Part 214
Inside, Sarah started giggling and gave Nick a high five, "VERY GOOD, NICKOLAS."
"Thank you, Sarah. I’m glad you approve."
"Come on, guys. We need to go backstage and get ready," said Kevin. "Sarah, we’ve got two seats for you and Becca in the audience but you need to come back and get ready as…."
"Nope, I’m going backstage with you guys and so is Becca."
"Yeah, Kev," said Howie. "I got them a place to hang out until its time for Sarah to go on."
"Fine. Let’s go then."
Sarah was afraid to sit out in the audience. Her stomach had not settled down one bit since the hotel but she wasn’t about to tell Howie that. For the first time, she was truly nervous about performing and knowing that Howie wouldn’t be there when she came off stage was making it worse. It was one thing to perform to a crowd where you could see and hear their reaction but to perform for MILLIONS of people that you couldn’t see was completely different.
Sarah’s grip on Howie’s hand was tight as they moved through the crowd of recording artists and top name executives. Sarah looked around at the cameras and technicians as they went too.
Howie glanced at her and smiled knowing full well that she was nervous. He pulled her to him, slipping his arm around her waist and whispering in her ear, "You’re gonna be fine, Angel. I have a surprise for you."
Sarah’s eyes lit up. "For me?"
"All for you. Give me a minute, okay? I’ll be back to get you," said Howie as he gave her a quick kiss before taking off into the crowd.
"Where’s Howie going?" asked Becca.
"He said he had a surprise for me," answered Sarah as she looked at
AJ. "Alex, who’s backing me up?"
"No one, baby. They’ve got the pre-recorded music."
AJ was lying and not doing a very good job at it. Sarah could tell and she
said, "You know what Howie’s up to, don’t you?"
AJ laughed, "What makes you say that?"
"I know you and I know that look." Sarah looked at Kevin too and he had a mischievous gleam in his eyes too. "Oh, you two are in on it with him, aren’t you?"
As Howie returned, Kevin laughed and said, "BUSTED!"
Howie wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and placed a kiss on her neck. "Come on."
Walking behind Sarah, Howie guided her to a room just down the hall while the others followed. Kevin and AJ had helped Howie plan this from the very beginning and had known back at the hotel that the thing with Jesse was all a set up for Howie to make sure this surprise wouldn’t fall through.
At the door, Howie said, "Now close your eyes, Sarah."
Sarah did as he asked and he guided her through. The others followed and Becca had to work hard not to say something. The room was decorated with flowers of every variety and in each bouquet, there was a single red rose. On one of the couches sat Richie Sambora strumming his guitar and he looked up as the group entered the room.
Howie said, "Okay, you can open your eyes."
Sarah opened them and Richie was the first sight that greeted her. She turned to Howie wide-eyed but she couldn’t say anything.
AJ spoke up, "Sarah, we thought it would be cool for Richie to accompany you on acoustic guitar, just like you and I did the song. Howie contacted him and he agreed to do it."
Sarah looked at Richie in disbelief and then back at Howie, Kevin, and AJ.
"Aren’t you gonna say something, Angel?"
"How? Why?" was all Sarah could manage and even that was in a whisper.
"Oh good lord…Sarah’s definitely gone ‘teenie’ on us," teased Becca.
Everyone laughed as Sarah turned a bright shade of red and AJ said, "Oh, this is good. I’ve never seen Sarah this embarrassed or this speechless."
Howie said, "It’s about making dreams come true, Angel…your dreams.
Let me introduce you so you two can practice." With his hand on her lower
back, Howie led Sarah over to where Richie was standing. "Richie, this is
my wife, Sarah. Angel, Richie Sambora."
Richie took Sarah’s hand kissing it gently. "It’s a pleasure to meet you…but I get this feeling I’ve seen you before. Something about your eyes."
"We have, sort of. I was at one of your concerts six years ago…"
"I remember now. Jacksonville… I threw you my hat."
Sarah laughed, "You remember that?"
"How could I forget such a beautiful lady? Besides, I don’t throw my hat out to just anyone. So, do you still have it?"
Sarah looked down embarrassed to tell Richie what had happened. Howie knew the story and he spoke up, "Sarah’s ex-husband destroyed it that night in a jealous rage."
"I’m sorry. Wait, didn’t he find you on the floor near the end of the show and drag you out?"
"Yeah, but how did you know?"
"I sent security out to get you. I was going to have them bring you backstage afterwards but they came back and said they’d seen some guy pulling you out of the arena."
"He was really ticked off at me. He’d come to the show too…not knowing I was going to be there and he saw you throw your hat to me. He…well, he…"
"Was a jerk," finished Howie.
"Sounds like it. So, you’re singing tonight. Are you ready to practice?"
"I…uh…I, oh shit," and Sarah rushed to the bathroom followed by Howie.
Richie looked somewhat confused as he watched them leave.
Kevin said, "Sarah’s pregnant with twins and when she’s nervous or upset, her morning sickness kicks in. She’ll be fine in a few minutes."
In the bathroom, Sarah was leaning over the toilet throwing up as Howie held her head. When she was done, she leaned back into Howie’s arms and began to cry.
"Oh god, Howie. I’ll never make it through tonight."
"Yes, you will, Angel. Take a deep breath and relax. You’re gonna be fine."
"I can see it now. I’m gonna be so nervous that I’m gonna barf on Richie. Oh, I’ve made such a WONDERFUL first impression on him. First, I have to tell him that Russell destroyed his hat and then I take off so I can hurl."
Howie couldn’t suppress the laughter and it only served to upset Sarah.
"Oh! You find it funny! Thank you SO MUCH!" pouted Sarah.
"Sarah, you’re pregnant and you can’t control your morning sickness any more than I can. Richie will understand. After all, his wife has been pregnant before. And as for the hat, you couldn’t control that either."
Sarah wiped the tears. "You sure he’ll understand?"
Howie put his hands on the sides of Sarah’s face, "Angel, I’m positive. Hell, he remembered you after six years! Not to mention, he threw you his hat. You heard him, he doesn’t throw his hats out to just anybody. Once he hears you sing, he’ll NEVER forget you…and I’ll have one more guy to have to watch out for."
Sarah laughed softly, "Not really! Howie, I love you."
Howie kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I love you too, Sarah. Wash your face and let's go back."
The couple rejoined the others just as the stage manager was coming to get the guys to present the first award. Howie gave Sarah a kiss and she watched as they headed to the stage.
Sarah had noticed that the other four seemed a little irritated, AJ more so than the others and she asked Becca, "What’s up with Alex?"
Becca shook her head, "Jamie Foxx is using this past summer to make jokes."
"Asshole," mumbled Sarah. Then turning to Richie, she said, "I’m REALLY sorry about that."
"No problem. Kevin explained and congratulations."
"Thanks. Ready to practice?"
"Sure."