A NEW DAY by Michelle T © 2000 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - DAY THREE "Michelle, get up sleepy head!" she groaned and fought off a hand that was shaking her. "Come on, Sunshine, its a brand new day, the sun is beaming down and we're going out!" She opened her eyes slightly to see Kevin leaning over her, pulling the blankets off. "Kevin, go away…" she moaned. She felt his hands pulling her feet from the covers and heard him swear. "Damn, Michelle, don't you own any socks?" "What?…..What the hell are you talking about, Kevin?" she whined still half asleep. "Socks, I can't find any in your stuff. Don't you have any? Oh, never mind, I'll be right back," he ran from the room. Michelle curled onto her side pulling her legs up to her chest and fell back asleep. "Oh no you don't," he was back and she groaned. He pulled her legs back straight and sat down at the end of the bed. He pulled some white socks onto her feet and then stood up. "Come on, lazy ass!" he said laughing. He pulled her into a sitting position and grabbed her tank top and pulled it off over head. "Kevin, what the fuck are you doing?" Michelle's eyes snapped open and her arms went to cover her bare chest. She looked up at him fiercely to see him coming towards her with a strapless bra. "Relax, Babe, it's not like I haven't seen them before!" he said with an exaggerated wink. He pulled the bra over her and then pulled a pink top over her as well. He stood up and grabbed her arms and pulled her into a standing position. "Just what do you think you are doing?" she looked at him wildly still not comprehending what was going on. He just laughed some more as he pulled her shorts down and flung them aside. He pushed her back onto the bed and quickly pulled panties and white shorts over her legs. He pulled her back up and pulled the clothing up and into place. While he was zipping up her shorts he looked at her with a wide grin. "This is called pay back, Baby! You and me are going out to enjoy this beautiful morning." He grabbed her sneakers and quickly put them on her feet and tied them up. "Kevin, please I'm so tired. Can't we go out later," she whined some more. He dragged her towards the bathroom. On the counter was her toothbrush with toothpaste on it all ready for her. "Okay, you have as long as it takes me to piss to brush your teeth and then we are outta here!" He turned his back to her and started relieving himself. Michelle picked up the toothbrush and brought it towards her mouth. She looked up into the mirror and laughed. "Oh like I can't see you!" she said. Kevin turned his head towards her and grinned wickedly. He finished up and flushed the toilet. He bumped her aside with his hip and washed his hands. He took the toothbrush from her mouth and rinsed it off. "Let's go!" he caught her hand and dragged her from the bathroom. "Kevin, please, you're going too fast." She whined yet again. He groaned and told her to stop being a baby. When they entered the living room, Kevin ran over to the phone table and scribbled a quick note. He then grabbed his wallet, room key and sweatshirts off the end of the couch and pulled her from the suite. They entered the elevator in silence, with Michelle throwing mean glances his way. She walked over to him and grabbed his left arm and fixed her gaze on his watch. "Christ, Kevin, it's only 6:00 a.m.!! Have you lost your mind!!" He laughed and pulled her towards him, with her back to him and held her in place. He bent and leaned his head on top of hers. "This is my way of thanking you for last night." He said softly. Michelle was quiet and nodded her head. When the elevator reached the lobby they walked hand in hand out of the hotel. "Okay, boss, where are we going?" she turned to him with a smile. He looked down at her with a smile and then remembered something. "Almost forgot." He pulled a hair band from his front pocket and held it before her eyes. "Oh God, I'm out in public and never even brushed my hair!" she looked up at him and laughed. He went behind her and raked his fingers through her golden hair and gathered it into a pony tail and then slipped the band into place. "There, you'd never know." He bent and kissed her cheek and pulled her off down the street. They stopped at the only store open and got coffees to go, then they continued strolling down the street until they were standing at the dock looking up at a huge cruise ship. "God, its so big." Michelle said. Then smiling slyly, she turned and craned her head up to Kevin and said, "not as big as you though" and she burst out laughing. He grabbed her and started tickling her right side. He lifted her into his arms and ran to the edge of the dock, threatening to throw her overboard. She laughed uncontrollably and begged him to spare her. They walked arm in arm for a half hour chatting about the sites around them and anything else that came to mind. They finally found themselves along a beach and Michelle pulled Kevin towards it. The removed their shoes half way through the sand and left them there with their sweatshirts. They started to race down to the water, but Michelle complained her leg was still aching and the race was unfair. Kevin ran back to her and made her climb onto his back and he ran them both down to the water. She was holding his neck tight and had wrapped her feet around his stomach and was laughing like crazy. She couldn't remember feeling this free or enjoying herself to this extent in so long. She cocked her head to the side and planted a big wet kiss on his cheek. He swung her around so she was now facing him and teased her that she was going in the water with a splash. "No, it's freezing!" she screamed. "How do you know, you haven't even felt it yet!" he said and moved as if to throw her in. She screeched and clung to him tighter. He just laughed and walked further into the water with her and then threw them both sideways into a wave. They broke apart when they hit the water and Michelle came up sputtering and laughing so hard that she started choking. Kevin grabbed her and slapped her back gently, laughing. When she was okay, she stood up and pretended to walk away, only to run back and push him backwards into the water. He managed to grab her shirt just as he lost his balance and he pulled her under with him. They played in the ocean for a while longer and then finally dragged each other out and went and sat on their sweatshirts. "God, Kevin, I haven't had fun like that in so long. Thank you." She was trying to wring the water out of her wet shirt. He laughed and laid back on the sand and sighed happily. She fell back next to him and they both laid there absorbing the sun. "Now, I've got my cast all wet again." She commented bringing her arm up to look at it. He reached out his arm and caught hers and pulled it toward him, making her roll to her left. She propped her head up on her elbow and watched him. He gently stroked her fingers. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him smiling. He turned his head towards her and smiled, his bright green eyes sparkling. "Ah, I was just thinking about how much I enjoy your company," he replied slowly. "When I first woke up this morning, I almost died when I realized you were in my bed and we had our arms around each other. For a moment I thought we did it again. But then I remembered feeling these soft warm hands on me and hearing an angel whispering soothingly to me." He leaned towards her and kissed her gently on the lips, "Thank you, Babe." Michelle lost her smile and was concentrating on his face. She could tell something was bothering him and he was having a hard time finding the right words. She pulled her hand from him and brushed her fingertips along his cheek. "What aren't you telling me, Kevin?" He looked out to the ocean and sighed. "I'm okay, really. I know its my turn to talk openly to you about my past problems, but somehow, it's hard to put everything into words." "Just say whatever comes to your mind, and I'll sort it all out eventually," she suggested, "or if you don't feel like talking about it now, I'll understand, and I can wait". He turned his gaze back to her and smiled slowly, "Now that's what I like to hear. Everybody always expected answers right away and couldn't comprehend it if I was willing to talk one moment and silent the next. They, mostly my mom, felt they needed to know absolutely every little detail of my downward spiral, as if to justify to themselves not noticing how deeply troubled I'd gotten." "Do you really feel you've gotten most things under control? Do you still have some demons who just won't go away?" Michelle asked. "Yeah, to both questions, actually. I do feel and know I'm in control most of the time, but in the back of my mind, there is this nagging feeling that every now and then I'm not in control as much as I think I am and I get afraid it's all going to come crashing down again." he replied. "Kevin, no one is ever totally in control. There are things going on constantly that shake up our lives and make us question our decisions or sanity. God, more so in your situation. Look at you! Famous world wide, you have the demands of so many people to deal with. You are constantly under pressure to perform perfectly and look perfectly……and if you happen to be in a bad mood, everyone starts to look at you with pity and fear, thinking you'll snap again……." Michelle stopped when she felt Kevin's hand on her face. She looked down at him and saw the tears in his eyes. He sat up and grabbed her tightly. "See, this is what I knew, that you would understand without me having to go on and on and on about everything. Thank you." He said smiling now. "What about last night? You want to talk about it?" Michelle asked. "I don't really remember everything to tell you the truth. Something about missing a flight and having to walk to our next gig…..stupid," Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "That's not stupid, that's your subconscious at work. You care so much about your career and your fans, and whomever else relies on you for their livelihood, that you would do whatever you had to do to make it to the next place. I think that's admirable." Michelle said. "How'd you get so smart, huh?" Kevin stood up and pulled her up after him. "I'm not that smart, I just try to think a little more logically these days." She said brushing the sand off her legs. "Now, since you forced me out of my….. I mean, your warm bed this morning, you have to buy me breakfast, cause I'm starving!" she said picking up their damp sweatshirts. "No place fancy though!" she said laughing. They walked back into town and found an outdoor cafĂ© to breakfast at. While they ate Kevin told Michelle all about Telly and how they met six months ago when Brian dragged him into the pet shop she owned. "Doesn't she mind having you gone so often?" she asked. "Well, sure, but she knew who I was when I met her and she knows it can't be a normal relationship right now. She is great though, but refuses to join me when we're on tour. Says she can't leave her business and that she doesn't want to suffer at the hands of our fans." "What?" Michelle asked wide-eyed, "What does that mean?" Kevin chuckled and said, "That's right, you haven't experienced any of that yet. Down here, it's so peaceful and not really busy right now, so you haven't seen what happens when we get recognized. Sometimes the fans get a little jealous and treat our friends and girlfriends pretty bad. They're just trying to show their love for us, but unfortunately it hurts sometimes." "Wow, that's rough. I keep forgetting how popular you are." She said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll see her Monday when we go home and introduce you to her. I think you'll like her, she's sweet and caring." he said with a gleam in his eye. "I look forward to the woman who has captured the heart of Mr. Kevin Richardson." She said standing up. "Let's go, these wet shorts are starting to bug me."