6 - Now What?

“I wanna talk to Tony!” Jon called to anyone who cared to listen as he trudged into the dressing room on his braced knee.  He would be glad to get the surgery over with tomorrow.  This robotic gimp thing was annoying as hell. 

Tossing his jacket to the sofa, he stripped the red t-shirt over his head and grabbed the black zippered vest Dawn was holding out for him. 

“You’ve only got about ten minutes,” Dawn calmly reminded him as he pushed through the armholes.

“This will only take five.”

Rubbing an impatient hand through his hair, he doused his throat with spray, bemoaning the fact that he was behind schedule.  The sound check ran over, and that caused him to be late to the fan club thing.  While he did those Q&A sessions only begrudgingly to begin with, his dislike for them multiplied when they went long and threatened to delay his show.  He hated being behind schedule. 

“Tea?”

Without comment, Dawn supplied him with the familiar steel mug.

The near-scalding herbal blend slid down his throat as a mysterious hand passed one of the walkie-talkies through the door to Dawn, who relayed it on to him.  Jon smashed down the button without hesitation and spoke into the black, hand-held unit.  “TBJ.”

“Yo,” was the disembodied response from his middle brother.

“Who the hell is Lilah?”

Tony cringed in front of the computer monitors.  He’d almost convinced himself that last night was a freaky dream brought on by bad mushrooms.  Hearing his brother say her name stole that luxury away.  How in the hell did he find out about Lilah?

“Tony!” prompted Jon’s impatient voice. 

“Just a fan.”

The walkie-talkie crackled.  “Whose fan?”

Hell if he knew.  To hear Lilah tell it, she was Tony’s fan.  She did mention Richie, and it definitely wasn’t Jon she had a thing for.  She’d made that much pretty clear when she professed to ‘have no interest in him whatsoever’.

Conscious of the dwindling minutes before show time, Tony kept it short and dumb.  If it was that big of a deal, Jon would ask again later.  “I dunno.”

“Uh huh.  Well, you better figure it out,” Big Brother ordered with another crackle of air.  “She said she’ll be looking for you.”

Jesus H. Christ.  Not only does he know about her, he’s delivering messages for her?

He knew this was far from over.   It was going to come back and haunt him later, when Jon had more time to browbeat him.  Of course, by then, Tony would have had more time to find out how Lilah managed to corner Jon.  For now…

“It’s almost show time, man.  Make sure to shake your ass, not your knee.”

Right now, that’s all that was important.  Jon had to give the crowd a good show without screwing up his leg any more than it already was.

Checking the clock on the computer, Tony saw that there were three minutes left until his opening cue.  That gave him just enough time to fire off a quick text to Rob Fuzesi, or ‘Fuz’ as they were known to call him.

8:27 PM:  You’ve got a Lila on the FC trip.  Last name?

Stuffing the phone back into his pocket, he wondered if he still remembered the password to the fan club database.

✧ ✧ ✧

The show was as good as any Lilah had ever seen, but her current euphoria wasn’t because of the double-encore set list that Bon Jovi had cranked out tonight. 

No, the biggest factor of her giddy nervousness was the impending after party – and the chance to speak to Tony again.  Her heart was fluttered as they neared the unfamiliar pub that would serve as their host.  How would be the best way to approach him?  She was feeling a little cocky, but she couldn’t just strut up to him and say she’d done it. Meek and humble wouldn’t come off right either. 

Not for the first time, she cursed her awkwardness with people.  She hated having to mentally plan out every little detail of a conversation.  One of the few things she’d admired about her first husband was his ability to talk to anyone about anything for any length of time.  People always came away thinking he was a great guy.  

Thankfully their son, Andrew, had taken after his father in that respect.  He didn’t always like to socialize, but when he did, it wasn’t the ordeal it was for Lilah.

The bus drew to a halt and she stood, shrugging into her jacket. 

When would Tony let her come backstage?  Would it be the next show, eight days away in Istanbul or would he put her off until Bucharest?  Either way it was going to be a delayed gratification, but at least it was something concrete look forward to now. 

Hanging out in Turkey felt a bit intimidating for Lilah as a woman traveling alone so she’d chosen to spend the extra days between this show and that one  in Dublin, where English was at least the primary language.  There was an excellent chance she would end up doing nothing but hanging around the hotel and surfing the internet, but that was okay by her.  It was her vacation.  There was no one here to judge.

Absently smiling at the women who moved past her toward the front of the bus, Lilah patiently waited her turn to disembark.  Some of the faces were familiar now, and she didn’t mind listening to the other women’s conversations. Occasionally she would even join in for a bit, but she never truly fit in.  Every time she opened her mouth, she felt like the stupidest things came out. 

The pub was bustling by the time she made her way inside.  Everyone had a drink in their hand and a smile on their face as they recounted favorite parts of the show – "Bounce", "Vertigo", "Squeezebox", and "Hey God" were all song titles heard to be repeated over and over as Lilah worked her way through the crowd.

Jon went all out for Dublin.

She arrived at the bar and placed her drink order, carefully inspecting each patron leaning against the rich wood surface.  Tony wasn’t there.   In her limited experience, if he was in attendance, he could be found at one end of the bar or the other, his back tucked in a corner.  Once, she’d seen him in the middle of the crowd, enjoying a lively chat with Mike Rew, but for the most part, he hung at the outer edges.

Rob Fuzesi worked his way in at the bar next to her, boisterously ordering whatever was on tap.

Ask him about Tony. He would know.

Her stomach knotted.  She didn’t really know him, but she’d ‘talked’ to him a couple of times online and had, obviously, met him on this fan club trip.  Once.  He seemed to be a nice guy, who enjoyed the fans.  He certainly was outgoing enough to be doing these events.

Stop piddling and ask, before he walks away and you look like an idiot chasing him across the room.

“Um, excuse me.  Rob?”

The wide, friendly smile that was so familiar to those on the fan club trips turned toward her.  “Hey, how ya doin’?  Good show, huh?”

“Yeah.  Show was great.”  She cleared her throat and accepted her Malibu Bay Breeze from the bartender.  “Would you happen to know if Tony Bongiovi is comin' tonight?”

“TBJ?”  Warm brown eyes narrowed a little when the big man’s forehead thoughtfully furrowed.  “What did you say your name was?”

“Lilah.”

“Lilah…?” He left the single name hanging as a prompt to supply her last name.

Now hers was the forehead that was furrowed.  Had she been put on a black list of some sort? Sad that she was always expecting the worst.

“Lilah Bennett.”

Rob’s eyebrows lifted and he nodded his head slowly.  “Yeah, well… Lilah… TBJ ain't gonna make it tonight.”

“Oh, okay.”  She picked up her drink and prepared to find a quiet corner table.  From there she would watch the rest of the crowd enjoy themselves until it was time to go to re-board the bus.  And maybe have the tiniest of pity parties.  “Thanks.”

“Hey.”  His voice stopped her.  “I heard you at the Q&A.  What’s the deal?  What are you up to?”

“I’m not up to anything.”

He all but radiated skepticism.  “I don’t know if I buy that, but whatever.  Lemme give you a word of advice, though:  If you’re looking to brush elbows with one of Jon’s brothers, you’d be better off with Matt.”  His dark head tipped toward the youngest of the Bongiovi brothers, who stood half a head taller than most of the crowd.  “He’s more than happy to hang out with the fans.  TBJ prefers to keep to himself.”

I don’t give a rat’s ass about Jon’s brothers.  I’m interested in Tony, the video director.

There was no real reason to sharpen her claws on that point, so she gave it a pass, politely repeating, “Okay.  Thanks again.” This time when she tried to escape, Rob didn’t stop her.  The only thing he did was remind her of what time they would be going back to the hotel, and wish her a good evening.

That means you have no idea in hell where to find Tony until Istanbul in eight days.  Now what?

✧ ✧ ✧

“So who is she?”  Jon didn’t wait for an invitation into Tony’s hotel room.  He just nudged past him and made himself at home, leaning his ass against the dresser and crossing his arms. 

The show had only been over for about an hour, which was just long enough for Tony to get back to the hotel.  Jon had better and quicker transportation, so it was also long enough for him to get a shower, evidenced by his still-wet hair.  He’d pulled on an old Southside Johnny t-shirt and a pair of shorts to come knocking on Tony’s door.

Crossing his flip-flopped feet at the dragon-tattooed ankle, he looked at Tony expectantly, with his usual air of impatience.

“She who?”

“You know who.  That Lilah broad.”  His blonde head swiveled back and forth looking around the room.  “You got any water in here?”

Crossing over to the compact refrigerator, Tony withdrew a cold bottle and lightly tossed it to his uninvited visitor.

“Thanks.”  He cracked the top and took a swig before screwing it back on.  “Now, who is she?”

Tony nodded toward the open laptop on his bed.  He’d barely had enough time to find that out for himself.  “According to your fan club database she’s Lilah Bennett, from Lexington, Kentucky.”

“And why is Lilah Bennett from Lexington, Kentucky asking me who’s allowed on the backstage video crew?”

“Hell if I know,” he snorted, plopping down on the bed and crossing his bare ankles.  Ever since Rob had texted her last name, Tony had been so intent on getting back and finding out what he could about Lilah Bennett that he hadn’t bothered to do more than kick off his shoes and socks.  The rest of his work ‘uniform’ of jeans and a black t-shirt was still intact.

“Obviously you know something if she’s going to be looking for you, and has enough balls to have me pass that message along.”

That was the funny thing, in Tony’s opinion.  He hadn’t spent a lot of time with Ms. Bennett, but he didn’t think it was a case of balls at all.  The way she was blushing and bracing herself at every turn made it seem more like…  Not something she had to do exactly, but definitely a… mission?

He sighed and dropped his head back against the wall, in need of another smoke.  Unfortunately the room didn’t have a balcony, and he couldn’t drag his famous sibling through the hotel to get outside and have one.  He could, but it would be a pain in the ass for everyone.

“I don’t know much other than she’s been to all the European shows so far.  I’ve spotted her a few times – backstage tour and in the crowd… taking pictures of me.”  He ignored Jon’s smirk.  Smug prick knew he didn’t like pictures.  “Last night she came up to me at the after party with a proposition.”

“Proposition, huh?”

This time it was Tony’s turn to smirk.  Big brother knew exactly what that was like. 

“Just a little proposition,” he clarified without making a single damn thing clear.  “She wants backstage to watch me work, but won’t say why.”

“And…?”

He shrugged.  “I told her no.  I told her it wasn’t my show, but she’s persistent.”  The softly drawled plea still echoed in his head.  Damn Southern accents stick like glue.  “Got me to say it would be okay as long as you agreed.  I forgot she would have a shot at you in the Q&A.”  A soft snort escaped.  Tony was unwillingly impressed, and borrowed some of Jon’s earlier words.  “Even if I remembered, I wouldn’t have thought she had the balls to ask you.”

His brother straightened, running an absent hand over his chest.  “Well, she did.  And now you’re stuck with her, unless you wanna look like a douche bag and make me look like one in the process.”  That brought an unhappy frown.  “Scratch that.  You’re stuck with her.  Just make sure she’s not some psycho that’s gonna wreak havoc on my show.  Even if she’s not, I expect you to keep a tight leash on her.”

Peachy.  Just fuckin’ peachy.

“Yeah, I got it.”  He swung his bare feet to the floor and crammed them into the discarded tennis shoes at his bedside.  Wrapping his head around this definitely required a smoke.  He stood and cut a condemning look Jon’s way.  “Now shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?”

Another frown creased Jon’s face, this one dripping with disgust.  “What do I need sleep for?  They’re gonna shoot my ass full of sleepy-time drugs in about six hours.  But Dottie will be breaking down your door if I don’t get back to the room soon.”  He lifted a questioning chin.  “You coming to the hospital with us?”

“You hafta ask?”  He may not have a wife and kids, but from Tony’s perspective, nothing was more important than family.  If they were cutting on one of his family members, he would be right there until the doctors assured him everything was okay. 

“Just checkin’.”

He swung a heavy arm around Jon and squeezed his shoulder.  “I’ve got your back, just like I always do.”