#botdf

March 1988

"Hurry up, we need to leave now!" She calls out to the stylist.

A quick dusting of his face, and they were ready to head out.

Well, almost.

"Wait, hold on!" Nancy jogs around the corner.

"Everyone's already in the car." She whines.

Ignoring her words, Nancy holds up Michael's signature armband—a black one—showing it to her before fastening it around the bright red fabric of his suit jacket.

"Thank you, Jelly." Michael breathes a sigh of relief. "I didn't know if you'd be able to find it or not."

"Oh please." She waves him off. "I totally didn't spend an hour searching for it."

She slings her makeup bag over her shoulder, double-checking to make sure she has all of her and Nancy's things. "Alright, let's go."

Nancy leans into Michael's ear, squeezing his elbow. "You look gorgeous."

The three of them head out to the limousine sitting in front of the hotel, hopping inside.

"About time you got here." Frank quips. "Buckle up."

—

The amount of traffic was ungodly. They'd been fully stopped for over half an hour, and Frank was already antsy.

Fans surrounded the car, banging on the pitch black tinted windows of the SUV. It didn't bother Michael in the slightest, he was used to it, but it made her anxious.

Thank God they couldn't see inside the vehicle.

She sat on the left side in the back seat, Michael on the right, and Nancy right in between them.

It was silent, minus the screaming fans outside and the sound of her friend chewing on jelly beans.

"You'd think the Grammy Awards would have planned better than this." Nancy stares out the window, trying to see past the sea of people.

She notices the way her friend was twiddling her thumbs, and shoves a handful of jelly beans at her. "You alright?"

A delay, and then, "Yeah, just really nervous."

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Why?"

She hadn't told Nancy what she had planned with Michael.

She'd been trying her best to keep her distance from the man, but holy shit was it difficult. What she thought was a small crush turned out to grow larger day by day, but still, she persisted in maintaining a professional environment. Though the more she tried to suppress her feelings, the more they grew.

What they had planned for today might just cross that line ever so slightly.

And that was what she was nervous about.

"Just the fans." She shoves the jelly beans in her mouth. "There's so many fans everywhere."

She technically wasn't lying; large crowds do make her anxious.

"We're safe in the car." Her friend reassures.

She glances across Nancy's lap to find Michael staring at her. It was as if he could sense her nerves before she vocalized them.

Nancy's right, he is gorgeous.

She held his gaze for a moment too long before tearing her eyes from his, squeezing the fabric of her jacket in her sweaty palm.

Stop thinking about him. She mentally scolded herself.

—

Michael

I wanted to roll down the window and hand out autographs to my fans, but I knew the chaos that would ensue if I did so.

Instead, I turned my head to glance at my makeup artist. Just a quick glance.

God, she's beautiful.

The car finally began rolling at a steady pace, and minutes later, stopped in front of the red carpet to let us out.

The moment I opened the car door, the flashes from the paparazzi nearly blinded me. Everyone was either shouting my name to get my attention, or turned their heads in attention to me.

As I made my way through the crowd—with the help of my security—I barely had time to say hello to a few of my peers before being ushered into the arena.

We were way behind schedule and the show was already starting.

When the lights dimmed, I used it to my advantage to sneak past everyone to get to my seat next to Quincy.

A little over halfway through the night, I hurried backstage to change for the performance.

Jelly plopped a black fedora on my head and tucked in my shirt. "Why isn't your shadow here? She's supposed to be dusting your face, and instead she hurried off towards the bathroom."

I chuckle, acting as if I didn't know what she was doing. "She must have really had to go."

She narrows her eyes at me, not buying it. "I know you're up to something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Just don't get her fired." Jelly points directly in my face. "Because she's my best friend and I would be bored to death on this tour if it weren't for her."

"I'm not gonna let Frank fire her." I assure her in a stern tone. "I like having her around."

"You like having her around? Or you like her? Which is it?"

"Next question."

"You need to figure out what you want, Mike. You can't keep confusing your girlfriend. Or me for that matter." She fixes she collar of my shirt.

"Lucky taps on behalf of your makeup artist." Tap. Tap. "Get out there."

I take my place behind the large drop-down screen, the stage lights illuminating behind me, casting a shadow.

I go through the motions, the dance coming naturally to me. The crowd screaming and calling my name sent spikes of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

The stage is my home.

Then "The Way You Make Me Feel" starts, and she walks out.

It wasn't choreographed, and it was quick, so I knew she could do it.

Tatiana was supposed to be the one walking across the stage today, but she ultimately had other work to attend to. She's not the woman walking towards me now.

Thumper struts across the stage like she owns it, swaying her hips as she stalks toward me, a short black dress and heels she'd found last minute adorning her body.

I smile at her and hold my hand out, catching hers in mine. I twirl her around, catching her off guard. A quick double-take couldn't hurt, either.

Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment, she steals the air from my lungs. I bring her hand to my face, kissing her soft knuckles before sending her off so that she couldn't distract me anymore.

—

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

The second she disappears backstage Nancy pulls her in for a hug and then shakes her shoulders. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were gonna do that!"

She kicks off her heels, returning to the flat shoes she's used to.

"To be fair, I didn't know I was going out there until this morning."

The two of them watch the rest of his performance in damn near silence, soaking in the awe of his aura.

The entire crowd gives him a standing ovation, and he makes sure to bow multiple times before meeting them backstage.

"Michael, that was amazing!" She gushes, tapping his face with a towel.

"You think so?" He questions humbly. "I did my turns wrong, I didn't land how I wanted to."

"Of course! One of your best performances in my opinion. Stop criticizing yourself so much, that performance was next to perfect."

He glances at her, a sag in his shoulders. "But not perfect enough."

She watched the awards ceremony from the back of the crowd for the rest of the night, while Michael had changed back into his previous attire and sat just a few rows back from the stage.

She held her breath each time they called the nominees, hoping to see her boss up there giving at least one acceptance speech.

To her disappointment, he left that night without a single Grammy.