Athena Tyler and Michael Jackson are married to people they don't belong with. The history between Michael and Athena isn't complicated; they met on We Are The World, sparks flew, but they never stayed in contact.
When their respective spouses sugg...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Friday, JANUARY 6th, 1995
"Athena!" Michael called out as he looked for her throughout the house, "Baby! Where are you, sweetheart?!"
"Slowly dying," Athena replied from somewhere outside of the house.
She had managed to find her way to the backyard, lying on a lounge chair with her eyes closed and a towel over her head, of course directly in the sun. Her sunburn was gone and she had a tan from consistently being in the sun every day.
When she was younger, she would get really nice tans because she was constantly in the sun and outside. But as she grew older, she was in the sun less and less—something that had made her skin become less tolerant of the sun. So after that sunburn all those months ago, she decided she was determined enough to get her skin back to the way it was when she was younger—tolerant of the sun.
"My uterus is trying to escape, Michael!' she groaned, "Can I please get a hysterectomy?!"
"A hysterectomy?!" Michael screeched, "Excuse me, woman, but you are not about to go under the knife for some period pains! I will not approve that!"
"Uggh!" Athena groaned, "Why?"
"Because your period pains are not a reason for a hysterectomy, Athena," Michael said, clearly frustrated, "And do you have any idea how many complications could arise from removing your entire uterus?!"
"But my uterus is trying to kill me, and I'm sick of the pain," Athena whined, flipping over to her stomach and looking at Michael with a pleading expression, "Please, baby?"
Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool, then he looked at her again, "Baby, no. You're not doing that to your body without my permission. We make decisions about each other—including what happens to our bodies—together," he said firmly, "And even then, I'm not sure if I would allow it."
Athena cracked open one eye and peeked out from under the towel. With a roll of her eyes, she said, "I just really don't want to have a baby, okay?"
"Well, we can work on that," Michael said with a smirk, "But first things first, Miss....Shaki, let me give you a good reason to come back inside."
With that, Michael began to slide his hand slowly up Athena's leg, causing her to squirm, "No, no, no!" she protested, "You can't do that! I'm dying here!"
"Ugh, fine," Michael huffed, "But no hysterectomy!"
February 27th, 1995
In Paisley Park, Lizzo ran around the house, trying to figure out how she was supposed to contact Athena. Many may be thinking: Well, why doesn't she just call Athena? She has a cell phone, right?
Fair point, but Lizzo cannot do that because she dropped her phone in the toilet and now it's sitting in rice, Prince—her loving fiancé—doesn't have a phone—and Lizzo can't use the house phone because she doesn't know Athena's or Michael's phone number by heart.
"Prince!" she finally yelled, "I need to use your jet! I dropped my phone in the toilet and we have no way of contacting anyone to tell them about the wedding tomorrow!"
Prince turned around, looking at Lizzo with a mix of surprise and amusement. He knew she could be quite the scatterbrain at times, but he couldn't help but chuckle at her current predicament, "Okay, Lizzo, honey—let's just calm down," he said as he stood up from his spot, "We'll find a solution. You've got your phone in rice, right? We'll just let it dry out and then you can try calling them. As for the house phone, I'm sure we can find Athena's number somewhere in my office or studio."
Lizzo only panicked more, "But what if they don't answer?! What if Athena doesn't have cell reception?! What if Michael doesn't want us to call and he's mad at us?!" she gestured around wildly, seeking reassurance.
"Babe," Prince sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why would Michael and Athena be mad at us?"
"I don't know," Lizzo mumbled, her panicked expression slowly fading as she realized her own irrational thoughts, then her face slowly morphed back to panic, "But, babe! What if Athena and Michael hate us and never show up to the wedding?!"
"Again, babe," Prince sighed, once again pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why would they hate us? They're like family to us, we're always involved in each others business—there is no hate between us and them; it's quite literally impossible."
Lizzo huffed a sigh and sat on the couch, "I guess you're right. We're more involved in each others business than a couple who is friends with another couple should be—but this has always worked for us, right? Or do you think we're too involved and should back off a bit?"
"I think that Athena and Michael are grown, married people—if they felt uncomfortable or deterred by our involvement, then they would say something," Prince replied as he started searching for any familiar phone numbers in his office desk, "I mean, let's be real here—Athena is not the type to let things like that go unnoticed or unsaid. She's learned to have certain boundaries since her divorce from Liam. And Michael.....well, he's pretty straight-forward when it comes to his feelings about anything."
Lizzo wanted to argue, but she knew couldn't. Prince had a very valid and reasonable point—if either Athena or Michael felt uncomfortable with how often Prince and Lizzo got involved in their lives, they would have said something.
"Okay, fair point," Lizzo sighed, "But don't you have a phone number saved in your contact list on your phone?"
"Lizzo, babe," Prince said with his hands on his hips, "I think you forget that I do not own a cell phone. You dropped yours in the toilet. And the landline doesn't save phone numbers."
