Chapter Twenty-Five

Callie watched the fall of early December snowflakes iced the window, as she sat in her office drumming her pen against the desk. Jon had been gone a month now, but there had been no shortage of phone calls from him. Every couple of days, even if it was two minutes before he was due on stage – he’d call. The parallel between them was the same, but locked in different contexts.

He was exhausted, happy but pissed at the way Doc was treating them. With the latest drama being he’d scheduled concerts right through Christmas, so they wouldn’t break till New Year’s Day.

Callie was nervous, as after New Years, they had a six month drop to record a new album before launching into a planned full world tour. She wasn’t nervous about that, it was that she’d have him around for a whole six months give or take between recording time.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the relationship between her and Jon had shifted and the more she tried not to think about the night they slept together. The more she couldn’t. She took a deep breath and looked down at her desk draw once again.

She could do this right? She would have a hell of a lot of work to do but like she saw with Jon how happy he was, exhausted but happy. Because he was doing something he wanted to be doing. She flipped through her Rolodex and saw the band had just started a stay in Florida for a few days.

Her gut somersaulted thinking about the possibility of going down and surprising him. Would he be happy to see her? She pulled her draw open slowly. Besides, who better to celebrate with filling out these forms, was Jon?

She was crazy, which one she was crazier for – the medical school application or thinking Jon would be happy to see her, she didn’t know. She never did anything spontaneous, it wasn’t in her blood.

Maybe it was time to take the chance, on her career and well…love?

Is that what this was? What was going on between her and Jon, was this love?

He was a pain in the ass, he drove her crazy but yet he did it because he believed in her. And no one had believed in her like that before. She picked up the papers and tucked them into her briefcase. Now she needed to just figure how to get to Florida by tomorrow.

She straightened herself up and walked to Mr Callaghan’s office, tapping her knuckle against the door walking in once he called her in.

Thick blacked rimmed glasses looked up from his desk, and then smiled. “Callie – what can I do for you?”

She closed the door behind her and shifted herself in his plush leather visitor’s chair. God, this felt like she was in the principal’s office for some reason. She placed her hands on her knees, “Mr Callaghan, I know this is short notice but I need a couple of days off to head down South.”

He nodded and shuffled his papers to his side. “I assume this is to do with your husband?”

She smiled, “yes, he’s been working so hard and well – he’s not coming home for Christmas so it’s a good opportunity to catch up with him.” Least it wasn’t abnormal to someone on the outside that she wanted to spend time with her husband. That part was plausible.

“Wow, over Christmas? That’s no good. Of course you can go Callie, I hope you both are going to get to go on a honeymoon early next year. You haven’t had a lot of time with each other since you’ve been married, I’ll make sure you get the time off.”

She swallowed, the thought of being alone with him away from the rest of the world for an entire week not only freaked her out, and it was strangely a comforting thought. “Thanks, I appreciate that Mr Callaghan.”

“Ok, well finish up what you need to do and make sure your clients can be covered and know you’re away.”

She stood again and went to walk out.

“Oh and Callie,” she stopped and turned around.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he winked and chuckled before burying himself back in the mountain of paper work on his desk.

Later that night she sat aboard the overnighter down to Florida, and as the doors swished closed on the Greyhound she sank down under the scratchy blanket the liner supplied. She had Jon’s itinerary stuffed in her overcoat pocked, so she at least knew the hotel he would be staying at.

Oh god, she was really going to do this? Go to med school, and tell him she had feelings for him? She was either brave, or an idiot.

Street lights and darkness blended out the window as her eyes grew heavy, she kept fidgeting with the hem of the blanket running over and over the possibilities of what she was even considering here. Was she reading him all wrong? Time would only tell.

~

“Sun, surf and babes… I think this may just be heaven!” Richie announced as the band bounded off the bus. All except Jon, who was still sitting in the bus listening to some chick that had been yapping his ear off the entire freaking bus ride about her beauty school diploma. One of Doc’s fucking hire-a-groupie-girls.

The sun was shining high in the sky, it couldn’t all be bad. He loved the beach, and Doc had promised they’d get a few hours to relax on it this afternoon. And he was dying for it.

“Come on darlin, Jonny here needs to get his rest now.” Doc hooked his arm under the girl and lifted her out of her seat and down the aisle.

“Thank fuck for that,” Jon muttered as he tugged a cap on with his sunglasses. As he walked past Doc waiting at the doorway of the bus, he stopped. “If you’re going to continue to do this, can you make sure they’re more interesting – peeling off wallpaper would be fucking more enthralling than that chick.”

Doc chuckled, “they don’t need to be bright Jonny, just need to take of your needs and want to go and buy the album and tickets to the show.” He patted him on the back.

Jon stopped and pointed straight at him. “Just so we’re clear. I’m not your whore, I may be your freaking puppet but I’m not your whore. If I want to go out and get laid, I’ll fucking go and do it myself ok?”

Doc nodded, “right Jonny. Just make sure you keep getting yourself out there. That’s all I ask.” As Jon stepped off the bus he called behind him, “how’s your wife by the way?”

Jon growled and kept walking, one day Doc’s face would be embedded by the patterns on his knuckle rings, he swore to god. Richie was waiting by where the stage equipment was being loaded out, leaning against the pole having a smoke.

“How is the ol wife anyway? How long are you going to keep this crap going Jonny? Till Doc gets pissed enough to keep throwing girls at you twenty-four seven?”

Jon grunted, and held his hand out for Richie to bum him a cigarette. “I don’t see you complaining Rich, there’s more girls than you know what to do with your cock.”

Richie snorted and flicked his lighter, “Darlin – there will always be a place for my cock.” He winked and took a drag of his own.

Jon chuckled, “yeah I thought so.” He sucked back his own, and took a deep exhale. “Callie is fine, hard to explain Rich – she’s cool. I like winding her up as well.” And he did it well, half the time he just did it to get her to fire back at him. She was cute when she was angry. Her pretty pink lips all tight – of course that inspired other thoughts as well.

“Is her family still giving her grief over the marriage?”

Jon nodded flicking away his ash, “yeah they’re still giving her a lot of grief,” he muttered absently as he remembered her phone call from a few weeks ago when she was distraught.

“You fucking miss her don’t you?” Richie laughed gripping his shoulder.

Jon snorted, “yeah maybe. But if Doc could start picking out some decent girls, it’d be ok.” He distracted Richie, knowing if he knew he was starting to like her. He’d never hear the end of it from his best friend.

“They’ve got money Jonny, and influence. That’s all Doc cares about right now.”

Jon sighed, “I know, but I envisioned this whole going after your dream a little different than this. Don’t get me wrong, I love the attention they give us. And man some of them give pretty fucking good head,” he punched Richie as he smirked at him.

“Yeah, well you’re getting no fucking shortage of it, are ya?” Richie winked.

“I want the big time Rich, I want people to love the music before they love us.”
“And I want a horse drawn carriage with pretty white horses, Jonny… you know it’s not that easy where we’re at. We have to buckle down, take Doc’s crap and then one day – you’ll get what you want. You always do Jon.”

“Thanks Rich, appreciate it. Now come on, I wanna go and pass out on that beach with a bottle of tequila.”

“Fuckin-A brother. Let’s do it.”

Hot festive sun and a blanket of humidity wrapped around them as they lay back in denim cut offs and thongs baking under the Florida sun. The waves crashed hard against the beach and the tequila slammed hard down their throats.

This really was the life.

Countless shots later Jon found himself roped into playing twister with the guys and a couple of beach babes they’d plucked from around the place. Doc was no where around either, which took a massive load off his shoulders… so he could finally manage to fucking relax.

“Hand on red Jonny!” David called out as he topped up the tequila shots up with his free hand, most of it spilling over the side of the glasses.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding, how the fuck am I meant to do that without slipping and landing on this pretty lady?” he winked at the brunette who was lying below him. He was marooned between Tico and Richie, and to get hand on red he had to stretch out over the bikini clad girl under them. The room blurred into a sea of colors as he put his head down with the weight of alcohol behind him threatening to topple him.

Fuck, I’m too wasted for this shit.

“Dude your ass is in my face,” Richie slurred.

“Deal with it, stare at it and get to know it. It’ll make us money one day… you said so yourself.”

The guys roared with laughter, and Jon’s hand slid when the slap against his ass came and he tumbled down in a heap of limbs, his face mashed in between two pink triangles. She clutched the back of his head and held him between her breasts. The hooting and hollering thundered around him as he finally popped his head up and met her seductress green eyes.

She was gorgeous, tanned and she had legs that stretched out to god knows where.

“Kiss me,” she mouthed licking across her bottom lip.

He didn’t think, he didn’t look – he smashed his mouth against hers pinning her under him. His cock already throbbing as her cotton covered nipples dug into his chest. Her hands dragged up his jaw and into his hair as she deepened the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Get a room!” the catcalls rang out behind him.

He mumbled against her neck, his lips snagging on anything they could. She was so warm, and so soft – so familiar…”Callie…” he murmured into her neck.

Her laugh vibrated under his mouth, “you can call me whatever you like sugar. How about we find a room?”

Jon looked up, the room was on an angle, and the face distorted under him. But her hair was so dark and silky. Just like Callie’s. He nuzzled into it, taking the smell of sunshine and coconut in.

“Room.” He confirmed. He just wanted to get away from all this shit, just him and her. His cock was scratching against his shorts. He needed her.

Oh god how he needed her.