John Francis

Dressing in warm outdoor clothing, Amanda and Jon decided to spend another day exploring. Jon called Richie, but he was ‘chilling’ that day, which Jon took to mean that Richie was either continuing his encounter from the night before…or recovering from it. Apparently all the men had as no one took them up on their offer to sightsee in a city they had been visiting for over twenty years.

Hanging up the phone, Jon turned to her with a wry smile. “Guess it’s just us today.”

“Think you can keep up?” Her smart ass comment had his head whipping around.

“You want me to drag you back to that bed and show you again how well I can ‘keep up’?” He raised mocking eyes at her.

Holding her hand out in a ‘stop’ motion, she laughed at him and said ‘no way, we’re outta here’, proving her resolve by grabbing her bag and heading toward the door.

While walking down the hallway, she took his hand and stopped for a second. “Do you think we could go see Buckingham Palace? At least the outside of it?”

“Sure, I also wanted to see the London Dungeon and…” She interrupted to add, “…Madame Tussaud’s?”

“That sounds like a full day, so yeah, let’s go.”

Linking their hands they had the front desk call a cab and when it arrived they quickly walked the gauntlet that always seemed to be outside their hotel. Laughing at Jon’s grip on her hand, he smiled at the fans, signed a few autographs, and then let go of her when fans asked for pictures. He knew this contact was expected of him and was something he had fostered over his entire career. Bon Jovi had always maintained the essence of ‘just a bunch of guys from Jersey’, even as their lives and fortunes changed.

They took a cab to the bridge at St. James Park, a place that provided a great overlook at Buckingham Palace. The driver had told them that the palace was not open at this time to the general public and they would get a better view of it from the bridge. It was bitterly cold today and they didn’t stay long, catching another cab on the bridge itself. They went to see a London dungeon after that and saw some of the torture methods used, as well as the history of some of the most prolific killers of the area. They both agreed they were glad they lived when and where they did.

Traveling next to Madame Tussaud’s, they began their tour. Premier Night was an area where there were film stars from all eras and styles of movies. They saw Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne, and both cracked up over the fact that Shrek made it into the collection. Blush, was listed as an ‘A-list party’ and they saw the figures of Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Leonardo DiCaprio, to name just a few.

Turning to Jon, Amanda grinned at him. “Guess this is nothing new for you, huh?”

He laughed, “Well, at the one’s I’ve been to they’re moving, so this is a little different!”

They moved onto the Chamber of Horrors where there was an inner chamber that became scarier as they progressed. It was fashioned to represent a maximum-security prison that has been taken over by the unhinged inmates. Apparently they are on the loose and the whole idea of this area is for them to scare the hell out of the visitors. Amanda found herself letting out girl “screams” more often than not and Jon realized that her grip on his arm had become a near death grip. He laughed at her gasps and jumps, enjoying in a total guy way getting to be the ‘hero’ for his girl.

After the scary rooms in the Chamber of Horrors, they moved onto an area that had been inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean films, primarily the third one, “At World’s End”. They both had loved the three films and it was a welcome relief to enjoy seeing the museum’s rendition of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Amanda admitted that she had such a crush on Johnny Depp in that movie as Capt. Jack and Jon laughed as he had met Depp at one Hollywood party and he was a genuinely nice guy.

They finished their tour in the Sport Zone, where Jon, a known sports nut, pointed out the different figures to Amanda, showing off his sports knowledge. They stopped by the Tiger Woods figure and Amanda laughed as she related remembering the commercial where Tiger was bouncing a golf ball on the end of a club and she had thought it was fake, until she learned later he really could do that. They were a little disappointed that ‘football’ was represented by soccer stars, not their home version of the football greats. Jon had been to the museum in Vegas, however, and told her it was different there.

It was now close to five and they both realized they were starving.

“Let’s go back and change and go out for a nice dinner tonight, okay, babe?”

She nodded her agreement and they left for the hotel. Jon called the other guys and told them they were going out to eat at about seven, asking who wanted to come. He had already decided that Papageno’s in Covent Garden was where he wanted to take Amanda and when the guys learned that, they all agreed they wanted to go. They had been to this restaurant before in the theater district and enjoyed its atmosphere which was a mixture of an opera set and Aladdin’s Cave.

At the front desk, Jon asked them to call and make reservations for six people at seven that night. With the known efficiency of a Marriott and the generous tip Jon was sure to leave, this was done. He also arranged for a limo that night so they wouldn’t have to take separate cabs.

They showered and prepared to go out. Amanda wanted to dress up a bit and got out one of her new outfits, a soft long-sleeved cream poet-like shirt and a floor length black velvet skirt. She was partial to cream and rose colors as they brought out the color of her skin and blended well with her dark honey hair. Jon dressed in black pleated pants and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt that seemed to make his eyes an even more vivid shade of blue. A matching black suit jacket completed his look. Amanda was finishing her make-up before dressing and shook her head in amazement at how Jon looked in the blue shirt.

“I know you must have heard this at least ten million times, but you have such beautiful eyes.” Her voice was soft as she looked at him from head to toe.

He smiled at her, those eyes crinkling at her complement. “Thanks, baby, but I didn’t have anything to do with them! Good genes!”

“Oh yeah, somebody was sure in a good mood on the day your gene pool combined!” She grinned at him herself.

Never thought I would meet a man who was actually beautiful. Probably better not mention THAT word, though! Men don’t seem to respond well to beautiful as it is usually applied to women and she smiled secretly as she had that thought.

Amanda gathered the front of her hair into a loose pulled back style that she fastened with a clip. This left soft curls framing her face and the remainder of her hair hanging down. She dressed then and found that the look on Jon’s face was worth all her efforts.

“Wow! I think I’m gonna have to take you out to dinner more often if you’re going to look like that!”

He shook his own head now as she looked truly lovely in the soft feminine clothes and hairstyle she wore. Gathering the sides of her long skirt, Amanda made a graceful curtsey in thanks for his comment. Jon continued to look at her. Jesus! She gets more beautiful every day!

At that moment, Amanda felt beautiful, even though she would never have described herself that way or even thought that about herself. The way she felt about Jon, however, and his attentions and her reactions, brought out that extra sparkle to her eyes and her smile and her happiness enhanced her natural prettiness. The glow that seemed always present from their lovemaking gave her a softness that was noticed by others and she seemed to command more attention the longer she and Jon were together. She looked like a woman in love and it showed.