“Yeah?” She asked groggily into the phone.
“Nice to see you didn’t waste any time taking over the role of personal assistant too.”
Ariana startled when the woman’s voice reached her ears. Pulling the phone from her ear she saw, that she had answered Jon’s phone not hers.
Shit!
“Ariana?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Ariana managed to croak. She didn’t need to ask who it was.
“If my husband could get his face out from between your legs, I’d like to talk with him.”
“Excuse me?” The shock from Dorothea’s words had Ariana jolting out of bed.
“Did. I. Stutter? Put my husband on the phone.”
“He’s not here.” Ariana shot back.
“Isn’t that convenient.”
“I’d be happy to...”
Dorothea interrupted her. “What? To help? Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”
“I was going to say, before you rudely interrupted that I’d be happy to give him a message.”
“So, you have replaced Jeanie too. Was that always your plan?”
Ari had had enough. This was bound to happen. Maybe it was a good thing it happened now.
“Listen. Why don’t you stop beating around the bush and tell me what it is you really want? This way we get it out in the open and over with.”
“Ha!” Dorothea laughed out loud. “Funny you should say that. You see, while you were busy fucking my husband last night, the press was busy publishing stories about him and his whore.”
“I’ve had just about enough of your name calling. Grow up. While you don’t have to like me, you might want to tone down your inner bitch because she doesn't scare me. I’ll let Jon know you called.”
Ariana didn’t give her a chance to respond. She just ended the call and tossed the phone on the bed. Looking around the room she spotted what she was looking for. Her laptop. She needed to find out what Dorothea was talking about.
Her knee bounced impatiently as she waited for her computer to power up. Typing Jon’s name in, she paused letting out a deep breath and pressed enter. She didn’t have to scroll down, there it was, a photo of Jon squeezing her ass as she got into the car in front of the restaurant. Ari clicked on the link;
“International Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi seen here putting the squeeze on last night in London. The Band is here to perform at London’s BBC2 Theater tonight to promote their new album and upcoming tour. No news as to who the woman might be or how well she knows them, but apparently, he knows her well. Calls to the singer’s management have not been returned.”
Ari rubbed her hands over her face and up through her hair. This is not good. Jon is not going to be happy when he sees this. Speaking of Jon, where was he? Obviously, she couldn’t call, she rose from the chair and walked through the rooms looking for a note and her phone. Finding neither. If this had made the news she was sure Cara would be calling.
She flipped the television on and climbed onto the middle of the bed. Sitting crossed legs, she held the remote in her lap flipping through channels. It was just eleven in London making it six back east. She stopped when the image of herself accepting a spoon full of zabaglione off of Jon’s spoon appeared in a little box at the top of the screen along with one Ms. Josie Johnson. Ari had such a dislike for her before, this was not going to change that. It was going to make it stronger.
“Josie Johnson reporting here.... New Jersey’s prodigal son Jon Bon Jovi was seen last night with an unidentified female companion and his band mates dining at London’s Zafferano. The Band is in town to promote their new album and upcoming tour ‘The Circle’. The band’s front man seen here in this photo, looks to be sharing some of his dessert with the woman. Wonder if he shares anything else with her? The Rocker has been married to his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley for twenty years and have four children. The couple have always prided themselves as being very happily married. Could this be the end?
“Good Morning, beautiful.” Jon leaned against the door frame of the adjacent room.
Ariana turned off the television. “Where the hell have you been?
“Whoa! Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” Jon moved to the bed. “I went for a massage. Our little -” he walked his fingers along her thigh. “ya know, did a number on my back.”
Ari slapped his hand away. “And your phone?”
“Oh, I took yours by mistake. By the way, Cara’s been calling you all morning. I didn’t answer it though.”
“You should have, you would have gotten an earful.” Ari unfolded her legs and slid off the bed. She walked over to the table to retrieve her laptop.
“Did I miss something?” Jon laid across the bed propping himself up on his elbow.
“Your wife called.” She crawled back on the bed.
“Aw baby, I’m sorry. You answered my phone, didn’t you?”
“Yup. I was half asleep. But that’s the least of our troubles.” Ari turned her computer so that he could see the photo of the two of them. “That’s not the only one either.”
Jon took it from her hands and began clicking through the images. There were a few of them in the restaurant, some of them waiting outside for the car.
“What did Dorothea say?” He put the computer down on the bed.
“That when you’re finished between my legs to give her a call, oh and she called me your whore.”
Jon grabbed his phone from her hands, but she stopped him before he had a chance to swipe the screen. “Jon, listen. She really is the least of our troubles. It’s made the news. Josie whatsherface already reported about it, which means the big networks will have it soon enough.”
“Fuck! I will straighten her out, but first I need to call Ken and Jeanie. Would you call Richie and tell him what is going on and that we will meet them at the Theater for soundcheck.”
“Yes. Go. Go.”
Jon leaned in and kissed her. “I love you.”
“I know. Now go.”
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
It had been an hour since Jon disappeared into the other room to run damage control. For the most part he seemed pretty calm, she had only heard him raise his voice a few times. As for her, she still had a slight surge of adrenaline rushing through her. After speaking to Richie, she replayed the conversation with Dorothea over in her head. Ari knew that their paths were bound to cross eventually, she just assumed it wouldn’t happen this soon or like this. But what’s done is done and there’s no going back now. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.
“Who is it?” She asked slowly.
“Room service,” a male voice answered.
She hadn’t ordered room service, but maybe Jon had, before opening the door she looked through the peephole to make sure. Seeing the waiter and his rollie cart with silver domed plates she reached for the handle and pulled the door open.
“Can you put it over there?” She motioned for him to come inside.
“Yes ma’am.” He set the cart in front of the window next to the table.
“Thank you.” Ari scribbled her name and showed him to the door.
Ari gave the door a soft knock and poked her head through and mouthed the words ‘lunch’. Jon raised one finger at her motioning one minute.
“Yes. It just got here. And Jeanie, thank you” Jon chortled. “You got it. Bye.” This time he ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket.
Jon stopped in front of Ari and leaned into her hand as she cupped his cheek. “You better send her on a nice long vacation.”
He kissed the inside of her hand. “Funny, she just said the same thing. Let’s eat.”
Over lunch they discussed what Jeanie had found out and what information the press had. As of now they were only speculating and did not know who Ariana was. Which was a good thing, but it would be only a matter of time before they found out. This is why they needed to put a plan in motion and where his publicist and lawyers came in. Jon explained to her what Ken and his lawyers had suggested. It was a solid plan and could work, but there was one exception. Dorothea. She might have agreed to it before but under the current circumstances he wasn’t sure.
Ari was in the middle of telling Jon about her conversation with Richie when she was interrupted by the dueling rings of their cell phones. Both of them very familiar with the distinctive tones by now. They simultaneously swiped their respective screens and brought the phones to their ear.
She listened as Cara excitedly rambled on in French, which she often did when she was both worried or excited. Jon on the other hand, did the speaking first.
Well we knew that Dorothea was going
ReplyDeleteBe a bitch. Dam you leave it there!! lol