Part 25: Surprise, surprise!

A/N: Warning! Most boring chapter ever!

June's point of view

I watched Michael's demeanor closely, and all I could read on his face was pure helplessness. He kept looking at the pics, that he had tightly gripped in his hands, over and over again. Maybe was he looking for answers for his questions, but I knew they weren't any. By the note the person left, we knew that their aim was to break us, but this was all we knew for sure. We didn't know who sent them, we didn't know the reason why they wanted to break Michael and I apart. We knew that we knew nothing.

Michael didn't speak a word since I gave him the envelope, and neither did he look up at me. He stayed quiet, just staring at the photographs on his lap. I couldn't blame him, because this was exactly the same reaction I had. Pit tried to make me speak, he tried to comfort me, but I was so angry and helpless that I didn't listen to him, or answered his questions. He just dropped me off in front of the main house, and I came in without speaking a word to him.

The thing is, even if I understood Michael's reaction, I wanted him to say something. I needed him to say something. Anything. The silence was killing me, and all I was asking for was Michael's comfort. This is all I needed at this particular moment. I wanted to hear that everything would be okay, that it was some kind of joke he did to me.

"Please say something," I begged him in a whisper.

"I..." is all he managed to say.

"I need you to say something," I encouraged, placing my hand on his forearm.

At my touch, Michael stood up from the bed, putting the pictures down. His back was facing me, and I could see him rub his hands over his face.

"This was too beautiful to be true," he muttered, looking down at his feet, still with his back facing me. "Why can't we be happy?" he asked, turning around to face me.

I stood up from the bed as well, and made my way up to him, "I don't know," I sincerely admitted. "But this person won't ever prevent me from loving you."

"What if this is actually the problem? What if all of this mess that happened ever since we met each other was fate's way to show us that we shouldn't be in love?"

"What? No!" I argued, taking his left hand in mine. "Michael, look at me," I gently asked him, and he did as told. I rubbed his cheek tenderly, looking deep in his sad brown eyes, and said in a soft voice: "Baby, we'll find a way. You know we always do."

"Find a way for what? Even if we find the person who did that, what will happen next?" Michael asked me, raising his voice a little.

"Listen," I gently told him, leading him to the bed where be both sat back down. "We are not doing anything wrong, are we? I mean, you and Jessica are getting a divorce, so I d -"

"You don't understand," he said, shaking his head.

"What? What do I don't understand?"

"This is not that easy. What do you think will happen when I tell the press I am getting a divorce? This won't stop this person to go and give the media those photos and say that Jessica and I are getting a divorce because I cheated on her with you."

"You still can tell the truth," I suggested, shrugging. "The reason why you married her first, and everything that happened in between: the day we saw each other again, the fact that she faked her pregnancy... That could be a way."

"Do you realize how personal all of this is? I can't just come out there, and tell everybody this. You know how precious my privacy is to me."

"Then you have to make a choice. You can lay yourself bare and tell the media the truth about this all and avoid some bastard to tarnish your image, or you can take the risk to let this person give the press those photos. It's up to you," I declared in a slow voice.

"Is this an ultimatum?" he asked, frowning. "Why is this all on me?" Michael asked with his voice raised a little. "Why is this my decision? We're in this together. We're both on this photos, aren't we?"

"Yes, but this is not the same. To the world, you're still 'married' to the woman you 'love'. I'm married to anybody but my career."

"We were both spotted together even before Jessica and I got a divorce, and the press was already speculating about our relationship. They already have doubts about it."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"Nothing. Just that, know they're not credulous fools."

"So to avoid any suspicions we should have stayed apart? You regret the time we spent together? Is this what you're trying to tell me?" I asked, standing up from the bed and looked down at Michael.

He stayed quiet.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," I muttered under my breath. "You should stop being so worried about your image and what people think about you, and think twice before doing anything you could regret then."

"I thought you loved me more than this," I breathed.

"This is not about you! This is not about the fact that I don't love you, but you know how much I love my fans, and you know how I cherish my privacy! If I go out there and tell them all the truth, what will happen, huh? What will they think?"

"They'll think that you're this caring guy that you've always been, who was ready to marry an helpless girl so that her son could get better: that'll show the world how big is your heart!" I shouted, angry at that point.

"And they'll think I'm a liar!"

"Damn it, Michael! Your fans are crazy about you, stop trying to be perfect to them! You know nobody's perfect, we're humans, for God's sake!"

"So what? It's okay to tell them I'm a cheater?"

"You're no cheater, that's why I'm advising you to tell them the whole truth! Because if this person releases the pics, they'll think you are, while you're not!"

"Why aren't you worried about your image?"

"The difference between you and I is that I don't care what the press say. They could say I'm a slut I wouldn't care, because I know I'm not. But we visibly don't have the same point of view about this. You'd rather stay away from me than tell the press the truth, and this is disgusting me. After everything you said to me, I thought you'd be understanding."

"What happened to the girl that kept telling me that my career was the most important to her?"

"What happened to the guy who... Oh no, wait, you've always cared more about your image than me," I said in an harsh tone before walking out the door.

"Where are you going?" Michael called behind me.

"Out. I need fresh air, and don't you dare following me," I threatened without turning around.

"June, wait!" Michael called again, but it didn't stopped me, and I kept walking quickly down the stairs.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted back at him.

When I reached outside, I slammed the front door shut, and began walking toward the amusement park, where the lights and the music were on.

I was angry. Angry with myself, angry with the person who sent those pictures, angry with Michael and his reaction... I had the feeling he was being the same douche he had been when Anna gave the press those photos of me half naked to the press. This was almost the same situation, but this time, the sender wanted to intimidate us, to think that he had some kind of power over the both of us by having those pictures. Sadly, he really had power over Michael and I: this caused us to argue.

I was quickly walking on Neverland's gravy grounds, going nowhere precisely. I just wanted to be far away from Michael at that moment, and try to empty my mind.

I was not walking away, I just decided to go out before I say something I would regret afterwards.

"Fuck that fucking shit!" I angrily shouted when I slightly twisted my ankle.

I took my heel off, and threw it carelessly away, angrily shouting curse words, and did the exact same thing with my other heel. That laid me barefooted, alone in the dark, frozen, but I didn't care. I kept on walking aimlessly around the Ranch.

As soon as I approached the lake, I could hear voices, and I immediately stopped walking, thinking about the worst scenario possible. When I recognized Jer and David's voices, I made my way up to them, relieved they were no serial killers. When they saw me through the darkness, they were at first shocked to see me all alone and barefooted outside.

"What the hell are you doing here by yourself?" Jer asked me, walking up to me with Dave by his side.

"I-I needed some fresh air," I said in a shaky voice before falling in Jer's arms and cried my eyes out.

"Wow, Blondie, what's the matter?" my friend asked me with concern in his voice, his hands on the back of my head that was placed on his chest. "What happened?"

"Michael and I had a fight," I explained through my sobs.

"Stop crying JuJu," Dave soothed, rubbing my back. "I'm sure this is not that serious!"

"Why can't we be happy? And why does he have to be such a douchebag?" I asked, hugging Jer's waist tightly.

"Come on, dry your tears and tell us what happened," Jer told me in a soft voice, leading me to the bench that was facing the calm lake.

I sat down on it, Jer and Dave on each side of me: David rubbing my back up and down for comfort, while Jeremy was holding my hands tightly, giving them slight squeezes for comfort.

"This is all happening again," I started, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "We're being blackmailed again by some stranger who sent me photos of Michael and I together, and they threatened to give them to the press, so that Michael can be called a cheater and I considered as a slut. I advised him to tell the truth to the media, but he won't do it."

"What?" Dave shouted next to me. "What the fuck?"

"And the person wrote that we have to stop seeing each other to avoid this."

"What the hell? I swear to God I'll hunt down this Anna bitch again, and I'll find her, and I'll rip her h-"

"Jer stop, we don't know who it is. It could be anybody," I stated, sniffling. "Anna didn't show up in two whole years. When I talked to her, she told me she was living in Seattle with her mother."

"What about Frank?" Dave asked me, and I looked at him with a hint of fear in my stare.

"No, it can't be. This asshole is somewhere behind bars," I said, unsure of my own words. "Well, I think so."

"We'll help you find out. You know we're here for you, Blondie."

"You'll have to leave sooner or later boys, and I don't want you to take care of me. I'm fine," I lied in their faces.

Of course, they caught my big bad lie, and gave me a non-believer look. They're my friends, and they know me like the back of their hand.

"About that," Jer said, taking my hands back in his own, "David and I have been talking together, and maybe it's not the right time to talk about this, but we really do need to talk to you."

"What is it?" I asked, becoming a bit worried by my friend's statement.

"You need us," Dave chimed in. "Don't say you don't, because we both know you do."

"Of course I need you, it's not rocket science. You're my friends, I'll always need you."

"This is not what he wants to say, June," Jer said. "You need us as friends, but you also need us professionally speaking. We've been by your side for two whole years during your contract with Chanel, and since you don't work for Lagerfeld anymore, you kinda made us understand that you didn't need us anymore. But you do need us."

"I don't understand," I said, shaking my head. I really was confused. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"We want to stand by your side, just like we did back in Paris. We're moving out here," Jer annouced, and my eyes widened at the thought.

"W-What? No, no no. There's no way in hell you're leaving your families again to be with me. No way."

"We're not asking for your permission, we just wanted you to know."

"We visited a few appartments this afternoon, and I think we found the one," Dave smiled lovingly at his boyfriend.

"Boys, really, don't do that. Don't waste your life for me," I pleaded, looking back and forth between my two friends. "I'm fine, can't you see that? Can't you see I'm not the same broken girl I was two years ago? I'm stable, and I am good with my life now. Jer, buddy," I began, turning to my friend. "You can't waste your career as a surgeon just to be by my side every step of the way. You're talented at what you do, and I am guilty enough about the fact that you wasted two years of your life that you could have spent as a successful surgeon to take care of your crazy friend," I told my friend, squeezing his hands before turning to Dave on the other side. "Dave, you're the best make up artist and hair stylist I ever met in my entire life. You really are gifted, and I think you should spread your talent and let everybody enjoy it, not just me. And, I know you're a family man, and that you just have your sister left, and she lives in New Jersey. I remember how tough it was for you to leave her, and I don't want to be responsible of this again. You guys are not moving here because of me."

"And you're not telling us what to do," Dave retorted in a calm voice.

"I love you, Blondie. I love you like you're my own sister, and I told you time and time again that I won't lose you again. I found you back three years ago, and I never felt so complete in my entire. You are my family. Both of you are," he said, reaching for Dave's hand and mine. "I'll go to Santa Barbara's hospital tomorrow, and try to enter their program. You're right on one thing; being your agent isn't my thing. This is too much pressure for me, and you need a professional for that, that's why we will find you one. A good one," Jer smiled at me, and for the first time I realized that tears were streaming down my face. "We're settling down here, either you like it or not."

"You're crazy," I told the both of them, sobbing. "When did I get so lucky?"

"Don't be silly, we're the lucky ones to have you," Dave nudged me, smiling before yawning. "Now this is all said, you need to go back to your man, and try to make things better between the both of you. You're not letting anybody gets in your way once again. You need to be strong and face your problems together, as a united couple."

"He's right," Jer chimed in. "You should go back in there, and try to find a solution together. Hear what he has to offer, and make things right. You both are much stronger than this."

"I tried to talk to him, but everything he seems to think about is his fans, and the fact that he doesn't want them to think bad of him."

"Can't you understand that?"

"Yes, I can. I understand his point of view, but he doesn't seem to understand mine," I sighed, again wiping the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand. "Gosh, I must look like shit."

"No you don't," Jer chuckled, rubbing my cheek with his thumb. "You're beautiful, and that's why you shouldn't be allowed to cry. You're so much more beautiful when you smile," he smiled, and laid a kiss on my forehead.

"Thank you," I weakly smiled back, "both of you. I love you guys, really," I admitted, hugging both of my friends.

"We love you too," they admitted. "Hey -" Dave began, but Jer slapped him behind the head. "Ouch!"

"We're going to head back to the house, ok?" Jer said quickly, which got me confused, and stood up. "We'll see you tomorrow, Blondie."

"Uhh, yeah! Good night JuJu," Dave said, placing a kiss on my forhead, just like Jer.

"Uh, okay. I'm just going to stay there for a bit. Good night boys. And thank you."

Once they left my sight, I let ouf a deep, shaky sigh, and ran my hands on my bare arms where chills were forming. I looked in the distance, trying to wrap my mind around what happened during this crazy day. Quickly, my mind drifted toward Michael and the argument we had. I did some self-analysis, and I knew I overreacted once again, and didn't take the time to understand properly what Michael was telling me. I realized that he didn't mean anything bad: this is just how he is. Michael wants everyone to love him, just like he wants to love everyone, and I understood that being called a cheater would tarnish his image.

As I was thinking hard, I felt a blanket being delicately wrap around my bare shoulders, which caused me to jump because of the surprise. When I turned around and saw Michael standing there, a slight smile formed on my lips. I wrapped the blanket tighter around me, while Michael joined me on the bench.

"Thank you," I shyly said, looking down at my lap.

He didn't answer, but instead, he sighed heavily, running his hands on his black slacks.

"I'm sorry," we said in unison, which caused us to nervously chuckled. "No seriously, I am sorry," Michael said. "I should have said something, because I don't want to break up with you again. You're more important than me career is, and I want to make things right with you," he declared, looking from his hands to me. "This is why I'm going to tell everything to the press. I'll have Carson set up an interview and -"

"What? Michael, no. It's okay, I understand. I overreacted, and I'm sorry. I know you love your fans more than anything, including me. I know this. This is who you are. You don't want anybody to hate you."

"But you are the one who's right. I guess it's way better to be called a liar than a cheater," he shrugged.

"You're not going to be called a liar, Michael," I reassured, placing my hand on his knee. "When you think about it, you didn't lie because you were really married. You just forgot a little detail."

He chuckled slightly and nudged my knee with his, "I'm still sorry. I know you had a stressful day today, and I just made it worse by starting a fight. I didn't mean to -"

"Stop," I whispered, holding a hand up, "I forgive you. And I'm sorry I called you a douchebag behind your back," I said, and Michael raised his eyebrows. "It's just... Urgh, like you said, I had a stressful day today, and I just wanted to come home and be with the man I love. I needed him to comfort me, I needed him to tell me he'd be ready to do everything so that we can finally be happy. I need you this way Michael. I don't need the person you were minutes ago. The person who seemed not to care about nothing else than him and his career. I told you I cared about your career, and you know I do. A lot. But right now, this is not about your career, this about you, and only you. I know you cherish your privacy more than anything else. I know it. But look, you once told me that lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons, so you know that sooner or later, people will find out about this: one way or another. You really want them to find out by someone else? If this comes out of your own mouth, your fans will believe you, but if it comes out of someone else's mouth, or by any other means like the publication of those pictures of you and I, people will believe it. You know how naïve people are when it comes to the press," I pointed out, and Michael scoffed at this very last sentence. "Plus, you know your fans didn't like Jessica. They call her "Brainless Jess", what does it tell you? If you tell them all that your marriage with her was fake, they'll be relieved. Trust me on that, Michael. I've been hated by your fans as well, but when you got married to her, I received so much letters asking me to do something about this."

"Really?" Michael asked me, laughing.

"Yes," I chuckled back, which lightened up the mood between the both of us. "Thousands of girls - and boys - asked me to apologize for whatever caused our break up and take you back."

"Why don't they like her?" Michael wondered, giggling.

"What do you think? They saw you weren't happy, and some of them called her a gold-digger."

"Wow, how come you never told me that? How come I didn't even know about this?"

"You never asked," I chuckled, and threw a stone in the lake.

An awkward silence fell upon us, and the only sounds we could hear was the ones the nature was making. The wind that passed through the leaves of the trees, the sound of the water from the lake that was moving... This was relaxing.

"So I guess we won't have to wait until the end of the divorce to go out public, huh?"

"What? W-Why?"

"We're going to do this. We're going to tell the press," he declared, and took my hands in his. "We won't let anybody get in our way this time. We'll stop them before they can cause us any harm."

"Are you sure? I didn't mean to pressure you about doing this, I didn't -"

As I started babbling, Michael put one of his hand on the back of my neck, and bring my face closer to his, before crashing his lips on mine. I went along with the kiss, and scooted closer to him, and cupped his face in between my hands.

"I am positive about this," he whispered inches from my mouth, stucking a strand of hair back behind my ear. "Thank you for not walking away this time. Thank you for keeping your promise."

"I love you," I said truthfully, resting my forhead on his.

"And I love you," he said back, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders.

I rested my head on Michael's shoulder, and we both stayed there in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presence.

As time passed by, Michael and I finally got the chance to tell each other what happened during our day. I learned that everything went perfectly fine with him being alone with my family. Of course, he wondered why Jer and Dave had to go, and I told him about the talk the three of us had, and he was delighted to know my friends were moving here in California. In Santa Barbara, to be exact.

Then, I got to explain to him what Piranha and I got to do during the afternoon, and how things were going to take place. First, we'd have to let the twenty people we chose know that they're actually chosen, which was the easiest part of this all. Then, we'd have to establish the date of the interviews, and finally, the 'serious' work could begin. I really was eager to start working with the young models, and begin my teaching job.

Finally, I let him know about what I am the most proud of: my foundation.

When Pit and I got to L.A to discover the place, I was reclutent at the idea to buy such a huge place at first. However, the estate agent convinced me, and opened my eyes on the capabilities this place had: there were seven rooms in this building, and I perfectly knew what I wanted to do with them.

"What?" I asked Michael who was chuckling.

"Breathe, baby. You're so excited about all of this that you forget to breathe," he chuckled again.

"I just can't wait," I said, clapping my hands together. "Whaaaaaat?" I asked again, as Michael kept laughing.

"Don't ever change," he told me, standing up from the bench, and held his hand out for me to take. "Come on, it's becoming chilly. Let's go back to the house so you can finally enjoy the suprise I set up for you."

And what a big, pleasant, surprise this was.

____________________________________________

"Make love, not war"
____________________________________________

Hey guys,

I just wanted to write a little note there to thank the people who sent me messages on here, on Facebook or on Snapchat to tell me how affected you were by everything that happened in France, and to make sure I was safe and sound. It really touched me to the core to see how many people on Wattpad sent me messages. You are all truly sweet and so caring it brought tears in my eyes.

So, for those who wondered, yes, I am safe and sound, unlike those 128 people who died because of those terrorists. Those cowards murdered innocent people so France and other countries would fear them. But we are not afraid. We are strong, we're united, and we won't EVER give up the fight. We didn't give up 10 months ago after the first attacks, and we won't give up now. It makes us stronger.

Because of those people, families lost their loved ones, but our country lost patriots. This isn't just a crime against France, no, it's a crime again humanity, just like President Obama said himself.

France is grieving ever since Friday, and it seems like the Paris lost its light.

This was one of the darkest day of my life. I can remember the fear in my family's eyes, the screams of people on the streets, the gunshots, the explosions, the phonecall to one of my friend who was out there, not far from where the shooting was... Everything is so vivid to all of us. We all hoped it was a nightmare, but no. This massacre was real, and justice has to be done.

Michael told us to heal the world, and to make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race, and this is what we need to do: we need to heal this world, because I don't even recognize the world I grew up in, and it saddens me so much.

Hands are sweaty, breathing has become harder because we keep holding our breath in fear, tears are pooling my eyes right now, because I know it could have been me because I was there a week ago, or my family who lives there or even my friends, but when I see all of your support around the world, this makes my heart warm, and this reminds me that I am alive.

I love you all, and again, thank you.

Julie

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