Remember the Time

Chapter 21

March 1st, 1997

The past few days had been rather hectic with Mariah working on songs for her album and Michael having to be on set for prolonged periods of time, and it was showing. The condo was a mess. They let clothes pile up from the moment they arrived back in LA, the sink was filled with dishes from the day before, and the bedroom closet looked like a hurricane hit with boxes and papers everywhere from the remodel. Mariah knew she'd probably not have much time to clean up once Michael was finished filming, so she decided to at least get a start on the laundry.

She picked through a pile of Michael's clothes on the floor, separating the whites from the colors.

Jesus Christ that man is disgusting.

His clothes from the previous days' shoots reeked of sweat and must. Up until this point she hadn't realized just how pungent they were--he kept it under wraps, contained in his dirty clothes stack. She sorted through smelly his shirts and pants until she got to an extremely foul specimen. She squatted down closer to the floor to see what it was, and, with the tips of her nails, picked up a sock that had a hard, crunchy texture. The toe area on the sock was a dark brownish-gray color and looked like it could grow mold. It smelled spoiled, like a mildewed towel that had been used to soak up toilet water.

She gagged before dropping it. What the fuck, Michael?

The scent was so overwhelming her eyes began to water. She jumped up from the floor and ran into the bathroom. She hovered over the toilet trying to force something out.

Nothing.

She stood up and walked back into the bedroom, the air now filled with the scent of her husband after performing an intense dance routine ten times over. She ran around the condo to find air freshener before settling on dryer sheets from the living room closet. Making her way back into the bedroom, she struggled to open the box. When she finally got it open, she ripped out a hand full of sheets and threw them all over his laundry pile.

I give up.

She kicked all his clothes back into the corner and went into the closet instead. Boxes filled the oversized space--all unlabeled and filled randomly with things she found around the condo. She spotted a small box on the island and figured she'd get started on sorting through that one.

Lighter than expected, she lifted the cardboard container and carried it into the bedroom. She ripped it open and it was only half filled with random papers, small clothing items, and VHS tapes. She pulled out a few of the VHS tapes and read through the titles.

Westside Story. Keep here.

Singin' in the Rain. Keep here.

And- Edward Scissorhands. Now, I LOVED that movie. I'll put it in the "take back to Neverland" pile.

She sorted through the rest of the contents of the box and separated everything into either a "Keep here" pile or "Take back to Neverland" pile.

When she finished the first box she went back into the closet to look for another one she could work on.

Hmmm. She searched around the room before stumbling upon a box she kept in the corner for herself. It was the only box that had items of a common theme: Diana Ross. She stared at the box, wondering if it was even worth it to open it.

Though it had been awhile since Michael and Diana were together, Mariah still felt an inexplicable pain to see that for the past six years, he kept Diana right under her nose.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He doesn't even know I have this.

She picked up the box and sat down on the closet floor. She opened it and pulled out an issue of Ebony Magazine.