She had gone too far, showing up at the house making mindless accusations. On the upside of things, he was very proud of Ariana for standing her ground. He would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that. The one thing you didn’t want to do was piss her off, not when it came to something she was passionate about. Even after everything she’d told him, it took her about thirty-five minutes to convince him not to call Dorothea and give her a piece of his mind. Instead, she asked him to talk to her until she fell asleep. It was the first time she was alone in that big house, and not used to it. She was a little off center.
But now, here he was in the middle of bum-fuck-Egypt, another town, another hotel with nothing to do but think. Jon knew all too well about Dorothea’s affairs. It was one, if not the only, thing they fought about the most, their infidelities. He couldn’t blame her, and he didn’t. They had tried many times to fix things, but another album, another tour, always seemed to change that.
Ultimately, it led to their unwritten agreement of ‘do what you want, just don’t embarrass me.’ That was, until she told him she was pregnant with Romeo. That was the be-all-end-all for Jon. Even though the uncertainty was short-lived, it caused him enough pain that he was done, and the spiraling downfall of his marriage began. Thank God for his children, his music and Ari, or the bitterness would have eaten him alive.
Leaning across the mattress for his phone, he quickly shot off a text, pulled opened the door and headed down the hallway. With a couple of taps on the door a few rooms away, he continued towards the elevator. Stabbing at the button, the person who would make sure he wouldn’t get into too much trouble greeted him.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
“Sweetheart, would ya bring the entire bottle the next time?” Jon’s eyes drifted upwards to the young woman, who stood above them and gave her a wink.
“Sure thing.”
“JB. Dontcha think you should slow down?” A lazy finger rimmed the edge of his glass. “That ain’t wine and you’re not as young as you used to be.”
“Fuck off, Teek. I may be a wino, but I ain’t no pussy.”
“Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. What’s this all about, anyway? Ari’s not even gone twelve hours and you’re hitting it hard. You gonna be a prick the whole time or what?”
With his leg propped up on the long bench, Jon leaned back against the booth and rested his hand on his knee. “Believe or not, it’s not about Ari… well, not directly.”
“Then what?”
“Fuckin’ ex-wife, that’s what! How the hell did you do it… twice?”
“Ha! It wasn’t easy, man.” Tico took a sip of the amber colored liquid. “So, Dottie’s causing trouble?”
“Listen to this… not only did she blame Ari for destroying our marriage, but she also told her she won’t allow her to steal the kids.” Draining his glass, Jon smacked his lips and set the empty glass down on the edge of the table.
“Steal the kids? Where’s that coming from?” Smoke cloud circles floated into the air from Tico’s lips.
“Photos of us on the beach, Ari and Romey on their date in Vegas showed up on the internet. So, Dot took it upon herself to show up at the house, warning Ari,” Jon waved the waitress over, “but she set her straight.”
Like he asked. The raven-haired woman approached the table with two fresh drinks and a full bottle of Jack Daniels. Smiling, she balanced the tray on her left hand while clearing their empty glasses. Tearing her eyes away from him only briefly to set down a fresh napkin and drinks in front of each of them.
Dangling the bottle of Jack between her fingers, she gave Jon a wink before placing it down in front of him. “Like you asked.”
“Thanks, darlin.”
“I’m Eden, if you need me for anything else.” she said, flashing him a smile before leaving.
The two men shared a moment of silence before Tico spoke, “Watch it there Johnny Boy.”
“For Christ's sakes, man… I’m not that stupid! Maybe twenty years ago, but not now. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Wise choice, my friend.”
With an unamused expression, Tico listened as Jon explained over the next couple hours in details, what had prompted this little fight. Being as tight-knit as they were, one would think Tico would know most of what went on over the years. But the more Jon drank, the more he talked, and Tico was about to learn a lot more about his friend.
Every so often, Miss Eden would cast them a couple of long side glances or stop by to see if they needed anything. It was obvious from the amount of flirting she was doing, she’d recognized who they were.
Jon was halfway through the bottle and feeling no pain when Tico pulled a couple c-notes from his pocket and placed his empty glass on top of the bills.
“Well, mi amigo, I think it’s time to head upstairs. You're gonna regret this in the morning and we're the ones who are gonna have to deal with it.”
“You sonofabitch, you’re no fun. I ain’t finished the bottle yet.”
“If you wanna stay, you can, but I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll just call baby brother to come babysit your old ass.”
“S’alright. S’alright. I’ll go.” Slamming his empty glass onto the table, the two men walked out of the bar.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Lifting her eyes off the page, Dorothea peered over her reading glasses that sat low on her nose at the ringing phone. An impervious grin grew as she noted the time.
"Four hours. Getting slow in your old age?" she questioned the caller on the other end.
"Fuck you, Dottie!" Jon snarled.
"And drunk. I should've known." She pushed her glasses to rest on the top of her head. "If this isn't about the kids, I have nothing to say to you."
"You don't need to talk, just listen." he hiccupped. "You two-timing bitch, where do you come off accusing anyone of anything when you've been carrying on an affair this whole time. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"
"Name calling, Jon? How very adult of you?"
"You wanna talk mature, let's. You ever show up at my house again accusing Ari of anything, so help me God..."
"What Jon?” she bit back. “What are you going to do? Come riding in on your white horse and save your little whore?"
"Watch it!"
"Maybe that was a little harsh. How ‘bout mistress or fuck buddy? Wait, I got a better one. Baby Mama."
"Fuck you. Ari has never been any one of those."
"Really now, she is carrying your bastard child?"
The sound of shattered glass echoed in her ear. "I'm warning you. If you want to fight dirty, we can. Stay the fuck away from my house and stay the fuck away from my..."
"Your what? See, even you don't know what to call her."
"Fiancé." Her breath hitched. “What's the matter? The cat found your tongue. That's right. I asked Ariana to marry me. She will be my wife and stepmother to the kids. So, get used to it."
"I'll do no such thing."
"Suit yourself. But don't even think I'll let you threaten her or tarnish what she and the kids have. Do! You! Understand! Me?"
"Did you just threaten me?"
"Take it how you will. Just know this, if you wanna fight, you won't win."
“They’re my kids. After all you’ve done….”
“I’m not the only adulterer in this family.”
“Oh, please! Cut the bullshit! What I’ve done in twenty-one years can’t even compare to the things you’ve done.”
“Now, let’s not go there,” As if he hadn’t turned the knife enough, “Oh, by the way, you might want to have a talk with your daughter. She knows the entire story about Ariana and I.”
“She what?”
“You heard me, and if you don’t want to risk losing your kids forever, I suggest you be completely honest with them as well.”
Ending the call before she could respond, Jon chucked the phone as hard as he could at the chair across the room. Snarling, he paced from where he was standing in front of the mini bar over towards the bed. Too worked up to sleep, he headed to the hotel gym to burn off some of his alcohol and ex-wife fueled anger. Grabbing his room key, he ignored the ringing phone in the corner and slammed his door behind him.
Don't ignore it! It's never good idea!
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