Whatever
He didn't realize he said that out loud and hoped no one heard it either. Fiddling with the chrome tuners, he couldn’t believe he was standing on a street corner having an internal fight with himself. It’s not the first time he’d sung to her.
Then what are you afraid of?
Not afraid, more like nervous. He knew the minute he began playing, everyone in earshot would hear him and his apologetic plea would then become a public one. Stalling some more, he strummed the first few bars of the song he played over and over on the flight.
“S’alright.” He gave the yapping dog the stink-eye. “Like to see you do this.”
You’ve really lost it now, dumbass. You’re talking to the dog.
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Going to bed just before sunrise, Ariana’s eyes did not see the light of day again until the evening sun was setting. Semi-awake, she moved from the comfort of her bed to the softness of the rich leather couch she had grown to love. Baci di dama, cookies in hand she settled in and engrossed herself in the weekly profit reports Max had sent over and had been neglecting the last couple of months. She wasn’t worried anything would be wrong. Max was fantastic at what he did, hence her trusting him enough not to run her family's business into the ground.
“Do you hear that?” She rubbed her strained eyes and looked at Carol, who was sitting at the far end of the couch.
“Hear what?”
“Music. It’s coming from outside.”
Arching her tight shoulders, Ariana felt her muscles stretch all the way down to her lower back. These days, getting up and down was becoming increasingly harder and somewhat of a comedy routine. Firmly holding the arm of the couch with her left hand, she positioned her right flat on the cushion and gave herself a heave.
“Someone is definitely playing a guitar somewhere. I’m going to check it out. Wanna come?”
Not waiting for a response, she straightened the hem of her shirt and waddled to the front room and the music. With her hand, she pushed the sheer curtains aside and leaned out the window. Standing in the spotlight of the street lamp, Jon stood playing his guitar. Next to him, Meatball sat at his feet with a sign in his teeth.
“What are you doing?” she called down to him.
Ignoring her question, he continued playing. When she realized he was about to be serenade her skin flushed.
Oh, what can I say, dear, after I say I’m sorry
Oh, what can I do… to prove it to you… I’m sorry
I didn’t mean to ever be mean to you, oooh, oooh
If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t feel like I doooo
Embarrassed by the small group of patrons that had gathered outside the restaurant, she tried to get him to stop. “Will you stop it?” with widened eyes, she nodded in their direction. “People are watching.”
I was all wrong, but right or wrong, I don’t blame yooou
Why should take... somebody like you and shame yooou
I know that I made you cry and I’m soooo sorry, dear
So, what can I say, dear, after I say I’m sorry
Once Meatball began howling, she knew there was no hope of him stopping, so she just propped herself against the windowsill and listened. It was truly one of the most endearing, beautiful things he had ever done for her.
I know that I made you cry….
And I’m sooo sorry, dear
So what can I say, dear, after I say…. I’m sorry
I’m sorry
Strumming the final chord, he held his arms wide open and looked up at her. “Well, Crash?”
“Beautiful, but can we… maybe, finish this up here.” Preferring to do this inside, she indiscreetly pointed at the small crowd.
“Nope!” he shook her request off. “Not until you tell me you love me.”
“Jon.” she pleaded.
“Suit yourself.” His fingers began moving again. “I’ll just sing another song.”
“Argh!” Conceding to his silliness, she blew away the curls that had fallen in her face. “I love you.”
“What was that, Crash?” he cupped his ear. “Did you say something.” Jon knew all too well she wasn’t one for public display of affections, but he was enjoying watching her squirm a little.
“I. Love. You.” she said with a tinge of playful sarcasm. “Now get up here.”
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
Nervously biting at her thumb, Ariana waited for her mother-in-law to stop her damn yakking and head on out to dinner like she was said she was going to do... thirty minutes ago. Didn’t she realize I hadn’t seen my husband in over two weeks? And his little stunt out on the street… well, let's just say, it sent my non-existent panties a flame.
“Alright ma. Enough already. I get it. Go enjoy dinner, you can finish reprimanding me when you get back.”
Jon patted his mother's shoulder, then he nicely showed her the way to the door. Ari had been giving him ‘get her out of here’ eyes for a few minutes now. They had a lot to talk about, and he was happy when Dr. Cummings suggested she and Carol go to dinner so they could talk. He had barely shut the door behind them, that Ari had her fingers threaded in his hair and her mouth locked to his. Not that he was complaining. He’d missed her too, but he had a lot of things he needed to say before they took this any further.
Breaking the kiss, his eyes took in her very pregnant belly. “Hey, there, baby. How’s my girls?”
“The girls,” she put a heavy emphasis on the ‘s’ and placed his hands on her breasts, “missed you. Very, very much, I might add.”
“I’m happy to hear that, but,” he moved his hands down to her belly. “I was talking about you and Lily.”
“Of course we missed you. C’mere and let me show you just how much.”
Hand in hand, Jon followed her to their bedroom and shut the door. “Crash, we need to talk.”
“Jon. You’re forgiven. I forgave you with your email last night. That little stunt just earned you an extra ‘get out of the doghouse’ card.”
“Well, I think I may need to cash in on that.”
“What do you mean?” Ari took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Walking across the room, Jon picked up the chair and returned to set it down in front of her. Pressing his nose to her belly, he let out a deep sigh. God, he loved how could she smelled. Candied Apples. No matter what time of year it was, she always smelled like candied apples. “I… sorta did something really dumb.”
“Jon.” She brought his eyes to hers. “You’re scaring me. What did you do?”
“After the promotional party, Rich, Jeanie and I went to Cipriani's.”
“Please tell me you didn’t make a pass a Jeanie again? How many....”
“Will you let me finish.” he locked their fingers together. “We got pretty shitfaced. I mean so trashed, I forgot I sent Jeanie home with the car.”
“Just spit it out.”
“We hailed a cab and went to Dorothea’s.” There, he said it.
“What?”
“She busted us sneaking in.”
“Why on earth would you go there?”
“The thought of an hour ride in a car wasn’t appealing and, for lack of a better judgement, I figured we could crash there."
“And she let you.”
“Not exactly.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Oh she pitched a fit, but Romey came down asking why we were there. I told him for a sleepover. She had no choice to let us stay then.”
“Jesus Jon. Why must you add more fuel to an already scalding fire?”
“So you’re not mad?”
“I’m not happy about it, but I trust you. What I’m more upset with is that you pulled a stunt like that. There are half a dozen hotels in the city you could have gone to. Why go there and give her more shit to hold over our heads?”
“It was stupid, I know.”
“Yup, it was.” Playfully smacking the side of his head, she stood up. “You got anything else you wanna confess?”
“Hmm….” he teased.
“Good. I’m going to pee. I want you naked and in that bed when I get back.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her as she disappeared behind the door.
Love Jon talking to himself with Meatball.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see that Jon serenaded
Ariana with Meatball Howling. lol
I’m Glad Ariana wasn’t mad about
Richie & his little Stunt. Love this chapter.
Yeah I think Jon like Meatball!
This gets better and better. Jon talking to himself....lol
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work. ❤