Push Play – Take 2 | Symmetry

Chapter 2 – Symmetry

Symmetry

within a film when two or more distinct plotlines ‘mirror’ each other or develop variations on the film’s theme or plot; aka mirroring.

The concept of symmetry sounds simple and familiar, yet symmetry is far more complex and difficult to apply in practice than one might think. The visual power of symmetry is so great that filmmakers often avoid or are advised against using symmetrical picture compositions. And this is not so odd, for if symmetry is used randomly and thoughtlessly, one runs the risk of creating visual disturbances in the narrative of the film. On the other hand, the filmmakers who master the art of symmetry wield a powerful visual aid capable of communicating complex meanings that cannot otherwise be conveyed visually.
(Louis Thonsgaard)

He looked amazing. Handsome, as usual. At the same time, it was like staring at two twins. One was sitting across the massive table in the meeting room, the other – smaller in size but not in charisma – was fucking her on the screen of a computer. And it was not a private screening either, since both their legal teams were there.

It was all so very embarrassing, but somehow Lisa managed to detach herself from the whole thing. After all, although very private and substantially introverted, she was not exceptionally uncomfortable watching the act in itself. What was disconcerting was realizing how many other people in her life – and Michael’s – were going to be clobbered by the war-hammer that this scandal was destined to become. Her kids and his kids. Their families. It was inevitable.

Just like it was inevitable to just sit there, in a dire, formal context, with two teams of lawyers, watching bits and pieces of a sex tape that had always supposed to remain private. Something intimate that she and Michael had recorded for themselves, when they were still a couple and things were great. When they were still in love, and no trust issues had arisen at all. Stupid, idiotic thing to do, really. Both filming themselves and thinking everything would be just fine eventually.

Without moving, she eyed him. She could tell he had done his best to look as professional as he could. For his standards, his outfit was quite plain. And he even wore a tie. His hair shorter than the last time she had seen him, he looked dazzling with only the slightest makeup on, even with that furrowed brow signaling his slight irritation. Well… Old mechanisms aside, she was glad to see that he didn’t seem to be too impacted by the leaked footage. He had gone through much, much worse shit after all.

She too had decided to play close to the vest, and had donned a power suit that made her look like some top manager instead of the wild young woman in the video. But hey – that stuff had been recorded when they were still married, so it was pretty old. Things had changed. Just like Michael looked calmer, more mature, so did she. She was not going to let this whole thing affect her too much. In the grand scheme of things, it was a blip.

Lisa tried hard to tune out the moans and sighs coming from the computer. At the same time, she noticed Michael’s eyes linger on her for a second, their secrets inscrutable. There had been a time when those black supernovas couldn’t hide anything from her. But those days were long gone. The man in the video was the one she had fallen in love, once. The man she knew inside out. The one across the table was a polite stranger.

Michael cleared his throat and covered his mouth with his hand for a moment, rubbing his chin.

“I think that is enough.”

And just like that, for no longer than a second, Lisa noticed that, behind the cool facade, he was flustered. She also saw that his cheeks had taken a darker shade of pink. Well… many things had changed. Some had stayed the same though. She wondered if he was affected by seeing them again that way or by the possible consequences for his brand image.

One of his lawyers finally put an end to the visual and auditory martyrdom and the meeting room went quiet for a minute. She knew watching the thing again had been a necessary suffering endured for the sake of a right cause. Besides, not everyone in the room had seen the video, yet. Another one of Michael’s lawyers, an attractive blond woman who, at times, had pushed her glasses a little lower on her nose to get a better view of the action going on onscreen, looked hot and bothered. And kind of… pleasantly surprised. Lisa almost had to roll her eyes: yeah, that was what she had always called “the Michael effect.” He surely had attributes – in every way that counted. And yet she was so happy to finally be immune from his charm. About time!

“Lisa Marie, I am sorry you and Mister Jackson had to go through this again, but we just thought some new sets of eyes could, in fact, understand if the tape could be confuted in its… veracity.”

“I understand. I know you were looking for a way to disprove the authenticity of that footage, but like I said at the beginning of this meeting, the version Michael… ah, Mister Jackson got is exactly that same that’s been posted online. And as you can see, there are several frames where it’s obvious it’s him and me. I mean, our faces are visible.”

Oh yeah. Very visible. Their faces and everything else. They both looked sweaty, flustered and high on their passion. Fucking hell…

However, Lisa kept her tone colorless. After all, beating about the bush was pointless. There was nothing to dispute. The footage was authentic. She and Michael were not only visible, but also totally recognizable in the tape. She… well, at one point she had turned and her face, up until that point unfocused, had become clear. And at the end of the intercourse, she had taken the camera from Michael’s hands and had turned it on him, focusing on his sweaty face. On his smile. She remembered it was intended to be such a tender thing to do, back then. And now all of a sudden, someone was trying to turn their love into something lurid that never was. Especially because it was just like she had said: the footage Michael had received and the one the world was now salivating over were basically the same. Except for one tiny detail, which the lawyers perhaps hadn’t noticed. Michael’s version ended with Lisa telling him how much she loved him. Words to which he replied with a soft smile, a soulful gaze and a deep, husky voice: “I love you too… so damn much, Lise…”

The online version had been smartly cut before that last bit. Because, she guessed, it would have made everything look slightly more romantic and slightly less porny.

She was glad one of his guys had stopped the thing before that last tidbit. She had been very much capable of keeping her cool throughout the whole footage, but she was not sure how she would have felt if those words had been uttered in front of everyone. She was not too bothered by the fact that strangers could see her fuck the man she loved. What was pervasive, to her, was that everyone might get a glimpse of her most intimate feelings. It made her feel so vulnerable. There was a huge difference between not having any clothes on and being totally naked, inside and out.

“I think… Uhm.” One of Lisa’s lawyers touched his tie and smoothed it down, a bit uncomfortably. However, she had to admit they were all pretty good at conveying complete coolness about the matter. “…I think that starting from the late Nineties, the influx of affordable recording equipment created the perfect storm for things like this… and then, of course, the internet did the rest.”

Michael was drumming his fingers on the table. “We don’t really need a sociological lecture on why this happened, though, do we?”

Lisa hid her grin behind the hand she was leaning her face against and, glancing up at Michael, noticed the sarcastic glint in his eyes when they locked gazes for a quick second.

“No, of course, we don’t, Mister Jackson. What I mean to say is that the main difference here is that whoever leaked the tape didn’t contact any tabloid offering to sell. In fact, they simply uploaded the footage on several websites and then signaled them to the press. Which means that they are not trying to make money out of it. It sounds more like a… personal vendetta.”

“So we’re one-hundred percent sure that none of those websites purchased that video from an unidentified third party?” Lisa tried to distract herself from Michael’s presence. It was starting to become slightly intrusive on an emotional level. Seeing him on that screen, having him there in person – it all acted as a mindfuck. And she didn’t need that.

“We are indeed. Is the original video still in your possession?”

Lisa nodded. “Yes, it is. I had the original tape and when I checked, yesterday, it was still there. Where it always has been.”

The blonde lady in Michael’s team looked straight at her. “Which means that whoever did this made a copy of the original footage. Is it in digital format? Could it be that one of your electronic devices was hacked?”

“No, it’s a physical tape. And it was definitely not stolen from my property.”

“Well, but it was. Since a copy of it is on the internet.”

“I mean, not physically removed from my property.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Lisa noticed Michael still tapping his fingers on the table, quietly. The movement slow, regular, hypnotic.

“Do you think whoever got their hands on that tape found it because it was easily accessible? Such confidential, sensitive material? Or maybe because you forgot it somewhere?”

Lisa raised an eyebrow. What was that? Was the lady trying to imply that the footage was out there because Lisa hadn’t been careful enough?

“I doubt it. It’s in a safe. I am not careless that way. And I certainly value my privacy. Or Michael’s.”

“And nobody contacted you before it was released on the internet. Asking for money.” The blonde lawyer’s voice sounded doubtful. And irritating.

“No.” Lisa leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. Her eyes narrowed. “If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t hold back on my account.”

“I think that maybe you-”

“Miss Flores…” Michael chimed in. “Lisa and I have always been very careful when it comes to our… private matters. Whoever was able to obtain that material was simply lucky. That’s all. No need to be discussing that right now. What we need is crisis management.”

Lisa ignored him, although some ancient warmth spread inside of her. Alright – they had basically become nothing to each other, but could still be on the same page when it came to crucial matters. And have each other’s back.

“The footage comes from my personal belongings. I will make sure to discover who made a copy of it. In the meantime, I agree with Michael. We need to decide how we’re going to handle this release.”

Miss Flores’ body language signaled that she was backing off – finally. And one of Lisa’s lawyer interceded for her.

“About that… We have already contacted the magazines that have relaunched the content on their websites. Threatening to sue them, since no release was ever signed. They know they can’t re-upload the content on their sites, and they are already starting to back away. The problem is, the footage was uploaded on a few porn hubs first, and it’s already spreading too widely to be squashed.”

“Yeah, we know that…” Lisa sighed, her gaze dropping. “When Michael and I recorded that tape, it was meant to be a… personal time capsule for the two of us only. Now it has become a global matter.”

“Well, there isn’t much we can do apart from what Mister Grant just said. We can sue every single tabloid that crosses the line. We can ask those main platforms to take the footage down – and they will. But we can’t confute the content of the video or stop it from spreading any further, because it is virtually impossible.”

“No, it’s factually impossible.” Michael looked very calm. Somber, but collected. “I think the only thing we can do is handle any repercussions as soon as they present themselves.”

The youngest lawyer from Michael’s team, who had been quiet up until that point, finally spoke. “Well… That could be a way. But there’s also something else we can do. Something different – unexpected, even. Since the tape has already been leaked, we can make some money out of it by agreeing to have it marketed.”

Michael and Lisa slowly turned to him. The guy’s face turned all shades of red.

“…And perhaps… give all profits to charity?”

“Are you serious?” Lisa glared at him.

“Yes, I am. I mean, it’s already out. Why not take advantage of it? I don’t think it would be so bad. We might-”

“No.” The young lawyer stared at Michael wordlessly. And when Michael spoke again, there was nothing in his voice that conveyed the suave persona he usually delivered in public. “We are not going to make any money off this. I actually find it appalling – and offensive – that you even suggest Lisa or I might be inclined to profit from our personal… relationship that way. We are not trivializing it in any way, shape or form. We never did. And for… charity? Seriously? Like she and I need that to make money?” He paused, looking down for a moment, his jaw set. He stopped drumming his fingers on the table and stood very still. “Jonathan, see yourself out, please.”

Lisa wasn’t even surprised. Maybe Jonathan didn’t really know who he had been dealing with. And she highly doubted he would be working for Michael ever again.

An uneasy silence filled the room until the man finally left. The moment he closed the door behind his back, Lisa leaned back into her chair.

“File all the injunctions you can… Contain the damage as much as you can. Rebuff any broker who might be trying to score a deal. And… Michael, what about ignoring the whole thing? No statements, no comments, apart from declaring that the tape was obviously stolen?”

She found his eyes and he was calm again. He understood. No matter how ugly their past had gotten at one point, they were still trying to protect each other by any means necessary.

“I agree. No matter how many rounds it’ll make, it’ll be forgotten the moment another scandal comes up.”

Or so he hoped.

He had no idea seeing her again would unravel such a complex string of emotions, déjà-vus and feelings. He wasn’t even sure he liked it. In a way, floating in some numb state of boring normalcy was way better. For the past year, his existence had somehow gotten back on track. After the first, excruciating months following that last, nasty breakup, Michael had finally managed to rebuild a life for himself. A life that no longer involved Lisa.

And yet now, just having her across that table stirred all kinds of sensations inside. The multi-sensory experience was so bizarre. There she was – composed, looking all businesslike in that power suit that, he had to admit, hugged her body just the right way, and at the same time naked, on that screen, writhing and shivering under his touch. The symmetry was foreign and startling in equal parts. When Brenda Flores had delivered her veiled implication that Lisa might somehow be responsible for the leaked footage, Lisa had fired back immediately in that feisty, no-nonsense way he knew so well and had always found so tantalizing. Unsurprisingly, since she always had been a firestarter. What had been surprising, for Michael, was the sudden tightness in his chest. And in his pants.

He thought he was over all that. Over her. After all, their last separation had left his heart in shambles about one year earlier. He had been one heck of a mess back then, and had shut down, refusing to get in touch with her again. Too enraged, too scared, too hurt. After a few months, he had realized that she didn’t seem inclined to contact him either. She was probably just as enraged, scared and hurt. And their lives had gone on in separate ways. Until now.

She had shown up slightly late at the meeting, and he had been all cool and dandy until she had entered the room. When their eyes had met, he had been pretty good at ignoring his racing heartbeat. Nothing but a reflexive reaction, he had thought to himself. Old habit. It had nothing to do with how things were now. Changed, different. Just like she looked. Her hair longer, lighter, she was tanned – as usual – but seemed slightly more angular. And still stunning. The lines and curves of her body had called out to him like invisible sirens in a foggy sea. Once again, he had ignored them. It was nothing but routine.

Lisa had been polite and remote and yet during the meeting, on a couple of occasions he had noticed her stealing glances at him. More than anything else, however, he had remembered how in tune they could be when they were on the same page about something. Just like in this case. They both had always been fiercely protective of their privacy and of one another, and the leaked footage had been an unexpected low blow they had not been ready to receive. Maybe that was why they still seemed so oddly calm about it. Perhaps they had not fully metabolized the implications, yet. As a matter of fact, Michael had been way more nervous at the idea of having to see Lisa again than at the crisis management in itself.

When the meeting finally came to an end, and both teams of lawyers started collecting their files and briefcases, Michael just kept seating in his chair, as if waiting for something. The silent message was conveyed perfectly, and Lisa too asked her legal team to please wait for her outside. She was going to have a word with her ex-husband. Who, in the meantime, had become someone else’s ex-husband too.

Lisa walked back into the meeting room and closed the door, leaving it ajar. Safe enough to have some privacy and yet show no secrets.

“Hey…” She moved across the table and sat down once again. “You OK? Look, I’m sorry about all this. I’m sorry I still haven’t found out who’s behind this shit. But I will.”

Michael grinned sadly, glancing down at his own hands, clasped in his lap. “I’m sure you will. Besides, I didn’t even remember you had that tape… so it was… ah, remarkable to see it again.”

She shrugged. “It’s not the only one I got. And you, too, should have…”

“Yeah, I still got my videos.” He blinked, tilting his head. Lisa averted her gaze for a moment. Entirely correct. They both had quite an interesting collection of footage which had been divvied up randomly after their split. Special moments, immortalized through their long shared history. Of course, not all videos were x-rated – but some definitely had been made to be kept private.

“Anyway, whatever has happened, it’ll come out. My mother’s people are on it as well.”

This time he laughed, heartily. “Then I should probably start feeling some compassion for the culprits. They’re gonna be crucified very soon…”

Lisa chuckled, staring at him now. Her gaze was full of barely hidden mischief. “Right… Well, sometimes having a dragon for a mother has its benefits.”

“I guess…”

Silence fell for a moment.

“How are you, Lisa Marie?”

Her eyes found him again, and he thought he detected something. Surprise, but with a bitter nuance. He knew she didn’t like to be called that. And he only rarely did it. When he was mad… or when he was distant. And right now he didn’t feel mad at all. The warm feeling inside of him was permeated by darker stripes, and he knew what they were. Bitterness. Resentment. But rage? No, animosity was gone. What remained was a quiet, wistful disenchantment. They had been so in love. And now there was nothing but ashes… and a private moment thrown out there, to the lions.

“I’m… good, I guess. Surprised about what happened. And pissed off. But we’ll see through it.” Her teeth sank in her bottom lip. “Oh, congratulations on your divorce, by the way.”

Another dry chuckle. “Right… That was the highlight of the year…”

Which was bitter, but true. He was finally free from Deb’s claws. It hadn’t been easy, and he was pretty sure some more money would have to be thrown at her every now and then, still, but at least it was done. Keeping up the appearances had become a chore. It had all been such a farce. And pretending had been painful – mainly because it had caused Lisa pain, too. She had accused him of making her feel like the other woman, when in fact she always had been the only woman to him. He had replied telling her that he hadn’t been the one sending divorce papers. The perpetual circle in their very own Dante’s Inferno. Until they had taken things too far and the rope had eroded until the point of breaking with a loud crack. Separating them forever.

“Cool. Anyway, at least you’re free now.” Apparently, Lisa was a little mind reader.

Was there a hint of sadness in her voice? Michael narrowed his eyes. He knew very well that his divorce from Deb was supposed to be his and Lisa’s new beginning. Too bad they had been able to blow all to smithereens even before they had the chance to start again.

“Well, I do have a new girlfriend now, but I sure learned my lesson about…” He stopped mid-track, realizing how uncalled for his remark was. If there had been a flash of pain on Lisa’s face, it was already gone. Glancing up at her, he noticed that her features looked inscrutable. Her eyes were bright – their blue hue very similar to the nuance you would expect to see in a glacier. In Antarctica. Where they had relegated their hearts. And yet a pang of guilt arose in his heart. Then it turned into irritation. What the fuck should he feel guilty for? He and Lisa were done!

She smiled a smile he knew very well. The one she set aside for public appearances.

“Good for you. I hope she makes you happy.”

Her words felt like very small, very thin tentacles wrapping themselves around his lungs. Constricting them. He had no idea if she was seeing someone. The tabloids hadn’t said anything about that. And yet, just scanning her face, he detected… something.

“I hope he does, too…”

Lisa blinked, turned her head and gazed at the skyline outside the window. They were on the top floor. The rest of the world relegated below. All so small. So insignificant.

“He does make me happy. Thank you for your concern.”

Michael swallowed. The tentacles tightened a little more. Before she answered, he was going to tell her about the message attached to the optical disk he had received. Because, after all, she had the right to know that this whole thing was perhaps far from over. And yet all of a sudden, a blank slate took the place of what Lisa had just called concern. He rose from the chair and smoothed down his tie.

“Well, it was nice to see you, Lisa Marie. And I do hope next time my team… or yours… will have much better news for us.”

She gave him a smile that never reached her eyes.

“They will. Sooner or later.”

He just nodded his head and walked out of the room slowly. No, it was not so important that she knew, after all. He didn’t need to protect her any longer. Why should he? Whatever debt he had with her, he had paid it in abundance. Let her man deal with her, and everything that came with it.

Before their last breakup, things between he and Lisa had been tense for a while. And something had definitely changed after his horrible accident in Munich. Lisa understood why, and she had told him. It was the pain. He was in so much pain. And, as usual, under so much stress. He was frustrated, couldn’t sleep well, his back hurt… Of course, on the outside everything was fine. He had been rushed to the hospital after finishing his show, and two days later he was back on track. As if nothing had happened. Apparently.

The reality was much different. At least the one that went on behind closed doors. The truth was that he felt like he had to continually live up to this public persona which was, virtually, indestructible. He would not give himself any slack. He was his own best motivator but also his worst enemy at times. He was a human being and needed more than a few days to recover from an accident that could have easily killed him.

When Lisa had been informed about the accident, she had panicked. She was worried stiff and had told Michael, again and again, that she was more than ready to charter a plane and fly over to Munich, to be with him. But he had not wanted her there, telling her that everything was fine. That he would “handle” this. Whatever that was.

As a matter of fact, an entire month had gone by before he saw her again, at Neverland. And he knew he had made her feel as if she was on the outs somehow. It had not even been intentional at first. Thinking about it now, in retrospect, Michael realized that he had quietly lashed out at her just because Lisa was one of the few people he could completely be himself with. Not necessarily the soft-spoken, calm man everyone knew. She was his lover and an easy target, and she had taken the brunt of the problematic emotional turmoil he had been going through. The accident, the pain, the stress of recovering quicker than humanly possible, the back and forth with Deb as their divorce date finally approached – and, with that, Deb’s demands. He had reacted by pushing Lisa away and then reeling her back in – not because he wanted to hurt her, but just because back then he didn’t know any better and that was his only way to cope. In a way, he still resented her because she had blindsided him with those divorce papers. That had been the beginning of the disaster. And then he resented her because he could not stop loving her, and because she could not stop loving him, regardless of how deep their crisis ran.

Lisa usually was very good at handling his mood swings. In his eyes, she was strong and she knew him inside out. She had been great before their marriage and throughout much of it. Then, in the last months that had preceded her filing for divorce, she had run entirely out of patience with him. And him with her. They just could no longer function together.

When finally they had gotten back together about one year after the divorce, things had been rocky for a little while since, in the meantime, he had committed the idiotic sin of marrying Deb, turning a business deal into an all-out farce. But then Lisa had gone back to being his stable ally, his rock. His lover and his love. The following three years had been a rollercoaster, alternating moments of pure bliss and weeks, sometimes months of excruciating pain. He and Lisa were like two blind people randomly running around in a space they didn’t know at all.

But she had always gone back to him. Again and again and again. And he had always taken her back, no matter what, again and again and again. The toy boys she surrounded herself with, when they would occasionally split, didn’t matter that much. Michael knew Lisa hated being alone and that was her way to try to exorcize the sense of abandonment that came with him not feeling ready to fully commit again. With him distancing himself from her every now and then, becoming the cold, remote alien she had always feared so much. Even that had not mattered for a quite a long time. Until their final separation, which had basically blown to shreds everything they so carefully had tried to put back together.

When finally Michael had seen Lisa in L.A., in July of 1999, on the surface everything was well. Only, it wasn’t. They had spent days together in the privacy of the ranch, pretty much unbothered. They had made love, talked, just enjoyed each other’s company. But he knew he had been detached, emotionally distant. Lisa had tried to investigate, and he had gently rebuffed her. It was becoming evident to her that his physical suffering was taking an emotional toll on him. Pain was no joke. Neither was pretending not to be in pain. After a while, she had decided to just relent and let him be. She had been walking on thin ice, too, without even realizing it. He had interpreted her compassion as pity and had not liked it one bit. But instead of telling her, of being open and straightforward, trying to explain how he felt through the haze of his backache, stress and psychological trauma, he had just pretended that everything was fine.

Big, big mistake.

Then, in August, he had seen her again at his townhouse on the Upper East Side, in New York. And that had been the end of everything.

They had fought. She had asked him if she had become his whore, her booty call, someone good enough to fuck, but not to talk to. He had told her that she was out of her ever-loving mind. He had been edgy and irritable, and after what had looked like a little truce, they had made love and he had been a little gruffer than usual. Which was something that Lisa actually loved. While making love to her that way, Michael had only wanted her to understand that he was there, was in love with her, needed her. Only, afterward he had asked her if she had liked him fucking her like he would do with a whore. If that was how the guys she sometimes surrounded herself with treated her in bed.

Of course, she had not appreciated his remarks one tiny bit and had gone off like a rocket.

Even now, Michael could not wrap his head around his own odd, horrible behavior. In the fog that those weeks had been, he could only imagine that being clear-headed was challenging, confusing, or even a foreign concept. He knew very well that there was a part of him that was so tired, so tired of all the bullshit, that only wanted to curl up in a ball and be soothed, comforted by her. But that part was so vulnerable, so fragile, and it enraged him to feel so defenseless. So scared. Therefore, that part had ended up being swallowed by something else. Something snarky, rude, crass. Something that did not belong to him.

Lisa had stormed out of the townhouse and had disappeared, after telling him to start fucking real whores and spot the difference by himself. He knew she too was exhausted, that the emotional turmoil that their love story subjected them both to sometimes was as dangerous as a hurricane. If you didn’t have any mast to cling to, you were bound to fly away, crash against walls, bleed to death, dissolve. When he had tried to contact her again, he had discovered that she was seeing someone else and didn’t want to talk to him and even less see him. Michael had no idea her relationship had become serious.

Well, fuck her. He had put the word “end” to what they had been. They didn’t work together. Whatever it was that they had shared in the past, it had simply withered and died. There was no way to resuscitate a pulse-less relationship.

Or at least, so he had thought until he had seen her again in that meeting room, earlier that morning.

As he relived what had happened the previous year, Michael sat in his studio, in front of his laptop. The footage he had received was muted, but still playing on the screen. He kept replaying the last couple of minutes. Which didn’t involve any sexual intercourse, but languid smiles and words of love. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t hear the words, he was able to read her lips just fine. And he remembered his own words, too. With or without the camera.

“Michael… baby… I love you so much…”

“I love you too… so damn much, Lise…”

“God… You’re trembling…” She had scooted closer, holding him in her arms. He wasn’t trembling because he was cold, obviously, but he had loved the contact. Loved her touch. He had buried his face in the crook of her neck.

“I love the scent of your skin.”

Michael swallowed and averted his gaze, glancing outside the window. Nothing but darkness. Whatever was out there, it was hidden. Safe, protected. He didn’t have to worry. The turmoil was over.

A soft knock on the door startled him, and he cleared his throat.

“Come in…”

Zoe’s beautiful face appeared in the doorframe. She smiled, her hair tousled. Wearing nothing but one of his shirts. Her almond-shaped black eyes seemed to study him. She was probably wondering why he had left her in bed after sex. Well, the answer was very simple. He could not sleep. Apparently, his insomnia was back with a vengeance. That surely was the only reason.

“Hey… Are you working?”

He closed the laptop.

“Yeah…”

Then he tried to smile, but it was half-hearted at best.

“Are you gonna come back to bed anytime soon?” She stepped into the studio but stayed close to the door. Her long legs were a sight to behold, and Michael’s eyes roamed down. She was a model – and it showed.

“Sure… In a little bit.”

Zoe seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then she just tilted her head. “Alright then… Don’t make me wait too long.”

This time his smile was way more heartfelt. “Oh, don’t worry about that… And don’t fall asleep.”

When the door closed behind her back and he was alone again, his features turned serious and collected. And his mind wandered back to Lisa. How childish was it, that he had not told her about the message he had received together with the footage? The one implying that video was not the only one ready to be delivered to the rest of the world with fancy packaging and a ribbon?

Michael blinked, then shook his head, rocking on his comfortable chair. It was childish enough that he had conveniently forgotten to let her in on such vital information. Just because she now had a boyfriend. When he, Michael, had a naked woman waiting for him in his bedroom.

The thought made him uncomfortable. Apparently, even after all that time he and Lisa still could play their stupid games. Well, at least he could.

Chewing on his bottom lip, feeling more uncomfortable and nervous than he had felt in quite some time, he took his cell phone and sent her a text message. It was way too late to call her… and he didn’t want to talk to her anyway.