Slipping Away

Chapter 28

June 15th, 1995

Michael was backstage with Lisa Marie after their highly anticipated interview with Diane Sawyer. He could tell by her silence that she was angry with him, but he didn't understand why. He felt that he had answered all of Diane Sawyer's questions respectfully, no matter how invasive or rude she came across. 

"What is it?"

Lisa sighed. "Those questions, defending you from being a child molester. That woman was looking at me like I was an idiot."

"No she wasn't." Michael said, shaking his head. "If anything, she was judging me."

"It's kind of hard not to..." Lisa muttered.

He paused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lisa sighed. "Michael, you put yourself in the position to be accused. Why were you in the bed with those kids?"

"I told you before, I didn't touch that kid." He spat, turning away from her.

Lisa sighed. "I know you didn't, but why would you even leave yourself open to that? That was really stupid of you."

He could hear Mariah's voice ringing in his ears. 

"You don't think, that's how we end up with people like that in our house."

He turned back to Lisa, frowning. "What I do is none of your business."

Lisa sprung up from her chair. "How can you say that? Of course it's my business. You're my husband. You're my business."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting to hear from you, since any other time you act like I'm not your husband."

"I'm starting to rethink this marriage." Lisa said and then quickly fled the room.

June 14th, 1995

Mariah turned off the TV, chuckling to herself. Michael was still the goofball she had met five years ago, but she couldn't believe that he had put bunny ears behind his wife's head on Primetime. It almost reminded her of the Oprah interview that she and Michael had done after their engagement, but there was something off about their chemistry. 

She also hated seeing him having to answer those questions about the allegations when he hadn't done anything wrong. Also, watching Lisa's facial expressions while Diane was talking was all Mariah needed to do to know that she was silently agreeing with Diane's point of view with Michael being firmer with the kids being in his bed. 

Mariah, who had been around much longer than Lisa, knew that Michael never really thought about it when the kids slept in the bed with them. They would come to watch movies with them and then fall asleep near the foot of the bed and Michael would throw a blanket over them so as not to disturb them. It had given her a glimpse into how he would be as a father.

She also wondered why Lisa Marie wasn't already pregnant. She had wanted to ask when they had visited, but she didn't want to be rude. Lisa Marie seemed to already had formed an opinion of her, but she couldn't blame her. Mariah had, from the outside looking in, abandoned her fiance while he was in rehab and married someone he had already suspected her cheating on him with without a word. She looked cold, heartless and selfish, and that's how she felt. She was only thinking of herself and now she was being punished.

"What are you doing?"

Mariah sighed. "Watching TV."

"You watched the Jacksons' Diane Sawyer interview?" Tommy inquired.

Mariah nodded. "Yeah, there was nothing else on."

"How did they do?"

"They acted like a married couple." She shrugged. "Nothing extraordinary about it."

"You almost sound disappointed." Tommy taunted. "You want him back that bad, huh?"

"I'm over him." She huffed.

Tommy laughed. "Are you? You're clearly jealous of his wife."

"I'm happy for them." She muttered, tired of Tommy's games. He liked taunting her.

"I don't blame you, though. Lisa Marie is definitely hotter than you, who wouldn't be mad to see their ex upgrade? Especially like that. She's got the looks, the notoriety, she's perfect for him actually."

Mariah gritted her teeth. "They look happy."

"I wonder if I could've gotten someone as beautiful as Lisa Marie." Tommy mused, then looked over at her with an uninterested expression. "I suppose you'll have to do."

"You chased me for five years-"

Tommy shook his head. "If I remember correctly, you asked me to marry you. Not the other way around."

"I..." She sighed again. In a way, she had asked Tommy to marry her by telling him that she was willing under her mother's instructions. 

"Exactly. You know, after dealing with you for almost two years I can almost see why Michael turned to drugs. You're not helpful to anyone, you just leech off of everyone around you." He said.

Mariah raised an eyebrow. "How is that if I pay half the bills in this house?"

"Who signs the checks you get? That's not what I meant anyway, not that you're smart enough to know that. An emotional leech. You always try to make everyone around you miserable because you're miserable."

"That's ridiculous.  I was happy when I was with Michael." She snapped.

Noticing Tommy's changed facial expression, she had said the wrong thing. She got up from the bed and ran down the hall. 

He followed her and she had run into a dead end at the end of the hallway. "Oh, so you're not happy here?"

If you keep letting him scare you, he's going to keep doing it. 

She stood up straight and looked him deep in the eyes. "No, I'm not. I can't keep-"

She let out a squeak of surprise as Tommy grabbed her by the hair and slammed her face into the hall mirror. "Can't keep what?"

"Nothing." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

He let her go and she stumbled backwards, rubbing her face. The mirror was cracked, but she managed to escape with no cuts to the face.

"Learn your place. I made you, you are nothing without me. Got that?" 

She nodded, shrinking away from him.

"Whitney Houston sings better anyway." He turned on his heel and went back to the bedroom.

She sunk to the floor, shaken. She needed Tommy more than he needed her and he would always have control over her. He was her husband, her boss, he was in every practical sense, her owner.