John Francis

Jon lost count of the times and ways they made love that night. His need for her seemed insatiable and she could not seem to get enough of him. Whatever he asked, she gave, whatever she needed, he provided. They would sleep for an hour or two, only to wake up and again move toward the other. Light was breaking through the windows when they finally fell asleep for good, their bodies exhausted, but their hearts full.

They woke to the ringing of the room phone. It was noon and Richie had not yet heard from Jon. The group had to be at the airport at no later than four for their five o’clock flight.

“Baby? Manda…get the phone…” she heard Jon’s voice and realized she was on his side of the bed. She reached out a hand and snagged the receiver.

“Mmmm…?” was all she could manage.

“Manda…?” Richie’s voice sounded confused, as if he thought he might not have the right room.

He heard deep rhythmic breathing from the phone as Amanda had immediately fallen back to sleep. He dialed the room again, but the line was busy. Cussing under his breath, he threw on a pair of jeans without a shirt, and stalked down the hall to Jon’s room. The pounding on the door of their room brought both Jon and Amanda wide awake and sitting upright in the bed.

Jon groaned his way out of the bed, throwing on his pants from the night before, barely fastening them. He opened the door and peered out with one eye at Richie. Amanda was sitting up in the bed and realized she had a phone clutched in her hand. She hung it up.

“What the hell’s wrong with your phone, man?” She heard Richie call from the doorway.

Reaching for a sheet to cover herself she heard Jon say he didn’t know, but they were awake now.

“We’ll meet you downstairs in the dining room at two, okay?” Jon asked his friend.

“Yeah, yeah…” Richie good-naturedly grumbled, moving back to his room.

Amanda was already dragging herself from the bed, moving to the bathroom to get into the shower. Every muscle in her body protested, but the warm water made her feel she would live, at least as long as she was in the shower. Jon joined her, kissing her lightly, but even he seemed to be less, make that much less, than normal this morning. With her hair in a towel, Amanda managed to throw on some makeup and start packing, moving on what seemed to be autopilot. She had most of her bags packed and was dressing when Jon started making pointing at his watch motions. She pouted at him, but grabbed her purse and moved to the door.

Yawning seemed to be the only way they could propel themselves down the hallway and both leaned against the wall waiting for the elevator. Falling into the elevator seemed a good idea, as did crawling into the dining room, but both managed to walk on somewhat stiffened legs. They were the first to arrive and they both croaked out “coffee” when the server appeared. Holding their cups in almost the same manner, willing the caffeine to hit their systems, they appeared quite the couple when Richie and Tico strolled in a few minutes later.

Both men grinned wickedly as they laid eyes on the two, who were doing their best to bury themselves inside the coffee pot. The other four men had been out last night, but none were too hung over and the sight of Amanda and Jon moving and acting like a pair of 80 year olds was just too funny. Hugh and David came in immediately after Tico and Richie and all six sat at the table. Amanda could not seem to make her eyes stay open, even after three cups of coffee, and Jon’s were actually a little swollen from lack of sleep.

“Well…” drawled Richie, “you two sure look like hell…”

Amanda managed a glare then, but he just laughed at her. Jon didn’t even bother with a glare, just made his middle finger rise in answer.

“You do know we’re leaving in a few hours, right?” Tico asked as he eyed the pair. Yawns and nods from both were his answer.

“I’ll be ready, I’m almost packed,” Amanda told him, her voice husky and hoarse.

“Me too, but I pack faster,” Jon answered in a voice matching hers.

“Jesus! Good thing the concert’s not for a few days! You can barely talk, let alone sing! Manda, you’re gonna have to give the old man a break.” Richie’s voice was choked with laughter as he teased them.

She managed a one-eyed glare. “He’s not old, Sambora. In fact, aren’t you a few years older than him?”

Richie clutched his chest as if he had been shot. “Ooh shit! She’s going for the jugular this morning! Have more coffee, darlin’…” and he poured her another cup.

“How long is this flight?” Amanda needed to know if there was any chance of getting more sleep.

Jon answered. “A little less than two hours.” He yawned again.

“Good…” she murmured, “more sleep.”

The other four just laughed at them and they all ordered breakfast. Less than an hour later, Amanda and Jon went back to their room to finish packing. Jon called his family, something he always made time for at least every other day, if not every day. He didn’t get the kids this time, but told Dot their schedule for the next few days and said he would call later that night when the kids were home.

“How’s the mini tour going? She asked him.

“Not bad, we’ve scheduled in enough time between shows so it’s a lot better than some of our previous tours. How are you doing? Wedding plans coming together?”

“Yeah, everything’s on schedule. You’ll be able to come back like we talked about, right?” Her voice soft, knowing this would be a little difficult for her too.

“We’ll be back there in time Dot. It’s the right thing to do.” Jon also spoke softly, his feelings a little mixed.

“Thanks Jon, I appreciate it and it will mean a lot for the kids to have both our support.”

“I know. I appreciate being able to bring Amanda too, Dot. Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome…uhm Jonny…” Dot trailed off, knowing Jon was not going to be pleased with what she was going to say. “Your mom…”

“What about mom?” Jon’s voice roughened a little.

“You know how she gets all the clippings she can about you? Well, in London there were some photos from after the concert where someone shot Richie and Amanda sitting on a couch holding hands with their heads bent together.”

Jon made an exasperated sound into the phone. “Yeah, so what? They were talking.”

“Well, your mom saw that as Amanda playing up to Richie and she’s still pretty convinced that Amanda is using you in some way.”

“God dammit!” Jon shot back into the phone. “What the hell did the picture say?”

“It was their press, Jon, an AP wire service thing. It said something about Jon Bon Jovi’s newest girlfriend seemed to have quite an intimate friendship with his best friend.”

“Fuck! Damn press! They were waiting for me in a room full of other people and they are friends. Shit!”

He was angry at the way the press could skew something any way they wanted and even more upset that his mother was apparently still not letting up on her fixation against Amanda.

“Okay, okay…” his voice was calming itself as he continued speaking to Dot. “Thanks for telling me. Guess she didn’t get the message the other day. I’ll take care of this.”

“I know you’re pissed now, Jon, but I did feel you should know.” Dot explained.

“No…you’re right. She’s not bad mouthing her to the kids, is she?” His voice icy with that thought.

“No, I caught her at it once and stopped it pretty damn quick and did it in front of the kids so they knew I meant it. I know you would never say anything about Eric in front of them, so…”

Dot left the sentence hang as she knew it was true. Jon would talk to her, but not about her or Eric in front of their kids. They were both good parents with regards to that and their children had always come first.

They ended the conversation with Jon promising to try and call later that evening when the kids would be home.

He paced the room for several moments after that, Amanda quietly continuing to pack. She had of course overheard his end of the conversation and wondered what it was that Jon’s mother had against her.