Slipping Away

Chapter 46

March 16th, 1996

Mariah was deathly quiet on the drive back to Neverland. Ever since the phone call she received earlier, he could tell something was wrong, but she didn't come to him with it like she used to. He had to remind himself that Mariah had changed in certain ways, one being that she had become more closed off, and she wouldn't run to him with every problem.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He asked quietly.

She looked up and forced a smile. "Nothing, everything's fine."

"Liar." He said, folding his arms.

She sighed. "Don't worry Mike, I can handle it."

"No, I want to know what's going." He gripped her hand. "Mariah, we're a team."

She gulped before answering. "Tommy's contesting the divorce."

Michael frowned, he should've known that Tommy wouldn't just let Mariah go, especially not with him. He wanted complete control over Mariah and would do anything to get it. Mariah's phone rang again and she looked at the number before throwing it back down in her lap.

"Who is it?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "It's my mom."

He held out his hand for the phone and Mariah handed it to him. 

"Hello?"

"Who is this? I'd like to speak to my daughter."

"Hi, Pat it's Michael. Remember me?"

The other end of the line went quiet. 

"What are you doing with her? Where is Mariah?" 

He looked at Mariah, who quickly shook her head.

"She doesn't want to talk to you." He said. "She's not going back to Tommy."

Mariah smiled at him and made a hand motion that she wanted him to hang up, so he did.

"Thank you." She took back the phone. "I already knew what she was calling about. It's almost like she cares more about Tommy than me."

"I doubt that's true, but there has to be a reason why she's been so adamant about you two being together." He had to admit, he found it odd that Pat was protective over Tommy to the point of dismissing Mariah's pain to keep the relationship going. 

Mariah sighed. "I don't understand either. It's stressful, you'd think she'd want to see me happy."

He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "If it means anything, I want to see you happy."

She rested her head on his chest. "It means everything to me. I-I love you."

Michael wrapped his arm tighter around her waist and gave her a chaste kiss on her lips. "I love you more."

March 31st, 1996

Janet was so irritated. She couldn't believe that Tommy had the audacity to contest the divorce after everything he had put Mariah though. She was even more furious with the fact that Mariah's mother was testifying in his favor.

So of course, Janet had slicked her hair back and thrown on a pantsuit so that she could testify for Mariah. If Tommy was going to play hardball, then Janet was going serve right back.

The car was waiting out front with Michael and Mariah sitting in the back. Janet slipped into the back with them and Michael handed her a coffee. She knew she shouldn't have been so heated at six in the morning, but she couldn't help it.