Whenever, Wherever | Michael Jackson

Chapter 106-Stubbornness of Two

Athena had walked away from Michael with a fierce look in her eyes. She knew how things worked in their relationship; they were supposed to talk things out.

But right now, she needed to have a severe conversation with herself about why her husband thought she could be cheating. What had she done that would make him think such a thing? How had she been acting that would make him believe something so horrible? 

She knew she had been spending a lot of time with Corey, her personal trainer, but that was because she wanted to stay in shape for her man. She didn't want to become unattractive to Michael. She didn't want him to suddenly lose interest in her or cheat on her—after all, they were on tour together.

Tour life was bound to be tiring and stressful. Athena and Michael were no exemption to being tired and stressed; obviously their intimate life had taken a hit.

Michael seemed to always be in the mood, but Athena—unlike her man—would often reject him when he came onto her. She felt guilty for doing that.

It wasn't that she was rejecting him and pushing him away because she didn't want him. Whether it was because she didn't find herself attractive and didn't think he could either or because she was always tired and exhausted, she found it difficult to reach out to him in the times that she needed him the most. Or even because she was irrationally irrational and paranoid about their marriage. She couldn't shake the feeling that one day Michael would walk away and leave her like the waste of space she knew she was.

Michael was so gentle, kind, and understanding, and she had no right to keep pushing him away. She felt like a parasite, feeding off of his love and kindness while growing more detached and estranged.

She needed to fix this, or she thought she might lose him—but how she was supposed to fix the issue, was beyond her.

As the day progressed, Athena found herself in rehearsals, meetings, and more rehearsals. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Michael, all the while trying to focus on her work. She couldn't stop thinking about the argument from earlier, her cheeks burning with embarrassment and her heart aching with guilt.

As everyone dispersed, she found herself alone with Michael—who was sitting at the meeting table on the laptop, scrolling through his and Athena's combined schedule.

She bit her lip as she watched him, and it was all so beautiful to her. The facial expressions he was making, the way he titled his head in thought, the way he tapped his fingers against the table as if to make any sort of noise. It was all so amazing to her. But then again, everything about him was.

Athena got up and inched her way closer to her husband, and once close enough she casually—as if they weren't arguing hours prior—slid into his lap.

Michael's hand froze mid-scroll, and he looked up at her with a raised brow. He didn't say anything and just looked at her, his eyes questioning and searching.

After a little while of him hoping she would say something and her not saying anything, merely looking around the room avoiding his eyes, he spoke up, "So after a long work day and our argument earlier.....you come sit on me and act all innocent like nothing happened?"

Athena bit her lip and nodded her head slowly, not wanting to look up and meet his eyes just yet. She knew she was going to be in trouble for this, "I am innocent," she shrugged, her eyes looking at anything but him.

"Oh, you're innocent, huh?" Michael said, not believing her. "You come sit on me, act all innocent, and don't want to talk about the elephant in the room?"

Athena, deciding to pretend she had no idea what he was taking about, said, "Huh? Elephant?" she said with a head tilt, "There's an elephant in here? Where?" she asked, looking around the room, "I don't see an elephant."

"Athena, honey, you know what I'm talking about," Michael said, trying to keep his cool.

"Can we go home?" Athena asked, resting her head in his neck, feeling the heat of his frustration on her skin, "I need to shower."

Michael, knowing she meant home as in the hotel room, tilted his head, looking at her suspiciously, "Mm," he hummed, raising an eyebrow, "On one condition," he said, making it clear that she wasn't off the hook yet.

"Why are you so hot?" she asked innocently, curling more into his lap.

"Athena," Michael said, trying to keep his cool.

"What? It's an honest question," Athena replied, her hand moving his shirt out of the way and touching the skin of his shoulder, "You're hot."

"Babe, I'm hot because I'm frustrated and you're avoiding talking about what we need to talk about," Michael said, trying to explain it to her. 

"Baby—" Athena began, but Michael cut her off.

"No, let me finish," he said, his voice firm. "I'm frustrated because I think you're avoiding me and not being honest with me, and I need to know why."

"I'm not avoiding you," Athena protested, her voice rising slightly. "And I'm being honest."

"Then why are you so hot?" Michael asked, a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"I don't know, maybe because I'm in the same room as you and I feel your frustration," Athena shot back, her own frustration becoming more evident.

"And I can feel yours!" Michael exclaimed, his frustration rising more, "It's making me more irritated by the second, Athena!" he growled, his voice getting louder, "I love you, but your stubbornness is getting to me. You have the stubbornness of two people! We need to talk about this!"

"But I just wanna sit here," Athena sighed, "I like sitting here," she mumbled, scooting further onto his lap.

Michael sighed, relishing in having his wife so close, but his emotions were still high, "Well, if you wanna go home, you gotta get up," he said, some tension in his voice already thinking of how in the world he was supposed to get his wife, someone who was more stubborn than a mule, to talk. 

"Fine," Athena sighed and reluctantly got up, leading the way out of the room.