"How will I know if he really loves me?"
Jermaine huffed as he looked back at his sister, "Come on, girl, walk up. You're gonna make me late for this studio session, ya know."
Janet rolled her eyes as she picked up her pace, not even bothering to respond to her brother. She followed behind him more closely, no longer wanting to hear him fuss. She got tricked into coming along to his studio session as she was under the impression that they were just going to hang out as siblings. He brought her along just to show off that he, too, was working on a project just as she recently had started on her third album.
As they approached the appropriate studio, Jermaine opened the door, letting Janet in. She took in her surroundings as a familiar place. Her eyes diverted straight to the woman in the booth. Her eyes closed tightly as notes flowed from her mouth like honey flowing from a pot, irresistibly smooth. Her hair was cut very low, small baby curls sprang from her scalp. She wore a white tank top covered in black polka dots tucked into her blue jean shorts. Her mid-high socks peered over the gray tennis shoes she wore. Janet caught herself particularly focused on this woman. She'd never seen her around, not at any party, not on the cover of any record, not even on TV. She immediately began to wonder about this mystery woman.
She was so focused, she didn't even realize her brother was greeting the two men who had been in the studio.
"Thank you again, Mr. Jackson, for agreeing to work on this collaboration with Whitney. She's my newest talent," the man Janet knew as Clive Davis said to Jermaine as he shook his head.
"Of course, Mr. Davis. You can call me Jermaine. It's my pleasure, she's a great talent. Oh, I also brought my little sister with me," Jermaine smiled and tugged on Janet's sleeve, signaling her to greet the man.
"Hi, Mr. Davis, it's nice to meet you," Janet plastered the best smile on her face that she could.
"Of course, little Janet. Nice to meet you as well, dear."
As the song ended, the woman behind the glass awoke from her musical trance and opened her eyes. She seemed to be star-struck as she laid eyes on the man before her. A face of pure excitement took over her, but she quickly gathered herself. She emerged from the studio and graciously introduced herself as Whitney Houston to Jermaine and his little sister.
Jermaine took the woman's hand a small kiss on it. He looked up into her eyes and watched as the color on her cheeks deepened as she blushed. Janet rolled her eyes. She wanted to make a 'yuck' sound but she knew better to hold her tongue.
"Janet, don't be rude, introduce yourself to Whitney," Jermaine scolded his sister.
"Oh— there's no need. Of course, I know who she is. I'm glad you decided to come along with Jermaine. It must be my lucky day meeting two Jacksons at once," Whitney laughed.
Janet reached out her hand to shake Whitney's, and a waft of some kind of sweet-smelling hand lotion filled her nose as their hands shook. Janet cleared her throat as she took her hand away from Whitney's smooth palm. "It's my pleasure."
Whitney served her a soft smile and engaged in conversation with Jermaine and the producer. Janet watched the three of them closely as they conversed about the record they'd be recording. She watched as her brother made calculated gestures and stole touches he slyly placed on Whitney's arm as they spoke. Janet scrunched her face up. If she knew any better, she would think her brother was flirting with this... Whitney Houston. She knew Jermaine's wife would be pissed as hell seeing her husband flirting and carrying on with this woman.
~~~
"So what did you think?" Jermaine asked as he focused on the road to take Janet home to Havenhurst.
