Human Nature

Chapter 26

"Good, I wanna do something good." She said.

She handed him a large box and he smirked. "I know what this is."

"How?"

He turned the box and pointed to a hole in the wrapping paper. "It's a Supersoaker."

She nudged him playfully. "Wait until this summer. I'm gonna get you before you get me."

December 31st, 1991 / January 1st, 1992

Mariah was sitting across from him as he made a grocery list for his assistant.

"You put champagne on the list, right?" she asked.

Michael shook his head. "I was going to ask you what you wanted. Are you sure you want champagne?"

Mariah nodded. "Uh, yeah. It's my first New Year's where I can legally drink."

"Legally?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

She batted her lashes. "It's all in the past now, dahling."

Michael shook his head. "I don't even wanna know."

She started laughing and gave him a kiss. "I'm gonna go take a nap."

He watched her go upstairs and shook his head. It was getting harder for him to control his urges and respect her wish to wait until marriage. He hoped they would get married one day, but he wasn't anywhere near ready. He had just released a new album, then there would be a tour, and Mariah's career was just beginning. There was just no room for a marriage and there probably wouldn't be for a few years. 

-

Michael went into the bedroom with the bottle of champagne in one hand, a bowl of fruit in the other. Mariah was casually flipping through channels on the TV, but he found himself somewhat entranced by her. The way her hair fell over her shoulders, the brightness of her eyes, so he forced himself to look away.

"What are you watching?" He asked, setting down the bottle.

She shrugged. "I don't know yet. We still have thirty minutes. I know, let's talk about what we want to accomplish next year."

Michael nodded as he peeled an orange. "Well, next year I'm planning on launching my own charity."

"That's beautiful. Next year, I'm going to convince Alison to go to rehab."

Michael put his arms around her shoulders. "I'll help you, if you want."

"Thanks, babe." She murmured. "What else do you want to do?"

He thought for a moment. "I want Dangerous to be the album that beats Thriller."

"It's possible. It's a great album." She agreed quietly.

She looked to be deep in thought about something.

Michael raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm just thinking about where we'll end up." She admitted.

Michael shrugged. "We're in a good place right now."

"Yeah, but...maybe I'm overthinking." She shook her head. "It'll be midnight in a few minutes. Let's turn on the countdown."

She turned the TV back on to one of the news channels.

What's with her?

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Going into 1992 stronger than we were in 1991."

"Definitely."

"5...

4...

3...

2...

1..."

He pulled her into a kiss with one arm while popping the cork off the bottle of champagne. 

"Happy New Year." Mariah said, holding out her glass.

He poured them both a glass and offered a toast. "To a positive and productive new year."

January 24th, 1992

Mariah was trying her best to remain interested in everything that was going on around her. It was the fifth day of shooting for the Remember the Time short film and she never expected to be so bored. Maybe because she was in another room watching on a monitor, but she came along to support Michael. She was impressed by the intricate choreography, but spending twelve hours in a room by herself was trying her patience. Michael was trying to accommodate her by taking breaks every two hours, but they were too short to compensate for her boredom.

I could've stayed home.

She saw Michael walking off screen, meaning it was time for another one of his breaks. She waited five minutes and he opened the door to the room.

"Hey baby. How's it going?" He bent down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

She raised an eyebrow. "I could do with a little more excitement in my life."

"Good, because I'm taking you out tonight." He reached over to eat some of her grapes. "If you want something else, you can say so. Second day in a row you haven't eaten the fruit."

She shook her head. "No, you just send too much because I've been snacking for the past hour and a half."

"Really? Oh well." He took some more grapes. "The filming should be wrapping up either today or tomorrow. Hopefully."

Mariah laughed. "Yeah, okay. If we let you, you'll be shooting for the rest of the month."

He threw a grape at her head, but she ducked. "Nice try, Applehead."

"Somebody's been talking to my sister." 

"Janet is fun." Mariah said.

He had the "guilty" look on his face and she raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, but I'm warning you. There's a kiss scene." 

She shrugged. "It's just a screen kiss, right?"

"Well, yeah. I just wanted to tell you before it happened." He explained.

She nodded. "Well, it's just a short film."

He kissed her forehead again. "Alright, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Have fun." She waved as he walked out of the room.

She turned back to the screen and watched Michael and the dancers go through the dance sequence again. It was probably the most complicated movement she'd ever seen. Then there was the kiss with Iman, who was playing an Egyptian queen. Looking at the screen, she was pissed that Tommy had rejected the duet version of the song. She was pissed with Tommy for another reason as well. He had pulled her single Can't Let Go in order to boost her album sales and her chances for a sixth number one were gone. She had been on a streak and now it was gone.

In addition to her career woes, she was having a hard time trying to figure Michael out. He was complex, but he had made it very clear that he loved her. What she didn't understand was why he hadn't proposed yet. Janet had brought it up and Mariah was starting to doubt how he really felt about her. She was starting to believe that he felt she would wait forever for him to make up his mind, but she wouldn't. She decided she would bring it up at dinner.

Tonight was the night.