"Ms. Richmond, you're on in 10," the crewmember, Ken, said as he leaned into my dressing room. I smiled at him through the vanity mirror as Kevyn put the finishing touches up on my makeup and Marina combed through my curls. "Okay, great! Thanks so much!"

"Nervous?" Cameron asked. I bit down hard and gave an uneasy face, "Yes. I hope it all goes well," I responded back, exhaling. "You'll do great. Everyone will love you," Cameron said, assuring me by patting my shoulders.

"You'll be fine, Ash. Just go out there and be yourself," Alisha added. I nodded and stood up adjusting the mesh sleeves on my custom Alaia little black dress. As I bent down to ruffle my hair in the mirror, a knock was heard at my door.

I turned around and was met with Oprah. "Ready Ms. Richmond?" she asked with a smile. "Ready as I'll be," I said, trying to sound confident. We walked to the stage where they mic'd me up and Oprah went out to bring the show back from a commercial break.

I heard a familiar tune as the crowd cheered and applauded. "Welcome back everybody. Next up, we welcome a very special guest for her first appearance on this show! She was introduced to the world as a beautiful young girl trying to dominate the world, now she is one of the most photographed women in the world. She's graced almost every magazine cover and worked with some of the best designers and photographers in the world. You may also have seen her strutting down the runway in all of our favorite brands, Gucci, Chanel, Dior, you name it! She is described as the woman who has it all. She is every woman, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to ASHLEY RICHMOND!!!" Oprah yelled, enthusiastically.

'I'm Every Woman,' came on by Whitney Houston and I walked out smiling and waving to everyone in the audience.

The applause in the studio became deafening as Oprah introduced Ashley. As she reached the white, fluffy couches next to Oprah's chair, she squeezed Oprah tightly before pulling back and waving to the crowd once more before sitting down.

"Oh, I'm so excited you're here! I've been wanting to meet you for so long!" Oprah said excitedly. Ashley smiled at her, "Hell, I've been wanting to meet you for so long," Ashley said, causing a laugh to roar through the audience. "I'm so excited to be here!"

"So, stand up, show us what you're wearing Miss Thang," Oprah said looking at her. Ashley laughed as she stood up and twirled around and posed as if she was on a runway. The audience and Oprah laughed as she sat down and crossed her right leg over her left. "Custom Alaia," she said softly.

"Look at you, getting custom dresses made for you. I can imagine your closet," Oprah said teasingly as Ashley laughed, nodding her head.

"Don't even get me started. My closet is probably the size of a boutique. I custom designed it so it's pretty grand and I get lost in it sometimes but it's great."

"How nice it must be to be you," Oprah said, sounding astonished. "My life has turned out pretty great and I definitely don't take anything for granted. Fame and fortune has taught me a lot, and one of the most important lessons I've learned is to not let it go to your head and keep people in your circle who will keep you grounded and humble," she answered smiling.

"On the topic of your life, let's go back to when you first started modeling," Oprah said as a headshot of Ashley popped up behind them when she was very young. "Oh no," Ashley exclaimed, covering her face in embarrassment.

"How old were you here?" Oprah asked. "Um, I believe that was when I was 14," Ashley said, biting down on her teeth. "Look at you, so little," Oprah said, "Still beautiful today."

The audience applauded in agreement as Ashley spoke. "Thank you." "So, we have a clip of your first audition at home that we wanna play. Can we play that clip?" Oprah yelled out looking around to the crewmembers.

"Why are you doing this to me," Ashley squealed in embarrassment. A video from 1974 popped up of a 5 year old Ashley strutting down the carpet in her childhood home. She was dressed in a dress with her natural curly hair and had on a pair of what looked like her mom's heels. "Daddy look!" Ashley yelled as she posed at the end of the carpet. She twirled around and flipped her curly around. She almost fell in a turn but caught herself. In the back laughter is heard and her father saying, "Go babygirl!"

Ashley walks around some more and runs into the arms of her grandfather and he kisses her cheek as her parents laughed.

The entire studio laughed as the clip ended. "Natural born model," Oprah said as everyone still laughed.

The interview went on great. Ashley was fun, charismatic, and kept the studio laughing.

"So, Ms. Richmond," Oprah said as she smirked, "I don't think I'd hear the end of it if I didn't ask, but we see you a lot with Mr. Michael Jackson and you were even in his music video for 'In The Closet', which I must say is very hot. A lot of chemistry between you two.."

Ashley chuckled and nodded, "I knew it was coming. But, um, yeah Michael and I are really good friends. We met in 1990 and over these past two years we've become really close."

"Dating?" Oprah questioned with her eyebrows raised. Ashley chuckled, "No. We're not dating. We're friends. Really good friends."

"Would you date him?" Oprah asked, smirking. "Of course, who wouldn't? Michael's a dream, on and off camera. He's a sweet and gentle man. But, I think the place we're in now is what works best for us, especially now."

"Oh, that's right he's on tour. How's that going?" Oprah asked. Ashley nodded, "Yeah, he is. I miss him but it's going great so far. He's excited to perform for his fans and of course to help the children with his philanthropic work. I haven't spoken to him in about a week because we've both been busy, but I hope he's well." Ashley answered smiling.

"Well, since you're not dating Michael, are you looking for "the one?" Oprah questioned. Ashley laughed, "At the moment, I'm not in a committed relationship but I do have someone very special in my life and as for "the one," she said in quotes, "I think I've found him," she ended winking at the camera.

"Do you want children?" Ashley cleared her throat, "I have mixed feelings about children. I would love to have children but only if it's traditional in the sense of being married to the love of my life and we're happy. I'd love to have children in that situation where the environment is happy and positive and they see their parents happily in love. I wouldn't want children if I don't have the happiness and security you know? I'd want children because we both want kids not to have a baby out of trying to "save" my relationship or marriage. I'm a little old-fashioned about marriage and kids. I see my parents and grandparents and wish to have a love like that and better."

Oprah nodded, "Well, I hope that works out for you. I'm sure your kids would be beautiful. Hey, maybe even have Michael's," Oprah said laughing.

Ashley laughed along with the audience and shrugged, "Hey! You never know."

It was another great show tonight in Germany. The crowd was alive and gave me an adrenaline rush. I had another show on the 30th in Ludwigshafen, Germany and I was excited to see the fans and perform for them.

I got back to my hotel suite around 11 PM and I was tired but I knew it was going to be another restless night. At least I had tomorrow all day to sleep despite it being my birthday.

I wish I was at home celebrating my birthday with friends and family, but here I am on tour thousands of miles from home.

Thousands of miles away from Ashley. I missed her every single day, every single moment. She constantly consumed my thoughts and I always wondered what she was up to. We talked as often as we could, but of course with me traveling and her traveling as well, it was difficult sometimes.

We hadn't talked in about a week and I missed her voice. Her laughter. I wanted to go home, but I knew I couldn't let the children and my fans down.

I sighed and got into the shower to wash away another long day before I got too sad thinking about how much I missed her.

I took a long shower and washed my hair. I crawled into bed and turned on the TV. Most of the channels were in German, but I found a couple of American channels. I ended up watching the Oprah Winfrey show.

I was looking through some of the things my fans had made for me as I heard Oprah come on the TV. "Welcome back everybody. Next up, we welcome a very special guest for her first appearance on this show! She was introduced to the world as a beautiful young girl trying to dominate the world, now she is one of the most photographed women in the world. She's graced almost every magazine cover and worked with some of the best designers and photographers in the world. You may also have seen her strutting down the runway in all of our favorite brands, Gucci, Chanel, Dior, you name it! She is described as the woman who has it all. She is every woman, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to ASHLEY RICHMOND!!!"

I stared at the TV in shock as I saw Ashley walk out and wave to the audience. I smiled at the TV looking at her. She looked so pretty. God, I missed her.

As she sat down, I eyed her biting my lip as if she could see me. I missed her body. Her soft skin and the way it rubbed against mine in our private moments. The way her hands roamed my body and clawed at my back. The way she looked up at me with a smile. Her warm breath against my ear, whispering my name like a prayer. I wanted her.

I continued to watch her interview with Oprah. As the video of her when she was 5 years old modeling for her parents and grandparents, I started laughing. She was so cute. She's always had so much character. And the thing about it, she still was the same little girl.

I chuckled watching her run into her grandpa's arm as he kissed her cheek. She's still shy, I thought.

I continued to watch as Oprah started asking questions about me. Not to sound arrogant or cocky, but I knew I'd come up sooner or later. The media was becoming obsessed with us. They wanted to know so badly what was going on between us. I watched her as her face lit up talking about me.

"Of course, who wouldn't? Michael's a dream, on and off camera. He's a sweet and gentle man. But, I think the place we're in now is what works best for us, especially now." I smiled at her talking about me. She was a dream to me. I couldn't wait for the day I could officially call her mine. I was just waiting for her to be ready, because I was. I was ready to love her forever.

I went into a daydream thinking about Ashley and I as a couple. How happy we would be and how in love we'd be.

The topic changed to kids and I watched very closely on how Ashley answered. We never talked about kids in terms of us having them, but I knew she loved them. Kids were captivated by her like they did me. Every time we'd be at restaurants, I'd look up at her and she would be waving to a little baby or some little kid. It made my heart swell every time.

She'd be an amazing mother. We'd make amazing parents. I'm going to have to have that conversation with her one night.

I finished watching Ashley's interview with Oprah. It was a good one, a good publicity move for her. And most importantly, she was herself.

One of my favorite moments was watching Ashley trying to teach Oprah and a few audience members to catwalk. She made it look so easy and flawless, but the rest of them just couldn't get it.

As the interview went off, I looked at my bedside clock. It read 12:30 AM. I sighed because I was tired but I knew I couldn't sleep if I wanted to. I stared at the phone wanting to make a call.

A few minutes later, I grabbed the phone and dialed Ashley's number I knew by heart. It was 3 PM in California so I knew she was up.

"Hello?" her voice rang through the phone. "Hi, Smiles," I said smiling. "Michael!?!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It's me."

"Omg, hi! How are you? I miss you so much!" she said, talking at a fast speed. I chuckled at her. "I'm okay. Missing you," I said softly, laying against the bed headboard. I heard her smile.

"How are you?" I asked back softly. "I'm good. I had an interview with Oprah yesterday and it went so well. I had a good time," she answered back. "I know, I just watched it."

"You did!?" she asked back excitedly, "How'd you think it went? Did I do a good job?" I chuckled at her anxious state. I knew she was biting her finger on the other side of the phone. "You did amazing Smiles."

I heard her blow out a breath, "Thanks Michael." "Of course. You looked very sexy as well," I added. I heard her chuckle through the phone. "Missing me that much?" she asked back seductively. "Of course."

"When do you come home for break?" she asked. "October, I should be back. Why?" I questioned. "Because I'll show you how much I've missed you," she whispered back to me.

I licked my lips, "I can't wait," I said, "Oh, by the way, can I have a copy of that video of you when you were 5 that they played on Oprah?"

"Oh no, not you too," she said embarrassed. I laughed, "It was so cute. You were adorable." I heard her laughter through the phone, making me smile.

We continued to talk to one another, catching up. I filled her in about the tour and certain moments that happened and also where I was at charity wise and all the children I met. She filled me in about her photoshoots and her new makeup collab she was coming out with, with her makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin.

"I can't wait till you come home to me," she said softly on the phone. Hearing her say "come home to me," was like music to my ears. "Come home to you?" I questioned smiling.

"Yeah, to me," she said back confidently. I laughed. "That sounds amazing coming out of your mouth," I said back to her and I heard her giggle.

"When you come home, I'm locking you up somewhere where no one can find you so you don't have to leave me again." I giggled at her, "I wish you could, that would be amazing. Touring is great but I miss being home. I miss you mostly," I said truthfully.

"I don't like it when you leave me," she said sadly. I frowned sadly at her sudden sad tone. "I don't like leaving you either, trust me."

"I know you don't, but I understand. You have to. It's your job and that's important to you, your fans, and the children of course," she said, sniffling a little. I hated when she was sad. It made me sad.

"Yeah, but you're just as important to me. If not, more," I said back. It went silent for a few moments. "You're important to me too Michael."

It went silent again as we both thought of each other and how important we really were to each other.

I heard talking in the background on her line. "Do you have to go?" I asked. "Um, yeah in a few. I gotta get ready, we're going out tonight."

"Oh who?" I asked. "Alisha, a few of the girls, and I," she said, shuffling around. "Wait, it's only 4 PM out there?" I questioned. "Oh no, I'm in New York! We flew here after Chicago."

"Oh, I see. Where are you guys going tonight?" I asked. "We're going to dinner and then some club in SoHo. I'm gonna get drunk because I miss you too much and it gets worse when I'm alone in bed," she said sadly but tried to hide it with a chuckle.

"Don't get all sappy on me again," I teased, trying to cheer her up. "Me? Sappy? Never!" she said laughing.

"Well, I'll let you go get ready. You have a long night ahead of you." "Okay, well it was good to hear your voice. I'll call you tomorrow if I'm not too hungover."

I laughed at her. "So, if I don't hear from you I'll know why," I said laughing, "Be safe, please."

"Always," she said back smiling. "Have a good night Ashley," I said softly. "Goodnight Michael. Sleep tight."

As I went to hang up I heard, "Wait! Michael!" I put the phone back up to my ear, "Yeah?"

"Happy birthday, birthday boy! I adore you!" She said happily. I forgot it was now my birthday my time. I laughed, "Thank you Smiles."

"Don't party too hard without me," she said teasingly, "But I'll go now. I can tell you're tired." She made a kissing noise and bid me another goodnight before we both hung up.

I slowly drifted off to a deep sleep thinking about her.