Michael's point of view

The car ride to Sheila's was awfully quiet, and I had no idea why June wouldn't talk to me. It was odd from her to act like this. I could understand she was upset with her newbie getting drunk her very first night out as a new model, but I had nothing to do with that situation, so I couldn't understand why she was acting so cold towards me.

Once June came back from Sheila's condo after a good thrity minutes in there, she came back into the car and sighed heavily.

"Is she gonna be okay?" I soflty asked her.

"Paulina drugged her. She can't be okay, Michael."

"She what?" I asked, my eyes doubling in size. "H-how?"

"The same way she did with me. She put something in her glass. She planned everything."

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

"She told Emily I let my newbie getting drunk, and that showed how much of a bad manager I was. Emily said 'don't make me regret I hired you' before she left. I can assure you this means war."

As I was about to speak, Bill rolled the glass window that separated the front of the limo from the back, and asked me where we were heading.

"To Neverland," I answered with a smile.

"Actually, no, Bill," June corrected me, and my smile faded away. "Take me to Montecito, please."

"Sure thing," Bill politely answered, but June earned a look of confusion from her friend Pit who was sitting in the passenger's seat of the car.

"What? I'm tired. I don't feel like riding for two hours. I want to go home as soon as possible, and Montecito is closer than Los Olivos."

She sighed, falling back in her seat lazily, and looked through the window into the nighttime.

"Why wouldn't you talk to me?" I broke the silence between us.

"I'm tired, that's all," she said, not even looking at me.

"Look at me," I commanded, scooting closer to her. "I know something's wrong. I know you."

"I'm really tired, that's it. A lot happened tonight."

"Sheila's gonna be fine, you took really good care of her."

"It's not just about Sheila," she practically snapped at me. "I'm sorry," she apologized right away with a sight.

"I'd stay over at your place if I could, but I have a lot of stuff-"

"Yeah, whatever," she cut me off, looking back at the window.

"Baby," I breathed. "Is it something I did? Or something I said? Is it because I never elaborated about Tatiana?"

"I told you, I'm just tired, that's all," she said, giving a faint smile. "This night was not what I expected."

"We knew Prince would talk to you, and we know how he is; he's sarcastic and rude. No surprise here."

"He's not like this. I can assure you this is not who he really is."

"Come on, he's this way. At some point in my life, I'd meet up with Prince and we would... Hang out together, if you could say. During all this time, I've always seen this side of him, so I don't think there's actually another side of his personality."

"I've known the guy for not as long as you, but I can tell you that you used to be like him before."

"What?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"Yes. The problem Prince has is that he's lonely. He has nobody: no friends, a family that's barely hanging on... That's why he uses women the way he does."

"So you're saying that it's cool for him to play with women's feeling? Just because the guy's lonely? I used to be lonely too, but I've never had one night stands or threesomes like him."

"Why is this so bothering you anyways? It's his life, we don't give a flying fuck what he does. I just don't want him to break my friend's heart."

"He's gonna break it, I can already tell you this. He's a bad person, sure he is talented, but I don't want him near you."

"Excuse me, what? So now you're taking decisions for me?"

"I'm not telling you what to do, but I don't want to be worried about you every single day, thinking that you're with him and that he's trying to have his ways with you," I admitted.

Just thinking about him trying to seduce June caused chills to ran through my entire body. I couldn't picture her without anybody else than me. To me, there was no way in hell she would work with him, but she visibly had a different vision about it.

"Is it him you don't trust, or is it me?" she asked, looking straight into my eyes. "Be honest on this."

I sighed heavily, "I trust you on that."

"On that," she repeated, slowly nodding her head. "You still don't trust me when I say I won't leave you again."

"Try to understand me," I said, rubbing my temples.

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you. I can't understand why you can claim to love me like you do while you don't even trust me. Trust is the basis of every relationship, if there is no trust in a couple, then it's meant to be a total disaster. I begged you time and times again to trust me, to believe in me for once, but you visibly won't listen. I love you, but I just don't understand you."

I couldn't find somethting to answer, so I just decided to stay quiet.

I didn't need to add more fuel to her fire. She has a rough night, and I knew she'd eventually cool off.

Eventually.

***

June's point of view

I locked the door behind me, and enterred my cold, and dark appartment and threw my purse and coat on the couch. I was drained from the night, and I needed to be alone. I needed to be away from Michael, because looking into his eyes became too difficult for me. Everytime my stare crossed his, I had this lump in my throat that was forming, and I had to fight the urge to cry in front of him. I couldn't tell him I heard his conversation about marriage with Brooke, because I wanted him to tell me that by himself. I had to keep this from myself, and I knew it would be hard.

I plopped down on the couch and looked at the ceiling in thought, and finally the tears I was trying to fight back fell freely on my cheeks.

This night was just too much to take: Paulina played with my nerves and career, Sheila's state which earned some judgy stares from the people there, the fact that I didn't even take care of my newbies myself, the whole conversation with Prince which turned out quite bad, and finally, Michael firm attention not to get married anymore and his trust issues.

Just great.

As I was silently crying my eyes out, my phone rang which tear me out of my depression. With a shaky hand, I wiped my tears away, and picked up my phone.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" a deep voice asked me, and I sniffled back my tears.

"Who's that?" I asked, trying to hide my shaking voice.

"The guy who's not worth it," he said again, and I understood it was Prince.

I slightly rolled my eyes and wiped away my tears as he went on, "Where are you?" he reiterated.

"Home," I simply said.

"Stay here, I'm coming."

"What-- wait, why are you -"

I didn't have time to tell him not to come over here that he already hung up the phone. I didn't get why he wanted to see me, because he made me understand that he was mad at me for saying what I said back at the party. I knew I hurt his feelings deeply, but I didn't mean to.

This was the first time I met Prince, and I already had him figured out.

***

Two months later, October 25th, 1990, Los Angeles, CA.

June's point of view

As for the last couple of months, the car seemed even more quiet than the other days as I was driving to Westlake Recording Studio on my own, without Pit or Rebecca by my side. Pit was gone with Michael to his meetings, and I gave my manager a day off. She was working her ass off these days, and as today was a calm day, I decided to let her spend some quality time with her husband.

I was in L.A to say my goodbyes to Prince, as I was leaving for New York the same day. Normally, he would go back to work at Paisley Park's studio in his native Minnesota, but the studios were under renovations, so he had to stay in California until he could go back there.

We met up in there one to two times a week dueing his recording sessions so that we'd agree on what he would be asking me to do. What I liked about working with Prince is that he took the time to listen to my ideas and analyze them, and we would always laugh and joke around. There was really another side to his personality, and I was glad to throw this in Michael's face, who certified me that there wasn't another good side in Prince's personality.

I parked my car in front of the studio, and put my sunglasses back in my purse before going out of the car to reach studio B where Prince was recording. As it became an habit to come over there, the lady at the front desk nodded her head towards me with a smile, confirming me that Prince was in the usual studio. I smiled back and walked through the long hallways where records from mutliple artists such as Madonna, Celine Dion, and even Janet, were decorating the walls.

When I arrived in front of the door of Studio B, I knocked on the door, but nobody answered, so I just came in without waiting. When I pushed the door open, a soft melody hit my ears, and the sight before my eyes caused me to smile slightly.

Prince was sitting in front of the black grand piano, softly playing the melody of his first big hit, Purple Rain.

I quielty closed the door not to interrupt him, and leaned with my back on the wall so that he couldn't see me.

"I never wanted to be your weekend lover; I only wanted to be some kind of friend. Baby I could never steal you from another," he sang ever-so beautifully like he meant all of these words at this particular moment. "It's such a shame our friendship had to end... Purple Rain, Purple rain."

This version of the song gave me goosebump throughout my entire body. I never knew he could sing so softly. To me, he was this singer who can scream notes like only him can.

As I wanted to put my purse on the little table next to me, I bumped into drums that were next to me, and ended up on the floor in a loud thud. I cursed myself under my breath for being that clumsy, and realized that the soft music had stopped. Shortly after my fall, Prince came running at me, and helped me up.

"This is what you get for spying upon me," he joked with a toothless smile. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I laughed, brushing my jeans off. "This was beautiful. This is the first time I hear such a version of Purple Rain."

"It's nothing, really. It's not even good, too sentimental for me."

"It's your song," I pointed out, laughing.

"No, it's not. It's Lisa's and Wendy's song," he corrected me, referring to his former band members.

"It doesn't matter anyways. You're really talented, Prince. You should sing more ballads. It really suits you."

"I could sing some to you, but never in public. I have an image to keep."

"Yeah, the bad boy status, I got that over the weeks," I chuckled and sat down on the bench in front of the piano where Prince was once seated. "I wish I could play the piano."

"I could teach you," he kindly offered, sitting next to me. "It's not that difficult," he went on, playing a soft melody on the keys.

"Would you finish the song?" I innocently asked. " I'm sorry I interrupted."

"No way in hell," he refused, shaking his head from side to side. "I'm shy."

"Come on, you're not shy! You've been singing in front of me for weeks!"

"That's because I had no choice. You were there, and I was recording for my next album. I couldn't tell my producer 'Um, excuse me, can you get the pretty lady outside? I'm too shy to sing in front of her'. Not really what a confident and arrogant bad boy would do."

I chuckled and shook my head at him, "I didn't realize this was the first time we were both actually alone in there."
"Is it turning you on too?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

I laughed my heart out at his silliness, "You're silly."

"You didn't answer my question though," he pointed out.

"I'll answer if you finish that damn song," I blackmailed him, smirking.

"Come on! You can't force me," he pouted, and I melted at his little pouty face.

"I'm not forcing you into doing it, it would only make me happy to hear it. I've always loved this song of yours."

"Flattering my ego won't get you nowhere, missy," he narrowed his eyes at me, and I giggled.

"Okay, okay, I give up," I surrendered, holding my hands up. "Another time, maybe," I smirked.

"If you spy on me again, maybe," he chuckled.

Prince and I really became friends over the weeks. I knew there was a side of his personality that I could learn to love. This guy is actually a lot more like Michale than I thought: he's shy, and goofy and just so fun to be around. With Michael being in the studio working on Dangerous, or simply being away to take care of his new foundation, we rarely saw each other for the past month, and it was for the best. We'd barely talk to each other, and everytime we would, it was stressing me out.

"So you're here to tell me goodbye, huh?"

"Yeah, kind of," I admitted with a faint smile. "I'm leaving for New York tonight."

"And I'm going back to Paisley tonight as well."

The first single from this album, and the song that I would be dancing on was called Cream, and of course, it was a really hot song, or pornographic, as Michael would qualify it. The only thing that reassured me is that I didn't have to be alone in this, because Tara was actually my co-lead dancer, and I was happy about it. Prince had all figured out in his head, and he knew exactly what he wanted. Hopefully, nothing too extravagant, and not too hot.

"Are you going to call me?" he asked me in a child-like voice.

"You can count on that," I smiled at his cuteness.

"Doesn't Michael gonna blow a fuse?"

Hearing his name brought me back to reality, and my smile immediately left my face. I felt this hurt coming back within me at the pronouciation of his name, and I couldn't help it.

Michael and I weren't on the best terms these past few weeks, and we didn't find time to talk about our situation. The world knew about us, and I thought it would change things between us, but I was wrong. Since I told him that Prince came over at my house that night after the party, and that I was willing to work with him, he barely talked to me, and I barely talked to him because of the conversation I heard of him and Brooke.

"Please, tell me you at least talk to each other?"

"Barely," I shrugged. "I avoid talking to him because I'm afraid he'll see that I'm mad at him for something... which I am. He won't even talk to me about marriage and what I think about it. I think he's selfish for not even asking me what's my opinion about this whole thing. He made up his own mind without checking up with me. He seems not to care. Plus, telling him that you and I were friends didn't help."

"Does this mean I have my chances with you?" he asked, once again, wiggling his eyebrows. "You're not out of my reach. Michael and you are maybe together, but until you're married to him, I won't stop running after you. I can still have you."

"You can't have me, Michael has me."

"Visibly not, because I don't see any ring around your finger."

"Prince," I warned, showing him I was serious.

"Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've always been a shitty adviser. And considering your man is my number one enemy, I don't think you'd like some advice from me," he chuckled to lighten up the mood.

"You're probably right," I snorted slightly. "I just... I just wish he could talk to me and tell me why he still has those trust issues and ask me about my feelings about all of this, you know."

"I can answer the trust issues part."

"Oh yeah? Why then?"

"You're the dream of thousands of men out there. He's just afraid you'll walk away with one of them, like me, you know. That's why he hates me that much; because I like you."

"He knows I love him though. He knows I'll never cheat on him. Never."

"You told me he doesn't trust you anymore, then I don't think he'll believe you if you say that."

"I'm just so confused."

I ran my hands over my face in annoyance, and soon enough I felt a pair of strong hands being wrapped around my shoulders. Automatically, I wrapped my arms around Prince's waist, and laid my head in the crook of his neck, taking in his sweet scent. Without warning, a tear fell from my eyes, soon turning into a waterfall.

I was emotionally drained.

Working against Paulina became weary, and being a good manager was something really difficult to do. I hope going to New York would make me feel better: I would see my family, Karl and Brooke again, and hopefully I would show my newbies how good of a manger I truly am.

"Shhh," Prince soothed, rocking me back and forth. "Come on, Mumchkin, you're gonna be alright, okay?"

"I just want him to understand how much it hurts me that he doesn't trust me," I cried, whispering into his neck.

"Then you should have talked to him," Prince said and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "You shouldn't be allowed to cry, sweetheart."

"I know I should have told him, but I thought he would at least talk to me about this, but he never did."

"When does he come back?"

"I don't even know," I answered, my voice muffled against Prince's black shirt.

"Too soon, apparently," a oh-so-recognizable voice said from behind us.

I pulled away quickly from Prince, and looked towards the studio's entrance.

Michael was standing there with Pit, giving both of Prince and I a look that caused my blood to run cold. He had a disappointed yet angry look on his face, and I couldn't speak a word to him. I just didn't know what to tell him on the moment, and how to tell him.

As the silence became weary and awkward, Prince cleared his throat and left his seat next to me to walk towards Michael.

"Look, Michael, this is not what it looks li -"

Without warning, Michael punched Prince in the face with such force that he fell on the ground. I gasped in shock, yelling Michael's name, and ran to Prince that was on the ground, holding his bloody nose.

"Oh my God, Prince, are you okay?" I asked him, but he didn't answer, so I looked up to Michael that was shaking his hand. "Are you fucking insane? Why did you do this?" I yelled at him, angry at his behavior.

Pit pulled Michael back by his shoulders while Michael was looking at Prince and I on the floor.

He didn't answer my question, but kept looking at us intensely. It seemed like he was in a kind of trance.

"Prince, are you okay?" I softly asked him, cupping his face while examining his bloody nose. "Here, let me help you," I offered, helping him up.

"No. Go talk to him. It's now or never," he softly told me, wiping his nose. "I'll be fine."

"I'm so sorry," I told him, crying some more. "I -"

"It's okay," he assured me one more time, giving me a faint smile. "I'd be protective over you too if you were my girl."

I smiled at myself.

Even after being punched in the face, Prince didn't even think about punching Michael back because he know it wasn't the answer, he just thought about the fact that I needed to talk to him to make things right between him and I.

I squeezed his hand, and told Pit to take care of him until I go back, and he nodded his head.

I took Michael's hand, and dragged him outside of the room, in a kind of broom closet. I switched on the light, and looked into his angry eyes.

"I think we need to break the ice, because this is getting too much for me to handle, and I can't keep pretending that nothing's going on while there's actually something going on," I stated, wiping my wet eyes.

"So you're really cheating on me with him?" he asked, his voice cracking. "No, please... I can't believe you, after all the warnings -"

"What? NO! I'd never cheat on you, Michael, what the fuck?" I asked in disbelief, raising my voice. "This guy you just punched was actually the shoulder I could rely on while you were working and while you were mad at me for being friend with such an amazing guy!"

"Then what the fuck is going on, June? What the fuck has been going on for months now? Why are you so fucking distant? Why are you so fucking different? Is this all because of him?"

I took a step back at his sudden harsh words, and tried hard to keep my cool. I had no plan on what I wanted to tell him. All I knew was that I needed to have those words coming out of my mouth, and finally tell him what had been bothering me for weeks.

"Calm the fuck down, would you? You have no right to yell at me right now!"

"Oh yeah? Try to put yourself in my shoes, and think differently: how would you react if you witnessed what I just witnessed? Me in the arms of... Paulina? She's your biggest rival. How'd you feel, huh?"

"I'd feel just like you, but if I knew you guys were somehow friends, then I wouldn't make a huge fuss about it, because I trust you!"

"And I don't trust you!"

"I fucking know that, and that's why I've been cold toward you for weeks! Because you can't trust me!" I yelled, and Michael's eyes widened. "Yeah, remember that conversation you had with Brooke at that party?"

Michael's eyes seemed guilty all of a sudden, "She told you about it?"

"She didn't have to tell me. I heard the entire thing," I snapped. "From the moment where you said that I'm your everything, to the one you said that you wouldn't marry me because you can't trust me. Is that why you came here? Because you can't trust me? Because you were afraid I'd cheat on you with Prince?"

"N-no! Well... Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" I scoffed. "Then why did you come here if it's not to keep an eye on me, huh?"

"Because I have something to tell you."

"What is it then?"

"This is not how I expected to tell you this, but I guess I have no choice now..." he sighed, and I frowned.

"Do you think that's how I planned on having a conversation about us? In a broom closet? Not really. Now, spit it."

"Why are you so harsh with me?"

"Are you kidding me?" I scoffed again, not believing him. "You just punched my friend in the face without a real reason!"

"You were in his arms, for God's sake!"

"I wasn't fucking him, for God's sake! I hug Pit all the time! I even tell him that I love him, and you're fine with it!"

"That guy is my freaking rival, June!"

It looked like this conversation was a yelling contest between Michael and I, and the one who could yell the loudest would win.

And Michael was the winner.

"This makes no difference. He is my friend, and I'm going to work with him on that video clip. Whether you like it or not," I spoke in a calmer voice. I was tired of yelling.

"You're always gonna give me a hard time, don't you?"

"I'm not being difficult. I just happened to become Prince's friend, and you don't like it that you can't control that. You have to live with it though, and I have to live with the fact you don't want to get married again."

"Can you live with that?" he asked me, looking down at me with sorrow in his doe eyes.

"Can you?" I asked back.

He didn't answer, but instead laid a kiss on my forehead before opening the door.

"And I came to tell you that I was officialy divorced."

I didn't move an inch, didn't move a muscle and didn't even react at his statement. This didn't make a big difference to me, knowing that Michael didn't want to marry me anyways.

"And you're not gonna say anything. I got it," he said, opening the door wider to show himself out.

"What is going to change, huh? Should I remind you that you don't want to get married again, and certainly not with me, because you can't trust me? You being divorced won't change anything for us."

"Come on, don't be like this, please," he begged with a sad face on, and closed the door again. "You need to understand my point of view."

"At one point, I could understand you, but now, I don't think I can," I shook my head from side to side. "For those two months, I kept this for myself, I tried to convince myself that you weren't postive about this, and that you'd probably change your mind about marriage, but then, I thought about the possibily that you won't change your mind, and that I'd be stuck in a relationship that doesn't fully make me happy, and this is not something I want," I admitted, and finally I look from the floor to Michael's confused eyes. "I know I hurt you in the past, and I'm sorry. I shoudn't have left the way I left you, Michael. I shouldn't have played with your feelings by walking away time and times again, and - "

"Tell me you're not breaking up with me again, I can't -"

"Shut up, please. Let me finish,"I cut him off.

Actually, I had no idea where I was going with this. I just let my heart speak, something I didn't do for too long.

"Being away from you was the hardest thing I had to do, and I realized that I can't live without you," I went on. "You're my oxygen, and without you I'm not myself. I don't want this to happen again. I want to be the one you spend the rest of your life with. Let me be this woman. Let it be me. Let it be me, the woman you need," I said, looking straight into Michael's eyes, tearing up. " I don't ever want to be alone again, and I want to be the ground under you feet if you have to leave, I want to protect you just like your mother would protect you: I want to be your armure if you need one. I fell in love with you at a moment I thought I won't be able to love again. Is this a crime to love someone as hard as I love you and wanting to spend the rest of my life with you? Because if it is, then take me straight to jail, because I'm a criminal. I'm a criminal for falling in love with you, but I don't care, because you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I know I hurt you in the past, I know I made you sad, but I just want you to forget about all of this and trust me again. Please trust me," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "When people will ask you who's the one, who do you love? Then please Michael, please. Let it be me," I took a shaky breath, and came closer to him, taking his hands in mine. "I know no one lives for ever, not even you, and I want to be the one by your side, I want to be there if you have to go before me, I want to be the last word you say. I want to be the woman you think of when you're about to give up in something, I want to be the one to give you strength to go through everything," I said, feeling tears running down my cheeks at that point. "The very first time our eyes met, I didn't know it would have brought me where I am now, at this very place, telling you how much I love you, how much I loved you, and how much I'll always love you. That day we met, I brought a sign with me with one question on it. A question I never thought would be a serious one someday," I said, kneeling down in front of him. "I know this is not how things are supposed to be, I know Jessica made you hate marriage and I know you didn't plan on getting married anytime near soon again, but I love you Michael Jackson, and I think it's time for you to finally give me the answer to my question."

I looked up to Michael, and found the strength to voice the question I never thought I'd ask someday.

"Will you marry me?"

___________________

Wow wow wow, isn't that an emotional rollercoaster?