Chapter 46

They took the elevator up to the penthouse level, stepping out to find the door lying open, Richie waiting for them. He grinned broadly as he took note of them holding hands.

“Good mo………yeah, it’s still just morning……..good morning, pretty lady!”

“Hi Richie.”

He stepped forward to give her a kiss and a hug, pulling her away from Jon, then turning to look at him, still holding Sara.

“Oh, hi Jon. Didn’t see ya there!”

Jon grinned at him, shaking his head, but he was pleased that Richie obviously loved Sara - as they’d found with the whole Denise Richards thing, it put a lot of strain on the entire band if one of them was seeing somebody the others didn’t like! Now all he had to do was introduce her to Tico and Dave, but Richie was always the hardest one to get around, so they’d be a piece of cake.

“Yeah, hi Richie. Now will you let go of my girl?”

“Nah…..she’s too good for you, Jon. I think I’ll keep her!”

“Hey - don’t I get a say in this?” Sara asked with a smile on her lips, and Richie shook his head.

“Nope. Besides - I’ve got coffee and chocolate cake in here!”

“Well, in that case, I’m all yours!” Sara joked, allowing Richie to lead her into the suite, Jon following along behind.

In the sitting room, he quickly put things back how they should be - planting himself on the couch next to Sara and leaving Richie to sit on the armchair. There was coffee on the table, and they all took a cup.

“So - what’s the plan for this afternoon, then?” Richie asked.

“Sara needs shoes.” Jon said. “So I said I’d take her shopping. That’s about it.”

But Sara had been thinking about this. “Jon, maybe I should go alone.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, what if somebody sees us together? What about your kids?”

“Baby, we’re going out together tonight. Believe me, people will see us together.”

“I know that, but there’s a difference between going out to a party with somebody, and taking somebody shopping. Kind of implies something different, something more serious.”

“Sara, we covered this earlier, I think.” Jon said quietly, and Richie was fascinated to see her blush at that statement, wondering why.

“I know, but…….” Sara’s voice trailed away.

“I’ve got an idea.” Richie said, picking up the hotel phone and pressing a button. “Sara - what size shoe do you wear?”

“I’m a seven, why?”

He held up a hand for her to wait.

“Hi. Yeah, I need a little help. Can you have someone bring up some ladies evening shoes? A selection. Size seven - high heels - colour……”

“Dark red.” Jon supplied as Sara stared at Richie in mystification.

“Dark red.” Richie repeated into the phone. “Yeah, soon as you can. Thanks.”

He hung up the phone, seeing Sara’s confusion. “Problem solved. The hotel’ll send somebody out to get you a selection of shoes to pick from. Shouldn’t take too long.”

“Just like that. They’ll just send somebody to pick out shoes for me?”

Jon stretched. “I told ya, babe - it’s the Four Seasons. Why do you think Richie likes it here - he doesn’t have to leave the suite for anything.”

“Jesus - that’s just………..wow! Sorry - thanks, Richie. Just seems crazy to me - I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of shopping, but to just get somebody else to do it for you? I could get used to that!”

Richie and Jon laughed at her amazement as Sara sipped coffee, and she blushed prettily with embarrassment.

“So, whose party is it anyway?”

“Matt.” When Sara didn’t look enlightened, Jon elaborated. “Matt McConaughey. I worked with him a while back. He’s a great guy.”

“He’s a nut.” Richie said with a grin. “We’ve got a lot in common!”

“Maybe I shouldn’t go.” Sara said worriedly. “I don’t want to bust up a boys’ night out.”

“Quit it!” Jon said sternly. “You’re going - if you don’t, I don’t.”

Well, that’s that, Sara thought. No getting out of it. She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at Jon, before reverting to a more ladylike expression and picking up her coffee cup.

There came a soft knock at the door, then a uniformed porter entered, carrying Sara’s bags. Jon asked him to put them in the bedroom, indicating the room he’d been using, then the porter left with a healthy tip.

“I should probably go take some of that stuff out of my bag.” Sara said, but she didn’t move as tiredness was beginning to set in despite the coffee.

“It can wait, babe.” Jon told her, draping his arm around her shoulders to snug her close, seeing Richie grinning at him, but not caring.

“I’ll go in a second.” She said softly, yawning. “Sorry - don’t know why I’m so tired.”

Richie grinned even wider, but Sara had closed her eyes and didn’t see him. Jon did, and he shook his head warningly at Richie. Moments later, Jon felt Sara fully relaxed against him, asleep, and he kissed the top of her head silently, Richie watching him.

“You really do have it bad, don’t you?” Richie said quietly, and Jon smiled happily.

“Y’know, I think I do, bro. And I don’t care who knows it!”

The two guys talked softly about plans for the next album, keeping their voices pitched low so as not to disturb Sara’s sleep. Richie was rhyming off a lyric he’d been thinking of, when there came another knock at the door, then the same porter appeared, wheeling a trolley which had a number of shoe boxes stacked on it. Seeing Sara, and with the professional courtesy on which the hotel prided itself, the porter stopped and silently pointed to the door of the bedroom where he’d put the bags earlier. Jon nodded, and the porter pushed the trolley through the door. Richie went over and gave the guy a tip, then he left again.

Since he was on his feet, Richie disappeared into his bedroom, returning with an acoustic guitar, and he sat down on the armchair again, playing very softly as he ran through the lyric again. Jon nodded approval, then suggested a change, singing the lyric through himself as Richie played. Hearing his voice in her sleep, Sara stirred, waking with a smile on her face, only slightly bemused to find herself in the hotel suite.

“Sorry, babe - did we wake you?”

“S’okay - how long have I been asleep?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes like a child. “What time is it?”

“It’s just after five.”

“And I never did take anything out of my bag, did I? Damn. That dress’ll be creased to hell.”

“Honey, there’s not enough of that dress to crease!” Jon ducked away as she swung to slap his shoulder. “Oh, hey - your shoes are in the bedroom. Go see if there’s any you like.”

Sara stood up, caressing Jon’s head as she passed, stroking his hair back tenderly. He watched her leave the room, turning his head to see Richie grinning at him again.

“Oh, man - I wish you could see yourself, Jon. You look like a kid who just got the cutest cheerleader in school.”

“Rich - that’s exactly how I feel. I’m just terrified I’ll fuck it up, though.”

“You won’t.” Richie assured him, and Jon just hoped his buddy was right.

In the bedroom, Sara was standing staring at the pile of shoe boxes. None of them had prices, but she recognised a few of the names, and she knew that probably every pair was very expensive. No harm in looking, though, she thought. She could always just wear her trusty black sandals. Sitting on the bed, she pulled off the cowboy boots, turning up the bottom of her jeans so she could see her ankles, to see what she was doing.

She laid the boxes out in a row, opening each one to have a look at what was inside. There were a couple of pairs that she discarded right away - chunky heels which just weren’t her. Some of them were the wrong shade of red, too, which left her with a choice of four pairs. One pair was too low for her liking - if Sara was going to wear heels, she wore heels! She pulled one pair out of their box - the pair which had immediately caught her eye. Deep red silk on the front and heel, the sides completely cut away, with a thin strap around the ankle and a spike heel that had to be at least four inches high. Whore heels, she thought with a smile. Just what she liked!

Gingerly, she put the beautiful shoes on, buckling them in place and standing up to walk toward the full length mirror. God, they were gorgeous - okay, they didn’t exactly go with jeans, but they certainly would go with the dress. But how much were they? That was the question uppermost in her mind as she sat back down to take them off. As she laid them carefully back in their box, Jon walked into the bedroom.

“Well? Anything you like?”

“I love these, but there’s no price. I don’t know how much they are.”

Jon reached down and took them back out of the box, handing them to her.

“Take them, then. I told you I’d buy your shoes - if these are the ones you like - and they are gorgeous - then take them.”

“Jon - are you sure? These probably cost more than my car! I mean, I love them, but I’m sure I can get whore heels for a hell of a lot less.”

“What heels? Did you say whore heels?”

Sara giggled. “Mm-hm - I love heels like that, but we - my friends and I - we’ve always called them whore heels. Same with my high-heel boots - they’re my bitch boots!”

“Whore heels. I’ve heard everything now. You’ve got to take them, now, just so I can see you wearing them and know what you call them.”

“If you’re sure, then okay, Jon. Thank you.” Sara laid the shoes down and kissed him. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me properly later. Now, we’ve ordered some food from room service - come through and eat.”

“I am hungry - Richie promised me chocolate cake, but there wasn’t any!”

“What can I tell you, baby? He lies. There is some on the way up now, though!”

They went back to the sitting room, finding Richie still playing around with his guitar, but he laid it aside when they came in.

“Did you find some shoes you liked?”

“Yeah - they’re gorgeous. Just the right colour, too. Thanks for doing that, Richie.”

“No problem - any time, girl. Now let’s eat - you must be hungry.”

They sat around the table, munching on the food that had been sent up, finishing off with the promised chocolate cake. Sara sat back as she finished, sated.

“I don’t think I can fit into my dress now. Maybe I should just wear my jeans.”

Richie snorted. “Yeah, right. You’re skin and bone - I don’t know where you put it.”

“Well, I guess I need to go shower - when are we leaving?”

“There’s plenty of time - couple of hours yet.” Jon told her, but Sara got up anyway.

“In that case, I’ll have a soak in the tub, if you don’t mind.”

“Fine with me - let me know if you want your back scrubbed.”

Sara left the room with a shake of her head, laughing as she headed into the bedroom and closed the door.