“It doesn’t matter to me but how are you going to be able to do anything?”

“The fans are pretty cool for the most part but I do have my bodyguard with me,” he answered nodding his head in the direction of a man that Jesse hadn’t noticed standing behind them.

Jesse looked over her shoulder to see the bodyguard.  “Oh!  I saw him in the gallery.  Does he ever smile?”

Richie laughed, “When he’s not aggravated with me, yeah.”

“Why’s he aggravated with you?”

“Because I didn’t want to sit in the venue. Name your poison.”

“If it’s up to me, how about some ice cream?  There’s a Haagen-Dazs place on the back side of the Verizon Center.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go but you have me at a disadvantage.”

“How?”

“You know my name but….”

“Jessica, but my friends call me Jesse.”

“Is there a last name?”

“You’re gonna laugh.”

“I promise not to.”

“James.”

“Jesse James?”  he smirked.

Jesse heard Richie’s bodyguard snicker behind them and saw Richie’s smirk.  “You promised not to laugh,” she frowned.

“I’m not laughing,” replied Richie holding his hands up in surrender.  As they walked, he nudged her with his body.  “Was it on purpose?”

“Yes.  My dad loved everything about the old west and he thought it would be funny to name his children after outlaws.  I have a brother named Frank.”

“Frank and Jesse James.  Your dad sounds like an interesting character.”

“He was…he died about four years ago in a motorcycle accident.”

They had reached the ice cream shop and Richie held the door for her.  As they stood in line, Jesse looked around to see women looking at them and pointing.  Richie had noticed too.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“A little.”

“We can go back to the venue and hang out backstage if you want.”

“If you’re okay, I’ll be okay.”

“Place your order then.”

Jesse ordered her ice cream cone and started to pay for it.

“No you don’t!  This is my treat.  I asked you, remember?”

“Thank you.”

With their orders, the couple moved to a table in a corner and Richie’s bodyguard took a position to ensure them privacy.

“Where’s home?”

“About three hours south of here, near the North Carolina border.”

“And you drove all the way to DC for the show?”

“Charlotte is just as far for me.  You know, you COULD have played the Richmond Coliseum or Virginia Beach or even Hampton.  Those would have been a little closer to me.”

Richie laughed, “Jon works with the promoters to set up the tours and usually doesn’t consult us.”

Hey, this is Richie Sambora!  Hey, lay your hands on THIS!

“Another text?” questioned Richie, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

Looking at her phone, Jesse’s face was on fire again.  “It’s Ashley…wanting to know if I’m having fun.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Before I’m completely embarrassed, I have all of your voice tones and quite a few Bon Jovi ring tones…I’m a HUGE fan, especially of you.”

“I already figured that out and it’s cool.  Want me to hold your cone so you can get your jacket off?”

“Thanks,” she acknowledged as he took her cone.  She slipped the jacket off and hung it on her chair.  “I only wore it because I was worried it would be chilly after the show.”

“Nice shirt.  Team Sambora…anything like Team Edward or Team Jacob?”  he teased.

“I don’t know.  Are you a vampire or a werewolf?” she countered sassily.

“Not that I know of,” laughed Richie.  “How long have you been a fan?”

“All my life.  My dad saw Bon Jovi open for KISS and he followed you until he died.  He used to take my brother and me to ALL of your shows too.   The first one I remember was the ‘Slippery When Wet’ tour.  When you guys flew over the crowd, you were eye level with us because our seats were about half way up.  He even took me to a couple of your solo shows.”

“Sounds like you and your dad were close.”

“I was his little princess and he loved music.  He use to work road crew for .38 Special but had to quit when my mom took off and left me with a neighbor.”

“What about your brother?  Are you close to him?”

“No, my mother took him with her.”

“Any other family?”

“Yeah, my little boy.  That’s who I was checking on.”

“How old is he?”

“Five.”

“What’s his name?”

“Richard Steven James but I call him Stevie.”

Richie couldn’t help noticing that she wore no ring and her son’s last name was the same as hers but he chose not to pursue it.  He also picked up on the fact that her son had his name.  Instead, “Does he like our music too?”

“Of course!”

“Do you have pictures?”

Jesse reached in her purse and pulled out her wallet.  “This was just taken at Christmas.”

Richie looked at the picture and smiled.  “He looks like you.”

“Thank you!”  Putting her wallet away, she looked back at Richie.  “Why did you approach me?”

“Something about the way you looked when you first entered the gallery and the fact that you were actually looking at the photos….not looking around hoping to find one of us there.”

“I was interested in the pictures.  I like trying to figure out what the photographer was seeing in the subject.  Ashley was the one trying to find one of you.”

“I could tell.  She almost spotted me a couple times but Tony stepped in the way.”

“So, you were watching us?”

“You mostly.”  He watched her blush once more, and then asked, “How about a movie?”

“Don’t you have to be doing something to get ready?”

“Done.  I’m just killing time before the show.  We have to check out of the hotels by noon and it gets old hanging out at the venues for eight hours.  I try to take in some of the sights in the different towns.”

“And you want to kill time with me?”

“Yes.”

Jesse shrugged, “Beats just hanging out for three hours doing nothing.”

“Call Ashley and get her to join us.”

“Okay.”  Jesse pulled out her phone and quickly called Ashley.  “Come around to the movie theater.  We’re going to a movie….yes, with HIM….Don’t be ridiculous. You won’t be a fifth wheel….see you in a few minutes.”

The two stood and Richie grabbed her jacket for her and as they started out the door, he put his hand on her lower back.   He kept it here as they stood looking at the movies trying to decide what to go see.  When Ashley joined them, they had already decided…based on the time and length.  Richie bought the tickets and followed them to the escalators.

As they rode up, Richie asked, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an ER nurse in Richmond.  I usually work three twelve-hour shifts on the weekends so that I can be around for Stevie during the week.”

“Doesn’t allow you to have much fun on the weekends,” observed Richie.

“That’s why I insisted she come today,” said Ashley.  “She wouldn’t have come either if I hadn’t bought the tickets.”

Richie saw the worried look on Jesse’s face and said softly, “Why don’t you call before we go into the theater?”

“I’ll be okay.  It hasn’t been an hour since I talked to Carly and she’ll text me if he gets worse.”

“Make sure you put your phone on vibrate.  I don’t want to be kicked out for talking in the theater.”

Jesse laughed, “True,” and she pushed the button to put her phone on vibrate.

The threesome made their way into the theater but only after Richie signed a few autographs.  While he was doing that, the two friends talked.

“Oh my god, Jess!  Richie is really into you!”

Jesse shook her head.  “He’s just killing time and I didn’t look like the typical obsessed fan.”

“Give yourself a little credit!  He picked YOU out.  There were plenty of others he could have asked. He’s HOT for you!”

“Okay.  So what?  He’s on tour!  He’ll NEVER remember me after today.”

“You never know.  Maybe he’ll give you tickets to the Charlotte show.”

“I’m not going to ask.”

“You’d be a fool not to.”

“We’ll see,” said Jesse as Richie rejoined them.

“Ready?”

“Yes,” chorused the girls.

Richie once more put his hand on Jesse’s back as they went inside.  They found seats off to the side and sat down, Jesse in the middle.

The threesome sat for a couple minutes, no one saying anything.  Ashley glanced at her best friend and knew that despite her dismissal of Richie’s obvious interest, she knew that Jesse was floating on cloud nine. 

“I’ll be back in a minute.  I’m going to get some popcorn and a drink.  You two want anything?”

“No thanks!” said Jesse.

Richie pulled out his wallet and handed Ashley some money.  “My treat.”

As soon as Ashley was gone, Richie put his arm around Jesse, leaned to her, and whispered, “Alone, in a dark corner…wanna make out?”

Giggling, Jesse said, “Sure,” and wagged her eyebrows sexily at him.

Richie started to kiss her but a camera flash went off in front of them and Richie’s bodyguard moved quickly.  As he was getting the picture deleted, Richie whispered, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Where are you seats for the concert?”

“Not sure, but I know they aren’t in the VIP section.  Ashley couldn’t afford them.”

“I can fix that.  Be my guests tonight.”

“I’d love that…and so would Ashley.”

“Good!  After the movie, the two of you can join me for dinner and hang out while we’re getting ready.”

“Thank you.”

Richie reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.  “Put your number on my phone.  I’d like to call you.”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You put your number in mine and I promise not to give it out.”

“Not a problem,” he said taking her phone.  “I’ll do something a little better.”

“What’s that?” she asked as she watched him playing with her phone.

“Shh, woman,” he shot as he pushed several buttons.  Holding her phone up, he said, “Hey, this is Richie…you’re a wanted woman…pick up the phone, Jesse!”

Jessed giggled and started playing with Richie’s phone.  As the lights started to go down, she handed him his phone back.

Whispering, he asked, “What did you do?”

“You’ll have to wait and see when I call.”

“I could check now.”

“But you won’t because you want it to be a surprise.”

Someone in front of the couple turned around.  “SHHH!” and they began to giggle.

The movie began and Ashley hadn’t returned.  Worried, Jesse began to look around when her phone vibrated.  She reached for it, checked the message, and smiled.

“Everything okay?” whispered Richie.

“It was Ashley.  She found another seat to give us some privacy.”

“She’s a good friend.”

“Yeah, she is.”

Richie had taken his arm from around her but now, he reached to take her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers.  Jesse looked up at him and he gave her a smile as he squeezed her hand.

How had she gotten so lucky?  Out of the blue, Richie Sambora had approached her to make sure she was okay and to ask her for a drink.  Now, they were at a movie, holding hands, and had exchanged phone numbers.  He had randomly picked her out of a crowd of people to spend time with before the show.  Something didn’t add up but who was she to question it?  She was enjoying time with Richie Sambora…a fan’s dream-come-true.

Chapter 3        Index