Just Madam

You and Michael, naturally, were seated beside each other while the rest of your family were spread around you; but still close by.

“Does everybody have what they need?” he asked, looking around at everyone. “Because I’m telling y’all now, nobody’s getting up once this movie starts playing.”

Choruses of varying volume sounded out all around you both as affirmation was given in response to Michael’s question. Everyone had their snacks, their blankets, and toilets around the home had been used before entering the room. You securely held a big bucket of popcorn between you two while you nuzzled into his side, and he kept his arm around you while his other hand picked up the remote.

With that your husband of over forty years hit play, and you were greeted by the sound of the live version of “Wanna Be Starting Something” playing. Eventually the film started with Michael rearing to go on stage during his 1988 bad tour. From there it went back in time to the winter of 1966 Gary, where you see a child version of Michael dreamily looking out at children playing in the snow from his living room window.

“The little boy playing you is adorable,” you hushly squealed in his ear. “Just looking at him reminds me of you at that age.”

Michael chuckled, “His name is Juliano,” he whispered back, taking some popcorn in his hand and eating it. “I met everyone when filming started.”

“Oh?” you gasped, “I can only imagine what meeting you must’ve felt like.”

He remembered clearly how excited the boy had gotten upon laying eyes on Michael when he first entered the set. Excitement that’d eventually devolved itself into tears of joy as he professed to Michael being his idol. It was a confession that he’d heard for Lord knows how many times by now in his life, far too many to count. But it was always, without fail, the most heartwarming coming from a child who still had their whole life ahead of him. He’d been that child himself once, when watching James Brown in black and white on his family’s colorless television while growing up in Gary.

Being that same inspiration for the children of future generations had been greater than any award, title, or accolade he could’ve ever been given. If asked, it was his greatest achievement. Not just in his career, but in life. It was what made every late night and hardship worth it.

In the film, Michael and his brothers were rehearsing in the living room just as they used to do before their come up. They even accurately portrayed how nervous and avoidant with his eyes Michael would be when Joseph sat on the couch dissecting their routine.

Joseph kept demanding little Michael look at him and he wouldn’t, and naturally one of your younger grandchildren questioned it. “Why won’t you look at him, Grandpa?”

Without hesitating, he answered: “Because my daddy scared me, sweet pea.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see,” Michael answered before stuffing more popcorn into his mouth.

And they all did during the scene where little Michael asserted they didn’t need to rehearse more, after Joseph ordered them to when returning home late from a show; because they already “did good” and he wanted to go to bed. When he started getting whipped on screen a couple of your kids glanced at their father to see his reaction. While Joseph had mellowed out by the time they’d come around and behaved a lot calmer compared to when he raised his own kids, they’d heard stories from Michael growing up about how heavy handed of a disciplinarian their grandfather had been. It made them feel all the more fortunate that their own father had been so gentle and patient with them as kids.

Michael didn’t move a muscle, he focused on the screen as he watched a child version of himself scream and cry while being struck. Then sighed when he saw him curled up in the bathroom crying after while his mother tried to get him to unlock the door.

“That wasn’t nice!” another of the young ones exclaimed.

“That’s right, that’s why we never did it to you.” their dad, your oldest son, replied while pulling them close.

“Are you ok?” you asked him while the film bled into a montage of the Jackson 5 doing shows and contests all over Gary.

“Yeah,” he sighed, rubbing your arm and pulling you closer. After knowing him as long as you have, you could tell he meant it. By now he’d long learned to let go of that pain, it was just a tad hard viewing it from an outside lense in film. Thankfully, it hadn’t depicted the true intensity of what he’d gone through growing up.

After Suzanne de Passe introduced herself as a creative assistant from Motown Records to Joseph backstage, there was a jump to 1968; when the boys had gotten signed and began working on their debut album.

“You know that’s him singing this part?” Michael stated, during the “Who’s Loving You” studio recording scene.

“Really?” your oldest child, your daughter, responded in surprise. “He sounds just like you.”

“I thought that was you, Dad.” your youngest son stated.

“All him,” Michael shook his head, “Talented boy,”

The film soon jumped to 1971, well after they’d made their debut as the Jackson 5 and were doing shows and press all over the country. You grinned wide when you’d seen a familiar group of three girls, you and your sisters’ group, walking backstage on what you could only assume was the same place you’d met Michael in the first place: American Bandstand.

On screen, Michael had frozen in place with a short gasp and tensed up when he’d seen the girl playing younger you. You, your sisters, and manager were walking towards them all and you gave Michael a smile and friendly wave when passing him.

“Hi,”

He quickly turned around and watched your retreating figure with his jaw slightly hanging. Suddenly remembering he could in fact speak he’d exclaimed a “hi” back to you and waved excitedly with a grin when you turned around to look at him again. Giggling, you’d clutched onto the arm of your older sister as you turned back around.

Michael continued to watch you leave until Joseph forced him around and shoved his head hard to make him walk. “Get‘cho ass on that stage, boy!”

“Oh, how cute is that?” you gasped, “I can’t believe they actually included that.”

“You’re just as important to my story as anything else in my career, Tink. Of course they did.” he chuckled. Granted, he didn’t like how it was in the form of such a historically inaccurate throwaway moment. Never mind the fact they got the year wrong. Alas, the film was more about him than your story together so he supposed he could let it be.

“Baby that’s sweet,” you cooed, leaning up to press a firm kiss on his cheek. “I feel like the scene could’ve been more accurate though.”

“You know I was just thinking that?”

.

“It’s Jaafar!” one of your grandchildren exclaimed when he appeared on screen the first time. The year 1978, when Michael had began talks of working on tracks with Quincy for the Off the Wall album. You all marveled out loud at just how much he resembled Michael while in costume and makeup, especially when he began speaking. It mentally sucked you both back in time as you watched him begin to record in the booth, a time that was still…simple. A lot less claustrophobic, before all the pandemonium that succeeded Thriller.

“I can already tell he’s gonna be perfect,” you said, digging your hand in the popcorn bucket.

Michael hadn’t answered you this time. He’d already seen Jaafar practicing his dance moves, his mannerisms, his voice, all before filming even began. He’d even spent a lot of quality time with Michael just listening to stories from his youth, and asking necessary questions about events from the past to help with his portrayal. He’d known Michael personally as his uncle, but knowing him personally as the King of Pop was an entirely new avenue and he wanted to make sure he had it right enough for the film.

So far he wasn’t disappointing, but you hadn’t expected him to to begin with.

After watching the success of Off the Wall play out in a short montage, you and Michael laughed at a scene that played in his room after he’d first gotten Bubbles.

Bubbles stared at a copy of the new record that was laid out on the floor. “That’s me, that’s my new album.” Michael said, then Bubbles dug through one of his record crates and pulled out a copy of a very familiar one.

It was yours, the one you’d release in 1978—Survive—to critical success. You were seated in a chair in a short, black sequined dress with white thigh high boots on. Your legs looked long with one crossed over the other. It made you both laugh because you remembered him really liking that cover.

“Now why’d you dig that out of there?” Michael laughed at his new chimp friend before gently plucking it from his grasp and admiring it. He turned it back around for Bubbles to see.

“You think her legs look foxy too, don’t you?” Bubbles tilted his head innocently, before lightly patting the vinyl album while making little sounds.

Hearing the question made everyone else join in on the laughter before Michael continued on screen. “Well get that outta your head, alright?” he harmlessly scolded while putting the album away.

“She’s your new mother now, so you should think better of her than that.” He opened his arms for Bubbles to jump into his lap, when he did he pulled his favorite children’s book from off his comforter to show him instead.

“I miss Bubbles,” you said to Michael with a sigh. That chimp, truly, had been your little baby until your first actual baby arrived in 1990. Then you had to move Bubbles into a sanctuary once he inevitably got too big to keep at home.

“Me too,” Michael whispered back, kissing your head. “We can go down to Florida to visit him sometime.”

.

Michael had stormed out of the house after just being told by Joseph that he would be releasing a new album with his brothers, and embarking on a tour to promote it. Despite him having just released his own work.

“Let’s go,” he said to Bill once he reached the car.

He could see how upset Michael was, and he knew him well enough to know he’d tell him what was wrong on his own time. So instead he asked a simple question:

“Where do you wanna go?” He asked while opening the door for him.

“You know where…” was all he replied with.

He had in fact known exactly where “where” was, evident as they pulled up near the mailbox of exactly where he needed to go; your home. Michael had thrown the door open and jumped out of the car to jog over to a big tree that was in your yard. He hadn’t even bothered to shut the door, Bill ended up doing it for him as he climbed the tree to reach the first story roofing beneath your bedroom window.

“Why are you breaking into the house?” one of your grandchildren asked curiously, causing some of you to laugh.

“I’m not breaking in,” Michael said between chuckles. “That’s the house your grandmother was living in with your GG Olivia, this was how I used to come and see her.”

You couldn’t even count the amount of times you remembered hearing Michael’s soft knocking at your window, both before and after you’d started dating. During the times he needed a friend, and any time he wanted to spend “personal” time with you without worrying about his family barging in. By then it’d just been you living at home with your mother, and she typically didn’t bother you when you were in your room with the door shut.

It had been his sanctuary for a time, and you enjoyed how the film depicted as much.

“Michael?” the actress playing adult you said when she opened up the window to let him inside. “You normally call first, what are you doing here?”

“I needed to talk to you,” he said, his feet thudding against the floor when he dropped down into your room. He briskly paced the floor as you closed your window, and ran a hand down his face.

“About what? What’s wrong?”

“Is your mother here?” he asked abruptly, stopping in his tracks and giving you his full attention.

“She—No…she stepped out almost an hour ago,” you replied, beginning to grow concerned. “Is this about my mother?”

“…No,” Michael sighed, he dragged himself to your bed and sat down. “No, it’s not about her…I just wanted to know if it was just us right now.”

On screen, you slowly moved away from the window to sit next to Michael on your bed. “Did something happen?” you asked, and he confirmed immediately with a nod of his head.

“You know who happened,” he confirmed, and your response was a deep sigh.

You watched him explain to, well, you that Joseph had gone behind his back to green light another Jackson’s album and tour. Despite him having wanted to embark on a solo tour for his own album.

“I had it all planned out,” he sighed, “All of it…but Joseph keeps exploiting me. He keeps doing things to keep me from pulling away from my brothers. It’s not fair.” He turned his head to look at you after he was done venting.

“I figured if anyone was gonna know where I’m coming from…it’s you.” he confessed as you affectionately rubbed his back.

You did know where he was coming from, going off memory. When you’d originally released Survive you naturally couldn’t do a solo tour because you were still an active member of your family group. You’d released a group album around the same time and had to do a tour for that instead, not that you had complained at the time. You really hadn’t felt ready to venture off on your own in that way yet, you’d only been eighteen at the time.

Michael had been different, he’d achieved a level of artistic freedom for himself that he hadn’t felt since he left Motown. He had wanted it to grow, to flourish and develop as he continued to mold his craft in any way that had allowed. But his father had stamped all of it out by pulling him back into the group, akin to a pile of crabs in a bucket. As far as his father had been concerned: anything any of them did, they did as a family. Creativity be damned, personal wants be damned.

That was unfair to someone who had so much more to give than that like Michael did.

“He ruins everything, and he clearly does it on purpose.” he huffed, “I need my freedom.”

“When my sisters decided they needed their own space, they just moved out.” you explained with a shrug. “Maybe you can do that too?”

Michael chuckled, “I’m not ready for that, Tink.” He leaned up off his legs and rested his hands behind him on the bed. “It’s not that easy.”

“Most things in life aren’t, but…we can also overcome all of that for things we want badly enough.” you countered, and Michael just stared at you.

“Girl you were not that deep at that age.” Real Michael said to you.

“Sshhhh, Michael! You’re ruining the scene!” you hissed hushly, to which Michael laughed into his fist. You’d really gotten into it.

“…I do want it badly…I wanna do my own thing, but I also love my family.” Michael sighed, looking down. “So then what do I do?”

“Michael…you have a very special gift and you always have.” you told him, moving closer and resting a hand on his cheek to turn his head towards you.

“Nobody, not your father, not your family, can take that from you. It’s yours to share with the world if and when you’re ready, however you well please.” You, oh so gently, brushed your thumb across his cheek as you gave each other full eye contact. “So what are you gonna do?”

He hadn’t responded, he soaked in the words of affirmation you’d given him and stared into your eyes like you’d hung the stars by hand. Instead of answering with words, he slowly leaned in until his lips met yours in a gentle kiss. You kissed him back immediately and your lips moved together in a steady rhythm, their own dance. It slowly picked up intensity as he lied you down on your bed and climbed on top of you. You clutched onto his flannel covered shoulders for security as you were now steamily making out on your bed, your legs wrapped tightly around his waist

“This is so weird to watch, knowing it’s supposed to be you guys.” your youngest daughter said, resting a hand over her eyes. Some of the others agreed while Michael just shook his head.

“How do you think y’all got here?”

.

On screen, Bill watched the front door to your old Calabases home open and Michael step out with a glow that replaced the dark cloud hung over his head earlier. Before he fully exited the threshold of your house, you grabbed his chin to pull him into a final searing kiss.

He chuckled and tipped the hat on his head low to give you both some semblance of privacy while he waited for Michael to come back to the car.

You both eventually pulled away from each other with an audible lip smack, and began to grin like fools as Michael rocked back and forth on his heels.

You were silent for a few beats, then Michael cleared his throat before speaking. “Um…thank you, I really needed that—t-the talk that is.” he shyly sputtered, rubbing the nape of his neck.

“Just the talk?” you giggled, and he bit his lip.

“Well, everything…” He shrugged. With a final peck to your lips, he had promised to call you later before telling you goodbye and walking down your pathway as you shut the door.

Bill tipped his hat back up and noticed a newfound spring in his step as he approached the car, a toothy grin on his face while he did it. It made him cross his arms with a knowing look.

Michael noticed and slowed to a stop in front of Bill. “What?” he laughed.

“Nothing,” Bill casually shrugged, “It’s just…I remember on the way here you said you’d only be 30 minutes, then you’d be right out.”

There was a hint of Michael’s eyes widening as he stuck his hands in his pockets. He licked his lips before responding. “I guess I lost track of time,” he dismissed.

“Lost track of time,” he repeated before casually checking the watch on his wrist. “So, you don’t have an explanation for how 30 minutes of talking turned into almost an hour and a half?”

Michael’s shoulders stiffly raised up as high as he could get them as he avoided Bill’s gaze. He bit his lip, to stop his smile from growing, before bashful swaying his body from side to side.

Even the smallest of mannerisms she remembered Michael embodying, Jaafar replicated on screen as if it came just as naturally to him.

“Nope,” was what he shyly answered with.

While you and Michael had gotten to know each other physically during your time as boyfriend and girlfriend, you hadn’t had actual intercourse until you wed in ‘84. Considering the, admittedly, small inconsistencies that could be found in the film thus far who knew what they were implying happened in that house.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, then Bill pulled Michael into a playful headlock while said man shrieked and laughed in amusement. He guided Michael towards the back passenger door and opened it for him before tussling his fro a little.

“Get in the car, Casanova.”

Like clockwork, one of your grandchildren had another question. “But what were you doing in there?”

Michael’s answer was very him, “Probably playing twister, I don’t remember.” All you could do was laugh in response.

On the morning of the concert, you woke up to see the white walls of your hotel room. The bit of sun that poked through the cloudy winter sky outside was shining through the curtains, and you could just faintly hear the sound of singing birds. The sheets rustled as you slowly sat yourself up and rubbed the remnants of sleep from your eyes, and with a small yawn you rested your elbow onto your leg in order to lay your head in your hand.

At first your thoughts were blank, your mind still swimming to catch up with the fact you’d awaken, before memory of the last time you’d seen Michael clicked in your head. Just as he'd told you that spending those hours together was the first time in a long while he truly felt normal, you could very much say the same. In a line of work filled with adults, grueling hours, and no play, any sort of freedom felt like a treasure.

A hint of a smile creeped onto your face at the thought as you stared at the wall in front of you. You giggled under your breath, it was a bit comical that that was your first thought upon waking. Maybe because you knew you’d finally be seeing him again.

"What are you all smiley about?" You heard your sister Tamera question. Sure enough, when you turned your head to the right you could see her sitting up in the hotel bed with Jessica laying right beside her. "Excited about today?"

You nodded, "Yeah, kind of."

Tamera smiled brightly at you. "Well that's great, so am I." She leaned further forward to get a good glimpse of the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand between them. "It's almost 8:50, we're up about ten minutes early." She knocked Jessica on the head with her hand, not hard enough to hurt but enough to gain her attention.

"Hey!" Jessica flinched awake, quickly pushing herself up onto her elbows. She glared at Tamera with heavy eyelids. "What??"

"Chicken butt," Tamera said with a roll of her eyes. "Turn the alarm off, ya duck. You're closer to it than I am."

With a sigh, Jessica lazily reached over to switch it off with a press of a button. She sat completely up and began to rub her eyes. "I only did it cause I wanted to."

"Sure you did." Tamera said after throwing the covers off herself. As she got up, you turned towards Olivia to wake her.

"Momma..." you said as you shook her shoulder.

"Hm...?" The woman turned over to look at her youngest. "What? What did you wake me for...?" she groggily asked. Then, before you could answer her, she quickly shot up into a sitting position with bulging eyes. "Did the alarm go off?!"

"No—"

"We over slept?!" she exclaimed in horror. "What time is it?! Tamera, didn't I tell you to make sure that damn alarm was set?!"

"I did set it!" Tamera defensively exclaimed from the bathroom. "It's almost nine in the morning, Momma!"

Olivia leaned over you to turn the clock towards her, and saw that Tamera was telling the truth. It was ten to nine. Breathing a sigh of relief, she swatted your arm. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Why didn't you tell me what time it was?!"

"I was gonna, but you started to yell." you said it as if it were the simplest thing. Jessica attempted to stifle a laugh, only to snort in the process, which garnered a glare from Olivia.

"Just get up and start getting ready." she told you both before getting up, the two of you following suit.

"Can we go spend time with the Jackson boys before the concert tonight?" You asked while digging in your suitcase for clothes to wear.

"Y/N, no." Olivia sighed while shaking her head. You frowned, "Pouting isn't going to make me change my mind either, that's not going to work this time." She threw you a warning glare. "Fix your face."

You huffed, plopping down onto the floor. "The concert doesn’t start until nighttime...that’s so long away..."

"Well I don't care, this isn't up for discussion." Olivia stated while pointing a finger at you. "We don't have time for all that, we have press we need to do first." She rummaged through her own bags for a change of clothes. "That’s only ten hours away at most, you’re not gonna croak.”

When she looked at you again and saw the sour look on your face sighed. "Y/N," she started, a warning tone. "Did you not just hear what I said to you? I don't care if you want to see your little friend, we can’t be late just because you decided you wanted to make a stop. You girls have your own work to do."

"It would’ve only been for a second." you whined.

"We don’t even know if they’re in the city yet, are you going to go out and hunt for them?" she asked, to which you gave no answer. "Exactly, that's what I thought, now stop it...if I let you order whatever you want for breakfast will you feel better?" You slowly nodded your head. "Get the menu off the nightstand and pick what you want." With a newfound joy, you hopped off of the floor and did just that.

"I wanna pick something too!" Jessica stated.

"I don't care, now get dressed!" Olivia snapped, "You're getting whatever I pick for you, I don't want to hear it!"

You glanced at Olivia to see she now had her back turned, then quickly stuck your tongue out at Jessica while you flipped open the menu. "Nah-nah," you hushly teased.

"Nah-nah right back at you!" Jessica exclaimed under her breath, while still loud enough for the you to hear.

Though, also, loud enough for your mother to apparently hear as well. "Either stop or neither of you eat until lunch!" Hearing this made you turn away from each other immediately and resume your previous tasks.

Following your morning routines and eating, the four of you were now prepared to leave by 10:30am.

"Let's hustle," Olivia said as she pressed her hands firmly on your and Jessica's backs, prompting you to move quicker. "Remember what I said about being on time?"

"If we're on time we're late." Jessica droned.

Olivia nodded, "That's right, it’s good to know you girls actually listen to me." Jessica and you took one, quick glance at one another before looking back at the awaiting vehicle before you.

Once inside the car, and the doors were locked, Jessica spoke. "So what's on the agenda today?"

“We have a press conference at 11, then at 2 we’re scheduled for a television taping.” Olivia explained.

“What broadcast is it?” Tamera curiously asked.

“I don’t know, some local Dutch show.” Olivia dismissed. “We break for lunch around 3:30, then at 4:30…” You slowly to tuned your mother out when the driver began to pull off. Instead, her voice became background noise while you stared up at the sky through the window. It was a pale grey and the sun couldn’t clearly be seen anywhere, a far cry from how it usually looked in the states.

In between when you had your debut on American Bandstand to now, you and your sisters had released your debut album “Introducing The Muses”. It peaked at number 4 on Billboard top LPs and Tapes and number one the Soul LPs chart; so far its sales were around six-hundred thousand copies and counting. This was monumental to you considering it was your first album.

Your singles were in regular rotation on the radio and studios were clambering to get you onto their programs. Tabloids even began referring to you girls as the “Baby Supremes”, something the label (Berry Gordy in particular) were sure to capitalize on. There were also parallels being created between the three of you and the Jackson brothers in tandem to that, the two kid acts under Motown “taking the world by storm”. It seemed as though these shows you’d be doing for the next several days were happening at just the perfect time, in combination with the press you’d been gaining it felt like a full circle moment.

What did your mother call it—networking? You hadn’t understood what that meant at the time, frankly you still didn’t quite get it (you were a child after all). Whatever it was, it was clearly something great if this was where it had got you.

“Y/N!” Your head whipped away from the window in Olivia’s direction in the front passenger seat, you hadn’t even noticed the car stopped. “We’re here, get out.” she said before exiting the vehicle herself.

Without a word you unbuckled your seatbelt and let yourself out, knowing you had a long day ahead of you. Really, a long week. This was only the start of your media junket.

.

And a long day it had been. You were silent for most of the press conference unless asked a direct question, or one mostly in relation to you. The crowd wasn’t anything larger than what you’d been made to feel used to, but the amount of reporters eager to photograph and ask questions to the foreign music group stopping in their city had felt…the least bit intimidating. Mostly because you had no idea of how to answer some of the things they were asking (“What is it like to perform to crowds in America?” “What type of audience do you expect to cultivate here in Amsterdam?” etc.).

The “local Dutch show” you’d taped for was actually called TopPop, and you had to take a short detour to the neighboring city of Hilversum to reach the broadcast studio. Apparently it was the only regular, dedicated, pop show that the Netherlands had, thus the perfect place for your sisters and you to perform and show off your distinct personalities. Especially since Ad Visser, a lanky man with shaggy hair and big aviator eyeglasses, regularly hosted foreign guests who were touring through Amsterdam as a part of the show’s programming.

You had to lip sync your televised performance, which hadn’t made a whole lot of sense to you in the moment, but you ultimately chalked it up to a culture difference.

After lunch you all had driven back into Amsterdam and performed brief shows at other local places until around 5:30pm.

Now it was 6, and you were at Concertgebouw getting prepared. You’d seen Michael and his brothers standing off in the distance backstage, but before you could say anything or walk in their direction Olivia guided you away towards you and the girls’ dressing room. Which came as no surprise to you. You figured all your mother would probably tell you was that you’d have time after the concert was over to speak. You all would be on about half an hour after your soundcheck was finished.

You three were done getting ready in your matching stage outfits and stage makeup a little after 6:30pm, and had around 30 minutes until you began your vocal warm ups. While waiting patiently you encountered a group of eight men who were about to go on stage themselves. Apparently they were a West London band who called themselves “Orange Rainbow”, and they were a pre show act along with you all (who would be going on after you).

“How come there’s so many of you?” you asked them, after you all had introduced yourselves and struck up brief conversation.

The question made them all chuckle. “How come there’s so little of you?” Alan, the lead vocalist, countered.

You shrugged, “Because we don’t have enough sisters.”

This got a laugh out of them, “Well none of us have enough brothers so we formed a big group, see.”

After exchanging pleasantries and variations of “good luck” they left to begin their soundcheck and you three were left to your own devices.

At least, you would’ve been if a mischievous boy hadn’t snuck up on you. You practically leaped out of your skin and yelped when you heard a loud, sudden “boo!” in your ear and a pair of hands clamp down on your shoulders. The laughter started before you even turned around, and when you did you saw Michael hunched over and clutching his sides.

“I got you good!” he exclaimed, and this got chuckles out of your sisters before you huffed.

But, the sound of his laughter and the genuine look of joy on his face kept you from being too mad at the scare. “Alright, space cadet, it wasn’t that funny.”

“Yes it was,” he stated, his laughter dying down and leaning back up. “You’re just saying that cause you got so spooked.”

“Where are your brothers?” Jessica asked, seeing none of them were around but Michael.

“In our dressing room,” he said, nodding his head in its direction. “We don’t hit the stage until nine, and we already did our soundcheck.” They’d started when you all arrived. “If you guys wanted to go hang while you wait for your turn, you can.”

“No, we won’t have to wait long.” Tamera said, shaking her head. “We wanna go out as soon as they’re done.”

“He just wants us to leave so he can talk to Y/N.” Jessica teased, then the two older girls started laughing.

“So? I’ve been waiting to see him all day!” you defensively exclaimed.

“You have?” Michael asked.

“Yeah,” Truly, you had no reason to feel embarrassed by that. You didn’t even know what was so funny about Michael wanting alone time with you. “We had so much fun last time we hung out, so I was real excited to see you today.”

That put a smile on his face. “I couldn’t wait to see you too,” he chuckled. This caused your sisters to make mocking sounds of “aww” that went ignored you both. “I don’t think we’ll have much time for messing around though, since this is supposed to be for work.”

And he was right, this wasn’t like last time. The concert wouldn’t be over until close to midnight, so there would be no time left for anything other than sleep at that point. You’ve obviously never toured before, so it left you wondering if it would be the same thing everyday or if there’d be some sort of break in between.

“Right…” you trailed.

He could pick up on the hint of disappointment in your voice. “We still have time to talk though,” Michael said, lightly bumping your shoulder.

This visibly cheered you up. “What have you guys been doing all day?”

“Well, we only just flew in earlier this afternoon.” Michael confessed, “So we haven’t done much. We had to tape a performance for this game show and then we drove into Amsterdam to prepare for the concert.”

“A game show?” Peculiar, “What’s it called?”

“Uh…” he trailed, then shook his head with a laugh. “I’m not gonna try and pronounce that, I don’t even remember. It’s a real popular one though, apparently most households in the country watch it.”

You nodded your head, intrigued. “We taped a show too, TopPop.”

“TopPop,” he repeated, having no idea what that was. “Was it fun?”

“Yeah, the set was really big and the host was super nice.” You giggled, having reminded yourself of a silly detail. “He had real big glasses on!”

“I bet he looked funny,” Michael laughed with you, to which you quickly affirmed he had.

“What did you guys get up to before you got here, Michael?” Tamera asked.

Michael’s eyes practically twinkled as he grinned. “We got to perform for the Queen!”

“Of England?” Jessica asked.

“What other Queen would he be talking about, dummy?” Tamera questioned.

Before they could start bickering, Michael continued. “Yeah, I wasn’t nervous or anything though. I knew our performance would be out of sight.”

“You never have a reason to be nervous, Michael.” You said, leaning closer and brushing arms with him. “You’re a natural,”

He laughed bashfully and lightly brushed his nose with his finger. “Thanks…”

“They’re flirting again,” Jessica teased, and Tamera laughed while you blew a raspberry at them both.

Between more teasing antics at the hands of your sisters and conversation between you and Michael, before long Orange Rainbow’s soundcheck was concluded and it was your girls’ turn.

Instead of going back to sit in his dressing room with his brothers, Michael remained rooted to the ground as he watched your live band and the sound team prepare for your check. As soon as the band began to play he recognized the song instantly as one of the other singles on your album, “Clean Up Woman”. He swayed to the beat of your singing.

A clean up woman, is a woman who

Gets all the love we girls leave behind

The reason I know, so much about her

Is because she picked up a man of mine

Your voice had been just as steady and smooth as silk as he last remembered it being, even greater in person than any time he heard it coming out of a radio. When you all were finished and rejoined him backstage he’d made sure to tell you so, to which you of course thanked him. Afterwords, you hovered around each other for the next 30 minutes until it was time for the pre show to begin. By now the venue was filled to capacity with eager patrons, and they greeted the three of you with applause and light cheers; as you entered center stage and began the very same song and routine you’d just practiced.

This time Michael couldn’t stay and watch again, as much as he wished he could, for he had to rejoin his brothers to warm up for their three hour show. He hoped to catch you again after the concert was over.

.

Well after midnight everything was packed up and the stage crew and production workers were ready to leave for the night. Everyone was in the back lot of the venue ready to get into their respective vehicles and leave for wherever they were headed. In the case of you and the Jackson boys, that meant your respective hotels to get rest for the night. You hadn’t gotten to say much of anything to each other except for choruses of “see you at the next stop” and “catch you on the flip side”, mostly because everyone was too tired. You and Michael gave each other a final wave before getting into your cars and going in separate directions.

This, more or less, was the cycle for the remainder of the tour. You would do your own work spreading your name around whatever tour stop you were at, and didn’t actually see the boys until you got to the concert location to prepare. This would leave you and Michael with only small pockets of time to actually spend any time together, and you didn’t waste it. Granted it was only spent laughing and talking (since running around would only serve to get the both of you into trouble), but it was still fun.

After the tour was over—and before you got on separate planes to go back to the US—you both wrote down the number to your house phone and gave it to the other. Just to still keep in regular contact, even when you couldn’t physically be near each other.

The first phone conversation you both had was a few weeks after the tour concluding. He told you about the pet rats he owned, and how much his sisters hated seeing them. Though his mother, ever loving and doting, still allowed him to own the fuzzy animals and even keep them up in his room.

“They’re real friendly,” he’d said when he told you about them. “Whenever y’all aren’t busy, you can probably come over and see ‘em. Don’t scream though, they don’t like that.”

After you’d returned to California following your opening gig, Berry had wanted to strike while the iron was hot. He had begun preparing a North American tour for you and your sisters, on top of getting his regular team of song writers and producers started on your next body of work. Needless to say, you’d been too busy for anything else. However, Michael and his brothers had ended up being even busier since the beginning of March 1973 kicked off their first world tour as a group.

Between your work and his, the phone calls hadn’t been as frequent and began to nod off and become sparser than before. Thankfully, there eventually came a pocket of time after your tour was over—and they were on a short rest—that gave space for a break that you jumped at the chance to take.

You didn’t see Michael in person again until you and your sisters visited the Hayvenhurst home in early September of 1973. You were lucky enough that Olivia found it beneficial to cozy up to your label mates, otherwise she’d have never allowed you all this sort of downtime.

“Hello,” your mother had greeted Michael’s with a firm handshake. The soft, polite air of her voice was a far cry from the typical volume you three were usually subjected to. It made you all look at one another with knowing glances and stifle giggles.

“I’m Olivia, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“I’m Katherine, likewise.” she greeted back. “I’ve heard so much about you girls from my sons, especially Michael.”

“Good things, I’m sure. These girls are such charmers after all.” Olivia laughed, looking back at you all as you joined in.

“If they’re anything like I’ve been told, absolutely.” Katherine moved further into the house, out of the doorway. “I’m not going to leave you all standing outside for too long. Please, come in.”

She stepped to the side to give you all room to enter the home. When you did, you saw that their living room was very spacious and decorated with a lot of orange accents. There was a lounge area with a spiral staircase that led up to a little indoor balcony above, and all the gold records they’d earned thus far decorated the surrounding wall. You also saw Michael and one of his sisters sitting on one of the couches with the television on, and they’d turned around to look at you all when you came inside.

With a big smile, Michael sprang from his seat and ran up to you. He made a short jerk forward with his body then immediately withdrew with his hands at his sides. “Hi…”

That gave you the impression that he wanted to hug you, so you took the initiative and threw your arms around his shoulders. “Hi…” you trailed as he wrapped his arms around you in return.

By the time you both separated his older sister was already standing next to you. She introduced herself as Latoya with a shake of your hand, and you reciprocated the greeting kindly with your own name. You didn’t get to spend too much time speaking to her, since Michael grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the back of the house towards his room. He claimed that you had to listen to Stevie Wonders’ new record with him, knowing how busy you’d been lately he was sure you hadn’t heard it yet (and he was right).

The next couple of hours were spent nestled up in his room going through his small record collection, while simultaneously sharing casual conversation, commentary on the songs you were listening to, and contagious laughter. You hadn’t felt this relaxed in months, so you were a bit sad when Katherine eventually opened the door and gave word that your mother said it was time to go home.

You got to visit Hayvenhurst and spend time with Michael a few more times following this (and even got to meet his younger siblings), before they eventually had to resume tour dates in mid October. Which meant it was back to relying on phone calls for regular contact again, when it allowed. Which wasn’t often considering you were back to work yourselves after your sophomore album released.

“I kinda miss Ed, I hope we can get back on his show again sometime.” he said to you over the phone after you were winding down one night.

You’d just gotten done telling him about how you performed on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time a few hours ago, to promote your upcoming group tour. Afterwhich he claimed to hope his mother taped it so he could see how you girls looked once they returned home.

It was currently a full month into the new year, 1974, and Michael was still on the tour with his brothers. He made regular attempts to call your home whenever he could, and tonight was one of the sparse time you answered.

“Where are you fellas right now?” you curiously asked.

“Senegal…” The way he said it, you could tell he was breath taken. “It’s so beautiful out here, Tink. The locals greeted us with such beautiful music.”

“Yeah?” you rested your head on your arm as you laid on the kitchen island you were seated at, still holding the corded rotary phone to your ear. “What kind?”

“They were singing in their native language, so I don’t know for sure. But they played drums and sang harmonies, they danced in the street and we joined them. We felt the music with them, the spirit.” he explained dreamily, and it warmed your heart. “Tink…this is our origin. This is where we’re from, where what we do originates from. This is why we are where we are. It’s who we are,”

You beamed brightly while he spoke, and let a slow exhale escape from your nose. It sounded like he’d made an epiphany, like he’d found a part of himself he didn’t know needed to be.

“I hope I get to see it too…” you giggled.

“You will, even if I gotta bring you myself.” he assured, “Matter of fact, I will bring you one day. So we can experience it…together.”

You liked the idea of that, “Do you promise?”

The was a pause on the line, before his soft voice—full of conviction—was heard again. “Yeah…I promise, Tink.”

──── ♡ This was like 80% done for the past few days and I only typed the rest up this morning lol, forgive meeeeee!