Chapter Text
Clarissa stood in front of the huge mirror looking at her reflection for the tenth time that morning, she ran her brush through her hair, reapplying her lipstick before removing it and starting over again. This went on for the last hour as her best friend Lou lay on the bed behind her a box of tissues sitting beside her as she blew her nose again.
"Lissa would you please stop, you're making the bad headache I already have a hundred times worse, you look fine. Amazing actually just step away from the mirror I beg you" Lou pleaded to her.
Clarissa ignored her as she continued to fix her appearance again and again
"Maybe If you didn't land the biggest bomb on me I wouldn't be panicking right now!"
"I know I'm sorry honestly I didn't mean to get sick on today of all days, If it makes you feel any better I'm so jealous of you right now I've dreamt of this moment for literally years and my best friend is the one getting to live my dream"
Clarissa sighed and finally turned away from the mirror to look at her friend, she walked over to the bed and sat down beside her holding her hand
"I know Lou, I'm sorry for being a bitch right now I know how much this interview meant to you. I'm just scared that I'll mess it up this is a lot on my shoulders, you need this and I don't want to be the person who ruined your chances of your dream career"
Lou squeezed her hand slightly as she smiled at her "You won't I promise, from what I've heard he's a really lovely man I can't see him giving any bad reviews. But you better get going it's a 2 hour drive away and I know how punctual you are"
They gave each other a tight hug and Clarissa grabbed her things then making sure to grab the questions she needed. She walked to her car getting inside and shakily put her keys into the ignition and starting it up, she closed her eyes as she took a deep breath "You've got this. You've got this" she muttered to herself after a few minutes she finally drove away from her small apartment heading towards Neverland Ranch she was about to meet the King of Pop himself, the man she's admired for so many years, what could go wrong?..
Just over 2 hours later she pulled up to the large black gates, she couldn't see the property from there. She noticed a black box by the wall with a button on it she rolled her window down and gently pressed the button, right away a voice spoke through the box.
"Name?" A man's voice spoke
She paused for a second should she give her name or Lou's? What if she said her name and then they turned her away? The voice spoke again more loudly this time "Hello? Name?"
"Louise Fields" She said quickly there was a silent pause for a few seconds and then the gates opened up, she took a deep breath and slowly drove through, as she headed up she could finally see the mansion it was huge, she never saw a home as big as this before, she looked around and out of the corner of her eye she spotted a huge animal walk her eyes widened as she realised it was a Giraffe right here roaming around like it was completely normal. The further she drove up the more she saw. A huge Ferris Wheel, A large water slide, more animals running around she couldn't believe it, she felt like she was going to wake up any minute now and realise all of this was a dream but it wasn't it was real life.
She finally made it to the mansion and parked her car to the side, straight away she felt embarrassed here she was in her small red convertible whilst there was a Rolls Royce park right beside her It made her feel small, like she was a small mouse among huge lions. She slowly got out of her car making sure to lock it as a man made his way towards her he was older at least in his mid 50's he wore a bucket hat and a jumper vest he walked until he was right in front of her.
"Louise is it?" The man asked
"Uh.. Um.. Yes that's me" She answered, he looked at her concerned like she didn't know if she was sure. But he didn't question her and asked her to follow him. They made there way into the Mansion and he spoke to her as she followed.
"So here's the rules. Number 1. Anything you record today is to be transcribed by myself and my team before you publish it. Number 2. You may not touch or take anything without the consent of myself or my team. And most importantly Number 3. You must not under any circumstances ask Michael any questions that we have not authorised, I'm assuming you have the questions that we agreed on?"
She paused nervously then, Louise never mentioned anything about this she just grabbed the list of questions she found sitting on the kitchen table. "Shit" she thought to herself what if she has the wrong ones. What if she gets asked to leave, she snapped out of her trance when the man clicked his fingers in front of her face
"I asked you a question" He said his tone sharpening
She nodded then and he hmm'd a little as he walked ahead, she followed him until they arrived into a small room. There was a large desk in the middle some book shelve by the walls filled with a variety of books, on the table was some picture frames with different stuffed animals. She looked around and saw some painting hung on the walls also one that caught her eye was of Peter Pan standing looking up at the sky with Tinkerbell by his shoulder. She smiled softly as she looked at it she knew how much Michael loved Peter Pan she had heard him speak of his love for children books even as an adult. She heard the man behind her clear his throat loudly grabbing her attention again she looked towards him.
"Michael will be with you shortly for now if you could sit there and please do not touch anything"
She nodded in understanding and he left closing the door behind him, she went and sat down on the seat her hands nervously tapping against her thighs, she could feel her stomach start to clench as she realised this was really happening she was about to sit face to face to Michael Jackson, and ask him questions, that's when she remembered the questions. She opened her handbag taking the paper out of it opening it up she glanced over the questions on it. They mostly look harmless but before she could scan over all of them the door opened she looked back and her breath left her as she saw him walk in. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail but a few curls fell against his forehead. He wore dark shades over his eyes denying her from making eye contact with him. And lastly he wore loose fitting red shirt with black trousers and black loafers. She watched him as walked into the room heading to the other side of the large table between them he sat down his eyes gaze still never meeting hers as he took out a packet of chewing gum from his pocket opening one and popping it into his mouth. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours before he finally spoke.
"So you're here to interview me?" He asked her still not making eye contact
"Y.. Yes I am Mr Jackson" She replied quietly
"When then lets get this over with shall we" He said
Clarissa cleared her throat as she took out the tape recorder from her bag setting it on the table between them
"I'm sure you were already informed Mr Jackson, but in order for me to interview you I will need to record our interaction, do you give me your permission to do so?"
Michael finally for the first time since he entered the room looked in her direction his shades still covering his eyes "Yes I have been informed of this Louise. You may proceed"
She nervously pressed the button until the small red light appeared letting her know It was recording, she looked down at the question before her then.
"Mr Jackson, You have been in the public spotlight for over a decade now. Can you tell me what you love most about your fame?" She looked at him when she finished the question.
He rubbed his finger over his chin as he thought of an answer "I would say getting to meet my fans. They have always been the most important part of my career without them I wouldn't be who I am today. Everything I do I do it for them"
"That's a very honest answer sir" She said smiling softly at him.
"May I ask Miss Fields. Are you a fan of mine?"
Clarissa blushed slightly nervously tucking her hair behind her ear "Yes Mr Jackson I am, I've listened to your music for a long time you are defiantly in my top 3"
"Top 3, may I ask were I rank on this?"
"You're defiantly number 2"
His brows raised then a small smirk forming on his lips "Is that so? And who is so much better that you would put them above me?"
"Um, I really like Prince" She said chuckling nervously biting her lip then as she looked down, when she didn't hear any thing she looked back up and found him staring at her his jaw clenched a little, she slowly released her lip and cleared her throat again looking back at her questions.
"You are now in the middle of preparing for you're first ever solo concert, what would you say is most exciting prospect for you of finally touring without your brothers?" She looked back at him again but he still continued to stare at her, she waited for him to answer her question but after a few seconds of no response she shakily tucked her hair behind her ear again looking down for a different question.
"Why is he better than me?" He finally spoke and she met his gaze again
"I'm sorry?" She whispered, he turned away from her for a moment and grabbed his shades finally removing them from his eyes as he looked at her again his eyes now burning into her own
"I said why is he better than me? Why does he get to be number 1 on your list and not me?"
She laughed lightly thinking he was joking around but when she saw his face frowning at her she realised he was being serious.
"Oh uh, It's nothing personal Mr Jackson it's just I listened to Prince before you and I've always admired his music.. Not that I don't admire yours I do a lot I mean who doesn't love your music It's passionate it's beautiful." She wanted the ground to shallow her whole in that moment, she didn't realise this would be such a big deal. But It got even worse when Michael suddenly stood up and grabbed the tape recorder he turned it off and dropped it back onto the table.
"Interview over, You may leave Miss Fields" He walked out of the room then the door shutting loudly as he left her sitting there. She could feel her eyes behind to water as she realised what had just happened, shakily she grabbed the recorder putting it back into her bag and she put the interview paper in also. A few seconds later a knock came to the door and the same man from before opened it looking at her. His first hardened demeanor now gone as he looked softly to her he could see the few tears that had escaped down her cheeks as she futilely tried to wipe them away.
"Sorry kid, he's been a little stressed lately don't take it personal" He said kindly
She nodded to him and quickly gathered herself as she left this Mansion she got into her car and drove away wanting to get as far away from the place as possible, once she was a good few miles away she stopped the car parking into a deserted road as she broke down in tears that she had been holding back, she wanted to believe the man that Michael didn't mean it but it broke her heart, the person she's admired for so long to be so nasty to her made her feel horrible.
The drive home felt like forever, Clarissa didn't want to face Lou right now how could she tell her that she's just messed up the most important interview of her life. She knows she would hug her and pretend it's ok but deep down she would be angry and heartbroken and she couldn't face seeing her like that. She finally pulled up outside their apartment the once bright sky now starting to darken down the way up towards their door she ran over in her head what to say over and over again trying to find the right thing. She finally made it to their door and took a long deep breath before opening the door heading inside, she found Lou sitting at the computer head fingers typing quickly as she didn't look away from the screen.
"Hey Lou, listen I uh I need to tell you something" She said nervously as she started walking further into the apartment setting her bag down
"You're a Goddess" Louise said as she turned and looked at her
"What?"
"I just got his email. Well obviously not his email but he answered every question, you did amazing girl I'm so proud of you" Lou said as she turned back to the computer continuing to type.
"So what was he like? Did he smell nice everyone says how nice he smells. You need to tell me everything!"
Clarissa watched her as she continued typing, she didn't understand how could he have answered her questions when she never asked them to him. She removed her coat then tying her hair up in a bun.
"Lou do you mind if we discuss this tomorrow, sorry but I'm exhausted it's been a long day and I'm just ready to lie in bed now"
Louise stopped typing then and turned back to her friend her face looking worried, "Are you ok?" She asked her and Clarissa nodded giving her a soft smile. She accepted it and got up from her seat giving her a tight hug,
"Thank you for what you did today, I know It wasn't easy for you but I'm so proud of you I hope you know that" She gave her a kiss to the cheek and then released her, Clarissa headed to her bedroom then closing the door she wiped the makeup off her face and changed into more comfortable clothes. She got into bed and thought back to what happened, she wants to apologise to him to say how sorry she was for upsetting him but she remembered the man from before saying how he's been under pressure lately and not to take it personally. She tried not too but she couldn't help but feel upset about everything, she turned off her bedside light and closed her eyes letting sleep whisk away the horror off today.