The Sauna Part 97

“Well, babe, it’s only eight o’clock and I’m not quite ready to go to sleep, but I’m too tired to do anything else now that you wore this old boy out! Any ideas?” Jon said with a grin.

“We could go watch a movie, but I really need to make a few phone calls and catch up on some reading. Oh, and maybe you might want to go online and find us some Halloween costumes? I forgot to tell you about the party coming up in a few weeks, if you want to go, that is” I added, hoping he’d be up for it.

“I can always do a party, darlin’. Who’s party? Where is it?” he asked eagerly.

“My friends, Cherie and Dave, have a costume party every year and I just look forward to it every time. I love to dress up. It’s at their house and we usually just hang out and get drunk. If I can get Cherie loaded enough she’ll usually give in and let me play some Bon Jovi, but most of the evening it’s heavy metal. Think you can stand it? I’d really hate to miss it after all these years and I’m sure they’d love to meet you. Cherie’s my cat sitter and my other good friend, Dana and her husband, Dale will be there too” I explained.

“She loves cats, but she’s not a Jovi fan, huh? Imagine that” Jon smirked.

“Please, love? She only has one cat …” I pleaded and he conceded.

“Of course we can go, babe. I’m just kidding. I actually wondered if I’d ever get to meet your friends, so it’s cool. What do you want to go as?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I’ll let you decide! Surprise me!” I said, feeling excited.

“I’m guessing nudists are out?” he teased and I made a face.

“Okay, alright. I’ll go see what catches my attention then” he replied with a groan as he heaved himself off the bed and headed toward the computer in “Richie’s Room’ as we now referred to it.

I put away the food in the kitchen and picked up the phone to call Cherie first to tell her we’d be coming to the party as I’d gotten the invitation a few days earlier. She always worried when she didn’t hear back from people right away and she’d left me a voicemail at work asking about it. I wondered how some of the others there would react to meeting Jon. They really weren’t a Jovi crowd, except for Dana, and several of them considered themselves to be singers.

“Hello? Trish?” Cherie answered on the first ring, checking caller ID.

“Yeah, Cher, it’s me. I got your message” I replied.

“Oh good! Did you get the invitation? Are you coming?” she asked hurriedly.

“I’m planning on it. I’ve got Jon on costume detail right now” I joked.

“Jon? Bon Jovi Jon? He’s in Buffalo? What’s going on there? Is it that serious?” she asked incredulously.

I laughed then, realizing I hadn’t really talked to anyone much since I’d been back and quite a lot had happened. Crap. How was I going to explain all this without being on the phone for hours? Cherie really didn’t realize what I’d said to her last time we talked and she obviously hadn’t read the entertainment rags.

“You haven’t been reading the news much, huh? Jon and I are more than serious. Keep this private, though, okay? We were Handfasted this weekend and we’re living together. Cherie, this is it. The real thing. I mean it. I am head over heels in love and I’m quitting my job so I can join him in Jersey” I said, spilling all the news at once as it was just too hard to recount the last few weeks.

Dead silence. Then something that sounded like a sputter.

“You quit your job? You are kidding, right?” Cherie said as a statement more than a question.

“No, Cher. It’s the truth. It’s a long story, but neither of us wanted to be apart for long periods and his kids are in Jersey. And I can still work, but more when and how I want now. It’s not like I’ll never do anything ever again. Please be happy for me. We were planning to come to the party together unless that’s a problem?” I said, pleading with her to understand what I was saying.

“No, no, it’s fine. Come, both of you. I just had no idea, really …” she said as her voice trailed off.

“Cherie, I have to go. I’ll let you take this all in and call me in a few days, okay? But I’ll see you at the party. And you can meet Jon, okay?”

I hung up then, figuring she needed time to absorb all this and realizing myself how I would have reacted if someone told me the same thing. I doubt I’d have believed it either. I began to wonder what else would change in my life now. And I began to worry that things I didn’t want to change might not necessarily stay the same. Did I really think I could just bring Jon into my life as easily as he had brought me into his? And would he really want to hang out with my friends anyway?

I made a few other phone calls and caught up with my Dad and my sister, both of whom were beginning to ask if I was coming to Florida for the holidays. I explained I didn’t know yet and I avoided telling my Dad that I was planning to quit work. It just wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have with him.

I stretched out in bed and picked up the book I’d wanted to read since I bought it, just before I’d left for New Jersey and my life turned inside out. “The 48 Rules of Power” was the title and I had gotten through almost the first chapter when I heard Jon holler from the other room.

“Oh, this is it! I’ve got the costume! C’mere, babe” he called out, sounding very pleased with himself.

I put the book down and went into “Richie’s Room” and Jon was at the computer, positively beaming. I was curious what he’d found for us for costumes, but I gasped when I saw what he had on the screen.

“Whaddya think, babe?” he smirked.

“I think you’d better be joking! I can’t wear that! We’ll get arrested!” I said, peering over his shoulder with some dismay.

“You don’t wanna be my slave?” he pouted.

“Oh, maybe in private, love, but not in public. Not unless I can be the Master…” I said with a grin.

He eyed me mischievously then and offered to order the costumes for home use before he finally admitted he was kidding and maximized another window. Then I saw what he really had in mind and I smiled, feeling relieved.

He showed me a page of costumes designed to look like gangsters and their girlfriends from the twenties. The guys had suits and I rather fancied seeing Jon in a pinstripe. The women’s costumes were all flapper dresses and I pointed to the ones I liked.

“An opportunity to live out The Sopranos?” I teased.

“Absolutely” he chuckled.

“Okay. I approve of that one. You’d better order them so they get here in time” I suggested.

“There’s a store locally if you’d rather go and try some different ones on. And maybe model that slave costume privately?” he said, squeezing my ass and showing me the location list.

“Okay. We can go after work some night this week, maybe Friday?” I agreed.

“I was hoping you’d say that” he said as he drew me into his arms. “But let’s hit the sack tonight. I’m exhausted now.”