He peered through the open door to their bedroom and found Ari walking back and forth to the closet, her suitcase open on the bed and its contents scattered all around. She didn’t acknowledge him when he came in, she just continued doing what she was doing.
“Richie’s calling the airport now.” Jon sat on the edge of the bed as he picked at the calloused skin on his thumb.
“Mmm.” Was her muted response
“Baby.., um… you know I didn’t mean for it to sound like I didn’t want you to go.”
“Uh-huh.” She wouldn’t or couldn’t look at him right now. He had made her so angry, she wanted to strangle him.
“Will you at least look at me?”
Ariana dropped her arms down in frustration, never once releasing the shirt she was in the middle of folding and looked over at him.
“I know Jon. Now, can I finish, please?”
Jon stood and blocked her from moving causing Ari to give an exasperated sigh, her eyes to roll and she let her tension filled shoulders drop. He reached for her hands, but she wouldn’t let go of the shirt, so he gently wrapped his hands around wrists.
“Can you at least let me tell you I’m sorry. Sorry for being an ass. Sorry for making you feel like I was controlling you. That wasn’t my intention, not when I know first-hand that is not even remotely possible,” he tried giving her a smile, but she wasn’t having any of it. “All I suggested was to wait,” she shot emerald daggers at him “not days, maybe just a few hours. But I know now that will not happen, so when you are ready I will take you to the airport.”
“Are you coming with me?”
“I can fly up with you, but I can’t stay. We have a shitload of band appearances to be at in the next couple of days. Are you okay with that?”
“Guess I have no choice.” She tossed the shirt on the bed and went back into the closet.
“Ari,” he called out to her.
“It’s fine... I’m fine. Go... keep Richie company and let me finish packing.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” He leaned against the doorjamb of the closet. “Why not leave this stuff here, I mean you are coming back. You have enough stuff in Canada to wear. Just pack an overnight bag or something.”
“I don’t know how long I will be gone.”
Ariana pushed past him with a handful of clothes and a few pairs of shoes. She could no longer concentrate on what she was doing, so she just tossed it onto the bed with the rest of the stuff she had there. Jon was right, if she has forgotten something she’d probably have it in her closet there.
“S’alright. We’ll leave when you are ready.” Jon kissed the back of her head. He knew it was time to stop pushing.
Jon pulled the door closed and returned to the living room. He stepped over Richie’s stretched out legs and plopped down on the couch next to him, kicking his heels up on the ottoman in front of him.
“By the look on your face I take it it didn’t go so well.”
“She’s mad.” Jon folded his hands across his stomach.
“She has a right to be. You of all people should know how important that bar is to her and after all that just happened, telling her she needs to be here, well, let’s just say you will not get laid for that one partner.”
“Shuddup asshole. I wasn’t telling her she couldn’t go, I only meant she should wait until she heard from Max again."
“So, you going with?” Richie glanced sideways at him.
“Nah. I offered to take her up and head back tonight, but she didn’t go for it. Besides, don'tcha think I caused her enough stress.”
Richie slapped his friend on the knee, “There you go Einstein, you catch on quick for an old fucktard.”
Jon was just about to say something when he was distracted by the sound of Nancy O’Dell’s voice coming from the television, talking about no other than the smartass sitting next to him. “What the fuck are you watching anyway, you narcissistic bastard.”
“Hey, now.”
“Ready?” Ariana asked as she entered the room.
“If you are.” Jon asked as both men stood.
Richie pulled her into a warm embrace and whispered into her ear. “Ciao Bella. And go easy on the little shit, he really does mean well.”
Ariana sighed against his shoulder, “I know he does. See ya soon.”
“You can count on that. Take care of you and my little niece or nephew.” He winked and kissed her forehead.
“I will, promise.” She placed a kiss on his cheek.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
The drive to the airport was done mostly in silence, other than the few times Max had called to ask her about something the marshals needed to know. They had learned that the fire had started in the exhaust vent in the kitchen. Max had said that there was no way of preventing it from happening and they were lucky the alarm system they had detected it immediately and the sprinkler systems kicked in.
From what he could tell they would need a completely new kitchen, new stage area, and possibly a new floor, and that’s just from what his eye could see. Ariana told him she would get the name of Cara’s general contractor, who renovated her studio for her when her parents died.
A light sleeting rain fell as they stood on the tarmac at Teterboro Airport, waiting for the steps of the plane to be lowered. The deafening silence between them causes the knot in the pit of her stomach to tighten again. Jon pulled her close to shield her from the rain. Looking down at her, he brushed a strand of damp hair off of her forehead.
“Crash, I’m sorry and I want to make sure we are good before you get on that plane.”
Defeated, she puffed out a breath, “Jon, I can’t do this now. I have a million and one things running in my head and I’m not thinking straight. The last thing I want is to say something I may not mean”
“I can’t let... I would like it if we could fix this before you go. Do you want me to come? I’ll have the plane wait and fly back later tonight.”
“No. It’s okay, we’ll be okay. You need to be here and I need to be there.”
“Promise me you won’t stress yourself any more than you usually do.”
“Jon! I gotta go.”
“Promise.” He said sternly.
“I promise.”
Running his hands through her wet hair, he pulled it away from her face and captured her lips with his as he ran his tongue over her bottom lip. He felt her shiver as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You’re cold. You should get going before you catch pneumonia.” He said pulling away as he looked down at her.
“I know.”
He ran his hand down her face and watched as she closed her eyes, then opened them. Leaning down, he whispered against her lips, “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Ari took her tote from him and threw it over her shoulder. “See ya.” She whispered.
“See ya.” He held onto her hand as she slowly walked towards the stairs until they could no longer hold each other.
Flipping his collar up on his jacket he watched as she somberly climbed the stairs where Vicky was waiting, pausing for a moment at the open doorway, she looked back over her shoulder at Jon and smiled before disappearing into the plane. Bringing two fingers to his brow, he gave Vicky a quick salute before she closed the door.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he swiped his thumb over the wet screen….
[6:35 pm] Jon: Miss you already. I’m sorry.
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