Stay the Night

Chapter 45

December 26, 2003

Karrin cracked her eyes open, using her hand to block the light filtering in through the curtains. She felt herself struggling under an unfamiliar weight as she attempted to roll over. She glanced over to her side and--

"Michael!" She jumped up from the bed, pulling the blanket around herself.

He jolted awake. "What, why are you screaming?"

He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand and stretched. "Calm down, Kay."

"D-did we...?"She trailed off, still trying to pin down her thoughts. She knew the answer.

He nodded. "Yeah, we had sex."

"No, no, no." She shook her head, throwing down the blanket and storming off to the bathroom. She could hear Michael following her. 

Karrin turned back to face him. "We shouldn't have done that."

"You told me-"

"Yeah, I know what I said." She shook her. "You're married. We can't do that to her."

Michael scoffed. "After everything she's done? Our marriage is over."

Karrin folded her arms across her chest. "So what about your trial? Do you really want to go to family court while you're under investigation for child molestation? If she leaves you you're screwed."

"I know." Michael agreed. "But, that's a chance I'm willing to take for you."

Karrin's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"Depends on what you're thinking." He replied, mirroring her stance. "What do you want?"

Karrin shook her head. "Michael..."

"What do you want, Karrin?" He asked, stepping forward to close the space between them. 

It was wrong. She knew it was wrong. She could no longer deny that she was attracted to the man. She fought her feelings for a long time out of respect for his marriage, but her moment of weakness just started up a whole new can of worms for the two of them. 

She stared up into his eyes helplessly. "I have been hanging out with Mariah and the kids-"

"That's not what I asked." He interjected. "I asked you what you want."

Karrin leaned forward, pressing herself against him. "It's wrong..."

"Hey," He lifted her chin up so that she looked him in the eye. 

"If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right."

December 29th, 2003

Janet stared out of the window, lost in thought. Ever since she told Michael what she knew about Mariah, she felt nothing but guilt. Michael called periodically to inform her what he found out from Mariah himself, but his last few calls were extremely troubling. He told her that he would've worked to forgive Mariah for sleeping with Tommy, but after reviewing some security footage, all of that went down the drain.

Janet let out a sigh. Mariah would kill me if she knew I told him. 

Her conscious was weighing heavily on her. She and Marlon had worked hard to help Michael and Mariah navigate their issues to give their brother some stability. Mariah seemed like a perfect fit for their brother at the time, but the marriage to Tommy had ruined her to a certain extent. With both parties having questionable mental health, it would seem for the best that the two split. Yet, Janet didn't want to be in the middle of it all.