Chapter 32

Richie paced his suite, still mad as hell, and not quite sure why.  Restless and thirsty, he opened the minibar and scanned the contents.  There was an assortment of liquor hiding in there, and a little bottle of SKYY vodka beckoned to him.  He knew he shouldn’t, but it wasn’t like there was enough there to get drunk with.

Fuck it.

Cracking open the seal, he poured a shot in a glass and threw it back, feeling the burn all the way down the back of his throat.  Something, anything, to stop his mind from spinning.  He collapsed onto the sofa, bottle in one hand, glass in the other.

A fucking virgin?  Who the hell is a virgin at her age?  And why the fuck didn’t she tell me?  ‘Would you be here if I had?’  she says.  Not only no, but HELL no!    

He poured another shot, the second and last from the tiny bottle.  Gulping it down, he could feel the burn in his belly.

What woman keeps herself intact for that many years and blows it all on a one-night stand?  No woman, that’s who!  What the fuck have I done?  Jon thinks she’s screwed every available man on the tour.  Richie snorted.  Nope, old buddy, just your best friend.  The one you trusted to watch out for her.

The alcohol slowly seeped its way into his bloodstream, creating a warm sensation in his limbs. One more would be perfect.  He got back up and scrounged around in the minibar again.  Ah!  There was a bottle of Jameson.  He broke the seal on it and poured half into his glass before reclaiming his position on the sofa.

I’m a goddamn idiot.  I knew there was something unusual about her, but I didn’t pursue it.  That innocent look she’d have on her face sometimes.  You’d think after fifty fucking years I’d have some type of sixth sense about these things. 

The second half of the Jameson went down smoother than the first.  He might regret this later, but for now, he had started to think rationally again as the booze dulled his senses.  He was able to revisit the scene in his mind now without his heart seizing in his chest. 

That wasn’t me.  I never let anger take me over like that.  I can always control it – usually don’t have to control it.  What the hell happened?

After a time, Richie finally acknowledged that it wasn’t any single thing that had set him off.  Not really anyway.  It had all been a domino effect.

Obviously, he was mad that she hadn’t warned him.  But she was right about me not being there if I’d known.  It was a difficult enough choice when I thought she was experienced.  Throwing the v-card out there would’ve been a deal breaker.

He was mad at himself for making what he thought was an irresponsible decision.  My dick got in the way of my common sense.  Jon and Tico were sitting on my shoulder bitching and screaming at me for a reason, and I just ignored it.  

He was mad that it was his best sexual encounter in… forever.  She shattered at my hand, reacting in spades to my every touch and word.   Knowing what I’ve done should have me shriveled up tighter than one of those arctic swimmers, but no, I can remember her hair fanned out over that pillow and I’m hard enough to cut diamonds. 

He was mad at not knowing what tomorrow was going to bring.  We’re going to be thrown together every day for as long as she’s on the road with the band.  Can I act as though everything is normal?  Can I look at her without feeling guilt?  Or shame?  Or – Jesus – possessive? 

And the thing that upset him, more than any other, was the way she had shortchanged herself.   It should have been a cherished, tender moment in her life.  Instead she ended up with a down and dirty fuck, courtesy of the King of Swing.  Beautiful, just beautiful. 

He’d been her first.  Yeah, he’d popped a cherry or two in his day, but that was when he was a kid and his partner was too.  Allegra was a grown woman who’d saved herself for…  what?  Him?  He couldn’t imagine that to be true.  She hadn’t even known who he was two weeks ago.

But if not him, then what?  Did she just wake up one morning and decide that, after all those years of chastity, that she wanted to do the deed?  See what all the hype was about?  And how had she made it this long?  Allegra was a beautiful woman.  She had to have had opportunities.  Something just didn’t feel right.  There was more to this story, and he needed to know what it was so that he could get his head on straight.

Richie looked at the clock and was surprised to find it almost six in the morning.  He kicked off his shoes, feeling as though he’d finally settled down enough to grab a couple hours sleep.   Stretching out on the couch, he resolved that when he got up he’d go talk to her – like he should’ve done to start with. 

♪♪♪♪

Allegra hugged Jon tight, and felt his arms gripping around her back.  “Jonny, thank you so much for everything.  I know it was hard dealing with me, but now you know what your crew goes through every day.” She just couldn’t resist giving him a hard time – he was so easy.

It was six in the morning, and they were at SeaTac’s private plane hangar, where Jon was sending them off in Jovi Jet.  Stephanie and Jesse had already climbed aboard so they could get back to sleep, and Dot stood beside her.

Jon laughed at her comment, and teased her right back.  “If I’m anything like you, I may have to give them all raises.”

“Call the accountant and get your checkbook ready then.”

Jon lightly smacked her backside with his open palm. “Brat!  Now get on the plane and don’t raise any hell between here and home.  My kids are impressionable, you know.”

She rolled her eyes and snorted in disbelief.  “Yeah right!  You should worry about Stephanie corrupting me, dear cousin.”

“Oh for God’s sake…  Can we get this show on the road?  I have two other children and a dog show to get home for,” Dot reminded them.

One more round of hugs was exchanged, with Allegra promising to stay in touch, and take in some of the east coast shows.  He stood at the foot of the staircase and watched the women board the plane with a final wave of his hand as the door was pulled closed.

Both women busied themselves settling in for the six hour flight, placing bags in overhead bins and grabbing their preferred electronic devices.  Allegra was going to spend some quality time with the songs on her iPhone, while Dot was a devout Kindle woman.  There was a new book she was dying to get into.

Once they were in the air, Allegra relaxed against the headrest of her seat to try and catch a nap.  She hadn’t slept after Richie left.   Between packing and the memories of their time together, sleep had fallen by the wayside.  Her eyes were closed and she was about to put her earphones in, when Dorothea spoke.

“You look tired.  Are you okay?” 

“Mm hmm.”   Allegra didn’t bother opening her eyes. 

“Did Richie come and see you?”

Allegra turned her head and opened one eye curiously.  “What would make you think to ask that?”

“Oh, I may have given him a little encouragement.”  She grinned slyly, secretly pleased that her teeny tiny interference may have paid off.

Both of Allegra’s eyes were open now, and Dot had her full attention.   “What does that mean?”

“Oh, at the party last night, he was just standing there looking at the crowd – obviously looking for someone.  So I told him where you were.  He played dumb and pretended like he didn’t know what I was talking about, so I didn’t know if he would actually use the information or not.”

“He did.” Her voice and face were expressionless, and she looked out the window at the dark sky surrounding them. 

Concerned, Dorothea lightly touched her arm, thinking maybe it was a little too soon to be pleased with herself.  “You don’t seem very happy about it.  Do you want to talk?”

“What’s not to be happy about?  I got exactly what I asked for,” she told her with a half-hearted smile.

“Oh.  Well, the first time isn’t always the best experience, hon.  It does get better.”

Laughing, Allegra exclaimed, “Lord have mercy, if it gets better than that, I may not live through it!”

Eyebrows flew up with interest, and Dot gestured for her to go on.

 “What can I say?  He knew just how to touch me and what to say.   It was pretty amazing.”  A shiver went up her spine as she remembered his hands on her, and the feel of his breath in her ear.  “Best sex I’ve ever had,” she said cheekily. 

“Okay, so if the main event was good, then what else happened that’s got you looking like somebody kicked your dog?”

Searching her mind for the right words, Allegra finally settled for, “Let’s just say he was less than impressed when he discovered my rookie status.  He yelled at me, we argued – big surprise, I know -  and then he stormed out of my room.  That was the last I saw of him.”

“Richie yelled at you?”  The shock on Dot’s face couldn’t have been any plainer.  “I can’t believe that.  He never raises his voice.  I tell him all the time that he’s got the patience of a saint.  I mean, look at how long he’s put up with Jon.”

With a rueful shake of her head, Allegra reaffirmed, “He definitely yelled – more than once.”  After a brief hesitation, she relayed the details of the argument.

“He feels guilty, honey.  I keep telling you that he’s a good guy.   He has the womanizer reputation, but I think he’s a romantic at heart.   He probably has this misguided notion that he’s let Jon down and that you should have had this beautiful fairytale moment that you didn’t get.”

“Well, that’s just ridiculous.”

“It might be, but I bet it’s true just the same.”  Dot looked into her eyes asked solemnly, “Okay, bottom line, Allegra.  What do you want to come of this?  Did you get what you needed and now it’s done, or do you want something more?”

She hadn’t let herself think past the moment, so she considered Dot’s questions carefully.  “I didn’t allow myself to have any expectations, so I honestly don’t know what I want out of this, if anything.”  She twirled her headphones restlessly in her hand.  “But I do know that I hate the thought of him being angry with me, and that I’m going to miss him.  I’ve enjoyed our time together.” 

“Then don’t you think it’s time that you actually talked to him?  Even if you don’t want anything more than friendship, doesn’t he deserve the chance to know all of you?”

Allegra sighed and looked out the window, watching as the sunrise began to light the eastern sky.  “Maybe you’re right,” she admitted softly. 

♪♪♪♪

Richie knocked at Allegra’s door for the third time.  It was only nine o’clock.  Surely she hadn’t gone out already? 

A door closed just down the hall, and Richie turned to see Jon, dressed for the gym. 

Shit.

“Hey man, what the hell are you doing up so early?”

“I was just coming to find Allegra and apologize for cutting out early last night.”  That much was true, and Jon didn’t need to know that it happened twice.

“She’s already gone,” he said, breaking the seal on his bottle of water.

“Yeah?  Where to?”

“Back home.  She left with Dot and the kids a couple of hours ago.”

Richie’s stomach churned as he absorbed the meaning of Jon’s words.  “When did that come about?  I hadn’t heard anything about it.”

“A couple days ago.  She told me she turned down your job offer, and proceeded to turn mine down too.”  He swallowed a gulp of the water.  “She didn’t tell you?   I tried to get her to stay, but she said she was going to home to find something that would suit her better.”

Fuck no, she didn’t tell me.  Just add that one to the list.

“Nah, man, she didn’t mention it.  Could you give me her number, so I can still apologize?” 

“Yeah, sure.”  Both men pulled out their phones, and Jon dictated the number for Richie to enter in his contact list.  Task accomplished, Jon checked the time.  “Okay, I’m going down to the gym, while I still have time.  Catch ya later.”

“Later.”

Richie moved down the hall to his suite and Jon pushed the button that would call the elevator, sending a quick text while he waited. 

Gave Rich your #.  Hope that’s ok.