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Take 8 | Reverse

 

Reverse (angle) shot

a basic camera angle composed of a shot photographed from the opposite (or reverse) side of a subject to provide a different perspective or different angle from the preceding shot.

In a dialogue scene between characters, a shot of the second participant is commonly composed as an over-the-shoulder shot.

SDmetimes known as an 180 degree angle shot or change in perspective; the alternating pattern between two characters’ points of view is known as shot/reverse shot.

Shot reverse shot is a feature of the “classical” Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the spectator perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically. It is an example of an eyeline match.

 

 

 

Earlier that morning, before leaving, Lisa sat on the edge of the bed and stared at Michael for a little while. Just taking a moment to observe him while he was resting and completely relaxed. She hadn’t been able to doze off and had just waited patiently until his body against her had become heavier, softer, signaling that he had fallen asleep. A strange sense of pride pervaded her as she stood there: it seemed like she was still capable of putting him to sleep without anything else but her body… and her presence.

He looked so peaceful. Exhausted too, but in the best possible way. The sheets covered him at the hips, his naked chest rose and fell at the rhythm of his regular breathing, his hair was a mess and his face was serene. He was so handsome…

Without even noticing, Lisa reached out and touched his jawline with the back of her hand, ever so slightly, tracing a path from his sideburn to his chin. She had no idea how soft her eyes were as she looked at him.

She had to be careful though, as Michael’s sleep was usually very light and he could wake up at any second. And she didn’t want that. Because she knew, if he woke up and looked at her in a certain way, she’d throw any intention to leave out of the window. She knew she’d stay, and to hell the consequences.

To strengthen her will and keep herself clear-headed, Lisa remembered what he had said to her: that life went on. Yes, indeed. He couldn’t have been more explicit about his intentions and about what the previous night meant to him. Nothing, in the grand scheme of things.

And yet there was a part of her that just wanted to crawl back into bed with him and never leave him again. Unfortunately, experience told her that it would be useless, and that those giddy moments of post-orgasmic bliss would soon be replaced by the usual misunderstandings, failed expectations, fights, silence. And separations…

Better pull the plug before things went straight into the crapper. The previous night hadn’t been a mistake, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t to be put aside. Life went on… Right?

Shaking her head, Lisa withdrew her hand and stood up quietly. She knew she needed a shower, but she was not going to take it in Michael’s bathroom. Not only the water running would definitely wake him up, but she also wanted the scent of his skin to linger on her body a little longer still. She needed to take a little bit of him with her. Because she knew – there was no doubt she would miss him the moment she stepped out of the door.

If the previous night had taught her something, was that her body seemed to have forgotten how much physical and emotional pleasure Michael could inflict. It was almost torture. At one point, she had been convinced it would be just impossible, for her, to survive the bliss. But survived she had – and now she would have to assess the damage.

Before walking out of the bedroom she kissed his forehead lightly one last time. Michael made a sound, like a purr, then turned, lying down on his stomach and burying his face into the pillows. His naked, muscular back seemed to twitch for a second, then relaxed again and she heard him snore lightly. She sure was exhausted, but it appeared she had worked him out good as well.

Lisa closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then brought herself to finally leave.

Once in the car, she drove over to the gym – remembering that she had a couple of t-shirts and sweatpants stored in her locker. She was very much aware she couldn’t go back home wearing her crumpled clothes, smelling like booze and sex. Luckily enough, the gym had a private laundromat and she was going to take full advantage of it.

Well, look at that… It seemed like she was the perfect cheater after all, and she scolded herself when she realized how sharp she was, as she came up with a whole plan in her mind. Not an ounce of guilt, regret or shame, for now. Only the sober approach she needed to be able to handle the whole thing. She’d have to get her clothes nice and clean, sweat in the gym for an hour or so, take a quick shower, put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and finally drive back home. As if nothing had happened.

It was possible that Roman was already there, waiting for her, wondering where the fuck she was. After all, he was supposed to drive to Hidden Hills this morning and meet her for brunch. She would just tell him that she had left early, to exercise. No problem.

Still sitting in the car, in the parking lot, Lisa realized that her only priority was to protect Michael – and not her current boyfriend. Something that, like many things, was not a newsflash. As a matter of fact it was exactly like the first time around, when she was still married to Danny – although separated – and she and Michael had been engaging in their clandestine relationship. A secret romance made of torrid encounters and endless strings of phone calls, letters, words of longing and declarations of eternal love.

She still remembered how many glasses and knick-knacks she had shattered the day he had been subjected to that damned strip search. When he had told her, over the phone, to please not come to Neverland. To not expose herself. To not let those people – and what they were doing – get to her. When everything she wanted was to be with him… and wring the neck of those bastards subjecting him to the most humiliating, unjust treatment. She wanted to whoop their asses, scream in their faces, shove them out of the ranch and the planet. And instead, she had to stay home and pretend everything was OK. That she didn’t love the man she loved. That she was the unhappy good wife to her unhappy good husband.

She cried her heart out that day and then, later that night, she drove over to Neverland. Finding Michael reduced to a puddle of misery and fury. Letting him rant for hours, scream and cry. Drying his eyes and soothing his pain with the immense love she felt for him. Wanting to never leave his side and never allow anyone to hurt him like that, ever again.

All Lisa had ever wanted to do was protect him. And that was still true, even now. How ironic it was that she had also inflicted so much damage, and had been hurt so much by the man she had loved the most.

Her mind wandered back to the night before and the implications it could have for the people gravitating around her and Michael. In all honesty, she doubted he would tell his current girlfriend that he had just spent hours fucking his ex-wife’s brains out.

What was her name again? Oh, right. Zoe.

God… the mere thought, the sheer image of him with that woman made Lisa’s heartbeat race, and not in a nice way. It didn’t matter that she knew Michael well enough to be sure he wouldn’t have cheated on Zoe if he truly was serious with her. Michael was not a manwhore. He was not a cheater – not if he was in love. But no matter what, the reality of things stayed the same and Lisa couldn’t come up with any absurd fairytale any longer: he was not her man anymore. And even if he was not in love with Zoe, she still was the woman he had chosen to date.

She finally brought herself to open the car door and put her shades on. Her mood had turned somber all of a sudden – the gravitational pull of her own sun, Michael, further and further away. She was back into the darkness.

No, she was not going to tell Roman about what had happened with Michael. Why bother? Why make him suffer? He didn’t deserve it. Not for a… sorta-kinda mistake, a little slip-up, not for a one-time thing that had only acted as an exorcism of the hell she and Michael had subjected each other to, the year before. And Roman… well, she didn’t know him that well, but she knew that calm waters ran deep. And that appearances could be deceptive. He was a very placid man, good-natured and definitely not passion-driven, but she had a feeling he might have a vindictive streak if provoked and she didn’t want him to unleash his fury on Michael.

She didn’t care about herself – Roman would never hurt her. But Mike… he had so much to deal with, already. He didn’t need any more shit, from anyone. Included her or her “people”.

As she walked into the gym, Lisa checked her phone. Nothing. She switched it off and took over an hour for herself, sweating her frustrations off on the treadmill, pretending she didn’t miss Michael, trying hard to forget she had purposefully left the phone in her locker not to flip it open every two seconds. Just not to be tempted to call him, make sure he had woken up OK, that his back was not bothering him, that he was fine, that they were still on good terms. It was not her place anymore. He was a big guy. He knew how to take care of himself and had a woman who had taken Lisa’s place and who could deal with anything else. So…

Swearing under her breath, Lisa drank her Gatorade and kept running. If someone around her eyed her and whispered something about the leaked sex tape, she didn’t notice. She had other stuff keeping her mind occupied. She was still sore all over after having been torn to pieces by Michael’s prodigious lovemaking skills and now had to sweat her ass off at the gym just to create some diversion. Fucking hell…

Later, around eleven A.M., after staring absently at her clothes in the dryer for a few minutes, her whole body exhausted and boneless, she finally switched on the phone again. She found a missed call. It was Roman’s – of course.

And then a few text messages… all from Michael. Her heart leaped from her chest and went straight into her throat. All of a sudden she wasn’t low-energy anymore.

Butterflies took off in storms in her stomach…

Sitting on the small bench, alone in the laundry room, Lisa checked her messages.

L… Am sorry I didnt hear you leave
Wish you had woken me up

She caught her breath. Why? Why did he wish she had woken him up? Did he expect to still find her there in the morning? And if so, why? Shaking her head in confusion, frowning, Lisa read the following message – the one he had sent her about fifteen minutes later.

Anyway
Thank you for helping me 
Organize them tapes :-)

What a cocky shithead! She had to chuckle. Yeah, well… thank you, Michael, for about killing me with all that… cheesecake, she thought to herself. Automatically, her thumbs moved on the small keyboard.

Thank u for the treat.

She added a smiling face, then deleted it. Nope. She didn’t want to sound as if she was implying anything else other than… thanking him for being such a perfect host.

Pleasure was all mine.

Lisa smiled. He was such a… man.

U OK? How ur back?

Fine. 
Am fine all over today
Where are you?

Lisa bit her lip. Should she say it?

At the gym. 
Going back home in a bit.
Cool.
Havent you worked out enough 
Already?
:-)

She decided not to take the bait.

U fine all over today?
U mean u usually arent?

Gosh… right after pushing “Send” she realized how flirtatious and inappropriate her question was. So much for not falling into his obvious trap. She really had to get a grip on herself.

Not like today
I guess…

He guessed… Interesting. Michael was trying his hardest to stay nonchalant. She knew exactly the feeling.

Well I do hope
U will keep feeling great

This time he didn’t answer for a solid ten minutes. The phone buzzed again while she was retrieving her clothes from the dryer.

Am I gonna see you again?

Her heart gave a squeeze. She really didn’t know how to reply to that. Did she want to see him? Yeah… she did. Probably more than she was willing to admit even to herself. But was it OK to be around him again after what had transpired? Probably not. At this point she was not sure what had happened the night before wouldn’t happen again, if only she and Michael found themselves alone in the same room for more than five minutes. Habit… Lust… Chemistry. A powerful, risky potion.

She knew Michael had noticed how starved she was, during their intense lovemaking. But he too had felt on the verge of combustion right from the get-go. It sure made her wonder…

Lisa stared into space for a moment, thinking about the countless times she had thrown caution to the wind and had just acted on pure instinct when it came to him. At the end of the day it had not worked out that well, given that they were no longer together. Maybe this time she should think twice before acting, for a change.

I think its best if we focus on
Everything else going on 
in our lives now

The moment she sent the text she felt as if a ton of rocks had rained straight on her heart. Hastily, she typed another message.

Mother still trying to find out
Who fucked us over
I will keep u in the loop

This time Michael replied almost immediately.

Please do.
Lady Spitfire will give you answers very soon
Im sure

Lisa grinned at that old nickname. She hadn’t heard Michael call her mother that in a very long time. And yet she couldn’t pretend she didn’t notice the hint of sadness in his message.

Will u, M?
What?
Keep me in the loop
About?

She knew what they were doing now. They kept the conversation going because neither one of them wanted to let the other go. Or at least, that was what her heart suggested. And her heart had been so horribly wrong at times… So maybe Michael was just being his usual, polite self after all.

Anything u want…

Sighing, she knew she had let her defenses down one more time and she hoped he would not take advantage of it. And although in a way she kind of wished he did, she also knew what a gentleman he could be. Right on cue…

I still think P will find out first
But the moment my team lets me know anything
I will let you know

A gentleman, indeed.

K. Thanx.
I will hear from u soon then.
Bye mike.
You will.
Bye princess.

Lisa flipped her phone closed and tried hard not to feel as if Michael had just told her he was about to leave for a very long trip.

It felt, indeed, as if he had left for real. Lisa didn’t hear from him for a full week. Eight days and five hours, to be precise.

At first, she tried not to pay too much attention to his sudden silence. Then it became evident and alarming. She knew he could be reached if only she wanted to call him, and that he had not frozen her out like it had happened in the past. She felt it. Besides, he had no reason to. But his silence triggered hers, and it became the usual vicious circle.

After a while, she started wondering what his lack of interaction meant, precisely. Did he regret their night together now, after all? Was he trying to focus on his new relationship, make it work and forget all about her? Was he busy because he was working? No… even if he was recording – and she knew he was – Lisa knew from experience that Michael reached out, no matter how much stuff he had to do. If only he wanted to. Every single thing he did was intentional, calibrated, well-thought. So, the fact that he had not called her in a while was his choice.

On the sixth day, Lisa started to retreat into herself like she usually did when she was hurt, disappointed, or when she felt lonely. She did her best to forget all about that night at the Hideout and tried to be a good partner to Roman. She also was glad her current boyfriend was not an extremely sexual guy because, at the moment, she couldn’t find the desire to be with him that way. She had never really been too attracted to him from a physical point of view, and their relationship definitely was not founded on sexual connection or chemistry: she loved how reliable, dependable and present he was. Well… apart from his job, but she didn’t mind not having him around all the time. He was not Michael.

And yet, one night during that week, Roman did try to engage her in some lovemaking after all. At first Lisa acquiesced and made an effort to get into it, but it didn’t take her long to realize that it just wasn’t in her. She told him she wasn’t feeling well, and they stopped mid-action. Roman pulled out of her and huffed, and she cuddled with him until he dozed off and started snoring loudly. Unable to fall asleep, she got up and went to take a shower, then spent the rest of the night in her home office, taking some time to focus on the few tapes she and Michael had not had the time to review at the Hideout.

It made everything even worse.

Watching those two people getting it on with so much abandon and passion, on the screen, had been embarrassing at first. Now it only acted as the most alluring, sexiest, most frustrating sight imaginable. This was totally wrong – it didn’t matter how right it felt. She was not supposed to feel like this, not for her ex. She was in a relationship and Michael was too, they had screwed once because they had been unable to help themselves, but from that moment on they had been acting as if it didn’t matter at all. Once again she thought that she seriously needed to get her head checked, and more than everything else she had to learn not to get entangled emotionally when it came to Michael. ‘Cause sure as fuck he had been showing her it could be done.

On the screen of her laptop, Michael turned the camcorder to the wide mirror on the wall. The reflection showed a couple sitting in an armchair. Well… he was sitting on it, while Lisa was in his lap, her hips moving in slow, languid strokes. They were not exchanging words, for now. Everything she heard were breathless moans and sighs. She saw her arms around his shoulders. Her lips against his forehead, on his cheek, his neck, finally seeking his mouth. His hand stroking her back lovingly, resting on the slope of her ass.

It took Lisa immense willpower to emotionally detach herself from the unexpressed meaning of the footage in front of her eyes, but in the end she managed to take note of some more details and specifics that could be damaging to her and Michael from a PR point of view, if that tape ever leaked. Lisa knew, she felt it in her bones that whoever had uploaded their stuff online had some other aces up their sleeves. It was a gut feeling and she couldn’t shake it off. To her, it was not a matter of “if” anything else would ever be disclosed, but more like “when”. She could only brace for the impact, and she hoped Michael too realized that no matter what they hoped, they were not safe. Right now the buzz was still high, and the tabloids seemed unable to stop talking about the leaked sex tape. Analyzing the footage in detail, making fun of them, joking about Lisa or Michael having a body double, wondering if it was all a publicity stunt. Those blood-sucking, fucking bastards.

The moment the dust settled, Lisa felt something else would likely happen. And she – well, they – had to be ready.

That night, as she sat at her desk and scribbled down details about private conversations she and Michael had in bed – every word very much audible in the tapes – or about his vitiligo showing too much for his taste, or about him dropping his carefully crafted public image to become the private man she knew he was – Lisa was tempted to text him and tell him all about what she was doing. On a couple of occasions she even flipped her phone open and started typing a message, but she never sent anything. It was the middle of the night, and the idea that he could be in bed with that other woman made her blood pressure rise. It made her feel extremely uncomfortable. So out of place…

Because that was what she was. Out of place in Michael’s life, it didn’t matter how familiar his bed or his cock felt.

She had to remember where she stood.

Two days later, the last thing Lisa could imagine was to open the door and find herself face to face with him – while Roman was home.

When the guys at the gate buzzed and told her that Mister Jackson was asking to be let into Hidden Hills, Lisa froze for a minute. What the hell was he doing there? Unannounced? He hadn’t called her in over a week and now, all of a sudden, he was showing up at her place like some pesky neighbor asking for a cup of sugar? So typical Michael!

Of course, she told the guards to let him in and then she told Roman. He was sitting in the family room, reading The Wall Street Journal, wearing his slippers and smoking a cigar. He looked like a grandpa. And not necessarily in a sexy way.

When Lisa noticed the dense cloud in the air she didn’t say anything – Roman had been told more than once that she didn’t like the stench of his Havanas in the house, but apparently he didn’t care. He looked at her with his deep-set grey eyes, the cigar still secured between his lips.

“Roman… Michael’s here.”

“Who?”

Lisa’s eyebrows rose in genuine perplexity.

“Michael. My ex-husband, remember?”

He blinked and frowned, then removed the cigar from his mouth and placed it in the ashtray.

“Oh. Cool. I think this would be the first time he and I meet, right?”

“Yeah… You never saw him in person.”

“Right. Only on TV.” He glanced back at the newspaper, and it was obvious that he took a few seconds just to finish reading the column he had been so engrossed in before she appeared at the door. Talk about priorities… For the first time since she had met him, Lisa felt like shaking him out of his indifference. For the first time, Roman truly got on her nerves. “Well. OK. I’ll be right there, then.”

Slowly she retreated into the kitchen, then shook her head. She was not convinced if he indeed was as aloof as he seemed, but sure as hell he didn’t look interested in meeting Michael at all. An even less he looked jealous. Which was good, right? Who wanted a jealous man after all?

Taking a deep breath the moment she heard Michael’s car stop near the entrance, she marched over to the foyer. When she opened the front door he was already there, holding a bouquet of flowers and smiling at her.

“Mike?”

“Hi, Lisa…” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked slightly flustered. The sun was setting behind his shoulders, and he seemed illuminated by a strange, pinkish light. And for a fleeting moment she only thought about how otherworldly beautiful he looked. “Have I got you at a bad time? I was… You know…” He shrugged, struggling with words. Yes, she knew.

“Oh, no. Not at all. Hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you, that’s all…” She stepped to a side. “Please, come in…”

“Thanks…” Slowly, cautiously, he walked into the house that had once been his home, too, and held out the bouquet to her. “This is for you.”

Speechless, she took the flowers from his hand and their fingers stayed in contact a little longer than necessary. Why had he brought her flowers? In her home, with her boyfriend there? And of all things, he had chosen a composition that didn’t look random at all. Lisa knew Michael loved flowers and often used them to communicate. The bouquet was made of some cutting-garden favorites, such as orange and pink zinnias, blue salvia and clusters of green hydrangea. Inhaling deeply, she also recognized the unmistakable scent of mint and roses, rounding out the arrangement.

She read the implicit message they spoke. Michael was telling her that he missed her…

Glancing up at him, she saw the silent, secret message in his eyes too and wondered if he was being quiet because he knew saying anything out loud would be inappropriate, given the circumstances, or because he didn’t want her to know. Not to such clear extent, at least.

What game was he playing?

“Michael… what in the world… They are gorgeous… Thank you.”

He opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head and grinned.

“You’re welcome.”

“By the way, what are you doing here?” She couldn’t help but smile at him and, almost out of her own volition, reached out and held onto his fingers for a second. She was not prepared for the effect his touch had on her, for the feeling spreading from her fingertips to the rest of her body as his thumb stroked the back of her hand. She let go as if he burned, and her arm uselessly fell at her side.

“Remember when you told me I could stop by and say hello to the kids? Well… this is me doing just that.” He unbuttoned his light jacket and pushed his hand inside the inner pocket, extracting four tickets. “Besides, I got something for them…”

“What are those?”

He took her hand and placed the tickets in her palm.

“For the Cirque du Soleil. For you… All four of you.” He paused, and she almost saw the light discomfort behind the calm facade. “You, the children, and their father… or Roman. Whoever you choose.” He gave her a small smile.

Was it entirely out of place that the only thing she wanted to do was kiss him? Probably. Taking a deep breath, she was about to say something when Roman’s voice broke the uneasy moment of silence.

“Mister Jackson!”

Lisa almost jumped out of her skin. On the other hand, Michael didn’t move, and only his eyes gazed past her and focused on the man appearing from the family room. They narrowed a little, and then she saw the polite mask snap back in place. Michael smiled that bland smile that always showed how he didn’t give a flying fuck about the person in front of him. She knew him so well.

“You must be Roman. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. Lisa Marie talks a lot about you… Please, call me Michael.” And just like that, as if he had forgotten all about her, he shifted to a side and moved a step in Roman’s direction. They shook hands and Lisa watched the whole scene as if she was some silent spectator to a show that didn’t involve her at all. It all felt bizarre.

She saw them talk, but couldn’t register what they were saying. All she noticed were Michael’s dark eyes fixed into Roman’s, as if he was intent on assessing him. Roman acted nonchalant, calm and collected as usual, seemingly unfazed by Michael’s fame and natural aura. He also looked like as if he was trying to tower over him, being a bit taller and way larger, but it wasn’t really working. Michael was afraid of nobody.

At one point, then, the unthinkable happened. Roman walked over to her, put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him gruffly. Caught completely by surprise, Lisa stumbled against his torso and tried to keep her balance. When Roman tilted her chin up with his hand and planted a kiss straight on her lips, she didn’t have the time to turn her face and avoid the contact. And maybe she shouldn’t have anyway, despite her obvious embarrassment at showing any PDA in front of Michael.

She felt her cheeks burn and glanced at him. Michael’s eyes found hers, and they suddenly looked lifeless – absent. His lips, slightly parted, closed and she saw him set his jaw, then swallow.

At first she felt shame and awkwardness. Then irritation surfaced. What the fuck did he want from her? What did Mr. “Life goes on” expect? Did he really think she would jump into his arms and onto his white horse as they rode away in the sunset?

No. Of course not. That was why he had given her four tickets for the Cirque and had specified that she could take Roman, if she wanted. Or Danny. All of a sudden Danny being with her was OK, when it had been a problem throughout their doomed marriage. Michael didn’t give a shit about her – not beyond their one-night-stand.

It occurred to Lisa that she was all riled up for nothing. And that the one she was getting mad at was herself and nobody else. Because she so wanted Michael to be jealous. To be mad at her for kissing another man. To care about her. To want her… again. Where was this fuckery coming from?

His eyes seemed to read her thoughts and, once again, they studied her. Then he cleared his throat, as he quickly glanced at Roman’s hand on her shoulder. He grinned.

“Well, Lisa Marie. I probably should have called. It was very inopportune for me to stop by without letting you know first. But you know me…” His smile turned arctic-cold. “…Sometimes I just don’t think.”

“What? No! Please, stay. I mean, you’re already here,” Roman chimed in. “Besides, Lisa and I weren’t doing anything, really. We are a pretty boring couple, she and I. What about some whiskey? And a cigar, maybe?”

His gaze lingered on her a second longer.

“I don’t smoke. But I’d love some scotch, thank you so much.”

“Perfect, then!” Roman let go of Lisa and patted Michael’s shoulder, guiding him toward the family room where the bar corner was. “Lisa, do you want anything?”

Nice of him to remember that she was a living being and not a trophy to be shown. A boring one, too, apparently. Lisa just wanted to open the door and leave. Instead, she squared her stance and followed them.

“Well, since you boys are all about hard liquors, I guess I’m gonna have some Irish coffee after all…”

She really needed it.

The next twenty minutes felt once again alien to everything she knew. She was used to Michael being… well, not overtly hostile to Danny or whatever other pseudo-partner she had been accompanied by since their divorce and during their moments of separation, but certainly not friendly either.

This was different. With Roman, he acted polite and controlled, very much like his public persona and quite less like the private man that she knew existed behind the facade. Lisa knew why. Michael didn’t want Roman to know much about him, except what was publicly perceived. She had a feeling Michael didn’t like Roman at all.

He listened quietly as his ex-wife’s new boyfriend told him how “sorry” he was about the leaked sex tape, thanked him for his concern and, then, graciously refused Roman’s idea of making money off the footage. Lisa, too, was stunned, and sure as hell didn’t possess Michael’s notorious self-control.

“Roman… What are you talking about? Are you serious?”

He turned and stared at her blankly.

“Yes, of course. Why? It’s already out. It’s an old story. I could think about several ways to make money out of it instead of just letting it slide…” His eyes moved back to Michael. “But maybe you shouldn’t pay attention to me. I try to make money out of everything… It’s my job.”

“I understand.” Michael’s voice was still polite, but the warmth had disappeared altogether and the temperature had dipped below the freezing point. “As a matter of fact, one of my lawyers suggested the same thing.”

“Really? And what did you do?”

“I fired him.” His eyes still fixed on Roman, Michael took a sip of his scotch.

“Oh. Well…” Roman lit his cigar and inhaled deeply, and Lisa tried not to grimace at the pungent smell starting to permeate the air. “I guess you know how to run your business.”

“I do.” Michael put his glass down on the coffee table near the couch. He was still standing, like Lisa, while Roman had sat back in his armchair. “Well… Lisa, maybe I’ll come back some other time, if you’ll have me. Please, say hi to the kids for me… and I hope they like my present.”

She had left him at the restaurant, had hauled ass at Neverland, and hadn’t been there after their night together… It now looked like it was his turn to retreat. Well, she was not prepared for that.

“No way! I mean… Like Roman said, you’re here. And the kids are upstairs, in their room. Why don’t you just come up with me for a bit and give them the tickets yourself? They’d be so happy to see you…” She smiled at him, cordially, but her eyes pleaded him to just stay. She spoke without breaking eye-contact with Michael. “Roman, do you want to come with us?”

As if nothing happened, Roman took the newspaper from the nearby couch and opened it.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I want to finish reading this article about Bond-buying programs…”

Just like she imagined. Whenever the children were involved, Roman did his best to stay away. She had learned to live with it, and he was predictable in so many ways. And right now it came in handy.

“Alright… Michael? Please?”

He hesitated for a moment. Then smiled.

“Sure. Why not? Roman… it was a real pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah. Likewise.” Cigar in his mouth, Roman tipped his head in Michael’s direction.

Lisa stopped halfway on the staircase, when Michael was about two steps below.

“Can I talk to you for a second? In private?”

He looked at her, surprised.

“The kids are not here?”

“What? Yes, of course, they are… why are you asking?”

“I don’t know, Lisa… You sound a bit furtive…”

“Furtive? Look, I ain’t the one showing up at your door without notifying you first.”

“The guards at the gate notified you, as far as I know…”

They were now walking side by side in the corridor.

“Why haven’t you called me?” Stopping again, she couldn’t refrain from asking. It came out before she could even think about it.

Michael cocked his head to a side.

“Why?” Once again, those dark planets scanned her, making her feel naked and vulnerable. “Did you want me to call?”

Fucking yes.

“I wanted you to do whatever you felt like doing…”

He bit his lip.

“Lise… You left while I was sleeping. What was I supposed to do? Run after you?”

Fucking yes!

“No, of course not. You never do that.”

“Ah, please – let’s not. You told me we should be focusing on… other stuff going on in our lives, remember? And to keep you in the loop. You were supposed to do the same.”

“Well, my mother hasn’t told me anything yet.”

“And I ain’t go no news either… so…”

Her gaze dropped, her irritation deflating, turning into defeat. He was as clear as a bell.

“Right… I guess we’re even, then…”

“Lisa…” In her peripheral view, she saw him move a step closer. She saw his hand reaching out to touch her and craved that touch. And right then, Riley’s and Ben’s shrieks of sheer, undiluted happiness broke the moment once again.

Michael withdrew his hand and spun on his heels, immediately crouching down and opening his arms as her children almost flew into his embrace, giddy and surprised. And Lisa smiled, because honestly, what else could she do? He always had been such an excellent stepfather to them. And they had missed him so much. They still did, asking her where he was, when they were going to see him, if they were going to go on a trip with him anything soon. Yeah… not likely.

As she stared down at her children ecstatically talking a mile a minute, trying hard to concentrate in that very short span the longing and love they felt for Michael, she once again found herself wondering if not trying again and again to make things work with him had been, indeed, the right choice.

As Michael rose, Riley grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward her room, all the while chatting like crazy, telling him everything that came to her mind. Michael laughed, listened, stroked her hair, then picked Ben up, telling him that he had gotten bigger and heavier. Ben didn’t care. He was very much OK where he was and just blushed a bit, telling Michael about the toy he was currently enamored with: a razor scooter. Once again, Michael smiled that warm smile that made him the perfect stepdad, then glanced at Lisa. And what Lisa saw almost broke her heart.

Michael too missed what they had thrown away with both hands. And he wasn’t the only one. Nobody had won, and everyone had lost.