Stay the Night

Chapter 52

March 4th, 2004

Mariah was standing in the booth when Mark walked in with lunch. She sat her headphone on the music stand and walked out to greet him.

"Well hello, beautiful." He said, pulled her into a side hug.

Mariah tried to suppress her smile. "You're not so bad yourself."

She took the bag from him and walked over to the table in the corner. He followed.

"So, uh, where are your kids?" Mark asked.

"I knew you were coming so I asked my brother-in-law to babysit," Mariah explained, taking her styrofoam tray out of the bag. "They don't know Mommy and Daddy are broken up."

She took a deep breath, she was fully aware that Mark was really into her and she didn't necessarily want to break things off, but the situation was just too complicated to bring another person in until she was completely sure about where she stood with Michael.

"Nobody knows," Mark noted. "So are you just going to put your life on hold for him?"

Mariah sighed. "It's just very complicated. The media are already eating him alive, I can't leave now. He needs me."

"That's very selfless of you. I admire that." Mark flashed a smile before growing serious again. "But, I don't think it's fair that we have to sneak around because he's caught up in some bad press. Maybe the guy should stop hanging around kids so much."

Mariah paused. "Watch it. He's still the father of my kids."

"You never found that weird though?" Mark asked. "He's like a man child. How does a man who still thinks he's a kid, raise kids?"

"See, you're caught up in the image of Michael. He's not like that in reality, that's just the side he shows to the public." Mariah justified. "The Michael that I deal with and the one everybody else sees, not even close."

"But why that side? Why purposely make yourself a target?" Mark questioned. 

She set her fork down and folded her hands. "Mark, if you want to make this work, you're going to have to respect him as the father of my kids. I don't know why he does most of the things he does, but I don't appreciate your tone."

She eyed him carefully, waiting to see what his next move would be. She didn't have much experience with men so she truly didn't know what to expect.

"I apologize," Mark conceded. "It's just so frustrating for me as your manager because there's so much that me and Benny have to clean up because of your association with him. If you two weren't married I can guarantee that your last album would've sold twice what it did. And on a personal level, I hear the songs you're writing."

Mark leaned in. "You don't deserve to be hurt like that. The fact that you have to put your life on hold for him is just not fair to me."

"I can see how you see it that way," Mariah replied. "But we have kids. I don't want them to grow up one day and then see people on the internet calling their dad a pedophile. They love that man, and they don't deserve that. So if I have to be discreet or put a brave face and pretend like he still loves me then I will, for them."

"So what about us?" Mark inquired. "We can't be together or what?"

"That depends on you." She quipped. "It's not an easy situation, but if you think you can handle it, be my guest."

Mark smirked. 

"Bring it on."

March 8th, 2004