Ten minutes later, Rachel came out of the bathroom. The dark jeans and cashmere sweater replaced with a white tank top and pink striped flannel PJ bottoms. Her long blond hair was in a high ponytail and she had her glasses on since she was blind as a bat without contacts or glasses. Jon smiled softly at her. In his eyes, she was one of the most beautiful woman in the world and he couldn’t understand why any man wouldn’t want her forever.
She was a year younger than him, but could easily pass for thirty instead of forty five. She had a body that most twenty year olds would kill for. Large round firm breasts, long muscular legs, a small waist and she was 5"6 inches in her bare feet. He was particularly found of her long graceful neck and collar bone which was his favourite places to kiss her. Her emerald green eyes usually shone with a certain fire but they looked dull and lifeless which was how he knew she was hurting.
Grace Rachelle, was considered one of the brightest and most sarcastic entertainment lawyers in the United States. She realized early on that she was very good and rather than accepting numerous studio offers she started her own multi million dollar practice. After a year at UCLA, she transferred to Princeton and stayed there for law school, where she graduated at the top of her class.
Beauty, brains and one hell of a sense of humour, Clooney was definitely an idiot for pushing her away, he thought.
"Jon would you stop staring at me? You’re making me nervous."
"Sorry, just admiring the view."
"Yeah right, you are up to something."
"I’m not, when are you going to accept that you are very pleasant eye candy?"
"Maybe when I’m not dumped for a 25 year old bimbo who ....."
"He’s an asshole."
"No kidding."
"Seriously, he left a world class lady for an escort, sorry hostess. I still don’t understand why you fell for him in the first place."
She sat down on the bed beside him.
"Yes, I know I prefer married rock stars but he pursued me. He wore me down with charm, calls, gifts and letters. I finally agreed to go out to dinner with him and I had lots of fun. I didn’t let him kiss me until our tenth date. He hung on that long for me and then told me he’d wait forever for just one kiss."
"OK, I can see how that might have been swoon worthy but still, he’s a confirmed bachelor..."
"Jon, I was having fun and not overly emotionally invested until he whisked me off to his villa and told me that his feelings for me were starting to freak him out."
"Sorry, I’m not reading between the lines..."
"He told me that I made him think seriously about settling down and getting married. He told me all about this dream he’d been having, about playing with a little girl that looked just like me and called him Daddykins. That’s when I lost my heart to him. That type of confession, while sipping wine and watching the sunset over Lake Como...my heart didn’t stand a chance."
Jon gingerly wiped the tears from her cheek and gave her a tender kiss before pulling her into his arms.
"I’m sorry baby. If I ever see him I’m going to beat the crap out of him for hurting you."
Rachel smiled weakly and curled up against him. He moved the covers with his foot until they were no longer on top of them and then laid down. He kept her in his arms and she used his chest as her pillow.
"By the way, I hate Italy now. You can’t play there anymore."
"All of Italy or just the parts around Lake Como."
"All of it, I don’t want to think about him anymore."
"Kay, go to sleep my darling. You’ll need all your energy to survive cheer you up day."
"I love you."
"I love you too Sweetheart."
She felt him leave a soft a kiss on the top of her head as he started to play with her hair. Fifteen minutes later she was fast asleep. He could feel her chest rising and falling against his and pushed her hair back behind her ear. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before his mind started to wander.
He thought back to the day they first met. He’d flown from New York to Los Angeles to see record executives and sat beside a charming Beverly Hills mother who told him he needed a hair cut. They started talking and the five hour flight seemed to take only an hour. They continued chatting at the luggage pick up and she invited him over for a home cooked meal with her family. He accepted and was sitting down at the dinner table talking cars with her husband when he heard a female telling her friend she was wrong that it went like this:
Everyday when I make my way to the tubby
I find a little fella who' cute, yellow, and chubby.
(rub-a-dub-a-dubby)
Rubber Ducky, you're so fine
And I'm glad that you're mine
He looked at the blond UCLA cheerleader belting out the lyrics oblivious to his presence
Rubber Ducky I'm awfully fond of...
Rubber Ducky I'd like a whole pond of . . .
Rubber Ducky.......
"Hi...... Mom why didn’t you tell me we were having a guest for dinner?"
She turned crimson and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she found him smirking at her.
"Is Sesame Street holding auditions?" He asked still smirking.
"I don’t think so, are you here to audition for Cousin It?" She asked, playing with her ponytail.
"Grace Rachelle!" Her mother hissed.
"That’s OK, turn about is fair play. Hi, I’m Jon and you must be the overachieving 4.0 grade point average Rachel."
"Mom, would you stop announcing to the world how brilliant I am? She asked smiling at the new comer.
She heard her best friend Tina clear her throat and turned around to see her leaning against the door frame, trying to strike a sexy pose. Rachel laughed and told Tina to go home. She wasn’t overly talkative over dinner and excused herself afterwards. He’d found her reading a text by the pool and sat down on the bottom of the lounge chair to talk to her.
"Sorry about teasing you earlier, I couldn't resist."
"That’s OK, you know you have definite cute potential if you’d cut your hair."
"My girlfriend seems to like it."
"Sure it gives her something to hold on to during sex." She replied cheekily.
His jaw dropped and he started laughing, "I like you, you are refreshing."
"Thanks, Mom said you were a musician? Have you done anything I might have heard?"
"Runaway?"
"Sing a few bars and I’ll see if I recognize it."
He started with the chorus and smiled when she finished one of the lines. Her opinion suddenly mattered to him.
"I’ve heard that song before, I like it. Do you write any of your music?"
"Yes, I wrote Runaway and seven of the other songs with our guitarist Richie and/or our keyboardist Dave."
"Cool, you should keep doing that. I think creating your own songs is the best way to have longevity. When a singer, sings his/her own words I’m more interested. So do you have an album out?"
"No, we just finished up in studio. Bon Jovi should be released in a few months with Mercury."
"That’s an odd name for a record."
"It’s the band’s name and a play on my last name which is Bongiovi."
"Oh, you certainly have a healthy ego."
"The other choices were Such, Sambora, Torres and Rashbaum."
"Sambora has a nice ring to it."
"We are a rock band not a salsa band."
"OK. Would you send me a copy when it’s released? I promise I’ll go out and buy my own but...."
"Sure, I’ll even have the guys autograph it for you."
"Thanks, let’s hope in ten years time I can say that I knew you when."
"From your lips to God’s ears, baby."
She looked at him strangely and then laughed.
"Sorry, I take it you don’t like being called baby."
"No, but coming from you, I don’t seem to mind, Honey!"
He smiled and she sighed. "You’ve got an amazing smile. Now if you’d only cut your hair...."
"So what are you studying?" he asked changing the subject.
"Politics but I’m not crazy about the program here. I’m thinking of transferring to Princeton."
"Really? You’d be close to me, I live in Jersey."
"Cool we could go out every so often."
"Count on it. So after school what do you want to do?"
"I’m thinking corporate law, mostly contracts."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously, I like the challenge."
"Well good luck to you. You’ll have to let me know if you are indeed moving to my state."
"Count on it."
Jon smiled wistfully, they’d spent hours talking and when she started yawning a little after 1 am, he figured he better go. She drove him back to his hotel and they talked in the lobby for another hour until he started yawning. They spent every spare minute together until he left and went home and back to his high school sweetheart.
She shifted a little in her sleep wrapping her arm around him, nuzzling into him even more. He fell asleep wondering when it was that he first realized he was in love with her.
He woke up when he felt the pads of her fingers playing a melody on his chest. He lay quietly trying to figure out what she was playing.
"Moonlight Sonata?" he asked softly.
"Huh?"
"You are using me as a keyboard. I’m trying to figure out what you are playing."
"Oh, I don’t have a clue. How did you sleep?"
"Great, I always sleep like a baby when I have my favourite teddy bear in my arms."
"Did you ever tell Dorothea about me being your inspiration for In These Arms?"
"Are you mad? That would’ve sent her straight to the divorce lawyers. She would’nt have
believed we never had sex. It took her a long time to get over her insecurities about you. She
finally got over it when Stephanie was born. Hell, I never told Rich or Dave either."
"Secrets that we’ll take to the grave."
"If we enjoy living, yes. So I thought we could go grab breakfast and then...."
"How about neither of us move. I like being in your arms as much as you like me in your arms. Come on, a little wicked indulgence never hurt anyone."
"There is no show tonight. You want to spend the entire day in bed?"
"Yeah."
"Baby, you’re going to be the death of me."
"I’ll let you get up for room service."
"That little wine bar you like is just behind the hotel. I’ll give you until lunch time or my back will be killing."
"You’re getting older mi amour."
"Hey you are only ten months younger than me, Missy."
"True but I’m still 45." She laughed.
Jon lifted her arms and shifted her on to the bed before getting up.
"Hey where do you think you’re going? I didn’t give you permission to leave."
"Bathroom and this is my room, I don’t need your permission for anything."
Jon came back and they stayed in bed until he was starving. It was close to noon and he figured the best way to get her out of bed was to give her a task. The work alcoholic in her could never turn down work.
"Hey do you want to make tomorrow’s set list while I take a quick shower?"
She sat straight up, grinned and held out her hand for the list. She bounced out of the bed and went over to the desk, pen in hand. She looked at his tentative list and started stroking out songs and replacing them. By the time he was dressed and ready to go she handed him a very marked up page. Jon read it over and groaned.
"Why do you have to make my life difficult? Do you really want me to forget the words on stage?
I haven’t sung Love Lies in fifteen years!"
"I know the song book off by heart."
"Yes, but you never walk on stage to save my ass, you are an evil, evil woman."
"This is your set list, alter it at your own peril. Remember, I’m yours until after the Easter break so I’ll be around to make you pay."
"Go get dressed brat, I’m starving." he looked at the list one more time, shook his head and wrote on the top of the page: Rae did this! Kill her, not me.
LOST HIGHWAY
BORN TO BE MY BABY
BAD NAME
COMPLICATED
RAISE YOUR HANDS
I LOVE THIS TOWN
LOVE LIES
OLDER
BLAZE OF GLORY w/ Knockin' On Heaven's Door intro
4TH OF JULY
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
SATURDAY NIGHT
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFEBAD MEDICINE w/ Shout
IN THESE ARMS - DAVID VOX
(YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY
BED OF ROSES
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
YOU HAD ME FROM HELLO w/ Keep the Faith
PRAYER
ENCORE:
LAST NIGHT
GET READY
TWIST & SHOUT
NEVER SAY GOODBYE
As they left the hotel, he slipped the list under Richie’s door and wished he could see the look on his face when he saw it.
