The Sauna Part 139

Saturday morning came early, or so it seemed when the wake up call rang. We were both stiff and sore, but incredibly satisfied as we hauled ourselves into the shower. A hot tub would have done wonders, but there was none in our suite. The pulsing hot water from the shower and fresh coffee that appeared outside our door did much to revive us.

I inspected Jon’s lip in the light from the window and at least the cut wasn’t visible on the outside, but his lower lip was slightly swollen and bruised. We got dressed and went down to meet the guys for breakfast and check that everything was ready for my family and Jon’s parents. Tico and Eva were there already, but no one else was up yet.

“Shit, Jon. What the hell happened to you? I thought you guys were going back to your room when we left last night. Did you get into a fight?” Tico demanded.

“I can’t call it a fight since I didn’t struggle much” he said ruefully, as he gave me a lopsided grin and Eva giggled.

“Jesus, you’d better put some ice on that” Tico muttered, but he was laughing too.

We ordered breakfast and Jon scooped the ice from his water and held it against his lip. David came in and sat down and looked far worse than Jon and we all laughed. Hugh strolled in with a newspaper and sat down at the table and he looked as though he was well rested. Jon was a little worried as we were all supposed to meet for breakfast at nine and it was almost quarter to ten. He pulled out the cell phone and dialed Richie.

“Yeah?” Richie’s voice sounded annoyed.

“Everything okay, bro? We’re all downstairs at breakfast. Are you joining us or did you get a better invitation?” Jon asked, teasing him a bit.

“I’ll be right down” came the reply.

We all looked at Jon and he shrugged. We’d heard the phone call and no one missed the fact that Richie had used “I” and not “We”. Jon called Rick and confirmed he was on his way to pick up my folks and gave me a little squeeze to let me know everything was on schedule. Richie came in moments later and looked like shit. He hadn’t shaved and he looked haggard and hungover. I knew that wasn’t a good sign.

“Richie, what’s wrong?” I asked, feeling concerned.

“Elaine is pissed at me over that stupid bimbo from the party last night. I just can’t win. You saw what happened. What was I supposed to do? This is my life and the nature of the business, whether I like it or not and she won’t accept that. I can’t go through any more of this jealousy crap. Shit, man, what the hell happened to you?” he said to Jon, echoing Tico’s words.

“Never mind that. Where’s Elaine?” Jon demanded.

“She’s upstairs sulking. Were you in a fight?” Richie persisted but Jon ignored him.

“I’ll go and talk to her Richie” I volunteered and Jon looked at me gratefully, still holding the ice on his lip.

I got up and went upstairs, feeling a little annoyed with Elaine myself. This was ridiculous. Richie hadn’t done anything and Elaine had no reason to be jealous. She was younger than the rest of us, but still, she was no kid, not really. And she should know how this stuff works. The guys would never be rude to a fan. She needed to grow up or she was gonna lose the best thing that had ever happened to her.

“Lainie?” I said as I knocked on the door.

She opened it slowly and I went in. If Richie looked bad, Lainie looked worse. Her eyes were red and swollen and it was obvious that she’d been crying and hadn’t slept. I felt bad for her, but I was still irritated.

“Lainie, is this all about that blond bitch from the party last night?” I asked, seeing no point to beating around the bush.

“Richie doesn’t think he did anything wrong! Can you believe that! He’s just like my last boyfriend! If I can’t trust him when I’m around, how can I trust him when I’m not even there?” she shrieked and broke down in a torrent of sobs.

I’d never seen her like this before. Cool, unemotional Elaine reduced to a whimpering mess of tears. I knew her past relationship had hurt her deeply and I suspected that’s where this was all coming from, but it was a misperception. Richie hadn’t been unfaithful to her nor had he been disrespectful in any way. And he had his own baggage. This was a nightmare for him after his ex-wife accused him of an affair because some woman had thrown herself at him.

“Elaine. Elaine, look at me” I said firmly and she finally raised her head to meet my eyes.

“I know you’re upset and I know it’s hard to watch some woman coming on to your man, but Richie barely noticed her. He’s not like your old boyfriend, he didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t punish him for what Damon did to you” I said calmly.

“Didn’t do anything wrong? I know he didn’t start it, but he did nothing to discourage it either. He just stood there and let her rub herself all over him” she whined.

“Elaine, stop making yourself into the victim. Richie ignored her; he didn’t encourage her at all. He couldn’t pitch a fit for Heaven’s sake, she was a fan. The press was right there. What on earth did you expect? This isn’t high school” I said, wanting to shake her.

“I just wanted him to tell her to leave him alone. To tell her that he had a girlfriend and to get lost” she spat.

“Shit Elaine, you ask too much. Richie would never be rude and he shouldn’t have to in order to prove himself to you. Did you even notice what I did? I sent her over to Jon on purpose so she could fawn all over him because I trust him and I was afraid you were going to create a scene. You’d better pull it together or you’re gonna lose Richie. This crap happens all the time, so get over it” I warned her.

“I thought you used to be a counselor. I thought you were supposed to try and be understanding. Is this how you treated your clients?” she hissed.

“Elaine, I know you’re hurt and I know you’re tired, so I’m going to let that go for now. But I would tell a client the truth, the same as I’m telling you” I spat back.

I realized I had been a bit rougher on her than I would have been on a client, but she wasn’t a client. I was surprised and disappointed by her behavior and I began to think that she was more damaged than I’d realized. She just simply wasn’t being rationale.

“Lainie, do you love Richie?” I asked, wondering now if she was capable of really loving anyone.

“Yes, I just don’t like him much right now” she sniffled.

“Then you’d better stop and figure this out. He’s a rock star, Elaine. There’ll always be groupies and ones like that girl from last night. If you can’t handle that, then you’d better let him go” I said and I stood up to leave.

“It’s easy for you, isn’t it? You know Jon loves you. The whole fucking world knows that he loves you. Richie has never stood up and said he loves me in public” she shot back with such venom that I was caught off guard.

“Elaine, you twit, he hasn’t said that in order to protect you from the press because you’re so shy you shrink at the sight of them. Just last week he said he wanted to marry you, but he’s afraid to ask you for fear of scaring you off!” I said, wishing I had left when I wanted to.

I wasn’t sure what was clouding her judgment anymore. It might be her past wounds or it might be her jealousy over me and Jon or her insecurity about herself. Or maybe her inability to express her own feelings had kept Richie from sharing his and she really didn’t know. Or maybe she really still wanted Jon and didn’t really care about Richie at all. If she truly loved Richie, she needed to get past whatever was blocking her from seeing that he loved her.

“He really said that to you?” she asked, looking surprised.

“Yes, he did. If you love him, Elaine, tell him and ask him yourself. But if you really don’t love him, don’t hurt him anymore. Please, he doesn’t deserve this” I said as I left.

I went back downstairs to the dining area, but everyone was gone, so I headed for the bar. It wasn’t even noon, but that’s where I expected to find Richie and Jon. And there they were, sitting at the bar with a couple drinks.

I recounted my conversation with Elaine to Richie and apologized for sharing what he’d told us in confidence, but if this relationship had any chance at all, maybe it needed to be said. Richie wasn’t upset and felt encouraged. Maybe Elaine just needed him to really show her how serious he was and playing it safe had just made her more insecure. It was worth a shot he shot as he left us to go and talk with her.

I sat down at the bar and felt like I needed a drink myself. Jon ordered me a glass of wine and I took a long drink and sighed. He put his arm around my shoulder and we laid our heads against each other. I’d lost some respect for Elaine and I felt bad for Richie and my head was starting to hurt. I had my doubts about Elaine now, but it was out of my hands and I just hoped I hadn’t screwed things up.

“Your lip looks better” I observed, running my finger across it.

“Yeah, the ice brought the swelling down. At least I won’t have to make up a story for the press” he grinned wearily. “Babe, you did a good thing. It’s up to them now. If they can’t get out of their own way, it isn’t meant to be” he said philosophically.

He was right, but I still wasn’t feeling very good about it. I knew things would never be the same again between me and Lainie and I didn’t know if I could trust her around Jon again regardless of what happened between her and Richie. Her jealousy and her venom had given me pause to really wonder. I hoped I was wrong, but I decided to tell Jon what I was afraid of and reminded him how I’d said that Elaine had always been a “Jon girl” before she met Richie.

“I really don’t think that’s it, darlin’. But if you’re right, Richie will get hurt and there’s not much we can do about it now. I think she just wants what we have, but I don’t think anyone will ever be as lucky as we are” he said as he kissed me.

“Jon, you’d tell me if she ever tried to …” I asked tentatively.

“I would, but you’ve got nothing to worry about there. I’m not interested and she’s never done anything to make me suspicious of her motives. Let’s go check on the rooms. I wanna make sure everything is perfect when your family gets here” he said, changing the subject.

I believed him and I did trust him, but I just didn’t trust Lainie and I wasn’t sure why. I’d always trusted my gut, but I hoped I was wrong this time.