Chapter 53: Friendship and Love

Jon’s phone rang, startling him. It was Richie. “Man, what’s the story? Are you OK?”

Richie blew out a breath. “Yeah, I’m OK. We’re both OK. Julianna doesn’t want to talk to her brothers right now, but she wanted me to tell you to tell them that she’s OK and will call them later. Where are you?”

“Man, we’re still downstairs. The doorman finally let us in, so we aren’t freezing our asses off, but we weren’t going anywhere until we heard from you.”

“Thanks, bro.” Richie said. “I’m going to stay here tonight; try to help Julianna talk through her shit.”

“Alright,” Jon said. “We’ll crash in a hotel tonight, and will call ya tomorrow. I have some of your shit down here if you want it.”

Richie was touched. “That would be great, Jon, thanks. I’ll come down and get it.”

“Alright.” Jon closed his phone, and turned to the Julianna’s brothers, who were looking at him expectantly. “That was Rich; he said to tell you guys that Julianna is OK, she just doesn’t want to talk to anyone else right now.” Jon then turned to look at his friends. “Rich said he’s OK too. He’s coming down to get the stuff I brought for him.”

The men all exhaled breaths they didn’t know they were holding.

* * * * *

Upstairs, Richie hung up the phone, and took Julianna’s hand in his. “Jon has a bag for me down in the lobby. I want to go and get it. Will you let me back in?”

Julianna didn’t say anything; she just looked at him for a long moment before pulling from his grasp. She went into the kitchen and Richie could hear drawers opening and closing, and the sound of her rummaging around. Eventually, she came back with a key ring. “These are the spare keys to the garage elevator and my apartment.” She hesitated just for a moment, and extended the key ring out to Richie. “You can let yourself back in. Take your time; I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’d better not,” Richie said sternly, clasping his hand around Julianna’s wrist before taking the keys from her. “I’d find you wherever you’d choose to hide. You know that. Remember I’m dirty, rotten, stinking, filthy rich. Plus,” he smiled, “I have Francesca on my side.” He dropped a kiss onto her palm, and closed her fingers around it. “With those resources, I can’t lose. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“I know you will be,” Julianna said, yawning. “I’m exhausted. I’ll be in the bedroom when you get back.” She turned and shuffled from the room, shoulders drooped, without a backward glance.

As Richie left the apartment, he had the awful feeling that he was still going to be shut out, even though Julianna was talking to him now. While he was waiting for the elevator, he looked back at Julianna’s closed door, wondering what the woman behind it was doing.

* * * * *

The woman behind the door was crying. Again. She didn’t understand why she still had tears left to shed. She was in her sparsely decorated bedroom, curled up in a ball, crying. She didn’t know how much more of this emotional roller coaster she could take. Her nerves felt like they were frazzled, and every small noise made her jump. Her heart felt like it was breaking.

Although Richie said he was going to stand by her through this, she didn’t believe him. Not really. She didn’t honestly believe he would care to deal with this for very long. She hoped she could get it all put behind her quickly. She really didn’t want to lose him. She loved him so much it hurt. She could tell that he thought he meant what he said, and that made her happy. With those thoughts running through her head, she wasn’t really surprised when the phone rang. She smiled a little, assuming Richie was checking up on her, and answered it.

“Hey there,” she said softly.

There was a pause on the other end. “Julianna?”

With that one word, the pain that Julianna had started to put behind her again came back strong. Again. “M-m-mark? Is that you?” His voice was deeper than she remembered it being – dark and sensual.

“Yeah, it is,” he said edgily. “Who were you expecting?”

“N-n-nobody. What do you want?” Julianna was having trouble distinguishing between the past and present. She hadn’t talked to Mark since that night; she had done all her talking through her lawyers and family. The sound of his voice brought back a thousand memories – some of them good, some of them great, some of them bad. “Why are you calling?” she asked.

“Jules,” he crooned. Julianna closed her eyes at the smooth sound of her nickname on his lips. “I was in town last month, and stopped by your new show, and it’s good, by the way,” he said. He sounded so much like the man she fell in love with all those years ago. “Now, when I try to go watch, I’m told that rehearsals are closed. What’s up with that?”

Julianna sighed. She was so not ready to deal with this. She couldn’t have Mark confusing things. Not now, probably not ever. He’d just mess things up, that much she knew. She looked around the room, searching for something to tell him. She settled on a version of the truth. “Mark, I cannot deal with this now. I haven’t been well and just got into town a few hours ago.” She was shaking and didn’t know why. “Can we talk about this some other time?”

Mark was surprised by what he heard. She sounded insecure and timid. Where was the psycho who got bent out of shape by one little indiscretion? Hell, it’s not like it was the first time, and he was pretty sure she had lovers over the years, too. Why else would she encourage him to take an apartment in California and stay in New York herself? This woman sounded like she was on the edge of a breakdown. If he could swoop in and be her savior, he thought, she would be so grateful who knows what could happen?

In a calculated move, Mark softened his voice even more. “Of course, honey. I didn’t realize you had just gotten into town. I’ll give you some time to settle in, and will call you next week. Bye, sweetheart.”

Julianna hung up the phone and quietly fell apart. She did not need to deal with this now. She stumbled into her bedroom, crashing into the doorjamb on the way, bruising her arm. Sightlessly, she dropped onto the bed and lay down. What was she supposed to do now? Mark could make trouble for the show, but could make more trouble for her personal life. What was more important to her? Right now, she couldn’t really answer that – things were too raw to sort through. With a quick prayer for help and guidance, Julianna fell into a fitful sleep.

* * * * *

When Richie got down to the lobby, he saw his friends, old and new, clustered in one corner. They hadn’t noticed him yet, and he just stopped to watch them. They were sitting so Jon was mostly hidden by the others, but that didn’t stop the staff and the few residents who were passing through from seeing him. Richie smiled at their reactions. Most people did double-takes when they saw any of them out and about – it was almost as if people couldn’t quite believe that rock stars did mundane things just like everyone else. Richie watched Jon and the others smile and chat and sign autographs for a few people. He could tell, though, that Jon’s heart just wasn’t in it. The smiles he flashed were the practiced ones he reserved for the press; not the genuine ones that brought women to their knees.

When Jon finally noticed Richie, he excused himself, grabbed the bag and guitar case, and walked toward his friend. The two men quickly made their way to a quiet corner of the lobby. “Hey, how you doin’,” Jon asked with genuine concern. He put the bags down and gripped his friend in a tight hug.

Clapping Jon on the back, Richie straightened and exhaled sharply. “Better than I was an hour ago. Shit, man, she was going to throw this all away over that stupid episode. I mean, I know it was a big deal to her, but in the grand scheme of things, it was pretty minor. I think I’ve made her see that. At the very least, she’s letting me back up there, and even gave me a key.” He shook his head ruefully. “I have a feeling this isn’t going to go smoothly. She’s really got it in her head that this is something big enough to keep us apart.”

Jon looked critically at his friend. He could see the tiredness in his eyes, and heard the heartache in his voice. “You really love this woman, don’t you, buddy? It’s not just a passing fancy.”

“Yeah, I do love her,” Richie answered. “I love her with my whole heart and soul.” Seeing Jon’s serious look, Richie added, “I know that you’re happy for me, but deep down you think it’s too soon.” Richie paced a little. “I know this was quick, and you’re worried about me and rebounding, and that whole thing.” He stopped to look his friend dead on eye-to-eye. “Well I’ll tell you, it isn’t anything I haven’t thought to myself. In fact, I tried to resist. Then, I remembered something you told me when this whole thing started. You told me to do what feels right. You told me I shouldn’t deny my heart. I decided to take your advice.”

“Jesus, I never thought you’d actually listen to me,” Jon said, laughing. “I was talking outta my ass. Leave it to you to cling to something I said because it suites your purposes.” He sobered, and looked at his friend. “Seriously, though, if this is truly what you want, then I’m behind you one hundred percent. You know that. I’m glad you found someone to love this much.” He smiled. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind finding me someone like that, I’d appreciate it.”

Richie laughed. “I think Julianna has some single cousins or something – I’ll ask her for you.”

Jon clapped his hand on Richie’s shoulder. “If you go back up there and end up talking about me, you’ll know you’re in trouble. Get outta here. We’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Thanks man,” Richie said. “Thanks.”

Back upstairs, Richie let himself into Julianna’s apartment. He shut and locked the door, and took a look around, really noticing the apartment for the first time. The furniture was well-loved and well-worn, and everything was in its proper place. The views were amazing. He wandered into the kitchen, seeing many of the same appliances he saw at the house.

He brought his things into the bedroom, and stopped in the doorway, taking in the sight before him. Julianna was curled into a ball, and her cheeks were stained with tears. She was muttering something about second chances, and twitching in her sleep. His heart breaking for her, he shucked his clothes, threw on a pair of sweats from his bag, and crawled up behind Julianna on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head. Richie held her for a long time.

Somewhere in there, Julianna settled down, and Richie drifted off to sleep.