95:It's Good to See You

With Tony’s birthday gift in one sweaty hand and Jon holding the other, Charlie hesitantly stepped through the door from the porch to Lilah’s foyer.  Her stomach was a mess of nerves that were almost as jumbled as her thoughts.

She’d come here tonight expecting to see Jon’s brothers and their families, and perhaps meet some of Tony and Lilah’s friends.  Running into Tico wasn’t something that was on her radar, and quite honestly, with the way Jon reacted the other night, she hadn’t been sure it would ever happen. 

Now, here she was, on the verge of reacquainting herself with the man whom she’d thought of off and on for twenty years, and Charlie was mentally unprepared and uncertain as to how this was going to go down. 

It wasn’t as if she was afraid that long-suppressed emotions were going to come bubbling to the surface when they came face to face.  Number one, he was quite happily married from what she’d been able to ascertain over the years.  Number two, she was head over heels in love with Jon, and nothing could touch that.

No, her concerns were much more basic and revolved around a single word with two sides.  Disappointment. 

Once upon a time, she’d held Tico Torres as an ideal, and not just because he had Latino good looks or was multi-talented in the arts.  He showed an interest in her like no one before him had, talking about the world around them from an artist’s perspective and really listening when she shared her own views.  They’d connected on a level that Charlie hadn’t experienced with anyone else.

Or so she thought. 

All these years later, would that still be the case or was he an entirely different person?  Maybe the man Jon spent so much of his life with didn’t even resemble the one from Charlie’s memories.

Worse yet would be the other side of that disappointment coin.  Maybe Charlie didn’t even resemble the woman from Tico’s memories – if he remembered anything all beyond her little tattoo.

If he didn’t remember her beyond that, she was going to be mortified.

Oh for crying out loud, stop it!  He’ll remember you, you’ll share a hug and begin all over again with Jon as your common bond.

“You gonna lose your mind if I hug him?”

“No,” her boyfriend chuckled softly while closing the front door behind them.  “I may have turned recently possessive, but I’m still not the jealous type, Counselor.  I was more pissed about your lack of disclosure than anything.  If you keep your clothes on with him, we’re good.”

Twisting her mouth into a wry smile that barely suppressed her laughter, Charlie drolly speculated, “I can probably do that.  You’re the only one who’s prone to shoving up my dress and pinning me to the wall.”

“Be a good girl and it could happen before we leave here.”  His palm settled comfortably in the dip of her shivering spine so that Jon could guide her down the hall to the family room.

“I’d call you a pig if that didn’t turn me on so much,” she murmured just before her knees were wrapped in an exuberant, pint-sized hug.

“Miss Charlie!” Micah Jane greeted her with a squeal of delight, and then dropped her head back to issue an accusing glare.  “Where’s Nana?”

Leaning down to return hugs to the two littlest Bongiovis, Charlie laughed at the girl’s forthrightness and regretfully informed her, “She was very tired and had to stay at home, but she can’t wait to see you again.”

“Micah Jane, I told you Nana wasn’t comin’ t’nite,” Lilah chastised, covertly rolling her eyes at Charlie before she leaned in for her own hug.  “Happy birthday, Charlie.  Hi, Jon.”

“Kentucky,” he returned absently, bussing her cheek while his eyes drifted over the semi-crowded room. “You get that thing for me?”

“On Tony’s desk.”

Charlie’s eyebrows furrowed at the cryptic comments that were exchanged with neither of them sparing a glance for the other.  Jon and Lilah never had what she would call a normal relationship, but this was odd even for them.  She could only assume it had something to do with the mysterious birthday gift that had yet to be revealed, and as such, didn’t question it.

Instead, she squatted down to the same level as Lilah’s children to take care of her own gift giving.

“Can you two do something really important for me?”  She asked solemnly before holding out a cardboard tube that was just the perfect size for little hands.  Both pairs of childish Bongiovi blue eyes caught on the black and silver curls of ribbon that bounced enticingly.  “Take this present to your daddy and tell him happy birthday for me.”

“Okay!”  M.J.’s mutinous pixie face was now all smiles as she accepted her charge and darted away, dragging her little brother behind.  “C’mon, Lucas!”

Shaking her head ruefully at the overload of cuteness, Charlie rose to her feet, and Jon’s hand once again found the small of her back. 

“Counselor, there’s someone I want you to meet.  ‘Scuse us, Lilah.”

“Yes, go.  Mingle.  I’ve got a thousand things to do, anyway, like findin’ out where in the Sam Hill my pizzas are.”

Tossing a sympathetic smile in the direction of her departing friend, Charlie walked slowly next to Jon and skimmed curious eyes over those who had assembled to celebrate Tony’s birthday.  It didn’t take long to realize that most of the faces weren’t ones she recognized.  The only familiar ones in the crowd belonged to those of Jon’s family and band members. 

David was knotted into a group with Tony, Desiree, Micah Jane, Lucas and a couple more women she didn’t know, all of whom were politely watching on as the birthday boy pried the end out of the tube his children delivered.  Another dozen or so unfamiliar men and women were clustered throughout the big room that made even more spacious by the open floor plan incorporating the kitchen. 

The only other persons of interest to Charlie were the two men laughing and standing behind a leather chair – Matt and Tico.  Knowing that’s where Jon was now guiding her, Charlie’s stomach started knotting into a new ball of jumbled nerves.    

“Lighten up, Counselor,” Jon ordered quietly into her ear.  “You’re too fucking tense for a party.”

Nodding, she exhaled and forced her shoulders to relax.  If he wasn’t tense, she certainly had no reason to be.  This was nothing more than a reunion with an old friend for her. 

“Gentlemen.  How the hell are ya?” Jon hailed his brother and drummer as they strolled to a halt.  Without waiting for a response, he draped a lazy arm around her shoulders and nodded to Matt’s beer.  “Where can I find one of those?”

“I’ll get it,” the tallest Bongiovi offered, coolly nodding his acknowledgement of Charlie as he went to do so. 

She was evidently still not one of his favorite people, but there was nothing she could do about it.  He’d either warm up once he found out what was going on, or he wouldn’t.  One obstacle at a time was all she could handle, and turned her attention to the two men she was now alone with. 

Tico looked good.

His hair was much shorter than when she knew him and bore a fair amount of gray, as did the trademark triangular soul patch beneath his bottom lip.  Handsome features that she’d known to be relatively smooth were now lined with age and wisdom that made him all the more attractive.  Sparkling dark eyes mirrored that wisdom from behind owlish glasses that were the same shade of black as the bowling shirt he wore with jeans. 

His outward appearance was different, but the open warmth that she’d been initially attracted to wasn’t.  He still held it in spades, Charlie thought as Jon re-introduced her.

“T, this is my girlfriend. Chiara.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” the mature Cubano said with a smile while shifting an unlit cigar from one hand to the other.

She accepted both his grasp and searching gaze with a smile of her own, pleased to see a flicker of recognition behind the lenses of his glasses.   

“Hello, Tico.  It’s good to see you.”

“Holy shit.” The rumbled swear was quiet but robust as his eyes darted from Charlie to Jon and back again.  “It really is you.”

“Tinkerbell tat and all,” came Jon’s dry confirmation.  “I’m gonna leave you two to catch up and go chase down Matty with that beer.  You want one, Counselor?”

“Please.”

“I’ll be back in a few.”  With that and a quick press of lips to her temple, he meandered away.

Shaking his head in wonder, Tico’s voice was just as deep and gravelly as she remembered when he admitted, “I have to say I’m a little stunned.  When I was reminiscing with Jonny, I didn’t imagine that Tinkerbell Charlie and his new woman could one and the same.” 

“Is that how you remember me?  As Tinkerbell Charlie?”

Dancing eyes crinkled at the corners as Tico gestured toward the couch and loveseat that were angled together to form an ‘L’ and had empty space at the adjacent ends. 

“Why don’t we sit?”

“Sure.” 

Charlie eased over to the leather loveseat and perched on the edge of the cushion, crossing her ankles and pressing her knees together while he settled onto the near end of the matching couch.

“To answer your question, yes, I remember you as Tinkerbell Charlie, among other things.”  His grin was sheepish as looked at her over the rim of his glasses.  “I’ve wondered about you a couple times over the years.  You obviously finished law school since I hear you made our boy’s divorce difficult before the two of you… came to terms.”

“I think you mean I fucked him over in divorce court before I started doing it in bed.  That’s a slightly nicer variation of how David described it, so thanks for the tact.” She chuckled ruefully while tucking her purse into the cushion beside her.  “I’m still not quite sure how we got from one to the other.  We kept ending up in the same places and eventually… it just happened.”

With a soft grunt of amusement, he crossed his legs and ever-so-slightly tipped his head to one side.  “Guess you still have a thing for musicians.”

She considered the observation a little unusual, since they’d never really talked about her interest in musicians, but maybe it was obvious.  Either that, or most all of the women he slept with back then had a thing for musicians.  It didn’t much matter to her either way, since it was the truth.

“Seems so.  I guess you still have a thing for being a drummer.”

“I have a thing for earning a good living, and it just so happens that’s the way I do it,” he corrected gently, rolling the cigar between his thumb and forefinger.  “Tell me more about you.  I assume you’re not married.  Divorced?  Kids?  You still making art?”

Even though the presumption about her marital status made Charlie uncomfortable, she couldn't fault him for it.  Most married women didn't get introduced as a girlfriend.  

“I have two boys at Stanford, and yeah.  I’m still dabbling in art,” she confirmed with a nod.  “Mostly for myself, although I just finished a mural for Jon.  I’ve also done a couple of sketches for Matt and Tony.  I’ve gotten better since you knew me.”

“I have no doubt.  As long as you keep practicing, you can’t help but improve.”

The natural progression of conversation dictated that she ask about what he’d been up to, although she knew bits and pieces from his life in the public eye.  The only thing she could think to bring up, though, was the conclusion of the life-event that had parted them. 

“I’m sorry your marriage to Eva didn’t work out.”

“Eh.”  He casually waved the fingers of the hand not holding the unlit cigar.  “Shit happens.  It didn’t work out, but worked out for the best.  Third time was the charm for me.”

The talk and laughter that followed was from the other partygoers.  She and Tico just kind of sat there and looked at one another before looking uncomfortably away again, making this more awkward than she’d feared. 

Greetings and pleasantries aside, the conversation didn’t flow easily, and it seemed as though they had nothing really to say to one another after all these years.  Why did she remember him being so laid back and easy to talk to?  Was her memory playing tricks on her?

Then again, it was always possible that he was holding himself in check.  He might be doing it from loyalty to Jon or because he was on the same page that David had been when she met him – worried that she was only taking advantage of his friend.

Given his remark about having a thing for musicians, that line of thought wasn’t totally unreasonable.

“Do you mind if I ask you a blunt question?”

She never considered it possible for a man to have a Mona Lisa smile, but Tico Torres did.  He wore one now and was utterly serene when negotiating, “Not as long as I can do the same.”

“Fair enough,” Charlie acquiesced readily, and a single nod signified his permission for her to continue.  “Do you have a problem with me dating Jon?”

“Me?”  A frown that sharply creased his mouth didn’t travel to his placid eyes.  “I got no problem.  It’s none of my damn business.”

“Then why does this…”  Charlie pointed from herself to him and back again.  “Seem so difficult?  Did I embellish to myself how easy our conversations were?”

Leaning forward, he used his free hand to cover the one Charlie had resting on the arm of the loveseat and patted it.  “Sweetheart, I liked you way back when, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was drunk for most of the time we spent together.  Booze loosens my tongue, and I found out that wasn’t always a good thing, so I don’t drink much anymore.”

She mentally conceded that he was right.  Sex and booze pretty much summed up their history together, and it only took about three drinks for anyone to find their own babble more profound than the Holy Bible.  Her memory wasn’t faulty, her liver was just too underworked to live up to the memories.

“Well, that’s a relief.  I was afraid…  Well, nevermind.”

“Whatever you were afraid, it was wrong.  That does bring me back to my question, though.”  Tico leaned even further forward, creating a cocoon of privacy in the midst of the crowd so that he could speak quietly.  “We stopped at a liquor store one night on our way to the hotel.  You made this drink for me…  It tasted just like fucking pecan pie.  For years I’ve wondered what the hell it was.”

Throwing her head back with a hearty laugh, Charlie felt the awkwardness not only slip away but completely shatter.