Chapter 2
“If you truly want to be respected by people you love, you must prove to them that you can survive without them.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson
Flying over the Ocean – A week later
Michael cradled his glass of white wine distractedly because, at the moment, he couldn’t even bring himself to take a sip. He was way too busy trying to have the clouds take the shapes of his most beautiful dreams to do anything else. So far no such luck, but he had time.
He still didn’t like flying, but through the years it had become way more manageable and he no longer made a fuss whenever he had to jump on an airplane. He just needed some alcohol to relax while he waited to get to his destination.
When he was a kid, of course, it was different. He used to feel anxious just thinking about flying, and especially when the weather was really bad, it was super-hard for him to pretend that he was some sort of adult superstar willing to fly back and forth as if it was nothing. To be on stage was one thing, but once the spotlight was no longer on him, all that was left was a child. Something that almost everyone around him seemed to forget way too often.
And so, once on board, he would stare at the clouds outside the porthole while he tried to get a grip on himself and forget about the primal fear that would always clutch his heart. Those fluffy things in the sky, mixed with his boundless imagination, were always a great help. He would see everything in their shapes: people, animals, trees, flowers and magical beings that only existed in his mind. Escapism while he tried to pretend that he was someplace else. Escapism as he waited to become escapism incarnated for other people.
Even so many decades later, Michael would still try to do the same. Today he had only partly gotten there. Maybe he had become a grown-up, after all.
However, after a while the clouds did start to become faces right in front of his eyes. Not just elephants and horses, but faces that he didn’t want to see. They took the shape of people Michael didn’t like, and their mugs were angry and resentful. They were staring at him with a disapproving look, making him feel weird and deficient. Making him feel like a child again, and not in a good way.
He closed his eyes for a moment and waited for it to be over.
When he opened them again, the sky had changed once again and there was something else hiding in that mass of water particles suspended in the air. It was a body – a woman’s body lying on its side, the curves of its back and hip perfect, like a work of art.
Of course, Michael couldn’t stop his mind from wandering and the nameless body became Lisa’s body. Those curves became her curves. Soft slopes he used to carefully trace with his fingertips. He loved doing that while she slept. He loved to take some time to just watch her, reveling in the feeling of having her all for himself. Knowing and feeling that she loved him and only him. Whenever she would fall asleep after they made love, she always had that expression on her face. Full of serenity, full of peace. As if she felt safe. With him, next to him. He felt the same.
His gaze dropped and he stared at his drink, then took a sip. There, much better.
He hadn’t heard from Lisa since that night in Manhattan, a few days earlier, when he had called her because he felt way too lonely to pretend that he didn’t care about her. Their conversation had been a bit weird, strained, yet neither one of them could let go of the other. Neither one could hang up the phone. Michael guessed that some old habits were hard to overcome and maybe he and Lisa would still need a bit of time, it didn’t matter how distant they had become.
He also knew that he had started to get all warm and fuzzy inside, when she had asked him about his plans for Christmas. In fact, at one point he had been tempted to tell her all about his project in Prague. Once assessed her reaction, maybe he would have even gone as far as asking her to be with him for the occasion. For old times’ sake. Just to talk, hang out for a few days and see if they could at least resume being friends. Benefits being involved or not.
He was still pondering over the whole matter when she had mentioned Danny and something inside of him had clicked. It had been like being cock-blocked, emotionally castrated all of a sudden. Of course, Lisa couldn’t help but remind him that she and her first ex-husband were still oh so very close. Spending holidays together and all that jazz. While he was on the outs.
As if Michael didn’t already know that. In fact, he knew so much more about her than he was willing to admit, and Lisa knew that he knew.
He had seen the pictures and had heard all the rumors. He knew that she had dated a couple of guys in the previous six months. Nobody important at all, nothing but pretty quick affairs, but still he had felt the burn. It didn’t matter how much he tried to stay out of the loop – some things would always manage to reach him, whether he wanted it or not. He had seen her try hard to get over him with those guys but he also had recognized the look in her eyes. Distant, remote. She was there with them, but also far away.
Play for the camera, Lisa. Maybe someone will believe you and fall for the masquerade, but you’re still not good enough to bullshit the biggest bullshitter. The greatest pretender.
So yeah, eventually he hadn’t said a damn thing and had decided to stay quiet and keep his plans for himself. What had gotten into his mind anyway? To have Lisa in Prague with him? What for? To fight nonstop and remember why they had broken up in the first place, right at the beginning of the year, when they should have been gearing up for something else entirely?
And after what had happened in Paris, too.
So the nitty-gritty was that it didn’t matter how disconnected and awkward she looked in those pictures he had seen in the magazines. They were still there for him to watch – and to remember. She had made her choice and she had forced him to make his as a consequence. Even if she still cared about him, even if part of her kept missing him, she had decided to move on and sooner or later she would manage to get there. To that place where he no longer existed, where she didn’t need him anymore.
The same thing would end up happening to him, and maybe Prague was going to kick-start it all.
If Michael was lucky, he would find a woman he could spend the week with, no strings attached. Just a fight fire with fire kinda situation that he might even be ready to indulge in, now that his new circle of friends wasn’t around. Now that he didn’t feel pressured to behave in a certain way. In that macho way. It could become toxic, he was aware of that.
And it wasn’t that he didn’t like those guys. He did, they were kind of fun and all, but still… It was as if they expected him to do certain things, to act in a certain manner even when he didn’t want to. And Michael had never been good at following orders.
He knew he had to be as saintly as he could with the rabbi, because he could tell how duplicitous and sneaky the man was, deep down, while Brett… Well, good old Brett seemed determined to unleash the player in Michael. And that was only mentioning two of those folks. They could be extenuating, obnoxious and sometimes even boring, but it wasn’t even their fault. They couldn’t know that Michael wasn’t neither one of those men – nor the saint, nor the womanizer. He was something in the middle. A person that not many knew. And after all, their company was still better than pining over a woman that didn’t want him anymore or a private life that hadn’t ended up becoming what he thought it would be.
So at the end of the day, he still had to find a way to handle this newfound freedom that he had achieved. Deb was out of the picture – sort of. Minus the money requests, obviously. But Michael could deal with that. Everything else, he still didn’t know how to handle it.
When the plane finally landed in Prague, a sweet and cute stewardess woke him up in the most delicate manner ever and he was surprised to notice that he had indeed been able to sleep for a while. He couldn’t remember dreaming and felt a bit out of it. It made sense. He was tired and jet-lagged. And he already missed his kids.
The moment he stepped outside the plane, he also realized how cold that country could be during the winter and pulled up the lapels of his long coat, squinting his eyes and glancing around. Part of him expected a horde of people waiting for him, cheering and applauding.
Instead, nobody was around but the airport staff and Michael exhaled a sigh of relief. The perfect outcome, just like he had planned. As a matter of fact, he had done everything in his power to keep the project – and trip – secret for the press and the public, at least for the time being. After all, its success and fulfillment kind of depended on how manageable his presence in Europe would be, and it was Michael’s intention to not fuck it up. The people involved in this didn’t deserve the chaos that came with him one bit and he really wanted to help in any way he could.
Besides, it was nice to go unnoticed from time to time and, even though he had always thrived on his audience and their love, right now it wasn’t the performer or the artist who was there. Just the humanitarian. Just the man. Not MJ, only Michael.
“Mr. Jackson… Please, this way.” One of his security guys guided him to the car waiting for them all at a short distance. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”
“What have we planned for the night?”
Michael glanced at his watch and noticed that it was a little past ten. He was drained, but not in the mood for sleep yet. The chilly air of the night had woken him up abruptly and completely.
“Not much, boss. We’re just gonna take you to your hotel so you can settle in. Someone from the organization working on the project is going to be there to welcome you, but other than that, you got nothing to do until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Alright… Perfect. Thank you.”
He stopped by the car for a moment, his hand on the car hood, and looked up. The sky was pitch black, no stars at all, and he could smell the unmistakable, unforgettable scent of the snow.
It was coming, he could feel it.
Michael had a floor booked at the Alchymist Nosticova Palace, in the historical city center, just a few steps away from Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. He had never seen the place and was somehow thrilled, because the hotel was nestled amid the picturesque streets of the Lesser Town area. Given the special occasion and the fact that he had moved Heaven and Earth to not let anyone know that he was even there, Michael was fairly sure that he would be able to sneak out and take some long walks outside. Hopefully, undisturbed. Like a regular guy, just to clear his mind like ordinary people did, taking in the magic that hid in the Malá Strana.
After all, there was a body-double roaming the streets of Los Angeles, keeping the press and the public distracted. Michael felt relatively safe.
He and his small security detail entered the hotel when it was past eleven, and the hall was pretty much empty, minus a middle-aged couple by the counter – and the concierge. The man immediately spotted the new guest and straightened his back. He looked as if he was doing his absolute best to hide how excited he was. He was flustered.
However, the couple moved first and walked over to Michael, stopping him in his tracks in a gentle yet confident manner that he immediately liked. Because those two looked like people who had way too much work to do to allow themselves to be starstruck by lil’ ole Mike, and their faces were open and honest.
“Wayne… It’s OK. Let them.”
Nagin looked over at Michael, then nodded and moved to a side.
“Mr. Jackson…” The woman extended her hand and smiled at him. “It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I’m Dana, and this is Jaroslav, my husband.”
Michael had spoken to Jaroslav and Dana Mazek plenty of times over the phone in the previous couple of months, after deciding that he wanted to be involved in the project that the couple had planned to launch right before Christmas. But he had never met them in person until this moment.
They looked happy to see him and having them there face to face was nice for him too. He only rarely had met someone who he felt was as dedicated to charity as he was, so hell-bent on wanting to make things better for people in need of support. That had been the reason that had prompted him to invest in the project more funds than he had initially planned. He liked the idea that brewed at the very core of “The Threshold”.
“I am glad to be here, Dana. And to finally meet you and Jaroslav.” Michael turned to look at him. “I love your name, by the way. I looked it up and found out that it means Glory of the Sun. Real cool meaning.”
“Thanks, Mr. Jackson.”
“Please, just call me Michael.”
Jaroslav smiled and slightly touched Michael’s forearm as they shook hands. His gesture was warm, confident and very natural, and almost felt like a silent pact. It felt like an alliance of some sort. As the man started talking, Michael genuinely listened to him and couldn’t help but feel in a very different mood compared to what he had experienced in the past months. He was utterly out of his element, yet felt totally comfortable. He was at ease, relaxed and in control, despite knowing well that he didn’t need to be in full control of anything at all this time. Dana and her husband had always taken care of everything just fine, and they would continue to do so regardless of Michael’s presence. He only had to do his part at the best of his capabilities, and he was more than OK with it.
As they all headed toward the elevator, he noticed that Jaroslav had taken a moment to talk to the concierge in an amicable manner. So far, so good in every department. Michael had allowed those people to take care of his accommodation and they seemed to be managing everything just perfectly. Dana gestured for him to enter the elevator when the doors opened with a ding.
“Oh, no, please. Ladies first.”
She smiled again, and her eyes shone. She had to be around fifty, fifty-five maximum and was still very attractive, to the point that Michael was willing to bet that she could easily have worked as a model in her younger years. Tall and slender, she had long blond hair and perfectly chiseled features. Her eyes were big, of a weird shade of light blue that made them look almost transparent. When Michael told Wayne to please take the second elevator, Jaroslav jogged in their direction and cleared his throat.
Michael couldn’t help but notice that he too was an interesting character. He was pretty tall and burly, with a walrus mustache and thick dark hair, gray on his temples. His eyes looked just like his wife’s.
“I’m sorry we hijacked you this way, Michael – but Dana and I aren’t really used to have any security around. We’re a small organization, you know. Normal folks.”
Just like Dana, he spoke an exceptionally good English with a noticeable Slavic accent.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s perfectly fine. My guys are out of duty until tomorrow anyway. Besides, they can be discreet if necessary.”
It was the truth. Wayne and his team had been discreet plenty of times while Lisa and Michael were together, for example. In elevators and countless other places. But why was he thinking about that now? Why every time he was in one of those elevator thingies all he could remember were Lisa’s hands on him surreptitiously, stimulating him while they both pretended that nothing at all was happening? Mirroring Jaroslav’s gesture, he too cleared his throat.
“I am sure they can be, but Dana and I wanted to be the ones welcoming you. Not that there’s anything you have to do right now. We just hope you’ll like your room and then we’ll see you tomorrow, just like planned. We booked the entire floor for you, by the way. In fact, the whole hotel is pretty much at your disposal.”
“Thank you so much.”
The elevator stopped with another ding and Michael noticed that they were on the second floor. Very weird. The private hotel residence had three floors and usually he was the kind of guy who stayed on top. In more ways than one.
“I thought we were going to the suite?”
Then he bit his lip. He really didn’t want to sound like a spoiled brat.
Dana smiled sweetly.
“Well, you have the two Deluxe rooms and they are connected. Which means the second floor is entirely yours. Personal butler included.”
“Of course.” Now he truly felt like a demanding, arrogant fool.
“While your security guys will stay in the rooms on the first floor… Unless you want some of them up here with you?”
“Oh no. Wayne and the others will manage just fine. And I will do, too.”
He couldn’t complain, really. None of them could. Glancing around, Michael noticed that the place was beyond spectacular in its timeless beauty. He had read a pamphlet while he was on the plane and discovered that the Alchymist resulted from an exquisite restoration of a circa 1415 building. And now that he saw it in person, he could tell the maximum care that had been put in every detail: from the glittering chandeliers to the luxurious antique furniture, from the fine carpets to the whimsical paintings on the walls. It almost felt like as if it had been catapulted into another era, back in time.
“Amazing, then.” Jaroslav pushed the door to the room open. “I hope you’ll have the chance to rest and acquaint yourself with the weather, Michael. Los Angeles and Prague couldn’t be more different. But, please, remember that we have a meeting planned with you and the other investor tomorrow in the early afternoon, around three.”
“Yes, of course. I remember.”
Sort of. Michael vaguely recalled that someone other than him was involved in this project, and that Dana and her husband had spoken about the whole matter at least once in the past. He couldn’t really remember the specifics. He only knew that the other investor had gotten involved in The Threshold way before he had even known of its existence, possibly at the beginning of the summer. He had never asked for further details and now his mind drew a blank.
“Well, I’ll be glad to meet my… ah, colleague?”
Jaroslav laughed.
“Absolutely. If it weren’t so late, you could even meet her tonight.”
Her? Michael frowned. So the other investor was a woman. Hey, maybe she was someone he would be glad to meet. Mostly, he hoped that she was not some poser trying to exploit the situation by banqueting on someone else’s ideals.
“Tonight? How?”
“Well, she’s staying at the top floor of this hotel, in the Decastello Suite. She booked it months in advance because she had heard about it from a friend, I think. And… well, I can’t blame her. The view from its balcony over Malá Strana is sublime, to say the least. She landed in Prague a couple of days ago, earlier than planned.”
“I see.” Michael removed his hat and coat and carefully placed them on the love seat in the foyer.
On the other hand, Dana buttoned up her jacket and extracted a pair of black gloves from her purse. She seemed to be ready to leave.
“Well, it’s late and we better get going. You must be tired and probably just want to rest… And about the other investor…” She shrugged. “Jaro and I just wanted you both to be comfortable, Michael. I hope it’s not a problem for you that she is sharing the hotel with you.”
“No, why should it be?” He looked around once again. Just like the rest of the residence, the room was beyond beautiful. It was maybe smaller than what he was used to when he traveled, but he was there on his own after all. Alone. The place was regal and he felt as if nothing bad at all could happen there. “Nobody should live without such beauty, if only they’re in Prague.”
“Oh, God. For fuck’s sake. I can’t believe this shit. Is he calling me again?”
Lisa rolled her eyes and ignored the umpteenth call, putting her cell phone on mute.
John seemed to have a bit of a problem understanding what the words “I don’t want to see you anymore” meant. And here she thought she had been clear – especially given that they had been having issues for quite some time when she had finally brought herself to blurt out the words that had been bubbling under the surface for weeks.
As a matter of fact, John should have been the one dumping her – since he would never stop nagging and reminding her how obvious she was in her pining over Michael. Badly.
Bullshit. I don’t pine over Michael at all.
But still, that was what John thought. And instead of acting like a man and leaving her, he had done the unthinkable: he had proposed. Just a few days prior, right before Lisa left Memphis to go back to L.A., he had shown up at Graceland unannounced, pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him. Such a grandiose gesture. And a completely pointless one, at that.
At first, Lisa had just stood there, stunned. Then a part of her had begun to think that maybe that could be the right time, and she should have considered saying yes. Thankfully her delusion had only lasted a few seconds, and she had come to realize that hers was nothing but wishful thinking. She wished she could be that type of woman, but the truth was that she and John were already crashing and burning even without a marriage being involved.
And so she had bailed and hauled ass. She had gone back to Los Angeles and then had left again, taking a plane to Europe this time, a couple of days earlier than planned. If anything, that alone should have been a dead giveaway.
But no. John had been calling her nonstop and didn’t seem to have gotten the memo. It looked like he was incapable of grasping a very simple concept: the woman he had been dating had decided to run scared because she had realized that she didn’t want him after all, and in a certain way her escape was even an act of courage – no matter how subtle.
One day he will understand… and maybe he will even end up thanking me. Me not marrying him means that I won’t be dragging him into my drama, after all.
Lisa stared into space quietly as classical music kept playing in the background and realized that no matter how snarky she tried to be, John was possibly the last person to blame for what had happened. The whole thing, this whole mess, was on her and her alone. She had convinced herself that she could finally move on but, as it usually happened when it came to Michael, she had just chosen to believe something that was far from real. Something that maybe would never be real.
However, she couldn’t think about this at the moment. She couldn’t have that as she did her best to focus on something else – something different for once.
Everything, literally every-fucking-thing should help me hammer the last nail into the coffin. From the place I am staying in, to the things I’m here to do, to the fact that I am traveling on my own for the first time in I don’t even know how long. Nobody’s in tow.
Lisa had left everyone at home, including her babies, and had promised them that she would be back for Christmas. Come hell or high water, that was what she would do.
It was almost midnight and she was not in the mood for sleep at all. She was tired, drained and sore all over, and yet she felt like a metronome that just wouldn’t stop going. She could only hope that some alcohol would help her relax. And maybe a cigarette.
Hell, yes. That was indeed a great idea.
She managed to find some old, crumpled Marlboros in one of the pockets of her purse, then even a lighter that barely worked. She exhaled a sigh of relief. At one point in the recent past she had thought she had finally kicked that habit, but all of a sudden the temptation was way too strong to be ignored.
However, she wasn’t going to smoke inside the suite. She didn’t want the stench of cigarettes reminding her of her umpteenth failure. Telling her that getting rid of old vices was easier said than done.
Getting up from the couch, Lisa walked over to the French doors facing the private terrace of her suite and opened them. She stepped out in the cold winter night without even bothering to put her coat on. It took her about three seconds to realize how chilly the temperature was. But how could it not be? It was snowing, after all.
Shaking from head to toe, she just stood there and glanced up at the jet-black sky while tiny snowflakes rained all over her. She closed her eyes for a moment, just taking in the cold feeling of the ice touching her skin, almost feeling like a child again. Almost feeling the same way she had felt so many years earlier, when her dad had shown her the snow for the very first time.
And just like that, without any reason whatsoever, she felt like crying.
I’m a fucking mess.
Shaking her head, Lisa finally brought herself to light the damn cigarette. The first hit made her head spin and caused her to cough, but then the old, forbidden pleasure took the place of any temporary discomfort.
Just this one last smoke – and then I won’t do it anymore, I promise.
Not even she could believe her own bullshit at times. But hey, she could always try.
Funny how those were about the same words that she had told her mother while she was packing, right before she drove over to the airport and left, a couple of days earlier.
“You’re not gonna get in trouble, are you?”
Priscilla had been staring at her with her arms crossed over her chest, like she usually did when she judged someone and wanted to look as if she was doing anything but. Lisa’s back was turned to her, yet she could feel her mother’s blue eyes on the nape of her neck with laser-like precision. She had thrown a couple of t-shirts in her trolley.
“Hey… I can try.”
Whatever her mother said was always delivered with the most mellifluous tone. Even when the message was supposed to be poisonous, ambiguous, meant to hurt – consciously or not. Sometimes Lisa still wondered why Priscilla seemed to put so much commitment in trying to appear kind, when more often than not she was far from the sweet lady she appeared in public.
“You know how those countries are… I just wanna make sure my daughter isn’t going to get kidnapped… or worse.”
Lisa had finally turned to look at her because really, those words had managed to stun her. And not in a good way.
“What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean, those countries?”
Priscilla had blushed. Just a tiny bit.
“Well…”
Lisa genuinely couldn’t believe what her mother was trying to imply.
“Mom, do you really have this stereotypical idea of –“
“No, of course I don’t! Lisa Marie..! You misunderstood my words. I am just worried about you because you’ve decided to travel alone, without even a small security detail with you.”
“Mother, I’m not going to war, I promise. I have stuff to do in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Stop typecasting…”
“That’s absolutely not what I’m doing!”
“…people as if they’re this or that according to their nationality.” Or skin color, Lisa had thought, but she had bitten her tongue before the words could slip out. “It’s not a country of villains. So give it a rest, OK.”
“What is your problem? Can’t I be worried about my daughter?”
“Sure, you can. But how about that: can’t you just be happy I’m involved in something I like, for a change? This is something I need to do. And I wanna do it without anyone around.”
Priscilla had finally shut her mouth. She knew better than to test Lisa’s temper when she was in a bad mood and, that day, she was. She felt as if everything was crumbling around her. Her relationship with John, her music – currently a moot point in her life – her future, every single thing. The kids were Lisa’s only stability and, in all frankness, for a woman who had planned to have a huge family and an amazing, eternal love story with the man she loved, she had ended up having a pretty lonesome, underwhelming existence.
“Lisa Marie…”
Lisa had unceremoniously closed her trolley, fighting the urge to lock herself inside her own bedroom. After pushing her mother out. Why had she agreed to have lunch with her before going to the airport?
“Yes, mom.”
“Is it true that Michael too is involved in that little project of yours?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure, because I haven’t asked. He and I don’t talk that much lately.”
It was the truth. Lisa only knew that, at one point, a second investor had stepped in and had become involved in The Threshold project. However, she had decided early on that she didn’t want to be distracted by anything and anyone. Whether she knew who that other person was or not, whether it was Michael or someone else, it didn’t matter. Lisa had already made up her mind. What she would do would not change and she was not going to step back from what she considered her duty. She hadn’t been working her ass off on this thing for months just to have someone else snatch it away from her.
That said, of course she had heard the rumors and surely Priscilla had heard them too. However, Lisa genuinely wanted to be a part of what her mother had called “a tiny, little project”. Such a demeaning definition, only chosen because her daughter had decided to do something without her.
“Well, according to a couple of people in my circle, he is. But that doesn’t mean that he’s going to be in Prague with you, right?”
“Did you even listen to me, mother? How can I know if he’s gonna be there or not? I haven’t heard from the man.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth, but…
“I don’t know. Maybe there’s something about this trip that you aren’t telling me.”
“What are you trying to say now? That Michael and I are going to have some secret meeting at the airport and leave for Europe together?”
Once again, Lisa couldn’t avoid staring at her. Priscilla was starting to push her way beyond her limits.
Her mother had shrugged.
“Well, you’re the one suggesting it. And I wouldn’t even be the first time, anyway.”
Lisa had rolled her eyes and had let out a frustrated sigh.
“No, I’m leaving on my own. Like I said I would. I haven’t seen Michael in forever.” She had almost dislocated her shoulder while pulling the trolley off the bed and on the carpeted floor. “That said, I don’t like this conversation one bit and I hope we can put an end to it already.”
“There are many things that I don’t like, sweetheart. But with time, I have learned not to react like that every time I stumble into them.”
Lisa had just shaken her head. If only people knew how her mother’s idea of her daughter differed from what she said about her in public. In the press, for example.
Priscilla had mistakenly taken Lisa’s silence as an invitation to keep talking. As if Lisa needed further confirmation that her mother rarely listened to what she said. Or to what she felt, for that matter.
“What I mean to say is that I really hope it’s just a rumor and that Michael won’t be involved in anything you do. And there’s a chance he isn’t, if you ask me. After all, there’s plenty to do in so many countries of the world… why should he be paying attention to such a miniature project?”
Just like it often happened when Cilla went on the offensive like that, Lisa felt very small and incapable of doing nothing but tolerating her. While in fact part of her knew that she should just have told her that she had to stop meddling. That what she did, who she saw, who she fucked or loved, what she decided to get involved in was her business and not hers. But that day hadn’t come yet.
“However, I’m glad to hear you and Jackson have finally stopped talking…”
It wasn’t what Lisa had said, but OK.
“He’s not good for you. He leads you astray. Besides, did you hear that he and that poor woman he was married to finally divorced?”
She had snorted. Debbie was far from a poor woman. In fact, her business deal with Michael had made her rich enough to never have to work again in her life. From now on she could sit on her ass all day long without a worry in the world. But Lisa hadn’t even bothered replying. Mother was clueless about anything involving Michael, or he and her daughter for that matter.
“It just shows what I’ve been saying all along… I was right, Lisa. You know that, right? The moment women stop being useful to him, they become disposable. He did it to you, and now he did it to her too. If anything, his recent divorce solidified my opinion about him.”
Of course it had.
But how could anything further solidify an opinion that had been set in stone since the dinosaurs inhabited the Earth, and that had never changed, no matter what? It was pointless. Arguing with that woman had always been entirely pointless. And even though Lisa, too, wondered why Michael hadn’t called her right after he and Debbie had finally parted ways, she would have never said a word about it out loud. Certainly not to her mother. That sub-species of conversation she and Michael had shared a few days earlier, when he needed to sleep and Lisa needed for him to relax, didn’t change a thing. They were still over.
“Lisa Marie? Did you hear what I said?”
Oh, God damn it.
“I sure did. Look, mom, I gotta go now. I’ll let you know when I land, alright?”
Priscilla obviously had believed that she could hold onto that foothold for as long as she wanted, painfully carving her daughter in the process. Well, fat chance. Lisa had a plane to take.
And now here she was, in Prague, in this breathtaking hotel that felt almost like a silent embrace. A place that had welcomed her and kept her warm and safe, making her feel as if she could still mean something to herself, even if she didn’t mean much for many. Pampered, in that suite that looked as if it had been extracted from some magical fairytale, on a terrace that acted as a first row on the spectacular beauties of this city. Painted in white, half-buried by the snow that kept falling.
Then why did she feel so lonely?
And even worse than that, why did that very night remind her so much of the night when she and Michael had kissed for the first time?
It hadn’t even happened in Prague, but at the opposite corner of the world, in Tokyo. When she had been crazy about him enough to jump on a plane with her infant kids, around Christmastime, and fly all the way over to Japan, just to spend a few days with him while he was on tour. And that had happened in a moment of their lives when, technically speaking, they were still nothing but friends. They had been friends for a few years and, for quite a long time, she had felt the tension sizzling behind the surface. Michael had felt it too.
She still remembered that very first kiss as if it had happened yesterday, instead of so long ago.
Michael had listened to her patiently as she told him that her marriage to Danny had pretty much come to an end. He had been so sweet, so understanding. Being in the middle of a world tour and having his buddy make his ears bleed with her marital problems must have been his dream night, for sure.
However, the more they spoke, the less Lisa had become capable of ignoring the pull. She had always known that being in the same space as Michael for a relatively prolonged period of time could end up getting them both in trouble, and yet she had jumped straight into the volcano willingly.
That night, that Christmas night, had been a sacred and profane experience at the same time. It had been the beginning and the end of everything. The beginning of a love that just wouldn’t let go of her, and the end of her life the way she had known it until then.
When Michael had shown her the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, she was beyond surprised. And to have the chance to walk with him, run with him – and laugh, and be silly – in that little white world where nothing else but them existed, had felt like the ultimate seduction.
They had stopped near a cherry tree. He had interlaced his fingers with hers. The memory was so vivid that Lisa could still feel the warmth of his hands through the gloves. He had told her something corny about her lips looking like petals during the cherry blossom season, making her blush like a virgin.
And then he had kissed her, and the very moment his lips had touched her, when his arms had closed around her waist and she felt his strong body adhering to hers, she had realized that she was a goner. He had her. Even before they made love for the first time, later that night, Michael already had her. And maybe, in some ways, he always would.
After all, he had told her. After loving her in a way no other man had ever done before or since, he had told her that he would give her all the reasons in the world to be his forever, to never stop loving him, because some things were just the way they were. They were just meant to be.
The bastard was right.
Lisa swallowed hard. That night, she had welcomed the cold, knowing that he was there and that she was safe. That he would never let her wither and die. Now all had changed. Right now she had to find a way to be safe without him, because it was the only way she could survive.
And she could only hope that her mother was right, and that he wasn’t connected to the project at all.
When the doorbell rang and Lisa walked back inside the suite, expecting to find her personal butler and the chamomile tea she had ordered waiting for her behind the door, the last thing she would have imagine was to find herself face to face with the man that couldn’t stop invading her thoughts.
“Michael?!”
“Lisa?!”
Well… At least he was as stunned as she was.