Human Nature

Chapter 10

September 11th, 1990

"Okay, you were right, B"

Mariah had finally moved out of her tiny apartment into a more affluent area of New York. She now had a nice little penthouse to call home. She wasn't too high up, the building only had three floors, but she didn't mind. She loved the view.

Brenda laughed. "Girl, I better be right. You were gone for damn near a month, and didn't even call me."

Mariah hugged her. "I'm sorry, girl. I wasn't even planning on being there all that time but I was just-"

"With your man." Brenda interjected.

Mariah nodded. "With my man. He's just so great."

"I bet, I heard he was a bit of a player back in the day. So what all did you guys do?" Brenda asked.

Mariah blushed. "Well I went out there to celebrate my single being number one so the first night we just played around in the pool and watched a movie. That's when he asked me to go steady with him."

"He's trying to put that old southern charm on ya. He is good." Her friend gave a nod.

Mariah sighed. "So then we were just spending a lot of time together unless he was in the studio. Then I just stayed in my room and watched TV. We took the train around the ranch, saw the animals, and rode on the rides. About a hundred kids from the YMCA came and he had a barbecue for them. It was really beautiful watching him connect with them."

"Really? That's so cute. Did you play with them too?"

Mariah chuckled. "Yeah, they were so excited and one kid, he's just looking around and asks Michael 'Did you pay for all of this?' Mike goes, 'Yeah' and the kid was like 'And you still have money left?' Mike is like 'yeah' then the boy is in shock."

Brenda laughed. "I bet! He has a mansion, a zoo, and an amusement park. Prince couldn't afford that!"

Mariah waved her. "Well, you know. I did notice one thing about him though."

"What?"

"He really likes his space."

Brenda raised an eyebrow. "Space? I always saw him as someone that likes being around people."

Mariah shook her head. "I wrote a lot while I was out there too, this one song is perfect."

"Already working on your second album and you haven't done a tour yet." Brenda sipped her coffee.

Mariah frowned. "I'm not touring, Tommy confirmed that."

"That's where the money is, in the touring." Brenda retorted.

Mariah rubbed her neck. "I'm scared to do it so Tommy said I'll just take a few gigs here and there while I work on my second album."

"If you say so, but more about Michael. So who did you tell?"

Mariah shrugged. "You and my mom. I don't need Alison running around trying to profit off me anymore than she is already and Morgan...I just haven't told him."

Brenda nodded. "Yeah, Alison doesn't need to know a damn thing, not even after the wedding. 'Mariah who you pregnant by?' 'I'm not pregnant I'm just fat'"

Mariah started cracking up. "Girl you crazy!"

The phone rang and Mariah reached over to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, babe." Michael said.

Mariah's face lit up. "Hey, honey."

"I had a vision of love." Brenda mouthed.