“Remember what I said yesterday about the panels. Keep your knees bent and jump with them. Don’t let them control you,” Michael reminds us for the fifth time in rehearsal that day.
So far, the guys are only fooling around, injuring themselves slightly in the process. Actually, the guys are the ones that have to learn how to use the panels in order to do the first routine for Jam. If they don’t get it done in time, Michael is going to fire them on the spot. Michael isn’t fooling around today as he could want to be doing. He’s already not in the mood the day before. Today could blow his top.
“You guys would rather land face first on the floor than get work done,” he groans. “Maybe I should get the ladies to show you how it’s done.” Michael glances his eyes to me. “Lily? Would you like to demonstrate for them?”
“Do I?” I stammered, “I…I…I don’t even know if I can. I mean…”
“Don’t be shy, Lily. It’s an easy process.”
Hesitantly, I approach the panel, and it lowers as I stand on it. “Uh…”
“Just keep your knees bent and jump with the panel for extra height,” Michael reminds me.
“Michael…I’m not so sure about this.” The panel stops as soon as I get to the basement of the stage.
“Just ready yourself and don’t ask questions, Lily Carmichael.”
From below the stage, I hear some of the men smirking. They are expecting me to end up like them by what they say about me.
“She’s gonna hurt herself.”
“Why doesn’t she dance herself to the kitchen instead?”
I arch my eyebrows as I bend my knees. “I’m ready,” I announce to Michael as loud as I can.
On Michael’s signal, the panel launches, and I’m flying back into the stage. I jump for the extra height Michael has mentioned before, but I feel as if I’m going to land by crashing. However, I touch the ground with my feet without falling on my knees. To create the perfect ending, I pose into the HIStory statue form, copying the promo statue from years ago.
Michael gives a huge round of applause with the rest of the girls, which includes huge applause from Ashley Timberlake. “Very well done, Lily. What did I tell you?”
“Never doubt yourself,” I reply, winking.
“Now, guys. That’s what I want to see from you. If Lily can do it, so can you. Now, get back to work. If this isn’t done by the end of the day, so help me, you’ll be replaced by the ones that actually worked to get into this tour.”
Ashley whistles and whispers to me, “He sure is serious.”
“You’re telling me that,” I respond.
“Ladies, why don’t we watch for the next couple of minutes? Then, we have to move onto other things. We don’t have a lot of time to just work on that.”
“Alright, alright, guys. That’s enough!” Michael calls to the ones that were improving on the panels, which were all the guys in Michael’s troupe. They really want to keep their jobs that badly that they improve their skills on purpose. “We need to go onto more important matters right now. I’ve finally set up your hotel arrangements. Who here wants to hear that?”
Most of us approach our head, and some of the guys just sit in the back like, “Eh. He won’t notice us.”
“Oh well, the some of you don’t want a hotel with clean bathrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms in suites, and a huge pool in the back of the building. I bet those bug infested joints are just as nice.”
Lawrence, Peter, and Tim get up and go to Michael like chickens for oats on farmland. Lawrence trips and lands stomach first. His leg looks like it been bent in the wrong place, but most of us are laughing at the gaffe, even Michael.
“Well, now that everyone is paying attention, and I feel like I'm teaching a Kindergarten class.” He mutters the second part, yet I’m goddamn sure that I can hear it clearly. “I’m going to give you the London arrangements. I have keys for your rooms at the Royal Horseguards. It’s only a half an hour by bus. Quicker by subway. Of course, you’ll be paired up with roommates due to how many rooms I could get. For those that are wondering, yes, you have suites. Don’t take too much advantage of that.” Michael takes a bag from the back and starts searching through it. “Okay, the first pair goes to Carmichael and Timberlake.” He pulls out what looks like a set of house keys and tossed them in my hand.
“Three o’ two,” I read, brushing my fingers across the engraved part of the keys.
“Lily!” Ashley shrieks, “We’re roommates! I can’t see what the room looks like.” She gasps until her throat becomes tight with inside skin or air. “What if the hotel has a spa?”
“That would be a dream come true, Ash. My feet need a massage.”
“A spa will be what the doctor will order soon enough.”
That day has not been relaxing day as I would’ve want it to be. It’s called get-used-to-your-roommate day. I don’t know much about Ashley, so it’s going to be a very interesting experience to share a room with her.
Ashley turns the key into the suite’s door and pushes the both of them wide open. The both of our eyes widen as we walk into the most beautiful hotel room I’ve ever stepped into in my entire life. The whole living space has the brown and gold color scheme with a dose of red. The halls to the bedroom and bathroom, I assume, are in the hall to the left. The spa tub is to the right. I sense a party is going to happen one day or another, and it’s going to be big.
“This. Is. Beautiful!” Ashley cries.
“Are you sure this is not my mother’s house?” I ask her.
“Or JT’s mansion?”
“Did Michael buy us a mansion now that I think about it?”
“He does have the money for that.”
“Ash,” I say, plopping myself on the couch, “I think we’re going to enjoy ourselves here.”
“Mind if I share a seat?” Without an answer from me, Ashley jumps over the couch and bounces next to me.
I almost fly off because I don’t feel the couch for a second. “Easy. This couch is sensitive.”
“I didn’t know that. Sorry.”
“You girls aren’t throwing a slumber party for two in here, are you?”
“Dah!” Ashley and I scream as we turn to the doors to see Michael leaning against the frame.
He backs off right after, putting his hands in the air as if he’s getting arrested right in front of us. “Whoa, sorry about that,” he says, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Scare us, Michael?” Ashley scoffs, swatting her hand to the side, “No way. We just…uh…”
“So happy to see you in the Horseguards,” I finish, standing from the couch. I put my arms at the sides of my hips. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just checking if everything’s in order,” Michael answers with a shrug, “Jane and Emma are getting along swimmingly. Sonia and Alicia are trying, but it almost ended in a catfight. Seriously, I don’t really want to know how the guys are doing upstairs. Honestly, I want to see stability.”
“If this is stable enough,” Ashley says, “Then, you’re in the right place, honey.” She gives Michael a wink. Is she really flirting with him? Okay, I’m starting to feel weird about that. The man is fifty, and Ashley looks way younger than that. She isn’t going to date him even if she wants to with a burning passion. Michael Jackson is an older man with three children. Ashley just wants to have fun, for she’s just as young as a newborn lamb. Michael’s like that, too, but he also wants to be a gentleman about dating the right women.
“Good. I’ll see you ladies tomorrow at the O2. Pleasant dreams.” Michael clutches the doors, winks, and closes them locked from the outside.
Ashley sighs deeply, tilting her head to the right. “Isn’t Michael Mr. Wonderful or what?”
I roll my eyes to the back of my head and shook. “Sure. Whatever you say, Ash.” I sit myself back on the couch again, grabbing the remote from the glass table. “I wonder what’s on in London. I haven’t watched TV in days.”
Slowly, Ashley approaches the couch and sits on the cushion next to me. “Lily, is something bother you? You were just fine moments ago.”
“And I am fine. Not even Michael giving you the baby doll eyes irks me.”
“What? I thought he was winking at you.”
I cock an eyebrow. “What?” I ask.
Ashley chuckles. “Lily, Michael looks at you constantly. You’re a catch in this world. You just need to see that yourself.”
“He’s fifty!”
“And how old are you, smart one?”
I place my hands on my waist. “I’m thirty-five and still acting like Beyoncé.”
Ashley shrugs. “You’re both adults, so it makes the perfect fit.”
I scoff harshly. “Michael Jackson is not interested in me, Ashley Timberlake. I, Lily Carmichael, don’t need no man to support myself.”
“Lily, I didn’t mean to offend you. I was only trying to…”
“I know, Ash, I know, but look. The only reason why I’m here is because I want to dance. Dance is my only love. I’m afraid nobody who has more hair than what’s on my head is going to win my heart.” I take one glance at the TV and what do I see? True love’s first kiss. Oh, great. Romance is not my favorite genre at all. Everyone who knows me knows that much about me. It’s probably the first thing they know before anything else could come to mind.
