Girls in High Places

Chapter Seven

Maybe it was the adrenaline still pumping through her veins or perhaps it was the dark look in his eyes, either way, Stacy (who under normal circumstances would have thought twice about what she was about to do) found herself almost running into that welcome embrace. Her arms wrapped around his neck tightly, her face pressed against his still slightly sweat-slicked neck as she inhaled his scent like a woman long deprived. She could feel the fast pulse in the hollow at his neck and feeling a bit daring, she brushed her lips gently against it, smiling at the soft intake of breath he gave in response.

His arms, which were already wrapped tightly around her waist, seemed to pull her even closer, and secretly thanking God for the tight shimmering jumpsuit the boys had worn for their performance, Stacy could definitely feel the natural reaction in Michael’s lower region. She blushed in delight; the knowledge that she was able to make Michael feel this way, a heady sensation of empowerment. She held on for dear life, not wanting to let him go. Never wanting to let go.

Ah…Michael…

“I’m so glad you came,” Michael whispered into her ear, his warm breath tickling her already goose-pimpled flesh. They were moving together in a slow circle, without even realizing it, simply content to hold each other this close despite the chaos that surrounded them. In that brief moment, they were the only ones in the room and no one could touch them. Nothing…could come between -

“Hate to break up this little love fest,” came the loud voice that eventually broke through their intimate cloud. “But I’ve got the press nipping at my heels, Mike. We need you and your brothers in the green room pronto.”

Michael groaned in disbelief, pulling away just a little, even though his arms still held Stacy prisoner. “Right now?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at their tour manager. “Can’t I have just a little more time?”

“It’s okay, Michael,” Stacy said quickly, not wanting to get him in trouble, considering that Joe Jackson was now eyeing them with something akin to venom in his eyes from across the room. “You should go…”

Michael focused his attention on her again. He eyed her flushed features for a long minute as if trying to memorize every little thing. He was still hopelessly aroused, because, let’s face it…Stacy felt great against him. He appreciated how good she looked tonight and thanked God that she wasn’t wearing any bra beneath that flimsy blouse. If anyone knew where his thoughts were leading…

“I’ll tell Bill to take you and Anita back to the hotel room,” he finally said aloud, a hand reaching out to caress the coral necklace that dipped between her cleavage. He smirked a little at the soft gasp his touch elicited, as his fingers brushed against her skin…close to the smooth curve of her right breast. “It’s a beautiful necklace,” he murmured thickly.

“My grand…grandma gave it to me…” came the weak response, her mind whirling with the notion that this boy - for there was still no denying that he was younger than she - had the thought processes of a full-grown adult. Either Michael was downplaying his innocence or he was more aware of the female body than he let on. Not that anyone could blame him. He had four older brothers to get his lessons from.

“I love it on you,” he continued in that soft voice that threatened to make her…

“Michael! Let’s go!” someone yelled and the magic disappeared in an instant.

“Sheesh,” came the low grumble from the singer as he reluctantly pulled away from her warmth. He so wanted to kiss her…to be as bold and as daring as Marlon had been, but a part of him was still incredibly shy about the whole ordeal, and the ‘shyness wave’ was beginning to overwhelm him as the rush from performing began to wane. He took another step back and felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment at what he had been doing. Looking at Stacy now, he couldn’t believe a girl as pretty as she would even be interested in him. He was beginning to get more self-conscious about his looks and a tiny voice in his mind kept screaming at him that he was no longer the cute kid everyone once loved. He felt too lanky, too awkward…all limbs and arms with a big head that some people made fun of.

What could she possibly see in him?

“I should go…” he mumbled softly, bowing a little as if apologizing for even wasting her time. “Will I…I’ll see you later, okay?”

Stacy smiled warmly, realizing something had changed in Michael’s demeanor. However, she downplayed it and waved softly. “I’ll be waiting.”

She watched as he was prompted carted away by managers and security, and she felt her heart tremble with how really different they were. He was in a sheltered cocoon and that cocoon came in the form of individuals who wanted only Michael the Performer. Stacy had the feeling that Michael longed to break free from that chokehold, but what did she know? She wasn’t a psychologist and couldn’t go about analyzing every little thing that happened, besides, Big Bill was approaching with a cold bottle of water for she and Anita to refresh themselves.

“Ready, ladies?” he asked.

Anita staggered beside her friend, having finally let Marlon go, and laughed as she drank thirstily. “We’re more than ready, Big Bill. Let’s go!”

__


Michael smiled in all the right places and answered the questions posed like a clock work. He was so used to this routine, he could do it with his eyes closed. He stayed for pictures with the fans who had won backstage passes, listened to them gush over how much they loved the group and one of them had even gone as far as writing a song, which she was more than glad to sing to them. It was a great pity her voice sounded like gravel being put in a blender, and it took all his professional skills to lie to her face and say it was a ‘wonderful song!’.

By the time they were through with all the protocol required, Michael was drained. He sagged against the leather seats in the limo, listening to Suzanne rattle on about their flight leaving first thing tomorrow morning for Chicago for their next show.

Tomorrow morning, Michael thought miserably as he stared out the window. In less than a few hours, I’ll be saying goodbye to Stacy.

Even though he would have loved nothing more than to catch some shut eye, Michael knew he had to savor these last few moments with her. He was willing to sacrifice sleep, just so he could listen to her voice again. He wasn’t sure if they’d be able to go anywhere tonight, but at least he could be with her for as long as she wanted. And if he was lucky, he could convince her to sleep with him…

Not…not se... sex though, his mind thought quickly, his cheeks flooding with color as he clamped his thighs together to control himself. I’m not…I don’t think I’m ready yet…

“Not ready for what?” came the bemused question from Marlon, who was sitting beside Michael. “Whatchu mumbling to yourself about?”

“None of your business,” he replied, suffering a ruffle of his hair from his older brother as he was teased. He laughed and tried to push Marlon away, but his older brothers all soon got into it, and before long, it took Suzanne’s loud “KNOCK IT OFF, BOYS!” to finally get them to behave themselves.

__


Anita hummed to herself as she kicked off her shoes and flopped onto Marlon’s bed. “Oooh, this is the life! I can’t wait for Marlon my baby to come back!”

She turned onto her stomach and kicked her legs back and forth, eyeing her silent friend with amusement. “What’s the matter, Stace? You’re not still thinking about that jerk, Kevin, are you?”

Kevin! She had completely forgotten about him!

Looking guilty, she muttered to herself. “I’m surprised the cops haven’t come for me yet…”

“Why? For killing him?”

“I didn’t kill him!” Stacy hissed, lowering her voice as if assuming the room was wired or bugged. “He was just … just…unconscious.”

“You didn’t hit him hard enough,” Anita replied with a mock yawn. “You should have let me do the vase breaking, girl. I would have cut off his balls too.”

“Anita!”

“It’s true,” came the reply. Anita sat up and stared at her friend, a serious expression on her visage. “Now look here, Stacy. You know you can’t go back to him now. There’s no way. No how.”

“So what do I do?” Stacy whispered, her fingers gripping the hem of her blouse to fiddle with it. “Where can I go? If I go to my mom’s, he’s going to find me there.” She looked up. “Can I stay with you then?”

“You can….” Anita began, a smirk coming to her visage. “But I’ve got other plans, baby.”

“Other…plans?”

The girl grinned and patted her afro. “Marlon says he’s taking me to Chicago with him.”

Stacy blinked in surprise. “Chicago? Why? When?!”

“They’re leaving tomorrow morning and he wants me with him. He ain’t taking no for an answer.” She sighed dramatically and flopped back onto the bed. “I think I’m in love with him.”

“You just met him yesterday for the first time,” Stacy argued weakly, for she knew how Anita felt. It wasn’t that she was in love with Michael….right?

Anita shook her head and wagged a finger. “Girl, I met him physically yesterday – in more ways than one mind you – but I’ve always loved him. Since I was this high. And I told him that and he said he feels the same way.”

Stacy looked skeptical. “How can he say that when he just met you yesterday?”

“He said and I quote, do you believe in fate? Do you believe that you have been waiting for someone all your life and you just knew they were the one and then they finally appeared in front of you?” Anita sat up again, and this time, her expression was one that Stacy had never seen before. Anita actually looked shy…almost afraid of how intense her emotions were. “When he said that, Stacy…I knew. I just knew it had to be him. And you know me…I don’t usually fall for guys that easily. Marlon…he’s different. He’s the one.”

Stacy left her chair and sat beside her friend, wrapping her arms around her waist to give her a warm hug of understanding. “If he’s the one…then I do hope things work out for you two. It’s not going to be easy following him all over the place.”

“I don’t care,” Anita confessed. “As long as I know he loves me too…that’s all that matters.”

They sat in silence for a while, before Anita pulled away to stare at her friend. “What about you?”

Stacy blinked. “Me? What about me?”

“You and Michael,” Anita said in a sing-song voice, laughing at how flustered her friend looked. “Hehehe, you think I don’t know that you two have got something going on. The boy was drooling for you on the stage.”

“Sto…stop it! I’m …I’m too old for him.”

“Huh? Girl! You ain’t twenty-five or something. You’re only nineteen! What’s this too old-for-him-business?”

Stacy held out her hands as if trying to shush Anita up. “It’s too…I can’t. I like him and want him as a friend, that’s all. Besides, he doesn’t know I’m older than him and he might not like it when he finds out.”

Anita scoffed. “Them boys like the ladies older.”

“You and Marlon are the same age.”

“So?”

“It’s different.”

Anita pouted and stared at Stacy for a long minute before smirking as a thought came to mind. She gave only a light ‘hmm’ and reached for a magazine to read.

“What’s that ‘hmm’ for?” Stacy asked in growing agitation. It could only mean that Anita was up to something wicked and that was not always a good thing. “Anita! What’s the ‘hmm’ for?”

“You’ll see,” came the cryptic reply interjected with a giggle. “You’ll see.”

__


“You boys behave yourselves now,” Jackie teased as he and Tito prepared to get into their hotel rooms with their ‘dates’ – and considering they were married, the boys had promised only to entertain their guests and nothing more. Not that any one else was buying it.

Randy was, unfortunately, stuck with Joseph, which left Michael and Marlon to head towards their hotel room where the girls were waiting.

Michael, already feeling nervous about the whole thing as they approached, found himself trying to relax, but he was jarred from his thoughts as Marlon suddenly slapped an arm around his shoulder, forcing him to a stop.

“Now, listen to me, Michael,” Marlon began in an earnest voice. “Anita and I have a thing going, you dig? Now I’m not asking you to leave the room with Stacy, you’re welcome to stay, but you know…”

“Yeah, yeah, leave when it’s time to get your groove on,” Michael replied with a roll of his eyes.

“Although…”

“Although what?”

“That Stacy chick…she’s kinda banging,” Marlon said, rubbing his chin with a leery look in his eyes. “I don’t mind having a piece of…”

He was silenced with a look he rarely saw in his younger brother’s eyes. Anger. “Keep your hands away from my girl,” came the low warning.

Marlon smirked and threw up his hands in mock surrender. “She’s all yours, brother. She’s all yours.” He patted his afro and straightened out his shirt. “How’s my hair look?”

Michael rolled his eyes again and opened the door, only to find himself almost shoved to the ground as Anita squealed in delight and pounced on his brother. He watched in amazement as Anita wrapped her legs around his waist, her lips already glued to Marlon’s as his brother laughed and suffered her over-enthusiastic welcome.

“Man, you two…” Michael began, only to find the words getting lodged in his throat as the bathroom door opened to reveal Stacy coming out.

Their eyes met and the air promptly seemed to get sucked out of the room. She tried to tear her gaze away, but felt powerless to do so. They had changed from their shimmering jumpsuits and the teen sensation was now dressed in a pair of jeans and a tight shirt with its top buttons undone, revealing his smooth chest to her gaze. Her fingers itched to caress that expanse of flesh and the sinful thought of ripping his clothes completely had her shaking her head quickly.

Oh, man! What was wrong with her?!

Michael, for his part, would have remained frozen in place, if it wasn’t for Marlon kicking him into action again.

“Anita says she wants to see what the other hotel rooms look like,” Marlon said, with mischief in his eyes. He was literally now carrying Anita, who had a matching expression on her features. “So…we’ll just leave you two lovebirds alone to enjoy yourselves, eh?”

A…alone?!

Michael felt panic welling within him as Marlon and Anita turned to leave. “No…wait, Marlon!”

But the door was shut behind them with a bang, and the couple left in the room could hear the loud laughter from the other two as they realized what was happening. So this was what Anita had planned all along, Stacy thought with embarrassment.

That sneaky little…

Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, Michael…you can do this. So what if it’s the first time you’ve been left alone with a girl in a hotel room, huh? It’s not as if anything is going to happen. I mean…we’ll just talk and then…and then…

“Do you want me to leave?”

His lashes flew open and he spun around to face Stacy, his heart in his throat as he tried to conjure up the confidence he had felt earlier. Damn his inherent shyness!

“Do…do you want to leave?” he finally asked softly, when he could trust himself to speak again. Please say no!

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked again, a small smile coming to her lips as she noticed how nervous he seemed.

An eternity seemed to pass as they stared at each other, and finally, he lowered his lashes and whispered quietly,

“No…please… I want you to stay.”