006

Sadly enough for June, 1989 held other farewells in store for her: once summer was over, Adrianna would be leaving town to study Computer Science at the University of Arizona. ARIZONA. She might as well be moving to South America as far as June was concerned. However, long-distance relationships wasn’t Adrianna’s cup of tea, and as hard as she and Paul struggled to keep it going, in the end it was to no avail. Distance took the best of them, and they finally split up. June was there for her through the whole process, but was secretly thankful that she’d made the right choice by staying in Kalamazoo, or hers and Michael’s relationship could have shared the same luck.

So classes at university started and both June and Michael made themselves busy by making new acquaintances and friends, studying hard, partying not more than necessary and trying to find time to spend with each other whenever all the other activities allowed. Most times they tried to steal some together time by studying at their favorite café, but it was just their physical presence, not their actual selves that they shared company with. Sometimes they were so tired they didn’t even have the energy to sneak out and make love. When and if they finally did, they were also too tired to try new things, so they resorted to the routine that was satisfying for both. It was good anyway, they’d have time to try other things during the holidays.

Nevertheless, when the time came for planning what to do during the winter holidays, June wanted nothing but to go away from her hometown, she felt claustrophobic. She’d given up moving to another city, but she couldn’t give up traveling, and Italy seemed like the perfect place to get started, even when her Italian was still absolutely basic. And she wanted to take Michael with her, but Michael had already planned ahead: he and his friends from college would go to the Niagara Falls area to follow different hiking trails.

“Um…I’ve been thinking about telling you about this for a while, but always something else came up and I forgot. I postponed it for too long…I’m sorry, June. I should have told you in advance about my plans”. He spoke apologetically and honestly, not even himself knew how it had happened that all of a sudden he found himself making plans without June in them.

June remained silent as she tried to figure out her reaction to Michael’s words. At the same time, was surprised too. First because of Michael’s announcement, but even more because she felt a sort of relief, and far from feeling alone or lonely, she felt free.

“S’alright, it’s going to be good to miss each other for a few days, don’t you think?”, she spoke seductively as she nuzzled his neck.

Michael smiled softly, in a way, it reminded him of the thing he loved most about June: she was always able to look on the bright side of things. He responded with a soft kiss.

Due to the nature of Michael’s holidays, he was out of the grid and unreachable by phone the greatest portion of time and meanwhile, June was too busy enjoying the wonderful experience and the excitement of going out of the country for the first time in her life, speaking a different language, tasting every kind of pasta, ice-cream or any delicious bite that came her way. On her way back she planned to make a stop in New York to visit her brother who was just back from his own holidays. All that John had let her know recently was that the band, and specially Jon, were going through a delicate conjuncture, so brother and sister hadn’t seen each other for a few months.

The first night they stayed up telling each other about their adventures, catching up and restoring their bond.

“I dunno, John. I don’t know what to think, I thought I would be counting the minutes to see him again, but it didn’t happen. On the contrary, it felt good to be away from him for a while”, she confessed as she sat cross-legged on the rug next to the sofa.

“That’s natural, kid, you’ve been stuck to each other for what…year and a half already? This is good, you’ll see. You’re too young to be thinking too much about things. Just take each day and night at a time”, he paused to make sure his next words came out right, “I sometimes even envy you guys, you’re great together, one can tell you love each other”.

June meditated for a few seconds. Maybe John was right, she and Michael were so lucky. What else could she hope for? Michael was the one, no doubt about it, she shouldn’t be looking for the hair on the egg. A moment after she already felt at ease again, and the subject seemed sufficiently discussed.

“Look at you tough motorbike boy”, June teased her brother resuming his recapitulation of his motorbike trip with Jon and some other friends, and pulled the uneven strands of hair that reached his shoulders. The tips of his light brown hair had turned gold blonde after being exposed to the bright sunshine of the southern states. He was also sporting an enviable tan.

“Yeah, don’t get used to it, though, I’ll lose them next week”, he did the scissors gesture with his index and middle finger, then resumed his story in a closing manner. “It was good…in so many levels. Jon is as good as new and full of energy and ideas. By the look of things, next year’s gonna keep us busy”. John couldn’t hide his excitement. After all the uncertainty of the past couple of months, the future was finally beginning to take shape.

“You know, there’s a party at Jon’s new place tomo-“, he glanced at the dawn colors in the sky through the window of the living room and corrected himself, “well…today actually, and jet lag’s not an excuse not to come”, he pinched his sister’s cheeks “I’ve missed you sooo much little bitch”. June giggled in response. No matter how old and mature they may get, she cherished the fact that through her brother she’d always keep in touch with the little girl inside of her.

“You bet, I’ll be stuck to your sorry ass until I leave on Monday, you’re not getting me off your back, not for a minute”, she waggled her finger at John with a mock warning tone. John yawned and scratched his eyes. “Hm…crazy rock n’ roll party…you sure you want your little sister there?” she asked biting her tongue.

John chuckled lazily. “Nah, don’t get too excited, they’re taking things easier these days”, he heard his own solemn words and realized that he was too happy to be with his sister again not to tease her with a white grin: “Just promise you won’t act like a CB”.

June let out a throaty laugh and was followed at once by John’s own burst of laughter, both voices echoed around the empty, quiet apartment. After recovering she straightened her face and held her right hand next to her ear in the Girl Scout’s gesture. “Promise”, but she couldn’t contain another hard laughter to escape her throat.

…

After John left the house, June helped her mother clean the breakfast dishes and, taking advantage of her parents engaging in conversation regarding the recent political news, she quickly padded to her room and closed the door. She was thinking about catching up with overloaded e-mail box she had neglected these past few days between receiving her parents and brother at home and giving her book the final revision. It took no more than opening three e-mails for June to realize that her mind wasn’t fully in it, but rather in some other event that would take place the following day. Instead, she dialed her friend Diane’s number.

In their close bond there was no room for introductions or greetings. “I need your help! Can you go shopping with me tomorrow morning? Mom and dad leave this afternoon so…we can have brunch and start from there”.

“Whoa…whoa…what’s going on? And if you don’t want to tell me then you should start by not sounding so excited or doing something completely out of character like ‘going shopping’”

June laughed softly, she felt exposed, so she tried to take importance from the matter. “It’s just a party at John’s house, but um…”, she cringed when she realized she was about to lie to one of her best friends. As much as she tried, she couldn’t help it, “…I’ve already packed all my party dresses”.

Diane laughed. “You’re such a bad liar. Now tell me, you’ve already been acting weird for the past weeks and trying, with poor success, to conceal it from me. This is it, I feel offended and underestimated, so make it up to me by telling me what the fuck you’re up to?”, she spoke sternly with mock offense, then sighed deeply. “Shall we start by you telling me who the guy is?”

“You bitch”, June shook her head and bit her lower lip, “OK, you got it…there is someone” she stated solemnly and immediately added: “Please don’t ask anything else. Besides, I’m leaving in two weeks, remember? I’m just having fun…just bare with me?”. June held a pleading smile even when she knew her friend couldn’t see it.

“Fair enough…for now. But don’t dare think you’re setting a foot on that plane without telling me everything. Be warned.”

“Promise, my General. So. Tomorrow…be ready at 9. I’ll come pick you up”.

June hung up, but there was another phone call she needed to make before giving the e-mail box another try.

005

The following day after breakfast at the hotel cafeteria, John said goodbye to the couple and left them with all the instructions on how to get to the venue together with the backstage passes. June and Michael didn’t leave the room until an hour before the concert, and were only able to reach John until half an hour after it was over, when they finally managed to find their way through to the backstage area. Seeing the two of them and the glow in their faces, John prayed that it was caused by their jumping and singing during the concert and not their afternoon activities.

They were just greeting each other when a fourth voice joined the conversation.

“Oh well! Who’s the pretty lady?”

June’s vision was obstructed by her brother, but as soon as he moved to a side, she could see Jon approaching them barefoot, with impossibly tight blue jeans, a cut-down white sleeveless shirt hardly containing the bush of chest hair striving to be released from its seclusion inside the tight garment. The long tresses of shaggy long brown hair flapping over his broad shoulders and an absolutely charming side smirk completed the look.  

“Jon, let me introduce you to my little sister, June. June, meet Jon Bon Jovi”, John’s voice was of mock solemnity.

“Yeah, we’ve met before”, said June with a smile as she shook Jon’s hand, “but you probably don’t remember…’you’ve seen a million faces’, right?”

“Forgot ‘em all..." Jon shrugged and spoke apologetically ,“Unluckily for me…”. Being terrible with faces was one of the items in the long list of defects he attributed to himself. “Even the pretty ones”, he let go of her hand and asked “…and the lucky guy is…?”

“Michael”, Michael introduced himself using the manliest voice he could come up with, and extended his arm towards Jon.

“Nice to meet you, both”, Jon’s tone was charming and gentle now. “Make yourself at home. I gotta get back to work now”. As he spoke his last line, Jon padded on John’s back and spoke into his ear. John nodded silently and returned the pad.

“Thanks”, June and Michael replied in unison and waved a hand at Jon, then he mirrored their gesture.

June couldn’t help but follow with her eyes as Jon walked away. She felt her temperature go up a grade or two when she observed Jon’s absolutely perfect butt - every curve, every muscled as they moved in synchronicity with his skin-tight jeans. She felt like a woman, but she blamed it on nothing else but the hormones still running through her body.

Jon walked until he reached a pretty brunette that was having an animated conversation with the guitar player. Jon wrapped his arms around her waist and she responded by molding herself against him. Afterwards he pulled aside a strand of hair with his nose and kissed her neck, then joined the conversation.

June looked at Michael and kissed him demurely on the lips. “Let’s get outta here”.

The next morning John arrived late for breakfast. Michael had previously informed June that her brother hadn’t returned to the room the night before.

“Sorry guys, crazy morning”

“Why don’t you get some sleep? You look drained”, June commented with a certain tone of worry in her voice as she squeezed his arm.

John dropped himself on the chair, buried his face in his hands and after a couple of seconds wiped his face and scratched his eyes, then downed half the cup of coffee in front of him. After swallowing, he let out a deep sigh.

“He did it, the bastard. He did it”. John was practically speaking to himself, but June couldn’t help but ask.

“What? Who?”, she inquired, baffled by the scene in front of her.

John chuckled and shook his head, then lifted it up and rested his chin on the base of his palms. “Jon. Can you believe it? He’s on a plane to Vegas now. He’s marrying his girlfriend”. June and Michael were more amused than anything else by John’s behavior, but they could tell that he needed to share this with someone in order to unload a burden that had become too heavy to carry by himself, so they thought it would be wiser to remain silent and let him continue. “It’s his first act of rebellion. I know it. When he comes back there’ll be quite a few long faces”. He giggled. “Jesus. Whatever…”, he sighed and made a drastic change of subject. “What are your plans for today?”

The rest of the day and at June’s request, John finally took the couple on a tour around the most famous spots in the area, then the following day during the first hours of the afternoon, he dropped them off at the airport.

…

At the sound of the door opening, Jon turned his head to greet his visitor and the expression on his face, that seconds ago held a mischievous and naughty look that was the consequence of the conversation he was having on the phone, changed into an expression of warmness and kindness. Nothing could compare to his smile when it was given as honestly and as fully as the one he offered to the people he deeply cared about and loved.

“Hey pal”, he waved a hand at John and gestured with the thumb and index of his idle hand indicating that he needed time to close the conversation. “Yeah, he’s here”, he kept the glowing warm smile on his face as he said goodbye. “I’ll see you soon then…”, he waited for the other person to talk and turned his back to John, an involuntary purr escaped from deep in his throat, he cleared it and spoke seductively in a low voice “…you know I do…’course…bye”.

After walking through Jon’s apartment main door, John found him standing by the small bar that stood behind the huge black sofa that divided the living area from the equally generous dining area. Having not seen him in over a week, John was impressed by how thin Jon looked. He’d never been a big guy, but he’d started buffing up the first years of the decade and had been in optimum physical shape during the last tour, however the past year and a half, as some kind of externalization of everything he was shedding, he’d also lost quite a few pounds. Jon stood behind the sofa, leaning his thighs against its fluffy back, wearing a black pair of denim that used to fit him like a glove but now barely clung to his narrow hips. By the mess and wetness of his short dark hair, John could deduce that not a long time had passed since Jon had had a bath, and by the redness on the skin of his chest, that not a long time had passed since Jon’s last wax session. He was looking at some point in the space outside the big window on the wall in front of him across the living room, and the bright midday daylight forced him to keep his eyes half-closed. His left arm held the phone to his ear, the right arm hung along his side, his hand lazily holding and gently swirling a half-empty glass of white wine by the rim. It was clear it wasn’t the first one, though, since a half-full bottle stood on the top of the bar counter, next to a corkscrew that he hadn’t even bother to release the cork from. After seeing John walk through the door, Jon left the phone on the bar counter and leisurely moved towards his guest extending his arms in front of him. Taking care not to let any precious drop escape the cup he was holding, he offered his friend a hug.

“Nice to see you again, man”, John pulled away and gestured with his hand to Jon’s lean ribcage, “…before you disappear into thin air”

“Let’s not let that happen then and eat, food must be here in a minute”

Over lunch that they ordered from the nearby Italian restaurant that catered for Jon’s taste and requirements, the two took the time to catch up on the latest news and ordinary issues that they hadn’t covered during their telephone conversations. Then came the subject of the plan for the following few days: there was John’s party on Saturday night, but first Jon was planning on spending some time with his children during what was left of the Friday afternoon and the major part of Saturday.

“Gawd…I missed them like crazy”, John sighed and scratched his chest as he lay half-seated, half-sprawled on the sofa, leaving four reddish lines just under his pecs and on top of the ripples formed by the skin that covered his hard abdominal muscles. “They grow so fast when they’re so little, they probably look completely different now than they did five days ago”. John listened and nodded in acknowledgement as Jon continued. “I don’t wanna miss anything and it pisses me off that I have no choice, regardless”. He nodded silently and pursed his lips. John, noticing his friend’s typical silence before saying something important, remained quiet and waited, though he had a hunch about what the announcement would be. After a few moments, he took in a deep breath and spoke. “OK let’s do it, John. There’s nothing left to do and I don’t have the will to make it work anymore…This is going nowhere, it’s just natural that we pass to the next stage. What am I waiting for? I’m ready to turn the page”. He tried to be solemn, because his heart ached for his children. John, however, knew better, and in Jon’s new silence he saw the opportunity to make him know that there was more to it than he was actually showing.

“And you can’t wait for this to be over. To be free”, John confirmed confidently and took a sip from his scotch on the rocks.

Jon chuckled softly and nodded, raising his eyebrows in admittance. “It was tough to finally agree on it, I mean, how long is it prudent to wait? I can’t wait anymore, I need to get this over with and move on”.

“It’s gonna be crazy, but we’ll make it through. I’ll take care of that” John spoke confidently and professionally.

Jon let out a sharp blow of air and spoke trying to add levity to the matter: “No doubt about it, you always take good care of my ass”. Jon sat straight up and slapped John’s leg reassuringly, then stood up, raked his hand through his now dry hair and walked over to the window with his left hand crossed over his chest, grasping the opposite shoulder.

If it were something important, Jon would tell him by his own will, but John couldn’t help but hinting: “I dunno, looks like someone’s taking better care of it than I am”.

Jon’s stomach fluttered and he swallowed to release the tension that John’s words had created, he took advantage of the fact that he was giving his back to John and discarded the question with the hopes that he wouldn’t be willing to dig deeper. He turned around and with his index finger drew an imaginary halo above the crown of his head. He helped the gesture with a mock naïve look. That should suffice.

Effectively, it did. John laughed out loud. “’Course, how could I forget? Shame on me”.

It was good that Jon was already thinking in future and not in past time like he had until a few months ago.

Jon resumed the previous subject to take the attention away from the one that had aroused. “I told Richie about this last night and I had to swallow a shit load of words I’d said about marriage and shit”, he stopped and looked back at John who had begun chuckling amusedly.

“Who would have thought it would be you and not him, huh?”

“Yeah, I hope they don’t share the same luck”. Both men meditated for a few moments. Indeed, Richie appeared to have finally achieved happiness and stability and it was doing wonders for both his health and his art.

“D-I-V-O-R-C-E” Jon broke the silence by spelling the word using a tune that he invented on the spot. He scratched his chest again and cursed to himself, “This waxing shit itches like shit”

John laughed out loud, “But chicks love it, man”. Jon shrugged in response, he missed his chest hair, the simple caveman inside of him felt powerful, but now he looked defenseless. However, he admitted to himself that despite his self-deprecation and that it had always been a pain in the ass to be considered “just a pretty face”, he enjoyed the attention that was paid to his looks and as he always did with everything he had, he’d used it to his advantage in the end, and he’d been successful.

Jon was relieved that Jon was taking it in such a relaxed manner, Jon seemed happy with his decision and most important: he was certain, it was nothing but just the way Jon did things - being completely sure and convinced that it was the best thing to do. Then he glanced at his watch and finished what was left of his drink in one sip. He hissed as the alcohol made its way along his throat and stood up.

Noticing his friend’s insightful silence, John added: “You know, June once told me that the Chinese have sayings for everything, and her favorite one is ‘Jiu bu qu, xin bu lai’” John grimaced as he realized that what he said sounded very different from the way he remembered June pronouncing it that he was trying to imitate. “Anyway, it means ‘If the old doesn’t go, the new doesn’t come’”

“‘Out with the old, in with the new’?” Jon asked with a frown and moved back towards John as he noticed his friend was about to leave.

“Yeah, I guess…”, John chuckled, “but June makes everything sound so much better”

Jon smiled tightly and lowered his gaze to prevent his eyes from betraying him. “She does, doesn’t she?”, he agreed excitedly and after saying it he realized that it was his tone betraying him now, so he quickly recovered by adding: “I mean…That’s her gig after all, ain’t it?”.

Instead of replying, John nodded silently in agreement and chuckled softly, then hugged Jon goodbye. “See ya tomorrow, then? Get wasted for old times’ sake?”, as he spoke it dawned on him that that might not precisely be what Jon needed right now, “Unless you want some peace and quiet before the storm”.

Jon smirked mischievously. “You’re nuts. No way I’m gonna miss that party”.