Pretty soon, his phone went off. "Hold on, I got a call." She nodded and he left the room. "Yes, Frank?" "Michael, I was just calling to tell you that you start your tour next week." "Next week? That soon?" "Yes, Michael." "Couldn't you get it assigned to next month?" "No, Michael, I couldn't." Michael sighed. "Alright. I'll get my things together tomorrow after Aislinn leaves." "Wait a minute, Michael...you have a girl staying with you?!" "Frank, don't freak out on me. She's not like the other girls I dated. She relates to me. Plus, she was only staying here because her car broke down. Her car is almost fixed. She's heading back home at midnight tomorrow." "You have a soft spot for her, don't you?" "Look, I'll tell you later, ok?" "Alright then, Michael. Just start getting ready as soon as possible." "Alright, Frank. Bye." "Bye." Then he hung up. 'How am I gonna tell her about the tour date?' He thought to himself. He looked at Aislinn and Muscles. She was giggling while he tickled her with his snake tongue. Michael smiled. "Aislinn?" She looked over at Michael. "Yes, Michael?" "I start my tour next week." "That soon?" "Yes. And that was my exact reaction on the phone." She giggled. She placed Muscles on the couch carefully and walked over to Michael. "I bet you'll have fun on tour." Michael bit his lower lip. "I'll try to at least." He told her. "Shouldn't you be packing up for that long tour?" She asked him. "Yeah. Wanna help me?" "Packing?" "No, jumping into a body bag and coming with me. Yes, help me pack?" She giggled at his sarcastic comment before. "Sure, Michael. I'll help you."
They went into his room and started gathering clothes that he'd need. Aislinn went into his closet and found all his old outfits, including his brand new Dangerous World Tour outfit. She pulled it out and looked at it. "This looks really cool, Michael." "Huh?" He looked up and saw her holding his outfit and chuckled. "I would say it's a little strange how they are making me wear a leotard..." "It brings out a better you. Real men wear this all the time for dance classes and ballet recitals." Michael chuckled yet again. Aislinn started folding it carefully and placed it in his bag. "Michael, once my car is done, I want to be able to see you on stage during the tour. It's been my dream to literally watch the master at work and in person." Michael sighed and thought of a great idea. He pulled out a V.I.P pass out of his pocket and remembered what Frank said. Find someone who will want to see you for sure. Michael was a bit shy, but he handed her the pass. "Here, now you can see me backstage, too." She was in shock and took the pass. She looked at it, then at him. She hugged him and kissed him. "Thank you so much, Michael." "Frank told me to give that to someone who really wants to see me. You'd be that someone, Aislinn." She smiled at him and continued helping him pack until it was time to sleep.
The next day
Aislinn woke up and Michael wasn't around. No shower running, either. "He must be making something..." She smelt the air and she did smell something cooking. She got up and walked out of the room, seeing Michael cooking. She snuck up behind him and looked at what he was cooking. "You didn't tell me you can cook." He jumped slightly. "Whoa, Aislinn. You scared me." "Sorry, hehe. Is my car ready yet?" "Yes it is. They worked on it all night to get that last bit of it fixed. You can be ready to go in about a few hours." Aislinn looked down. "To be honest, Michael...I don't want to leave. I've been around my aunt for 13 years and I don't like it...I want to be closer to you." Michael got a couple plates out and placed them on the counter. Once it was clear in his mind that he heard she wanted to be closer to him, he turned to her. "You do?" "Yeah, Michael...I've grown attached to you. It's the honest truth. The now 5 days/4 nights I've been here...I haven't felt love like this from my family." Michael hugged her and she hugged back. He pulled away and got their plates ready. He handed hers to her. "Made in my own special way. Hope you like it." She took a fork and started eating it and smiled. "It's really good! I didn't know you can cook something like this. I love it." He smiled and he started eating with her. Once they were done with breakfast, he was going over which song he was going to put in the show. Aislinn was getting her stuff together after changing into her outfit which consisted of black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, her black belt that looked like a seat belt, her black fedora she dragged with her, and her black boots with buckles on the side. Michael was on the bed, still thinking of what songs to go with the show. Aislinn noticed he was having a hard time and sat next to him. He had a list of his songs on paper and just couldn't decide. Aislinn took out a pencil and marked which ones he should do. Michael took a look at the list and was in shock. All the songs he thought of using, she marked as ones he should do. He looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, Aislinn." "No problem, Michael." She smiled at him when she said that. She got her stuff and it was almost 1. "Now I gotta get going. Come with me?" He smiled and nodded. He followed her as she was carrying her stuff to her car. He looked at it and it was a Firebird style car. He's never seen anything like it and he got in the passenger side and sat down and she got into the driver side. She thanked the mechanics for fixing it and they handed her the keys. She took them, started the car, and then started driving. Michael had Jackie follow them to her house, just in case something happened to her car.
Arriving at her aunt's house
Aunt Kathy was waiting for Aislinn on the front porch in her rocking chair she always kept outside. A few minutes later, she saw two cars drive up. Aislinn got out of the driver side and Michael got out of the passenger side. Aislinn got her stuff out of the trunk and walked up to the porch and placed her stuff down for a minute. Jackie got out of his car and walked up to them. Aislinn looked at Michael and he looked at her. "Thanks for letting me stay at your place, Michael. It was really sweet of you." He smiled at her. "It was no trouble whatsoever, Aislinn. You take care of yourself, ok?" She nodded and they kissed and hugged each other. He let go slightly and moved her hair behind her ear and kissed her one last time. Then her aunt cleared her throat. They looked at her and chuckled nervously. "Bye, Michael." "Bye, Aislinn." They waved goodbye and he got in Jackie's car and they drove off. Aislinn got her stuff inside and Aunt Kathy was questioning her. "Why did you let him kiss you?" "He loves me, Aunt Kathy. He told me himself." "What do you know about his guy? He could just be a creeper in a disguise." "He's no creeper! He's a 31 year old male who seeks love in the right girl! He's had a hard past as a child. He's making up for the childhood he never even had. He's kind and sweet and generous. He's the kind of guy I'm looking for!" Aunt Kathy couldn't believe what she heard. Aislinn was standing up for Michael. She's never argued like this when she was 16. She always stood up for her family against the kids at school, she even stood up for her friends. Aislinn was sick of staying here already and she just got back. She went into her room, called Cory, and told her that she's moving in to her house. She didn't mind it at all. Aislinn packed her things and started loading her car. She didn't have much, just clothes and her phone charger and her lamp and a couple books. She got in her car after leaving a note on the door and drove off to Cory's house.
At Cory's house
Cory heard the doorbell and went to answer. "Hey Aislinn! Come on in." Aislinn smiled and walked in with a couple suitcases. Cory took one of them and took her to her new room. It was definitely bigger than the one at her aunt's house. "This all you brought?" "That's all my stuff, Cory. Remember, I don't have much stuff." "Oh, right. Haha. I forgot. What's that?" She pointed to the tag hanging out of her back pocket. Aislinn took it out and showed her. "Michael gave me this V.I.P pass to one of his tour shows." She was in shock. "Really?! That's so cool!" Soon after, Aislinn was finished unpacking and thinking how Michael is doing.
At Michael's house
Michael had just a couple more things to do before he has to go tomorrow. "Ok...fedora? Check. Dangerous outfit? Check. Song list? Check. Loafers?" He looked in his bag and didn't see them. He went into his closet and grabbed one of his favorite pairs and placed it in the bag. "Check. Picture of me and Aislinn? Check. I think that just about does it. I have everything. Sets of clothes, loafers, my white socks, my outfit, everything checks off."
Michael heard a knocking at the door. He went to the door and found this guy there. "Who are you?" he asked the guy. "I'm Rick. I'm Aislinn's ex." "Oh, Aislinn told me about you and everything that went wrong with you two." "You don't mind if I come in, would you?" "No, not at all. Please come in." Rick walked in and sat down on the couch and Michael sat in a chair. "Did she tell you about how we were almost married?" Michael was in shock. "No, she didn't." Rick went on and on about how when they were dating, they never kissed, but did do things they shouldn't have done. He did propose to her and she accepted, but soon found out that a day before they were married, some other girl had his baby. Michael was in total shock, it seemed like he was gonna go into a heart attack. "Sorry, but that's the total truth, Michael. She never told you this?" "No she didn't tell me that." "Well, I gotta go. Gotta get to work. Later." And Rick walked out of the house and headed to work. Michael was still in shock. He could feel the anger building up, but he couldn't express it. He didn't want to express his anger. He felt hurt. He pulled out his phone and dialed Aislinn's number. "Pick up, Aislinn..."
At the Dinner Theater
Aislinn was finishing up with her outfit to start working. Her phone rang and she picked up. "Hello?" She asked. "Aislinn, it's Michael." "Oh hey, Michael. What's going on? You sound a bit tense." "You never told me you were almost married!" Aislinn was worried. 'How did he know I didn't tell him that??' She thought. "Look, I think we should take a break from each other. This is stressing me out before I have to leave for the tour." "But Michael, I-" "Bye, Aislinn." And he hung up. Aislinn could tell her heart had been ripped halfway. She knew now that Michael was mad at her, and he sounded hurt from what he heard...she knew Rick must have gone to his house...now she has to find a way to make up with him for what happened.
