Chapter 59

Sara threw her bag into the car and drove to the studio in record time, managing to beat Paul in by the skin of her teeth. She ran upstairs and opened up, getting the coffee going before sorting the mail. There was an envelope from a national equestrian magazine, and she tore it open as she went to pour coffee. Before she could read the letter, though, she heard the door open then slam, and Paul’s voice rang out.

“Sara? Where are you?”

“Here.” She poked her head out of the kitchen. “You want coffee?”

“Yeah. And an explanation!”

“Excuse me? An explanation for what?” She walked out of the kitchen toward him.

“For this.” Paul waved a copy of the newspaper she’d seen at the apartment building. “That is you, isn’t it?”

She sighed. She’d hoped to get away with this, but it looked like she’d have to come clean.

“Yes. I didn’t think anybody would recognise me, though. Actually, I didn’t expect it to make the papers - it was only a birthday party!”

“Well, first of all, DAMN you look hot in that photo, boss! Second, it’s not ‘only a birthday party’ when it’s for a movie star, and you turn up sandwiched between two rock stars and, third - you’re seeing who? Jon or Richie? Despite what the paper says, I know you wouldn’t be dating them both.” He paused, frowning. “Would you?”

“Jon. I’m seeing Jon.” Okay, she thought, that was scary, saying it out loud. Then something else filtered into her brain. “The paper says WHAT?!”

“Read it for yourself. Not the kind of thing I’m going to say to my boss.” Paul handed over the paper and made for the kitchen. “I’ll get the coffee.”

Sara took the paper and walked over to the couch, her mouth falling open as she read the sub-heading that she hadn’t seen before. Now that she thought about it, she realised Jon had deliberately blocked her view, stopping her from reading it, and the thoughtfulness made her smile. The text, though, was anything but amusing, and the only thing that really pleased her about the short article was that they didn’t know her name. There was speculation about whether she was with Jon, or Richie, or both of them, or that she was a hired companion, but it really wasn’t all that bad, since it was so impersonal, because there was no name.

Paul brought the coffee, and she realised that the time he’d been gone was far longer than necessary to pour coffee, and she guessed he’d been giving her space while she read.

“I really didn’t think anybody would know it was me.” She said, dropping the paper on the table and taking a coffee from him.

“Well, you do look pretty different. I think it’s just my professional eye that sees the resemblance. Can’t hide much from us photographers, you know.” He joked, and Sara smiled.

“Hopefully nobody else will recognise me.”

“So - come on then! What’s going on with you and Mr Rock Star?”

“I’ve only been seeing him a couple of weeks.” As she replied, Sara finally unfolded the letter she’d opened, scanning the text then beginning to smile.

“What?” Paul asked, seeing the grin.

“It’s from Practical Horseman. Do you remember I submitted a proposal to them when they asked if I’d go to the UK for them? They wanted somebody to go over and photograph fox hunting, before it’s banned. This is great - they want me to do it. Ooh - not so good - they need me to go at the end of next week.”

“How long for?” Paul stood up and went to the workdesk for Sara’s diary.

“Looks like a couple of weeks. There’s a list of hunts they want me to photograph, and dates of the meets they’d like covered. Yeah, almost three weeks.”

“Well, according to your diary, boss, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I guess I’ll give them a call, then, tell them I definitely want the job.”

“You do that - I’ll hold the fort here.” Paul raised his coffee mug to his lips, then paused. “Oh, nice try - changing the subject, huh? So, you and Mr Bon Jovi?”

“Paul - it’s not a big deal, really. And, before you ask, no - this has nothing to do with him and his wife divorcing.”

“Not a big deal.” Paul repeated. “Well, all I’ll say is this, Sara. It looks as though he’s making you happy, and I think you deserve it - it’s been a long time coming.”

“Thanks, Paul. It’s nice to know you care.” She stood up. “I’d better call this guy at Practical Horseman.”

As she walked toward the workdesk, though, someone knocked on the door, so she changed direction, heading over to open it. She got a shock, though, when she pulled the door wide, finding Kay standing outside holding a gift box, a penitent look on her face.

“Sara. I’m sorry, okay. I was out of line, and I apologise. Can we at least talk?”

Sara stared for a moment, but her forgiving nature had already glossed over the earlier disagreement, and she nodded slightly. She’d never been able to stay angry at Kay for very long.

“Okay - come on in. D’you want coffee?”

Kay looked relieved as she stepped over the threshold, holding out the box to Sara.

“I brought you something, to help make amends.”

Opening the box, Sara found a chocolate torte, and she shook her head as she started to smile.

“Am I that predictable?”

Over at the couch, Paul grimaced when he saw who the visitor was. Even though he didn’t know about the argument, he just didn’t like Kay, and he stood up with his coffee in hand, going over to the workdesk to return Sara’s diary.

Sara got another mug of coffee for herself, and poured one for Kay, then led her friend over to the couch. As she passed Paul, Sara saw the frown on his face, but ignored it.

“Paul, would you mind doing me a favour and calling that editor? Tell him I’ll take the assignment, and ask him to fax or email me more details. Thanks.”

“Not a problem, Sara.” Paul replied, sitting down at the desk and ignoring Kay.

The two girls sat down - Sara on the armchair, Kay on the couch - and Kay took a sip of coffee before she spoke.

“God, I was hoping you’d cooled off enough to hear me out, Sara. All I can say is I was worried about you, and I guess it all came out wrong. Can we put it behind us? I’m really, truly sorry for what I said - and for whatever message I left on your machine.”

Sara stared down into her coffee, but she wasn’t one to hold a grudge, and Kay was a very old friend. Added to that, for the last couple of weeks, Sara had been on a real emotional high, and she’d had nobody to share it with. Well, Jon, obviously, but sometimes you just needed a girlfriend to talk to! She’d missed Kay, especially since the night she’d sprung the whole Jon thing on her, and she thought maybe that was at least partly to blame for Kay’s outburst.

“Let’s try, at least. See if we can just forget what happened and move forward.”

Kay smiled, settling back more comfortably into the couch with her coffee, looking at Sara expectantly.

“So……..tell me, then. What’s going on with you and the rock star?”

“I don’t really know.” Sara began hesitantly. “We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks, that’s all, and………well, I really like him, Kay. Being with him makes me happy.”

“I can see that. I’ve never seen you this, well, joyful I guess. He’s obviously doing something right.”

“He’s doing everything right, Kay. Everything I could’ve dreamed, and then some. Yesterday, when we got back to my house, he’d had a ton of roses delivered for me - all different colours. First time in thirty two years anybody has bought me flowers. God, I lo………ummmmm……..I really, really like him.”

Kay raised her eyebrows silently at Sara’s slip, almost saying she loved Jon. They chatted a while, all the usual girly chat about a new man in one of their lives, until Paul wandered over to interrupt.

“Sara - sorry - do you want any lunch? I’m just to run out for a sandwich.” He paused, then decided to be nice. “Kay - can I get you anything?”

Sara shook her head. “I’m fine, Paul. Kay brought a chocolate torte, so help yourself to that, too.”

“Thanks, Paul.” Kay replied, a little surprised he’d even asked her. “I guess I need to get going. I was only supposed to be slipping out of the office for a few minutes.”

Kay and Sara both stood up, and Sara walked Kay and Paul to the door.

“Actually, Paul - if you can, would you mind getting me some fries or something? I am a little hungry.”

“Sure thing.”

Sara let the two of them out, then closed the door and headed over to the desk, finding that Paul had already switched on her PC, and she clicked through into the email. The editor at Practical Horseman had replied already, and she printed out the full list of hunts, contact names and the list of hotels they’d booked for her. Fantastic - at least she wouldn’t need to try to figure out where to stay!

Paul and Kay went downstairs together or, at least, at the same time. They didn’t speak, and went their separate ways as soon as they got outside, Paul walking along the road toward the sandwich shop while Kay got into her car, pulling out a cellphone as she sat down.


After Sara left, Jon lay in bed for a few minutes, absently rubbing the house key between his fingers, then he laid it aside and headed for the shower. When he’d dried off and dressed - if he was going to keep staying over at Sara’s, he thought, maybe he should think about leaving a couple of clean shirts here - putting on yesterday’s clothes was getting old fast. He poured the last of the coffee into his mug and switched off the machine, then he finished the coffee and left, locking the door behind him.

He drove out to the big house he’d shared with his family, finding that the kids had already gone off to school, and Dot wasn’t back yet. Quickly changing into clean jeans and shirt, he threw some more clothes into a bag and dumped it in the trunk of the Chevelle, then left again. Already, the house didn’t seem like home, and he almost felt like an intruder, like he was sneaking about where he didn’t belong. He drove into the city, to his office, where his assistant, Sue, pounced on him the second he walked through the door.

After he’d fielded most of the questions about what was going on, who this girl was, and why he was moving into an apartment, he finally managed to get her to concentrate on work. A couple of hours later, his head was throbbing from going through so much paperwork, some of it for the band and fan club stuff, some of it for the Soul, the remainder made up of the usual assortment of invitations to various events. He marked the ones he’d attend, leaving a pile for Sue to go through, to make the relevant ‘yes or no’ replies, then he checked the band calendar.

There was a date marked, the following weekend, where the band were performing a ‘one night only’ show at the Hard Rock Café, down in Florida, and Jon thought it would be an ideal opportunity to tell Dave, Tico and Hugh about Sara. The more he thought about it, he decided to take Sara along - she already knew Richie, so it wouldn’t be too awkward. His mom was back down in Florida now, too, so maybe they could go see her. He’d like Sara to meet his mom, but maybe it would be too soon for her - he’d leave that decision to Sara.

Finally free of the paperwork, Jon said goodbye to Sue and headed back down to the Chevelle, making the short drive to the Four Seasons and heading up to the suite once he’d left his baby in Billy’s tender care.