Logistically, the next two weeks were going to be hell for Matt. The west coast leg of the tour left little room for any days off. Only a night between most shows. And the fact that Jon had insisted on staying all the way out in bumfuckegypt at Ariana’s house was surely going to be exhausting for him.
Usually, they'd go from one hotel to the next — fly in — fly out, with him never leaving his brother’s side other than to sleep, that is. Now, it would consist of meeting helicopters, hiring drivers and/or a car big enough of some sort, personally driven by Jon or Ariana.
On top of all that, his parents, niece, and nephews were here as well. All of whom he had to find seats for to these shows. Sometimes he just assumed being a banker would have been better.... not really.
“Jon, why can’t you just take a chopper? Do you realize what time you would have to leave to make it to soundcheck? Are you going to be in the mood to do the hour-long drive after the show? I don’t want Ma and Pop, or Ari doing it either.” Matt argued.
“First off, it's forty, fifty minutes tops. Red Bank to the City. Piece of cake.”
“Seriously? Did you just say that? You fly back and forth from Jersey and Philly.”
“I get where you’re going, but I don’t want a chopper. I want to spend some time with my family, not running here and there.” Jon spat back with a tone of finality in his voice.
“Fifty minutes after the show maybe, it will take twice as long beforehand. If you’re lucky. Are you really prepared to do that and with that crew?”
Groaning into the phone, Jon continued pacing back and forth at his brother's obstinate behavior. “It’ll be fine. The kids will enjoy the ride along the coast, and it will give Ari some time to get to know them more.”
“Dude, you need to take your head out of your ass. What do you think this is, the fucking Griswold’s?”
“Shut the fuck up! We ain’t that bad.”
“They aren’t... but you, you have a show to do and no one wants to deal with your grouchy ass once you get there. They have to do that enough without any extra weight. Would you just reconsider, please, for my sake?”
“Matty, we ain’t flying. I’ll talk to Ari about hiring a driver, though, if it will make you happy. Now, have you talked with Jeanie about the next two weeks? What shows the kids will come to, what mom and dad are going to be doing?”
“No, not yet. She is next on my list. Your little list of escapades is a logistical nightmare, I might add. I was hoping, just maybe, she would’ve convinced you that this is all nuts.”
“If you’ll remember correctly, she works for me, so I highly doubt that. We’ll do what works best for us, Matt.”
“Suit yourself. Oh, would you look at the time,” Matt said sarcastically, “you better wrangle the troops if you want to make it here on time.”
“Bye Matty.”
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Jeanie sat crossed legged on the bed, surrounded by mountains of paperwork, that her lovely boss had to have done immediately. All of it. Instantly. At least in his mind. However, since the tour started, he didn’t quite keep up with the schedule as much. And though she had fallen somewhat behind, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Her phone had been ringing off the hook all day and she was about one more phone call away from either turning it off, drowning herself in a bottle of wine or throwing it out the window. She would probably combine that list later in the evening anyway if things kept going the way they had been.
Jon was antsy, the crew was antsy because Jon was antsy, and when the crew was antsy, nothing got done because everyone was too damn busy tiptoeing around their lion-with-a-thorn-in-his-ass boss. He wasn’t bad all the time, and usually not bad with her. After ten plus years, she was pretty used to his mood swings but, sometimes taking the brunt of the anger got old, really fast, especially when she was sleep deprived and a little bit hungover. Mind you, she wasn’t complaining. She got rewarded handsomely for it, but one person could only handle so much of Jon Bon Jovi.
At last, some sweet relief.
She said aloud to no one as she set aside the last of the contract she was reviewing. Her plan now was to head to the minibar, then order room services. But before she could as much as move off the bed, her phone rang again.
“What now, Matt?” she snapped.
“Hello to you too, Jeanie. I was wondering if you heard from our fearless leader recently and the latest cockamamie plan he’s concocted?”
“Good grief! What is he up to now?”
“Well, Mr. Rocket Scientist wants to drive himself and his gang, to and from the HP Pavilion tonight.” Matt sounded resigned as he sighed out the news.
“He WHAT? Has he lost his frigging mind?” she exclaimed!
“FINALLY! Someone who understands. He’s bat shit crazy, just like some of his fans, that’s what he is. He’s under the impression that this will be some sort of family bonding time.”
“I swear, I’m gonna age twenty years before this tour is over. I hope you told him he was nuts.”
“I tried. The best I could get from him was ‘he’ll talk to Ariana about hiring a driver instead’. What do you think our chances are of that happening?”
“Six of one, half a dozen of another. Ari’s good. She doesn’t take his shit.”
“She’s always been a tough cookie. I sure hope she can change his mind. While I have you on the line, I have the list of shows my folks and kids will be at. Do you want them now or an email?”
“I’ll take it now. It will help with having some extra stuff on hand to keep Romeo and Jake out of their father's hair and any trouble they may wander off to.”
“Ha, you can say that again. Okay, so, they will all be at tonight's show and Phoenix. Then, they won’t be around till the second Anaheim. We have off for three days, and then it's off to Sacramento for Jon’s birthday. Do you have anything special going on for that one?”
“Not yet. Ariana has some stuff planned. She was just waiting to talk with your Mom about a few things. What about LA and Vegas?”
“No one for LA. Vegas, just Steph and Jesse. The band usually go play poker after the show. I don’t know if Jon and Ari will go with them this time. If yes, then we’ll have Nick or Zunno take them back up to the suite after the show.”
“Are they planning on staying out in Half-Moon Bay the whole time we are in California?”
“I fuckin’ hope not, but I’m still working on that.”
“Alrighty then, Matt. I still have some stuff to finish up before we head to the venue. Thanks again.”
“No sweat. There’s a van going over at two if you’re ready. If not, just shoot me a text.”
“Will do. Bye.”
Simultaneously, their call ended. Jeanie huffing out a breath and tossing her phone on the bed. Twenty minutes later, as she headed for her mini bar for the second time, her phoned buzzed.
[12:45pm] Matt: “Shot down in a blaze of glory... the Griswold’s hit the road at two.”
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Just as Matt predicted, the Griswold’s' little adventure didn’t go as smoothly as Jon had hoped. For starters, the traffic was awful. Making a Friday night on Garden State Parkway seems like a walk in the park. The kids fought most of the way, which had Carol keeping the peace of how she saw fit, which only fueled Jon's fire. By the time they arrived at the venue, forty-five minutes later than scheduled, they all needed a break from each other.
Thank God for Jeanie, who was two steps ahead of everyone and had a room already setup just for them. The room came fully equipped with a television, their favorite gaming system, and games.
With everyone settled in their respectful corners, Jon headed to sound check. There were a few sound issues, which Obie quickly fixed. They were able to run through it pretty quickly and with only a few minor infractions. When all was said and done, it still took Dean and Ariana to relax him.
By show time, Jon was raring to go. The show itself was good. On a scale from one to ten, Matt would give it a solid six. Jon was able to maintain his playful mood and kept the crowd into it. One thing that Matt had found to be funny, was that Jon had made one minor comical change to the set list, he had put Lost Highway back in but had jumped it up and played it after Born to Be My Baby. A song, which seemed to have some secret meaning for Jon and Ari.
After the show they wasted no time, Ari rounded up the gang while Jon showered. They had brought pj’s for Romeo and comfortable clothes for the others. The hour-long trek back to her house was sure to put some, if not all, the children to sleep.
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