45:Afterglow

August 21

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Jon decreed pleasantly as he sank into his favorite seat on the plane. 

Already on board were Matt and a couple of his “fun band” members – Lorenza Ponce and Bobby Bandiera that were hitching a ride to Vancouver with him.  He’d never seen a shit show quite like the one this had turned into, but everything was as right as he could make it and he honestly didn’t find it as annoying anymore.  Jon was just ready to get this clusterfuck over with and move forward.

That attitude must’ve been obvious because his brother didn’t hesitate to comment on it.  “Well, you’re a helluva lot happier about this than you were a few days ago.”

Why wouldn’t he be?  He got laid and blown last night by a woman who excelled in both of those areas.  He also was discovering that she wasn’t quite the cold-hearted bitch that her legal career led him to believe.  That didn’t necessarily make him happy, but it put a different spin on things.

Last night was… enlightening.  From the moment he’d walked in the door and received a smile instead of a snarl, to the discovery of his driveway on her kitchen wall, to that damn bedroom of hers and finding out that she’d never been to Disney, to her soothing hands on his body and playing with his limp dick…  Each instance was a revelation in and of itself, and the whole lot of them together enticed him to do something he hadn’t planned.

To ask her for a date.

Maybe he’d just been soft after realizing that he didn’t hate her anymore and seeing the little girl inside the badass lawyer.  Maybe he was losing his fucking mind and falling into his family’s evil trap by considering her someone he might want to date.

Whatever the case, with Peter Pan staring down at him, the Neverland idea had been the obvious choice.  He asked, and as they progressed through dinner, pleasant conversation, laughter, stellar sex, morning coffee and another soft kiss goodbye this morning…  Jon didn’t regret it.

He was looking forward to it, in fact. 

Take care of business first.

That was the first rule of life, and Jon looked across the way to smile at his bodyguard brother.   “We’re all healthy and the show is going on more or less as scheduled.  Letting go of the rest of that shit is good for my blood pressure, so I did.”

“Whatever,” Matt snorted and kicked his foot up onto the opposite knee.  “Tell it to somebody who hasn’t seen you melt down over the most obscure shit.  Like coffee.”

“Coffee is not obscure, it’s my fucking sanity some days, and if I don’t have it, heads will roll.”  He said it as a joke, but Jon was only partially kidding.  For a woman who didn’t cook, Chiara made good coffee and that was almost enough to offset her gouging him on alimony.

Picking up his newspapers, he started his daily slog through the depressing articles of plight, poverty and turmoil in search of some bright spot.  The picture of a New York subway station covered in graffiti had him lowering the paper. 

“Matt, I need a favor from Des.  I’m having some work done on the studio.  They’re supposed to come by around nine in the morning to take measurements and stuff.  Can she go unlock and hang out for a while?  It shouldn’t take long.”

The work in question was his New Jersey mural, and Chiara said she needed to come look at the space.  Something about calculating scale, lighting, composition, shading, planes and other terms that he understood as words, but had limited concept of in this context.  He didn’t admit that when giving his agreement, though.  He told her to what she needed to start her sketches with the places and things they discussed over dinner, and that he’d make arrangements for her to get inside.

With Dorothea gone from the New Jersey house, Jon had given his youngest brother a full set of keys and codes to the house and grounds.  His parents had a set, too, but Matt made sense as a backup since he lived closest to High Point.  That and the fact he could just see Lilah conducting fan tours of the place while he was out of town.  It probably wouldn’t happen, but Jon was just leery enough to use it as justification for not giving the keys to Tony.  If he needed in, Matt or Des would have no problem unlocking the place.

“Yeah, sure.  Who’s doing the work?”

Nope.  That was extraneous information that little brother didn’t need.  It would be bad enough when word got back to him about it tomorrow.  Jon wasn’t spending an entire flight across the continent fending off bullshit in front of Lorenza and Bobby.

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Uh, no.  Not really, unless you want her to let in anybody who wanders up to the gate?”

The argument was semi-valid, but not compelling enough to tell Matt.  “I’ll text her the name in the morning.”

Once Des found out who it was and why she was there, she would probably hit Chiara up to do something in Bella’s room.  Then the family grapevine would make it over to Tony’s house, where M.J. would have to have something, too.  Knowing Lilah, she would go forth and pimp the work out to all her mommy friends in Edison, meaning the counselor might end up with a full-time second job when all was said and done.

She was a big girl, though.  If it was too much or she didn’t want to do it, Chiara would have no qualms about refusing their requests.  Since it wasn’t him she was refusing, she might even be nice about it.

Jon raised the paper to hide his rueful grin.  As much as he hoped Chiara was the real deal over Charlie, he would be disappointed if their arguments completely ceased.  She was a fierce opponent and there was a little part of him that admired that.  There was also a big part of him that got turned on by it.

You’re a sick fuck, Bongiovi.

He didn’t used to be.  Not until she came along.

J J J J J

August 22

“You’re what?” 

Izzie’s shock sounded an awful lot like Charlie’s felt last night.  “I’m going out to Jon’s house to get measurements so I can do a mural for him.”

“Yeah, yeah.  That’s fascinating, but I got that part.  Tell me what you said after that.”

Charlie grinned into the phone as she broke the hands-free cellphone law as blatantly as she’d broken the Hamptons leash law.  She was halfway through Red Bank and preparing to turn on Navesink River Road, where “Graceland 2” was located. 

“I’m going out on a date with him.”

“Jesus Christ, I thought that’s what you said.  How did that happen?”

I’m still asking myself that very same thing.

“He came last night for dinner and, while we were naked in bed, asked me to go see Finding Neverland.  I said yes.”

“OhmiGod.”  The way Izzie said it, Charlie wasn’t sure if was a good thing.  “I don’t know which way to go first.  Am I supposed to be excited or tell you that you’ve lost your fucking mind?  Can you help me out here?”

Groaning softly, she begged, “Excited, please?  I already know I’ve lost my mind.”

“Oh, yeah?  But do you think you’ve lost it for the same reason I do?”

The wind blew Charlie’s ponytail all around her shoulders while the early-day sun peeked through the trees lining the beautiful country-esque road.  She'd ruined a perfectly gorgeous morning twice now.  Once by telling Luke she wasn’t mad anymore, thereby inviting his opinion on male influences in her life until she was pissed all over again.  The second time by calling Izzie for a pick me up that included awe and wonder over her upcoming date with Jon, which was obviously going to end up something like Luke's call.  

“Excited, please!” she repeated firmly.  “He asked – not told, mind you – me if I wanted to go out to dinner and the show I’ve been dying to see for months.  Can we not show a little appreciation for the man who hated my fucking guts two weeks ago yet can still manage to be that thoughtful?”

“Okay, fine.”  The huff was short but very audible over the line.  “Honestly, I think it’s pretty incredible.  I can’t imagine what’s changed so drastically since we talked on Sunday, but if he’s sincere, it proves that he really is a good guy – and that Luke might be right about him.”

“God.  We had to bring that up, too?”

“I’ll move past that one because, even if Luke is right, that’s a really quick change of heart.  Do you think this is a legitimate date or some psychotic plan for revenge?”

Seriously?  Why had Charlie chosen to do this to herself?  Why had she thought they could pretend they were teenagers again and gush about the cutest boy in school asking her out? 

“No,” she stated flatly.  “It’s not revenge.  That doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s kinda sudden, too, but I was standing right there in the tide when it shifted.  I felt things change and it felt good, Iz.  He’s been an asshole in the past, but he’s never been dishonest with me.”

“Not like you have with him.”

“Goddammit!” she finally blew up in frustration.  “I thought you were the one who wanted to see me happy?  This was making me happy until you blew it all to hell with your negativity.  What’s the deal?”

“Okay, you’re right,” her friend sighed as Charlie purposely drove past the gates of Jon’s house.  There was no point in pulling in until she wrapped up her call.  “I want you to have this happiness, Charlie.  Honest to God, I do because if anyone deserves some happiness, it’s you.  But when I know that you’re building it on a lie that will eventually crumble, it makes me sick.  At least tell him about Owen.  Please?  Explain whatever your convoluted logic is for still being married and hope that he understands, but if you truly like the man…  Tell him, for God’s sake.”

The thought that Izzie might be right sort of made Charlie a little sick, too.  If he decided to stick around, he would eventually have to know, but would he stay once that happened?

You’re an idiot.  Of course he wouldn’t.  He never got caught in an illicit affair one time and you think he’s going to risk being part of one now that he’s no longer married?  Right.

“Izzie, there’s no point in it.  This is just a date for now and, besides that, he’ll never find out.  Owen won’t even be back on this side of the continent for months yet and…”  She took a deep breath and pulled into the parking lot of an ice cream shop on the other side of the river.  “I’m filing for divorce.”

“Oh, thank you St. Jude!”  The cry of relief was enough to break Charlie’s heart.  “Do you know how many prayers I’ve sent up for this?  I was starting to think I’d never live to see them answered.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.”  Letting her get this worked up before she read the fine print wasn’t fair.  “I’m not filing tomorrow or anything.  I need to wait until Caleb starts his last semester of school, but once that happens, I will.”

Because that's always been the deadline.  By then, I'll have figured out the best way to handle the consequences.

“Uuuggghhh!  You’re killing me!  You’re killing us all!  Tell me what’s going on already!”

She'd kept it to herself for far too long to let her secrets out of the bag now.  In another four years, Charlie would be braced  for their reaction, but not yet.  For now, she was still a good Catholic girl who was simply honoring her marriage vows.  Kind of.

“It doesn’t matter, Iz.  The important thing is that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m going to enjoy myself until I get there.”