Fifty-Five

She slipped her shoes off under the cover of her desk, flexing her toes languidly.  Her morning infusion of coffee hadn’t made it ‘til noon, and even a refuel at lunchtime hadn’t really done the trick.  Allegra was looking forward to a nap on the train, then a hot shower and early bedtime at home.  Richie wouldn’t call her until early in the morning – after all the post-show hullabaloo.

Searching the hollow of her throat, she clasped the platinum – yes, it was platinum – cross between her thumb and forefinger with a smile as she thought about her day.

Sister Mary had sought her out first thing this morning, looking expectant.  “Well?  Did you tell him?”

It seemed to surprise the sister when Allegra nodded her head.  “We had a long talk this weekend, and he’s very much of aware of my presence here.”  Unable to resist a slight tease, she said, “Jon said you can expect to hear from him when he gets back in town.  He seemed… disappointed…  that you would aid and abet a known troublemaker like me.”

“Hmpf.  If he wants to question my judgment, I’ll be quite happy to schedule some time with him.”  Her flippant air indicated that she couldn’t be less concerned about Jon’s reaction or the security of her position with the Foundation.  “You’re the best thing to happen around here in a long time, and I don’t regret my actions at all.”

Now THAT was a surprise.  Sister Mary wasn’t exactly a warm, fuzzy woman, and compliments from her were few and far between.  “I don’t know what to say, Sister, other than thank you.”

The sister waved off her thanks with a huff of dismissal.  “You’ve earned your spot here, young lady.  Don’t thank anyone for something you’ve achieved through hard work.”  She appeared to consider her next words carefully.  “And speaking of hard work, I have a project I’m delegating to you.  Please make sure your calendar is clear next week.  You’ll be doing a field assignment of sorts.”

The older woman was just full of surprises today.  “Of course.  What type of field assignment, if I may ask?”

“You’ll be apprised as the time grows nearer,” the sister informed her.  “Just make sure everything else you’re working on is current by Monday.”  In the midst of leaving Allegra’s office, she hesitated on the threshold.  “Your necklace is quite striking.  Is it new?”

If Allegra didn’t know any better, she’d swear that her ‘boss’ was trying to be friendly.  She looked down at the pendant with a smile.  “Yes.  It’s a gift from Richie.  He thought I could use a reminder to have faith.”

With a curt nod of acknowledgement, Sister Mary parted with, “We could all stand a reminder now and again.”

The phone on her desk pealed out with its electronic ring, putting an end to her mental break.  “Allegra Castanelli, how may I help you?”

“Allegra, it’s Dot.”

Relaxing once again, she let herself slump back into her chair, her stocking-clad toes sliding in and out of her shoes.  “Hey!  What’s up?”

“I thought I should let you know.  John, Sr. and Carol are going to be here for dinner, and your presence has been requested.”

Checking her watch, she wondered if she could escape a few minutes before five, so that she could catch the earlier train back to New Jersey. 

“That sounds great!  We haven’t seen one another since Christmas, so it will be nice to catch up with them.”

“Yeah, well don’t get too excited just yet.”

Something about Dot’s tone set her hackles to rising.  “Why not?” she asked suspiciously.

“Your parents will be here too.” 

Allegra hadn’t told Dot any of the details, but Dot was a smart woman.  She’d noticed that there’d been no mention or contact from Therese and Michael Castanelli since Allegra’s immersion into the Bongiovi household.  Considering how close the family had always been, it had struck her as more than a little odd, even though she didn’t pry for information. 

“Guess I can’t hide from them any longer,” Allegra said with resignation.  “Thanks for the heads up, Dot.  I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She hated that it had come to this.  Her parents were great in most circumstances, but they were devout Catholics who had been less than impressed when she left the order.  Especially since she wouldn’t tell them why.

Mama had gone so far as to give her the silent treatment in the weeks before she’d arrived on Jon’s doorstep.  It had been one of the things that had pushed her into asking for his help.  She couldn’t take the confused and heartbroken disappointment she saw every time she looked in her parents’ faces.  Jon probably didn’t have an inkling of the lifeline he’d given her.  She was convinced that, if he hadn’t brought her with him on tour, she’d be in a mental institution by now.  A person could only take so much guilt piled on them before cracking into a million pieces.

Trying to maintain a positive attitude, she supposed all that should come to an end tonight.  After all, her parents weren’t suddenly appearing to have dinner with HER.  Their patience had worn thin and they were coming to demand answers to their questions – there was no doubt about that.  Which was fine.  She was recovered enough to tell them what they wanted to know. 

Granted, it would be better if Richie or Jon were going to be there to lend moral support, but she’d get through okay on her own.

She smiled, and corrected herself.  Not on her own – Dot would be there for her.

Looking at the clock, she quickly gathered her things and scurried out the door.  So much for her nap on the train.

♥♥♫♥♥

-

They were just preparing to leave the hotel for sound check when Jon’s phone rang.  “Hey, babe what’s up?”

“Call Allegra.”  There was no perfunctory hello, or lead in to the conversation.  His wife had cut directly to the chase, with no explanation.

“Why?  Is something wrong?”  He searched for Richie’s dark head ahead several paces ahead of him in the lobby.  They’d just spoken a few minutes ago, and he’d seemed fine.  Whatever was going on, his friend wasn’t aware of it either.

“Your parents will be here for dinner tonight.”

“So?  They come to dinner all the time.” 

Sometimes women were so damn frustrating. 

“This time Therese and Michael are coming with them.” 

Sometimes Jon was so damn frustrating.

“And WHY is that a reason to interrupt my work day?”  He was still clueless.

With a sigh, Dorothea said, “I love you, but you really are involved in your own little world sometimes.  Haven’t you noticed how she’s completed avoided mentioning her parents since she’s been with us?  And they haven’t called a single time that I know of.  Don’t you think it’s weird, considering how close they’ve always been?”

Searching his memory, he conceded that she may have a point.  There was that one mention of her mom when they went down memory lane the other day, but other than that – nothing that he could recall.

“Okay, so what do you want me to do?”  His wife was a strong, independent woman who could take care of anything that needed taking care of.  Because of that, over the years, he’d found that when she called and actually wanted HIM to handle something, it was easier to just do as he was told.  She had her crazy woman logic reasoning for it, but he most often didn’t care enough to decipher what it was.    

“CALL her, Jon.  NOW.  Make sure this isn’t as big of a deal as I think it is.”

“Yes, dear.”

♥♥♫♥♥

One minute later and she would’ve missed the train.  Allegra barely slid inside the doors and found an empty seat before the train chugged its way toward the next station.  Maybe that was why she didn’t feel the vibration of the phone in her pocket, or think to check it, until they’d been underway for some time. 

Unearthing the phone from her coat, the display informed her that she’d missed FIVE calls from Jon. 

What in the world?

She tapped his number and waited for the call to ring through, but they were connected before she heard the first tone.  “Hold on,” he answered abruptly.

There was the sound of air whooshing past the speaker, the closing of a door, then some kind of scuffling before it grew quiet.

“Hey, babydoll,” he finally greeted her properly.

“Hey.  I see I missed an insane amount of calls from you.  What’s up?”

“Just checking in to make sure you’re okay.  Dottie told me your parents are coming for dinner.”

That made her laugh.  “And the literal translation is:  my wife ordered me to call you in case you were freaking out.”

“She just made me aware of a situation and I took it from there,” he informed her haughtily.  “Brat.”

She crossed her legs, and covered her mouth with her hand so as not to share her conversation with the entire car.  “Honestly, I’d feel more confident if you or Richie were here with me, but I’ve got Dot.  She does know about Tessa, doesn’t she?  I’ve never told her, but kind of assumed you did.”

“Yeah, she knows,” Jon confirmed.  “You wanna tell me why this is such a big deal?”

She huffed in exasperation.  “You know how rigid Mama and Daddy are in their Catholicism.  It was tragic enough that I never took the final step to become a nun, but then, from their perspective, I committed sacrilege by rejecting my place in the Church.”  She closed her eyes, leaning against the cool glass of the train window.    “Those first few weeks, I just couldn’t talk about it – you know that – and they were so hurt and confused with by my decision that Mama wouldn’t even speak to me.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.  Your mother wasn’t speaking to you AT ALL?”

“Yet another reason I was so desperate to hit the road with you.”

Jon groaned at the realization that he’d unknowingly caused this to drag on longer than it should.  How was he going to fix this from Denver?

“Okay,” he ultimately spoke.  “I have words of wisdom – well, encouragement – if you’ll actually pay attention to them.”

“Jon, I appreciate]e it, but I’m not cowering at the thought of talking to my parents.  More than anything I’m just dreading it, because there’s a very real possibility that they aren’t going to accept my explanation gracefully.”

He snorted in disbelief.  “Hey, if they don’t, then that’s on them.  You did what’s right.  And, whether you need our support or not, Richie, Dot and I totally believe in you and have the ultimate respect for how you’ve handled yourself.  No one could have done it with any more grace or dignity.”  He tenderly observed, “My Frannie’s a pretty amazing woman.”

Jon Bon Jovi could be the most exasperating man alive, but when he took a notion to go the other direction…  Well, he could be almost as thoughtful as Richie.  “Damn you,” she sniffed.  “You go and say something sweet like that and I can’t even give you a hug.  You suck.”

A sigh of defeat came echoing through the line.  “And there ya have it…  I’m sweet for all of – what, half a second – then immediately suck again.  Order and balance have been maintained in the Bongiovi family universe.”

Never dreaming that she’d ever hear him spout something so off-the-wall, Allegra got tickled and began to giggle quietly.  The more she thought about it, the funnier it got and she laughed until she’d lost her breath and tears rolled down her face.  The passenger seated beside her even scooted a little further away, as though her insanity may be contagious. 

“Oh my gosh, Jon!”  Allegra finally gasped.   “You’ve been hanging out with David too much.  That sounds like something he’d say!”

“Well it’s got you laughing instead of screaming at me, doesn’t it?  Maybe I should be hanging out with him more often…”