032

"Wow, you do like to keep me busy these days...", said John ironically but calmly as he threw the magazine on top of Jon's coffee table after closing the door. Feeling that the subject needed to be trested with kid's gloves, he'd ask for a one-on-one meeting as soon as Jon was back from his trip. "Is there something I need to know?", he asked rethorically, evidencing in his tone that he already knew the answer. Jon took the magazine in his hand and looked at the blurry picture of himself hugging a woman on the beach. That was it, the moment had come to tell John the truth, but Jon secretly cursed the circumstances under which his friend had found out. An electricity current shocked him, but immediately receded; if that calmness was going to be John's reaction to finding out Jon was seeing his sister, there were no reasons to worry. 

"This is not how-...", Jon started with a soft chuckle, but was abruptly interrupted by John's ironical laughter. John, however, kept his trademark cool calm as he began talking. 

"It's not a question of how, it's a question of when, and in my opinion timing couldn't be worse, it's gonna take focus off your record and you know that. The divorce is already public knowledge now and...oh yeah...there's that interview you did in London. I saw it on Tuesday...what did you say?", he paused dramatically for a second and Jon lifted his head up for a moment with a sheepish curl in his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah, that you'd 'fallen' during your marriage"' he quoted in the air. "What the fuck?", he spurted out as Jon lowered his eyes to the pictures. 

Funnily enough, John had not once brought his sister's name to the conversation or asked for the identity of the woman, and it suddenly dawned on the handsome rockstar: the photographs had been taken from afar, probably from one of the few boats they saw past the shore, Jon's face was clearly recognizable over the girl's shoulder, but June was always either giving her back to the camera or hiding behind Jon's broad shoulders. Jon kept his mouth shut as he surfed the vertiginous feeling: John had obviously no clue that the woman in the pictures was his own sister. 

"Look, we don't have time now to further discuss this", John said after glancing at his watch, then he took a deep breath and continued. "I'm gonna try to keep them off the subject during the press con, but I can't guarantee it's not gonna come out, people are going berzerk about this", he explained, gesturing with his hands, and Jon let out a sigh of relief that passed unnoticed to his friend, then he nodded acknowledgingly. "You're right, you're right", he said almost in a rush to end the subject. "I'll handle it if it comes out. You've done your part".

"I'll call the rest of the team, now, they still want to go through everything with you once more", John's tone went back to normal as he approached the door.

"Send them in", Jon sighed defeatedly, closing the magazine and throwing in in the trashbin. It was time to turn proffessional mode on. 

However, when John wrapped his fingers around the door knob, he stopped and looked back at his boss, now unable to prevent a slight smirk of amusement. "Who is her...by the way?"

Jon's blood froze for a second, but immediately e smiled sweetly and secretly, letting John get a glimpse of the extent of his affection.

"Do I know-", John started, but there was a knock on the door and he opened it right away. He didn't have time to see Jon's wide eyed expression before his assistant stormed into the room pulling a wheeled rack of clothes behind her. He was immediately caught up in the bustling environment of the backstage and the question dissolved somewhere in the back of his mind.

Little did both know that at the same time, Diane was inquiring June about her romantic escapade, but to no avail, since June seemed decided to keep more than just the details to herself. In the end Diane gave up, but not without closing her case with a sentence that sent a shiver down June's spine.

"You're in love with that man, June. You just don't know it yet"

...

"You once said, and I quote, 'The only thing I love more than my wife is my money, and I'm not about to lose it to her and her lawyers'", asked the young, short journalist reading from his notebook with a rather defiant tone. "News broke that you're getting a divorce, what made you change your mind?". Jon chuckled sarcastically and noticed June's flaming torch of a red dress with the corner of his eye. His failed marriage had long ago ceased to be a painful memory to become rather an uncomfortable reminder of his capability to fail. This wasn't supposed to be in itself a discovery for her, but he felt somewhat uneasy that he hadn't brought it up personally, even though he felt no difficult in talking to her about such things. He was being sloppy and careless, and he didn't like it. And if there was something that the Cohen's clearly didn't like was learning about something late and through the wrong means. 

"Failure", he spoke after a moment of silent that was only filled by the clicks of the cameras. His voice was grave. "We all fail at some point or the other. You swallow your pride and move on...some sorts of failures are better than other kinds, that's all". He pursed his lips and turned his head to the moderator of the press conference, indicating that he was moving on to the next question. His sincerity seemed to satisfy the journalist, who quickly scribbled on his notebook. 

By the time the press conference was over, Jon was glad that no more questions concerning his personal life had come up, and he felt more relaxed as he sat on an armchair in a lounge that had been set up backstage for him and his entourage to spend the time before and after the show. June was out of sight.

"I'm gonna ask the question of the day", a fairly drunk, long-haired roadie asked loudly, directing his question to the singer. "Tell us, Jon, who's the girl you're fucking?", he asked, braking the ice like a hammer. Tim had been part of the Bon Jovi road team for a few now, and he'd even been awarded the diamond pendant that had at this point already become a tradition. What he asked was actually a normal, innocent question the members of the road team used to make to each other during the tours and that had, during the recent years, turned into something more like an internal joke rather that an actual inquiry, but it caught Jon with his guard down, and he didn't like his tone, not one bit. For a moment, he was violently angry. Noticing his reaction, that pervaded the lively atmosphere of the backstage with a rarified air, everyone remained quiet for a second. Jon's personal space had been invaded, and that wasn't something he particularly appreciated. Jon, however, ever the proffessional, left an unconcrete answer to avoid any more questions on the subject, and withdrew to his dressing room.

When he reappeared twenty minutes later he was already on rock star mode, walking towards the stage of the theatre. June had an all access pass, but chose to stand and watch the show from some random place in the audience. When Jon stepped on the stage, the entire group of people broke into a deafening, somehow curiously savage, scream. She admired, together with the rest, his incredibly gorgeous, perfect completion, the sensuous mouth made for long, deep kisses, his smooth and well muscled body wrapped in supertight hip hugging pants with button fly that showed off his pert round ass and tapered thighs, and his light brown shirt unbuttoned down to his navel. He started whrithing to the throb of music with wild hair and flashing eyes as thousands of girls and a good number of boys screamed at him. Something that wasn't easily perceived, though, was the slight awkwardness that's usually brought to beautiful people by the consciousness of their own beauty, which Jon skilfully disguised as arrogance. 

He was in his native element and happy as a lark. He was everywhere at once, giving out from every cell of his body what seemed an inexhaustible supply of energy, leading the crowd to slowly engage in an act of self-hypnosis, or what seemed a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise. June couldn't help share the general delirium and, of course, she chanted with the rest. It was impossible to do otherwise.

As June observed him, she couldn't help thinking that the body that was now straining against the leather had been entirely hers for the past three days. She closed her eyes for a moment and involuntarily remembered the exact shape of his cock. She could see it in his mind: big, hard and powerful, and she started to feel the moisture between her legs. 

Then the lights dimmed indicating that a quieter moment of the show was approaching, but it took Jon a long minute to finally get the crowd to calm down. "Attention, your attention please", Jon said raspingly after sitting on a stool, wrapping his arms lazily around the shiny black Takamine. "I want to dedicate the next song to my friend and sorta...collaborator", he smirked sideways. "The sister of my dear friend John here-", he was interrupted by a mild applause. " June...?", he narrowed his eyes and scanned the crowd for her red dress, but he couldn't find her, "...It really sucks that you're leavin', baby", he whispered against the mic, one second before strumming the first chords of that song he'd written the morning after kissing her for the first time at that porch in London.

It's morning when I go to sleep,

In the distant dawn a church bell rings...

During the instrumental fill, he was able to locate her, full of mysterious calm, her hypnotic green eyes gazing into his own. It was as though some huge force was driving him to her, something that penetrated his chest, beating, persuading him to listen to the evidence of his senses. The flood of music drew every speculation out of his mind, like some sort of liquid stuff that poured all over him and mixed up with his blood. Suddenly, he just couldn't wait for the show to be over so he could wrap his arms around her waist and pull her so close to him she would never want -or be able to- to leave his side. But he would have to wait, and the show had to go on. After the post-show reception, she'd leave first and he'd have to wait an hour before following her. 

Jon was covering Sinatra's Fly me to the moon when he glanced at June's face again and at seeing her, his cool look of detachment changed. It was exactly at that moment that the significant thing happened: their hearts opened and the loving feeling flowed from one into the other through their eyes. It happened at last, all her life, it seemed to June, she had been waiting for this to happen. A feeling so lively and so new that she stood there, rooted to the spot. 

Maybe it was just an instant, but for as long as it took to happen, she knew, yes, she knew she was in love with him, and that he was feeling the same thing as she did. 

A side of her screamed that she wanted to live forever with this man. The other, however, wasn't equally convinced. She felt trapped with him in a web she'd woven herself, maybe she had simply made a stupid mistake by letting that story go that far.  What evidence had she that he would want to move on, even if she stayed? None. Nothing but a flash in his eyes, only fleeting glimpses that might mean anything or nothing. Besides that, everything was founded on the impossible.

June's courage seemed to suddenly stiffen of its own accord: what if it was better to shorten the interval before the end actually arrived? The choice seemed clear: she could put the end off until the last minute...or leave now. In her mind, it made very little difference. 

The end of the show was approaching and Jon seized a short pause between songs to try and relocate the red dress , which was now moving hastily through the crowd towards one of the exits. Almost feeling his stare, June turned around and they locked eyes once again, but then Jon noticed, with a sort of inward shudder, that the expression on her face had changed and was now indecipherable, or even slightly frightful. The certainty that he'd felt before crumbled inside him and he felt a twinge of panic at the realization that she seemed to be running away from him. Women have an infalible instinct to realize when a man has fallen deeply in love with them and given her reaction at that moment, Jon wished that June didn't have it.

By the time he took his final vows, June had disappeared from his sight, and there was no red dress at the after party.

031

Richie’s prediction was in fact, accurate. And Jon was finally able to tell him the news.

“Man, you’re really knee deep in the mud, aintcha”, was Richie’s verdict.

“Try the waist…”, Jon added, even though he hadn’t considered prudent to tell his best friend that he thought he might even be in love with June. “I just hope I can keep my head out”, Jon added,ironically, mostly to himself.

A few days later and back from London, Jon found himself sitting once again with brother, sister and a group of their friends during dinner at June’s house, dinner that she and her brother had organized and at which Jon had been able to participate by means of conveniently “dropping by” June’s house in the afternoon. How memorable that afternoon in June’s bed had been was a piece of information they secretly enjoyed sharing during the course of the evening

It was the previous day that the idea had occurred to Jon to ask his friend Kevin to let him use his mansion in an island near the Florida Keys, and June had accepted with unexpected readiness.“Take me to the moon…”, she’d said a few hours before, even when both of them knew that making a longer escapade would be playing with fire. Presumably, though, it was a “safe” place (if there was anywhere they could be), and it was definitely better than staying in the city.

“But you can’t leave tomorrow, for three days”, John replied to Jon’s sudden announcement that he was leaving, destination still unknown, just three days before the show to launch his soloalbum. “The preparations are in full swing, the staff’s working overtime…”, he continued but trailed off, knowing by Jon’s expression that what he was saying was completely useless. His mind, however, continued the list. Meetings, interviews, photo sessions, voice training, sound-checking…

“I’ll take care of that on Friday when I get back”, Jon patted on his friend’s shoulder, reading his thoughts and John sighed, defeated, an instant before he was finally able to put two and two together: Jon’s trip was for the purpose of a love affair. Crystal clear, and it only meant one thing: the PR team would have to juggle Jon’s divorce and his new romance all at the same time. In Jon’s eyes he found nothing but confirmation. “I need to go now, pal. Got an early plane to catch”, he grinned before turning to June who was standing next to her brother. “Wonderful evening, as usual, babe”, he smiled warmly and encircled her waist with one arm, then planted a kiss on hercheek. “Thanks for everything…”, he spoke against her ear. “You comin’ on Friday, right?”, hesaid, perfectly sure that they’d actually be meeting in a few hours. In seeing over her shoulder that there were no curious eyes scrutinizing, he kissed her ear, letting the tip of his tongue caress the earlobe. She felt his warm and moist breath and nodded with a smile, secretly thankful that her brother had turned away to talk to another guest and couldn’t see the blush in her cheeks.

“Sure…”, she cleared her voice, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world”

…

Her apple green suitcase was unnaturally minute for a woman, Jon thought when they met at the airfield at the crack of dawn. “What kind of pajamas did you bring?”, he whispered almost absentmindedly, after throwing a cautious look behind him to make sure he wasn’t being overheard.

“Not much”, June winked, with a faux-shy smile, to which Jon replied by stifling a devilish smirk, his inner thoughts betrayed by the twinkle of his eyes. “Besides”, she began as she walked up the metallic stairs into the small aircraft, “You didn’t tell me where the hell you’re taking me to, so I justfigured I’d pack nothing and just improvise”, she smiled knowing that Jon wouldn’t be able to reply since the airhostess was waiting for them inside the aircraft. By the manner in which Jon greeted her, June figured Jon was already familiar with her.

They sat side by side on two of the six cream-upholstered seats and fastened their seatbelts. The horizon was already bright orange, and the sky a deep blue.

“So you heard my excuse, what was yours?”, he asked.

“Well, that was easy”, June stifled a yawn, “I just told Carl I needed a break after finishing the book…Everything else can take care of itself”, she grinned, “I got better things to do”.

Jon responded to her smile and briefly kissed her forehead. “What about John?”

“When he’s busy he forgets about me”, she shrugged and bit her tongue, “It’s you who has to worry about him”.

The captain greeted each of them with a handshake and briefly explained them the technicalities of the trip. It would take them about six hours to arrive, but something told June that the landing place wasn’t actually their final destination. When the plane started to take off and they were pressed against the back of their seats, knowing how much June hated take-offs, Jon pulled June closer against him, inhaling the pleasant smell of her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.

It didn’t take long for June to fall into a somewhat deep sleep. When she woke up, she rubbed her eyes and focused on the bunch of papers Jon was holding right in front of her eyes, they looked like a movie script.

“Mornin’”, he craned his head and smiled warmly at her.

“How long did I sleep”, she asked with a deep voice and stood up.

“’Bout two hours…”, he answered, lifting his eyes to admire her as she stood up and walked towards the toilet, her slim figure wrapped in a pair of jean shorts and a white halter top. She was also wearing a pair of strappy leather sandals.

Once they landed (some other unknown airfield), a luxurious deep blue car was waiting to drivethem to a dock were a tan-skin, grey-haired man was waiting for them, casually but expensively dressed. The summer sun was shining bright in the sky, and all of them were donning sunglasses.

“June, I want you to meet Kevin”, said Jon after greeting his friend with a tight hug.

“Kevin, this is June, John’s sister”

June and Kevin shook hands. “I read your last book…”, Kevin added with one of the warmest smiles June had ever seen. “Wednesdays are not for me, either”, he quoted June’s book’s heroin’s catchy phrase. “Nice to meet you, finally”, he offered his hand and June shook it back, reassured by both Jon and Kevin’s easiness around the situation.

“Thanks…nice to meet you, too, Kevin”.

“You shouldn’t have bothered comin’ yourself”, Jon said as they stepped on the double-decked yatch.

“Any excuse to get on this baby’s a good excuse”, said Kevin as he took the control.

In less than an hour and after enjoying assorted fresh seafood delicacies that Kevin offered them as some sort of on-the-fly lunch, they arrived at the dock of the island and said their farewells.

“The keys are on the door, pantry’s full, make yourselves at home. Just call the attendants if you need anything”, Kevin instructed and with a smile tossed a set of keys to Jon. “I thought you’d want to ride it, it’s been a while, huh? Have fun”, he waved at them from the yatch and sailed away while Jon smiled like a kid in a candy store. He might be economically capable of owning a thousand Harley Davidsons, but the opportunities to ride them were scarce, so he secretly appreciated Kevin’s gesture.

June smiled amusedly as Jon led her towards a row of cubicles that contained different cars and motorbikes. He secured their luggage to the bracket on the back and jumped on the seat before starting it with one jump. He turned to look at her with a faux-arrogant pout, eliciting a delightful chortle from June, then patted on the back seat, indicating for her to jump on.    

They drove for about ten minutes along the shoreline and then Jon turned to take a gravel road that ended at an astonishing wood and glass mansion. A wide, wooden flight of stairs led to a triangular porch with equally wooden pillars on each side. As Kevin had indicated, the door was unlocked and they stepped in. The smell of wood mixed with the sea air was deliciously comforting. Standing on the entrance and looking through the floor-to-ceiling window on the other end of the spacious living-room, they could see the aquamarine sea in all its glory.

“Amazing, huh?”, Jon commented as June still gaped at the view. There was something about the bright colors of the tropical seas that had always fascinated her, the bright blue that seemed capable of keeping its glow even if the sun and all the lights in the world were to be turned off.

Afterwards, Jon took June by the hand and, each carrying their luggage with their free hand, they climbed the stairs towards the master bedroom on the second floor. Jon took June’s luggage and placed it next to his on the leather and wood luggage rack while June took a look around: theheadrest of the huge mahogany bed had panels of natural raffia and the sheets were white and cream with details in brown and olive. On the bed lay a number of fluffy cushions and a narrow,deep wine-red piece across the foot. The rich carpet was also deep wine-red and an olive-green shaded lamp stood on the far end of the room. The richness and spaciousness of everything was simply astonishing, and the bed was also placed so that whoever was lying on it could see the sea through the floor-to-ceiling glass pane. All the walls were cream, everything was exquisitely clean and smelled like heaven.

“Too much isn’t enough, is it?”, she said, her own tastes rather minimalistic and classic when it came to decoration. After she took off her sandals and sat on the foot of the bed, her bare feet barely touching the carpet.

“Never”, he said as he took a step towards her and pulled her back down on the bed. He kissed her using his two hands to pin her shoulders to the bed. Then in what it seemed like a single movement, he torn off her clothes and flung them disdainfully aside before undressing himself.Without leaving June time to react, with his two hands beneath her knees he raised and opened her legs so he could press his erection against her crotch.

He slammed himself in her so hard she felt she was going to be ripped apart, and she moaned like she’d never moaned before when he started making long, slow strokes in and out of her, helped by the springiness of the bed. In a second they were anxiously all over each other, scrapping each other’s skin, burying their secret under sweat and kisses, and it wasn’t long before they joined in a gut-twisting orgasm that left them both too exhausted to move. They remained quiet for a fewmoments, Jon resting his head on her womb and his hand still on her trembling breast while she gently caressed the thin, soft strands of hair in his temple.

Jon was the first one to wake up a few hours later, a yellow ray from the setting sun fell across the foot of the bed. At first he didn’t stir, because June was sleeping with her head in the crook of his arm. He looked at her as she lay on her side, naked from the waist up, one lock tumbling cross her eyes, her breast rising and falling slowly and regularly. He needed to use the bathroom, though, and carefully tried to slip away, but failed miserably, and before he was able to get out of the bed, June flattered her eyes open and raised herself on her elbow.

They were soon naked in the bathroom, and Jon watched her in the mirror while June bent over to start the shower. The sight quickly made him hard: he loved looking covertly at her body. Their earlier sex had done little to quell all his desires, and the prospective of finally having enough timeto sate all his accumulated need was exciting him more than he could manage. June straightenedup and turned around, then chuckled softly when in the mirror she could see the effect her body had on Jon’s. She walked up to him and put her arms around his torso, splaying her hands on his recently waxed chest, softly scraping his skin with her short nails. When he felt her breasts press into his back, Jon groaned and his dick jumped again. June gave a little laugh when she saw that, and her hands dropped lower to caress his hard-on as she looked over his shoulder into the reflection of his eyes in the mirror.

"Mmm, I like doing this," she told him as she gently stroked.

“And you are fuckin’ good at it…”, he breathed throatily with low-lidded eyes and parted lips.

After a few moments, she motioned for him to turn around and get in the shower before she joined him. She was in front of him this time, so he put his arms around her to fondle her breast as his cock poked into her ass. He squatted just enough so he could slide between her legs, rubbing his shaft against her slit.

“Don’t push”, she said jokingly.

“I'm not pushing. I'm just getting comfortable," he told her, emphasizing the point by sliding his dickback and forth against her lips. He entered her easily this time, and they slowly drove each other into orgasm.

The first night, however, they were both restless and sleepless, as if some call or unexpected visit would come to take them away from each other again. But the phones didn’t ring, and the onlything that visited them was the sound of the waves as they crashed on the nearby shore. They lay side by side on the bed, naked for the sake of coolness, not feeling any compulsion to get up, simply lying there and listening to the peaceful sounds that came from outside.

Late in the morning of the following day, they found a stretch of beach were they felt absolutely alone. June was bathing and Jon, who lay on the sun, had lost sight of her for a moment. The weather was baking hot, and the sand scorched their feet. Then, locks dripping and cheeks aflame, she emerged from in between the waves in her orange two-piece swimsuit. Her skin looked as if it was sizzling under the powerful sun and Jon was invaded by a genuine feeling of privilege at being the only one to witness such scene. She swayed her hips purposely when she noticed his admiring, appreciative stare.

There was something else sizzling other than her skin as she observed him as well: a god under the sun, his tousled up hair, rendered almost blonde once again under the hot sun and stiffened by the salty water. June couldn’t bring herself to remember ever being in such a constant state of turn on. When she arrived at his side, he got on his knees and looking around to be perfectly sure no one was near enough to see, he pressed his hand to her crotch and even took the opportunity to work a finger into her slit trough her suit. She groaned but immediately removed his hand to practically drag him to his feet and across the sand towards the house. On the way, Jon’s knees sagged in anticipation.

Once in the living room, June smiled shyly and reached behind her neck to untie the top of her bikini before Jon hugged her, kissing her passionately. He dropped to his knees and kissed her crotch through the damp bikini bottom before pulling it down. June fell back onto the ethnic-pattern-upholstered couch and, after waiting for Jon to get rid of his board shorts, pulled him downwith her. She instinctively spread her legs and cooed as the tip of his shaft passed over her clit. Her hands slid along his sides as he penetrated her. Once fully inside her, he dropped softly onto her, but holding him close to her, she guided for them to roll over while he was still inside her, and they successfully ended up her on top and his dick safely inside her. She immediately started to ride him hard, impaling her slender body on his cock. When the two finally came it was sograceful, so unhurried…They dropped weary and complete on the couch.

“I once read about a guy who said that after orgasm came sadness”, June let out an indignant chuckle, her breathing still somewhat ragged.

“I think that he could use a good fuck himself”, Jon chuckled huskily and took a deep breath. They were both still laughing at Jon’s remark when they joined for a kiss.  

Jon woke up from the nap to the smell of roasting coffee that came flowing out of the kitchen, and in a few minutes he had joined June there, where she was systemizing some sort of brunch that consisted basically in a selection of things cut in cubes and pieces. They sat on the terrace and ate rather silently.

But would there ever come a time when sharing a meal seemed ordinary? When they’d both be able to fall in the pleasant monotony of everyday life and its enchanting ease? The more they enjoyed the simple things, the more these questions appeared, unspoken, floating in the air around them.

There were certain moments when they had the illusion of permanence, when time felt more like a friend and not so much like an enemy, so they held on hour to hour that fell into place pleasantly one behind the other, playing, resting, strolling, swimming, lying on the sand, tearing their clothes off and fucking with sweating bodies whenever they felt like it, talking about whatever they felt like, sharing, feeling…. There were others when they couldn’t elude the fact that what was happening wouldn’t last long, couldn’t last long. At times the impending end seemed so palpable that they clung to each other with the desperation of a prisoner in the death row having his last meal, aware that he’s spinning out a present that has no future.

For people that live under the public eye, having a place where they can be “alone” (sort of speak) occasionally was a valuable thing, and among the selected and frequent guests of the island, it was common courtesy if anyone else knew who else was staying there, that they would keep that knowledge to themselves. If Jon and June were to feel safe anywhere, it was there.

However, living as they’d had, in the assumption that every gesture was picked up and scrutinized, they had decided against being seen in the island’s “neighborhood”, since it was not easy to movearound without attracting some kind of attention. They had gone to the one seafood restaurant in the whole island the previous evening late at night, and most people had paid no attention to them, but a few had eyed them with a sort of guarded curiosity. They were all guests, of course, and Jon trusted their discretion, but June seemed to not feel as comfortable as he did.

The last day was a perfect one, as far away from real as they could fathom. They’d have to be at the dock by 10 p.m., so late in the afternoon and after having showered and put on fresh clothes, Jon pulled a bottle of wine and two glasses from a drawer in the kitchen. He walked towards the terrace where June sat on a rattan lazy chair, peacefully listening to a selection of 80’s songs. He stood by her and extended his hand. “Come, let’s find some quiet corner, shall we?”, he suggested, lifting one eyebrow.

“You really think I’m that easy?”, she asked and looked up at him with a playful smile

“I waited almost ten years, remember?”, he stifled a smirk. “I’m a patient man, you’ll see”. He wiggled his fingers and let his head fall to one side persuasively.

June acknowledged his irresistibility with a soft smile, then took his hand and with the other pickedup the small radio that rested on the coffee table next to her chair.

As they started walking down the beach, the soft warm breeze made June’s short white summer dress flap against her thighs and Jon had one arm around her waist as she hummed to Billy Jean.The idea of the two of them walking as they were now but on the street, any street, anywhere,without having to hide from anyone, died a hopeless wish in his mind.

“Man, you’re really outta tune”, he teased her, and she smacked his back in return.

“Excuse me?”, she chortled with faux-indignation and he let out a proud laughter at his own success, but then stopped and after placing the glasses, the bottle and the radio firmly on the sand, he made her stand upright in front of him.

“You now you blow my mind, don’t you?...I know you do”, he said as he looked deeply into her twilight green eyes and knew, more certainly than ever before, that he loved her. Almost immediately, his heart sank at the thought of losing her, followed by a sense of helplessness and frustration that took hold of him and that he tried to bury with a simmering kiss. “Answer me, baby”.

But the lump on June’s throat prevented her from talking, and she was somewhat thankful for it, for if she had talked right then, she would have told him all the truth. She nodded silently.

Four weeks, that was all the time they had and it was almost consumed, only ten days left. As Jon looked meditatively at her, brushing her jaw with his finger, he realized that he would have accepted three, or even two weeks, if every moment had been like that one. They kissed again, softly and thoroughly with their arms wrapped around each other.

They both realized at once that the spot had something special, so they sat on the sand, exactly where they were standing. Jon opened the bottle of wine with a corkscrew he produced from the pocket of his deep gray board shorts and they started drinking as the melody of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the silence faintly escaped the speakers and blended with the low waves that beat rhythmically upon the sand.

The balminess of the air was absolutely delicious, and the sky was the warmest blue June had seen that year. June had lived so much in her fantasies that she realized she’d practically turned off real life and the possibility of fantastic things to happen to herself. Yet there it was, reality in allits glorious Technicolor. The view in front of their eyes was something really hard to describe.Wherever they looked, it was as if the sky was a glass bell that contained him and her alone, and the island. In front of them the distance seemed endless, but they knew there also stood theinvisible barrier of time.

A trace of sadness and melancholy ran through June’s veins, making her blood clog inside her heart, but she swallowed it up: she had decided to play a game she knew couldn’t win, and now there was no bargaining with the future, she’d have to just deal with it and endure the consequences of her decisions.

The moon was already on its way when all of a sudden, she removed all her clothes and began running towards the water. What the fuck was she doing? They were supposed to leave in two hours, Jon’s reason started the alarm, but as he gaped at her, how she ran naked towards thewater, all his rational thoughts simply disappeared. He started unbuttoning his white cotton shirt and tossed it aside just when June, from the water, turned to look at him, and their eyes met with a grin. He undid his board shorts and pushed them hastily down. He tried stepping out of them but they were momentarily caught on his feet. He almost fell with his nose flat on the sand, but finally managed to keep his balance and run towards the sea. He plunged in against a low wave and re-emerged a short moment later, shaking his head energetically from side to side.

They swam around each other in the deeper waters and laughed delightedly for a few minutes until Jon was finally able to catch her and press his chest against her back. He found the sand bottom and walked, still holding her, until the water was justo ver their navels. Her waist in the bend of his arm was soft and warm as the water, and their bodies seemed to melt together. She reached back with one hand to clasp the back of his head and looked over her shoulder, reachingfor his lips. When they moved their faces apart, they both sighed deeply.

Jon had stopped thinking and now merely felt. “I didn’t know you were so…corrupt”, he spoke seductively over the sound of the waves.

“You haven’t seen half of it”, she teased.

“How corrupt, then?”

“Really corrupt”

“Really like…”

“…to the bones”

He groaned and kissed her salty neck, then a smile appeared round the corners of June’s mouth, a faint, bold smile. When he started exploring her with his hand, she moaned.

“Not here”, she whispered.

He put his lips against her ear. “Yes, here”

He was in full erection once again, and that is kind of difficult to hide when you’re naked. With his right hand firmly around her waist, he used his left one to slide it up and down along her cleft. One finger moved into her wet, warm channel, and soon he started to pick up the pace of his caresses, feeling how June’s body surrendered to them as he took her higher and higher in the pleasure scale. His dick was pulsing in time to his heartbeat as he responded to his touch with heaving hips toward the shattering moment of surrender. She came as if it was her first time ever, and he held her tight, kissing her neck, letting the waves rock them slightly until her muscles finally relaxed and her breathing came back to normal. Then she turned around and wrapped her arms around hisneck and her legs around his waist, allowing him to enter her. That time, they didn’t know, theyfelt, that it wasn’t just fucking, it wasn’t just having sex. That was making love.  

After their climax, they clung to each other, fascinated by the dreamlike scene the sunset was offering them.

“We are alright, ain’t we?”, June asked, cryptically and almost rhetorically.

“Yeah…we’re alright”, he answered with the same ambiguity mixed with a trace of sadness.

And they waited, in silence. After all, that was how it was going to be, just dream, and wait for the end.

030

As son as Jon closed the door behind him, June turned on her heels, walked towards her desk and sat down. She felt physically tired, but her mind was raging. She organized some documents and drafts she had printed, then made some calls, including one to her editor, who agreed to come during the course of the afternoon. There were minor revisions to her book she still hadn’t managed to finish and even though she had established the day before her departure as deadline – what meant she still had three more weeks to go -, she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

It was already late that Saturday night when, having announced herself earlier by phone, Diane dropped by with pizza and beers. Knowing her friend as she did, she confirmed she wasn’t mistaken by guessing June hadn’t had a bite during the whole afternoon. Sitting by her side as June tiped frantically, Diane practically fed her from time to time and kept her company, silently reading a book while nestled in the cozy egg-shaped orange sofa that June had in her office, next to one of the giant bookshelves that were distributed around the house. At a certain point, June slouched back on her black ergonomic desk chair and stretched her back. The bones crackled and she reached for the half full bottle of beer next to the monitor of her IBM.

As some sort of break, her and Diane engaged in a light and relaxed conversation, which included the usual display of Diane’s knowledge on all things entertainment. At one moment, Diane couldn’t help but hint.

“I can't wrap my mind around the fact that we don’t know of any registered romance since the news broke that Jon was unofficially back on the market…”, she began, shaking her head with suspicio while June hid behind a slice of cold pizza. “It’s an open secret his marriage has been over for a long time. I wonder why he hasn’t gotten a divorce yet...you think it’s because of the money?”, she asked, almost rethorically.

“What makes you think I know that?”, June asked casually and continued to chew on her bite of pizza, but knowing that Diane was something close to an eagle regarding information, she thought it wiser to not give her reasons to suspect, so she humored her. “In his current position maybe it’s better that he’s not seen with anybody”, she shrugged.

“Anyway…”, Diane giggled soflty, holding the bottle of beer by the neck, “…knowing a thing or two about the entertainment business, I can assure you that the primal ardores of the instinct”, she raised a perfectly coifed eyebrow while she emphasized, “are satisfied by means of confraternization with the staff of his so-called corporation”, she air quoted and June couldn’t help but chortle at her friends way with words. “Some Christmas bonus, that hunk”, Diane commented, almost to herself, and June’s loud laughter hid her wariness at having to lie and hide, even to and from the people she loved the most. “Of course, that’s just speculation”, she cleared, holding up one hand.

“Yeah…who knows…”, said June, turning to the keyboard once more, secretly thankful that Diane seemed satisfied and was able to let the conversation move on to another subject.

As she did every time she stayed over, Diane slept in June’s bed, and that’s were June found her at the crack of dawn when her eyes, mind and body finally gave up. It was only then that June realized she hadn’t changed the sheets, and wondered if Diane’s actual nose was as good as the one she had for gossip when she placed her head on the pillow and perceived Jon’s dinstinct cologne. The thought was fleeting as she felt immediately in a deep sleep, full of vivid dreams of houses with strange maze-like basements, and she didn’t have the opportunity to check Diane’s reaction the following day, since her friend was gone when June was woken up by her phone at one in the afternoon of Sunday.

It was her parents, checking up on her and confirming the details for their arrival and stay at her house during the following week. They’d be arriving Monday afternoon, and it would be the last time they’d spend time together as a family under the same roof for a long time, so June was rather looking forward to it. It would be nice to have her parents home during the busy weeks that lay ahead, specially her father, who had agreed to take care of the paperwork concerning the house, which June was going to rent out to the daughter of a family’s friend.  Besides, their visit would help her keep her mind off the fact that Jon would be thousands of miles away. She unconsciously also hoped that those days apart from each other would help her work on her detachment from him, eventually making it easier for her to say goodbye when the moment came.

After hanging up with her parents, June checked her answering machine and cell phone messages: among random messages from other friends and the usual work-related stuff, she found one from Diane that read “Nice smell on your pillow… and it’s not your perfume. When will you learn you can’t keep secrets from me?”. There was another one from Jon: “Call me when you get up”. Many were from her manager: there would be no Sundays for her until she left and in order to leave her agenda for Monday afternoon open to wait for her parents, she’d arranged with her manager to meet on Sunday afternoon to go through the meeting they’d arranged for Tuesday with the investors.

However, late in the afternoon June realized that the meeting with her manager would take longer than expected: apparently one of the Chinese authors had finally agreed to give them the publication and translation rights of his latest novel, which promised to be one of the most polemic, incendiary portraits of China’s last decade, reason for which his author feared a possible prosecution by the government. In return, the publishing house would help him, his wife and his baby daughter to get out of the country in safety. Considering that June still had an additional hour plus drive to Jon’s house, there was no possible way of her making it to dinner, so she excused herself from the meeting for a few minutes to phone him, finally arranging to drop by once she was finished.

…

After his daughter and son finally fell asleep, Jon opened a bottle of wine and moved to the small home studio he’d set up in the lower floor of his apartment by splitting one of the spare rooms in two, with the live room on one side and the control room on the other side of the wall-to-wall acoustic glass pane. The music was sounding loudly inside his head, and he felt an intense desire to write it down together with the words. He turned on the AC, for it was a rather warm evening, and kept his “home” jeans on, leaving his torso bear. He’d had enough time to play around with some melodies on his guitar when he heard a soft knock on the frame of the door, which he’d left partially open.

He looked up to find June leaning against the white frame, wearing a pair of tight white jeans and a loose, sleeveless red satin blouse. Her hair was done up in a high ponytail.

“You’re late”, he said with a faux-scolding tone as he placed the guitar vertically on the floor, the neck leaning against the edge of the control console. “It’s almost two in the morning”

“Better late than never, don’t you think?”, she said as she stepped inside the room and walk towards Jon, who remained seated on the green revoling chair. “Besides, it’s almost two in the afternoon somewhere”, she spoke seductively and dropped her bag on the floor before stradling him and wrapping her arms around his neck. He placed his hands on her butt before they joined for a slow and deep, lingering kiss. She could taste the wine on his lips.

When they parted, June looked around the room: the walls where painted a dark brick red, and on the floor lay a Persian rug. It looked cozy despite the predominantly metallic surfaces of the equipment. “Nice job if you can get it, huh?”, she joked.

“Well…you know…just enough to make ends meet”, he humored her and she chuckled softly before standing back up.

“We’re screwed, ain’t we?”, she started, and hastily added, “What we do…I mean, records and books…”

“You mean dying arts?” he completed with a bittersweet smile that evidenced his irony and that June acknowledge with a small smile. “I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, though…”, he trailed off noticing that June wasn’t paying attention to his words, but instead, was pressing her nose against the glass pane to try and distinguish what was on the other side while she bent over the console in what Jon thought was actually a very enticing position. Jon smiled to himself and deftly pressed the switch on the side of the console. June jumped slightly back when the soft, warm light of the live room was turned on. She noticed the dark grey acoustic material that covered the walls, the ragged surface composed of endless small pyramids that stuck out from the panels. In the center around stood four metal stools, the seat was covered with deep burgundy leather. Two microphones hung from the ceiling, in the center of the room, and a couple of guitars as well as other small percussion instruments such as tambourine and maracas hung from a rack on the wall.

“Are you done snooping around?”, he teased after a few moments.

“Probably…”, June turned and everything from her skin inside swooned: every time June thought she’d developed some sort of tolerance to Jon’s physical, god-like perfection, there he was, slouched back on the chair, both his hands on the back of his neck in a relaxed position, his bare feet flat on the carpet and his legs wide open. He stared at her with that mischievous, low-lidded smile in his eyes and a pout on his lips.  He was like a lethal predator who know exactly what his weapons are and how to use them to cause the desire effect. “…You mind if I try something first?”, she asked. If he wanted to play games, she’d play then, and beat him, too.

“Please”, he replied lifting one eyebrow and smirking sideways.

June walked out of the control room and toed off her dark silver flat shoes before stepping on the soft beige carpet of the live room. She smiled and waved at Jon on the other side of the glass before closing the door behind her. She took another look around with her hands in her back pockets.

“Take off your clothes”, ordered the husky voice that came out of the speakers and she snorted in response. She saw Jon on the other side of the glass, leaning over the console, his lips against the thin black microphone as he stifled a smirk. “What are you laughin’ at? I’m deadly serious”, even though his voice was slightly distorted by the microphone, the raspiness still made its way through.

“Alright”, she whispered to herself and nodded deeply, one corner of her lips tugged up. She looked deeply into his eyes as she reached for the door knob and pressed the button that locked the door from inside.

“What are you doin’?”, Jon tried to keep his grave tone. Amused but baffled, he couldn’t help a frown from creasing his brow. Then he noticed it, the blushing in her cheeks that he realized he’d been expecting, the one that told him that things were about to get interesting.

June lazily lifted her top and pulled it over her head, then let it fall to the floor as she continued to walk around the perimeter of the room, brushing with one hand the surface of the acoustic panels.

“Faster”, he ordered and teased, “I don’t have all night”.  

June decided to approach the microphone and stretched her neck so her lips would be closer to the round filter in front of the metallic artifact. With a sexy voice, she said “Be patient, there’s a long way to come”. She winked, as if her tone didn’t suffice as evidence of her pun.

“You know I’m not a very patient man”, he whispered, aroused by both what he was witnessing and the expectation of what was about to come, as he searched in the shelves next to him for a certain CD.

Seconds later, Joe Cocker’s You can leave your hat on started coming out of the speaker and June chortled. “Cliché”, she mouthed, and Jon shrugged unapologetically.  

She sat on one of the stools, placing her bare feet on the cold footrest, and reached back to unclip her white lace bra. Jon watched the cups fall away, exposing her breasts and allowing him to discover that her nipples were already erect, certainly not just as a reaction to the cool air of the AC. June could see her own reflection on the glass superimposed as a ghost over Jon’s image on the other side. She was improvising, and let the exquisite mixture of expectation and uncertainty invade her and thicken her blood. She slid down from the stool and resumed her walk, her round, firm breasts barely jiggling as she moved. A moment later she started to unbutton and unzip her pants. Then, with her back deliberately to the glass pane, she bent over as she slowly pulled her jeans down. When she was finished, she walked out of them.

While on one room June she seemed to be getting pretty comfortable, on the other one, Jon’s manhood throbbed on the other end of the comfort expectrum. Wearing nothing but her white lace panties and feeling Jon’s laser-like piercing stare, June handlded some of the percussion instruments. Oh, the maracas. A couple of ideas came to her mind, but she discarded them, maybe it was just a little too much, so she limited herself to shake them a little bit and leave them back on their place.

“There are other things you can touch inside that room, you know…”, he breathed with a devilish smile on his lips, “…and I mean your stuff, not mine”.

June turned her head and removed her hair band, letting the thin, shiny strands of light brown hair fall bouncily over her satin glowing shoulders. She shook her head and hooking a thumb on either side of her panties; she was already so wet that the crotch held on to a strand of her wetness as she pulled them down, exposing her patch of light brown hair. The visual stimulation made Jon impossibly hard, and he unbuttoned his jeans and laid back on the chair in an attempt to ease some of the pressure in his crotch. Swinging slowly from side to side, he decided to limit his actions to watch as June, now completely naked, sat on the stool once again and spread her legs. “You mean, this stuff?”, she breathed her question while she brushed her hands on her inner thighs.

However, the rosy welts that criss-crossed June’s upper inner thigh caught Jon’s attention. He couldn’t help but lean over to the microphone and ask, unable to hide his concern.

“What happened there?”

“Ask your zipper”, she answered, lifting her eyebrows as she remembered their partially dressed love-making on the chair back at the cabin.

“Bad zipper”, he replied shaking his head, reassured by her lack of concern for the matter and her playful, seductive tone. In a second, her hand was between her legs, and Jon groaned sharply against the microphone.

She started gently caressing her clit. “Mmm…this feels so good”, she whispered and teased as she continued the slow strokes, her lips parted, her breathing becoming heaviear and heavier, as was Jon’s, according to what the microphone transmitted. His erection was now so hard it was painful.

“Why don’t you let me do that?”, he asked, almost in a moan.

“Nuh-huh”, she shook her head, “I touch my stuff…you touch yours”, she challenged with a smirk.

“You gotta be kiddin’ me”

“I’m deadly serious”, she teased, throwing his words back at him. The music had changed to a bluesy instrumental tune.

One of June’s hands now fondled her breast and played with her nipple as she threw her head slightly back. She began to slowly lose herself in the pleasant sensations, her palm pressing rhythmically against her slit as her wetness flowed in small, thick drops. A warm, thick, tickling feeling reached every corner of her being.

Jon watched, in awe at the private spectacle and laid back again on his chair, now unzipping his fly. He could swear there was a key to the live room door somewhere in there, but he just couldn’t get his eyes off of June, and his mind drifted away in the sea of pleasure.  His cock ached so hard that it came to a point were he had to hold it in his hands and rub it to soothe the ache.

After a few moments, Jon stood up and the movement on the other side of the glass caught June’s attention. For a moment she thought that maybe he’d found a key to the door and was on his way to open it, but when she lifted her head she found him standing in front of the console, his fly wide open while he held his cock in his hands, stroking it. The foreskin slipped, slowly up and down over the pink smooth end. She could see every detail, the veins strained as those in his hand and neck as he paced himself to her, his cheeks with a slight pink blush.

For both of them, the experience was becoming more and more overwhelming by the second, and June moved and moaned as her fingers pressed harder and faster, causing her clit to swell and harden even more under her touch. At the same time, Jon put one hand on the surface of the console and bent over it, then started moving his other hand faster and faster, his mouth partially open. Through the speakers, they could hear each other groan and moan and breathe.

“Fuck, June, come on, open the door”, he pleaded and groaned. She shook her head with hooded eyes and bit her lower lip.

When June felt that she was about to reach her peak, she poised at the height, not wanting the sweet moment to end, but she could see that Jon was ready, so she stood up and walked towards the glass pane. Stifling a smirk, she crooked her index finger, inviting him in. “Come…”, she finally mouthed, “…here”, she finished before walking towards the door.

Keeping the sides of his fly together with one hand, in a few long strides Jon was in the live room and locked the door after he closed it behind him. June was waiting for him, and as soon as he was in, she pushed him against the fluffy acoustic panels of the wall, then kneeled in front of him and, grabbing him by the cheeks of his ass, she pressed her face to his cock that stuck out like a flagpole as soon as Jon let go of his fly.

“For Christ’s sake, baby”, he pleaded and throbbed again under her lips, but she limited herself to brush a demure kiss over the tip before carefully pulling his pants down to his knees. Her eyes widened a little at the nearness of the most beautiful, perfect dick she’d ever seen and she looked up at him with lustful, deep green eyes. There was not the slightest trace of hesitation in them, and Jon hissed in anticipation. Just her warm breath on his extremely sensitive skin made him fear he might just explode and squirt all over her face. He raked his fingers through her hair and clasped the back of her head, then with his other hand took his hard cock and aimed it towards her mouth. She pouted slightly and stifled a smile after she kissed the tip once again. Jon chortled slightly with delightful frustration before letting himself go as he felt her plump lips surrounding his cock and taking every inch of in slowly inside her mouth until it topped on the back of her throat. A long, deep moan slowly escaped from deep inside his stomach. Both his hands were now placed on either side of her head, mostly in an attempt to hold himself from grabbing it and fucking her mouth until he was completely spent and satisfied. He was dangerously on the edge, so he held his breath and clenched his jaw. June closed her eyes, enjoying the wonderful sensation of caressing his dick with her tongue, savouring the exquisite musk.  

Jon let out a long, deep groan as June pulled back until only the tip remained in her mouth and opened her eyes to see every muscle in his abdomen ripple and twist under his golden skin as he breathed heavily and raggedly. Looking back up at him with an impish grin, June finally let go of the tip and stood back up, pressing her body against his and reaching for his lips. He held her so tightly he could feel his erection press against her mound and her breasts crashing against his chest. In return, she pressed even harder, rubbing her mound against him, taking possession of his mouth.

Jon’s hand started probing between her thighs and found her absolutely soaking wet. June felt the sting of pleasure that coursed through her the moment he touched her and instinctively spread her legs to grant him more access.  

“Do it…again”, he ordered when their lips parted briefly while he circled her clit.

“Or what”, she moaned her challenge.

“Or I won’t stop until you scream”, he said against her ear before sucking on her earlobe. His tongue played briefly with the small pearl earring while he pushed two fingers inside her, circling and caressing her slick inner walls. She whinced with every deep stroke until all of a sudden, her muscles went rigid and a soft scream escaped her lips, which she silenced by pressing her them against Jon’s bare shoulders as she held on to them with both her hands, sinking her short nails in his firm flesh. Her body was driven beyond the senses can bear, and her orgasm was like a raging fire that spread all over her. Her knees faltered but Jon held her firmly with his arm around her waist. “Yeah…mmm…baby”, the pleasure he derived from having her panting beneath his touch was equisite, and the scream was in his throat when he felt the warm rush of liquid that came out of her. He also felt a rush of his own precum shoot against his stomach. His tongue explored deep into her mouth when he captured her lips once more and she yielded to the kiss.

Still trembling after her orgasm, June dropped to her knees once again and looked at Jon’s cock, then up to him with an impish grin before licking the precum that was smeared around his navel. Then, wrapping his fingers around his shaft and gripping it tightly, he put it against her lips. Her tongue stuck out to lick the tip, lapping up a strand of transparent precum. Jon groaned again when she opened her mouth to suck it all inside once again. “Fuuuuck…”.

June began to suck on the head while her hand moved rapidly against it and Jon tried hard to keep his eyes open, entranced by the spectacle. He’d been ready to shoot for quite a while, and now he was past the point of no return. When June looked up at him whith his cock still in her mouth, Jon couldn’t hold on anymore. He felt his dick pulse twice before the warm, liquid feeling took over.

The feel of the pulsations at the base of his cock as he came trascended any limits June had ever known, and she gently fondled his testicles as his orgasm took over him. He quivered and squirmed controlledly for a long minute, tensing his muscles, shutting his eyes close, dropping his jaw. When his spasms receded, she swallowed one last time.

With his head still thrown back and his eyes closed, Jon let himself slide down the wall until he was seating on the floor, over his jeans that had pooled around his ankles. He pulled June towards him and she snuggled against him between his legs. They stayed there for what seemed like hours.

Once their paths had diverted, June might one day forget the little details, but she was sure that she would never forget his embrace, the way it filled her heart with warmth and made her quiver with pleasure at the same time. After a few minutes, he started to run his hands over her bare back.

“Bed?”, she finally said, and he nodded. they helped each other stand up and Jon pulled his jeans back up while June retrieved her clothes scattered all over the live room.

“Don’t forget to tell Celia to clean the stools tomorrow”, she giggled softly.

“Or I’ll just keep it to myself, for when I miss you”, he said as he picked up her panties from the floor and kept them hanging from his crooked index finger as he returned them to their rightful owner. June just smiled slightly and put them back on, then her blouse before exiting the room. Jon soflty slapped her butt before turning off the lights and closing the door behind him.

…

When Jon’s children little voices woke him up early the following morning, June was already gone, no trace of her to be found. He probably hadn’t slept more than four hours, but somehow his children infused some sort of energy in him that kept him going fresh and rested. That, and the help of Celia and the around the clock nanny he had hired. He put on the first thing he found and went down to the kitchen, were Celia was chanting with her usual Monday morning enthusiasm.

Regardless, nonetheless, of the distance their separation had put between Jon and his wife, she still seemed to be able to see through any mask he intended to wear.

“Wow, those are some raccoon eyes”, she mentioned after greeting her children that had preceded their father through the front door of the house they used to share when they were a family. She knew Jon well enough to know that those shiners weren’t just a product of a succession of sleepless nights locked up in a studio with his band.

“It’s complicated”, he limited to say, pursing his lips. There was no point in lying to her, and he knew that with that phrase she would understand that that was all she needed to know. 

Once back at his apartment, Jon dropped himself on the couch and fell right asleep, as if for the first time in days he was finally able to conceive a deep sleep. Richie woke him up a few hours later, all a sly grin on his face.

“What are you doin’ here? Ain’t ya supposed to be changing dipers?”, Jon asked, puzzled, as he lifted himself on his elbow, keeping only one eye open, his lips twisted sideways in an asymmetrical grimace. He looked at the time, it was twenty minutes to two in the afternoon, when his assistant would come and help him get ready for his flight. Richie was apparently busy with his own solo project, and had decided to drop by and see his friend. It wasn’t long before they were surrounded by the usual entourage, and their presence prevented Jon from telling Richie about the recent “news”. Before leaving for the airport, Jon gave him a tight hug.

“I’ll give you a day or two, Kidd…just a day or two”, Richie began criptycally while they were still hugging.

“What do you mean?”, Jon frowned, “I fly back on Friday”.

Richie chuckled and grinned. “Sure, but you’ll call me in a day or two…”, he grinned, “…that’s as long as you’ve been able to keep anything from me”.