Chapter 22

Sara and Paul ate a late lunch while she showed him the shots of Jon. He looked a little surprised by the one where Jon had the guitar in front of him.

“You got him naked?” He asked in disbelief, and Sara decided a little white lie would be the best policy!

“What do you think? You just can’t see what’s behind the guitar.” Actually, she thought, it wasn’t even a lie, just an evasion, but Paul accepted it.

“Oh. I wondered - not what I’d expect of my boss!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, just that you’re always so professional, but I can’t imagine you telling Jon Bon Jovi to strip.”

My God, thought Sara - does everybody see me like that?! The thing with Jon was making her more willing to explore her feelings, and she realised that, emotionally, she’d been shut down for so long, people probably did see her that way.

“Kay said something like that the other day.” Sara mused, then looked at Paul. “Do you find me unapproachable?”

“Not any more. When I started here, I was kinda terrified of you, but you’re really a pussycat, boss. You’re - well - kind of ‘don’t mess with me’ a lot of the time. Takes a bit of time to get past that, I guess.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry - you did ask, though!”

“No - I really mean ‘thanks’. Thanks for being honest, Paul.”

“In that case, you’re welcome, boss.”

They finished up the rest of the food while Paul made a list of the things Sara wanted him to do while she was gone, then they closed up the studio and walked downstairs together. Paul jumped on his bike and was out of sight by the time Sara got her car started, and she drove home slowly, daydreaming, and forgetting she’d told Jon she’d be home by seven.

It was quarter past seven when she got back to the house, and Jon’s car was parked outside. He jumped out almost as soon as she stopped, with a relieved smile.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, it’s okay - I was worried, though, when you weren’t here. There was nothing on the radio about any problems on the road, and I was kinda scared that something had happened to you, babe.”

Sara was touched by the obvious concern on Jon’s face, and she smiled gently.

“Sorry, sweetie. I was just daydreaming on my way home and forgot the time. Come on in.”

Jon went back to his car and collected a bag of food, then followed Sara into the house. He went straight to the kitchen and found some plates for the food, and was opening boxes when Sara came back through from the bedroom.

“You really are domesticated, aren’t you?” She laughed, and Jon made a face.

“For God’s sake, don’t tell anybody. You’ll ruin the image of rock stars forever!”

Opening the fridge, Sara peered inside.

“I’ve got water, apple juice and diet coke - or I could make coffee.”

“What? No beer? No wine?”

“Sorry - I never buy it, because I don’t drink - if I’d thought, I could’ve bought some on my way home, but you’re driving, aren’t you?”

“And you’re protecting me from myself!”

Sara turned to look at him, still leaning on the fridge door, and she gave a smirk.

“Maybe I just want to keep you sober!”

Jon gave a delighted grin as he picked up the plates.

“Can we eat first?” He joked, and Sara laughed.

“Okay. D’you want forks or chopsticks?”

“Either - I’m easy.” He stopped as Sara laughed again. “Okay - so I’m easy - I admit it! Hell, you managed to have your way with me easy enough! Oh, and I’ll have coke, thanks.”

Digging into a drawer, Sara produced some chopsticks, and they went through to the living room, where they sat on the couch and dug into dinner. Sara ate some noodles, then poked at the meat on her plate.

“So what did you get me anyway?”

“I think you got the sweet n sour chicken - I didn’t know what you liked. D’you want some of mine? I’ve got beef with black bean sauce.”

“I’ll take a little of yours - black bean can be a bit much sometimes.”

Jon picked up a strip of beef in his chopsticks, holding it out for Sara to bite. He pulled it away as she tried to catch it, keeping it just out of her reach until she pouted at him, then relented and let her take it.

“That’s nice. The sauce isn’t too heavy either. D’you want some chicken?”

When he said yes, Sara gave Jon a couple of pieces of the chicken, then they finished their meal in silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

“I think I’m gonna burst.” Sara said as she laid her plate on the coffee table. “I feel like a beached whale.”

Jon looked at her, at the flat belly, and grinned. “Yeah, sure. Nothing of you.” He dumped his plate on top of hers, but Sara got up and took them through to the kitchen.

As she came back through, she saw Jon had kicked off his boots and was now lying stretched out on the couch, hands behind his head and grinning at her.

“What do you want to do?” She asked him, forestalling his comment as she saw the look on his face. “I meant, do you want to watch a movie or something? I really need to sort out my stuff for Canada before I can relax.”

“Sure - what have you got?”

“Oh, I don’t know. They’re all in that cabinet. Help yourself - I need to iron some stuff, but I can do that in here and watch TV at the same time.”

“Multi-tasking.” Jon said as he half-fell off the couch and headed for the cabinet. “Women are so much better at that than men. No way I could iron and watch TV at the same time.”

“You can iron? I’m impressed!”

She ducked as a cushion came flying at her head, and ran out of the room giggling. When she came back with an armful of clothes, Jon was sitting on the couch again, and he looked around when he heard her.

“This okay with you?” He gestured at the screen, where the opening scenes of Armageddon were showing.

“Yeah - one of my favourites.” She tossed a cushion back at him. “Should’ve guessed you’d pick something you were involved in!”

“I wasn’t………oh, yeah, I did a song for this, didn’t I?!”

“Mmm - tell you what, though - I’d love to hear you sing the main song - the Aerosmith one. I love that song so much.”

“Really? It is a pretty good song - just wish I’d written it.”

Sara ironed her clothes while they watched the movie, then slipped through to the bedroom and quickly packed before coming back to the living room.

She brought a couple of fresh drinks, and snuggled up on the couch beside Jon to watch the last of the movie. After Bruce saved the world - again - and the credits started to roll, Sara sat up and turned to speak to Jon, but found he was asleep. She smiled at the image of this rock star falling asleep on the couch - her couch - and she nestled close to him again, listening to his soft breathing.

Jon’s arm fell over her shoulder, and Sara smiled, not really sleepy now but just content to lie close to him, loving that he was so comfortable here that he fell asleep. After a while, she felt his breathing change, and as she looked up he opened his eyes.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Wow - did I fall asleep? Is the movie over?”

“Mm-hm. It’s okay, they saved the world - again.”

“Cool.” Jon pulled her closer and shut his eyes again, but Sara could tell that he wasn’t sleeping now, but just enjoying the intimate moment as much as she was.

Sneaking a glance at the clock, Sara saw it was just after eleven pm.

“Babe?”

“Hmmm?” Jon didn’t even open his eyes, just lay there with a half-smile on his lips.

“Hon - I need to go to bed soon. It’s getting kinda late, and I need to be up early tomorrow.”

Now he opened his eyes, looking around until he saw the clock, then he cuddled her close for a minute before kissing her forehead.

“So you’re throwing me out, huh?”

“Never.” Sara grinned, but Jon released her and sat up.

“You’re back when? Thursday night? Can I see you then?”

“Absolutely. I’ll miss you.” Sara said in a small voice, and Jon smiled.

“Well, you’ll see me soon enough.” He couldn’t wait to see her face when she saw him in Canada, and it was so difficult to keep it a secret, but he was sure it’d be worth it.

He pulled on his boots and headed for the front door, where they kissed goodnight before he left. Outside, he waited until he heard her lock the door before he jogged down to his car - he still had his own packing to do!