Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The girls woke up early Thursday morning after two days of lazy, relaxing hibernation in their hotel room , they decided to hit the town . First up was breakfast at a diner in Times Square.

“So C what shall we do today ? “ Lily asked while taking a sip of her coffee but before her friend could reply , Lily overheard two men sitting near them talking about a concert and it peeked her interest. She turned around “Excuse me, what concert is going on? We’re out of town and looking for something to do today. “

Claire choked on her coffee, shocked by her friend’s random outburst at the strangers, but also curious. “I could see a concert,” she added quietly.

The two gentlemen they were speaking to were construction workers. “Bon Jovi is playing this dumb private gig in the Meadowlands parking lot this morning,” one of them replied, rolling his eyes.

Claire giggled, nudging her friend as she remembered the drunken night when they had planned this whole trip.

Lily’s grin grew as she recalled that drunken night as well “Excuse me how can we get tickets? We wouldn’t mind seeing them “ she asked the two workers . “And where is it we are not from here, and what time is it ? “

The second guy smiled, “Slow down honey. It’s a private show across the bridge in Jersey and it starts in about an hour and a half. Fortunately for you,” he added, digging in his pockets, “we have no desire to go. You want our passes?”

Claire took them from the man, smiling. “Hey, I”m all for a good laugh. Who knew these guys were still together?” she nudged Lily again, “and I’m still curious as to what they look like these days, but somebody wouldn’t let me Google them..”

“Thank you, you're so kind “ Lily smiled brightly at the two men “ Yea well we didn’t want to ruin our fantasy now did we ? Now we will see for sure what they look like now “

The one guy bit back a retort , as he exchanged glances with his friend They don’t know what they look like?  " Have a great time ladies . I’m sure you’ll will though . My girlfriend is probably gonna kill me but she had to work so no use letting them go to waste “

The girls finished their breakfast and walked outside to hail a cab, asking the driver to take them to the stadium, which he said was between a half hour and an hour away, depending on traffic.

Claire grinned, laughing. “I can’t believe we’re gonna see Bon Jovi,” she rolled her eyes. “Is it sad that we haven’t been paying attention to celebrity stuff? Those two goons looked at us like we should’ve known what they looked like.”

“Hell when do you and I have time to pay attention to that stuff ? “ Lily chortled as she climbed in beside her friend “This should be interesting , I wonder what they look like now ? “

Claire snorted, “Everyone else from that era looks ancient or fat, so I’m gonna go with either. Or both. I hope they play some old stuff,” she added, “I didn’t even know they were still making music. That’s what happens when you live in South Carolina, it’s country western radio or nothing.” she winked.

“I know the other day though I thought the radio station said something about Sugarland and Bon Jovi but I thought I was hearing things “ Lily laughed “maybe I wasn’t “

Claire arched an eyebrow, “Sugarland and Bon Jovi?” she laughed, “Now that I’d like to see.” she thought for a moment, “You know, I’m kind of afraid to see them. They were so good looking back then, I don’t want that image of the little sexy rocker in the spandex pants to be ruined,” she giggled, “I remember all my friends loved them when I lived in Boston.”

‘Yea I used to drive my parents nuts with them too can you imagine , southern parents who were all country heard rock blasting from my room “ Lilly laughed  “It was a fun time be nice to hear those songs again . And if they are bald and missing teeth so what , they have to at least still carry a tune “ she cast her friend a look “Right? “

Claire nodded slowly, “Let’s hope so.”

The rest of the trip went by fairly quickly for a Thursday morning, and before the girls knew it, they were pulling into the parking lot of the Meadowlands. The crowd was huge and they couldn’t even see the stage. They exited the car and walked towards where the stage most likely was, showing security their passes.

Claire stood on her tiptoes, “Damn, can’t even see!”

“Maybe we can squeeze up closer lets look for an opening ? “ Lily gazed around “Over there “she pointed on the left side and started walking through the slight whole in the crowd.

Claire followed her friend as the opening notes of the first song began, and stopped short, almost running into Lily. “Why the hell did you stop?” she asked, unable to see anything.

Lily stopped suddenly frozen the moment her gaze landed on the man she spent the night with a couple nights ago “Holy fuck me! “ she managed to squeak out then inched her way forward slowly, her body shaking as she drew nearer to the man.  “Oh God  C its them ! “

“Yeah Lily, Bon Jovi, I know-” she stopped as she finally caught a glimpse of the lead singer belting it out on stage. “OhmiJesus,” she squeaked out, her hand flying to her mouth. Fuck, I knew they had looked somewhat familiar!

Lily’s eyes remained fixated Richie, God how could I have not known! He must think I am an imbecile! Fuck he is gorgeous ,“Shit C I feel so freaking stupid “ she leaned over and yelled to be heard over the music.

Jon was in the middle of his speech after the first song, when he glanced down at the crowd and smiled then his eyes locked with a familiar pair of green eyes, Fuck! How did they find out ?  Wait she seems as shocked as I aml So how did sh- did they find us ? It was a spur of the moment concert , He glanced down at their passes , they weren’t fan club passes -radio maybe? . He swiveled around , reached for his guitar and sauntered over to Richie “Take a good look , Front row your side “ he muttered softly then began the first bars of Bad Name .

Richie played the song’s intro and then glanced down at the crowd where Jon had said and spotted the two girls. Fuck, busted. He thought to himself, smiling softly at Lily before directing his attention to singing backup to Jon.

Claire met Jon’s equally wide eyes and her brow furrowed. “He looks freaked,” she said, “Gah Lily I don’t even know what to think!” She thought for a moment and then erupted into a fit of hysterical giggles. “Lily,” she gasped out, “they’re not old and fat!!” she exclaimed, clutching her stomach as she laughed even harder.

She tried not to laugh but was unsuccessful, “No no I can definitely say they aren’t old , fat and definitely can carry a tune “ Her eyes remained on Richie , he was truly passionate about his music as well , his faces amused her “ You know those faces there , they're the same he makes when-- “ Lily giggled even harder , as tears streamed down her face .

Jon watched the two girls with a puzzled look , Why the hell are they laughing? He glanced down to see if maybe his zipper was down . He walked over to Richie while they played their solo together . “Ok wonder what the joke is ? Are we the blunt of it or what ? “

Richie turned away from Jon as the solo ended and looked down to see them doubled over in hysterical giggles. He met Jon’s eyes and shrugged, grinning.

After a couple more songs, Wanted , It’s My Life and Prayer , The show was over and the girls were reluctantly making their way through the crowd when they were stopped by a tall , lanky man with glasses “ Excuse me ladies , I was told to come and get you two “

Lily eyed him warily “By whom? “

“By my bosses of course , You know the big tall goofy one and the one I don’t wanna piss off too badly “ He responded with a wiry grin.

Lily glanced at Claire “Well I guess we can’t have you gettin’ in trouble now can we C ? “

Claire shook her head, back to her shocked self without the giggles. “No, guess not,” she replied.

“This way ladies “ Obie said as he took the lead , straight to a black SUV parked off to the side and surrounded by security.  He walked over , opened one of the back doors “Here they are safe and sound. “

“Nice meetin’ you ladies , Obie is the name and if there is anything you need let me know “ He added before taking off to another SUV parked directly behind it .

Lily hesitated before peeking her head in  “Fancy meeting you two here “ she remarked with a bright smile .

Richie patted the seat next to him, “Yeah, crazy coincidence, right?” he said, smiling to cover a wince.

Claire climbed into the car behind her friend, seating herself next to Jon in the second row. Unlike Lily, she had realized something, and wasn’t too thrilled to talk to Jon. “A philanthropist? A businessman?” was all she said, quietly staring at him.

Jon winced at the tone on which she had spoken “ I didn’t lie I am , I just didn’t say what all I did” he confessed .

Lily placed her hands on her lap , she really couldn’t be angry with him, He never lied but this was quite a shocker too , never dreamed he was even remotely famous . But she did feel like a fool, God he has to think I am the biggest of airheads or live under a rock,  which was worse she didn’t know.

“There’s a big, fat, fucking difference between a businessman and a rockstar,” Claire replied icily, studying his face. Jesus, I see it now, she thought to herself, mentally erasing the lines and adding more hair. Okay, I am an idiot but he still lied to me.

Richie hesitantly took Lily’s hand, giving her an apologetic look. “Are ya mad at me?” he asked, “I thought it was so refreshing that you didn’t recognize me, and I wanted a little bit of normalcy.” He said quietly, meeting her eyes.

Jon paused for a moment to find the correct wording before he spoke “I’m sorry Claire , I am a businessman who happens to be a rockstar too “ he reached for her hand  “We never meant to hurt you girls honest. We were just enjoying the not knowing . You know how long its been for a girl to want to be with us without being us if that makes sense ? “

Lily gazed up “God, no I’m not angry just feel foolish . “ she shook her head , her eyes drifting down to the floor .

Richie tucked a finger under Lily’s chin and lifted her eyes to meet his again. “Baby, don’t say that. In a way, you’re better than fans because you don’t pay attention to all the celebrity crap. I admire you for it, really.”

Claire pulled her hand out of Jon’s grasp. “I trusted you. Let you take me to your home,” she paused, “slept with you, all with no notion of who you really were. Are. That’s not fair.” She felt hot tears build up but blinked them away. You are NOT gonna fucking cry in front of them, She told herself.

Fuck ! She was crying, He cursed himself , how he hated seeing a woman cry and worst part was he was the cause of it. “Baby I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would matter so much . I didn’t think I was lying. WE were gonna tell you the truth - honest “ he replied softly.

“How can we not feel foolish ? No wonder those guys today thought we were insane when we had no fuckin’ clue “ Lily replied curtly. She hadn’t felt this stupid since Daniel now all those feelings came flooding back like a big crashing wave.

Richie shook his head, “I hate that you’re feeling this way Lily, really I do, but you have to believe us when we say it was only because we liked the fact that you didn’t know who we are. Just like Kidd said it’s rare these days.”

Claire huffed, “You didn’t think you were lying. Well then, guess that solves the problem.” She pulled away from Jon's hand yet again and made her way for the SUV door. “I’m leaving, Lily are you coming or staying?”

Lily pinched her eyes closed , willing herself not to cry but the tears coated her eyelids as she pulled away  “I told you something I never told hardly anyone especially when I just first met them , you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me..?“ she asked so softly that Richie barely heard her, then she stepped out of the SUV , her eyes meeting his “I thought you were different “ then followed Claire to hail down a cab but not before one sad glance back.

Jon pounded the back of the front seat “Fuck! what the hell were we supposed to do ? “ he growled frustratedly as he watched Claire walk away and potentially out of his life forever.
“I was gonna tell her . I didn’t think we were lying? “

Richie shook his head sadly. “I didn’t either. But the way they see it is more important ya know,” he replied. “I wanna see her again. And I’m gonna guess you wanna see Claire too. We gotta fix this, Kidd.”