Before Jennifer and Mike became friends, Mike had been involved in a
serious relationship with Katie Peretti. They had been engaged and
then Katie's husband, Simon Frasier returned to town. Simon had
once left Katie to protect her, then faked his own death to protect her
and then reappeared once again only to leave her one more time for her
own protection. He had recently returned to Oakdale to try to
reunite with her. But when Katie learned that he had brought Pilar
Domingo back to town and put Mike's life in danger as well as her own,
she said goodbye to Simon for good. Unfortunately Katie wasn't
able to share her real feelings with Mike and instead told him she was
leaving town with Simon.
Jennifer's relationship with Jordan had ended about the same time as
Katie left town. Their friendship started up because of Jennifer's
sister Nikki and Mike's friend Henry Coleman. Henry was interested
in Nikki, who unfortunately only had eyes for Mike. So the four of
them started going out as friends and gradually Mike and Jennifer
started growing closer. One
day when Mike was at BRO, Jen got the idea to alter his jeans with some
well placed rips and cuts and Street Jeans was born. Mike was to
become the face and the body of Street Jeans. After their
friendship brought Jennifer and Mike closer together, they finally
decided to pursue a relationship.
Katie soon returned to Oakdale after spotting a Street Jeans ad in a
magazine, featuring Mike. She wanted to renew her relationship
with Mike upon her return, but quickly learned that he was now with
Jennifer. That just
made Katie try to think of new ways to draw Mike back into her life.
With the help of Henry Coleman, she continually found ways to connect
with Mike, even if it meant that Mike brought Jennifer with him.
The ultimate scheme by Katie was to announce that she and Henry were
going to get married. Katie was hoping that Mike would finally
declare his love for her in order to stop the marriage, but that was not
about to happen. Jennifer had questioned
Mike frequently about his feelings for Katie. Even as Katie was
about to marry Henry, she questioned him once again and he assured her
that it was Jennifer he truly loved. The relationship between Mike
and Jennifer just intensified and Mike started talking about his desire
to settle down and start a family.
Jennifer was now given a new manager for Street Jeans, Craig
Montgomery. Craig
felt that Jennifer's relationship with Mike would take her focus off the
business. So Craig started plotting with Henry to try to reunite
Katie and Mike. The night of Jennifer's important show at Metro,
Mike was absent as he once again came to Katie's aid. A frustrated
Jennifer, fearing she had lost Mike, made the mistake of sleeping
with Craig after a few too many drinks. Craig blackmailed Jennifer
and said he would only keep quiet if she stayed at Street Jeans, but
Jennifer went ahead and told Mike anyhow.
A few weeks later Jennifer's nightmare continued as she realized she
was pregnant with Craig's child! Mike surprised Jennifer by
offering to raise the child as his own. Everyone agreed that Craig
should not be a part of the child's life. Jennifer and Mike left
to marry in Las Vegas but unfortunately Katie let the information slip
and Craig found them and stopped the wedding. A plan was then
hatched by Dusty, Paul, Barbara and Sierra to get Craig out of town on
phony drug charges. It then seemed that
finally
Mike and Jennifer were free to marry and start the life they dreamt of.
However that happiness was short-lived as Craig, with the help of
Rosanna Cabot, returned to town more determined than ever to be a part
of his child's life. Feeling totally frustrated Jennifer turned to
Dusty Donovan, who was now managing Street Jeans, for help. They
came up with a plan that made it appear that Craig pushed Jennifer,
causing her to fall. Craig was then given a five year restraining
order forbidding him from seeing his child.
Unfortunately for Jennifer, Mike overheard a phone conversation
between Jennifer and Dusty and realized the whole thing had been a
setup. Mike couldn't tolerate the deception. A fight ensued
and an angry Mike left saying he doubted he would ever return.
He went to Chicago where he ran into Katie. There he told Katie he
had never stopped loving her. A distraught Jennifer found them the
next day after their night of passion and knew her marriage was now
over.
It was Dusty who was there for Jennifer when the baby was born.
Once Mike got the news he rushed to the hospital. He was there to
try to support Jennifer through the death of the baby.
Once the service was over for the baby, Jennifer pushed Mike away,
knowing their marriage was over. A short time later, Mike moved on
and into the cottage with Katie. Once Jennifer got Johnny returned
to her and realized she was ready to move on with Dusty, Jennifer then
went to Mike and asked for a divorce. In turn, Mike then asked
Katie to marry him.
