Chapter 18

The remainder of the flight was spent in pleasant conversation among the plane’s occupants.  There was discussion of how the new stage equipment would work, and the many details that needed attention once they arrived in Seattle.  Jon spent his time equally divided between his phone and his laptop, ensuring that everyone was completing their assigned tasks to his satisfaction.

During the course of their discussion, Allegra mentioned her interest in seeing some of the sights of Seattle.  As the band had played here multiple times, its members were well versed in its offerings and they offered to take her exploring in the next couple of days. 

Allegra settled in to her hotel room rather quickly, pleased to see that this one was larger than the one she’d had in Honolulu.  There was at least a small sitting area, which she took advantage of by stretching out on the sofa.  Popping in her earphones, she tried to recall the instructions David had given her on searching for a song’s composer.  After a minimal amount of effort, she located two songs on These Days that were credited to Jon alone.  

The first one was called Letting You Go, which she enjoyed, but didn’t feel that it was the direction Tico had been pointing her.  The other song was entitled Something to Believe In.  The music itself was a little heavy for her taste, but the lyrics hit home instantly.

I lost all faith in my God, in his religion too 
I told the angels they could sing their songs to someone new 
I lost all trust in my friends 
I watched my heart turn to stone 
I thought that I was left to walk this wicked world alone 

Allegra listened through to the end, her burden becoming a little lighter.   She didn’t have the delusion that she was the first person to question their faith, but she found it comforting to see that someone so close to her had lived through the experience.  Tico had said they were made of the same mold, so if Jon could make it through then surely she would too.  Her choices may not be the same, but hearing another view could provide some insight.

As she once again regretted missing out on so much in Jon’s personal life, the remaining songs from the album shuffled.  She noticed that there was an underlying darkness to the lyrics, and a common theme of hurt and despair.  Sure, some of them were under the guise of a relationship gone wrong, but the message was still consistent.  What had been going on in Jon’s, and maybe Richie’s, world that dredged these heart-wrenching lyrics from them? 

Her stomach rumbled, interrupting her thoughts.  All of this soul searching worked up an appetite.  Checking the time, she assumed that she was on her own since no one had mentioned meeting up for dinner.  Room service wasn’t appealing, but she didn’t feel like venturing too far from the hotel either.  That left the hotel restaurant.  Grabbing her purse, she headed downstairs.

The restaurant was crowded with elegantly dressed couples, and each of the candlelit tables was adorned with a red rose.  The clink of wine filled stemware, china and silver had Allegra wincing.  Valentine’s Day.  Since she’d already dealt with the lover’s holiday, she’d dismissed it from her mind for another year.  Such was not the case with the population of Seattle.  It was Valentine’s Day and they were honoring it in style. 

She glanced down at her clothes, realizing she was still wearing the jeans and t-shirt from the plane.  It wasn’t exactly up to par with the occupants of the dining room.  Being ridiculously underdressed, room service now sounded much more appealing.

She was retracing her steps to the elevator when she felt her cell phone vibrate.  Reaching into her pocket to retrieve it, she saw that the caller had a New Jersey area code, but didn’t recognize the number. 

Well I know it’s not Tony, she thought wryly.  She’d added his name after their little chat in Honolulu. 

“Hello?” she answered as she stepped into the elevator.

“Allegra, it’s…”  The doors swooshed shut and the male voice cut off, signal lost.  Realizing what happened, she snapped the phone closed, hating the fact that Jon and David might be right about needing a new one.  Sighing, she pushed the button for her floor and leaned against the wall of the car.  She’d just call whoever it was back when she got upstairs.

“Elevators aren’t the best place to get a phone signal.”

“Yeah, so I see.”  She turned, for the first time noticing the other passenger in the car.  There, leaning against the opposite wall, with his hands pushed into his jacket pockets, was Felix.

Dammit.  The fifteenth floor couldn’t come fast enough.

He straightened, his voice friendly when he said, “I just want you to know that I don’t hold any hard feelings about what happened between us.”

Between us?  Like we had a relationship or something?  She kept the grin from her face, but smiled on the inside.  Well there was that one short date between my knee and his nuts.

“Um, okay,” she said, avoiding eye contact.

He took a step toward her.  “I’m really a likable guy,” he assured her with a slimy smile.  “And you’ll be very pleased to know that there’s… MORE to me than what you’ve seen.”

Oh my God.  Ickkk! 

“I’ve already seen more of you than I want to,”   Allegra informed him flatly.  She crossed her arms over her stomach and focused on the numbers that tracked their upward progress.  Six…  Seven…

Laughing lightly, he inched closer still.  “Dear princess, you want to play like you’re not a little tramp.  I was late figuring that out last time, but it’s okay.  You want to make me work for it, and I can get into that.  It’s kind of a turn on.” 

Ten…  Eleven…

His finger twined in the strands of her hair.  “Do you like it a little rough too?”

She jerked away from his touch and put as much distance as possible between them.  “I’m not playing, you stupid little pervert.  This is the only time I’m going to tell you…“  Her ice blue eyes drilled into his with the sincerity of her words.   “Don’t come near me again or you WILL regret it.”    

Fourteen… Fifteen.

The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and Allegra exited without looking back.  She’d gone no more than a few steps down the hall when her phone vibrated again.  Looking at the display screen, she saw that it was the same number from before.

“Hello?”  she answered belligerently.

“Allegra, it’s Tico.  What happened?”

She put the key card in her door and pushed it open with her shoulder.  “Sorry Tico, I got in the elevator and lost signal for a minute.  What’s up?”

He paused for a moment before saying, “You know they’re right about your phone don’t you?  You’d get more reliable service with an updated one.”

Curling up in the corner of the sofa, she threw her head back in silent frustration.  Arg!  “I’m sure you didn’t call to hassle me about my cell phone service, so what can I do for you?”

“Point taken, querida.  I’ll leave it alone.    I called to tell you that a couple of us are going to a place called High Dive.  It’s a live music club and they’re supposed to have killer barbecue.  Would you like to go with us?”

Being part of an entourage of overprotective men for the evening?  Right now that sounded pretty good.

Tico said that he would stop by and pick her up in about twenty minutes, so Allegra hurried to find something more suitable to wear. 

She plundered through her bags, locating a pair of jeans that actually fit and a red off-the-shoulder top.  After slipping them on, she shook out her hair, and applied a bit of makeup.   Satisfied that she was presentable, she shoved her feet into low-heeled boots and was just grabbing her jacket when a knock came at the door. 

Expecting to find Tico on the other side, she threw the door open without checking the peephole.  Tico was indeed on the other side, holding a single red rose.  David’s head peeked over his shoulder with the usual grin.

“Oh!  What’s this?”  Accepting the rose, she stepped back to let them enter and put the flower in a glass of water she’d been drinking earlier.

Tico pressed a kiss to her cheek as he passed by.  “It’s Valentine’s Day.  You went to so much trouble to make our celebration nice that we wanted to return the favor in some small way.” 

“Although in my case, please don’t kill the tech,” David requested as he dropped a kiss on her forehead and handed her a small red gift bag.

Eyeing it suspiciously, she closed the door and asked, “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Open it and you’ll see,” was the only answer he gave until she reached into the tissue paper and pulled out an iPhone box.  “It’s from Jon – or rather Bon Jovi Management, he said.  I just entered the contact information for the band, et al.  I also synched it with your iTunes account on my computer so all of your music is on there too.  No more need for the iPod.”

Allegra had removed the phone from the box and simply stared at it throughout his explanation.  She wanted to be mad at Jon – and Tico and David, for that matter – but after the day she’d had, it was just too much effort.   “You knew about this when I talked to you twenty minutes ago, didn’t you?” she asked Tico.

“Yes.”

Placing the box on the coffee table, she nodded and stuffed the phone in her back pocket. “Thank you both.  That was very nice, but unnecessary.”  She picked her jacket up and pushed her arms into the sleeves.  “So tell me about this place we’re going.”

  

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Richie downed the last of his club soda and signaled the bartender for another.  The first band wasn’t scheduled to start for another hour, so he still had some time to kill.  He’d intentionally gotten here too early, looking for a distraction, and a hot little blonde number would serve his purposes quite nicely…  A silicone enhanced one would even be okay.  After all, desperate times called for desperate measures, and he was definitely starting to feel desperate. 

There was no two ways about it – he was horny.  It had been a long time.  Well, not a LONG time, just too long.  Why else would a little teasing and a simple kiss be replaying on a continuous loop in his head all damn day?  

Teasing Allegra hadn’t been one of his more gifted ideas.  Listening to a woman’s breath hitch, seeing her skin flush and feeling her bones melt, all by his hand, was aphrodisiacal.  His kryptonite, if you will, because he’d found himself as drawn in as she was.  Nothing but willpower and the mental image of Jon’s stink-eye had enabled him to pull away.   Nope, nothing good could come of that situation.

He shook his head and rose from the bar, drink in hand.  If he didn’t find some satisfying female companionship tonight, God forbid, he may be forced to take matters into his own hands. 

Scouring the room for potential solutions to his problem, Richie spotted a familiar curly blonde head steering through the crowd. It was hard for Dave to be incognito anyplace with that distinctive mop of hair.  It looked like Teek was with him.  And a woman?  Richie saw the wild flow of ebony hair reaching over bare shoulders to cascade down her back.  That flow of hair naturally led his gaze to the fit of her jeans, and to his chagrin, the fit of those jeans directly affected the fit of his.  He shifted himself before it developed into an uncomfortable situation.

Maybe I’ll just go see what the boys are up to, and find out who the lovely lady is. 

Richie had taken no more than two steps when the group reached a vacant table.  The black haired beauty turned to take the chair Tico held for her, on the far side of the table.  She tipped her face up with a wide grin, and her Sicilian blue eyes danced with humor at whatever Dave had just said.

Mother.  Fucker.

He made a sharp ninety-degree turn into the nearest group of people, seeking out the closest blonde with the biggest boobs.