Ebony&Ivory-Chapter 19

*A few days later, they got onto the tour bus*

Illust: *looking out of the window, glancing at the scenery; it was her vry first time on a tour bus*

Luke: Man, I love being on the road

Anita: It is rather exciting, n looks like Illust is having fun

Illust: *laughed with Leo as she pointed at a group of sorority girls n frat boys whooping n flailing their arms at them in a roofless Mercedes*

Luke: *turns on the stereo, it's an oldies station*

Illust: *started a contest of counting cars with Leo. She picked black cars while Leo picked white cars*

Anita: Any idea where we're going first?

Luke: First Concert is at Seattle

Tom: Ah, nice plc. Great steaks there, I heard

Leo: And the Space Needle

Illust: Space Needle?

Luke: It's a famous attraction there

Illust: Oh, I'd like to go there

Luke: *takes a deep breath, really anxious

Anita: Easy does it, love *puts her arms ard him* U'll be fine

Luke: I know

Anita: *kisses his cheek* U will knock 'em dead. I'm sure of it

Illust: *giggled quietly with Leo at Anita's affection to Luke*

Leo: ^_^

Luke: *does air piano*

Illust: *crept up to him n looked ovr him frm behind* Wht r u doing, Luke?

Luke: Mentally practicing ^^

Illust: Ah, tht sounds like fun

Anita: We all do tht to keep ourselves reminded of our songs, Illust luv

Leo: It helps him calm down.

Illust: *watches Luke do his thing*

Luke: *starts to singing Smooth Criminal*

Anita: *sang along with him*

Illust: *does too, providing the second voice*

Leo: You doing some new MJ covers?

Luke: Yep. I'm adding Smooth Criminal and Earth Song

Illust: Will I get to sing as well?

Luke: That's what I want to talk to you about. There's a song I did on my first album that was a duet with Michael...I was wondering if you want to sing his parts

Illust: M-Me...? Singing Papa Bubbles' lines...? I...I dunno if I could... *blushes in excitement*

Luke: *hands her an ipod with the songs

Illust: *takes the ipod n listened to the song he mentioned*

Luke: that's our set list

Illust: So...which one is the one u duet with him? *searches the ipod*

Luke: *shows her* That one. *It says Together*

Illust: *pressed play n listened to it, waiting for MJ's part*

Luke: we wrote it together. It became a top 5 hit

Illust: *smiles as she listened* It sounds heavenly

Luke: I know ^^

Illust: I'll...I'll try my best. Got the lyrics?

Luke: *hands her the lyrics sheet

Illust: *takes the lyrics sheet n the ipod n was soon sitting at the bk of the bus learning her lines seriously*

Anita: She'll make a fine singer like her mother n her grandfather, though I suppose she also has her artistic side, probably thanks to ur sister-in-law

Luke: ^^ Got that right *an Elvis song comes on

Anita: *turns to hear it* Oh, "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You", it's my favourite!

Illust: *didn't hear because she was concentrating on the song n had the ipod earphones on*

Luke: *listens in* I like Crying in the Chapel

Tom: I like Blue Suede Shoes and A Little Less Conversation

Luke: Hey, Illust. *taps her shoulder

Illust: *looks up at him n takes off the earphones* Hmm?

Luke: I want to you listen to your grandfather

Illust: Oh, OK *pauses the ipod n listened*

Luke: *it goes to Heartbreak Hotel*

Illust: *listens to Elvis, a sparkle in her eye* Wow, tht's...how my grandpa sounds like?

Luke: Of course, he's the king of rock n roll

Illust: *bobs her head to the music*

Luke: There ya go

Illust: I like him

Luke: He's also a big influence on me

Illust: *listened till the song ended before returning to her song in the ipod, learning it in pure concentration*

Luke: hehe

Anita: She's definitely got ur brother's determination

Luke: She sure does

*aftr a couple of hours, they soon reached Seattle, where there was a welcoming party of fans on both sides of the road screaming n waving banners n posters at them*

Tom: Woah, would u look at tht?

Anita: Fiesty as usual

Illust: *didnt notice since she tired herself out practicing n fell asleep with her earphones on*

Luke: *opens a window* hey! You know the way to the Luke Oliva concert!?

*the fans screamed out the name of the plc before cheering like mad men and women*

Luke: *waves out to the fans

*the fans chased behind the bus before they were blocked by traffic control police as the bus drove all the way towards their hotel*

Luke: Man, this is nuts *gets a call from the label* yea...O_O No way...thanks *hangs up* whoa

Anita: *turns to him as she turned off the ipod n carried the sleeping Illust in*

Luke: they said I debuted at #1...with 1.5 million copies sold in one week

*all the crew of the bus cheered n whooped, clapping n patting Luke's back*

Anita: Shh~! *gestured at the sleeping Illust in her arms*

Luke: And the reviews are unamious!

Tom: Tht is just wonderful news, Luke

Anita: *carries Illust to the bedroom to sleep*

Crew 1: Poor girl. Worked so hard to be the best for u, Luke

Luke: *nods, sitting down to recover from the shock*

Crew 2: Let's celebrate~! Room service~! *rushes to the phone to call for food n drinks up*

Luke: *tries to settle himself down*

Tom: Dont get it too much in ur head *pats his shoulder* Just relax n knw tht the fans love u

Luke: Okay

*soon room service came in n brought the food n drinks in which everyone toasted to Luke*

Anita: To ur success n many more!

Luke: *sips his soda

Everyone: Hear ye, hear ye! *sips their drinks as well*

Luke: *goes to check on his niece

Illust: *still asleep, sucking her thumb*

Luke: *kisses her forehead and gets a blanket over her

Tom: Still asleep? Leo's asking for her

Luke: She's exhausted

Tom: Ah, OK. He was just a little worried. Do u knw he calls her Princess behind her bk? *grins*

Luke: really?

Tom: Yup. Just like how MJ n his kids call her

Luke: That's right

Tom: He seems to reli like her, n I heard Valentines Day is close

Luke: He's getting her something. He told me

Tom: Yup, bt he wont say wht. He's afraid we might expose it to Illust

Crew 1: Guys! Guys! Chk out the E-News!

Luke: What is it? *comes out to check it*

Crew 2: *turns up the volume*

TV: This just in on E-News. One of our sources revealed tht there had been a leak in the footage for the planned movie This Is It by Kenny Ortega. This is the shocking footage taken ard midnight before the day of Michael's death in the Staples Center

*the footage showed Illust, wen she was still a street kid, somehow entering the Center, looking ard to make sure no one was in before sitting at the edge of the stage, looking up at the ceiling, then while dangling her legs, she sang You Are Not Alone, bt vry badly at tht time*

Luke: Illust?

Voice in the footage: Aww, damn I thought I lost the camera...Hey! Hey kid, wht r u doing here?!

Michael's voice: P...Princess?

*Illust looked shocked as she leapt off stage n ran away, with the last of the footage showing MJ running aftr her*

Luke: He did see her. That's what he meant...when he died

TV: The footage showed tht the mysterious girl is none other than Illust, the niece of Lucas Oliva. Wht is her connection with the King of Pop n how did he knw abt her? Stay tuned as we find out the truth

Anita: Oh no, this is bad. No one knws abt Illust n her connection with Mike, or her connection with Lisa. If the media finds out abt this...

Crew 1: Woah! Chk it out *points at his laptop* It's even all ovr YouTube!

Luke: They know she's the daughter of my late brother.

Anita: Yes, bt it wont last long. Soon they will figure out the connection of her towards Lisa, n it'll eventually spawn up to Michael. U knw how the media is

Luke: *calls Lisa about the problem

Lisa: *picks up the phone* Hey, Luke

Luke: You noticed the problem we have?

Lisa: Yeah, I knw. I just saw E-News. Damn, how did they get the footage, n with Mike calling her by her nickname no less. They're gonna start linking things together

Luke: Should we beat them to the punch?:

Lisa: I guess we should. But how? I was so shocked to see this tht I'm at wits end right now

Luke: You gotta tell your label to redo the contract or else, we're screwed

Lisa: R...Redo the contract? How? If they redo the contract n allow me to visit Illust, the media is going to find out tht I'm her real mother, then...then they'll tie it all dwn to Mike n twist everything again

Luke: Let them allow you to make contact with your daughter, not if I send them the facts first.

Lisa: Umm...OK...Well, I'll bring my agents ovr to ur plc aftr ur concert tomorrow. They'll need more convincing than frm me. Where r u staying?

Luke: The Seattle Main Hotel

Lisa: OK. I'll be there tomorrow aftr ur concert then

Luke: thanks, sis.

Lisa: No big *hangs up*

Anita: Well? How'd it go?

Luke: *hangs up his phone* She's gonna talk it out with her label

Anita: Tht's good. Let's just hope everything will turn out fine

Luke: Me too

Crew 1: Woah, it's all ovr the net. This thing's gone viral now. N look at the comments!

Luke: This is out of control

Luke: We gotta get the clips offline asap

Crew 2: Bt then it'll incur more suspicion frm the press, wouldnt it?

Luke: that's true. Damn it!

Anita: I think we just leave it as it is, wait for Lisa to renew her contract then maybe make a press conference or something

Luke: Let me think on it. *heads to the music room, to let out some steam*

Anita: *watched him leave n sighed*

Luke: *sits by his piano, upset* What to do now. *starts to play Mad World* Man *hits the keys and stops playing*

Illust-chan: *wakes up to get a drink wen she heard the piano n came in* L...Luke...?

Luke: Oh Illust. Sorry, just found something online

Illust: Wht is it?

Luke: You...singing at Michael's rehersals

Illust: Wht...? I...I dont remember tht...

Luke: what are you sure?

Illust: I remember mostly of Papa Bubbles' funeral n tht I tried to sneak to see his coffin bt... *a splitting headache hit her* Ahh! *held her head*

Luke: *rushes to her* what's wrong?

Illust: I...I dunno...I... *images of her on the stage like in the footage hit her, making her double ovr* Ahh!!

Luke: Anita!!

Anita: *rushes in* Wht's wrong?

Luke: She's having a headache. I think she's remembering

Anita: Oh my, we better let her lie dwn *carries her to the bedroom*

Luke: *Follows her8

Anita: *lays her on bedroom* U might wanna get a cold towel for her head, love

Luke: *goes and gets the rag*

Illust: *groans as the headache subsided*

Luke: *places it on her head* Shhh

Illust: M...My head hurts reli bad...

Luke: Seems the memory's trying to come back

Anita: Easy does it, girl *strokes her hair*

Luke: *sighs heavily* We gotta get the clip off

Anita: U sure? It's gonna make ppl think we're hiding something

Luke: I know..but still

Anita: *sighs n tries to ease Illust's headache*

Luke: I'll make sure they restrict the clip to only certain sites

Anita: I guess ur right abt tht. Dont want to start off a whole frenzy, or else Kenny is gonna hv trouble for the movie

Luke: *Starts calling the press about the leak*

Illust: *massaged her head* Mmh...I think...I'm remembering something

Luke: You do?

Illust: Yeah...It's hazy bt...I think I remember being at the rehearsal or something...

Luke: You were singing a song and someone chased you away

Luke: Not to mention, Michael caught sight of you

Illust: I...I think I remember being chased or something, n a voice calling me 'Princess'

Luke: That was Michael. Only he called you Princess

Illust: *massaged her head* W...Why couldnt I remember this earlier?

Luke: The accident, probably. *gets a call* Yea? You got it under control? Thanks! *hangs up* It was the label. they managed to get the leak under control of the footage

Anita: *sighs in relief* Phew, thank goodness. The last thing we need is this to ruin the tour n Kenny's movie

Luke: *smiles at his niece and pats her head*

Illust: *smiles bk at him*

Luke: I asked the crew and they were wondering...do you wanna be a back-up singer?

Illust: O_O M-Me? F-For real?

Luke: *nods* You're way better than before and you're in tune.

Anita: He's right, luv. Sides, it'll be a good training for u if u wanna start making ur own album

Luke: I mean, you know the singer Sheryl Crow?

Illust: *thinks a little* I think so. I've heard her song in some of ur CD collection

Luke: She started out a back-up singer for him on the Bad tour

Illust: She did? She actually sang with Papa Bubbles?

Anita: Yup, she did. And now look at her. A real artist of her own

Luke: ^^ yep yep

Illust: Yes! Yes, I will do it! I wanna do it! *pink with excitement*

Luke: *picks her up and hugs her*

Illust: *giggled*

Anita; *chuckled at the sight*

Luke: Let's head to reherasal

Illust: *nodded happily*