Chapter 36 - I Think It's Time To Hit The Road

 

 

"Are you okay?"  Monica asks him, noticing the look on his face.  She can see that he's out there somewhere, lost in his thoughts.

Jon kisses her shoulder, "Yeah, I'm okay.  Are you okay?" he replies.

She turns on her side and says, "I am better than okay.  I am so excited."

"Me too. You better get some sleep."  He lays down with her, they are now face to face.  "I'll miss you." 

 

She stretches and kisses his lips, "I'll miss you too."  Tucking her hand under his head she admits, "I wish we were going away together."

 

"We'll have plenty of time to travel when we make it big, don't worry about that."

 

"I'm not worried, I just don't like the thought of not being able to see you when I want."

 

He laughs, "I know what you mean." He plops back on his pillow and stares at the ceiling.  There is a tension, they can feel it, but neither address it.  Jon isn't thrilled that Richie knows more about what she's doing than he does.  He decided that he wouldn't let that ruin their night together. 

 

"Do you want to take me to the airport?" she asks him, hoping that he would. 

 

He turns his head, looking at her he couldn't resist, "Are you sure you don't want Richie to do it?"  The more he laid there and thought about her relationship with Richie, the angrier he got and he didn't know why.  He trusts her and he trusts what she tells him, but he's really struggling with it. 

 

Monica kind of laughs at him and asks, "Why would I want Richie to take me?"

 

Jon can hear the laughter in her voice and he hears how silly he's being.  She's there with him, she's not with Richie; he reminds himself.  "Never mind, I was just being silly." He lifts his head and kisses her, "I'd love to take you.  Now get some sleep."

 

They were up and out the door, racing to the airport because they overslept.  Monica sits in the middle with her hand on his thigh, feeling like she was a teenager in high school again.  "Are you going to stay at my house?"

Jon looks at her, "I didn't plan on it, but I can - why?"

"I forgot to ask Richie to feed Sampson, could you do it?" Monica was referring to her goldfish.

Jon takes her hand and squeezes it, "I can feed the fish. Sampson will be just fine." 

Monica looks up at Jon out of the corner of her eye, knowing that they are close to the airport and says what's been on her mind.  "What happens with us when you go on tour?"

"Nothing happens with us." he answers her with his first thought.

"Are we exclusive?"

Swerving the car a little, he looks at her and says, "Yes!"

"I just wanted to make sure."  She explains, "With you going on tour with RATT I'm sure you'll have girls backstage, I just wondered how you felt about that and me."

"Babe, you have nothing to worry about.  I'm sure there will be girls backstage, but I'm not like that.  You are the only one I am and will be sleeping with."

"Are you sure?" she smiles at him, "I can only imagine the likes of what you will have thrown at you."

He lets go of her hand and puts his arm around her, pulling her close to him.  With his lips on her head he tells her, "I'm not that way. "

"I'm not saying that you are, but you are going off to live the rock star life, and with Richie none the less.  He loves his women." she leans her head on his shoulder, "Richie, Richie, Richie."  She just repeats, knowing the playboy that he can be.

Jon laughs at her, "Richie does love the women."

At the gate,  after kissing her repeatedly and not wanting to let her go,  "Give 'em hell in Chicago."  he tells her, with his arms around her neck.

"I will."  She tucks her hands in his back pockets, not wanting to be let go, "Don't forget to pick me up on Sunday. My plane lands at 11:am"

"I'll be here."

They kiss goodbye and Jon watches her walk down the ramp to the airplane.  He thinks to himself, there goes my baby on the way to her great career.  He stands there and watches her plane take off and once it's out of sight, he has no idea what to do.  So, he decides to go into work.

Arriving at the studio, late, he gets right to work and hopes that no one notices.  His mind is 30,000 feet in the sky and he's not sure how he's liking that feeling. 

Jon kept to himself most of the day, which was uneventful for the Power Station on a Friday, but he was happy for a down day. He did a little of this, some of that and even less of that but when it was time to go - it wasn't soon enough.  He wanted to get home and start packing for the tour.