One Hundred Twenty-Five

“You left the garage door open –“ Her eyes cut to Allegra with a look of superiority.  “Just like you always do.”

“That explains how, not why.  What are you doing here?”  Richie’s free hand scraped restlessly through his hair.  At this rate he was going to be bald before the next show.  Allegra had just removed one obstacle to a relaxing day, and here came an even bigger one.  This tour break officially sucked.

“Ava forgot her purse at home, and she wanted it for the mall.  I didn’t find out until I got here that your schedule was too busy to take her,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Well plans have changed.  We’re going.”  He extended his hand for the oversized bag that his tiny daughter chose to carry, ignoring the implication that Heather’s house was Ava’s home.  It was beyond him why her purse had to be bigger than her book bag for school.  What the hell did she carry in there anyway?  Richie was dying to know, but wouldn’t invade her privacy that way without a good reason.  “I’ll take that and you can go.”

The set of his ex-wife’s shoulders was indicative of a shrewish storm on the horizon.  Richie recognized the look well from their last months of their marriage, and wanted to get her out the door before she decided to unleash it in an unjustified attack – something she was altogether too good at.

The corners of her mouth turned downward with disdain and you could cut through the cloud of pretention with a knife as her artfully made-up eyes raked Allegra from head to toe.

“She sure as hell doesn’t look pregnant.  Has she even thrown up once?”

You just can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?  Dammit!

He glanced toward the woman standing at his side, knowing that there was about to be hell to pay.  Richie had picked up Ava from her mother’s house the day before, and took the opportunity to break news of the baby to Heather.  He figured that it was best to let her say whatever she was going to say without subjecting Allegra to it.  Not surprisingly, her attitude had been less than stellar and he hadn’t wanted to tell Allegra until he’d come up with a more positive way to spin it.

That’s one thing off my to-do list.

Regardless, Heather wasn’t going to get the best of his girl, even if she was coming into this discussion at a disadvantage. 

“No, actually I haven’t.”  Allegra spared only a moment to kill him with her eyes before gathering her wits to do battle with Madame Hollywood.  “Pregnancy agrees with me.  I understand some people are unfortunate enough to be sick for months and months,” she said pointedly, referring to what Richie had confided back in New Jersey.  “This child was just meant to be, I guess.”

The saccharine sweet smile rivaled Jon’s most insincere press smile ever, making Richie want to laugh, but he knew better than to let on that he found any part of this debacle humorous.

Heather’s nostrils flared unattractively when she snorted in disbelief.  “I’d ask to see the pregnancy test if I were you,” she told Richie, all but turning her back on Allegra.  “She may be Jon’s cousin, but I bet she doesn’t have a pot to piss in.  Your money is probably a lot more attractive to her than you are.”

Richie practically tackled Allegra to keep her from lunging at the other woman.  If he’d been half a step slower, Heather likely would have been kissing the floor about now.   The feisty beauty in his arms was still trying everything in her power to make that happen.  “Allegra, stop!   It’s not worth it.”

“Oh, but I think it is,” she disagreed, still struggling against his superior strength, feet pedaling in the air when he resorted to lifting her up against his chest.  “If you’re going to let her stand there and talk to me that way…” She actually paused to snarl at him, but he held firm. “She needs to know that one of us isn’t going to put up with insults that are as cheap and tasteless as her bleach job.”

“Bitch!” Heather hissed, her spiked heels clicking on the terra cotta tile as she moved to strike Allegra across the face with her palm.  “He’s fucked better looking women-”

“Heather, that’s enough!” Richie boomed, one arm flying out to intercept the blow.  What the hell had possessed his ex-wife?  She’d never been like this in all the years he’d known her.  “Leave the purse and get out!”

There were several heart beats of uncertainty for Richie, who wasn’t sure if he alone could keep the women apart if they were truly inclined to engage in a cat fight.  He hoped to hell that Allegra knew better in her ‘condition’, but it wouldn’t be the first time her Italian temper had overridden good sense.

“And the next time you come to my house – use a little damn common courtesy and knock.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to knock at my house.”

Allegra’s efforts to commit bodily harm were renewed at the coquettish lilt in Heather’s voice, causing Richie to grunt when she thrust herself against his hold with the full force of her body.    

“Now is not the time to practice your acting skills,” he spat at his ex-wife, doggedly keeping his hands clamped together so Allegra wouldn’t escape.  “For God’s sake, just go!”

Whether it was because of his words or the low, keening growl Allegra probably wasn’t even aware she was emitting Richie didn’t know, but Heather obeyed his command.  She stalked haughtily from the room, offering a single derisive glare toward Allegra as her only parting gesture. 

That left Richie alone with a woman who was more pissed than a eunuch at a strip club.

“Sunshine, calm down,” he crooned in a preemptive strike, loosening his grip on her by a mere fraction.  His mama didn’t raise no fool – never willingly unleash an angry woman on yourself.  “You shouldn’t be getting so upset.”

“And I shouldn’t be hearing that Heather knows about the baby from Heather!” she snapped, fighting to escape him.

“Stop struggling, I’m not letting you go yet.”  She kicked, squirmed and wiggled, but he gritted his teeth and held tight.  “Stop!”

“Not until you let me go!”

“Dammit Allegra,” he grunted when she elbowed him in the stomach.  “I only told her yesterday, and she wasn’t any nicer about it then.  I knew – absolutely knew – you’d get mad and didn’t want to ruin what little time we get together with that!”

“You stood there and let her call me a gold digger!”

“No, I tried to protect you and the baby from getting hurt when you pounced at her.  I didn’t have time to do anything else!”

Her struggles finally wound down, reduced to a weak, obligatory shove against his hold.  “I can’t believe you were married to her for so long.  She’s so… so… hateful.”

“She’s not a really happy person to start with, but you do seem to bring out the worst in her.”

“Let me go.”

“I don’t knooow…”  He regarded her carefully.  She wasn’t a tiny woman, and if she took a notion, Allegra could inflict enough pain to make him uncomfortable for a while.  “Are you gonna beat the shit outta me?”

“I should, but I won’t.”

He sighed.  Hellfire anger gone, wounded pride in place.  Richie was in the doghouse.

“Come on,” he cajoled, tipping her chin up with what he thought to be his most charming smile.  “You can’t stay mad at me.  You just told a famous Hollywood actress she had a cheap bleach job and outwitted a fashion designer with her own platitudes.  You’re kicking some serious ass today without adding mine to the list.”

She pulled her face away, eyes shuttered.  “Oh no.  I could easily stay mad at you if I wanted to.  And for the moment,  I very much want to – at least until I can figure out how to deal with you and Heather in my mind.  You and Ava go out.  I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Baby…  There is no ‘me and Heather’.  There hasn’t been for a long time.”  She couldn’t really believe that he had an interest in his ex, could she?  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Been there, done that, paid for the plastic surgery so she could wear the t-shirt.

“As long as there’s an Ava, there will be a ‘you and Heather’.  Those are just the facts.”  Allegra moved silently across the tiles in her bare feet.  “I’m going back to the kitchen and my computer.  Enjoy your lunch.”

“Allegra…”

He wasn’t going to be able to go off for a few carefree hours, pretending that she wasn’t upset – with both him and the situation.  Richie couldn’t stand the feeling of guilt, knowing that he was legitimately responsible for at least a tiny part of it.

“Not now Richie.  Ava comes first.”

 With that, she was gone.  End of discussion.

The rank of this tour break just dropped from suck to blow.

♪ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♪

Hair piled high on her head, Allegra popped her earbuds in and slithered down into the mountain of bubbles with a sigh of contentment.  The familiar fruity scent of her favorite bath products permeated the air in the huge bathroom, tickling her senses and painting a reluctant smile on her face.

After Richie and Ava had gone, she spent a long time ineffectively trying to immerse herself in Microsoft Office applications, but couldn’t dredge up any interest in the multitude of formatting commands that Brandon had left for her ‘homework’.  Her mind was still filled with the acid that Heather had spewed all over Richie’s office.

The irritation at Richie had faded considerably as soon as he’d left.  She still wanted to know why he hadn’t told her, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.  It’s not like she’d wanted to tell Heather herself.

But she was still baffled at why Heather was so bitter and nasty toward her.  She hadn’t had enough interaction with the actress to warrant that level of animosity.  She’d barely even spoken to her!

With a slight shake of her head, she made a conscious effort to let it go.  There was no point in letting the bitter woman under her skin and in the long run, there was nothing she could do about it, so why worry?  Heather would have to get used to Allegra’s presence in Richie and Ava’s life eventually – and if she didn’t?  Well that was on her.

Allegra was just thankful that Ava had been blissfully unaware of her mother’s presence in the house.   Walking into a screaming match between your mother and your dad’s girlfriend was practically a handwritten prescription for therapy.  Ava was a good girl and Allegra didn’t want to be liable for scarring her psyche.

She let the soothing instrumental music of David’s Lunar Eclipse album lull her into a state of utter relaxation, from which she happily slid into a light doze.  The water had just begun to cool a bit when a gentle touch drew her back from the Netherworld.  Eyes fluttering open, she found Richie kneeling beside her, leaning on the wide ledge of the garden-style tub.

“You just killed any future songs that could’ve been written in here,” he told her casually after she’d pulled the headphones from her ears.  “I won’t be able to think of anything but how beautiful you look in that bathtub, strategically covered in bubbles.”

She smiled to herself, heart kicking up a notch.  He was in Prince Charming mode to make up for earlier.  Not that she was complaining, but she owed it to herself to show a little self-restraint.  It wouldn’t do to just swoon at his feet with every endearment that came from his mouth.  So instead, she focused on the other thing he’d said.

“You write songs in here?”

“Yeah, a few.  The acoustics are great.”  He swiped his finger across the nearest mound of suds, dabbing his bubbly captives on the tip of her nose with a smile.  “Are you still mad at me?”

“Mm.  No, not really.  I do wish I’d known that you told her about the baby, but I can’t very well blame you for her barging in and being a bitch.” 

Allegra wrinkled her nose and blew away the tickling foam.  Pulling her hand from beneath the water and scratching at it only made matters worse, and had them both laughing at the bubbles she’d strewn across her face. 

He snatched up a nearby towel and used the corner of it to wipe her face clean, only to stir up another flurry of bubbles as the other end of the towel got loose from him and fell into the tub.  Pulling it out of the tepid water, he wrung it out with one hand and battled soap suds with the other.

“Your water is getting cold, Sunshine.  Do you need some help getting out?” He finally asked, offering a hand to assist her out of the deep tub.

Allegra noted that several bubbles remained, some dissolving against his cheek, others individually popping in his hair and leaving an iridescent soapy sheen in their wake.  He was adorable. 

“I said I wasn’t mad, but I didn’t say you were off the hook yet.  I’m not above making you pay a little penance,” she admitted, eyes glinting with inspiration.

“Penance?  What kind of penance?”

It’s not like she was going to make him do hard time, but Allegra thought he should at least do something to indulge her a little bit.

“Take a bubble bath with me.”