Remember the Time

Chapter 84

"Well you can't have it." The guard held his hand out.

Mariah looked the man up and down, mildly irritated. "You know, if I were a diva, I would let you know something. But, I'll take the high road today. Plus I have to go anyway. Morgan, I'll put some money on your books."

She briefly hugged her brother then followed the guard back to the entrance where Wayne waited for her.

"Okay, I can go from here, thank you." She said with a clear attitude. She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes--her headscarf already back over her head.

"Wayne, let's go."

April 23rd, 1999

The master suite was a mess with Michael throwing clothes everywhere, Mariah dropping crumbs all over the floor like a rat, and the twins playing with every toy they owned. Michael was packing to leave to rehearse for his MJ & Friends Benefit Concerts in Europe & Asia. He needed to be there first thing in May, but between recording his album and taking care of his kids, he figured he'd might as well start packing now.

"Daddy!" Nicole shouted. "Here."

As Michael came darting out of the storage room, Nicole handed him a blue crayon.

"Thank you baby. That's very kind." Michael placed the crayon on the night stand and continued picking out clothes.

"No, daddy!" Nicole yelled. She reached up on her tippy toes and pulled the blue crayon down, taking something else with her.

"Daddy, here." She said, presenting Michael with the crayon and absolutely nothing else.

Michael took the crayon again. "What you want me to do baby?"

"Wanna do." Nicole replied.

"No, what do you want me to do with the crayon?"

"Crayon?"

"Yes. What do you want me to do with the crayon?" Michael asked.

Nicole placed her index finger up to her lips, grinning.

"Sister." Noelle said, interrupting them. She grabbed Nicole's hand, dragging her away from their father. "Look!" She said, pointing to the picture she'd drawn of what looked like grass and a tree.

Nicole laughed. "Ah that?"

"Tree!" Noelle shouted.

While the twins fell into a deep discussion of Noelle's artistic merit, Michael scrambled to find his brand new Rolex. He reluctantly approached his wife about it. "Where's my watch?"

Mariah, eating a bag of sunflower seeds and reading a magazine, rolled her eyes up toward him. "How am I supposed to know?"

Michael looked at her with an expression that read, 'are you serious?'

"Because you've been the only other person in here. You're the only one with unsupervised access to this room." He replied, snarkily.

Mariah huffed. "Michael, I don't know. Why don't you go ask the staff?"

Michael bit his lip, angrily.

"Daddy!"

"What, baby?" Michael asked, swiftly turning around and stooping down to his daughter's level.

In her hand, Nicole held Michael's Rolex. She'd picked it up off the nightstand when she went to get the crayon.

Nicole's mischief brought a big smile to Michael's face. "How you know I was looking for this?"