It was a very warm late Monday morning in Long Island, New York. A young woman by the name of Alyssa was doing last minute double-checking in her mostly vacant medium-sized apartment. She was making sure that none of her belongings would be left behind. She had put the place on rent, as she would be moving away. One of the best businessmen in Los, Angeles, California had stumbled across her website that showed off her skills in graphics and design, and offered to help her get started with her own graphic designing business. He was great at giving advice when it came to running businesses. The 23 year old was glad to take it because for one thing, it was her ideal job and another, she did not care for New York enough to live there long term. Not to mention since she graduated from college a year ago, she had been working as a waitress at a restaurant until she could find better work.

Being a waitress was much too stressful for the young lady. Although hypertension ran in her family, by some miracle, her pressure had always been pretty low. There was no way she would do anything to jeopardize her health, especially not by ill-mannered guests at the restaurant who always harried the servers. And as for New York itself, though she had to admit it was better than where she lived for 15 years of her life, it still wasn't really her cup of tea. She often suffered from the cold and flu because of the contaminated air, and it was pretty dangerous. That led to her being afraid to drive or even go anywhere at night, as afraid as she was to learn to drive at first. She was proud of herself for sucking it up and learning.

Alyssa went into her vacant bedroom, got her suitcase, dufflebag, laptop case and purse. She made sure her ticket she purchased for the pop crooner Michael Jackson This Is It concerts were still in the special safe location she had put it in-a folder where she kept invitations for events. Sure enough, it was there. If she had lost it, she would have cried, and not just because she spent a lot of money on it, either. It was because she was looking forward to Michael Jackson's concert which was only two months away. And the seat she bought the ticket was not just any seat...it was a front row seat. Perhaps he would invite her to come on stage with him like he usually did when performing the song "You Are Not Alone" or any other slow ballad. She didn't know if fans had requested to hear that song or not, but she hoped it was one of the requested songs. It was one of her favorites. It didn't matter if she would be the lucky girl he invited on stage or not-she just wanted to meet him. From what she saw while watching the candid interviews of him, he was a real sweetie. ‘Who knows? Maybe I'll bump into him somewhere. After all, it's Los Angeles.'

She tiredly scratched her head, which was sort of hard since she had a hair piece sewn in. She looked at her watch. She would be leaving in another hour. The drive to LA would take several hours, and she wanted to get an early start so that when she got there, she would have time to unwind and unpack without it being too late. Her best friend and neighbor, Shannon was supposed to be coming over, but she had not arrived yet. The girl was always late. Alyssa really didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, but if Shannon didn't show up in 15 minutes, she would--

Just then, the doorbell rang. Alyssa went to see who it was. A girl with blunt cut jet black hair was standing on the doorstep, holding something wrapped in exquisite looking wrapping paper. Alyssa gave a sigh of relief. Shannon had finally arrived. 'It's about time,' she thought as she opened the door for her friend. "Hey there! You've finally showed up!"

Shannon looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry about that. Had a little trouble with the two monsters this morning."

Alyssa hid a chuckle and nodded knowingly. The "monsters" were her best friend's 3 year old twins. She met them millions of times and saw how hyper energetic and unruly they could be. Well, that excuse was understandable. At least she wasn't late because she had overslept, which was almost always happening.

"I got ya. Well, come on in."

The black haired girl entered the apartment, and looked around. It was so clean. That made her neighbor's leaving seem so real to her. She had been living in New York for the past 5 years, and now she would be moving. Though she would miss her very much, she understood why she was leaving, and she wanted what was best for her. She was considering moving herself, one day, but where she would go was still up in the air.

The aspiring graphic designer looked into her best friend's green eyes, and saw that they looked wistful, and were glistening. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Shannon looked a bit surprised. "Oh no. It's just hard to believe this is it, that you're really leaving...the time has come so quickly."

Alyssa nodded. "I know what you mean."  When there was a going away party for her 2 days ago (which was the most fabulous party she ever went to), she began to realize how real it felt. A part of her wondered if she was a fool to just abandon most everything, but most of her felt excited about the move.

"Oh, Lissie, I'm going to miss you so much."

Uh oh. For Alyssa, this was getting pretty emotional, and she was prone to crying during times like that. Just as she thought, a small lump was in her throat and she swallowed. She was not going to cry there. "I know. I'll miss you, too. But you have my e-mail and snail mail address. And there are always visits and phone calls. You could drive down to see me if you'd like."

The older girl nodded. Though it was not the same, when her dearest friend said so it didn't sound so different. "You're right." She decided she just might drive to California to see Alyssa one weekend, if time would allow it. She wasn't sure if she could go two months without seeing her.

"And don't forget, I'll see you when it is time for MJ's concert," the young woman added.

"You don't have to remind me about that. I have my calendar marked," Shannon retorted cheerfully.

That didn't surprise Alyssa at all, for Shannon was an even bigger fan of the King of Pop than she was...she practically had a crush on him. She hoped she wouldn't embarrass her by hogging him, which she would try to do even if Michael was surrounded by a bodyguard or two.

"Well, that's good to know," she said.

"Before I forget, here is your goodbye present." The model-thin girl held out the package she was holding.

Alyssa was tempted to say something like, "Oh no, you shouldn't have" because she was surprised by another gift, but decided that it wouldn't be very grateful or called for. She took the gift from her very good friend and proceeded to tear open the wrapping paper. Shannon watched with a smile on her face.

The younger friend made a little face at the smile, wondering what it was about. She shrugged, tore the rest of the wrapping paper off and looked down at the gift. She couldn't believe it! It was the book Moonwalk by Michael Jackson. She was searching for the book for a few weeks, but it was out of print. Now here it was, in her hands. She gave her best friend a big hug. "Thank you so much! Where did you get this?"

"From Amazon," the charcoal haired young woman told her.

"Oh. Ok." Alyssa wasn't surprised. Amazon had most of the old stuff. She slipped it into her bag. She then looked at her watch. It was about time to be loading up the car.

"Well, I guess it's time that I leave so you can get going," said the 25 year old. Her voice was so wavery. She really didn't want to say goodbye, but she knew she had to.

Alyssa could tell her best friend wasn't happy about having to leave. But what could she do, except convince her that she would stay in touch? Of course, she knew that rubbing it in would make her feel worse, so she said, "Actually, I would like you to help me pack the car."

"Will do!" Shannon was glad to do so, as it meant they would not have to say their final goodbyes just yet. She took the suitcase while Alyssa carried the purse, duffle bag and laptop case. The laptop case and suitcase were placed in the backseat of the blue 2000 Mercedes-Benz. That done, Alyssa locked the apartment door, left the apartment key on the doorstep, and she and her best friend looked at each other.

"Well this is it," Shannon said, smiling sadly.

Alyssa was welling up. She didn't want to speak; she feared that if she did, she would start crying. She simply nodded, and wrapped her arms around her best friend. Shannon did the same. They hugged for several minutes. Alyssa was finally able to speak.

"Goodbye, my friend. Take care of yourself."

"Will do. Stay in touch. And call me when you get there, so I'll know you arrived safely."

"Not to worry. I will."

The two ended the embrace, and Alyssa got in her car. She started the engine, and pulled into the street. Shannon stood on the doorstep, and watched her friend drive away. She blew a kiss, and went back inside her house. She prayed that God would be with her as she embarked on the journey, for safe arrival.

At a rented mansion in the Holmby Hills area in Los Angeles, Michael was in his library, reading a novel. It was his day off from rehearsing for the upcoming comeback series of concerts. He had just gotten the results from his physical, the one that would determine if he was healthy enough to do the concerts. The results of the physical were good. He knew it was because of God's grace and mercy they were favorable, and he was very thankful for that. After all, the 50 year old pop icon had been struggling with health issues for at least 25 years. And the 2005 trial put quite a damper on his health. He was barely able to eat or sleep, and stress related ailments were pretty frequent, as well as chronic pain. Those injuries he sustained between the arrest and the court case still hurt him at times...so much so that painkillers would be calling him, though he really didn't want to use them.

The trial also affected his emotional state. His ability to trust had weakened a bit, as the people whom he thought were his friends had stabbed him in the back. Though he still loved children, they were no longer his inspiration and hope, with the exception of his own and the children of his siblings. He still did the orphanages, but whenever he did hospital visits, he didn't visit children only. Though kids had a special place in his heart, he loved people of all ages. As much as a nightmare the allegations were, there was one good thing about them-they motivated him to start showing he loved all people, young or old. He had also been forced to be selective about who he allowed himself to get close to, which he realized was for the best. Still, when he thought about how certain people were out to ruin him, he could just cry, which is what he would do if he were a weaker person at his age. Michael was just thankful for the people who were nothing but loving and supportive. And the rumors about him seemed to have decreased considerably, which was good. There were none when he had moved to Bahrain to recover from those events and try to pick up the pieces, and very little when he was convinced to move back to the United States. But a couple of the obnoxious stories seemed to have resurfaced soon afterwards, that he put off the concerts because of skin cancer, and  it wasn't actually him who made the announcement of the concerts, but they were mostly ignored. The entertainer just hoped he did the right thing in deciding to return to the US, and he hoped that the people who made up the rubbish would wise up someday, before it was too late. True, he learned long ago to laugh at them, but still. It was so sad that people would rather believe rumors than open their eyes to the truth. What fools.

Eleven year old Paris Katherine, Michael's middle child, entered the library a little out of breath. She had just come from outside playing catch with her two brothers, Blanket and Prince, under the supervision of one of the security guards. She had gotten a little bit tired of playing, so she decided to see what her beloved father was doing. He was perched on a chair, reading something. Whatever the book was, he looked to be engrossed in it. He didn't seem to have notice that she was there, although she was sure he heard her footsteps.

"Daddy?" the brown haired little girl spoke up in a small voice.

The veteran singer looked up from the book he was reading, and saw his daughter standing a couple of feet in front of him. He was glad to see her, which was nothing new. He was always glad to see his kids. They were his pride and joy. It was a bit unusual to see just her, though. What was going on? He hoped the security guard hadn't decided to leave them unattended. If something happened to them, he would have to fire him. Or severely scold him, whichever came first.

"Are Blanket and Prince still outside?" Michael asked his daughter.

"Yes, Daddy. Don't worry, they are not by themselves."

So the security guard was still supervising them. Good. And he could keep unwelcome visitors away while he was at it, too.

"I just wanted to spend time with you, if you're not too busy," Paris continued.

The pop king was never too busy to spend time with his kids. And he loved being with them. He motioned for the little girl to sit in his lap. She carefully walked over to him and did so. She was sort of dreading the day when she would be too big to be doing that. As it stood now, she was average size for an 11 year old.

"I love you very much, Daddy," Paris told her dad.

"I love you more." That was Michael's usual reply when any of his kids said "I love you" to him. It was like a ritual. Besides his Heavenly Savior, his kids were some of the aspects that kept him going in life. He felt so blessed, in spite of the obstacles he had to deal with.

About 4 hours or so later, Alyssa arrived at her apartment in California. She got there with very little problems which could have happened, such as encounters with reckless drivers. She did a little bit of unpacking, but was too tired to do much. She decided to use the remainder of the day to relax. After all, work would be the very next day. It was so convenient that Mr. Evans gave her this day off so she could prepare. And she would be working right at home-at least that's where her clients would be able to reach her whenever they needed her to make brochures, web page designs, etcetera for them. There was an office set up in the apartment. She would explore the place a bit later to see how nice it was. The young woman decided to check on her best friend to see how she was doing. Though Shannon was brave in saying goodbye and all, she was sure that her leaving was hard. She picked up the cell-phone and dialed Shannon's number. She picked up before the first ring was over. "Hello? Shannon? This is Lissie. Just calling to let you know that I arrived safe and sound and to see how you are dealing. I want you to know that I am always thinking of you."

The conversation was starting to get rather sappy. Alyssa was thinking 'oh great, this will become a cry fest soon.' She was glad when her best friend announced that she had to hang up, as her two kids were getting impatient for her to fix them something to eat.

"Okay. I'll talk to you again soon. You take it easy," was her way of saying goodbye. She hung up. She hoped Shannon would be able to keep dealing with this change and the bond between them would still be strong, despite the distance.

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