Chapter 26: She Drives Me Wild: Part II

“Hmm, hmm, hmm,hmmmm,hmmmm. Close to me. Oh I need you close to me. Loving me. Close to you. How I can get close to you? Help me to. Why can’t you see, I would give the world away to have you by my side. Ohhh, I’m so in need. Each and every night I pray you’ll come and save my day. I will love you till the end of time,” Jaden sung her self- written new song from the depths of her broken soul. It had been a week since she and Michael had broken up and it was still very hard for her to come into terms that they were no longer a couple. Cassie, who had been trying to get her boss and friend to cheer up, listened to her daily purge her sorrow the best way she could- through her music. “You have to get over this Jade,” she told her as they spent another restless night in a hotel. It was the last night for the tour. Instead of celebrating by going out with the crew, Jaden opted to stay in and continuously sulk. No one pressured her to come out with them. They knew that she had broken up with her boyfriend; they just didn’t know that her ex-boyfriend was the king of pop.

“I’m tryin’ Cassie. I’m really tryin’ ” Jaden objected. Her southern voice was more profound whenever she was upset. “It just doesn’t feel right; us not being together. He was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I shouldn’t have ever said that being with him wore me down. That was a stupid, idiotic mistake!” she had her forehead with the palm of her hand. Cassie sighed as she heard Jaden say the same thing over again. “Listen Jade. You were only being honest with him like you always are. He brought it up and it had to be addressed. And unfortunately, he felt that you two needed time away from each other to grow. DEAL WITH IT!!” Jaden gave her a cold stare. “I’m not forcing you to be in here with me you know. I’m tired of DEALING with things. I’ve dealt with things all of my life and when I found not only the greatest entertainer, but greatest man ever, it doesn’t work out. Cassie rolled her eyes. “Everyone gets dumped, Jade! I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but either you move on, or you go and you fix it!!” Jaden leaned against her guitar and took what was just said to her. “She’s right,” she thought. “I have to be the one to fix it!” On instinct, she popped up, rushed into the closet, grabbed a suitcase and began to fill it with a few things.

Cassie stood up once she realized what she was doing. “Where are you going?” she asked. “You’re right. I have to fix this Cassie. I can’t sit here and sulk about things when there is something I can do.” Cassie’s brown eyes widened. She didn’t really think that Jaden was truly listening to her.  “Are you sure you want to do this? What does it look like if you show up on his porch too soon?” “It’s not too soon,” Jaden replied nonchalantly. “I still have a key to Neverland. I know he’s there because he left me a message saying that he was back from the MTV awards. I just didn’t want to talk to him then.” “Jade, chica, I don’t think- Cassie began before Jaden put her hand up. “I’ve made my mind up. I’m going to get Michael back and nothing will change my mind.” She had indeed had her mind set and arranged for a private jet to fly her to California from Chicago that night.

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Putting her dyed brown, streaked blond hair into a ponytail, Lisa Marie put on her tightest pair of jeans and a form fitting blouse. It exposed all of her nice curves. Even after having children and aging a bit, she was still gorgeous. Things were starting to look up for her. She would be serving her divorce papers to Nicholas Cage in a few days and she would be a free woman-again. That night was a special night. She was headed to a dear old friend’s house to spend some quality time. Her friend had given her a call earlier that day, just to talk. Her friend was feeling a bit low about a breakup. Being the good (and maybe desperate and horny) friend she was, she offered to come over, to listen…or not listen if her friend didn’t want to.

Lisa rang the doorbell and let the chimes consume her ear. She hummed a little ditty as she waited to be greeted. Life was about to be good once again, she needed a little naughtiness to shake up her otherwise drab life. The door opened and there he was, wearing a red casual suit with his signature shades resting on his front, his shoulder length mane slightly rumpled, in a sexy manner. He clapped his beautiful large hands as he saw her and smiled that beautiful smile. “Michael. How are you?” Lisa said as she gave him a huge (a bit lingering) embrace; she could barely keep her self -control. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other.” “It has, it has,” Michael agreed as he let her in.”Are Paris and Prince around? I would love to meet them.” Lisa said “Believe it or not, I let them spend the night with Janet.” He told her. “They’ve been there before and they seem to like it, so I guess it’s okay. As long as they’re with my family.” “Well maybe I can meet them another time soon,” Lisa suggested as she sat down in the entertainment room.  Michael sat across from her, making sure the distance was respectable. “You look nice,” he told her. “Thanks. So do you,” she told him. “I see you still love your red.” Michael laughed. “Yeah, nothing looks as good as red does to me.” It felt strange for him to have another woman’s company (who was not Jaden) there. It was even stranger because it was his ex-wife who was there. He was bored and allowed Lisa to come over to get his mind off of everything.

 After more small talk, they ended up talking about the breakup between him and Jaden. He explained the reasons why he felt he had to let their relationship go. Secretly, Lisa was glad to hear the good news. She wanted him to herself and didn’t want to share. “I’m sorry Michael, but I think it was for the best,” she told him, pretending to care. “I mean, she’s young, she doesn’t know what she wants in life anyway.” “But one of the things that attracted me to her was that she was so mature and so wise. We understood each other like no one ever had.” Michael argued. “I miss her.” “Hmph this is gonna be harder than I thought,” Lisa Marie thought to herself. “Look, she’s a star now. I don’t think she would be fateful to you. She’s in the past. You should think about the now.” On cue, Lisa got up and began to massage Michael’s shoulders. “Now is all that matters babe.” She repeated. Mesmerized and confused, Michael allowed his ex- wife (who was still legally married) to massage his back and his shoulder and kiss his neck. He allowed her to grab his head toward her, give him a false sense of assurance and he allowed her to kiss him. It didn’t feel right to him anymore. Also he felt like he was betraying Jaden, even though they broke up. He just didn’t have any feelings for Lisa Marie anymore. But he allowed her to do it anyway……

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Jaden excitedly got off of the plane, got into her rented Range Rover and drove toward Neverland. Her mind was fixed on mending her and Michael’s relationship and she was determined to fix everything between the two of them. “Once he sees me and we talk, we’ll be able to find the solutions to everything,” she said aloud to herself. Things couldn’t possibly be over, not if she had anything to do with it.

She pulled up into Neverland that evening and got her things out of the car. She decided to keep her wardrobe classy but simple, a long Dolce& Gabana white sundress with patent leather thong sandals. Her beautiful wavy hair fell down her shoulders naturally. She got out her key, and shook as she opened the door and stepped in. For the first time, she felt the nervousness take over her. She walked throughout the mansion, without any workers around. It was the weekend and they only worked if Michael needed them. “Michael?” she called out. “Baby, are you here? It’s me, Jade. I couldn’t help it. I had to see you.” She continued to walk around looking. “I’m sure he’s in the entertainment room,” she thought as she headed that way.

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Meanwhile, Lisa became so hot and heavy on him, that he mistook Jaden’s presence to be an illusion. “I have to stop, I can hear Jaden in my head,” he thought. “Besides this isn’t right. It’s not fair and it’s not right.” He pulled away from Lisa. “Lisa, we need to stop,” he told her. “You’re married and I’m just getting out of a relationship. This wouldn’t be fair to neither of us.” Lisa pushed him back on the couch. “Fuck all of that Michael,” she swore at him. “Just live in the moment! It’s okay not to do the right thing sometimes you know.” He knew she didn’t mean that. He knew she was hurt too and was trying to find ways to mask her pain from her ailing love life. “Lisa just stop okay?” he told her. “We shouldn’t do this and you know it.” Lisa looked at him and smirked. “So you really want me to stop huh?” before she allowed him to answer, she kissed him again; he began to pull away………

…….“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE???” a angry voice said. The two of them looked up to see an angry looking Jaden stand before them with a suitcase in her hand. A look a shock greeted them. Michael got up and walked toward her. “Jade, it’s not what you think.” Lisa got up and crossed her arms. “Yes it is! Get lost,” she told her. Michael furiously turned to Lisa Marie. “LISA! Stop it!! You’ve caused enough trouble already!” Before he could get back to Jaden, she began to walk backwards. “Jade, please.” Michael told her as he reached for her. “Oh my God, don’t you touch me!!!” Jaden yelled at him as tears streamed down her face. “I know we weren’t together, but so soon? And with Lisa, your ex-wife of all people? How could you?” “It’s not what you think it is. Please believe me Jade, I never meant for any of that to happen-“You were kissing her Michael!!!” Jaden screamed at the top of her lungs. “I came back to talk to you, to patch things up. But I guess you were patching things up with another person. I didn’t mean to inconvenience you two. Carry on!” She walked outside back to her car with Michael following in close pursuit. He had never felt so ashamed and embarrassed in his life- and that was saying a lot considering all he had been thorough in his celebrity life.

“Jade, please. Just let me explain everything. I love you. I don’t love Lisa. Please.” Jaden ignored him and got into her car, started it and rolled down her window. “You know, you’re just like every other man. You’re stabbed me in the back and you probably told me you loved me so you could sleep with me.” she wanted him to pain like she did. It worked indeed because Michael felt horrible. “That’s not true Jade. What I feel for you is all pure and real.” “I trusted you! I never want to see you again!” Jaden said as she ignored his comments. With that she sped off leaving the only man she ever loved behind. Lisa came outside, slightly feeling remorseful for being the cause of their drama. “I’m gonna leave now,” she told him. Michael turned and gave her a look that could kill. “I think you should,” he simply told her and walked away from her. He went back into his house feeling alone, guilty, and anguished. He knew he had lost Jaden for good this time and there wasn’t a thing he could do.
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Jaden drove for hours back to L.A. as the mental picture of Michael and Lisa replayed over and over. She didn’t have a sense of what she was doing or where she was going, but she needed to do something to make herself feel better. Or better yet, she needed something to make her feel even. She knew the UMG social was going on that night so she decided to go to that. As she arrived in the building, many of her label mates greeted her, glad she came. She stood around and mindlessly drank numerous flutes of Cristal and countless shots to numb her of her pain. She didn’t give a damn about herself or what anyone had to say at that moment. By the time Devin made an appearance to the party, Jaden was dancing on top of a table with a couple of other drunken guest. Her reputation of being a classy artist was in sheer jeopardy. “Jaden?” he questioned. He recognized his client and immediately grabbed her off of the table. “Are you drunk??” he asked her. “You never get drunk.” Jaden put her hands on her hips. “So freaking what?” she slurred. “I’m having a good time.” With that, she grabbed him and kissed him. Not exactly what he pictured a kiss with her would be like, he pushed her back. “What is wrong with you?” he asked her with concern. This wasn’t the sweet, dashing swan he was used to “You know you’ve always wanted me!” Jaden slurred. “So just do me already!” “Did something happen between you and Michael?” he asked. It had to be the only reason that drove her to act a completely different person. Even through her drunkenness, hearing his name gave her a rush of emotions. “So what if we had? What’s it to you anyway?!” she challenged him.

All of a sudden, Shawty Q, the rapper everyone on the label loved to hate, made his appearance. When he saw Jaden, he zeroed in on her and could tell that she was drunk. Devin had went to go get her some water to somehow sober her up. He was very worried about her. “Easy target!” he thought to himself. He always wanted her and tonight would be the night. He walked over and put his arms around her. “Hey beautiful. What you got going on for the rest of the night?” he asked. Jaden shrugged like a child.” I don’t know” she slurred. “How about you and me have a little party of my own in my hotel room babydoll. We can make a collaboration, if ya know what I’m sayin’?” Not having a care (or sense) in the world, she shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever you want to do” she told the womanizing rapper. With that, Shawty Q whisked Jaden away from the party. A few seconds later, Devin came back with the water to find that Jaden wasn’t there anymore. He looked around and asked for her, but no one knew where she went. He hoped that Cassie or somebody saw her and took her to safety. He promised himself to give her a call in the morning.

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The next morning Jaden awoke with a massive headache and nausea. She wondered how she was in a foreign bed. She heard a snore next to her. “Michael??” she asked, a bit delusional. “Wait a minute. Michael doesn’t snore” she thought to herself. She turned over to see Shawty Q laying next to her and immediately sat up. She was half naked and instantly felt dirty. “Oh my God, please tell me that I didn’t sleep with him. Please.” She looked over and saw a used condom on the floor. “No, no!!” she said to herself. She got up, found her sundress and other belongings and put them on. On her way out she looked at herself. Her hair was matted, bags were under her beautiful eyes and her makeup smeared. This was not the woman she had become or wanted to be. This was not Jaden at all. It looked like her drunken, abusive mother.  Suddenly, she ran into the restroom and spewed her disgust into the toilet. She was hung over, ashamed and felt repugnance. After she finally finished she called a cab and dashed downstairs before Shawty Q could wake up. Thankfully she was able to get into a cab with very few people around. “Where to miss?” the cab driver calmly asked. “Get me to the furthest hotel away from here,” was all she could muster up to say. The unusually cold, rainy day in Los Angeles set a good background into what she felt at that moment. She only could remember bits and pieces of the prior night, but she knew that she was intoxicated and had gone off to have sex with Shawty Q.

 She wanted to mask her pain from Michael hurting her.

Now she knew that she ended up hurting her own self more than anything else.

 She pretended to be someone she was not and now she had to pay dearly for it.

And the worst thing for her to accept was that her hopes of being with Michael Jackson, the love of her life, had vanished. One mistake after the next.

*END OF PART I*