Before The Storm - A Michael Jackson Love Story

Chapter 42 - The Afterparty - Part 1

Michael's POV
September 12th, 1988
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Tonight were the Soul Train awards that I decided to not attend this year, attending an award show sometimes took away from a lot of other artists and I tried to avoid that as much as I could.

The after party for the awards were going to be held at my new home, Neverland Ranch. I was nervous, it would be the first time an event like this would be hosted at my new home, and I had no idea who would show up. I had a few people here already setting up for the event, including myself. We had the awards playing on the television and would stop and watch briefly when we had the chance.

"You nervous for tonight, Mike?" Frank asked, walking over to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

I chuckled, looking away from the tv. "A little bit, but nothing I can't handle."

"Don't worry about handling anything, you have a whole crew here to help you," Frank said.

"Now this is the performance we've been waiting for all night, Prince is going to be performing one of his new singles called Save Your Tears. Give it up for Prince everyone!"

The host of the awards grabbed my attention for a while when I heard Prince's name. It was rumored Ariana attended the award ceremony with him, but I kept looking at the tv to see if it was true.

Prince began singing into the microphone, and the crowd couldn't seem to keep their cool at all. It was rare when Prince made an appearance at a show, let alone, performing at one; so, it was a pretty big deal. I watched closely with my arms folded, the crowd inched up closer to the stage and danced to the song. It wasn't a bad song, and I even stood there and tapped my foot to the beat,

"Save your tears for another day!
I said, save your tears for another day..
Ho!"

Prince took the microphone away from his lips and I couldn't brace myself for what I saw next. I made an audible gasp when Ariana walked on to the stage, making a surprise appearance. The camera panned over the crowd, and there were fans cheering her on loudly, even some shedding tears.

"Oh shit! It's Ariana!" One of the crew members setting up for the party exclaimed running over to watch the tv with me, he must've been a big fan. I chuckled at his reaction and continued to watch.

"Oh wow, Mike! Would you look at that." Frank said, walking over to the living room, exchanging looks between the television and me. I honestly couldn't respond, I was speechless.

She looked so different, but so beautiful and classy. Her hair was shorter now, and a shade of dark brown. She did her makeup different; it complimented her big brown eyes when she looked towards the camera. She was wearing a two-piece brown dress that tied in the back. It complimented her body perfectly, it was sexy, but she kept her class at the same time. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, and I could feel chills come over me as I listened to her sing.

"You don't like when I'm with nobody else,
I couldn't help it, I put you through hell,
I don't know why I run away,
I make you cry when I run awayyy.."

Ariana took the microphone away from her lips as danced happily and spun around on the stage. Prince watched her closely the whole time with a huge smile on his face, hyping her up the whole time. Jealousy ran through my body, I know I hadn't seen her in almost six months, but seeing her look so happy and beautiful made my heart ache and I couldn't hide it anymore.

"Boy, take me back cause I wanna stay,
Save your tears for another..
I realize that it's much too late, and you deserve someone better.."

I watched Prince and Ariana's interaction and there was obvious attraction and chemistry there. He looked her body up and down any chance he got, and it was silently driving me crazy. I stood there and kept my cool when I really wanted to yell and scream. But I couldn't lie, Prince let her own that stage, she took that performance and it her own. She was confident and hitting those high notes so effortlessly. I was proud of her, but it was so hard watching her be happy without me by her side.