33,000 on me' I exclaim to which he places his hands on the side of my face and lifts my head so that I'm looking at him 'I can afford it Evie, let me spoil you' I open my mouth to argue but he just places his finger on my lips and turns to face Marcel 'we'll take it.' Marcel practically leaps in the air since he's so happy, the two make their way to the till and Marcel knocks off a few thousand dollars for Michael since he's already bought so much which is lovely of him. Michael grins as we walk out of the shop and into a shoe shop 'I cannot believe you just did that' I scold but the smile doesn't leave Michael's face. Smug git.In this shop we are greeted by two members of staff, a man and a woman who are both attractive but are easily in their late thirties to early forties but both seem pleasant enough and they greet us with kind smiles and a professional demeanour. 'Evie would you like to go with...' Michael glances at the woman's name badge 'Gladys and I'll go with Peter' I nod my head and Michael strolls away happily chatting away to Peter. 'So what will it be for you hon?' Gladys asks redirecting my attention to her, 'erm well we're going to a classy party tonight so I guess I need some heels' I mutter unsure what I want.She smiles at me and leads me through the shop 'what kind of heels are you looking for hon?' 'red ones I guess' I still have no idea but I sit where she tells me, asks me my shoe size then darts around picking up various pairs of heeled shoes before bringing them back for me to try on. Every pair I try on and walk around but most of them are way too high so I can barely walk in them, but after a while we've narrowed it down to three pairs. One pair are red stilettos with small rhinestones encrusted into the heels, the second are silver strappy heels with red rhinestones lining the toe section and the last pair are simple red open toe heels with a ribbon that ties around the ankle. Michael walks up to us just as I've finished trying on the shoes 'find any?' he asks to which I hold up the three pairs. He takes them from me and whisks them over to the till and once again before I can stop him they're paid for and boxed up.I give up. He strolls over to me, 'thank you for buying me all this stuff but from now on I'm paying since I don't want you spending loads of money on me' I mention, Michael opens his mouth to speak but I place my finger on his lips to silence him. We make our way into the next shop which is a cosmetics shop full of cheap and cheerful make-up, I grab a basket and run around the shop while Michael stands and talks to the sales assistant as this is the one shop I never need help in. After twenty minutes my basket is full of lipstick, eyeshadow, nail polish, mascara, blush, bronzer etc which I haul to the check out almost dying when the cashier says 'that'll be $200 and 43 cents.' Damn! I hand over my card and she hands over my bags.Soon enough though we've finished in the department store and we drive back to the ranch. We have two hours until the party at Diana Ross's house, Michael is in his bedroom getting ready and I'm in mine surrounded by all sorts of gowns, make-up, hair products, jewellery and shoes. I place the blood red, off the shoulder chiffon gown on the mannequin in the walk in wardrobe then turn my attention to everything else scattered over the bed. Right let's start with shoes. I have eight pairs of shoes, all in various shades of red, each of them I place beside the mannequin to decide which pair would look the best with the gown. Eventually deciding on the red stilettos with the jewels encrusted into the heels, I place them at the foot of the mannequin and put the other seven pairs away then I grab the many jewellery boxes and open each of them to see which item would look the best. It has to be the choker with a pair of simple teardrop earrings and the stupidly expensive red beryl ring.I check the clock and see that I have an hour and a half to get ready so I take a seat at the dresser and begin styling my hair, every inch of it is teased and backcombed until I look as though I've spent the night sleeping under a hedge, then I smooth out the top layer twist my hair into a French twist and secure the whole thing with a rhinestone hair clip. I blast it with far too much hairspray and smooth down any fly away hairs. Satisfied with the way my hair looks I move onto my make-up, laying down a thin layer of foundation then applying my concealer, highlights and doing my contouring, before filling in my brows. Following this I apply a peach colour to my eyelids then a mix of various reds and browns to create a sultry smokey look, I finish off the eyes with a smoked out wing which I blend down underneath my eye to frame my green eyes. Then to complete the look I apply a classic red lipstick with slightly darker reds in the corners and a light red in the centre to make my lips appear fuller.Confident in the way my make-up and hair look I slip into my gown then clip the choker around my neck, slide the earrings into my ears and place the ring on my fourth finger on my right hand. I glance in the mirror and smile at my appearance then I hear a knock on my door 'come in' I say and I'm met with a very shocked Michael entering the room. 'Good god' his mouth falls open and I look down at my dress 'what's wrong, don't you like it' my own face falls; I guess I don't look as good as I thought. 'Evie you look sensational. I can't believe that's you' Michael answers, his face still shocked and all I can do is smile as I feel a blush descend over my cheeks.'Come on we best be going' he holds out his hand and I grab my clutch bag before taking hold of his hand and following him towards the front door. I glance at the few steps, ahh this is going to be entertaining. Michael smirks at me 'we'll take it slowly' then he helps me down the steps while I'm being careful not to trip over the dress 'hang on a minute Evie' Michael mentions as we step onto the level gravel, he takes hold of the bottom of the dress then gently pulls 'this sections buttoned closed' he explains as the two sections separate revealing a slit up one side of the skirt section and revealing a large amount of my leg. I notice a slight blush on Michael's face and he slightly squirms.'How did you know it was buttoned shut? Even the woman in the shop didn't know that' I raise an eyebrow as we continue to walk 'a lot of my costumes have them so that I can get changed quicker' Michael shrugs. Fair enough. The two of us make our way outside and there waiting for us is a large black hummer limousine, I climb inside and Michael climbs in behind me.Within half an hour we're pulling up outside Diana's house, it's huge but not as big as Neverland Ranch. We barely have chance to knock on the door before we're confronted by a mass of black curled hair and gold sequins wrapping herself around Michael's neck narrowly missing my face 'I'm so glad you've come Mikey, it's so good to see you' Diana enthuses holding Michael at arms-length to examine him. She wipes her thumb over his cheek to remove her plumb lipstick from his face but he pushes her hand away with a chuckle and smiles fondly at her. 'Oooh and who is this vision in red?' she hauls me into her arms and hugs me so tightly I can feel my ribs being crushed, 'this is Evie Macintyre, she won the meet the celebrity competition' Michael introduces.'Well it's simply splendid to meet you Evie; now I must ask you... where did you learn to do your make-up... it's stunning. I wish my make-up artist could do that' Diana enthuses pointing at my eyes 'I just watched a load of videos and learnt from there' I explain 'oh my gosh you're English. I love everything English, don't you Mikey... oh you're going to fit in a treat now come you must join in with the festivities' and in a whirl Diana propels us into the house and onto the dance floor. She shoves Michael and I together and she grabs the nearest man and drags him to her and we all dance to the upbeat music playing in the background 'wow is she always that intense' I mention to Michael once Diana is out of ear shot. 'Yeah but you get used to it and her heart is in the right place' he smiles fondly watching Diana throw some moves on the floor.Looking around I don't feel so overdressed since almost every other woman is in a floor length dress, they are practically dripping with pearls and diamonds and most of them are wearing elaborate tiaras in their hair. The men have also made a huge effort with their freshly pressed suits and crisp shirts with neatly tied ties and cravats.After a while we stop dancing and Michael hands me a glass full of expensive champagne which I'm not really supposed to be drinking with my pain medication but I suppose just this one won't hurt. Diana really has spared no expensive for the party. We chat to all of the other guests, Michael is in his element speaking to men whereas I am confident speaking to the other ladies although almost every one of them comments on my make-up and as I look around I notice that every other lady is wearing either minimal make-up or over dramatic colours and every time I mention that I watch the tutorials on YouTube they look at me confused. The penny suddenly drops, it's 1992, YouTube doesn't exist yet! Holy hell in their eyes I've basically invented a whole new look... awesome!Hours pass, we drink, we chat, we laugh then we clamber into the limousine half-drunk with a headache but still laughing hysterically. Within half an hour we're back at the ranch, both of us stumble to our rooms and close the door. I slip out of my dress and place it on the mannequin before brushing through my hair which is a real task because of all the backcombing and hairspray in it but eventually I succeed and once it's all out I remove my make-up slip into my pyjamas and dive into bed, I grab hold of my faithful brown leather diary and scribble down today's events inside before succumbing to my tiredness and falling asleep.