June 29th, 1997 (June 30th, 1997 - Vienna)
Mariah was panicking again. It had been a little over a day since she last heard from Michael, which was unlike him. She had called Michael, Kenny Ortega, and now Bill trying to track him down.
She breathed a sigh of relief when Bill answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Bill, where's Michael?"
Bill hesitated. "He fainted in rehearsals today. I'm at the hospital with him now."
Mariah felt her stomach turn. She felt like it was her fault, if she hadn't started an argument with him the other night he wouldn't have worked himself so hard.
She gagged.
"Bill, can you hold on?"
She sat the phone down and ran into the bathroom, retching into the toilet. She stood up, wiped her mouth, went back into the bedroom, and picked up the phone.
"Bill?"
"Yeah, everything alright?"
"How is he?" Mariah asked frantically.
"He's stable and everything. He just sleeping right now." Bill explained.
"I'm flying out there. If something else happens to him-"
"Mariah," Bill interjected. "I'm keeping an eye on him. You don't need to fly out."
"Bill, I just need to see him."
"He's fine, Mariah. Don't worry yourself about him. I'll have him call you when he wakes up. Okay?"
She sighed. "Okay."
June 30th, 1997 (June 30th, 1997 - Vienna)
Michael was still feeling weak when he woke up, but after an hour, he was released from the hospital and went back to his hotel room.
Bill told him that Mariah had called earlier that day, upset because she hadn't heard from him.
How ironic.
He decided to make her wait for awhile before he got bored and called the condo. She answered on the first ring.
"Michael?" She said into the phone nervously.
"Hey." He mumbled.
"Are you okay? Bill told me-"
"I'm fine."
Mariah was quiet for a moment. "Well I'm glad to hear from you. I was so worried."
"I heard." He said flatly.
"What happened? Where are you?"
"I'm in Vienna. I was just tired so I passed out, all I needed was some sleep." He explained.
Part of him wanted Mariah to feel guilty for snapping at him the other night. He felt like asking her to sing to him was a reasonable request.
Even if she was tired she could've just said that instead of yelling at me.
"Do you want me to come out there and see you?" She asked.
"Not really." Michael said. "I'm gonna try to go back to sleep after the nurse checks my vitals."
"Oh...well good night sweetheart. I love you."
"Mhm."
June 30th, 1997 (July 1st, 1997 - Vienna)
Michael and Mariah had been on the phone for a few minutes, awkwardly filling the silence. He was recently discharged from a hospital in Vienna, where he'd been after collapsing on stage during rehearsal.
"Baby are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Michael replied, despondently.
Mariah sat there, unsure of what to say. "Okay well I just wanna make sure everything is okay."
"Mariah, I said I'm fine. You don't have to do all that." Michael replied, his tone obviously annoyed.
Mariah scrunched up her face and pulled back as if he could see her. "Alright well I love you."
"Yup."
The phone hung up and Mariah sat there on the other end in utter disbelief that her husband just hung up on her without even saying goodbye. Ever since their hiccup a week prior, she could feel Michael growing cold towards her. She knew that if he kept going down this path, he'd eventually just cut her off like he did his family and possibly erase all the progress he'd made with coming out of his peculiar mental state.
Whoosh.
The door came flying open as Mariah sat on the couch in the living room reflecting on Michael's erratic behavior.
"Mariah!" Pat yelled.
"Mom, why are you yelling?" She rubbed her temples. "I already got a headache."
"Sorry, but guess who I just got off the phone with." Pat said proudly.
"Who?" Mariah asked, she wasn't in the mood to play games.
Pat sighed, taking a seat next to her.. "You know, you could humor me sometimes." She shot an eyebrow up at Mariah. "I spoke with Alison."
Mariah sat up straight. "What did she say?"
"She said she's willing to talk. I think she's considering rehab." Pat said, her excitement barely contained.
Mariah grinned. "Really?"
Pat nodded. "I just wish we weren't going back to LA so soon so we could go see her again. What day did you say?"
"We're flying back on the second. We won't be back in New York for a while" Mariah replied.
Pat was quiet for a moment, appearing to observe Mariah. "Have you talked to Michael?"
Mariah nodded. "We talked."
"How is he?"
"He sounds more alive today. He'll be back on the road tomorrow, but I think he should take another day to relax."
"Well you know your husband. He'll work himself to death if he keeps this up." Pat sat there for a moment staring into space before got up from the couch. "I'm about to make lunch."
"I want some." Mariah said.
Pat chuckled. "I bet you do. All you do is eat."
Mariah rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
July 3rd, 1997 - Munich (Midnight)
It had been awhile since Michael was able to actually speak with his wife beyond obligation. He was growing fearful of her. At the very same time, he needed her. He was dangerously sleep deprived and the only way he could seem to get some rest was to hear the soothing voice of the woman he loved.
So Michael sat in his hotel bed for awhile, trying to put his mind to rest, but he just couldn't. He turned on the TV and saw a German news story about Diana Ross visiting Germany from Switzerland with her sons Evan and Ross. His eyes widened as he turned up the volume.
I don't have a clue what's going on. He thought.
That's when it hit him. If he couldn't have his wife sing him to sleep, he'd have his 'mother-lover-friend' do it instead.
"Vicki!" Michael called out.
It took a few seconds before Vicki made it over to Michael's hotel room door.
"Yes?"
"Can you find me Diana Ross' number?" Michael asked.
Vicki looked at him, stupefied. "Huh?"
"I need to talk to her."
Vicki raised both her eyebrows. "Ehm, Mr. Jackson, I don't think that's a good idea."
"With all due respect, I don't care. I need to talk to her." Michael explained, carefully.
Vicki shook her head and stepped out of the room for a second. She quickly returned with a list of numbers that belonged to Diana Ross, including her personal cell phone number that she found in Michael's address book.
"Here you are." Vicki passed Michael the sheet, hesitantly.
"Thank you. You've been such a good girl Vicki, I really appreciate you." Michael replied with doting eyes.
Vicki shook her head as if she knew something was wrong with this picture. She quietly left the room as Michael began to dial Diana's number. The phone rang for a few seconds before Diana picked up.
"Who is this?" Diana asked, abruptly.
Michael opened his eyes in shock.
"Hellooo?" Diana asked again.
Michael snapped back to reality before answering. "H-Hey Diane. It's me. Uh, it's Michael."
"Michael?"
"Jackson." He added.
"I know your last name, sweetheart." Diana laughed. "What're you doing?"
"I-uh- I can't really sleep. I'm sorry I know it's late-"
"Oh no, it's fine." Diana replied reassuringly. "What's going on?"
"I think my wife wants a divorce."
"Wha?" Diana was shocked. "Last time I talked to 'er she seemed happy. What happened?"
"I think she doesn't like the way I look or something." Michael was partially telling the truth. He was growing more insecure of his looks, but he knew deep down that it was his mental health that was really taking a toll on her.
"What do you mean, Michael? You're such a beautiful man, how could she not see that?"
Michael sighed. It felt great to hear that from Diana, but he didn't really feel like it was true. "I don't know. And now she won't even help me to sleep anymore." He rubbed his eyes. "I'm just so tired but I can't sleep. My doctor says it's insomnia from all the jet lag and stuff, but I know it's stress too."
"Poor baby. Well if there's anything I can do to help you, you name it and I'll do it." Diana replied.
"Well, it does help a lot to hear soothing sounds before bed. Like maybe a nice slow song." Michael replied.
Diana went quiet for second before whispering goodnight to one of her children.
Michael smiled.
She is such an incredible mother. God I wi-
"Okay honey, now you needed me to sing to you?"
Michael softened his voice. "Yes ma'am."
Diana asked him what he wanted to hear and after he responded, she sang him a soft love song until he fell asleep.
July 2nd, 1997 - Los Angeles
Where is that ivory t-shirt?
Mariah was zooming around the condo trying to find something to wear. Now back in California, she'd set up an appointment to meet with Janet at a venue to plan the decorations for Joseph's Day. To her dismay, she hadn't brought anything with her from New York since she knew she already had clothes at the LA condo. What she didn't realize is that she'd be coming back to a closet full of too-small tank tops and mini skirts.
What the fuck was I thinking buying all these tank tops?
She flew back into the master bedroom closet and went through her things until she found it: A cropped ivory t-shirt with black trim on the sleeves.
She sighed and began to pull the shirt over her head. When she'd rolled the shirt down to the top of her breasts, she tugged and tugged, trying to get it to fit over. Her boobs kept popping it back up.
Mariah rolled her eyes and snatched the shirt off. She knew she had gained some weight, but that shirt was the loosest shirt she owned. It was a flowy medium-sized shirt that didn't feel so loose anymore. She stormed back into the closet and pulled out one of Michael's over-sized CTE shirts and buttoned it down.
She then walked over to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror to make sure she was presentable. One at a time, she slid her hands down her torso to get an idea of how much bigger she'd gotten. She really hadn't been paying attention to her weight lately, and even though it was there, she didn't give it a second thought.
To Mariah's surprise she developed a pronounced muffin-top and distinct love handles. Her arms were even a bit flabbier than before. She figured her poor habits over the past months had something to do with it. Lately, Mariah had been drinking heavier and eating a lot more. She couldn't help herself. Stress eating was her way of dealing with all of her pain. Food and good wine was always there for her whenever she needed to escape, but now it was taking it's toll. She quietly decided to start working out more with her choreographer, Rachel. And with her new video shoot coming up, she'd especially need Rachel's help to get back in shape.