John Francis

The alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning as Jon and Amanda had their skiing plans at ten and were meeting Kevin and his wife on the slopes. Stretching in the warm bed, Amanda tried to half-heartedly beg off from the skiing as she was just too damn warm and comfortable. Jon used his extensive powers of persuasion to awaken her and change her mind and afterwards, while she felt even more languorous, she agreed that skiing at least sounded fun. He joined her in the shower that morning and by the time they were done, every nerve in their bodies was tingling again in unfulfilled anticipation.

“I don’t think I can take showering with you all the time…” she groused at him, not yet having had her coffee.

“Better get used to it, babe. You, all soapy, wet, and warm, I’m definitely not missing that!” His grin was lecherous and she threw her wet towel at him. His eyes kindled at her nakedness and she thrust a hand out to hold him off.

“Get dressed – NOW!” she commanded in a teasing tone as she saw his towel rise with the evidence of his appreciation.

She gritted out, “John Francis…” and he laughed and threw his towel at her. Now she was the one having second thoughts. Damn that man is fine! Shaking her head, she concentrated on getting some clothes on and getting her hair dried. She pulled it back into a long braid today as she was thinking that hair flying across her face as she was avoiding trees was not the best idea.

Jon put on the coffee as she was finishing and had a cup ready for her when she entered the main room. Sitting there, she asked him to give her some instructions on how to snow ski so she wouldn’t look like a complete idiot.

“Honey, if you’ll just wait a bit, I swear it’s easier to show you than tell you.”

“Okay, but if I break a leg I’m still gonna knock you flat on your ass!”

He grinned at her, rubbing his stomach.

“I remember that right hook of yours. No broken bones if I can help it, okay?”

She laughed then and agreed. They piled into the car, both dressed warmly for their adventure. Jon had skied many times before and while not an expert, was certainly no novice. They arrived quickly at the main ski area where they could rent skis. Jon made sure Amanda had shorter skis as they were easier for a beginner and chose ones similar to what he had used before for himself. A few minutes into their preparations they saw Kevin and Christine walking over. Both had their own skis with them and soon all four were ready to hit the slopes. Kevin and his wife were going to take a few runs while Jon instructed Amanda on how to turn the skis and more importantly how to stop.

“It’s called ‘snow plowing’. You turn your skis into a “V” with your toes pointing inward and that helps you to slow down and then stop.”

He took her to the beginner hill where a rope tow was used to get skiers to the top of the short run. He had her lean back a little when the rope pulled her and she realized that part at least was a little like water skiing. Arriving at the top, he again went over using her poles to help her balance and then skied himself about twenty feet down to show her. She managed ten before falling on her butt. Getting up, she managed another twenty-five feet before falling on her face as her skis crossed when she did the ‘snow plow’ stop and she fell over them.

Jon was desperate to keep his face completely composed as she attempted to learn snow skiing. He was having a hard time doing this as she would look at him suspiciously every time she fell to see what he was doing and if he was laughing at her. On her fourth attempt down the hill she made it to the bottom and managed to stop without falling. A wide grin broke across her face at her accomplishment. I can do this! It’s not so hard.

They both did the beginner slope four more times, with Amanda getting more control and a better feel for the skis each time. Jon finally suggested they hit the easiest trail and they shuffled over to that area. This time there was a chair lift instead of a tow rope. They got easily into the chair at the bottom and Amanda enjoyed the ride to the top. Jon gave her a brief instruction on how to get off at the top which consisted of putting your skis down and sliding down an approximate ten foot hill to get out of the way of the next people on the lift.

Arriving at the top, Jon put his skis down and effortlessly skied to the bottom of the small hill. As he was turning to see Amanda, he felt something clip him from behind, buckling his knees and making him fall over backwards. It was Amanda. She had put her skis down like Jon at the top of the hill, but she was not ready for the sudden downward momentum of the ten foot drop and had fallen immediately onto her butt, sliding down that way until she had crashed into Jon.

It took a few minutes before they could stop laughing enough to move. Other skiers went around them as they lay there until finally Jon said they had to get out of the way. Going down the hill in short starts and stops, with a few falls thrown in by Amanda, they made it all the way to the end. Kevin and Christine were there, having just finished one of their runs, and joined them. Relating Amanda’s descent from the chair lift as she blushed and mumbled at him, they all had a good laugh and teased her about it. She groused back good-naturedly and then suggested that Jon join the other two for some more advanced runs while she got a warm drink.

“You sure babe?” Jon asked, not wanting to leave her behind.

“Honey, I can’t ski like you three. Please, go do some runs, I’ll get a hot chocolate and wait until you’re done.” She shooed him then. “Go!” She was already taking off her skis, and giving her a kiss, Jon and the other two moved to the chair lift for the more advanced runs. Amanda got her hot chocolate and sat at one of the outdoor tables as the weather was cold, but not too windy. She was enjoying the day and people watching, when a young man came over to her and introduced himself.

“Hi! I’m Charlie. Can I share this table with you?” He was polite, but she did notice there were other tables he could have chosen. Not really sure of the protocol, however, she nodded her assent.

She introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Amanda.”

“Nice to meet you, Amanda. You here with friends?”

“Yes, my boyfriend and I are here for a few days.” Amanda wasn’t sure if he was making polite conversation or trying to pick her up, but she wanted to make it clear she wasn’t available.

“Is this a serious boyfriend?” His voice was casual.

“Very serious.” Her response was short.

“That’s great! Too many people are so casual about relationships these days.” He smiled at her and she returned his smile.

“Well, it’s not casual.” Amanda answered definitively.

Charlie turned to her then. “Then the stories are true. Jon’s got a new love in his life.”

Amanda’s eyes rounded in shock. “Excuse me?”

“You’re with Jon Bon Jovi, right? You’re his new girlfriend? The one he carried out of Giants stadium the night of their show there? The one in the paper with the drug problem? That’s you, right?”

Amanda stood up, her face rigid with her anger, her eyes flashing fire at him.

“No comment.” She stalked off then, moving as far away from him as she could. What an asshole! I can’t believe he tricked me like that! Should I have said something back to him? Damn! I have to ask Jon what to do in situations like this. This was the first time anyone had confronted Amanda and she had no idea how she was supposed to respond.

A few minutes later Jon, Kevin, and Christine came skiing gracefully down to the bottom of the slope toward the area where Amanda was waiting. She gave Jon a tight smile that told him immediately that something was wrong. Excusing himself from the others for a moment, Jon removed his skis and walked over to her.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

She looked around and spotted “Charlie” still sitting at the table she had vacated.

“Do you see that man over there, the one by the woman in the bright pink snow suit?”

He turned and looked, then turned back to her. “Yeah, who is he?”

“He’s a reporter or else a nosy jerk. He asked if he could share the table with me and I said ok. He started off making conversation and then brought you up, asking if I was Jon Bon Jovi’s new girlfriend, the one you carried out of Giants stadium, the one with the drug problem. I just said no comment and walked away.”

She was upset at being duped and asked him, “Jon, what should I have done?”

In answer, he took her hand in his and walked directly over to the man identified as “Charlie”.