Streets of Gold - A Michael Jackson Story

Chapter 42 - Fight For Love

Michael

Wednesday August 26th, 1987 - Los Olivos, California

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

Man, what a mean wake-up call.

It's sunrise when my morning alarm rings, telling me that I actually have to get up and get ready for a long day of work. My head has been spinning all night - it's actually a miracle I managed to get any sleep. After waking up with the other side of the bed cold and empty, I'm not even in the mood to get up. I literally just wanna go back to sleep and wake up when everything is okay.

God, I miss my wife...

Yonela's warm scent still lingers on her pillow, so I grab it and hold onto it tightly, taking in the sweet and earthy aromas of musk, vanilla and raspberries. In the moment that I'm reminded that she's not here, so many things dawn on me...

There's nobody downstairs making breakfast today.

There won't be any singing coming from the kitchen when I reach it.

There won't be anybody to talk to while I have my coffee.

There won't be anybody for me to kiss goodbye before I leave.

There won't be anybody for me to call while I'm at work.

There won't be anybody for me to come home to this evening.

There won't be anybody to kiss goodnight before I go to sleep.

There won't be anybody for me to hold through the night.

With all these thoughts, it takes everything in me to pull myself up and out of bed and into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower up. I'm dressed and ready to go in about half an hour, but just as I'm about to step outside, the doorbell rings.

"Tatiana?"

"Hi, Michael," she greets me with a faint smile, holding two coffee cups and a box in her hands.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be going to rehearsal?"

"I'm on my way there," she says. "I just needed to speak with you about something first. May I come in?"

"Couldn't it wait?"

She shakes her head.

"It's a bit urgent," she says before I hesitantly make way for her to come in.

This had better be good...

"I brought coffee and croissants," she begins. "Figured I might as well buy breakfast since it could probably take a while."

"Thank you," I say to her as she places them on the kitchen counter. "What is it you wanna talk about?"

"I came to let you know that I had a conversation with Frank yesterday," she starts.

"About...?"

"We spoke about several things, but mostly how I'm expected to conduct myself while we're on tour. There's a lot of rules we discussed about my behavior on stage and offstage, and the repercussions I'll face if I bend or break any of those rules."

"Okay," I say. "So why are you here?"

"There's a contract attached to everything we discussed. He hoped I'd sign immediately, but I told him I wanted to consult with my agent first."

"And what did your agent say?"

"She referred me back to you," she says.

"Why?"