Chapter 21

Sara called ahead to the studio as she drove, checking with Paul if he wanted anything brought in, and also to give him warning she was on her way. By the time she arrived, he had coffee already made and her mail sorted. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed him being there, and he smiled when she said as much.

“You just like knowing the coffee’ll be ready when you get here.”

“You could be right.” She agreed, accepting the mug he was offering her and taking an appreciative sip.

“Oh, that’s good, Paul. Is it a new one?”

Paul - knowing how Sara loved her coffee - usually brought a few different types back whenever he was away.

“Yeah. Alaskan Raven blend.” He told her.

“Yum. Okay - what have we got today, then?”

When Jon arrived back at the house, he found the kids had already gone to school, and Dot was drinking tea out on the patio. He waved, and went to the kitchen for coffee before going out to join her. After a few minutes of idle, somewhat stilted, chit-chat, Jon decided to get down to business.

“I guess the next thing we have to do is make some kind of official announcement that we’re separating, huh?”

“I suppose so. It’ll be easier in the long run, rather than letting the press make up their own stories.” She played with the tea cup. “Do you want to get your PR guys to do it?”

“Probably the best way. Will I call them now?”

Dot nodded, and Jon pulled out his cellphone, punching the speeddial and speaking briefly to someone. Dot could hear the incredulous reaction on the other end, but Jon just gave the bare minimum of information, then hung up again, relieved it was done.

“Oh, hey - I didn’t tell you” he said with a wide grin. “I spoke to Richie. Guess what?”

“Well, you’re smiling, so I’m guessing he hasn’t proposed to Denise?”

“Oh no. Completely the opposite - thank God. He’s finally dumped her! He’s coming out on the weekend, so I’ll see him then, but he sounds cool about it. Guess he finally saw through the bitch.”

“I pity the women of the world.” Dot laughed. “Both of you on the loose again! There’s going to be a lot of broken hearts by the time you’re through.”

“Hell, we’re not eighteen any more, Dot - not like we’re gonna be screwing every woman we meet!”

Jon stood up and stretched, his back still feeling the effects of his earlier gymnastics with Sara.

“I gotta go. You know - places to go, people to annoy. I won’t be around much until next week,” he said. “I’ll probably spend most of the weekend with Rich - okay?”

“That’s fine. Oh - congratulate the happy couple for me?”

“Sure. See you later.”

He left her sitting on the patio and headed indoors. The cellphone was a hard lump in his back pocked, and he had to restrain himself from pulling it out to dial Sara’s number. Instead, he called his office and spoke to his long-standing secretary. He explained as much as he needed to, and asked her to start working on finding him somewhere to live. Between the PR people, and his gossipy secretary, Jon figured most of the city would know about the split by lunch, and the rest of the world by dinner tonight.

Sara was talking to Paul, telling him about her imminent trip to Canada, when the studio phone rang. Paul picked up, listened, then handed the phone to Sara.

“It’s Kay.” He said shortly. Kay wasn’t one of his favourite people since she’d rejected some of his photos.

“Hi, Kay. What is it?”

“Oh my god, Sara - she’s finally ditched the prick!”

“What? Who? Kay - what are you talking about?”

“The prick who you shot last week - remember him?”

“Jon?” Damn. The name slipped out before she could make herself say ‘Mr’. “…Bon Jovi? What about him?”

“I just heard - he and his wife are splitting up. Guess she finally caught him out. Bastard. They’ve got four kids, and he’s sleeping around. Hope she takes him for every penny.”

Sara felt sick that she couldn’t defend Jon. There was no way she could stick up for him without giving them both away.

“You don’t know that’s the reason, Kay. Maybe they’ve just decided to call it a day.” She offered lamely.

Kay wasn’t listening, though, and she went off on a tirade against guys who were unfaithful, guys who left their kids, and just guys in general.

She looked at Paul for help, and he quickly understood, dialling Sara’s cellphone number. When it rang, Sara apologised to Kay - another call - gotta go - and hung up.

“Thanks Paul. You know what she’s like when she gets started.”

“Oh, I do. So, what’s this about Jon Bon Jovi? You did him last week, right?”

Fortunately, Sara picked up the correct meaning for once, and managed to reply without blushing too badly.

“Mm-hm. I did some shots for an interview piece. Kay’s just heard that he and his wife are splitting up, and she reckons he’s been sleeping around. She doesn’t like him very much.”

“Well, that puts him in good company - she doesn’t like me either!”

Sara laughed, but distractedly, her mind on Jon. She didn’t notice Paul looking at her curiously, but he was used to her sometimes zoning out as she thought, so he didn’t say anything, just waited.

“Sorry, Paul,” She finally said. “Would you mind going out for some sandwiches or something? I’m so hungry I can’t think straight, but I’ve still got so much to do. Do you mind?”

“No problem, boss.” Paul told her, and he took some money out of the ‘studio fund’ box, disappearing out of the door.

Sara waited a few minutes, then got her cellphone and dialled Jon’s number. She hesitated before making the call, then hit the button. A few rings, then a quiet voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Jon?”

“Oh, hey babe. How you doin?”

“I’m fine, Jon. Just wanted to see how you’re doing - Kay just called with some hot gossip.”

“Wha…..oh, right. News travels fast, huh?”

“Yep. Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine sweetheart. I called my PR people to get them to make it official, so we knew it was coming. Thanks for asking, though baby. It means a lot that you’re worried about me - I have a feeling most people are going to think this is down to me.”

“That’s pretty much what Kay said, and I couldn’t even defend you, which sucks.”

Jon laughed. “Aw, honey - I’m a big boy - I can handle it.” He lowered his voice. “I’d rather be handling you though.”

“I’d rather you were, too.” Sara said, wondering why she was whispering when there was nobody else there.

Jon smiled into the phone. “So, can I see you later?”

“I need to pack for Canada, but I guess it won’t take me that long……..I would like to see you…”

“When are you leaving the studio?”

“I’ve still got a ton of stuff to do - probably about six o’clock I think. Then I need to iron and pack, and I guess I should get some sleep - for some reason I was up real early today.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jon teased “You had a workout this morning, right?!”

“You could call it that! God, I want to see you, but I need sleep. I don’t know what to do.”

“Tell you what, babe. I’ll come over for a couple hours, if that’s okay, and we’ll just play it by ear. Sound okay?”

Just then, Sara heard someone at the door, then Paul’s voice saying he’d forgotten his key.

“Jon, I gotta go. Paul went out for some food, but he’s back, and I’m not staying on the phone with you - not after this morning! I’ll be home around seven.”

Jon was laughing at her now, remembering the morning’s fun.

“Okay baby. I’ll see you later. One question - Italian or Chinese? I’ll bring dinner.”

“Mmmm……..Chinese! But noodles, not rice!”

“Okay, noodles it is. I’ll see you later honey.”

“Bye, Jon” Sara clicked off her phone and went to let Paul back in.