The Lady in My Life - Part 9
summary - flashback, it's 1981, you meet michael for the first time at your favorite taco shop. the beginning of your love story. (slight hint that the reader is half latina)
content - flirty, meet-cute
disclaimer: at the end of the last part i put that they met in 1982, i had to adjust it for it to make more sense in the dating timeline. it's minor but i wanted to clear that up. :) sorryyyyy for the mix up lol. happy reading!! (i did adjust the year in part 8, this disclaimer is for those who read that part when it came out)
tag list: @bl00d0nthedancefl00r @djotally @appleheadsbiggestfan @justalocalloser @mysterioussag @maybug028 @devilslittlehelper
It was a very warm summer day in Los Angeles. You and your sister decided you wanted to get food from your favorite taco shop. Luckily the walk wasn’t too far and that’s what you loved about living so close. Always easy to get to when you have a craving for it.
“I’m so happy you got that marketing job, you’re gonna do so great. You deserve this job, Jo.” You beamed, as you looped your arm through hers. “But I am gonna miss you.”
Though you were sad to know that she would be traveling a lot, you were still very happy for her. Your sister meant so much to you and all you wanted was for her to be happy. Especially since she worked so hard for this job.
“I’m gonna miss you too, but it’s a really good thing phones and planes exist, we’ll never be too far away.” She affirmed.
Once you walked in, the owner greeted both of you. The best part of the taco shop was that it was family owned, that’s how you know the food is good. And you went so often that eventually you basically became part of their family.
“Hey! How are you doing today, Mr. Gonzalez?” You asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m doing great, mija. How are you both today?” He responded.
Mija, you loved when he called you that. It always reminded you of your mom. A beautiful name of endearment in Spanish for “my daughter.”
“We’re good! Guess what!” You smiled.
“Jo got the job!” You exclaimed.
His eyes lit up, “mija! That’s great! I’m so happy for you.” He grinned as he came around the counter to give Joana a hug.
She smiled as she hugged him back, “thank you, Mr. Gonzalez. All the hard work paid off.”
You both sat down at a table, there was no need to order because you and Joana always ordered the same thing.
As you were chatting and waiting for your food, someone walked through the door.
That someone was Michael Jackson. He was with his head of security.
Your eyes widened slightly, you immediately noticed him since you were sitting faced in his direction while Joana had her back to him.
“Oh my God.” You whispered.
Joana raised an eyebrow at you, “what?”
You took a deep breath and kept your voice low, “Michael Jackson just walked in.”
Her eyes widened, she didn’t want to turn around to not make it obvious. “Are you sure?”
You nodded slowly; you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. You couldn’t believe he managed to find a place that was completely empty.
"Kind of hard to mistake him for someone else, Jo." You mumbled.
“Mr. Jackson, it’s so nice to see you again.” Mr. Gonzalez smiled.
You whipped your head back at Joana, both very confused. “Again?” You mouthed to each other.
Now you were both watching him. When did Michael Jackson come to this taco shop and how could you have missed him?
He smiled, “it’s nice to see you again, too, Mr. Gonzalez.”
“Do you want the enchiladas again?” Mr. Gonzalez asked.
Michael nodded. He was so good looking. You were mesmerized by him.
Mr. Gonzalez smiled, "I'll have that right up for you." He responded then walked over to the front door to lock it. "And Mr. Bray, would you like the burrito again?"
His security nodded, "yes, that sounds great."
You assumed it was so no one else could come in and bother him once they noticed it was him.
Your heart was racing. Michael must have noticed you and Joana were watching him because he turned slightly and you locked eyes. But Joana turned away before you could, lucky her, she didn’t get caught.
You quickly looked down, “shit.” You muttered under your breath.
Joana put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.
He chuckled softly as he and his security walked over to a table not too far behind you. This time your back was to him, and Joana could see his every move if she peeked over your shoulder.
Your face felt hot, it was like you could feel him staring at the back of your head.
Joana tried to peak over without making it too obvious. You shook your head at her.
She smiled at you. “He’s looking this way.” She whispered, leaning over the table.
Just a few moments later, Jorge, Mr. Gonzalez’s son walked over with your food. “Okay ladies, the usual. Carne asada fries and rolled tacos.” He smiled.
You grinned up at him, “thanks Jorge.”
He nodded and then looked over at Michael. “Mr. Jackson, Mr. Bray, your food is coming right up.”
Knowing that Michael Jackson was sitting right behind you made you far too nervous to eat. You were still in shock. Of course you were a fan, but you didn’t want to make it too obvious. You didn’t want to treat him like the huge superstar that he was, you couldn’t begin to imagine how insane it must be to constantly have people swarming you. A life with no privacy. He was just another person, trying to enjoy food in a place where no one knew he was there.
Your eyes widened even more than the first time, “is he talking to us…?” You asked, trying to keep your voice low.
Joana nodded slowly, “mhm.”
You slowly turned your head to look at him, “uh,” you chuckled nervously, “yeah.”
He smiled softly, “hmm, I’ve never seen you before.” His eyes were so hypnotizing. Beautiful brown eyes.
“We can say the same about you.” Joana blurted out.
You lightly kicked her ankle, “Jo…”
He laughed softly. “I guess we always miss each other.” He kept his eyes on you, “that’s a shame.”
Suddenly the whole room felt hot and it wasn’t because of the hot sauce you put on your fries. Your heart was pounding in your ears and you started to feel a little dizzy. What the hell was happening? You’re just in your favorite place, enjoying time with your sister but Michael Jackson just so happens to be there too. Right, that doesn’t sound insane at all. But you wanted to stay in this moment, this one moment that didn’t sound real or even feel real.
You lightly cleared your throat, “Up until now.”
His smile got wide, he was amused by you. He was attracted to you, only you didn’t know that because you were oblivious. He bit his lip. It gave you butterflies to see him smiling at you.
Jorge came back with Michael’s food. Red enchiladas. You shared a common favorite food.
“Thank you, Jorge.” Michael smiled. “How long have you been coming here?” He asked.
“I have known these two their whole lives.” Mr. Gonzalez interjected. “My favorite regulars.”
That was true. Your parents would take you and Joana so often that it ended up becoming the place you would go to every weekend. After your parents passed away, this place felt most comforting. It was where you shared so many laughs as a family.
“That’s very sweet.” He responded, his voice was so soft and sincere. “Well, maybe, we can meet here again and you can recommend other foods from the menu.”
You bit your lip. The butterflies in your stomach were going insane. You were so nervous that your palms got a bit sweaty. You wanted to speak but you couldn’t. The words weren’t coming out.
What the hell was happening right now?
Joana lightly kicked your ankle, and softly cleared her throat.
Her kick snapped you out of whatever was happening in your mind. “S-sorry. Um, sure. I… We, my sister and I, can do that.”
“Actually, my job starts on Monday, so I can’t. I’ll be very busy, I’m sorry.” She responded, she had a mischievous smirk on her face.
You turned back to look at her, “what are you doing?” You whispered.
“Just me and you then.” Michael spoke softly. There was excitement in his voice.
After you were done eating, you and Joana said your goodbyes to Mr. Gonzalez and Jorge. Joana walked over to Michael’s table and handed him a small piece of a napkin with your phone number written on it.
“That’s her phone number,” Joana said. “And if you ever want to visit her at her job…”
You blushed bright red, you quickly turned away from him. But you knew he was looking right at you.
“Oh my God, Jo, let’s go.” You spoke, still facing the door.
She laughed, and then whispered your work place to him.
You worked at Gucci on Rodeo Drive. A very popular shop, of course. It was typical for celebrities to show up there. But you definitely had never seen Michael there.
Another warm day, a part of you hated the heat. But it was worth it to live in California. You opened your bedroom window to let more air in while you finished getting ready for work. You took one last sip of coffee before you slipped on your heels and looked at yourself in the mirror.
You grabbed your purse from your bed and made your way down to the parking garage to get to your car. As soon as you turned on the radio, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” was playing. You laughed a little to yourself and shook your head. Of course he was on the radio.
Was the universe trying to tell you something?
No way, it was just a silly coincidence.
The day was going by a bit slow, you couldn’t wait to be off.
Until the last person you expected walked into the store.
He didn’t see you at first, but you immediately noticed him. It was hard not to.
He walked over to one of your coworkers, Mary, who happened to be the closest to the door. You assumed he was asking about a specific item. Until Mary looked in your direction and said, “oh, she’s right over there.”
Your eyes widened. “Oh my God.” You mumbled under your breath.
Another coworker, Angela, whispered. “How the hell do you know Michael Jackson?!”
“I don’t.” You responded. Your heart was beating what felt like a million beats per minute.
“Well he knows you!” She said, squeezing your wrist.
You both got quiet as he got closer.
He smiled at you. What a beautiful smile. “Hi again.” He said sweetly.
Angela quietly stepped away.
“Hi,” you responded, immediately you knew you were blushing. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“Oh, I come here all the time.” He giggled, then bit his lip.
You nodded and tried to hold back your smile, but you couldn’t resist, “oh, right. I guess we always miss each other. That's a shame.”
“Up until now.” He responded.
Something was happening between you two. Flirting? Perhaps but you weren’t completely sure.
You could feel Mary and Angela staring at you, and of course you were expecting them to ask what was going on as soon as Michael left. And you were sure he noticed too because his voice got lower when he was talking to you.
When you peeked over at Mary and Angela, Michael couldn't stop staring at your lips. Coated in your favorite lipstick. Cherries in the snow by Revlon.
“Would you like to get dinner with me tonight?” He asked, you could tell he was slightly nervous. “As friends, you know, only if you’d like. We can get to know each other.” He was fumbling over his words.
“Okay,” you nodded. “Sure as friends.” You grinned sweetly.
“What time are you off?” He asked.
“At 6, I should be home by 6:30 if you want to call. Ya know, since my sister generously gave you my phone number.” You playfully rolled your eyes.
He chuckled, “okay. I can do that.” He smiled even wider. “Well, I guess I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” you said almost too softly, your smile never fading away.
He waved goodbye as he made his way towards the door. You waved back.
The butterflies were coming up again. Mary and Angela rushed over to you as soon as Michael’s car drove off.
“Michael Jackson was just in this store.” Mary spoke, she was still in shock.
You nodded, still staring out the glass doors. The words you exchanged were lingering in your mind. You were so focused on the thought of going out to dinner with Michael, that Mary and Angela sounded so far away.
Angela waved a hand in your face, “how do you know Michael Jackson?!”
You quickly snapped out of it, “sorry,” you turned to look at them. “I don’t really know him.”
They looked at each other, confused, and then looked back at you each with an eyebrow raised.
“Well… Okay, we met randomly at a food place that I love to go to, and he happened to be there too.” You responded, trying to come up with a good explanation.
Mary put her hands on her hips, “that’s it? Then how does he know where you work?”
You sighed, “my sister told him. God knows why she would do that.”
“So what did he say?” Angela questioned.
Panic set in, you couldn’t tell them that you were going out to dinner with him. They were going to make a big deal out of it and it wasn’t a big deal. He asked you to go out as friends. You just met the man, of course it would be as just friends. You tried to come up with the best lie possible.
“Oh, um, he just… Uh… He wanted to um… contact someone here about finding a good time to come to the store when there weren't so many people around. Maybe he wants something for an award show, I don’t know.” You shrugged.
Your heart was racing, you were praying to the heavens that they believed the bullshit that you just told them.
Mary squinted her eyes slightly but then shrugged, “well I hope he comes back when I’m here! He is so cute!”
“Me too! He’s even cuter in person, oh my God.” Angela squealed.
You exhaled deeply. Good, they bought it.
You didn’t know why, but hearing them talk about how attractive he was brought up a bit of jealousy. Crazy to feel that way when you didn’t even know him.
As soon as 6 pm hit, you locked the store doors and rushed to get home. The warm breeze hit your skin so nicely as you drove home with the windows completely down. You had butterflies in your stomach just thinking about picking up your phone and Michael Jackson being on the other line.
You were practically sprinting to the elevator just to make it. Why did your apartment have to be on the 10th floor?
Finally, you made it to your door. You fumbled with your keys, struggling to open the door. You could hear the phone ringing.
“Shit.” You muttered, “6:30 on the dot.”
Through the struggle you managed to make it in, you immediately dropped all of your stuff on the floor and ran to the phone.
“Hello?” You were out of breath; you leaned up against the wall.
“Hi. I’m sorry, did I call at a bad time?” He asked, apologetically. He sounded so shy over the phone.
You giggled softly, “uh no, I was just struggling with my keys, and I wasn’t expecting you to call at 6:30.” You started to twirl the phone cord between your fingers.
“I guess I was being too eager,” he laughed nervously.
“Not at all, so, where are we going tonight?” You asked.
“Wherever you’d like.” He responded.
“Oh no, don’t put all this pressure on me!” You groaned playfully.
He chuckled, “we can go to Mr. Gonzalez’s, if you want. I still want a good recommendation so that I don’t get the enchiladas again. They’re my favorite, but I’m open to trying something new.”
“I’d love to, I can meet you there. I live really close.” You replied.
“A-actually,” He stuttered softly. He was getting nervous again. “I was thinking I could pick you up.”
You bit your lip, “okay…” You swooned.
And that’s how it all started. You and Michael started going to the taco shop almost every weekend if he wasn’t busy. Mr. Gonzalez would lock the door as soon as you arrived so no one would bother you. You made sure to give him a call ahead of time to see it was a good time to stop by. And Michael always made sure to pick you up. You were constantly talking on the phone. He would visit you at your apartment where you would watch movies together and play games.
Before Michael was the love of your life, he was your best friend. And even though at first everything had to be a secret for your own sanity and privacy. It was the best secret that belonged to both of you.
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