"Michael, relax. How many of things have you been to?"
Michael looked at himself in the full length mirror for the 100th time. He inspected his military style royal blue jacket to make sure nothing was out of placed. He adjusted a curl on his hair. He wondered if had the right amount of make up. Lisa Marie stood in front of him with her back towards him. She was looking at herself in the mirror. She started copying everything Michael was doing. He smiled and rolled his eyes.
"You're making fun of me, Lis?"
"I am. Because you are being crazy. You keep messing with you jacket and touching your hair. You look good." Michael looked at himself and tried to smile, but what he saw was less than what he wanted to see. He gazed at Lisa Marie's outfit and smiled in approval. She wore a peach dress. The dress stopped a few inches above her knees with slits on the side.
"You look perfect. I like your hairstyle." Lisa's hair was pinned up, exposing her neck, which momentarily distracted Michael from criticizing himself. He kissed her neck and nibbled on it, causing Lisa Marie to laugh.
"Hey! Stop. We have a listening party to attend. I heard the artist is supposed to be this musical juggernaut. A real bad ass."
"Is that right? What's his name?"
"I don't know. I think his name starts with a 'M'. You probably never heard of his music."
"Try me." Michael was easing up. His wife was the only person who could make him mellow by poking fun at him or a situation he was in. Michael started kissing Lisa's neck again.
"That feels good."
"I never heard of that song." Michael said between kisses.
"Wasn't a song. Hey! Stop." Lisa Marie turned and faced Michael. His brown eyes was so sexy to her. They were deep and held so much expression. She hugged him and kissed him on his lips. "We can finish this after the listening party of this unknown artist."
"If he's unknown, why are we going?"
"I don't know. We have nothing else better to do. Hey, we gotta be supportive of the little people."
"Is that right? Still haven't told me one of his songs."
"I think he did a song about a person named Billie and something about her jeans." Michael tried to hold in his laughter but couldn't.
"You're so silly! C'mon, let's go hear this ah, new guy's album."
"Yeah. Maybe it will make history." Michael and Lisa Marie looked at each other and started laughing.
Michael looked out the window at Chicago's skyline. It was impressive. 'Human Nature' could easily been about Chicago. He liked Chicago's skyline over New York's. He remembered as a kid his father would drive he and his brothers to Chicago for shows and auditions. When he and his brothers got signed to Motown, one of their first shows was in Chicago. The city meant something to him. The feeling of the Midwest always stayed with him. No matter where he was in the world, nothing could make him feel more homogenic than being in the Midwest. Michael watched carefully as his new music was blazing out the speakers. His family had came out and they seemed to like it. Janet was joking around with a few selected fans who were invited to the listening party, and Lisa Marie, Michael looked around for Lisa but didn't see her. Michael snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and grinned when he saw his friend and photographer, Adrian Grant.
"Michael! This album is incredible. I love 'Stranger in Moscow' and '2Bad' really great stuff!"
"Thanks." he said dryly. For some reason he could not shake the feeling people weren't feeling his album. Michael scanned the room and saw people bobbing their head and some even dancing. He couldn't remember what his other listening parties were like. He had let a quiet breath and tried to stop being so critical.
