“Um,” Cassidy ventured, still stunned by the recording that was supposed to be her singing with Jon and finding it difficult believe it really was her. “Did Obie do somethin’ to enhance my voice?”
“No,” was the quiet, yet firm reply from Jon. “That’s all you.”
The Kmart cassette recorder she’d used back in the
eighties sure hadn’t made her sound like that.
In fact, she’d only recorded herself once or twice because she couldn’t
stand listening to her voice.
“You think I might get a copy of that to send my sister?”
The men’s laughter bugged her a little at first, but then
she just smiled along with them. The question had probably come across as
though she were a backwoods hick who still marveled and the wonders of indoor
plumbing. Of course they would laugh.
“I’ll transfer these to my hard drive, and you can have
the flash drive,” Jon promised. “At least we know why Obie’s having a
conniption.”
“I guess so,” she murmured quietly, tucking one leg
beneath her and wondering what this meant.
It don’t mean
anythin’ different than it did last night.
Take care of your business. All
of this is just a pleasant distraction until you do.
She hadn’t made any further progress on that particular
business as of yet, but at least she’d used this morning’s time away from the
hotel wisely. When she’d awoken to find
Jon immersed in lyrics and melodies, Cassidy had taken a quick shower, pulled
her hair in a ponytail and was ushered out the door by his casual wave.
All told, it was only about an hour, but it had been
enough time to get herself a new cellphone, send one to Libby, and pick up
coffee, a cup of fruit and a magazine from Barnes & Noble.
With the promise of a double-pay week looming, she had even splurged and
overnighted Libby’s phone. Right now
she was very glad for that decision because Cassidy needed to talk to her
sister in the worst possible way.
This whole thing was starting to become a little
overwhelming and she needed her sister’s ear.
Obie and his hyperspastic Chihuahua impersonation, the recording studio,
David Bryan and Jon. Because, yes, the
silver-headed man at the opposite end of the sofa had ceased being “Jon Bon
Jovi” in the last couple of days and become just “Jon.”
“So, Dixie Chickeroo,” David intruded with an
enthusiastic clap of his hands. “You
ready to show me your mad piano skills?”
She graced him with a sassy smile and an apology. “There’s nothin’ mad about ‘em, I’m
afraid. Mediocre is a generous
assessment, so I’m lookin’ forward to your help. Where is this lesson gonna take place?”
“Right down the hall.
I had them bring a keyboard up to my suite.”
Cassidy was a very laid back person and always went with
the flow. This particular flow, however,
concerned her. If David’s room was right
down the hall from Jon’s, then there was a better-than-average chance he would
be spending part of his evening with Jon.
Which was fine, as long as he didn’t make any unannounced visits or
catch her in the hallway coming and going.
His presence might have just relocated her sleeping accommodations all
the way back to Pasquo for the night.
“Alright then,” she agreed with a hearty smile, not daring
to risk a look at Jon to see if he’d made the same connection. The safest thing for her to do was just get
her purse and get out of here, so she stood and grabbed the little
backpack. “I’m ready when you are.”
David sprang to his feet and offered his arm in an
old-fashioned gentlemanly way. “Allow me
to escort you to my den of iniquity.”
Her arm snugged into that of the taller man, Cassidy
couldn’t help but laugh. If this was a
taste of what she could expect, it would likely prove to be an interesting
afternoon. She might even forgive him for putting her on pins and needles.
Unable to avoid looking at Jon any longer, she still
avoided his eyes when turning to him and trying to be friendly, yet not too
friendly. Polite friendly. “Thank you for the introduction, Mr. Bon
Jovi. It was nice seein’ you again.”
“Call me Jon,” he requested neutrally, even though she
caught sight of a fleeting frown as he dug in his pant pocket. “And, contrary to the evidence, I don’t let a
singing partner walk away that easily.
You’re going to need to give me your phone number.”
There was a moment of blank air space in her head before
she could even remember the number. In
fact, Cassidy was caught so unaware by the request that she couldn’t do it
without extracting the new phone and looking at it.
“I don’t call myself very often,” she explained with an
apologetic smile and then provided the information along with a subtly probing
question about the rest of the day, since she and Jon hadn’t discussed it yet. “Do you have any idea when I might expect to
hear from you? I was plannin’ on headin’
back home after Mr. Bryan and I finish.”
“Dave,” her piano tutor corrected her use of his formal
name. “Or David, Joker, Lema… ‘Hey,
asshole’ works, too. Just not anything
with a mister in it.”
She conceded the point with a slight nod. “David, then.”
“Sooner rather than later,” Jon provided his expectations
quickly on the heels of the name game, clearly not caring what she called his
friend. “In fact, just come back here
after you’re done. I won’t be going out
for long and should be back before you are.”
“We could all have lunch.”
David’s suggestion was nice, but she was already weary of
censoring her words and actions.
Jon must have been having similar thoughts, because all
he would concede to was a murmured, “Maybe.”
“I’m figuring a couple hours on the keys, so let me
know.”
“Alright.”
“Later, then.” David
threw out and ushered Cassidy to the door and, ultimately, into the
hallway. They hadn’t taken two steps
before he was saying, “So, serious question.”
The way he phrased it implied… well, seriousness, and she involuntary
tensed although she didn’t slow her gait.
All she did was slide an inquiring glance in his direction as they
stopped in front of the room two doors down.
“What is it you wanna know?”
Once again, he held the door for her and, when it snicked
shut, Cassidy felt the first inkling of trepidation. She had met this man five minutes ago and was
now in his hotel room. Granted, he
seemed nice enough and the other two men called him a friend, but what did she
really know about him?
What did you know
about Jon?
That he wanted her and she wanted him. And she’d at least spent an entire day with
him before they locked themselves in a room that looked exactly like this
one.
“How long have you known Jon? Dixie.”
Cassidy’s arms crossed at her waist as she peered up at
him, wondering where this was going. Had Jon’s nickname for her sparked some type
of suspicion?
“I met him last week.
Thursday, I think.”
“Relax,” he instructed, motioning for her to sit while he
chose the far armchair for himself. “I
can see you think I’m about jump your bones, but that’s not the case. Scout’s honor.”
“Something makes me doubt the fact that you were a Scout,
but I appreciate the reassurance. Thank
you.” With his promise and both of them
seated in armchairs instead of on the sofa, her discomfort was alleviated. “What is it that has you lookin’ so intense,
then?”
“I just haven’t seen him in about a month. At the time I thought he looked like shit, same as I’ve thought for the past two years. He’d become somebody I didn’t really know –
withdrawn, quiet, and depressed. All I’m
trying to do is find out when that changed and I was using you as a point of
reference. How was he when you met him?”
This was thin ice for Cassidy and she needed to tread
very carefully. Jon had made his
metamorphosis during the last two days, since she had been sleeping with
him. That wasn’t something she would
ever reveal, though, and she would do well to be vigilant about what she did
say.
“About like you described,” she cautiously supplied. “Tryin’ to blend into the woodwork and real
quiet for the most part.”
The only time he hadn’t been was during the conversation
with Clay, which she reminded herself that she needed to follow up on. Jon hadn’t said what his business in town was
with Clay and she’d forgotten to ask.
“What about at the recording studio?”
“’Bout the same as the first time.”
“And then… what?
You didn’t see him again until today?”
This man could’ve been a lawyer with all these pointed,
drilling questions, and she critically studied Jon’s friend in an effort to
determine if there was any untold motive in those questions. His dark blue eyes were serious and earnest. Features that were obviously creased from many years of smiles and laughter
were also somber, but he didn’t act as though there was an ulterior agenda. He appeared to be genuinely concerned.
“That’s right,” she fibbed, pretending she hadn’t spent
the last two nights in Jon’s bed and sparking a sidebar conversation between
David and himself.
“So what happened between Monday and now to lift the
world from his shoulders? That’s a
pretty abrupt turnaround.”
Cassidy wished he wouldn't keep digging into the reasons for Jon’s
mental health improvement. That was only going to create problems for everyone - or at least for her and Jon.
“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t any of my business, but does
it matter what happened? I mean, as long as he’s doin’
better, is it really that important to pinpoint a specific reason?”
“I don’t know," David bristled slightly. "It
might. If I’m going to encourage him to
keep doing whatever it is he’s doing, then I’d like to know it’s not going to
get him arrested.”
That’s WHO-ever
he’s doing.
“Like I said,” Cassidy deferred, finished talking about
Jon’s well-being with his friend. She
was only supposed to have a superficial acquaintance with him and, rather than
worrying about her acting skills, it was better to avoid the topic altogether. “None of my business. Would you mind if we got on with the lesson?”
The curly headed man regarded her with thoughtful eyes and she hoped she wasn't about to discover that he was like Libby and had a tenacious side that he was ready to trot out. If he did, then she would
politely decline his musical instruction.
This wasn’t what she’d signed on for.
“Yeah, sure,” he eventually concurred, blonde ringlets
bobbing along with his head as he moved to plug in the keyboard. “Let’s see what you can do.”
She could have mentioned that she had introduced him to Clay & about their Football talk...total truth but would have sent David down the total wrong path.
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