John Francis

After the late night before, Amanda found herself sleeping in far longer than she usually did. Jon was quite adamant about proving that while she was not the ‘flavor of the moment’, she did have several flavors he found immensely appealing and once again it was close to dawn before she fell into a deep sleep.

Yawning her way into the shower, she threw on a thick robe and wandered downstairs to make some coffee. Linda was in the kitchen obviously making lunch and Amanda gave her a bit of a chagrined smile at waking up to late in the day. Linda just winked at her and told her fresh coffee would be ready in just a few minutes. Amanda nodded, still yawning, and got the cream out for the much needed brew.

“There’s a package for you by the doorway.” Linda informed her once Amanda had filled her cup and taken a few life-saving sips.

“A package? From where? Florida?” Amanda thought her mother might have sent her something.

“No, it says it was shipped from New York, although there is no return address on it.” Linda supplied.

“Hmmm, I don’t think I know anyone in New York.” Amanda brought her coffee with her into the living room, along with a serrated edged knife to open the package. She looked at the typed label with her name and Jon’s address, but no return address. Setting her coffee to the side, she opened the cardboard box to find a Styrofoam cooler inside. More curious by the moment, she lifted the lid of the cooler and abruptly sat back on her heels, turning her head, as the stench of some type of animal manure filled the air.

Dropping the lid, she backed away from the package, incensed that someone would play such a mean practical joke. Jesus! It didn’t take Jackie long to get her revenge, did it? She quickly put the cooler lid back on to contain some of the odor and opened the front door to help dispel the rest. Walking back into the kitchen, she was about to ask Linda for some air freshener but the woman had obviously gone to the back of the house for something. Looking under the kitchen sink, she found a can of Lysol and sprayed it liberally in the front hallway and living room. Gathering the offending package, she wrapped it back together as best she could and going out into the garage where the large trash bins were stored, she deposited it carefully inside one, making sure the cooler lid stayed closed and putting some other items over it.

Nodding grimly as her task was completed, Amanda left the garage, telling no one what had happened.

~~~

After dressing, Amanda volunteered to take lunch into the studio where Jon and Richie had planned to spend the day. Struggling a little with the full tray, she managed to get the handle open and then used her butt to open it the rest of the way to get herself and the tray inside. She suddenly realized that in backing into the room she had backed into someone right inside the door. She stopped for a moment, not daring to move as at that moment she wasn’t sure if it was Richie or Jon. A second later, she was sure.

“Richie! Move! This tray is heavy!” She scolded as she turned and practically thrust the tray of food into his arms.

“How did you know it was me?” Richie asked, curious.

“You’re taller than Jon and you smell different.” Amanda supplied.

“Did I hear my name?” A voice called out as Jon came around the corner toward the door. Amanda gave him a quick kiss.

“Yes you did. Lunch is ready, oh master!” She giggled as she teased him. Then smiling even wider, she included Richie. “Oh excuse me…your lunch is ready, oh masters!” Her eyes gleamed wickedly at the almost identical expressions on the faces of the two men.

“Oh for heaven’s sake! Will you two get your minds out of the gutter! I’m hungry too, you know!” She grinned as she scolded them as they all sat down to eat.

“Jon, since you two are working today, I wanted to take one of the cars and do some girl things. Any reason why that won’t work today?” Amanda wanted to go get her legs and eyebrows waxed again and a trim of her long hair.

“Nah, we’re planning a pretty full day, so go ahead…” he grinned at her, a small smirk starting, “…got anything in mind for me?”

“No, gutter boy, GIRL things!” She laughed as his pout, then smiled when he flashed her his famous grin at her wink.

Leaving the two to work, Amanda made a call for an appointment at a salon she had visited when she first arrived in Jersey and was told that of course there was an appointment available for Ms. Matthews. A little frown furrowed her brow at the “of course!” response from the salon, but she just shrugged it off and went to get ready.

Throwing her hair into a braid, she dressed casually in tan slacks with a dark green sweater, her brown leather boots and a small leather purse. A quick application of light makeup completed her preparations and after a quick trip to the kitchen to let Linda know she was leaving for a while, she was out the door.

Following her written directions, she was soon in the area of the salon, although she was an hour early for her appointment. There were several shops in this area and she decided to spend the remaining time walking the area. She parked by the salon and grabbing her purse and keys, locked the car and started walking. There was a beauty supply retail store that caught her eye. Inside she spent almost a half hour gathering some hair ties, a few new hair chopsticks, a new mascara, and a few different lipsticks. There were only a couple of other customers in the store and with the help of one the salesclerks she found everything she needed. Paying for her purchases, she then went into a small book store where she found a several paperbacks from some of her favorite authors. Close to the counter there were numerous magazines and again the name “Bon Jovi” caught her eye.

This magazine was of the tabloid variety and opening it she found several pictures of herself that had obviously been taken when they were overseas. She was astounded to see that some of the pictures were from Ireland when they were at Dublin castle. She hadn’t seen anyone taking pictures of her there and wondered if Jon or Richie would know. The pictures were a bit grainy and she thought they were not something a professional would have taken. The thought crossed her mind that she had been caught by another tourist’s camera who had then sold the pictures. The bruising of her face was very vivid, however, and she grimaced when she realized that her mother would be sure to see these.

She started reading the article that accompanied the pictures and her surprised turned into shock. The article insinuated and nearly stated that she was with the entire band, not just Jon, and showed pictures of Richie holding her hand, a few of Tico doing the same, and also of David and Hugh with her. Several shots of Jon holding her arm or hand or with his arm around her waist were also in the magazine. The person who had written the article had also obtained the police report of her attack and details of the arrest of Sean MacWilliams. Again there was information about her husband’s death, but this time there was more about her. She was named as the administrator of their business and somehow they had found out about her insurance settlement and the sale of the business.

Reading more of the article she saw there was some real trash about Jon; apparently some of the women he had been with had talked. One woman, who was not named, talked about how Jon had sent security to her during a concert and that she had met him back stage afterwards where they quickly engaged in “the most wonderful sex I’ve ever had”. Amanda started fidgeting while reading this, hoping Jon’s children would never hear about it. She wondered why all this was coming out now, but then realized that she would never have picked up this type of magazine before she met Jon, so she really didn’t know how much had been out there in the public domain prior to meeting him.

Shaking her head, she returned the magazine to the rack and paid for her books. Glancing at her watch, she realized she would be late if she didn’t hurry. She left the shop and walked quickly to the salon, carrying her bags. Entering the salon, she gave her name to the receptionist who informed her they were almost ready for her. She sat in the reception area, thinking about the magazine she had just seen. She was beginning to dread what Jon’s mother would have to say about this and hoped she wouldn’t again be blamed for speaking to someone. Hearing her name called a second time brought her out of her thoughts.

‘Ms. Matthews? We’re ready for you.” A pretty young blonde woman indicated that Amanda should follow her.

“Do you have a place where I can put these bags?” Amanda asked as they walked back to a changing room.

“Of course. There are some lockers.” With the woman leading the way, Amanda put her bags and purse in a locker and pocketed the key. Quickly changing, she discussed the services she wanted with her attendant and within a few minutes she was having her eyebrows done and then her legs.

“Ouch! Does this ever get any less painful?” She joked with the attendant.

“Not that I’ve heard…” the woman smiled at her, shaking her head, “…the things we do for men!”

“I know what you mean, but then again it sure does beat shaving every day!” Amanda joked even as she “ouched” again from another strip being removed. “I just realized that I have a few important events coming up. Do you think you could find out if there is time for me to get a manicure and a pedicure?”

Looking at her a little closely, the attendant responded, “Ms. Matthews, don’t you realize that this salon will make time for whatever you want to have done?”

Frowning at that, Amanda asked, “What do you mean?”

“You’re Mr. Bon Jovi’s girlfriend and you’re coming here. The owner has informed the staff to accommodate you in any manner needed.”

“You’re kidding me!” Amanda tried making light of this and then looked at the woman a little more closely. “It’s publicity, right? Damn! Do they really need to tell someone that I get my legs waxed?” Her voice rose a little as she thought about this small loss of her privacy.

The attendant, perhaps realizing she had spoken a bit out of turn, lowered her voice. “Please, Ms. Matthews, I didn’t mean to upset you. I shouldn’t have said anything. If the owner knew I had talked to you about this I would probably lose my job.”

Shaking her head, Amanda addressed the young woman. “Donna, I’m not that petty. It’s just that this is private. Okay, so I come here, but can it just be that I do come here, not what’s done?”

Nodding vigorously, the woman named Donna agreed. Amanda proceeded with the rest of her treatments, but it was apparent that her mood had changed and not for the better. She was very quiet, speaking only when necessary to the personnel involved, and resolving by the time she was done that she would find another place to go next time. She disliked intensely the lack of privacy and now knew she would have to take this into consideration with everything she did. She tipped each of the women who had helped her and paid her final bill at the front desk. A nicely dressed woman who appeared in her mid-50’s approached Amanda as she was at the desk.

“I hope everything was satisfactory today for you, Ms. Matthews.” By her tone and manner, Amanda guessed this was the owner of the salon.

“Yes, everything was quite satisfactory…as I’m sure I’ll be reading about in some magazine soon.” Her voice was honey coated with ice.

The woman’s eyes widened at that and quickly showing her business savvy, she replied.

“After which I’m guessing we’ll never see you again.” She cocked her head at Amanda as she spoke, her voice low.

“Only if what I do here in private is printed. Not just the mention that I come here.” Amanda replied, looking the owner straight in the eye to convey her meaning.

“Of course, I can understand that. Please be assured that your private business will remain your private business.” The owner smiled, nodding her understanding of Amanda’s intent.

Smiling herself now, Amanda replied, “Then I guess I’ll see you in a few weeks.” She gathered her bags and walked out, heading toward the car.