Chapter One

The room was brightly lit not only by lights but the laughter of the guests that filled the entertainment area. Jody glanced down at the wineglass in her hand. It was filled to the rim with the most expensive French Champagne. She dared to take a sip. It was a bitter foul tasting liquid, she thought to herself. She didn’t even want to be there, but knew she had to act at least a little grateful. She would have preferred to be in her own apartment, relaxing and enjoying the company from her real friends as opposed to the superficial people that filled the room.

“Jody, darling! How are you, Bella?” A voice asked from behind her. She recognized the voice. Her stomach sank, really not wanting to speak to anyone. “What are you doing here all alone? It’s your birthday!”

No, really? You don’t say so! She thought sarcastically.

She turned to face Simon Harrison, the most noble and sought-after bachelor that worked for her fathers firm. He had taken her on a few dates in the past, but she didn’t like him. Her father had tried relentlessly to set them up and make sure they had a well-formed relationship. After every date they went on, Jody would remind herself of why she liked to keep her distance from her father’s people. “Hi Simon.” She said summoning up a weak smile. “How are you?”

He gave her a kiss on each cheek. “Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.”

“Thank you.”

“You look really beautiful tonight.” He complimented her, giving her the once over. She had flowing, straight dark hair, a petite tiny frame. Her eyes were a dark brown color. They were emotionless and sometimes seemed ice cold, especially at times like the present. “We should think about getting together again sometime soon, your Dad was telling me that you love that new Restaurant that opened up in Malibu.” He began.

Jody began to grow irritated. She hated the way that her Father always butted in to her life. She was 24 years old and old enough to take care of herself. She had certainly proved that a long time ago. “Simon…” She said quietly, “I don’t think so…I’m kind of swamped in my work at the moment.”

“Jo,” He said taking a step towards her, invading her personal space. She glanced at his slick attire; it was obvious by looking at him that he was well to do. His striking good looks were just a mask, though – she knew it. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Why do you always play hard to get?” He wondered aloud.

“I’m not!” She snapped taking a step back, “I’m busy. Jeez.”

“And a temper too.” Simon smiled, taking another step closer, ignoring her efforts to free herself from his attention. “That’s what I like about you, Jo, you aren’t scared to be a challenge.”

“A challenge? Great. Well I can see where you’re coming from, Simon. I must be like one of those challenging work projects that you work day and night on.” She scoffed, turning her heel and walking off.

Simon stood there, stunned at having been shunted from her. He was used to having his female co-workers fall at his feet. “Bitch.” He muttered. He had taken her out a few times but nothing ever escalated like he hoped. Her father ran one of the richest law firms in Beverly Hills. Simon one day wanted to be as successful and found that he could do that through Jody. The only problem was that Jody wasn’t as naïve as her father and saw right through Simon’s façade.

“Ah, there you are boy!” Jody’s father said putting a firm arm on Simon’s shoulder. “Where’s my daughter? She’s old enough now for the two of you to jump on the back of a horse and ride off in to the sunset!”

Simon gave Jody’s father one of his trademark smiles, “That’s the plan, Mr. Winters, that’s the plan.”

Jody headed outside, away from the mindless chatter of the guests. She wanted to free herself from the control of her father, The great, wonderful, Cameron Winters. She thought bitterly.

It was her 24th birthday. Her father had insisted that he throw a party for her and as much as she hated the idea, she went along with it to keep the peace.

Jody resented her father more than she could put in to words. Her mother had died tragically when she was 12 years old, during the time where a girl would need her mother the most. Her father was a workaholic and the death of her mother had a phony effect on him. He cried and grieved with Jody, but only out of pure guilt. Her father had always kept a string of mistress’s on the side. The more she thought about her poor mother, putting up with her father, the angrier she became.

She wanted to leave the party, but didn’t want to seem like another spoiled, rich brat.

Everything about this atmosphere and her life seemed materialistic and fake. The only thing that was for real was her. She had long ago vowed that she would never become like these people. They had the money; the freedom to buy whatever they wanted to make themselves look good, but they sure did not have the happiness. They lacked emotions and feelings and for the most part, love.

She stood on the patio of her father’s mansion and let out a bit of a tired yawn. She sat down on the swing chair and gave a deep sigh. She looked up at the mansion. It was the most incredible looking mansion. It was 3 stories high, built with chocolate colored bricks and matching panels. The bay windows accentuated the impressive architectural designs.

If only everyone could have seen beyond the strong, solid looking frame of the house, and glimpse the pain that ploughed far beyond the beautiful bay windows and expensive chinaware, lame rugs, and antiques that stood on shelves. If only they saw the times that the great and powerful Cameron Winters used his force to beat her mother and control his daughter. If only they could see the long list of flamboyant gifts that he splurged on hoping to buy their love. The reality was, though; that they would never see the hurt and pain that went on in the Winters' mansion. They would never know the real Mr. Winters that lived underneath the mask of good jokes, public kindness and fake affection for his family – what there was left of it, anyway. All these people cared about was money and prestige and Jody hated it with a passion.

“Sweet heart…” Cameron called, emerging from the glass doors leading to where she was seated.

“Yes?” She asked with a certain note of bitterness in her tone.

Cameron sat down beside her and smiled. “Look at you…” He said touching her cheek with his forehand. “All grown up and independent now. Daddy is so proud of you.”

Jody shot him a filthy look and bit her tongue trying to keep the peace. She wanted badly to throw her still-full glass of wine in his face.

“Darling, you’ve been carrying around that glass all night as though it’s attached to your hand, why don’t you drink it and loosen up a bit!” Her urged her, nodding towards the glass. Jody looked down at it.

“I don’t feel like drinking.” She replied curtly.

“Go on, it’s your 24th birthday, Jo, go right ahead!” He pushed her.

“I said I don’t want it.” She resisted firmly. Her father raised a bushy gray eyebrow at her. His thinning gray hair was slicked back, face was looking more leathery than usual a sure-fire sign that he was getting older.

“Jody, I don’t know what has gotten in to you…You used to be such a good girl.” He said looking his daughter in the eyes. Jody would never forget the times he used to scare her in to doing what he said – but not anymore, those eyes of his were tired, and she wasn’t scared of him.

“You mean the days that I used to jump at your command.” She mumbled. “I’m my own person, father, I don’t need you to tell me what to do with my life.”

Her father looked shocked at her remarks. He went to say something but Jody cut in.

“And you know what? While you’re at it, please stop with your match making game. Simon is not who I want to marry, heck I don’t even want to get married!” She snapped, finally not being able to take it.

“Simon Harrison is a good boy. He’s growing in to one of the finest defense attorneys in all of California. He has a vibrant future ahead of him, I want you to start exploring your options.”

“A vibrant future?” Jody scoffed, “You mean the kind of vibrant future you had at his age?”

Her father wasn’t sure of Jody’s tone. He didn’t know if she was mocking him or if she was asking an innocent question. “I was a very wealthy and respected at his age.”

“Maybe that was the problem then.” She remarked hoping that her words stung him as much as his actions in the past had stung her.  Jody got up, signaling that this was obviously the end of the conversation. Her father jumped up too, now towering over her 5’1 frame. It was at times like this, she got a little intimidated, usually forgetting what sort of a man he was.

He grabbed her arm, as she was about to make a swift break towards the door. He yanked her back towards him, “You will never as long as I am living, talk to me like that, do you hear me clearly, Jody?”

Jody said nothing. She was strong minded and stubborn – a trait of her mothers. She looked at him with her cold eyes.

“I don’t understand you, you’re an ungrateful little bitch, Jody. I gave you the best things in the world. I educated you in the finest school in L.A, I offered to buy you the finest clothes to fit in with your friends. I gave you everything you ever wanted, and this is the thanks I get?”

“When are you going to learn!” She said raising her voice, yanking her arm back out of his grip, “Life is not about money, Dad. It’s not about fitting in by wearing the most expensive labels or having people kiss your butt because you’re rich and powerful. I knew about your other women, I saw, with my very own eyes, you beating mom, and all those times you spent abusing us and lowering our confidence. You think I forgot that Daddy? I will never forget. You’re nothing.”

Her father leaned over and slapped her hard across her face.

“Point proven, case closed.” She said patronizingly, not even flinching from his strike. She walked off with her head held high. She placed her wineglass firmly down on a mantle piece and grabbed her coat. She put it on and grabbed her purse and headed towards her car to leave.

One thing Jody never did, was let people see her true emotions. She knew that showing emotions left her vulnerable. That was at least one decent lesson that her father taught her. She hated to bother her friends anyway. She had built such a strong wall around herself that stopped anyone from getting too close to her. She had initially attempted to let Simon get close to her, but she saw through his transparent façade and stopped before they got too serious. 

She drove off, without a destination in mind. She could go back to her apartment, but didn’t feel like it just yet. Jody was an extremely independent person; she hated having to swelter a person – her best friend though, was the person that she cared about and loved so much. Her best friend knew everything that she’d been through and was there for her, not so much in words, but company and that was enough for Jody.

She arrived in Santa Monica, pulling her little jeep in to one of the most beautiful beaches. She could see some children playing on the jungle gym with their father close by, watching. She smiled, loving kids. Jody was decked out in a white floral dress that stopped just below her knees. She wore black strappy heels with it. Her hair as always tumbled down upon her shoulders, often requiring her to run her fingers through it to keep it out of her face. She did that it so often, that it was quite a habit. Her hair hid her face quite well; she liked it that way, though. Her skin was olive, due to her Mexican descent.

Jody took off her heels and held them as she walked down the sand a little, closer towards the jungle gym. She took a seat not so far from it, in the sand. She was aware that she was probably about to ruin her dress, but she didn’t care. She was in no mood to care about such material things.

She glanced up at the children frolicking in the sand around the jungle gym. There were three children, all probably around 4 or 5 years old. There were two little boys and a little girl. The little girl was sitting a little further back on her own; building a sandcastle that seemed to be quite large. The two little boys were whispering and conspiring something. Jody realized she was smiling at them, and watching them with great interest.

Suddenly the two little boys began to sabotage the little girl’s sandcastle, much to her distress. She sat wide-eyed in shock looking at her demolished castle. The boys giggled and cheered. As if on cue the little girl began to cry. The father rushed over towards her and helped her up, he didn’t yell at the boys like Jody expected. He had a smile on his face. He helped his daughter up and helped her dust away all the sand that had landed over her during their ambush.

“Come on,” He coaxed her, “It’s alright, sweet heart, I’ll push you on the swings.” He told her, planting a kiss on her forehead. He glanced around to make sure the boys were still within his sight. His eyes swept over the beach, settling upon Jody. She quickly looked away, embarrassed to have been staring.

“Michaaaaaaael…” Elyse called out sitting in the swings, impatiently.

“Coming.” He smiled; taking his eyes off the girl that was sitting alone on the beach. He pushed her gently on the swings, careful not to send her too high.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Elyse grinned whenever she went up in to the air, “This sooooo fun!” She boasted to the boys who were watching her, “Lookit me, lookit me! I’m Queeeeeeeeen of the castle and you’re the dirty rascals!” She sang.

Michael chuckled.

“We wanna go in the wateeeeer.” One of the boys, Ryan, whined.

“I’m sorry, Ryan, it’s too cold, maybe next time…” Michael told the little boy.

Chris, the other little boy made a mad dash towards the water, disregarding what their friend had told them. Michael was torn. He couldn’t leave Elyse soaring in the air on the swings by herself nor could he run after both boys. He tried to stop the swing, from swinging.

“Stay here.” He told Elyse, “CHRISTOPHER!!!!!! RYAN!!!” He yelled.

The boys giggled more and ran faster. Michael ran after them, fearing the worst. The waves were quite rough and he knew neither of the boys could swim.

Jody watched the man chase after the boys, leaving the little girl on the swings, looking a little wobbly. She glanced back to see him holding each boy under either arm with them all in fits of giggles. She wondered why her father was never as loving as that. He never took her to the park or pushed her on the swings or even made an effort to spend any quality time with her.

She couldn’t peel her eyes away from it. The man showed them the kind of love that she had only ever dreamed of. Her mother was loving towards her, but she turned a little cold-hearted after the years of bad-treatment she received from Cameron. Jody didn’t blame her for that.

Jody leapt to her feet, seeing the little girl wobble more and fall off the swing set. She was only a short distance away, and thought that maybe she had hurt herself as the little girl began wail loudly. She jogged over to her, as best as she could in a dress. She picked up the little girl to her feet.

“Where does it hurt?” Jody asked. The little girl looked warily at her. “You’re alright sweetie.” She said checking the girl for scraped knees or elbows.

She held up her hands, they were a little grazed, “I want Michhaeeeeeeeel…” She cried more.

Jody turned around to see the man standing behind her, she stepped aside as Michael lifted up the little girl and balanced her on his hip. “I’m sorry, sweetie…I didn’t mean to leave you alone. Are you okay?” He stroked the tears away from Elyse’s cheeks.

The tenderness and gentleness of his tone took Jody by surprise. She realized that this was obviously not their father.

Elyse rubbed her eyes with balled fists and nodded. Michael turned to Chris and Ryan, “I told you it was too cold for the water, look, your sister could have really hurt herself!” He lectured.

Ryan and Chris looked sheepish. “Sorry, Michael.” They said in unison.

Jody stood dumbly, ready to walk away. When Michael spoke, “Thank you…I kind of had my hands full…I’m really sorry that I bothered you.”

Jody realized right then, who was staring back in to her face. It was Michael Jackson.

Fame never seemed to phase her. She knew that fame was one big sham. She had grown up around famous celebrities that her father had represented. She had learned; celebrities and people like her father’s acquaintance were the most fake. She knew celebrities true identities were usually nothing at all like the perception that the public had and for those reasons, she had never been star-struck.

Michael could tell by the girl’s eyes, that she had recognized him. She seemed to brush it right off like water from a ducks back. He was so shocked that he had no time to feel relieved.

“It’s no problem, I thought she had really hurt herself. Glad she’s okay.” Jody replied without flinching. She looked at Elyse and took her hand; “Be more careful next time, okay honey?”

Elyse nodded and sniffed.

“Are you going to say thank you to the nice lady, Elyse?” Michael prompted her.

 “Thank you.” She repeated.

Jody grinned, “It was my pleasure.”

She went back and resumed her position on the beach where she had left her shoes. She was shocked at who she had found. She realized that the children were obviously not his. She had a lot of questions about it in her mind. She wanted to ask him what he was doing there alone, without bodyguards but she didn’t want to inflate any egos.

Michael took a seat on a little bench that was close to the jungle gym. He couldn’t shake the little confrontation he’d just had. It was the first person that he had ever met that didn’t bat an eyelid to see Michael Jackson alone with some kids. He had been initially a little scared when he had first seen her arrive, but he was able to relax. Still though, it was strange.

He stole a glance of her; she was sitting, looking ahead pensively just watching the waves crash on to the shore. She looked kind of troubled and maybe a little sad. Her brown hair blew in the breeze. She swept it out of her face, glancing over at him. They both quickly looked away.

Michael looked down at his shoes and thought about what had just happened. Could it even be possible that she didn’t recognize him? No…

He listened to the boys singing a song and looked up to make sure Elyse was okay. She wasn’t within sight. His heart stopped for a second. He whirled around in his seat looking for her.

“Elyse!” He called, “Chris, Ryan, where is Elyse?!” He asked frantically, angry with himself for being so irresponsible again.

Chris and Ryan gave him a blank stare.

He looked up to find Elyse talking to the girl on the beach. He breathed a sigh of relief. “Elyse!” He called out. Elyse was too engrossed in conversation to answer.

“Chris, Ryan…I’m just going over here, do not move.” He said pointing to where their sister was. “Okay?”

“We promise.” Ryan replied, going back to building a new sandcastle.

 Michael made his way shyly towards Jody. “I have two brothers and they are big meanies.” Elyse informed her.

“Really? Aww, that’s no good.” Jody smiled; getting the feeling that Michael was looming closer.

“Yep. My Mommy and Daddy are on holidays so we get to go to Michael’s house and have lots of fun there. Its fun we get to have ice cream and candy and toys and he plays lots of fun games and lets us stay up late and helps me use my special crayons in my color book!” The little girl rambled on.

“Really? That must be a lot of fun.” Jody remarked giving the little girl a smile, glancing briefly at Michael who was blushing furiously at the good wrap that he was getting.

Michael held his hands on his hips, looking embarrassed. “I’m so sorry…” He apologized to Jody. “Elyse, you promised me you’d be good, remember?”

Elyse looked up to see Michael, obviously one of the little girl’s heroes.

“It’s alright, she’s no trouble.” Jody assured him, “You’re no trouble, are you?” She proceeded to ask Elyse.

“Nope. I’m no trouble, I’m a big help to Michael I helped cook too, I’m almost 5 years old and I go to kindy and everything!”

“And you’re a chatterbox too.” Michael added.

 Jody laughed. Elyse finally took a breath. “My brothers are building a sandcastle I am going to break it!” She said gleefully and ran off without giving either Michael or Jody a chance to say anything else.

“Uh…look, thank you for your help before…they can be a bit of a handful.”

“That’s okay, Michael.” She replied and then realizing she had said his name. She felt her face burn red with embarrassment.

“Ah, you did recognize me.” He said a little uncomfortably. He turned to make sure the kids were okay.

“Bit hard not to, you know.” She remarked almost sarcastically, watching him lower his eyes to the sand avoiding looking at her.

“I know, I know.” He replied. “It’s just a change to find someone who doesn’t try to jump all over me.”

Jody raised her eyebrow, for a second thinking that maybe; just maybe, he was a normal guy, until the ego reared its ugly head. “If you say so…”

Michael chuckled, “That must have sounded bad, forgive me…I didn’t mean to sound full of myself or anything.” He watched the kids playing in the sand. “Well…it’s jus-“

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” She mumbled really not in the mood to hear anyone else’s sob stories, Michael Jackson or no Michael Jackson.

Elyse ran back over to them she held her arms out for Michael, “Can you pick me up?” She whined. “The boys won’t let me play.”

Michael laughed and scooped her up, “Don’t worry…” He said, momentarily forgetting that Jody was there, “When we get home you can chose a movie to watch.” Elyse snuggled her head on to Michael’s shoulder and draped her arms around his neck. She planted a slobbery kiss on his cheek. “I love youuu, Mikey.” Michael smiled, Elyse being on of his favorite kids in the world. “Love you too, sweetie.”

Jody felt more upset the more she watched, wishing that she had some sort of figure in her childhood.

“Do you mind if we sit?” Michael asked Jody; at first being shy but noticed she looked downcast and let his good intentions take over.

“Go for it.” She mumbled really wanting to be left alone.

There was a lot of tension between them and discomfort. Jody looked around for a distraction. Michael saw her shoes beside her and for the first time noticed her attire. She looked as though she had just come from somewhere glamorous. Her head was bowed slightly looking at the sand. Her mane of silky straight brown hair framed her oval-shaped face so well.

They sat a few minutes in silence while Michael watched the boys playing

“Michael…” Elyse’s voice trailed off sounding tired. He turned his attention to her.

“Yes, sweetie?” He asked gently seeing that she was beginning to look sleepy. “When we get home can we have ice cream?” She asked hopefully through her big yawn, tightening her grip around Michael’s chest.

Michael laughed, “We’ll have to wait and see.” He told her knowing that by the time they got home she would more than likely be asleep. He saw that Jody was watching Elyse. He ran his fingers over the little girl’s big tight curls, her head rested against his chest, too tired of running around the park to wriggle around in his lap.

“You look like you had a glamorous night out.” Michael remarked wanting to say something to the despondent, Jody.

Jody made a weird snorting sound, “Yeah…real glamorous.” She replied tucking a lock of hair behind her left ear. Michael did a double take, noticing the makings of a bruise under eye.

“Whoa…” He murmured in almost a whisper and reacted by touching her cheek gently.

Jody flinched quickly not seeing him gesturing to touch her face. He jerked his hand away, realizing that she wasn’t expecting it. “What happened?” He wanted to know.

She raised her eyebrow at him, “What do you mean?” His eyes were ablaze and his forehead was creased with concern.

“What happened to your cheek?” He said motioning to touch it again, “You have a red bruise under your eye…

Jody was then reminded of the slap that she had received for trying to stand up to her father. She lifted her hand to her cheek; surprisingly it was sore to the touch. She winced, “How bad is it?” She wanted to know, “Damn, damn, damn!” She cursed.

“It’s kind of bad…” He said gently wondering what the hell had happened and grew more and more concerned for this complete stranger. “Who did this?”

She gave a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair again. She replayed the earlier argument with her father through her mind. This is the last time he will ever lay a hand on me. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say I ran my mouth a little more than I should have.” She replied, stretching the truth. She noticed the little girl had closed her eyes. “Anyway, you had better go, looks like someone needs to be in her bed.”

Michael turned to see that Elyse was breathing heavily, asleep on his chest. He smiled briefly thinking of how cute he was. He turned back to Jody, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Yep thanks…” She looked down at his black pants, moving her eyes up towards to his casual thin-cotton T-shirt until her eyes met with his. “I’ll be fine.”

“I hope so…” He replied adjusting Elyse’s position so he could get up. He awkwardly got up off of the ground managing to do everything but drop her. He dusted the sand off of himself and turned to Jody; “I’ll see you…”

“Bye…” She replied watching him head off to round up the two boys. She held her hand to her face as the tears filled her eyes and spilled over and streamed down her cheeks.