Chapter 32 - Kings Ransom In Dimes

  

 

It seems that these days are ones of missed lovers and missed calls.  Jon would try to reach Monica, and she was unavailable.  Monica would try to reach Jon and wasn't successful.  A week of this was weighing on both of them.  Jon just wanted to see her, her smile and the twinkle in her eye.  Monica wanted to feel the comfort and the completeness of being in his arms.

Jon is in Omaha, Nebraska trying to plan the nights set list, and he just can't get in the grove.  He's been trying to write it for about 2 hours, while trying to get a hold of Monica on the phone.  Dime after time in the payphone, he had to give up when he ran out of change.  Feeling defeated, he went back to his table at the hotel and 'sees' the setlist, the way it should be.  He added in some audibles that they have been working on, feeling like he needs to mix it up a bit.   When he's done with that, he goes to the room, kicks back on his bed and talks to Richie.

 

"How long have you and Monica been this close?"  Jon asks the guitar player of his band, his best friend.

 

Richie, giving him a funny look, says "We've known each other our whole lives but we didn't get close until we were in high school.  She had something happen to her that I knew about and I could tell that she needed to talk to someone.  So, one day I took a bottle on Jack Daniels to her house when her parents were gone and made her talk."  Richie gets up on an elbow and faces Jon, "Since then we have been like brother and sister.  And I do want to add this....if you hurt her, I will kick your ass.  I love her like a sister and have made it a point to protect her."

 

"I have no plans to hurt her, I want to know more about her." Jon admits.  "She's got me hooked, man."  Jon folds his pillow in half and plops down on the bed again.  "She's all I think about."

 

"She's a good kid and I love her.  And I mean it, if you hurt her Jon, I'll kick your head in."

 

"I'm not going to.  Tell me about her.  What does she like to do?  What's her favorite flower?  Her favorite food?" Jon asks Monica's best friend.

 

Richie laughs at the silly questions, but when he thinks about it he can see that those are things that Jon should know.  "What do you guys talk about?  You should know most of that stuff."

 

"We don't talk a lot." Jon laughs as he says that.  "She uses her body language and it's never about food and flowers."

 

Richie sits up and puts his feet on the floor.  "Her favorite food is chocolate, but she never eats it.  Her favorite flower is daisy, but she's allergic.  She loves to take care of herself and has tried on many occasions to get me to 'jog' with her, but that's not me.  She eats right and exercises all the time.  She's a great photographer and she is going to go far with her modeling career.  Can you handle all of that?"

 

Jon takes a sip of his Pepsi and says, "Yeah, I can handle it.  I wonder if she can handle the lifestyle that we are about to have thrown at us?  Is she the jealous type?"

 

"Oh no!  No one will ever have anything that she would ever be jealous of.  She is such an individual and she strives to be someone that can make a difference.  I think with the right man, she will go far."

 

"Does she talk about me?" Jon questions, wishing he could take it back.  He's a little embarrassed that he asked, but he really wanted to know.

 

Richie walks to the window and as he does, he tells Jon, "You are all she talks about.  When she got the call to go to LA for the photo shoot, she asked me what you were going to do; like be mad at her." 

 

"Did she really?" Jon smiles at the thought of that.  It made him happy to know that she thought of him when she made that decision.  It was a big decision and they were so new in their relationship.  "That's pretty cool.  I wish I could get in touch with her.  I have tried for days, no luck."

 

"Keep trying.  Her schedule sounded hectic."

 

"I will."

 

Richie looks at the set list on the table and gives Jon his 2 cents.  "I think we should end the show with a few new ones.  This demographic tested high, they want rock and roll.  Not that Love Lies ballad bullshit."

 

"What do you think we should do?"  Jon sits up, giving Richie his undivided attention.

 

"We need to do In and Out Of Love and Hardest Part Is The Night, those are going to kick ass live."

 

"What about covers?  Should we do a cover or two?" Jon asks him about his opinion, as he is a very big part of the process that they have going on.  Jon values what Richie has to say.

 

Richie shrugged his shoulder and said, "They can be nice, for fillers - but we're knew, we don't need them.  We have original material, lets just use that."

 

"Sounds good."

 

Jon looks at the clock.  "We have an hour, I'm going to shower." and he gets up, gets his things and goes into the bathroom.  Starting the water, letting it adjust to his temperature he can hear the phone ring in the room.