Chapter 20: Another Part of me

As planned, Jaden met up with Devin 20 minutes later. Cassie would drop her things off at her hotel room. Although she knew that it was perfectly normal for the manager and client to hang out from time to time, Cassie was a bit leery about Devin’s intentions with her boss and friend. During the Ellen interview, he approached her, asking exactly who Jaden was dating. Of course, Cassie didn’t budge. She lied and told him that she didn’t have a clue; she was very loyal to Jaden. She now was familiar with Devin well enough to know that he wouldn’t be very enthused that Jaden was with not only his former boss, but the world’s greatest entertainer. Devin came off as a possessive and sometimes jealous person and Jaden was his business pride and joy.

While Jaden gathered her coat and purse, Cassie knew she had to give her a subtle warning. “Have fun tonight,” she started as she followed her outside. “Just be cautious. Devin is a handful as we all know.” She laughed, trying to make light of the situation. Jaden looked at her and gave a small smile; she already had enough on her mind to find another issue to deal with. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She told her. “But I’m a big girl, and Devin IS considered a friend of mine. I mean, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be where I am.” She sighed. “Honestly though, I really don’t feel like going anywhere tonight. I’m tired and I just want to talk to Michael. I didn’t think being away from him would be this hard, but it is.” Cassie nodded, more interested in thinking about her late night plans. “You two will be just fine. Call me if you need anything” she told her. Cassie didn’t quite understand the love withdrawal that Jaden was going through. She dated and slept around with men, but never considered herself the settling type. Love, in her opinion, was overrated.

After the two of them parted ways, Jaden met up with Devin. He looked nice with a casual suit and tennis shoes; the odd combination worked well together. He was the epitome of a typical California guy. On the way there, Devin told her to sit back and relax and turned on the radio during the half hour drive. Soon he pulled up into a nondescript building that had a line of people waiting in front of it. “This…is Dolce.” He proudly announced, as if he himself owned the restaurant. As the two walked straight in the seemingly popular place, Jaden took in the beautiful scenery, seeing celebrities such as Sandra Bullock and Usher dine about. Devin continued. “It’s owned by Jake Gyllenhal. A lot of the press likes to roam around here. I think it would be good for you and your friends to be frequent eaters here so you can keep garnering attention.” “Wow,” was all Jaden could say as she was amazed and humbled to be in the elite atmosphere. I would love to be here with Michael, she thought to herself. I wonder if we would be safe to eat in here…. I doubt it

Her thoughts were interrupted when Devin asked what she wanted to drink from the waiter and what she wanted to order. Jaden perused the menu, not quite sure what to order because the entire menu read in French. Are there any cheeseburgers on here? she thought to herself. Although she was now famous, her appetite still craved that of an ordinary person. Even when she ate with Michael, they never consumed anything too fancy; it really was not much of his style and that suited her fine. Devin sensed that she didn’t know what to order and took over. “She’ll have the same thing I’m gonna get,” he told the waiter. He ordered her the grilled salmon along with a pasta and clam sauce. It wasn’t what she was used to, but it was something that she didn’t mind eating. “Jade, we have got to get you to eat out at places like this more,” Devin teased her. “As a celebrity, you have to try new things at all times and be ready for anything.” Says who?? Jaden thought as she gave him a fake smile. She wasn’t in the mood to be Devin’s pet.

“So, how have you been? I feel as though we haven’t had time to just talk. It’s always about business,” Devin started. “You kinda seem to be…I don’t know…more quiet and distant around me now.” What he really wanted to know was about this guy she was dating. It all should have came to him; she was leaving every chance she had in her schedule without giving him or anyone any distinct details. She had a smile and glow on her face all of the time and brought even more intensity in her ballads. Jaden took a sip of her white Zinfandel. “I’m sorry Devin. I guess you’re right. We haven’t had a chance to just hang out. I guess all this new fame has sort of well…overwhelmed me a bit.” She didn’t know how else to tell him without being rude. “Thanks for bringing me here, buddy.” Buddy huh? Devin thought. She never called me that before.

“So what’s up?? What has been going on in your life?” Jaden asked. Devin sighed. “Nothing really…I live and breathe this industry. I prefer it like that actually so I’m very content.” Jaden nodded. “You’re a great manager. However, I think you should plan yourself a vacation so you can go meet the perfect woman,” she winked playfully at him. “Who says I haven’t met one yet??” Devin laughed. “Speaking of significant others, who is this-“

Like clockwork, Jaden’s cell phone rang. “Hold on Devin. Sorry” she told him as she mindlessly picked up and greeted her phone. She prayed that it wasn’t her estranged mother again to further cloud her mind. “Hey love,” said the familiar mellow voice that only belonged to Michael. Immediately Jaden felt all fluttery and secure inside. “Hey baby,” she responded in a sultry tone. “I miss you so much. You have no idea.” “I miss you very much too,” Michael told her. It was especially hard to be away from not only his children now, but Jaden also. He had made a trip for a few days to New York to team up with Al Sharpton to rally against Tommy Mottola and Sony. He had enough of the way he and the label were treating musical artists-especially those of color. Michael hoped that his celebrity could be the voice for those who couldn’t speak. “How did the rally go? Was it peaceful?” Jaden asked as she sat back forgetting where she was and who she was with.

“It was sort of scary having to speak out like that, but I think we’ve got Sony’s attention.” Michael went on about how everything went and Jaden began to tell him about her segment on Ellen. About 15 minutes into the conversation, Devin cleared his throat out of impatience. This startled Jaden back into reality; she realized that she enjoyed talking to Michael so much, that she was being rude company.

“Oops sorry,” she told Devin. “Who are you apologizing to?” Michael asked, now realizing that she was in a public place. “Baby, I’m out to dinner with Devin and I realized that I am being very rude.” “Oh,” he slowly said. He completely trusted Jaden, but didn’t know what Devin could be up to. He really wished that he could take Jaden out to places and enjoy more things in the world together as a couple. That was a perfect utopia that probably would never happen. It made him sort of jealous and a bit sad.

Jaden sensed his change of attitude. Michael lowered his voice in case Devin could hear him. “Does he know…about us?” Jaden bit her bottom lip. “No not yet,” she told him as she looked away from Devin. “I think it’ll have to come out tonight,” There was no way around it. Devin would have to find out one way or another. “Yeah you’re right,” Michael told her. “I just hope Devin is still the same trustworthy guy I knew.” “Yeah I really believe so, you know?” Jaden responded, not trying to sound any more obvious. “Listen, I’ll call you back as soon as I am back. I love you.” “I love you more ,” Michael responded. “Let me know how it all goes.”

After she hung up with Michael, the food arrived and she dug into the meal as soon as possible to stall time. “This is really good!” she complimented. “You’re right, I should try new things.” Devin simply gave her a knowing look. “It’s Michael right??” he blurted out. “You’re dating him, aren’t you?” Jaden took another long swallow of the Zinfandel; she was going to need all the power she could get from the beverage.

“Well…yeah. I am.” She said with confidence. “It all makes sense now,” he dryly said. “The sudden leaving...no wonder you didn’t dish out any details to Ellen. I don’t understand WHY you had to keep that a secret from me for so long!” Devin didn’t know exactly why he was upset at her. Maybe it was the fact that he sort of liked her deep down and thought they would someday get together. Or maybe it was the fact that he was inferior to the King of Pop taking his most prized business possession away from him. He found her first and felt like he was no competition for the man who had it all- or at least seemed to have it all.

Jaden sighed as she looked Devin in the eyes, “Look Devin, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right off the bat. But as we both know, Michael is understandably a very private person. We didn’t need everyone to know that we are in a relationship.”

Devin shook his head and chuckled. “You don’t know what you are getting yourself into, do you?” he asked as he lowered his voice “Don’t you know that if the media finds out that you two are together, it could be blown out of proportion? I mean think about it. You’re 24, he’s nearly 44. No one’s gonna believe your relationship with the King of Pop is real. ” Jaden too began to get upset. How dare he make a mockery out of us! She thought. “You have no idea what kind of relationship I have with him! How dare you say something like that! We both came into this thing not expecting to end up as a couple. But guess what? It happened and we don’t regret a minute of us being a together.”

Devin waved his hand at her in disbelief; he didn’t give a damn what she had to say. “You know what? I think you are very confused right now and don’t know what you want. You’re saying that you wanna be with a superstar who is considered to be a freak and a weirdo to people and everyone will be okay with that? Forget all of your talent; honey, they’ll know that you are just in it for a free ride to fame!” He knew the last words probably hit her the worst. Jaden had to take a few deep breaths to give her the strength to not reach over and choke the lights out of him. “I’m in love with Michael Jackson and he loves me,” she articulated to him slowly in case he didn’t understand. “If that makes me all those things to people, then so be it!” Devin smirked. “More than your career?” he asked. “Do you love him more than your own music career?” Jaden lowered her eyes, shocked he condescendingly asked her this “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, I do.”

Devin ran his finger along his wine glass. He couldn’t believe that she had fallen head over heels about Michael like that. He refused to accept it. “Okay.” He simply said. “I’m not saying a word to anyone about this, only because this is ridiculous. Just as long as you keep doing what you’re supposed to be doing, career wise.” Jaden looked down at her food. “Deal.” She muttered. “Can we go?” A few minutes later the two left in silence for the rest of the night. What started out as a nice friendly dinner went south very fast. Once Devin dropped her back off, Jaden gave him a cold goodbye and quickly left.

That night, she lay on her bed nursing a migraine. The causes were obvious. One was from her mother’s “reunion call” earlier that day and the other was from that evening’s drama. She told Michael everything that happened with Devin and naturally, Michael was upset because some of his fears were coming true. He suggested that she switched managers, but Jaden assured him that she could handle Devin well enough. She also told him about the conversation that she had with her mother early that day and he reminded her to talk to her only when she felt she was ready. Jaden begged him to sing her “Lady in my life” to ease her headache and Michael could not refuse. Being with Michael may be more than bargained for, but I’m not letting anyone break us apart, she thought as she smiled at Michael’s velvety voice calming her to sleep.