There was only one more day until the second leg of the Dangerous Tour would kick off, and everybody was scurrying around the hotel trying to get things ready. Michael looked quite stressed under all the pressure, and from the dark circles under his eyes, Erica could tell he hadn't gotten much sleep. She hadn't seen him scince a couple of days ago when he asked for KFC. She hoped that she didn't make him upset. He seemed so nice, but now he wasn't talking to her. She took her mind off Michael and finished packing. Everything was put into neat stacks and shoved into her suitcases. She had a tendancy to overpack, and it barely fit. She put her knee on the top of the suitcase, trying to hold it down so she could zip it shut. "Phew!" She said as she finished zipping it up. Looking at the clock, she realized it was only 4:30PM; there was still a lot of time before they had to leave. She wondered what she was going to do with her spare time. Just then the phone rang. Erica picked it up; it was the front desk. 

"Hello?" She said. 

"Hello," The lady at the front desk said, "There is a meeting for Michael Jackson's party in meeting room 2B on the second floor. It's at 5 o clock."

"Oh, OK!" Erica said, "Thank you."

The lady replied, "No problem,"and hung up.

Erica wondered what Michael would have called a meeting for. She waited impatiently for the clock to change to 5. When it finally did, she quickly left her room and headed to floor 2 to find Meeting Room 2B. It was pretty easy to find since the door was open and all of Michael's entourage was hurrying to get inside. Erica entered the large, open room and sat down in one of the fold-up chairs that had been organized in neat rows. She scanned the room for Michael, but he wasn't there. Everyone else had taken a seat and started looking for him too, but he was nowhere to be found. Awkward silence settled upon the room, and Erica felt uneasy. "What could be taking Michael so long?" She wondered. All of a sudden Michael ran into the room and took his place at the front. He looked disheveled and tired, yet artificailly energetic.

"Hello everyone," he said, "I'm sorry for the delay. I was...a little busy."

Everyone looked up at him and attentively listened to what he was going to say.

 "But to get to the point, I called this meeting because the second leg of the Dangerous Tour is starting tomorrow, and a lot of people, including myself, have been under a ton of stress recently. I thought it would be nice to have a little celebration before we go back to work, so I reserved a spot for all of us at The Bistro!"

Everybody looked slightly confused, but happy. Erica knew that Michael had basically reserved the entire restaurant.

"So we need to be there by 6. Wear your best clothes and look your best!" Michael said.

With that, he walked out of the room, and everyone else began filing out to quickly get ready. Erica thought that he was acting quite strange, but she welcomed the chance to go to a nice restaurant. She hadn't really gone anywhere since the tour started. She hurried back to her room  where she unzipped her suitcase and rummaged around until she found just what she was looking for, a short black dress and red stilletos. She smiled as she thought about how sexy she would look in it. Maybe Michael would notice her. She quickly put it on and admired the way it hugged her curves. She then went into the bathroom and curled her long brown hair and put it in a fancy bun. She did her makeup carefully, trying to cover every blemish so that she would look perfect. After a while she was done, and she headed outside to catch a ride in one of the exquisite limos parked outside of the hotel. She was about to get in one of them, when a bodyguard tapped her on the shoulder and said, "You'll be taking this one, Miss." He lead her to the limo where Michael was, all alone. She stepped inside and sat down across from him. He was wearing a black suit with a black fedora and loafers. Simple, yet elegant. The bodyguard closed the door and she was with with Michael all alone, with the exception of the driver, whom they couldn't see. Michael seemed like he was back to his normal self. She shifted in her seat as Michael looked her over. He had never seen her like this before, and he couldn't help thinking about how amazingly sexy she looked in that dress.

"Why am I going with you and not with the others?" Erica asked innocently.

"Well, you're my assistant, aren't you?" Michael said as Erica nodded her head yes. "My assistant has to follow me wherever I go, in case I need something. Of course, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Erica said, "I'm here for anything you need." She smiled politely.

Michael smirked as he realized that what she said could be taken wrong. He wanted to compliment her on how pretty she looked, but he didn't want to make it awkward. He decided to just tell her anyway.

"You look very pretty," he said shyly.

"Oh, thank you," Erica said as she shifted again in her seat.

His dark, choclatey brown eyes locked with hers for just a moment, and she was rendered defenseless by his stare. He looked away, and then said, " I don't know very much about you, and I'd like to get to know you a little better, since we're going to see each other a lot more on this leg of the tour."

Erica had to hide her big smile when she heard those words. "Well, what would you like to know about me?" She said.

"How is your family?" Michael asked.

"Oh, well, they're back in Detroit. That's where I was raised and I grew up there. But I normally don't tell anyone that, because I hated living there. Everyday was a living hell. My parents don't really care much about me now," Erica felt an ache in her heart, but forced it to go away. This was her life now, and she didn't have to worry about Detroit anymore.

Michael looked at her with empathy. "It's unfortunate that your parents don't care anymore. I normally don't tell anyone this either, but I feel like I can trust you," he said as his voice turned somber, "I didn't have a good childhood either. My father was very mean and he would beat me and my brothers if we didn't do well on the performances. I've forgiven him, but it still hurts inside." Michael didn't say anymore, he just sat still and stared out the window.

Erica grabbed his hand and said with the deepest emotion, "I'm sorry to hear that Michael. I guess we all have our pasts, but what matters now is the future." 

Michael looked down at Erica's hand holding his, and Erica withdrew and rested her hand in her lap. "I think we're almost at the restaurant," she said with excitement, trying to lift the mood.

Soon the limo stopped and they got out. Surrounded by bodyguards, they walked into The Bistro and were seated at a large table. The rest of the entourage was scattered all over the restaurant at their own tables.

"Do you ever get tired of bodyguards?" Erica asked as she scooted her chair away from the mean looking bodyhuard beside her.

"To be honest," Michael said, "I do sometimes. But if they weren't here, I would probably have been murdered by now. Or kidnapped by a crazed fan." He chuckled at the thought of his fans. He loved them, but sometimes they really lost their mind when they saw him.

"OK," Erica said, smiling at the thought of his fans also. She thought it must really suck to be followed around wherever you go. It seemed that even though hoards of people were all around him, he was one of the loneliest people in the world.

The server came to them and took their order, and when the food was brought out, they ate quickly. Their flight to Atlanta was at 9, and they didn't want to be late. Throughout the meal Michael would ask Erica random questions and tell funny jokes. Erica didn't notice, but he was very nervous around her. He felt different around her, he felt at peace. She made him happy in a way that he had not felt in a long, long time. And he didn't want to mess up.

When the meal was over, they went into the limo that would take them back to the hotel to get all of their stuff. On the ride there, Erica couldn't look at Michael without thinking about how handsome he looked. His curly hair fell around his broad shoulders and his eyes sparkled with life. Michael caught her staring at him and she looked away.

Michael found himslef going mad over her beauty. The moonlight sparkled just the right way in her beautiful brown hair, her lips looked so soft and luscious, and her dress hugged her curves perfectly. She looked absolutely amazing in every way. He had to stop himself from wanting to kiss her.

 When the limo stopped at the hotel, Michael said, "You'll be on the same plane as me, just to let you know."

"Alright," Erica said, trying to hide her excitement at the thought of flying with him. She wondered why he was so interested in her all of a sudden.

"I'll see you in a few," Michael said as she was about to leave the limo. Then he kissed her softly on the cheek and quickly disappeared into the rest of the entourage.

Erica sat in shock. He kissed her! On the cheek! "Why did he do that?" She thought. "Maybe he really does like me!" She shook her head a few times and exited the limo with a dopey smile plastered across her face. She walked into the hotel and got to her room, where she fumbled with her room key to get in. She kicked off her heels and collapsed onto the soft bed, thinking over everything that happened.