Monday, September 1, 2008

Chapter 36

They walked back out onto the terrace. Night had fallen and Keira was captivated by the city lights. She walked to the terrace's edge and stood there, silently taking in the view. Jon poured them each a glass of wine, then stood behind her and encircled her waist with his arms. She leaned back against him, resting her head on his left shoulder. Neither of them spoke.

After a few minutes, she felt his lips on her neck, and she closed her eyes and whispered something under her breath.

"What was that?" Jon asked.

She laughed softly. "I said, this is one of those moments in life where I just want everything to freeze, and stay the way it is."

He held her tighter, secretly pleased that she seemed to be opening up to him. "Yeah. That'd be nice."

She lifted her glass of wine and took a sip, then leaned her head against him again. "It's hard to believe I'm here…with you."

"Really? It doesn't surprise me at all. I always had a feeling we'd see each other again."

She closed her eyes. "I never had that feeling. Once you got famous, it was like you were in a completely different world than me."

"Well...for a while, I guess I was. But things have settled down over the past few years."

She took another sip of wine and turned to face him. "So what's it like, Jonny?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her curiously. "What's what like?"

"Going out on stage every night, looking out at the crowd, and knowing that 97% of the women—not to mention plenty of the men--there would leave their jobs and their families--their lives--to be with you?"

Jon picked up his wine glass and took a big sip, stalling for time so he could choose his words carefully. He placed the glass down on one of the tables and crossed his arms again. "Honestly?" he asked, his eyes trained on hers.

"Honestly." She tried to steel herself for what he was about to say.

"At first, it was a high. I felt like I ruled the world. I could point my finger at girls in the crowd and say, 'I want that one, that one, and that one...at the same time'. And it was fun for a while, doing the rock star thing. I saw some pretty fucked up shit during the first few years. There's only so many times that you can watch five girls go down on one another, or girls sticking all kinds of shit inside themselves to try and impress you...and then there are the women who will just throw anything away to spend time with you...husbands, kids. Having that kind of control, especially as a 25 year old kid, is pretty messed up. I hit rock bottom. I started to realize that having that kind of power gave me the potential to ruin a lot of peoples' lives. And then I started craving normalcy and all I wanted was to move back in with my parents and hide out for a year or two. I didn’t trust anybody. I started to wonder if anyone in the entire world was sane."

Keira tried to imagine what it had been like for him, but she couldn't. Could anyone understand, who hadn't lived it? She'd had her share of wild nights--drinking too much; leaving bars with her head out the car window, vomiting; blacking out and waking up wondering what had happened the night before. Still, she knew that even her wildest night couldn't possibly compare to some of the things that Jon had seen and done, and she wasn't sure she could deal with that knowledge.

“Is that why you married Dorothea?” she found herself asking, without planning to.

He hesitated. It was a loaded question, and he wanted to be truthful with her. “I married her because I trusted her…and I did love her. And she represented stability, which was something I needed.”

Keira turned to look out at the city again. She appreciated his honesty, but it was still hard to hear. What did you expect, stupid? Did you think he was going to say he never loved her?

Instinctively, Jon seemed to know what she was thinking. “Kathy, I loved you too. You just didn’t want any part of me after the band started to take off.”

Her shoulders tensed. He has no idea how much I loved him, and how much it hurt to leave him. She wanted to lash out, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that would make him understand what it had been like for her.

"I wanted to be with you. I was just afraid to see you self-destruct."

"Then you were smart. I told you before, you missed out on some bad stuff, and that's a good thing."

She nodded, still looking out over the city. He approached her and put his arms around her again. "It was bad timing before, Kathy. But we still have now. We can try again."

"Try what again, exactly?" She asked, hoping that the words hadn't come out sounding harsh.

"Uhhh...being together?" He elaborated.

She turned in his arms so she could look into his eyes. "Jon. I don't think we can be together. Yes, tonight is nice--and what happened earlier was really nice-- but I'm not cut out for being in a relationship with a rock star."

Jon tried to make light of the situation. "So I guess that puts you in the 3% of women who don't want to be with me."

She sighed. "I do want to be with you. I just don't think I can."

He kissed her then, a soft, slow kiss. Once again, she felt her resolve melting away. "You need to stop thinking so much," he said. "I'll convince you that you can't be without me."

22 comments:

Alina said...

I hope Jon can convince her. If he can't it would be quite bad for Keira. She had a tough time, it was enough hurt for a lifetime...

Great chapter, by the way! I really love to read where this is leading to ;)

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see how he shows her. I hope he woos her and makes himself irrisistable. She is one of the few that arent' falling for him

Opester said...

What's with all these characters lately who can't cope with Jon's fame? Yes, it's an adjustment and will present some challenges, but if you love someone, isn't it worth it? It seems like a small price to pay when you consider what so many sacrifice to be with the one that they love...JMO!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, sexy, sweet, rich, famous he sounds like the man of my dreams...oh yeah He is the man of my dreams. :)
Cant wait for more

Anonymous said...

I really love this....

More soon?

Super_Kiwi said...

I loved this, I think you captured his answer to "What its like" really realistically as well. I really do.. I am sure there was a time back in the SWW/NJ era he was very much living and enjoying that rockstar life style.

I love where this is going, if Keira can just love Jon for Jon.. everything else won't matter. I know it.

Anonymous said...

More, please :)

Daydreamer- said...

Sorry! More coming soon, I promise! Thanks for continuing to check in.

Anonymous said...

I'm Seriously going to die here! Please send more!

Anonymous said...

Yeah needing more of this bad, Please come back and feed the beast lol!!!!
qtedq

Alina said...

That's what I need as well. Please post some more and new soon! ;)

Anonymous said...

I love this story. Please don't tell me you are not going to write more. Please give us something.

Daydreamer- said...

I'm working on another chapter. Sorry for the wait! Life's been a bit nuts.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I hope things are ok :)
I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed this story so far and that I'm really looking forward to more.
Best wishes :)

Daydreamer- said...

I PROMISE that I'll be writing more!! I've actually enlisted the help of a friend to help me through my slump, so hopefully I'll have something new soon!! Thanks for continuing to check in.

Anonymous said...

What an absolutely fantastic story! So capivating and real! Very different from so many other Fan Fics. I love where you have taken this. I can't wait for more Chapters!!! Thanks!

diane4jovi said...

What's up? I was following this story, but it's not being updated. Are you planning on writing more? I hope so.

Opester said...

Also wondering if you are planning to continue? I've really enjoyed the story so far and I hope your muse returns to inspire you, but I know how it is! Muses are touchy sometimes, eh? Hope all is well!

Anonymous said...

Checking daily....

Linda

Anonymous said...

Count me in as another that's checking daily! :)

Anonymous said...

Just checking again.
?????????? Please soon!!:)

Anonymous said...

Still checking... daily! PLEASE!!! Begging here!