John Francis

On the day of Jon’s birthday, Amanda woke unexpectedly later than her usual time. She lay in the bed for a few minutes, blinking her eyes as she attempted to shake off an unusual sleepiness. Feeling as if she was still slight wrapped in a fog, she showered and dressed, moving just a little slower than normal.

The bed had been empty when she had stirred less than half an hour before and she left the room in search of Jon. The sun was bright through the drawn back curtains of the rooms as she walked down towards the kitchen. It was close to ten, but someone had left a fresh pot of coffee ready to brew and she started it as she walked to look out the window at the fresh snow that seemed to have fallen overnight.

The house was quiet and she didn’t realize she had been standing just staring out the window for several minutes until the coffee pot gave the final gurgles that signaled it had run its brewing cycle. Adding cream to her cup, she walked back over to the window and took her first sip. The taste of the coffee, instead of being creamy and welcoming, caused her to nearly gag as she swallowed. The second sip proved no better and she reluctantly emptied the cup into the sink. Shaking her head in puzzlement, she opened the refrigerator, glancing inside at the contents. A container of orange juice caught her eye and she poured a glass, sighing as the cool liquid went down without a complaint.

As she turned to walk into the house to the gym where she thought Jon might be, a piece of paper on the kitchen table caught her eye. Picking it up she saw it was a note from Jon.

Morning, sleeping beauty! Richie and I ran into town on a few errands. We should be back around noon. Call if you need anything while we’re out.

Love, Jon

Amanda gave a small smile at the smirk Jon had drawn under his name, taking it as a sign that he was in an exceptionally good mood that morning. Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, she wandered into the living room, settling herself on one of the comfortable couches. Pausing for a few minutes, she used the remote to turn on the TV and tuned in a news channel. Chewing thoughtfully at the end of the pen, she thought for a few minutes and then started her list of things to do before they left for London.

~~~

The doorbell ringing startled Amanda awake. Blinking in surprise, she glanced down at the table on her lap, the pen on the couch, and shook her head. The insistent chimes of the door didn’t allow her to linger on her confusion as she went to answer it.

Opening the door, she saw Paul moving away while motioning to a delivery truck to park. He heard her call his name and turned as she walked out.

“Paul?”

He smiled at her.

“Morning, Amanda. The driver has a delivery from Florida.”

Breaking into a wide smile, Amanda moved down to the driveway where the driver was opening up the back of the truck. Tucking her arms around her as the cold wind penetrated her light sweater, she quickly signed for the delivery and asked Paul if he could have the motorcycle put into one of the garages. Explaining the gift and cautioning him to keep it a secret, she then watched as the bike was hidden inside a garage, although she had to watch the tail end of it from inside the house as she was too chilled to stay.

Returning upstairs, she went into one of the unused bedrooms where she had hidden a large red bow in a closet. Once the bow was on the bike, she was back in the house rubbing her arms to warm herself. Glancing at a clock, she was pleased to see that it wasn’t quite 11:30 and her big gift for Jon had arrived and was properly bowed. She had no idea why she had fallen asleep after getting up so soon before, but coffee now sounded good again and she tried another cup from the still warm pot. This cup went down perfectly.

Amanda was just finishing her egg and toast breakfast when she heard the front door open and then the laughter of the two men as they entered the house. Greetings were called out and then bags and a box were set on the table. She watched in amusement as Jon wrinkled his nose at her when she turned her cheek for a kiss as she hadn’t quite managed to finish swallowing before he was at her side.

Jon quirked an eyebrow at her.

“You found my note, right?”

Amanda nodded at him, swallowing the last of her coffee.

“Sure did. Thanks.”

Casting her eyes over the brightly colored assortment of bags on the table, her gaze traveled between the two.

“You two? Shopping?”

Jon pointed to Richie.

“Him…” Her eyes swung once again to Richie.

They widened as she could have sworn she saw a light blush touch his face.

“They’re for Trish, okay?”

“Sure, okay…” Amanda smiled at the sudden little-boyness of Richie’s face.

“She’s going with me to LA to meet Ava and I wanted to get her some things and…” his voice broke off as Amanda nodded vigorously at his words.

“Richie, I was teasing! That was a really nice thing to do.”

Richie ducked his head and made a grumbling noise.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t have to take him…” and here Richie thrust a dramatic outstretched hand at Jon “…with you while doing it.”

Amanda turned toward the man standing at the opposite side of the kitchen, his head thrown back in a full-throated laugh.

“Jon…?” She questioned, even as a smile broke across her face at hearing his laugh.

He brought twinkling eyes to her face.

“Hey, can I help it if I am simply irresistible to the female sex?” He accompanied this statement with a squaring of his jaw and an exaggerated puffing out of his chest.

Amanda stared at him, holding in a giggle at his near Peter Pan pose.

“Oh my god!” She muttered, shaking her head in mock disapproval.

“Exactly!” Richie shot out as she turned to him.

“No matter where we went, all I heard was ‘Oh My God’ and then squeals.” Throwing his hands up, he continued.

“Now tell me, why do women ALWAYS have to squeal?”

Amanda gave Richie a barely held frown, a smile lurking underneath it, as she looked at him.

“Richie, I’m never gonna believe women don’t squeal when they see you. So, what happened?”

“I’ll tell you what happened…” Jon piped up from behind her, as she turned at his voice.

“He never minds when women squeal ‘cause if we’re out together there are as many running up to him as there are to me.”

Squinting her eyes in confusion, Amanda prompted him.

“And…?”

“Fans know our birthdays. And today is mine.” He gave a nod at the end of his last word as if that explained everything.

She glanced back at Richie to see if he knew what this explained.

Richie threw a scowl at Jon and rolled his eyes. Jon snickered.

“He got shoved.”

Richie’s scowl deepened.

“As in out of the way.”

Amanda’s eyes widened.

Jon laughed.

Again.