Chapter 13: The Day After

The next day was extremely productive for Richie and Jon. They were up with the sun working. Richie was able to compartmentalize his feelings enough to concentrate on working. Last night’s duet with Julianna had put into perspective the tone that Bring It On was trying to set. Richie had some ideas about the new song, and explained his thoughts to Jon. Jon agreed that his ideas were great, and in sync with what the show needed. They reworked the song to Richie’s specs, and were pleased with the results.

* * * * * * *

Julianna was working furiously, too. She had been up with the birds, and had been in her studio all day, having skipped lunch. She completely re-staged Never Say Goodbye, making it more emotional and poignant. Watching her tapes now, she thought this may be her best work. Across the room, her computer beeped, signaling the arrival of new e-mail. She smiled when she saw it was from Maddie. The girl had sent the photos she had taken last night.

Maddie had captured Julianna and her brothers playing onstage with Richie. She laughed out loud at the goofy grin on his face. She scrolled through the pictures of Richie and her nieces and cousins, marveling at how good he was with them. There were a few candid shots from dinner, and that was it. Conspicuously missing were the photos of her and Richie together, the ones they posed for.

Another beep, and another e-mail popped into her window. Maddie had added a note on this one. “These are the ones of just you and Richie. Thank you so much for bringing him. All my friends are jealous. See you next month! Love, Maddie.” Julianna opened the first one. It was from their duet. They were standing toe to toe, staring into each others’ eyes. There was raw longing and desire in both their faces. Holy Hell! The next one was the posed shot Maddie had begged for. It had come out great. The final photo was strangely erotic. This was the photo Maddie had snapped of the two of them before they were posed properly. Julianna’s eyes were locked on Richie’s, her lips slightly parted. She looked like a woman about to be ravaged. Richie looked like he could have take her right there, in front of God, Nonna, and the rest of the family.

She printed off a set of all the pictures, and before she lost her nerve, put them into an envelope, scrawling Richie’s name across the front of it. She added a note to the front of the envelope.

R –
Here are some of the photos from last night
Enjoy!
-- J

Julianna paced. Should she give them to Richie? Would he laugh them off, or see what she saw in them? Would he be as captivated by them as she was? “Enough!” she scolded herself. Julianna went out to her car, and drove around to the main house. Sitting in the driveway, she hesitated. This was her first trip back to the house since the night she found her husband in the arms of another woman. In her bed. She hadn’t set foot on the property again until the afternoon with Richie, and hasn’t been back into the house since that fateful night. Her friends and family had packed up her belongings for her.

Giving herself a mental slap, Julianna opened the car door. She sprinted to the front door of the house, slid the envelope through the slot in the door, rang, the bell, and ran back to the car. A rooster-tail of gravel underlined her anxiety. Whether her anxiety was caused by simply being back at this house, or at the packet she just left for Richie, Julianna couldn't say.

* * * * * * *

Up in the studio, the band was wrapping up for the evening. They had re-recorded the music for the finale, and wanted to leave it. If they messed with it anymore, they would ruin it. They’d work on fixing the lyrics later. Tico’s stomach grumbled loudly. He looked at the clock. “Damn, guys, we worked through lunch, and now it’s almost dinner time. I’m starved. Let’s get outta here for a while, go grab something in some greasy dive somewhere.”

The rest of them agreed. They poured down the stairs, laughing and joking, things feeling like old times. Tico was the first to the door, and the first to notice the envelope laying on the floor in front of it. Reading the note, he laughed. “Rich, man, you got your own photographer now?” He waived the envelope in the air. “Let’s see what our boy was up to last night.” He pulled the stack of prints from the envelope, and began thumbing through them. Flipping around one of the ones Richie posed for with Julianna’s young relatives, Tico laughed. “A little young for you, aren’t they, Sambora?”

“Shut up, T. Give me those.” He reached for them, but Tico was too quick, spinning out of the way.

“No way, man. Finders Keepers. Wait your turn.” He continued flipping through the photos, passing them to Jon after he looked at them. When he got to the one of Richie with his arm around Julianna’s waist, their eyes locked onto each other, he whistled. “Damn, man, you weren’t kidding last night. Guys,” he said, flipping the photo around. “take a look at this."

Richie’s heart stopped. Julianna’s cousin had captured the raw emotion and desire in their faces. He swallowed hard, and reached for the print with a shaky hand. “Guys, I think we should stay in tonight.” He sighed, unable to tear his eyes away from the photo. “It’s time you met Julianna.”

Jon clapped a hand on Richie’s shoulder. “You cookin’, man, or should we order in?”

Richie smiled weakly at Jon’s attempt to lighten the mood. “Dial the phone.”