Hidden Love Story

The Voice

Whitney Houston just finished her first movie “The Bodyguard” alongside Kevin Costner. She’s nominated for 9 awards tonight at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, and so far, she has won seven. Her mother, Cissy Houston, told her that one of her  favorite singers will be presenting this next award to her. She had to quickly get changed into a different outfit before the award was announced.When she came out from her dressing room, she heard the audience begin to clap as the presenters went on stage.

“The last award of the night, for Album Of The Year nominations are, “Dreamlover” by Mariah Carey, “I Don't Know Why” by Shawn Colvin, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston, “Miss Chatelaine” by K.D. Lang, and “I Don't Wanna Fight” by Tina Turner. The crowd roared with excitement as they screamed their favorite artists name. Most of the audience cheered Whitney’s name and that made her even more proud. There were only a few seconds left before the award was announced and thoughts were racing through her head. She already went up there seven times and almost said the same exact thing. “And the award goes to…” The presenter excitedly opened the envelope. “Whitney Houston!” Fans were screaming and a few of them were even crying. She had on a sparkly white dress and when the light flashed on her, it was like watching a sparkling diamond glide across the room. The presenters were Michael Jackson and Dolly Parton. She met Dolly Parton before and did a duet with Jermaine Jackson, but she never really saw Michael in person.

Her boyfriend Bobby Brown escorted her onto the stage and Michael handed her the award. Dolly and Michael both hugged her and exchanged a few words. After she accepted her award and gave her speech, she met up with a few of her friends backstage. Toni Braxton, Aaliyah, TLC, Mariah Carey, and Selena Quintanilla all went into her dressing room and celebrated the night with drinks, food, and laughter. It was a little after 9 and everyone was heading out the building to go to the after party. “Text me sometime so we can meet up again.” Whitney said as they all got up and walked towards the door.

“Are you sure you don't want to come?” Selena asked. “It’ll be fun! It’s your last night here in Vegas.”

“I wish I could but I have a flight at 5:25 in the morning. I have to go back to Indiana and finish recording for the soundtrack.”

“We’ll definitely have to meet up some other time. Work your magic on that album, Nippy!

The girls left and went to the party. Whitney called Bobby three times and thoughts were racing through her mind since she hadn't talked to him since 4:00. Nobody heard him say anything about going to the party tonight. It's now a half an hour past midnight and Whitney is fast asleep on her couch. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking sound at the door and a bunch of chaos in the hallway. Bobby had a key so he unlocked the door and stumbled into her dressing room. He was out at one of the bars with Kevin Costner, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Randall Cunningham. Whitney didn't want him drinking because once he's drunk, he doesn't listen to anybody and gets extremely violent. “Why in the world would ya'll let him go out and get drunk?” She viciously yelled at them and tried to wake Bobby up. The all listened to her complain about how she was leaving him and how he gets when he's drunk. All the boys went home and she was now left alone with Bobby in her dark dressing room. She wrote him a note, called a limo, and made her way to the airport.

In Indiana, Clive Davis was at the studio waiting for Whitney to show up. He discovered her at a nightclub and was assertive that with a voice like hers, she’d blow up in no time. He was right, because her first album won her 6 Grammy Awards and spent 23 weeks at number one. Her second album “Whitney”, had four number-one singles, which established an unprecedented seven consecutive number one hits! He was listening to a track that she had recorded a few weeks ago when a man abruptly walks in. “Sorry i’m late.” He softly said, then set his things down. It was obvious he didn't acknowledge the fact that he was in the wrong room. Whitney’s limo had arrived and she walked in a few minutes later.

“Hey Clive!” Whitney cheerfully walked through the door and was astonished when she saw Michael Jackson standing there going through his things. There were black curtains so that the press and fans couldn’t peer through the window. It was very dark inside so he didn’t notice that Clive was in the room or that she had walked in. Whitney walked up to Michael and tapped his shoulder but he brushed her off and continued to write. Clive walked out from the recording booth and got Michael’s attention. He quickly gathered his papers and apologized for the confusion. Janet Jackson, his sister, told him to meet her in room 106 on the third floor, but he was a few hours early. It was noon and Clive had went to go pick up a pizza from State Line Pizza Hammond. Michael and Whitney talked for awhile and got to know each other a little better. He told her that he often wore a black armband to remind people of children suffering around the world, he had a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles, and that he also had Vitiligo. Although he was diagnosed with the skin disorder, it was widely speculated that the change was caused by skin bleaching.

They fooled around in the studio and she began to play the piano. Clive called Whitney and told her that he was stuck in traffic so he would have to reschedule their session. Michael and Whitney stayed around until it was time for Janet to come in and help Michael with a few things. When she got there, she was friendly and pleasant. Whitney and Janet had spoken on numerous occasions over the years and were really good friends. “Your outfit is beautiful.” She said to Janet. She had on gray dress pants, a gorgeous beige, white, and black sweater with a longsleeve button up shirt. She also had a beige purse that matched her sweater. After talking and discussing a few things, Michael and Janet started to write down lyrics for the song.

Janet started to sing aloud. “Peek in the shadows, come into the light. You tell me i'm wrong, then you better prove you're right! You're sellin’ out souls but I, I care about mine. I've got to get stronger, and I won't give up the fight!” While they were writing, Whitney went out and picked up a pizza from Little Caesars. A little after she had left her dressing room at the Grammy’s, Bobby woke up and noticed she was gone. He noticed a folded up piece of paper on the dresser and it basically said that she was tired of him getting drunk and that they were done. As soon as he read it he took the next flight to Indiana and a friend tagged along. Whitney finally came back with a large pepperoni pizza and three bottles of lemon tea. It was pitch black outside and she tried to get her phone out of her purse so she could enter the code and get into the studio. Before she could punch in the 7 digit code, she saw a tiny, bone white piece of paper.

“Don’t think i’m finished with you,” The letter started off. “I'll make living your worst nightmare!” Immediately she knew who it was and went upstairs to tell Janet. Michael suggested that they call the police, but she was certain that he was just playing a joke on her. Michael and Janet finally finished writing the song “Scream” for his next album. The song is cited primarily as an aggressive, retaliatory song directed at the tabloid media. With all the accusations made against him, he felt it was time to get back at the critics. It was getting late, and Whitney wanted to go home since she had had a very complicated day. Before going their separate ways, Michael invited her out to dinner Friday night. He wanted to keep the night a secret but he was absolutely convinced that the feeling was mutual. “Someone has a crush!” Janet repeatedly sang annoying Michael.

“It’s not even like that. I just want to take her out and have a good time; nothing serious.” Michael smiled.

“If you say so.” They both chuckled as they rode down the elevator. They agreed to meet in two weeks so that they could put together an amazing choreography. When they walked outside it was extremely windy. Michael gave her the few slices of pizza that were left over from earlier. Janet drove her Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder car to the studio and Michael had to call for a limo since that’s the way he came. As she was pulling out of the parking space, Michael waited for her to beep the horn three times like she usually did. Ever since they got their first cars, that was their special way of saying goodbye. About 15 minutes later, Michael’s limo arrived. Once he got in, it quickly disappeared into the night.