Seventy-Five

The alarm blared early the next morning, causing Richie to grumble unhappily at the interruption of his beauty rest.  “My God, why is that thing going off?”

“Shhh, go back to sleep,”  Allegra told him after silencing the offending clock.  She leaned over to kiss him lightly.  “I have to get ready for work, but I’ll do it in the other bathroom.”

Fully awake now, he perched up on his elbow and looked at her reprovingly.  “You didn’t tell me you were going back to work today.”  Jon hadn’t addressed the transportation issue yet, and he’d be damned if she was going to ride that train.  There’d been no word on Felix since Detroit.  It was unlikely, but for all they knew, he was biding his time to do this all over again.

“I’m going back to work today.”  Her feet hit the plush carpeting and shuffled toward the closet to retrieve her clothing.  “I’ve already missed two more days than I should have.”

“You haven’t exactly been vacationing in the South of France, Allegra.  Nobody’s going to question it when they get a look at you.  Sick leave is a valid reason to miss work.”

“We’re not really going to argue about this before either of us has had coffee?  Are we?”

“No, we’re not.”  The covers were flipped back and he thudded his size twelve feet on the carpet, rising from the bed.  “If you’re going to work, I’m driving and escorting you to the office.  Then I’ll either send a car or come pick you up myself.”

“You don’t have time for that,” she argued, pulling underclothes from the dresser.  “Don’t you guys have that free show today for the radio station?”

“It’s tomorrow, and this is non-negotiable.  You’re not riding the damn train.  Period.”  There was no heat to his voice, no anger.  Richie merely stated the bare facts and dared her to dispute them.

“Okay.”  Allegra stepped into bathroom and turned the faucet handles to start the water flowing in the shower.  “I’ll be ready to go in about half an hour.  Is that enough time for you?” she called over the rushing water.

“Yeah.”  For some reason, he felt like he should play the lottery.  He couldn’t believe it hadn’t taken an act of God Himself before she agreed to the idea.  Was she actually starting to trust him? 

♫♥♫

After she was seated behind the desk, Allegra could admit with no amount of uncertainty that she was grateful to Richie.  Coming back to an office building full of people, many of whom she didn’t know, was unnerving with him by her side.  Had she come alone, it would have been terrifying.

She hadn’t wanted to concede that she may be emotionally traumatized by the ‘event’.  Placing a wall or stationary object at her back had merely been a security blanket.  It made her feel less vulnerable, but it didn’t MEAN anything.  People often developed little habits that made them less anxious in a crowd.  Richie played with his pinkie ring.  Jon looked everywhere but in someone’s eyes.  Dave spoke as though he ate a thesaurus. It didn’t mean anything.

It didn’t mean anything to her until this morning. 

This morning, in the lobby, she’d doggedly resisted the urge the plaster her back against the wall and sidle along until she reached the elevator.  Her heart pounded and cold beads of sweat formed along her brow, but she DID resist.  Instead, she’d blindly allowed Richie to guide her through the throng of unfamiliar bodies, on the verge of hyperventilation.

Apparently, it was only a security blanket in a group of friends and family.  In a horde of strangers it felt like a life-preserving tactic.

Richie, bless his heart, didn’t say a word until after she’d silently directed him to her office, and he closed the door behind them.  Then he stepped close, holding her to his chest until her heartbeat had settled.  “Harder than you thought it would be, isn’t it?”

Her cheek brushed along his pectoral muscle when she nodded. 

“You can’t keep everyone in front of you all the time, baby.”

“I didn’t realize I was being that obvious.”

“It’s not obvious to anyone else.  You switched sides of the bed so that you could sleep on your good side and not have ME behind you.  Of course I knew.”

“You’re too damn observant,” she grumbled.

He dismissed her obligatory complaint without a second thought.  “You sure you’re ready for this?  We can turn around and go back to Jersey right now.”

Allegra straightened her spine and eased out of his embrace.  “Doesn’t matter if I’m ready or not.  I have commitments.”

The knocking at the door was instant evidence of that statement.

“Come in.”

The knob turned and Sister Mary appeared in the doorway, taking in her appearance with no identifiable reaction.  “Good morning, Allegra.”

“Good morning, Sister,”  Allegra said with a crooked grin.  The woman never failed to amuse her with her continued attempts to be stuffy.

“Richie.”

“Sister Mary, you’re looking Heavenly, as usual.”  He lifted her hand, pressing his lips to its back and offering her a charming smile.

“And you’re as devilish as ever, I see.”  The older woman fought the twitch of her lips.

Allegra had a sneaking suspicion that the nun held more than a tiny soft spot for Richie, as she watched her flush at the attention. 

“Devilishly handsome perhaps, but to quote a master songwriter, ‘baby if there’s a Heaven, you’re the proof’.”

“Let me guess.  You’re the master songwriter?”

He approved with a wide smile. “Got it right in one!”

“Boastful men go to Hell.”

“I’m going to work with Jon.  Close enough.”

He finally cracked through her reserved armor with that one, and her face split wide.  A small chuckle even escaped before she ratcheted down the humor with a frown.  “And speaking of work, Allegra has some to catch up on.  Do you mind?”

Richie winked at Allegra.  “Not at all.  Five o’clock, Sunshine?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll call and check on you later,” he promised with a quick kiss to the cheek.  Then, just to fluster Sister Mary, he dropped one on her cheek as well.  “Have a blessed day, Sister.”

Slapping ineffectually at his shoulder as he giggled and pretended to be afraid, Sister Mary ordered, “Get out of here you heathen.”

Still chuckling, he let himself out the door with a wave, leaving the two women standing face-to-face.

“Have they caught the person who did this to you?”  The Sister, as usual, minced no words, and it took Allegra aback.  Jon assured her that he’d passed along the story about her tumble down the stairs.

“I…  I’m sorry?”

“How many times must I remind you not to take me for a fool?”  The nun shook her head in disappointment.   “It’s difficult to miss the extra security that suddenly appeared yesterday both in the lobby and on this floor.  I hardly think it’s to protect you from your own clumsiness, and nothing else has happened to warrant such measures.”

Leaning against the desk, she studied the Sister for any sign that she knew more.   Notorious for playing her hand close to the vest, the nun was revealing nothing, and ultimately, Allegra chose to limit her response to the question that had been posed.  “No.  He hasn’t been caught.”

“Are you ready to work considering those circumstances?”

Was she comfortable being here?   No, not yet, but she never would be if she didn’t try.

“What else am I supposed to do?  Sit around and wait for it to happen again?  Jon is obviously keeping the Foundation safe, and Richie will hardly leave my side.  I have to get on with my life.”

With an approving nod, Sister Mary agreed.  “Very good.  You’ll only empower him if you don’t push past it.”  She looked directly into her eyes, studying her in a way that made Allegra want to squirm.  Whatever she saw there prompted her to say, “If you’d like to talk, I’m available at any time.”

Tears pricked Allegra’s eyes.  She couldn’t take tough Sister Mary being nice to her just yet.  It was a little too surreal.  Blinking to clear them away, she simply said, “I’ll keep it in mind.  Thank you.”

♫♥♫

Sister Mary stepped into her office a few minutes later, only to find her guest chair occupied by one Richie Sambora. 

“I thought I sent you away already,” she remarked, closing the door behind her.  This was an interesting development, and she wondered what brought Richie to her office.

Never one to be easily offended, Richie just smiled and agreed, “You did.  But I’m here to appeal to your love of humanity.”

She sniffed and circled the desk to sit across from him.  Arching a suspicious eyebrow, she clarified, “Love of humanity or a certain guitarist?”

His smile melted away, and she saw his eyes become somber.  “Actually love of your employee.”

So he wanted to talk about Allegra.  Good.  Maybe he would give her some real answers, since neither Allegra nor Jon had been inclined to do so.  In her experience, it had never benefitted for one to appear too curious.

“Did you come to reinforce the cock and bull story about her falling down the stairs?  Because if you have, don’t bother.”  Her voice was nonchalant.

“She told you?” 

He evidently knew his significant other well enough to be skeptical.

“She confirmed that she’d been attacked, but nothing else.”

Nodding slowly, he deliberated his words.  “Sister, at the risk of Allegra’s wrath, I’m going to be very frank with you.  She was attacked less than a week ago, and she’s pushing too hard.  I mean, she gives all appearances of having put it behind her – at least as far as most people can tell – but this morning in the lobby proved differently to me.”

“And what exactly happened in the lobby?”  She still strove to appear uninterested, as though it was of no consequence to her.  In all actuality, she’d become quite fond of Allegra and was genuinely concerned about her well-being.

“She damn… sorry, darn… near had an anxiety attack.  During the incident with this man, he evidently approached her at different times from behind.  She tries to keep it at bay, but you can visibly see her trying not to freak out when someone is in her blind spot.  I don’t believe it’s in her best interest to be here right now.”

“And do you have a better proposal?  Something other than keeping her under house arrest?”  She knew he meant well, but Richie wasn’t going to do Allegra any favors by sheltering her.

“Yes, actually I do.  I think she’d be better off doing this more gradually, under supervised protection.  I want to keep her with me until Easter.”

It warmed her heart to see the level at which he was committed to Allegra.  It appeared as though her prayers for him were finally being answered.

“Richie, it isn’t fair to let her depend on you and then go back to your tour.  You think she’s afraid now?  What will it be like after you’ve coddled her for two weeks?” 

“Okay, first of all, Allegra doesn’t let anybody ‘coddle’ her.  Secondly, that’s not what I’m talking about.   She’ll be protected in an inconspicuous way so that she doesn’t feel like she’s in a cage.  When she goes out alone, security will be following her to make sure she’s okay.”

“I don’t know about this.”  This all seemed a little extreme for a random mugging.  What were they keeping so secret? 

Richie scooted forward to the edge of his seat and reached across the desk to put his hand on her arm.  “Sister Mary, I’m going to ask you to pretend we’re in a confessional.  You can’t repeat to anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

She’d known Richie for several years.  He was always a light-hearted man, with a ready joke or smile for any occasion.  His solemn features were a stark contrast to those traits, and therefore commanded her attention.  She dipped her head in agreement.

His eyes flashed anger before he was able to rein it in.  With a sigh, he confessed, “This wasn’t some random attack by some guy off the street.  He knew her and specifically sought her out, slipping up to grab her from behind.  When she fought back, he hurt her so badly that she blacked out from the pain.”  He met Sister Mary’s gaze with a look of grim resignation.  “Actually, that turns out to be a blessing, because she says she doesn’t remember the rape.”

The words slowly steeped themselves in her mind, making his concern a little clearer for Sister Mary.  It was understandable that the men would be exceptionally protective over Allegra, given the circumstances.

“I’m very sorry to hear that, but, as you said, it is a blessing that she doesn’t remember.   I’m not sure that this changes my opinion though.”

Sister Mary found herself in a painfully awkward position.  She could be the cold hearted nun, telling Richie it didn’t matter and Allegra still had to move past it.  Or she could be compassionate and considerate, aiding him in spiriting Allegra away from her current life.  It was a difficult decision – one that called for a compromise.

“Richie, while I can acknowledge your desire to safeguard Allegra, I still stand by the fact that she has to move on.  Let’s see how today goes.  If she doesn’t tolerate it well, then I’ll make up some excuse for her to be off work until after Easter – with the provision that you convince her to get counseling.  And if she does goes through the day as usual, as I suspect she will, then we shall allow her to rebuild her life starting right now.  That’s the best I can offer.”  She stood to dismiss him, in effect ending the conversation.

Richie stood as manners dictated, but he wasn’t willing to be dismissed just yet.  “I’ll agree to today with my own provision.  You’ll call me if there’s any cause for concern.”

“I think you underestimate her.” 

“No, I don’t think I do.  She thinks she’s invincible, for which she has my respect and admiration, if not my full support in that belief.  But this is for me.  I need to know she’s safe and well, Sister.  Do you have a problem with that?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, affronted at the question.  He wasn’t smiling, but neither was his tone unpleasant.   She was still deliberating her response when they were interrupted by shouting from down the hall.