69 - Surprise Surprise

Petey eased open the door with a shy smile.

Richie, who had been absently looking down the hallway, turned at the sound of the knob rattling.  The hand that was twisting his pinky ring froze, and his eyes darkened from their normal milky chocolate to a dark, bittersweet variety.

"Well, hel-lo beautiful,” he drawled with a lazy smile. 

She allowed her eyes to follow the same path his did, up over the suede boots that hugged her calves, sheer spider stockings, and dress.  They all felt good, so she supposed that she filled them out okay.  When he reached her neck, though, she could only draw from memory what he was seeing.

Gavin had used the curling iron to enhance her natural waves and then teased it into an artfully arranged cascade of messy locks that almost hid her right eye.  The makeup was ridiculously over the top, but Petey had to admit that she loved it.

He had begun with a pale base shade, making her fair skin appear even lighter, and used a deep pink blusher which coordinated with her fuchsia lip gloss and pink contacts.  For her eyes, they’d chosen smoky black and gray eyeshadows with a topcoat of pink glitter.  The rims had been lined with a black glitter eyeliner that morphed into artistic swirls beyond the corners of her eyes.  Within the swirls, Gavin had affixed several pink rhinestones as accents.

Her only other jewelry was a Y-drop necklace with an elegant, black crystal spider dangling low between her breasts.

“You look pretty nice yourself,” she observed, appreciating the black button-down shirt and leather jacket that he’d joined with black jeans and boots.

“Why thank you, Darlin’.  I figured we could rule the night together in our vampire duds.”  He gave her a playful wink.  “Are you ready?”

“Just let me grab my wrap.”  Stepping back into the apartment, she swept up her velvet cloak and a small handbag she’d brought out for the occasion.  “Ready.”

Richie offered his arm, and after locking the door, Petey placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. 

“When I told Tony we were going to Connecticut, he said that his brother owns a nightclub there,” she mentioned after they were settled into the back of the dark Lincoln Towncar.  “Is that where we’re going?”

“It is,” he affirmed with a fleeting kiss to her knuckles.  “84 Park.  We’re having a private party in the back room.”

“Who’s we?”    

“Just the guys.  Tico will bring his wife, and Dave may have a date, but Jon was determined to come stag.  Hughie’s wife doesn’t fly so they won’t be there.  Maybe a few other people.”

Her eyes fluttered shut and she forgot to breathe. She had gotten the impression that Jon’s ‘get together’ was going to be at his penthouse.  Crap.

Her mind went into autopilot:

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

“Petey?”  He brushed the obscuring curls away from her eyes.  “Are you okay, babe?”

“Fine,” she lied with a thin smile.  “I just didn’t realize it would be the band.”

His hand cupped her knee and squeezed lightly.  “I missed the Christmas thing, and haven’t seen them for a while.  We thought it would be nice to just hang for a change.”  The passing lights cast shadows across his handsome features, and she saw his brow furrow with concern.  “I never thought to mention it.  Is that okay?”

“Of course.  Why wouldn’t it be? ” She gamely swallowed her dread.  It would be okay.  She wouldn’t even have to talk to him.  Between Richie and David, she would stay totally preoccupied, and not even notice Jon's pretending not to know her.  “Actually,” she realized uncrossing and re-crossing her legs, “I haven’t talked to David in a while.  It will be nice to see him.  Have you heard his nickname for me?”

“No, but knowing Lemma, it will be a one-of-a-kind.”  The seat swayed as Richie settled further into it and lifted his arm to encircle her shoulders.  Petey stilled for a moment, but then knowing that she was safe with him, she relaxed into the comforting touch.

“Tinkerhell.  A bad-ass pixie, I think he said.”

He chuckled softly, “That’s a pretty accurate personality assessment from where I sit, Darlin’.  I can’t say it’s something that I would’ve chosen, but Lemma’s brand of humor is… different.”

“Huh. I never would’ve guessed.”

Richie gave her a quick hug, laughing.  They spent the rest of the trip to 84 Park in comfortable conversation, and Petey almost forgot the awkwardness that lay ahead.

☠ ☢ ☠

He was the first one there, and Jon propped his guitar case against a table, looking around the smallish room.  It was pretty nice as far as back rooms went, with a dozen burgundy draped tables and accompanying chairs scattered over the hardwood floor.  The matching walnut paneled walls had those long, metallic fringe-y things hanging from the wall sconces, and a couple of glittery signs that said Happy New Year.  Following that same vein, there were party hats and horns scattered across the tabletops.  He had no doubt that Dave and Rich would actually use them and try to force him into doing the same. 

Then, at the opposite end of the room, there was a small, raised platform outfitted with four stools.  Nice, but nothing too fancy, since he and the boys didn’t need anything fancy to hang out and jam.

“Okay?” Matt asked him, gesturing to the small buffet that had been set up along the left-hand side of the room.  Wings, pizza, cheesesteaks, chips, cookies and another handful of things that would give Jon’s doctor a coronary filled the table.  He was glad he’d spent some extra time on the treadmill today.

He turned a sincere smile on his little brother, proud of him and the business he’d built.  “Yeah, great.  Thanks, Matty.”

“Good.”  A big hand cupped Jon’s shoulder and squeezed.  “I’ve got LaDonna taking care of you tonight, and I’m sure she’ll be here in a minute.  I’ll have her bring you something.  Whatcha drinkin’?”

“I’ll start with a beer.  Whatever’s on tap.”

“Got it.  I’m gonna be running my ass off tonight, but holler if you need anything.” 

With a nod, Jon extracted his phone even as the faint beat of music from the club began vibrating the walls.  He frowned seeing that there were no texts or missed calls.  Not that there should have been.  He just thought maybe Petey…

Petey’s out having fun tonight, just like you should be.  She has no idea where the hell your head is at, because you didn’t have the balls to say anything when you called her earlier.

He’d spent the night before watching his bedside clock and replaying his conversation with Dottie.  Was he afraid that he hadn’t sufficiently proven himself as a societal figurehead?  That everything he’d done up to this point would be swept away if someone saw his arm curled around an imp like Petey?

A vision of her fiery violet eyes when she told him he should be embarrassed flashed in his memory.  That was quickly followed by the remembrance of gentle hands on his shoulders when he made one of the most difficult phone calls of his life.  And the way she’d let him take comfort in her body afterward.

“Hey, Boss Man!” 

Jon’s head spun around, smile in place.  “Lemma.” 

David sailed by and dropped his keyboard case on the platform before coming to officially greet Jon with a man-hug.  “How many new ways to torture us did Santa bring you?”

The tension left Jon’s shoulders.  Tonight he didn’t have to worry about what he was going to do about Petey.  Tonight he could just be a Jersey boy hangin’ with his buddies.

“Too many to count, man,” he laughed, then made a show of looking around the room.  “What?  You couldn’t convince a woman to spend the evening with you?  Did you try the blind school?”

“Oooh!  Very good my young Padawan.”  David clasped his hands together and bowed at the waist, completing the reference from one of the Star Wars Movies.  Jon couldn’t remember which one.  “You have learned well at my hand.”

“Fuck you.”  He gave his friend a playful shove, feeling much like the fifteen year old kid he was when first introduced to David Bryan Rashbaum.   Something about being with your friends automatically took you back to adolescence.  “You don’t have the market cornered on being a wise-ass.  But seriously, no date?”

David rolled his eyes.  “She had to ‘powder her nose’.”  Leaning close, he whispered, “I had to settle, since my first choice of companion was already booked.  Don’t judge.”

Before he could ask for details, a tall, willowy blonde in a tiny silver dress sashayed into the room.  Jon wondered if she knew that wiggling her ass was a waste of time, since she didn’t have one.

“Heyyy!  There you are, baby!  Come meet the slave driver who is keeping me away from you the rest of the year.” 

David was such a salesman.  He could make any woman think she was the center of his universe without ever knowing her name.  Jon hoped to God he at least knew this one’s name.

“Hi,” she purred, flipping her long, platinum hair that could have been a wig, and eating Jon alive with her dull blue eyes. 

Jesus.  It’s jeans and a sweater, lady, not a thong.  Get over it.

“Alex, this is Jon.  Jon, meet Alexis.”

He nodded politely, with a tight smile, hoping Lemma would keep this one on a short leash.  The thought barely finished in his mind, he turned at the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” came the feminine greeting with a slightly exotic lilt.  Tico and his wife, Alejandra had arrived, and were busy hanging their coats on the rack by the door.

“Boys.”  Tico rumbled his own greeting, once they’d finished,  a meaty palm planted firmly over Allie’s gold-draped ass.  Her dress wasn’t much bigger than Alex’s, and it had no back, leaving her bare from neck to waist except for the curtain of sleek mahogany hair swinging between her shoulder blades.

Greetings and introductions were made all around, and Jon mentioned, “I invited Dottie and Tony, along with a few others, just so you’re not surprised if they show up.”

Two pairs of brown eyes and one blue – the other blue ones were mesmerized by the shiny stuff on the walls – swung to look at him.  By the looks on their faces, you would think he had just announced that he was a hermaphrodite.

“What?” 

“Dottie and Tony.  You said that like they’re not two separate people, but a couple,” David told him, his eyes narrowing.  “Which I know can’t be right, because your head is still sitting on your shoulders, and not sprayed around the room in a million tiny pieces.”

“You heard right,” Jon reiterated, gratefully accepting his beer from the lovely LaDonna.  She took drink orders from the others and disappeared.

“You know I’m not a nosy ass,” Tico said, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully.  “But I’ve gotta ask how the hell that happened, and why you’re not crazy over it.”

Petey.  Petey kept me from going crazy.

But, of course, he didn’t say that.  He calmly and factually relayed the Christmas surprise he found in Dorothea's kitchen, and then skipped directly to the story of how his brother and ex-wife ended up together.    There was no reason to share his three-day pity party.

“Wow,” David breathed, admiration shining from his eyes.  “Good for you, man.  I mean, that sucks, but you’re handling it great, so good for you.”

Sensing that Jon was tired of talking about it, Allie graciously interceded, asking after Richie. 

“He’s staying  in a hotel this trip, so he didn’t come with me,” he replied, polishing off his beer..  “I assume he had to pick up his date, and that he’ll be here.  You know Rich, always late.”

David’s gaze shifted to an invisible point past Jon’s shoulder and his face lit with a smile.  “Speak of the devil.”

Jon turned with half-hearted interest to find his best friend standing next to the door with a guitar case in hand and a big smile on his face.  A movement to Richie's left caught Jon's eye and he saw that it was a petite woman, busy hanging up her coat. 

While her back was to him, he let his eyes glide disinterestedly up over the sky-high hooker boots, patterned stockings and short black dress with flowing sleeves, absently wondering if this one would be able to do anything besides giggle and rape him with her eyes.  So far that's all Dave's date had managed to do. 

Jon’s eyes flicked back down her body with a frown, seeing that the pattern in her pantyhose was spiderwebs.  His nostrils flared on a sharply inhaled breath, eyes flying to the little woman’s wild mane of hair.

Pink and black hair. 

About that time, she turned to greet the room with a dimpled smile and reached for Richie’s hand.

No fucking way.

The blood rushed through his ears with the force of an oncoming train, and he couldn’t have told you anything that was being said in the room if his life depended upon it.  Hell, it was all he could do to breathe as he stared at her, thunderstruck. 

No.

Fucking.

Way.

He snagged LaDonna, who had just finished delivering the second round of drinks.  "Jack and Coke. A big one."