John Francis

At least an hour passed before Amanda finally rose from the chair and without hesitation took the entire pack of cigarettes from Jon’s jacket and more coffee back out onto the porch. Lighting another, she sat, wondering why she couldn’t think. She would start a thought and then would drift off, staring at a tree branch or a few leaves or some snow. Then another thought would hit and she would repeat the entire cycle.

The ringing of her cell phone startled her into almost spilling her coffee. She looked at the Caller ID and saw it was Richie.

“Hello”

“Hey darlin’! How’s my favorite girl this morning?” Richie’s voice was cheerful, almost too cheerful Amanda thought and she looked at her watch – 9:10 AM? And Richie was calling?

Amanda avoided the question neatly, by asking one of her own.

“Richie Sambora! As I live and breathe, what are you doing up this early?” Her voice also sounded preternaturally cheerful.

Her tone took Richie aback and he strove then for casualness.

“Just wanted to check on Kidd this morning. He was drinking a bit much last night. Wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.”

He waited for Amanda’s response…and waited…and waited.

“Aw shit! He did do something stupid!” Richie groaned into the phone.

~~~

Richie’s night had been much more enjoyable than Jon’s. Patricia, or Trish, as she liked to be called, had been playful, witty, entertaining, a dream to talk to, and his sides still hurt from how much he had laughed.

It had been close to three in the morning when she had finally looked at her watched, gasped, laughed and explained that she had a presentation in five hours. It had taken him another ten minutes to get her to agree to give him her cell number and a further five minutes to make a date for dinner the following night.

Trish had gathered her purse and suit jacket and after accepting a kiss on the cheek, right on her dimple as Richie couldn’t resist, she had walked out of the lounge to the elevator and her room. Intrigued by the woman and the evening they had spent together, Richie walked immediately to the registration desk and secured a room from a rather sleepy looking desk clerk.

Humming to himself, he checked into his own room, showered quickly, and laying his clothes neatly on a chair, fell naked into the bed where he immediately fell into sleep, a small smile on his face.

Waking early the next morning, he drove to his mom’s where he could get fresh clothes and while sitting in the living room, he decided to call and see how Jon was. He admitted to himself he was a bit worried about his friend. The drinking he had been doing did not bode well and even though Jon had opened up a bit to him, he felt there were some deeper issues remaining as Jon had always played his feelings close to the vest.

Believing he would have more luck reaching Amanda this early than Jon, considering his condition the day before, he dialed her cell.

“Hello” He heard her greeting.

“Hey darlin’! How’s my favorite girl this morning?”

“Richie Sambora! As I live and breathe, what are you doing up this early?” Her voice avoided his question with a forced cheerfulness.

“Just wanted to check on Kidd this morning. He was drinking a bit much last night. Wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.”

He waited for Amanda’s response, feeling tension rising with each passing second of silence from her end of the phone.

“Aw shit! He did do something stupid!” Richie groaned, wondering what the hell had happened.

“Manda? What happened? What’s going on?” He prompted into the silence as she had still not answered him.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, Amanda finally answered him.

“We had a fight, well…an argument, but I doubt he’ll remember.”

“Can I ask about what?” From his viewpoint there were a whole slew of items for them to have chosen from to fight about, everything from Jon’s mother to his drinking.

In a very even, very eerily calm voice that exacerbated Richie’s worries, Amanda laid out some of the things bothering her.

“…and I know he was hurting yesterday, Richie, and he didn’t turn to me to help. He kept everything in, not talking to anyone…” she stopped as Richie interrupted.

“He and I talked, babe, when we went outside he wanted to talk about…” now he was the one who trailed off, as he would not say that Jon had said he might still love Dorothea.

“He talked to you? I get shut out completely and he talked to you? Dammit!” She actually drew the phone away from her ear for a moment as a completely furious feeling engulfed her. She heard her name being called and brought the phone back up.

Without even listening to what Richie was trying to say, she started in.

“What I am doing here, Richie? What the hell does he need me for? It sure isn’t to share his life cause he’s not doin’ it. And if it’s sex, Carrie would take him back in a minute.” She sputtered to a stop, pissed at herself for allowing Carrie’s name to even pass her lips to let Richie know that still bothered her.

From his end of the phone, Richie was staring with wide eyes and a near dropped jaw as he hadn’t heard quite this tone from Amanda before. Into the silence he spoke.

“What’s Jon doing right now?”

A snort met his question. “He’s sleeping. It’s barely nine and he was drunk last night…really drunk…” the last part added in such a way that Richie’s own radar twitched.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” He asked her softly.

“Nope…” she shot back, her voice clearly denoting that disclosure would not be forthcoming. In the ensuing silence she lit a cigarette. Although she couldn’t see him, Richie’s face had screwed up in puzzlement.

“Are you smoking, Manda?” His voice conveyed disbelief.

“Yeah, a few. I quit years ago, but it sure as shit comes back easy.” She sounded disgusted with herself, but he was more concerned with what had happened to get her smoking again.

Trying once again to find out what had happened, Richie made another attempt.

“Manda, I can’t help if I don’t know what happened.”

Shaking her head, knowing he couldn’t see her, but unable to stop as the irony of his statement hit her, she answered him.

“I’m sure you’ll hear all about it, Dr. Richie, after all he talks to you. But you aren’t going to be able to fix this. Only Jon can and only if he stops treating me like he’s still waiting for me to screw him over.” Her voice seemed harsher as she spoke those last words and immediately Richie responded.

“Honey, what does that mean? How are you supposed to do that?” He kept his voice soft and non-confrontational.

Even though she hadn’t meant to, some of last night slipped out with her next few statements.

“How? Don’t you know he’s given me everything? What more do I want? Those are quotes by the way…” she paused then repeated what she had said in anger last night to Jon, “…I don’t think he knows me at all.”

Richie wasn’t sure what to say and was thinking furiously when he once again heard her voice.

“I think Susan’s right. I’m expecting too much. Two months – what’s that compared to his life?” Her voice changed in tone as she suddenly realized she had been speaking out loud and to whom she was talking. Adopting a brisk voice, she prepared to end the conversation.

“So, I’ll tell him you called when he gets up, okay?” She rushed the words out.

“Manda…I really wish you…” he was interrupted when she shot out her next words almost as a shield.