28 - PITA

“That concert was off the charts. Two encores! Unfuckingbelievable!” Pearl declared as they slipped around the barrier, flashing their access all-areas passes to venue security.

Those passes were Jon’s other non-negotiable demand in exchange for yesterday’s soundcheck. 

When they’d arrived at the arena, Sandy was again waiting for them, but she didn’t have guest stickers this time.  What she handed out like Halloween treats were lanyards with the tour logo and the letters “AAA” printed at the bottom.  Dumbfounded, they slipped them on and accepted their instructions on when and where to find Matt. 

It only continued to prove how nice Jon Bon Jovi was.  He couldn’t possibly reap any benefit from having his brother park them along the barrier between front row and stage in the minutes before the concert started.  When Delaney expressed concern about the front-row ticket holders being unhappy about their intrusion, he’d simply instructed them to stay on the rail between sections and everything would be fine.

“I still can’t believe he didn’t do ‘Bed of Roses’.”

Petra’s bewilderment had Delaney smiling to herself. 

She was stunned by his choice to open the show from the back, awed by the acoustic version of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”, and flummoxed to get a rare performance of “New Year’s Day” that felt oddly personal.  The entire show was packed with unforgettable surprises to end the tour, but she wasn’t fazed by the missing “Bed of Roses” like her sister was.

Petra and Pearl weren't given all the details about the visit to his room last night because Delaney insisted there was nothing to tell.  There was no mention of kisses exchanged for lineup changes or the Greek sexual platitudes that made his pupils dilate.  Her story held to helping him drink two bottles of wine and talking until she fell asleep.  

When that wasn’t enough to appease their rabid curiosity, she tossed in the story about almost peeing in the closet, which would probably haunt her until the day she died.  It was a sacrifice well-made since it distracted them enough to start a discussion about the difference between Petra’s black towel and Pearl’s blue one.

Now, though, she was compelled to gloat – just a little bit – about her inside scoop.

“He told me he wasn’t going to do ‘Roses’ tonight, I just didn’t believe him.”

“What do you mean, he told you?”  Before getting an answer, Petra pointed to the ladies’ room they were about to pass up.  “In here.  We should freshen up in case we see somebody besides Matt.”

They were supposed to meet him near Catering to relinquish the lanyards, but seeing as he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity, Delaney figured that making a pit stop wouldn't pose a problem.

“He told me,” she repeated, trailing after the other two into the restroom.  “We were talking about how he kisses women during that song, and I might have been a little envious, so he offered me tonight’s kiss early.  Said he wouldn’t do the usual routine with the little stage so that balance was maintained in the Jovi Universe.”

Petra’s mammoth handbag hit the vanity with a thud, and Delaney laid her leather jacket alongside it before peeking into the mirror.  The dominant image there wasn't her own reflection but two pairs of annoyed eyes - one gray and one brown.

“He fucking kissed you?” Pearl’s high-pitched demand was geared at a decibel-level for dogs.  “And you’re just now telling us?”

Petra was oddly quiet, letting the snap of angry irises do the talking for her. 

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”  Except for the fingerprints he left seared into the sides of her head, and the ball of fire ignited in her stomach –  from the same kiss he probably gave his grandma. 

“Uh, Jon Bon Jovi kissed you without the benefit of cameras.  Huge deal,” her friend corrected haughtily.  “Was there tongue?”

“Oh, for crying out loud, Pearl!  No, there wasn’t tongue.  It was just like all the other kisses you see on YouTube – short, sweet and lips only.”  Delaney stuck her hand in Petra’s bag for a hairbrush, remembering why she hadn't mentioned the kiss in the first place.

Petra went from glaring to calmly taking out a blotting cloth and dabbing at her nose.  “What’s his wedding ring look like up close?  I don’t think I’ve ever noticed.”

Married, divorced, single, in a complicated relationship or alone on the moon, Jon had earned the spot as Delaney’s number one celebrity crush and would keep it for a long freeping time.  He was just that cool and hot, both in the same gorgeous package.

Petra wouldn’t get that, though.  She automatically jumped to the worst possible conclusion and was probably about to ask if they’d gotten naked.  Enduring condescending reminders about Jon’s wife was worse than Delaney's revelation of her remaining secret, so she threw out the bait that would alter the course of conversation.

“Oh, hey.  Did I tell you?  I remembered something today.”

The dabbing stopped, and Petra’s smugness was obliterated by astonished optimism.  “Like ‘remember’ remember?  Don’t fucking tease me just to change the subject, Delaney.”

Delaney shook freshly groomed hair, letting waves settle over her shoulders before returning the brush and smoothing hands down her blingy heart and dagger tank.  Wiggling her forget-me-not banded thumb, she puckered her lips to quell the pleased smile that wanted to form.   She hadn’t exactly mentioned the ring either, but she’d keep that one a while longer and go with what her sister wanted to hear.

“I’m not teasing,” she told the two women whose reflected eyes were again riveted on her.  “There are actually a couple of things.  When I was talking to Jon on the phone today, I remembered something he said last week.  I also had a flashback during one of the songs tonight.”

It was during “Make a Memory”, when he crooned about stealing a piece of time.  Her mind had conjured another scene just like it.  In that second scene, however, he wasn’t wearing a sleeveless leather vest.  He had on a long-sleeved shirt that she knew hadn’t been worn in Montreal and, as in that sudden flash of recollection, she sang back to him.

“Well, alright.”  Pearl pulled her into a hug, smacking a fresh-glossed kiss on her cheek.  “You’re going to have Jovidom times two.  How awesome is that, Petra?”

They both turned to the third musketeer of the night, who was still looking in the mirror and now pressing a tissue to the corner of wet eyes.  “It’s really freeping awesome.”

“Aww…”  Delaney slid both arms around her sister's waist and laid a cheek on her shoulder.  “Don’t get all emotional on me now, you cold-hearted shrew.”

The wet eyes squeezed together, and a tissue was planted over her mouth as she crumpled into an ugly cry.  “I… know you hate me… and think I’m an overbearing bitch…  but this…  this is all I wanted.  For you to remember how special your life is, even after…”

Delaney twirled her twin into a full embrace.  Her sister took things harder than she did, and when those things were Delaney’s tragedies….  Petra held them close and let them fester under her hard exterior until they bubbled forcefully to the surface like this.  It happened so seldom that Delaney was always caught by surprise by the harsh reminder that there was more to Petra than being the Congressman's Wife.

The perfect storm resulted in a rare moment when the twins melded together like the single person they’d been before a miracle split them in two.  With Petra sobbing into her shoulder, she didn’t have the heart to point out that it wasn’t a full memory recovery.  She just let relief cleanse the festering wound and cinched fierce arms around her sister.   

“I don’t hate you, Pet,” she sniffled.  “I love you.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t ruin my fucking makeup.”

Delaney couldn’t keep from laughing at the petulance that was more indicative of her sister’s personality than the sobs.  She leaned back and used both thumbs to sweep the tears from under Petra’s eyes before wiping a knuckle under her own.  Even Pearl looked a little misty-eyed in the mirror.

“Well, the good news is, it’s just Matt.  I don’t think we’re meeting anybody from the band tonight,” she consoled as the compact and mascara tube made their appearance from the Coach bag. 

After daintily blowing her nose, Petra tossed the tissue and handed one to each of the other women.  “Doesn’t matter.  Always look your best and be prepared.  Have you even checked your phone tonight?  Did he text?”

“I haven’t looked.”  Hooking the phone that was right where it should be – and had been all day – in her back pocket, she found a message waiting.

[10:38 PM]JON: You got two songs tonight.  If you can guess which ones, there's a bottle of wine waiting for you in my room.

“Doesn’t look like we’re seeing anyone here, but there’s a trivia question.  A correct answer gets me drunk with Jon again,” she laughed. 

“Well, get a good look at that wedding ring this time.”

Sticking her tongue out at the reflected image of her party pooper sister, Delaney typed the first song.  “Memory” was obvious. 

“What’s the trivia question?”

“What songs tonight were for me,” she answered Pearl, knowing in her heart what the second song was.  They’d never talked about it.  Not a single word had been discussed about that song, but when he pulled the mic from the stand and crouched down to sing, “Let’s toast to new beginnings”, he'd been speaking to her.  She just knew it.

“’Keep the Faith’.  Duh.”  Pearl rolled the eyes that were getting their liner tidied. 

“No.  That’s a standard.  He always does that.”

“’Make a Memory’.”

With a half-smile, Delaney nodded at her sister.  “I think so, too.  And I’m going out on a limb to guess the other is ‘New Year’s Day’.”

“Why that one?”

“Ohhh, that’s gooood.”  Hiking her purse strap on her shoulder Pearl folded her arms and nodded definitively.  “'Singing hallelujah and new beginnings'?  Yeah.   You’re totally getting drunk with boyfriend again.”

Last night was a lot of fun, with the exception of falling asleep and waking him in the middle of the night.  Repeating it would not be a tragedy.  She’d simply make sure to stay awake this time, Delaney promised herself as the message shot through cyberspace.

“Maybe I am.”

Petra gathered her bag and all its contents, and handed over Delaney's jacket.  “I still look like I’ve been crying, but we’ve got to get out of here.  You two ready?”

Agreeing that they were, the trio emerged from the bathroom and had no trouble spotting Matt right away.  He was impatiently scanning the hallway and walked their way as soon as he noticed them.  When he got close enough to see their faces, however, he no longer seemed quite as eager to reach them.

“Everything okay?”

Delaney snickered at his reluctant question.  Most men didn’t do well with tears, and it seemed that Matt Bongiovi was one of those men.  He looked like he’d rather take down a sniper than to unearth the reason behind the soggy appearance of three little women.

Logically, he’d probably expected them to be glowing with excitement instead of looking tragedy stricken, but there was just no way to erase all evidence of tears in under five minutes.  They’d done the best they could and met his apprehensive gaze as it swept over all of them.

Predictably it was Petra who took control of the situation and flashed professionally whitened teeth at the big man. “We’re backstage at a Bon Jovi show and have access to go anywhere.  What could possibly not be okay about that?”

Matt's attention shifted to Delaney, and he hiked both brows in silent question.  Sparing him any explanation was the humanitarian thing to do, so she simply nodded and lifted the lanyard over her head. 

“Everything’s fine.”  Along with her reiteration, she provided the key to the Bon Jovi kingdom that had been entrusted to her for the evening.  “Thanks for these.”

Satisfied that he didn’t have to deal with tears or the reasons for them, he nodded and collected all three to tuck in his back pocket.  “I think that’s it, ladies.  There’s a crew-only party for the end of the tour, so that’s where everybody is gonna be.  You want me to get you a ride back to the hotel?”

“No, that’s okay, we’ll – “

Delaney’s refusal was interrupted by Petra’s hand on her arm.

“Matt, I’m sorry, but I’m going to need to talk to Jon before we go.”

His sigh didn’t reflect surprise so much as sufferance.  It was almost as if he’d been waiting for something like this.  “Not gonna happen.  Sorry.”

Unfortunately, Delaney recognized the look on her sister’s face.  Petra wasn’t going to let the oversized man push her around, and she dug out the Congressman’s Wife smile to use as her defense. 

“Now, Matt.  You can either let me speak to him for two minutes before I go back to the hotel, or we can sit here quarreling until I call him and get back in that dressing room anyway.  Why can’t we just skip all the fuss?”

“Petra…”

“Yo, Mountain Man.”  Pearl parted the sisters to slide between them and issue Jon's brother a pat on the chest.  “You know how she fucking is.  Cut us all a break and give him a shout, would ya?  I don’t want to stand here all night and watch her manipulate you like Play-Doh.  It’s embarrassing for all of us.”

“Pearl, there’s no reason to emasculate the man.”  Petra’s scolding came along with a harsh look for the other women to shut up, because she was handling this.  “I only want two minutes.  Even one would be fine.  He understands that, and I’m sure he’ll be as kind and accommodating as he’s been since the beginning.  Right, Matt?”

Whereas her companions were appalling Delaney, Matt just viewed them with pity and a humorless laugh.  “That would be another, no.  Sorry.”

“But...”  It was like a train wreck that Delaney couldn’t tear her eyes away from nor do anything to prevent.  She was stuck there, rooted to the ground as her sister’s eyes welled again with tears.  “He’s made Delaney start to remember.  All I want to do is thank him.  One minute.  Thirty seconds.  Please?”

Impassive eyes slid to Delaney.  “That true?”

Everything in her wanted to be angry with Petra, and she would be if her sister showed the slightest bit of insincerity.  She truly believed Jon was the trigger to the flashbacks, and after her little breakdown in the bathroom – the likes of which hadn’t been seen in at least five years – Delaney couldn’t call her out.

“She might be embellishing slightly, but no,” she admitted with resignation.  “I’ve gotten a couple of memories back today, and he sparked them both.”

Indecision weighed heavily in his features.  Matt obviously took his job seriously and she would bet he wasn’t the guy who was prone to having a change of heart.  It was killing him to even consider doing so now, and his big chest heaved with a sigh that accompanied the appearance of his phone.

“You women are a pain in the ass.”