Whenever, Wherever | Michael Jackson

Chapter 42-Impossible to Convince

February 27th, 1995

Meanwhile, at Neverland Valley Ranch, Michael and Athena were scrambling around with back to back meetings all day.

They started at 7:00 AM and it was now 7:00 PM—meaning the couple had twelve hours straight of back to back meetings with business advisors, tour managers, managers, music producers, choreographers, ect.

"Babe," Michael whispered to her, "You wanna sneak away for a break? I'm exhausted. I don't think I've peed since 6:30 this morning."

"You can if you want," Athena assured with a gentle smile, "I should stay though."

Michael groaned, burying his head in her chest, "You never take a break, baby. You never rest, never stop working. You gotta give yourself a moment to breathe."

"But—" Athena began to protest, only to be silenced by a deep kiss from Michael.

As he gently pulled away, he muttered, "Let's take a walk. I'll get you some water and a snack."

"I don't want a snack," Athena sighed, trying to sound disappointed instead of relieved that he caught her gaze.

"You don't get to decide what you want, baby," he chuckled, slipping an arm around her waist to lead her out of the office, "You're always working. You need to rest. If not for yourself, than at least for me."

Athena sighed again, this time with genuine disappointment. But it was a good kind of disappointment, knowing that she was in the hands of someone who cared about her more than she cared about herself.

Granted, yes, Athena knew she should be taking better care of herself, but with her busy schedule, she barely had time to use the bathroom, let alone eat. Which of course, Michael was unaware of. He was under the assumption she was eating like he did, but he couldn't be more wrong.

Athena was a workaholic. Granted, so was Michael, but at least he took breaks and made time to eat and take care of himself. Athena did not, she prefers to get the work done now and recharge later. But she never really does recharge. She just never gets around to it.

Michael frowned as he stared at her, "You okay, baby?" he asked, "You just.....you seem off."

"Maybe you're the off one," Athena said, trying to deter the conversation away from herself, "You keep falling asleep on me!"

Michael turned to look at her with an unamused expression, "Well, excuse me!" he said sarcastically before adding in a kinder tone, "I'm tired, baby—it's been a long, long day."

"Sorry," Athena said quietly, putting her chin on his chest as she looked up at him, their height difference very apparent at that moment, "I was just joking around. I didn't want to make you mad."

Michael smiled softly, running his fingers through her hair as she leaned against him. "Hey, I'm never mad at you," he whispered, "You know that, right?"

Athena hesitated in answering. Truth be told, she did believe him—but there's always that lingering doubt in the back of her mind that keeps telling her he's mad at her for the littlest things, just like Liam was.

"I know," she finally replied, trying to hide her unease, "I'm sorry. I'm just.....it's just....."

Michael raised an eyebrow, tilting her chin up, "Just what?" he urged, "You can tell me, baby."

Athena hesitated once more, biting her lip and staring at the floor, "I just.....I just feel like I can't relax around you, you know? And it's not anything you're doing. It's what Liam did when I was married to him. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent trembling in my closet."

"Trembling in your closet?" Michael frowned.

"He would yell all the time," Athena sighed, "It scared me. Every time he was angry, he said that.....sex, was the only way to make him just.....you know, calm down—so he just did whatever he wanted," she paused, "And as for the yelling, it was a constant thing. I still get scared when someone yells—even you. I trust you, and I know you would never hurt me in any way. It's just when I hear yelling, it's like my mind transports back to that mindset—like I'm living my marriage to Liam all over again, even though I'm married to you now," she tried to explain, "Probably doesn't make any sense."

Michael frowned again, looking concerned, "I scare you when I yell?" he asked, clearly surprised.

"I don't know if it's you as much as it is me having a trigger for yelling," Athena confessed, "I understand that sometimes you do have to yell—I'm not gonna blame you for it. I mean, I love you," she added as she played with her own fingers and avoided his gaze, her eyes darting around their surrounding area.

"Sit," Michael said as he patted his lap.

"I'm not a dog," Athena argued, clearly trying to dodge the topic, but her husband persisted.

"Sit. Now."

But Athena still felt the need to argue, "No."

Michael raised an eyebrow, his voice taking on a more stern tone, "Don't argue with me, Athena. Just sit."

With that, Athena finally sighed and complied, climbing onto Michael's lap and wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. She could feel his heartbeat, steady and comforting, as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Michael asked, his hands massaging her hips and running over her ass, "I'm tempted to slap your ass. You like it when I do that, right?"

"Yeah," she murmured, shoving her face in his neck, "Please do."

Michael chuckled and gave her a playful smack on the ass, making her giggle, "You really like your ass being slapped, don't you?" he teased, still massaging her hips.

"Only by you," Athena shyly confessed, leaning into his touch, "But.....but no one else."

Michael raised an eyebrow, "I certainly hope you don't let anyone else slap your ass, Athena," he said, his voice low and serious, "It's mine."

Athena blushed and kissed his cheek, "I won't. I promise, baby," she said, "I love you."

"I love you too," Michael said with a slight frown, "Let's go inside, okay? I wanna talk about something."