The Sauna Part 65

I drove the thirty minutes to work in a daze and nearly missed my turn. I really needed to clear my head if I was going to be even remotely productive. I had to stop thinking about Jon.

I grabbed my satchel from the backseat and walked up the steps to the door. I took a deep breath and pushed it open. I was forty-four years old, dammit. I could behave like a grown-up and be responsible. It just had never been so hard before. Uhmmm, hard. That choice of words drew my mind to other thoughts and images from this morning and I bit my lip. I’m a professional, I kept repeating to myself. I can do this.

Half-way into the building my secretary, Alice, pounced on me, waving a copy of Entertainment Tonight in my face. So much for not saying anything, I thought miserably.

“Is this you? Oh my Gawd, it is, isn’t it?” she trilled excitedly in her NYC accent.

“Uh-huh” I groaned, looking at the magazine. “So, everybody knows, huh?” I asked resignedly.

“Oh my Gawd! Are you kidding? It’s all anyone can talk about! Is it true?” she pumped me.

“That depends on what it says” I answered, somewhat guarded and fearing the worst.

“It says that you and Jon Bon Jovi are dating and are quite an item. I’ve gotta call Sandy and the others. Everyone is dying to hear all the details. But you’re back, did he dump you? Is it over?” she just couldn’t contain herself and the last comment made me smile.

“Not exactly, Alice. He’s at my house waiting for me to finish work. Which I could do if you’d let me get started” I grinned at her mischievously, knowing I just burst her bubble. There was nothing Alice enjoyed more than someone else’s misery.

“Oh, you’re kidding, right?” she said hopefully.

“Actually, I’m not” I said, my tone serious now.

I turned at the sound of footsteps and saw one of my workers, Sandy, coming down the stairs. She stopped when she saw me and called to a co-worker who was still upstairs.

“Jennifer! She’s back! Come down here now!” she yelled and I figured it was better to get it over with all at once.

“Alice, call Lynn too. I might as well tell you all at one time. Is there coffee made yet?” I asked, thinking I was going to need it as I trudged off to the break room.

I resolved to tell the tale once and for all and prayed it wasn’t going to be like this in every office I had to go to this week. Alice went to call Lynn and Sandy trailed behind me, Jen bringing up the rear. And there was no coffee, dammit!

“Are you okay? The papers …but you’re back. What did happen?” Sandy asked, looking at me with genuine concern.

I smiled at her then. Not the smartass smile I gave Alice, but a real, genuine smile. In fact I’m sure I must have glowed. I couldn’t keep up my professional demeanor anymore. Not with Sandy. I’d known her too long. My composure left me altogether as Sandy beamed back at me.

“Oh my God, you’re in love!” she pronounced, knowing me all too well.

“Head over heels” I admitted, unable to contain the happiness another second.

Jennifer grinned and Lynn smiled, shaking her head. Only Alice looked crestfallen, but the opportunity for gossip was something at least, and she demanded all the details.

We sat down at the table and Alice made coffee while I recounted the events. The story poured forth with a will of its’ own and I was surprised at how much I shared. But then again, work had been my life for so long and there wasn’t much my co-workers didn’t know about me. I learned that they really hadn’t expected me to come back to work if everything they read was true.

“But why not? Did you really think I’d just quit like that? I couldn’t do that to the agency or my clients” I protested.

“Are you insane? He’s obviously taken with you and the man has more money than God! Why would you want to work?” Alice pointed out sarcastically.

“Oh, Alice! Trish isn’t like that” Sandy admonished her. “But I have to admit, I am surprised. Doesn’t he live in New Jersey?” she wondered.

I explained our plan, at least for now, and answered all the questions everyone had. By now it was almost eleven and I needed to get to work. And so did they. Lynn summed it all up before she took her leave.

“Well, it’s about time you got laid and had a reason to go home at night. No more being a workaholic, now, right?” she teased.

“I’m not sure I’ve changed that much yet, but I’m working on it” I laughed, thinking how much I loved Lynn’s bluntness and honesty. No wonder her clients trusted her immediately.

“You’d better call Angie. She called a couple days ago to see if we’d heard from you or if we knew anything” Sandy added and I nodded, wondering what I would tell my boss. I wasn’t sure what to expect would come out of my mouth these days.

We all got up then and I trudged upstairs to my office to call Angie.

Jon had cleaned up the remaining dishes and settled down in a chaise lounge outside to read more about Wicca. He was intrigued now and hungry to know more and browsed through the contents, opting to start at the beginning. He became engrossed immediately and the phone rang several times before he heard it and ran in to find his cell phone. It was Richie.

“Hey man, what time is it?” he wondered, looking for a clock and realizing it was already after noon.

“It’s afternoon there, it’s about ten in the morning here. Were you still sleeping or just in bed?” Richie razzed him.

“No, reading actually. Trish went to work and I’m reading a book she gave me on Wicca” he explained.

“On what? What the hell is that?” Richie asked, surprised Jon was reading something he’d never heard of.

Jon explained and went into some detail, both from what he’d learned from me as well as what he’d learned from the book. He also told Richie about the experience at Zoar and my strange ideas about marriage.

“Whoa! That’s pretty heavy shit, man. But I can see what she means about marriage. Can’t say I’m a big fan of it myself these days. But it sounds like you’ve really found someone pretty special. Don’t fuck it up, man! I think you finally met your match. She’s good for you, Jon” Richie said, stone cold sober this morning.

“Thanks for those encouraging words, Rich. Fuck! I haven’t been this nervous around a woman since high school. She’s so independent. I’m afraid I’m gonna smother her if I can’t get a hold of myself. I couldn’t leave her alone for a minute this morning and we screwed three times yesterday! She was probably relieved to get away from me” he confided.

“Yeah, Jon, I know what you can be like, ya prick. Don’t fuck her to death, okay? Or nag the shit outta her” Richie laughed.

“Hey, I don’t nag her. Just you, you irresponsible mother fucker” he retorted.

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I keep forgetting how much I’m in need of your wisdom” he shot back.

“Hey, man, seriously now. Listen up. I wanna do this Handfasting thing. I want her to know I’m serious, and shit, I need the commitment. And I’ll deny it if you ever tell anyone I said that. But I want you to be here, man. You’re closer to me than my own family. Whaddya say? Are you up for it after all that shit with that slut?” he asked, trying to gauge Richie’s reaction.

“Don’t hold back, bro. Tell me what ya really thought of Denise!” he laughed. “Of course I’m game, man. I want you to be happy even if I’m a basket case right now” he added.

“Awww, Richie. I know, buddy. But I’d be a lyin’ sack of shit if I said I was sorry she’s gone, even for you” Jon said apologetically.

“I know, I know. Hey, can I bring a date to this ritual thing?” Richie asked, only half kidding.

“I’m gonna say probably not. It ain’t a wedding! But, hey, Trish’s friend is coming in from Scotland for a visit while you’re here and she’s a fan. Trish didn’t tell her a thing about us, she wants to surprise her. Maybe you’ll hit it off” he said encouragingly.

“Shit, Jon. Are ya gonna screen all my dates from now on?” Richie joked, but Jon could tell he was feeling better. He was sober and he was making jokes. Richie would be okay.

“Only until you find a girlfriend I approve of” he bantered back. “Hey, I gotta go. The other phone is ringing and Trish was gonna call when she got a break at work. See ya tomorrow” he said as he jaunted into the house to grab the phone.

“Hello?” I heard the sound of Jon’s voice on the other end, sounding a little hesitant.

“Jon, it’s me” I reassured him. “How’s your day? Have you found something to keep you occupied while I’m gone?”

“Yeah! I’ve been reading the book you gave me and I just got off the phone with Richie. He’s sounding like his old self again this morning. How are you doing?” he asked.

“It was tougher than I thought to come back. Everyone had seen the news about us, so I spent quite a bit of time just explaining and answering questions. Even my boss had heard about us. But it’s cool, everybody’s happy and things are getting back to normal again” I replied, feeling the worst was over.

“Yeah, I wondered about that. I saw at the store that it was all over the newsstands too. I’m sorry, baby, I know you’re not used to that” he said soothingly.

“You know, nobody even asked about the conference” I said, just realizing that myself and feeling a little disappointed.

“Awww, babe. It’ll blow over, people will lose interest” he said, again in that soothing tone and I was beginning to miss him even more.

“I wanna come home, Jon. I miss you” I said, almost crying for no real reason.

“Darlin’, I’m here. It’s okay. Finish your work and come home, okay? Have you got any more clients to see?” he purred.

“I know, I’m sorry, forgive me, I’ll be fine. One more today, my toughest and then I’ll be home. How’s the book so far?” I said, collecting myself.

“It’s great, babe. I’ll be reading when you get here. Hurry home, I miss you too” he said genuinely.

“Okay, then. I’d better go. I’ll see you about six. I love you” I said softly, thinking I’d better say goodbye now or I’d be in the car on my way home in another ten minutes.

“I love you, darlin’. See you at six. I’ll be waiting” he said as he hung up.

What is the matter with me? Why was I crying, I wondered. It hadn’t even been eight hours away and I felt bereft. This is ridiculous, I told myself. Pull yourself together and snap out of it. I glanced at the clock. It was nearly three o’clock. My client would be here soon. The day was almost over. My phone buzzed. It was Alice.

“Your client’s here. Are you coming down?” she said in her clipped speech. She always acted like it was my job to be there and not her job to buzz me when a client arrived.

“I’ll be down in a few minutes. Thanks” I reminded her by being a model of politeness.

I wiped my face and fixed my make-up. Then I snuck outside the back stairs and smoked a cigarette, gathering my thoughts and thinking about my client and where we’d left off last time. I went round the front and came in to collect my client. With any luck, she hadn’t read the papers and would be too caught up in her own drama to care about mine.

“Hi Sarah” I said as I walked in.

“Hey, how was your vacation? I’m glad your back, so much has happened …” she began.

“Come tell me about it” I said as we made our way upstairs and I caught the smirk on Alice’s face as we rounded the corner.