Heartbreak Hotel (Editing)

Part Three, Chapter 30: The Ghost Of You

Two Years Later...

May 1982

Michael's POV

"Mike, you know, the record market is off right now," I glanced up at my friend and manager, Ron (Weisner). We were sitting in Westlake Studios listening to a single I just finished, Thriller. It was blaring from the speakers and he practically had to shout so I could hear him.

"Yeah," Quincy sat at the side of me nodding his head with agreement. "You can't expect to do on this one what you did on Off The Wall."

"Two million is a hot album, these days." Ron added.

"Yeah, man. It's a tough market. Nobody's making hits...at all "

The smile that once existed on my face faded away and I could the frustration build up inside of me. "Turn it down!" I shouted to the engineer. "I said turn it down!" I waited until the music was a soft hum in the back ground. "What's the matter with you guys? How can you say that? You're wrong and you know it!"

"But, Michael--" Quincy began.

I held up my hand. "Look, don't even talk to me. " I turned the other way. "I've had it with you, Quincy. Don't tell me anything like that ever again. What kind of attitude is that to have?" We had been working on this album for two months now and all ever had was negativity towards the whole thing.

I had a vision. A vision that this album will be the best selling album. I was determined to make that come true, but all he had was negativity towards the whole thing. First, it was with my song Billie Jean. He thought people would think that the song was about Billie Jean King, the tennis player. I thought thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. He want me to change the song to 'Not My Lover'. The answer was no, absolutely not.

The album wasn't even finished and I knew I was going to have hell with it. "Mike, seriously," Ron said. "we're just saying. It maybe hard-"

"I don't care how hard is, just because everyone else is settling for two million doesn't mean I have to." I said angrily. "I have confidence in this album."

"Okay, okay. We understand that..."

I turned to him. " No you don't, because if you did, you wouldn't have said that."

He pressed his lips together and sat back in the chair.

"You should know this album will do better than two thousand. Especially you, Quincy."

"Mike, don't listen to them." I heard my lawyer John say from the corner."You're the one who knows, they don't."

I glanced at him and sighed sinking back into the chair. I didn't say anything else for while. Quincy and Ron had started there own conversation while I played around with nobs on the mixed board. I was allowing myself to cool down from my tantrum before I began to listen to what they were discussing.

I didn't want to start listening and hear them say the wrong thing that out set me off again. I had listened to the track about three times before I pulled my attention away from the music and began to focus on their conversation.

"...album and at the same time I have the more things to produce and put my time into. I may just have to drop it down to Mike and the girls."

"The girls, they're coming back?"

"Yeah, the tour was finished months ago. They took a break because the doctors thought it was best for her. Liyah said she's ready to go back to work and--"