21 - Introductions

“Everybody wants to meet them,” Dave informed Jon as they descended the back stairs after soundcheck.  “And ‘Hallelujah’ was a hit, just as I predicted, thank you very much.”

Even though the keyboardist had known it was on the docket, he still left Jon to do the first couple verses without accompaniment.  That meant Jon had to focus more than usual, and he tended to get lost in that song, anyway. 

It left him unable to vouch for his guests’ appreciation of it during the performance, but they all seemed happy enough after.  Petra mouthed her thanks, and Pearl was talking non-stop to Delaney, who listened without response because she was engrossed with watching him. 

He’d noticed a change in Delaney after she issued that song request.  Gone was the spellbound fan taking everything in through wondrous eyes reserved for the innocent, replaced by a solemn woman.  The innocence didn’t necessarily fade, but she became more contemplative and scrutinized him as if he held the solution to some unsolvable puzzle.    

There were very few places Jon would rather play than Montreal.  The crowd’s energy was through-the-roof every single time, and he considered it a treat to perform for the Quebecers.  In this moment, though, he just wanted to get his job done and move past the show - on to more personal matters.

“Great,” Jon drawled over his shoulder.  “When I fire your ass, you can get a job with Madame Marie tellin’ fortunes.”

“Ha!  I know too much shit on you to be fired.”

That was, unfortunately, true.  David knew about things Jon wanted to forget, and he liked to bring them up from time to time just because he could.

“Jon!  What’s up next for the midget mafia?”

An unbidden smile creased Jon’s face at his brother’s nickname for Delaney and company.  He was going to have to remember that.  “I guess they’re gonna meet the band.  Bring ‘em back to Catering, Matty.”

“On it.”

Phil and Tico fell in behind them, along with Hugh, Everett, Shanks, Obie and his brother Tony, and the noisy bunch navigated the back hall.  Catering was one of the few places that had enough room for all of them, so it was the logical place to gather. 

“How’d you meet these girls again?”

Jon should’nt have even bothered opening his mouth and taking a breath.  Before he could get the words out, Dave was already informing the group, “She brought flowers to him at the Garden.  Hey!  What the fuck?  Flowers in the Garden.  That’s funny shit!”

He couldn’t help but snicker at his old friend as they all congregated alongside one of the linen-covered tables.  “You just now caught that?  Damn, Lema.  You’re slipping.”

“Yeah, well, I was focused on more important things – like her smart mouth.  I was smitten at first sass, and when she and her sister go at it…  Man, it’s better than porn.”

The raucous crew of men all burst into laughter and threw out crude skepticism about the varieties of pornography that were arguably better than quarreling sisters.  Shanks had just offered up girl-on-girl with real boobs instead of fake when Matt rounded the corner with guests in tow.

Fuck.  That’s classy.

“Sorry, ladies,” Jon apologized with a hand over his heart, hoping like hell none of them were staunch feminists and that he could gloss over this easily.  “Backstage is our locker room and it ain’t always pretty."

Delaney's snicker indicated she wasn't bothered by what they'd walked into, and that idea was reinforced by a sardonic, "Never trust a woman with fake boobs."

The guys echoed her sage advice with high-fives while Pearl remained cautiously steeped in suspicion and Petra radiated boredom at their juvenile hijinks.  Those things were better than righteous indignation and neither of them jumped his ass, so Jon considered the field clear to move forward.

"Some of these overgrown teenagers you may know, others you may not, but they all wanted to meet you.”

Matt's eyes cut down to Delaney. “Now you're a charity case.”

Jon's confusion over that cryptic statement only multiplied when she grinned up at the bodyguard brother with a warm, “I like you.”

“Well, that’s a fuckin’ switch.  You gave him five kinds of hell that first day at the Garden.” David couldn't keep his sarcastic observation contained if his life depended on it. “I’m Dave, and we’ve met.  I’m devastated that you can’t remember my awesomeness, so I’m gonna hug you to console myself.  Get over it.”

Delaney was wrapped in his arms before she could lodge a protest and squeaked when her feet left the floor.  By the time he returned her to solid ground, she was laughing.  “Dude.  I have a feeling you’re more psycho than awesome, but it’s nice to meet you.  Again.”

“Nailed it in one,” Petra assured while accepting her own hug.  “Hi, David.  Good to see you.”

“Always a pleasure, beautiful.  Now, who is Gidget Number Three?”

The last woman in the trio arched a condescending eyebrow high onto her forehead.  “Gidget?  Are you fucking kidding me?  Do you realize how politically incorrect that shit is, Quasimodo?  Stand up straight once in a while.”

Loud, raucous cackles and cutting-up filled Catering and spilled over into the surrounding hallways, drawing the curiosity of some crew members who poked their heads around to see what was happening.  What they found was three women – one pissed, one resigned and one mortified – amid the usual unpredictable chaos that was Bon Jovi. 

The maligned Quasimodo was still laughing when he said, “Damn, Delaney.  I see why you’re friends.”

“Right?" Matt immediately jumped in.  "She called me a mofo mountain.”

That set of another round of giggling, hooting and howling that Jon eventually felt compelled to wave down.  Damn if he didn’t like it when he realized Delaney was laughing along with the rest of them. 

“Quiet down, you Neanderthals, and act like you have some fucking manners!  For those of you who don’t know, this is Delaney, her sister Petra, and Delaney’s friend Pearl.”  He turned to stand with the women to also face his friends, brothers and co-workers, pointing at them in turn.  “Ladies, this is a fraction of my traveling circus. The band – Hugh McDonald, John Shanks, Phil X, Everett Bradley, Tico Torres, and Dave.  Sound engineer Obie O’Brien.  And last but not least, and my middle brother-slash-video director, Tony – or Anthony, if he’s playing adult today.  I guess you know I’m Jon.”

The women mingled among the men exchanging greetings and receiving a lot of hugs, he noticed.  Delaney, especially.  Jon was pretty sure that she willingly stepped into the arms of every man there, who squeezed her tight with quiet words that he presumed were regrets about her accident. 

She jovially bantered through it all with both dimples shining – until she found herself standing in front of him.  That’s when her smile was traded for the solemn scrutiny she’d given him in the second half of soundcheck. 

“Thank you,” she said primly with both hands pushed into her back pockets.  “I’m incredibly sorry I don’t remember the Garden and you felt… pressured into granting a second wish.  Sorry, but grateful.  If there’s anything I can do to repay your kindness and generosity, it would be my pleasure Mr. Bon Jovi.”

Mr. Bon Jovi?  What the fuck?

“You can start by cutting the ‘mister’ shit,” he advised with a frown, pushing both hands into his own back pockets. 

What happened to the girl who couldn’t keep from hugging him after the last soundcheck?  The one who threatened to put her tongue down his throat just to irritate her sister?”

Having been shown where to find coffee, Pearl had helped herself and was walking past in the company of Dave, oddly enough, when she overheard Jon and Delaney talking. “Blame Petra.  She keeps trying to feed her some crap about how being well-mannered was what got your attention in the first place.  Totally bogus, but you know how Petra is.”

He did know how she was.  Exactly how she was.  “Is that what all the kindness and generosity bullshit is about, Delaney?”

Yes and no, she wanted to say. 

Even though Pearl was technically correct, to Delaney it was more of a fallback than anything, because being this close to him – and subject to the intense gaze that revealed he had both a dark and a light spot in his left iris – befuddled her.  His wife had looked after her when there was no one else to speak on her behalf.  Dorothea Bongiovi could have easily walked on by without going out of her way to learn Delaney’s name and hold her hand, but she hadn’t. 

She should be kissing the woman’s feet, not thinking about kissing her husband.  Speculating that he might not refuse the gesture was also highly inappropriate.  Fantasizing about how good it would be…  Well, that was inexcusable. 

“I –“

She’d waited too long to answer, though. 

“Petra!” he called to where she was chatting with Phil while he put oranges through an automatic squeezer. 

There was no doubt to anyone in the area that Jon was annoyed.  If the crease between his eyebrows didn’t tell the full story, his lowered chin and folded arms made excellent footnotes, and her sister readily excused herself from the guitarist to join them. 

Delaney should intercede on Petra’s behalf.  That’s what any decent sister would do, but she just kept her mouth shut and hoped that someday she’d be forgiven for throwing her twin under the proverbial bus. 

I’m sorry, Pet.  Admitting my attraction to him just isn’t an option.  I can’t.   

“Hi there,” Petra greeted carefully.  Delaney couldn’t meet her eyes and studied the floor instead, letting the amnesia card play itself.  Pearl and David didn’t want to miss a thing and stood by with eerily similar smirks.  They were probably awaiting the fireworks. 

“Don’t give me that.  I told you not to do the goddamn politician’s wife with me anymore.  That didn’t mean I wanted Delaney to take on the role.”

She could feel the scorch of Petra’s glare, but her sister was perfectly cordial when responding, “I thought it might be nice for you to see her as something other than a brash, eccentric florist.  Maybe that involved a suggestion that you appreciated common courtesy and good manners.  Where’s the harm in that?  She can be socially acceptable when she chooses.”

Delaney's pulse raced at his sigh of disgust.  She'd irritated the swizzle sticks out of him. 

“Since no one here was there – or remembers – my first meeting with Delaney, let me run it down for you.  She broke into my dressing room and went toe-to-toe with Matt when he found her there.  At first she tried to be charming but ended up pissed off and bossy.  She verbally bitch-slapped the guy from Garden security and proceeded to tell me what a pain in the ass the whole adventure was, adding as a parting shot that I wasn’t worth all the trouble.  That’s what got my attention.”

In theory, all that was directed at Petra – or at least the group as a whole.  In reality, Jon spoke every last word into Delaney’s eyes.

“And if you don’t believe me, ask Matt.”

That brought to mind Matt’s earlier comment about not meeting under pleasant circumstances.  Upon hearing his name, he'd joined the fray and Delaney looked to the big man.  His simple nod was all she got or needed. 

“Everybody clear?” Jon prompted, eyes flicking around the small group that had grown by at least three.  Tico, Phil and Tony were all present and engrossed in the exchange.  They, along with everyone else, conveyed their understanding.  “You clear, Delaney?”

Delaney bit her lip, mortified at how turned on she was by his display of authority.  Did she already know this about herself?  Had she been attracted to him last week?  Attracted to him like this?  Did he know she was? 

It would be an excellent idea for her to get away before she humiliated herself by asking him.

“Yeah.  Absolutely.  Thanks for filling in the blanks.  If you’ll excuse me, I need to go powder my nose.” 

“Delaney…” 

A hand hot enough to sear skin through a leather jacket snagged her elbow before she could escape.  She knew it was him.  Knew it was.  There was not a single solitary good reason for her to look up and find him close enough know the pupil had eaten away that dark spot in his left iris and left the light – but she did, anyway. 

Don’t lick your lips.  Don’t try and taste his breath.  Don’t imagine how hot the rest of him is.  Just… don’t.

“Yes?”

 “I’ve got shit to do, so before you go…  Wanna hang out for a while after the show?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Delaney asked dumbly as Petra and Pearl both adamantly declared, “Yes!”

His tongue swiped lazily over his bottom lip before he pasted on a smile, and she now knew how harmless it would’ve been to lick her own lips.  All it would’ve revealed was her nervousness.  Watching his in action was far more intimate than it should’ve been – even more than knowing the variegated shades of his pupil. 

She had to look away.

“Sorry, ladies,” he apologized without a crumb of remorse and utterly unaware of the havoc his tongue just wreaked.  “I believe Dave has some entertainment arranged for you after the show.  This invitation is just for Delaney.”

Petra nonchalantly flitted her fingers in the air and folded the opposite arm so that her Coach bag slid into the crook.  “Doesn’t matter.  The answer’s still yes.”

“Fuck, yeah!” Pearl echoed with a colorful twist, leaning in to lightly elbow David in the ribs.  “Although, I don’t know about this guy.  Can he be trusted?”

“No!”

Even as flustered as she was, Delaney couldn’t help but laugh along with the others at Jon and David’s synchronized answer.  It was funny as a standalone occurrence, but with the chorused denial following so closely behind the womens’ chorused acceptance, it tickled her sense of humor a little more than everyone else’s. 

She knew that, because when she wiped away the tear and looked up, it was to find Jon’s eyes on her again and they were… indecipherable. 

“Whaddaya say, Delaney?  See you after the show?”

Delaney was damseled if she did and damseled if she didn’t.  If she said yes, it would arguably be the most horrible decision she’d ever made in her life.  If she said no, it could be her biggest regret. 

What’s the worst that can happen?  You walk away with wet panties and a lot frustration?  You’re the one with the inappropriate thoughts, not him.  He’s been nothing but nice.  A perfect gentleman.

As far as she knew. 

Poso vlakas bori na ise?  How stupid are you?  Amnesiac or not, you have no reason to think he’s anything but perfect.  He’s in a foreign city away from home, looking to pass time with someone he hasn’t been on tour with for three months.  That’s it.  Put your hormones in a Zip-loc baggie and enjoy his company. 

Coming to that decision decision lifted a weight from Delaney’s shoulders and allowed her to give him an easy smile.  “That sounds great, Jon.  I’d love to.”