The Online Experience

January 14, 1996

Sinking back farther into the unfamiliar white couch I let my eyes close and head rest back against the soft material as Mayte continued to aggressively pace the room; I'm tired of watching her little tantrum. My left hand rubs my temple as her sharp voice continued through what had quickly started to feel like an endless rant, that was in no way going to change my mind.

"I can't believe you. You know dancing is my life and now you'r just going to sit there and tell me you don't want me dancing in your shows anymore? What the fuck is that about." Arguing was starting to become the norm between us, it's exhausting. Lately we've been become exhausting.

"Please, tell me how it's going to look," opening my eyes and focusing my heated gaze on her, "if I have my wife prancing around on stage in barely any clothes. You know how that's going to look and what's going to be said about us, about our marriage, but most importantly about you."

"Oh but it's been fine for me to do that up until now? For the better part of four years Prince." Crossing her arms and standing with one hip jutting out, expectantly waiting my response.

"Don't call me that, you know that's not my name anymore." Sitting in this sterile feeling hotel in the middle of Tokyo is not where I wanted to have this conversation, but that's where it's happening.  We were spending this month here making up a few shows that got cancelled last June and for whatever reason I'd made the mistake of telling Mayte I didn't want my wife grinding up on stage with me.  I knew she'd be upset, but I thought she would at least be reasonable. She is currently proving me wrong.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to call you?" Her eyes were focused squarely on mine, an attempt at intimidation I could only assume, but she was no good at it. "Fuck it maybe I'll just catch a flight back to New York." She lifts an eyebrow at me, punctuating her words. There's a tension in my body at her remark, but you'd never know it from looking at me. She thinks she's being cute. She thinks she's being sneaky. Maybe she's forgotten who she's talking to.

"Now there you go again with New York. What's really there?" Her eyes were no longer trying to intimidate, in fact they were looking at anything other than me in this cookie cutter suite. Her body language softens as her arms fell to her sides and she straightens her posture slightly. "New York, remind me now, that's where you said you spent Thanksgiving with your family, but I know damn well you ain't got no family there." She huffed and walked out of the suite's sitting room and into the large living room.  Springing from the couch I follow her into the other room; I'm done with this shit. "Then after the VH1 performance you stayed in NewYork and spent half of December there. Christmas Shopping I think it was that time." Cocking my eye brow at her she threw an annoyed glance at me over her small shoulder before storming off yet again, this time into the master bedroom. "So now," walking in to find her sitting at the opulent vanity with her back to me, nervously shuffling through her makeup, "here we are in Tokyo and you are threatening to go back, not home," standing behind her, bringing my arms down on either side of her, resting my hands on the table and trapping her on the bench, "but to New York." My left thumb stretches over to play with her engagement ring, twisting it slightly along the curve of her finger. "So I'm going to ask you again, what is in New York?"  Our eyes meet in the bright mirror in front of us and her eyes tell me she can clearly see the rage and suspicion that's been simmering just under my surface for months now starting to bubble to the top. Her lips move as if words were teetering on coming out and I could almost see the words running behind her eyes, trying to find the right thing to say; the truth doesn't take this long. "Whatever game you think your running, remember I've probably done it before," her eyes grew bigger than I'd ever seen, "so think carefully mama, because I'm gonna know when you lie to me." Her young eyes left mine, shifting nervously over the top of the vanity as I remove my arms from around her frozen form.