10:15 A.M., Thursday, July 16, 2015
PLUR-MAkKikM, just outside Honolulu, HI

“What do you mean there’s a song about us?”

The distrust in the little girl’s eyes was still there. Well, she had reasons not to trust adults. She and her boyfriend had been harmed by police, courts, and Child Protective services. Ted also suspected that there was something more, something sexual, but didn’t think he should ask.

“It’s not a song about you,” the man told the two kids. “But it is a song about two people named Paul and Paula who are in love. When I met the two of you, naturally I thought about the song.”

“Can you play it for us?” This from the little boy, who Ted knew didn’t trust him either, though he made a greater effort to hide it.

“Sure.”

He led the children into the office and quickly had the song, “Hey Paula,” on YouTube. The kids listened, and then Paul asked to read the lyrics. Ted called up another video, so they could listen and read at the same time. He noted their lips moving, and was wondering if they were about to break into song when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get that,” the grown man told the kids as he headed for the front door. A glance at his smart phone showed him who it was. He answered the door and ushered the grinning teenager in. When she started to peel, though, he said something unusual.

“Keep your clothes on.”

The young woman looked at him like he had a third eye.

“There are kids here,” he explained.

“High school kids, I’m guessing.”

“No,” Ted smiled. “These would be elementary school kids, and they have their clothes on.”

The teenage girl gave the older man a sharp look.

“You’re not dipping into the kiddy pool, are you?” she asked, and Ted couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

“No, nothing like that,” he assured her. “But they will be staying here a while. You want to meet them?”

The girl agreed and together they walked back to the office. Well before they got to the door they heard the end of “Hey Paula,” though it sounded a little different, as if a whole group were singing it. Ted figured somebody had covered it and that this is what the children were listening to now.

Just as they reached the door they heard Paula saying, “One more time, but with the volume way down.” Now the song started up again, with the music quieter but the voices just as loud. The man and teenager were surprised, shocked almost, to realize that it was the two children singing, singing like they were a professional act. First the boy:

“♫♪ I’ve waited so long, for school to be through,

Paula, I can’t wait no more for you,

My love, my love. ♪♫”

Then the girl:

“♫♪ Hey Paul, I’ve been waiting for you,

Hey, hey, hey Paul, I want to marry you too,

If you love me sweet, if you... ♪♫”

“Michiko Takahashi!”

The little girl looked at her boyfriend in annoyance; it wasn’t nice to interrupt when she was singing. But when she looked where he was looking she realized that the one and only Michiko Takahashi was in the room with them. Had the rich man hired her or something?

“Hello,” the pop star said. “Ted didn’t tell me you could sing.”

The boy found his voice first.

“Is it really you?”

“I certainly hope so,” the grinning teen replied.

Paula Akron narrowed her eyes. It sure looked like Michiko Takahashi, but...

“Rock me gently,” the little girl recited, not sang. “Rock me slowly...”

Michiko knew what was expected of her, and decided that she didn’t mind.

“♫♪ Take it easy, don’t you know,

That I have never been loved like this before? ♪♫”

“Omigod, Paul, it is her!”

Paul Macon tore his eyes from the attractive teen to look at the grown man again.

“Are you a record company guy?” the little boy asked. “Are you her manager or something?”

“Nothing like that,” Ted chuckled. “I’m just a friend of Michiko, and her family.”

“Ted is being too modest,” the young pop star interjected. “When I decided I wanted to do some song from the 1970s for my school’s talent show, Ted here helped me pick one out. It was Andy Kim‘s ‘Rock Me Gently,’ and you know the rest of the story.”

Paula’s eyes went wide. “So ‘Rock Me Gently’ was already a song before you did it?”

“Oh yes,” the teenager nodded. “About half the songs on my album are covers. I’ll tell you which ones over lunch, but first, it sounds like you two are doing a cover of your own. That ‘I want to marry you too’ song?”

“Oh, well, uh...” Paul felt himself blush. “We were just screwing around and...”

“Don’t say THAT, Paul!” his girlfriend hissed.

Ted jumped back in the conversation at this point.

“Michiko Takahashi, I would like you to meet Paul Macon.”

“Nice to meet you, Paul,” the teenager said as she shook the boy’s hand.

“It’s, um, nice to meet you too, Michi ... Ms. Takahashi,” Paul replied.

“And,” Ted continued, “I’d like you to meet Paula Akron.”

“I’m happy to meet you too, Paula,” Michiko smiled as she shook the girl’s hand.

“Oh, I, uh, yeah,” Paula answered. “I mean, glad to meet you, um, Ms. Takahashi.”

“Please, call me Michiko. I’m not calling you Mr. Macon and Ms. Akron, after all.”

“It is SO COOL to meet you, Michiko!” the boy blurted.

“Yeah, yeah, this is amazing!” the girl added.

Michiko gave an all-too-childlike giggle.

“Well I’ll do my best to be cool and amazing,” she promised, looking at them again. “Two different last names; you’re not boy-girl twins, like I was thinking?”

“Paula’s my girlfriend,” Paul volunteered. “I’m her boyfriend. We’re gonna get married.”

“As soon as we’re old enough,” Paula added. “Until then we’re just living together.”

Michiko knew that the surprise showed on her face, but only for a moment. The two kids had turned to grin at each other and grasp hands, so they missed it.

“I’m guessing,” the pop star now continued, “that you have anywhere from an eight to ten year wait.”

“We’re thinking about waiting until we’re twenty-one,” the little boy told her, “so that we can drink champagne at the reception. And so our ‘rents will be out of jail.”

Michiko managed to keep the surprise off her face this time.

Paula, always ready with the numbers, added, “So that’s a twelve year wait, but it’s OK; we can live here until then. I mean, if Michaels ... if Ted can get things to work right.”

“If it doesn’t work right,” Ted put in, “it won’t be for lack of trying. I got a whole team of lawyers working on this.”

“And if it doesn’t work right,” Paul added in stern tones, “we’re running away again.”

Suddenly Michiko put two and two together.

“I heard about you two on the news!” she exclaimed. “I thought the names were familiar. Hey, everybody thinks you’re in California.”