Chapter 140 - We Gotta Hold On

Monica spent the afternoon in Osaka shopping with Rick Springfield and his small entourage. 

He wanted to change up his tour wardrobe and thought that Monica had the eye for that kind of stuff.  She doesn't think she does, she feels that she's quite plain and understated. His personal stylist is along for the ride, but Rick wanted fresh eyes and fresh ideas.  

Monica is flattered that he thought she was the one for the task, but she really wasn't feeling it.  Anything that Rick held up or tried on, she gave her honest opinion.  The things that he liked and the things that he wanted; the guys in the hair bands were wearing and none of it said Rick Springfield.  

He could see that she just wasn't into it.  He could see that her thoughts were back in the states, in New Jersey to be exact.  She knows that Jon isn't there yet, but he soon will be and it pained her to think that he was going home to an empty house after she told him to go.  She told him that their marriage was over.  

She's having second thoughts, she loves him, she misses him and now she's beating herself up over the fact that her heart wants to forgive him and her head wants to kill him.  "okay, that's it."  Rick states, handing her a leather jacket that he plans to purchase.  "When we get back to Tokyo, you're going home."

She stands firm and faces him, "No, I'm not."

"Yes you are." he reiterates, "You are no good to me when you're like this.  You need to take care of you before you can be a service to me, Monica.  Quit kidding yourself." 

"I'm not going home and you can't make me." he hand goes to her hip and she taps her foot a little, a tell of when she feels cornered.  

His face goes blank, "You're fired."

"If you won't take the time that I'm affording you to get your life right, then you leave me no choice but to fire you."

"On what grounds?" she blasts back.  Everyone around them can see that the conversation might get a tad heated, but they didn't care.  All they could see was Rick Springfield putting some girl in her place.  "We have a contract."

"That states that you need metal clarity and no distractions that would impeded the creative process.  Right now, at this very second, you have zero mental clarity and you are grossly distracted."

"None of it is my fault."

"But it's still your problem.  So, you either go home, take care of your business and then meet me later on, down the road - or you can go home and stay home.  I'm paying you an ungodly amount of money for your services, and right now, you're letting me down."

"I'm sorry."  she lets her head fall, "This is so new to me, I don't know how to act."

"When we get back to Tokyo, you're going home."

Monica can't fight that.  She reminds herself that he's 15 years older than she is and he's been around a block or two.  And he's right.  She is distracted, she's gutted and has no idea what to do.

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Before they arrived back in Tokyo, Rick had his plane waiting at the airport for Monica.  His driver took her to the tarmac and left her to board the plane.  All that she has with her is her clothing and her personal care items.  She decided to leave all of her equipment in Japan while she went home to deal with her husband.  She did know that regardless what happens at home, she would eventually get back to the job that she signed on to do.  Regardless, whether she's in the process of a divorce or in the process of forgiving Jon, she'll be back on the road with Rick as soon as she can.  

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In the baggage claim area of Newark airport, she finds a pay phone and phones Richie.  The phone rings a few times and then there's a "hello?"  it was a groggy hello, but she knew that it was Richie.  "Hey, it's me, can you come get me at the airport?"

"Yeah, yeah - what time is it?"  he mumbles.

"I think it's noon?"

"I'll be right there.  What airline?"

"I flew private."

"Okay, I'm on my way."  he hurriedly tells her, "Be there as soon as I can."  

They hang up.  Richie lays back in bed and waits to wake up a little bit.  He had partied too hard the night before with the Jukes, but his baby girl needed him.  Well, maybe not him.  Richie, phone still in his hand calls Monica's house.  Having no idea if Jon made it back.  It rang several times and then there was an out of breath, "What?"

"It's Richie."

"What's up?"  Jon asks, still trying to catch his breath, "Calling a little early, eh?"

"Monica is at Newark needing a ride.  So she called me.  I gave it a few minutes and thought that maybe you would want to go get her?"  Richie gives a chuckle, "She'll kill me, but I think you should go get her."

"I think that's a bad idea.  When she gets here, she's filing for divorce."

"No she's not.  She's mad, she's crushed.  Go get her and take her to the beach.  Sit there and talk until she understands that you fucked up, you're sorry and you will never do it again." 

"Won't work!"  Jon blasts him, "Haven't you heard a word I said?"

"Start by going to get her.  And then just play it by ear.  You should be there, not me."

There's a long pause.  Richie can hear Jon messing with things on the counter burning his nervous energy.  "Ok, what airline?"

"She flew private plane."

"Okay, thanks Rich."

Jon ends the call, grabs his can of Pepsi, cigarettes and bolts out the door.  He is on his way to give all that he's got to make amends to his wife and get them back to where they once were.  If that's possible?

A half hour drive up to Newark should have taken a mere 30 minutes, but in the middle of the day, it turns into an hour.  Once he gets on airport property he drives to the chartered plane are and parks in the first spot available.  He locks the doors and heads in on a dead run toward the entrance.  

When he is about 50 feet away, he sees a tall brunette standing there, looking out over the runway, holding the rails of the fence that's intended to keep people out; her back to him. He can tell by her stance and the way she holds her head high, he knows that's his Monica.  He walks fast to get close to her.  As he approaches he says quietly, Hi!"  He can see her jump with fright and when she recognizes the voice, he can see her tense up.  She turns to face him.  "I thought Richie was coming."  

"What are you doing here?" he asks as he tried to put his arms around her, she pulls back.  "Rick sent me home."  she admits, with some anger showing on her face.  "Why isn't Richie here?"

"He thought it'd be best if I came, plus he was still in bed."

"For the love of God." she mumbles.  She needed her friend, knowing what she needs and to Richie, she figures that wasn't important to him.  

Jon reaches for her suitcase and her carry on, "Where is your equipment?

"Japan."  She follows him to the car, not wanting to make small talk.  The plane ride for her seemed to be longer than normal, so add to her irritation that Richie let her down, she's jet lagged and just plain heartbroken.  In the car, she can finally look at him.  She can see that he looks just the same as he did yesterday.  "When did you get back?"

"About 8 hours ago.  Thank you for coming home, Mon, it means the world to me."  He tries to hold her hand, she withdraws.  

Looking at him still, she confesses, "I was sent home Jon.  Rick told me to get my shit together or I'm fired.  So, I'm here under duress and not very happy about it."

He lights a cigarette, cracks the window and just lets her sit there in silence.  He didn't want to add to her stress, to her anger, but he needed her to know that her being there was a good thing.  "I'm sorry that Rick got involved, but I'm glad he sees that we have something worth working on."

She turns her head and watches the passing car.  A few people recognized who they were, but Jonica paid no attention.  "We may not have anything left Jon, you killed me, your broke my heart, you broke my trust and for those reasons, I don't know if I want to be married to you any longer."  She was as flat as she could sound, "I really think that you killed us."

He looks over at her and loves what he sees.  The tears rolling down her cheeks show just how sensitive she is and he's banking on that.  He can see that she's been traumatized and taken advantage of.  He can see that he did crush her and that he did break her heart.  "Monica, I love you and I am so sorry that I hurt you.  I'm even more sorry that I did it to try to even the score."

"A tripod in a shower and remote cameras in various places, is not anything that I need the score evened to.  I was doing MY JOB JON!" She's now full on livid thinking about who he cheated with.  "Please tell me that you used triple protection and then showered in bleach when you were done.  She's had every man that's stepped foot on a stage."

"I was very safe." he tries to reassure her, but he can see that it's not working.