A Tender Touch

\.Burning A Little./

Wednesday, - January 4, 1989

"Can I play?"
I asked, already finding myself heading towards the grand piano in the living room.
"You -"
His head poked out of the doorframe.
"Oh...You mean the piano.Sure!"
He chuckled, walking back to the entrance hall to hang up his coat.Meawhile I walked towards the big piano, sitting down on the wooden stool in front of it.
"You want some coffee - or tea?"
I heard his voice coming from the dining room, making my head shoot up from the keys.
"Yeah uhh...I mean: Thanks for asking -"
I smiled.
"I - if you could make coffee, that...would be great!"
He chuckled, nodding his head.
"No problem."
After that, he headed towards the kitchen.

"That sounds...unique.What's that called?"
I heard his voice coming from next to me as I looked up at him.He had two cups in his hands, placing one - my cup of coffee - on the piano board, quickly grabbing a chair from the table near us.
"Thanks, it's...calle-"
"Wait, isn't that this song by Prince?Uhh -"
He snapped his fingers, obviously thinking of the title.
"Purple...something with Purple - Purple Pain?Purple -"
I couldn't help but laugh.Purple freaking PAIN?That man is nuts.
"Purple Rain!You mean Purple Rain, right?"
I asked, still giggling at this stupid little ball of sunshine in front of me.
"Oh, yeah yeah...Rain, right."
He chuckled.
"Anyway...that - was really beautiful."
"Thanks but - you'd probably thank Prince for that, you know...since he wrote it.You two should do a collaboration sometime, that'd be great!Don't you think?"
I stated and I don't know why but all of a sudden, most of his always rather happy and joyful expressions changed into something more...was it serious, or - angry?
"Well -"
He took a deep breath, leaning into his chair.
"We don't...I don't -"
I chuckled, grabbing my cup from the piano.
"You don't get along pretty well, right?"
I carefully asked for his face looked tensed.
"Yeah, well - I mean...I don't have something against him but - we just...It's complicated, you know?"
I nodded although I, of course, didn't have a single clue on what had been going on.
"But...now that you mentioned it - we actually were just about to do a collaboration."
He looked at me.
"Really?On which album - which song?"
I got really excited, which he must've noticed since I saw a big grin appearing on his face.
"It was almost two years ago...Quincy Jones and I invited him over to my Encino house and asked him - well more offered him - to do a collaboration with me regarding the song Bad and th-"
I gasped.
"No way!Why - why didn't it happen?"
"Well, he told me that this song would going to be a number one anyway, no matter if he'd participate or not.And...then we just ended the deal, kinda."
His face slowly got a bit red and his hand was tightly wrapped around his cup of tea.I carefully cleared my throat, not wanting to ask him if it really was the end or not - but I ended up doing just exactly that.
"Really?I...mean - nothing happened afterwards?"
"No we...to be honest, after that - maybe a couple of days or weeks later, I don't remember it that well - I got a tape from him -"
He made sure to pronounce the last word with much disgust.
"and it was a re-recorded version of Bad, how he thought it should've been.It was like No.And this is what it should be."
"Oh, that - well, that's not nice..."
I exclaimed, looking down at my nails, then back at his face.
"But - he was still right with one thing though, that's what you gotta remember..."
"And what was that?"
He asked, a small smile on his face.
"Bad did indeed become a number one hit single-"
I leaned in closer, whispering:
"And that without him!"
We both ended up laughing before focusing back on the piano.

In the evening...
"You see?I told you cooking together would be way more fun than letting it being served by your maid."
I stated, smirking at him as he brought our plates to the kitchen, placing them on the counter.
"Yeah, you're right.But - now I feel bad for you because you had to do most of the work."
He gave me a weak smile.
"Why?It was fun!And - you did help me cooking, you're being dramatic."
I winked at him as I heard his chuckles from across the room.
"Well, I take that as a compliment then."
He smiled, walking back to the dining room.I giggled to myself, letting the warm water fill the sink as I grabbed our dirty plates from the counter.I placed them next to the silver sink, looking for a sponge to clean them up.Just as I had found it, Michael came back to the kitchen, bringing the cutlery and some bigger knifes.He placed them on top of the plates, giving me a warm smile.
"You know you don't have to clean this up...I can do this clea-"
I quickly interrupted him.
"It's okay, really."
I assured him, smiling.
"It's not that big of a deal anyway...Those are just two plates and a couple of knifes and stuff."
"Okay - but I'm gonna dry everything up then, alright?"
I nodded as he turned around, walking back to another room - probably to get the rest of the dishes.I quickly put everything in the already with rather hot water filled sink, turning the water off again.