Chapter 110

The dressing room was far enough from the stage to mute the sound of the guys running through the last of their soundcheck, and though Sara and Linda could hear music, they were too busy chatting and getting to know each other to pay much attention. They closed the dressing room door behind them, muffling the noise further, and Linda led Sara across to the long buffet table where they each got coffee, and Sara took a large piece of the chocolate cake Jon had promised her.

Instead of sitting at the table, they made themselves comfortable on a couple of couches in one corner, taking a couch each so they could stretch their legs out. Sara didn’t make friends easily - she was too fond of keeping distance between herself and others - but she did feel like she and Linda could become good friends.

“You work in a hospital, right?” Sara asked as she dug a fork into the chocolate cake, and Linda nodded.

“Mm-hm. I’m a patient registrar. How did you know?”

“Richie mentioned it, the day he met you.” Sara grinned conspiratorially. “He was so happy that morning, after he’d met you. He seemed to feel a connection to you immediately, from what he said.”

“Really?” Linda was touched that Richie had felt it as much as she had, and she looked at Sara a little curiously. “How did you and Jon meet? I know you’re a photographer - was it through your work?”

“Mmmm. I was booked to photograph him for a magazine interview, and, well, he……we……um….” Sara was blushing furiously, remembering that first day, her very first time, and Linda was intrigued but diplomatic enough not to ask. “Well, we got to talking, and I guess something I said surprised him, and one thing kinda led to another.”

Sara took another drink of coffee, then smiled at Linda. “I guess I should thank you - for telling Richie about that magazine article.”

“Well, he happened to call, and I mentioned that a friend had said Jon seemed upset at the Hard Rock show in Florida. When Richie said Jon was having ‘woman trouble’, I remembered the article. Thought I should mention it in case he didn’t know.”

“We’d actually seen it the night before.” Sara said. “But thank you for being nice enough to say.” She paused as something else Linda had said dawned on her. “Jon was upset? At the show?”

“According to my friend, yeah. She was front row in front of Jon, and she swears he was crying when he sang Bed of Roses. I did ask Richie - he actually went across and sang the last chorus along with Jon, which they never do - but he didn’t answer me.”

“Which is probably answer enough.” Sara said softly, feeling the burn at the back of her throat which heralded tears.

Fortunately, before her tears could spill over as she thought of how she’d hurt Jon by running off to England, the dressing room door burst open and the guys trooped in, obviously in high spirits and looking forward to the show. Over at the long table, Jon poured himself coffee, then looked across.

“Sara?” He asked, waving the coffee pot, but Sara shook her head.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

He laid down the coffee and picked up his mug and a plate with chocolate cake, then came across to share Sara’s couch. She pulled her legs out of the way to let him sit, swinging her feet to the floor, and Jon held out the plate of cake.

“I’ve already had some.” She told him, and Jon grinned, knowing her too well.

“And what else have you had to eat today?”

“I had breakfast.” Sara muttered. “I haven’t been hungry recently.”

“Yeah, well, just eat it will ya?”

Sara crossed her eyes at him, but she took the plate anyway. Well, it was really good chocolate cake, and it would be a shame to waste it! Richie came across and sat next to Linda, then the other guys came across, finding themselves space on another pair of couches, and everybody chatted companionably. Sara’s natural shyness was somewhat overcome by the fact she already knew Richie, and Linda, and of course Jon. Also, she was starting to feel the effects of the long journey, coupled with the stress of the previous day, and as she tried to lay the empty plate on the table, she missed completely, the plate falling to the floor.

“Oh, dammit!” She stretched to pick up the plate as the guys laughed - not unkindly, just seeing the funny side - but Jon saw her hands trembling.

“You okay, Sara?”

“Yeah. I’m just tired I guess. It’s been a long couple of days.”

It was Richie who glanced at his watch first.

“The show isn’t for a good few hours, Sara. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“But I just got back.” She protested, but Jon grabbed her hand.

“He’s right, babe. Come on. We’ll find somewhere quiet for you to get some rest. I promise I’ll wake you when the kids arrive.”

Sara wanted to argue, but before she spoke, she blinked, and only realised when Jon shook her hand gently that her eyes had been closed for much more than a blink. She was that tired!

“Okay, I give up.” She murmured. “I’m sorry to be rude everybody, but I really could do with some sleep.”

There was a chorus of reassurance that she wasn’t being rude, then Jon pulled her to her feet, leading her out of the room and along the corridor. She followed submissively, not even paying attention to her surroundings, just letting Jon lead her along as she yawned and stumbled clumsily like a puppy who hadn’t quite got control of it’s feet yet.

Jon took her up to the owner’s box that he used, which was equipped with a large couch and all the necessities of home - a bar, fridge and television.

“Come on - over here.”

He led her to the couch and sat her down, then knelt to pull her boots off as Sara sagged forward, eyes closing again as she rested her head on her hands. Jon dropped her boots on the floor and sat next to her, pulling her across so she lay with her head on his lap, her legs curling up onto the couch as he wrapped an arm over her, holding her close. She murmured something, and Jon had to bend right over her to hear.

“What, baby?”

“I love you, Jon.” She whispered again, almost asleep, and he grinned as he pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head, then sat back again, cradling her tenderly.

Sara was already asleep as Jon carefully pulled his cellphone from his pocket and called Richie, speaking quietly and asking him to call at six o’clock, or when Dot and the kids arrived, whichever was first. Richie laughed when Jon said Sara was asleep already, but agreed to do the alarm call anyway. Jon laid the phone on a table and leaned back, closing his eyes, still holding Sara tightly as he let himself drift.

Jon dozed briefly, but lightly enough that he woke when Sara shifted in sleep, burrowing her shoulders back against his stomach, and he looked down, lifting her hair back off her face, smiling as he gently stroked her head for a moment. He glanced at his watch, seeing it was just a few minutes before six, and he punched Richie’s number, calling him to let him know not to bother with the wakeup call. After he’d laid the phone back down, Jon rubbed his palm along Sara’s upper arm with just enough pressure to stir her toward waking. She rolled as she woke, turning onto her back on his lap and when she opened her eyes he was smiling down at her.

“Hi.” He said, and a sleepy smile spread across her face.

“It wasn’t a dream. I really am home.” She said softly, reaching up to touch his cheek.

“Well, not exactly home, babe. We’re at Wachovia Center, remember?”

“Oh, I know where we are, Jon. But I’m with you, so I’m home.”

Jon’s tender smile turned to a delighted grin, and he pulled her higher, sitting her on his lap so he could kiss her. When they drew apart again, Sara didn’t look sleepy any more.

“Do you feel better after your nap?” Jon asked, and she grinned.

“Much better, thanks. At least now I shouldn’t be in any danger of falling asleep during the show!”

She gave Jon a soft kiss then stood up, walking across the room to look out through the glass wall, stretching as she went. From this vantage point, she could see down into the arena, seeing not only the area in front of the stage, where the crowds would soon be, but also most of the backstage and the miles of cables snaking out from under the stage in various directions. There were one or two areas which appeared to have canopies, and she could only guess that perhaps these were where Jon changed during the show, and they were covered to prevent any fans in the higher reaches of the arena being able to look down on him.

Jon walked across behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she gazed out of the window, and Sara leaned back into him, tilting her head back onto his shoulder. She spoke without moving her head, watching his face out of the corner of her eye.

“I was talking to Linda earlier.” She began, then hesitated until Jon encouraged her with a soft ‘mmmm?’.

“Linda said one of her friends was at the show in Florida. She said you were upset, during the show.” Now she raised her head, not looking at him as she continued quietly. “Was it my fault? Was it because I ran off to the UK without saying anything?”

Jon sighed. “Jesus, you really are special, aren’t you?” He relaxed his grip on her enough to turn her around to face him. “I act like a spoilt prick, insult you and hurt you, yet you’re worried about how I felt? I don’t deserve you, Sara.”

“I don’t want you to think I meant to hurt you, Jon. I was just……..I don’t know what I was…..”

“You were hurt because I’m an asshole.” Jon finished her thought, raising a hand to lay his fingers on her lips as she tried to protest. “Baby, please. You don’t have anything to feel bad about. Trust me - the way I felt in Florida, that was totally my own fault. If I hadn’t hurt you, we’d still have been okay, and I wouldn’t have ended up almost blowing off the whole show so I could sit and feel sorry for myself. Completely not your fault, and I don’t want you even thinking about it. We’re okay now, and that’s all that matters.” He frowned suddenly. “We are okay, right?”

“Oh, we’re okay. We’re better than okay, Jon. We’re together again.”

He grinned and kissed her tenderly, then drew back. “Come on. We’d better get back down there before the kids arrive. Plus, I think the doors will open pretty soon, so we need to get back to the dressing room before that!”

“Okay, lead me to the coffee!”