Chapter 14

Leah woke up to the sound of music coming from downstairs. After getting showered and dressed she made her way down to investigate. Finding Dot and Jon dancing around the living room wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting but couldn’t help smile at seeing them happy together again. As she made to go to the kitchen unnoticed she was spotted by Dot and then pounced on in a group hug. “Thank you Leah. You’re an angel, we’ve done a lot of talking and we’re going to see a specialist about getting over the baby,” Dot smiled at her. Leah waved off her thanks saying it was nothing and headed into the kitchen with them. “Sorry about last night, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Jon said to her a little embarrassed. “Don’t worry about it, it’s forgotten now,” Leah replied with a smile. “So Leah, Jon tells me your into Richie,” Dot startled Leah with her words, she looked at them both trying to think of something to say while turning pink. Dot and Jon laughed at her reaction, they didn’t need an answer to see what was obvious. “Well as long as you don’t hurt him or Ava, they come as a pair, then that’s fine by us. Plus you helped us out so that makes you part of the family. I don’t think we need to worry about you,” Jon said in mock warning. Leah didn’t know where to look and feeling embarrassed she excused herself telling them she promised Ava she would take her surfing.


Before she got the chance to knock on the door, it had already swung open to reveal Ava standing ready to go in her swimsuit. Shouting goodbye to Richie she grabbed Leah’s hand and they began running towards the sea. Leah was impressed at how quickly Ava mastered standing on the board and began to take her further into the water. She had been expecting it to be awkward especially after her comments last night, she definitely thought there would be some questions asked that she didn’t particularly want to answer. It was a pleasant surprise that she was enjoying spending time with Richie’s daughter, it also reminded her of her own childhood and playing in the sea. Eventually the sea calmed and the waves weren’t having much of an effect on the boards so they drifted out a little and just enjoyed sitting on them, occasionally splashing each other so as the fun factor wouldn‘t disappear. Feeling like they were being watched Leah turned towards the beach to see Richie walking towards them.


After Jon had apologised to Leah his next stop was to explain everything to Richie. They had spent the best part of the morning discussing what had happened. On the way down to the beach Richie spotted Ava and Leah straight away. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Leah, she looked so good out there in the sea and he couldn’t help notice how great she looked in her bikini too. “That woman is a godsend Richie,” Jon said breaking Richie’s thoughts. “If it wasn’t for her I don’t know what would have happened to me and Dot. You should definitely ask her out, I think she really likes you.” Richie looked at his friend unable to decide whether to tell him about the night in the hotel or not but it was too late, Jon recognised the look on his face and told him to spill the secret. After telling him, Jon seemed more excited than he was, “What’s up? You should be happy about it.” Richie shook his head, “I don’t know where I am with her, we got interrupted by Heather and then she spent the last two months avoiding me until last night.” Jon looked confused, “What happened last night?” Richie was unsure what to tell him and decided on the half truth, he told him about the baby she lost but didn’t let him know that it might not be possible for her to have another one. “I feel like such an idiot! I’ve been harping away about how bad it is to her and she knows all about it,” Jon said annoyed at himself. “She chose not to tell you so she must have her reasons, don’t beat yourself up about it you couldn’t have known,” Richie reassured him. Jon made his way back to the house and left Richie to go down to the beach alone.


Seeing him arrive, Leah and Ava started paddling back to the beach. Ava began showing off her new tricks for her dad to see before coming off the board and pulling Richie into the water. “Leah, you need to show my dad how to surf, he’s rubbish in the water. Will you please?” Ava beamed up at Leah. Richie began to protest bringing up the problem that he had no board when Leah passed him hers. This was going to be fun. “Well looks I don’t have a choice in the matter,” Richie said as he whipped off his shirt and threw it back on the sand. Leah couldn’t help but stare, he looked so heavenly without it, the tan he had was showing off his stomach muscles in the best way possible. Hoping he hadn’t noticed her staring, she got back to business instructing him how to sit on the board. A simple task to Leah, this was proving difficult for Richie to master, already toppling over three times. Stepping in to help, Leah held onto the board while Richie tried to keep his balance. He finally managed to stand up for a brief second before falling backwards, attempting to stop him from hitting the water, Leah jumped up trying to grab an arm to steady him but failed miserably. Both of them tumbled over the board and under the water. Leah was a little shocked at emerging from the water with a pair of shorts in her hand. Richie was a little more shocked at finding his had vanished. Both looked utterly dumbfounded as to what had happened before realisation kicked in that the thing Leah thought was an arm had turned out to be Richie’s shorts which had somehow managed to come off during the tumble. Laughing hysterically, Leah threw Richie over his shorts. He was looking rather embarrassed until he saw that Leah and Ava were doubled over in laughter and began to see the funny side. Deciding they had spent enough time in the water, the three of them headed back to the house to make dinner.


On arrival they found the house was empty and the others had left a note saying they went out for dinner. Raiding the cupboards for something to make for dinner proved a difficult task. They looked as though they had been visited by a hungry army. Settling on some bits and bobs that they found and cooked up, they sat down at the table for dinner. Leah was worried it would be awkward spending time with just the two of them but was surprised at how easily they all got along. The conversation was flowing and Leah and Ava spent most of the time teasing Richie about losing his shorts. Before they knew it the meal was finished and they were washing up in the kitchen while Ava played in the garden. Richie washed the dishes while Leah dried them. “So you going to take me surfing again?” Richie asked Leah with a grin. “I wouldn’t quite say you were ready to surf just yet, you were like bambi on ice out there today,” Leah teased. Richie finished up the last of the dishes and turned to face Leah, “What if I told you I can surf, but I was wanting you to teach me. What would you say to that?” Leah looked confused, “I would say you must be nuts! Why would you do that?”
“Oh I think you know why. Although if I knew you were planning on stripping me I probably would have just asked you out to dinner,” Richie said, laughing and moving closer to her. “How dare you accuse me of that! If you’re pretending you can’t surf then how do I know it wasn’t part of your plan to kick them off?” Leah teased him. Richie moved closer still, placing his hands on the counter at either side of her locking her in. “You’re just going to have to take my word for it,” he smiled. Then his lips came down to meet hers. They brushed softly at first, then more passionately as Leah’s lips parted to welcome his tongue, tasting each other and feeling the desire burn inside them. Just at that moment Leah heard a door open and pulled away from Richie. Both of them turned to find Ava standing with her arms folded in the doorway watching them. “I told you that you’s fancied each other,” Ava spoke with a tone that reminded Leah of her mother when she had been proved correct about something. Leah and Richie both laughed through their embarrassment. “Well I better go now, its getting late. Goodnight,” Leah said smiling at Ava and waving before kissing Richie on the cheek and making for the door.

Chapter 13

Leah slept late the next morning due to her having been kept awake by Dot’s revelation. Everything was beginning to make sense now about the way Jon and Dot had been acting the past couple of months. She really hoped they could make it through this rough patch, it must be hard enough being married to a rock star without having to deal with this too. Forcing herself out of bed, Leah made her way downstairs to find the house empty apart from Dot. She was sorting out her handbag planning on making a shopping trip into town when Leah found her. Not wanting her to be on her own, Leah asked her to wait until she got dressed and agreed to go with her. Together they left to get some retail therapy. At first Dot seemed uncomfortable about the conversation they had had the night before, avoiding anything Jon or baby related but with a bit of encouragement from Leah she was beginning to open up about how she felt about it. Talking about it seemed to be easing her pain which Leah was grateful for. She wasn’t sure how the day was going to be if they were to act like the conversation never happened and she was also surprised with her ability to cope with what Dot was telling her. Many shopping bags later the two women made their way back to the house to get ready for Richie’s BBQ.


From her room window Leah could see that everyone else was already in Richie’s garden and the alcohol was already flowing. Deciding on a pretty white dress, Leah completed her make up and made her way to find Dot. On arriving at her room she found Dot hadn’t made any attempt to get dressed and instead told her she wanted some time on her own to get her head around things. Finally agreeing to let her stay Leah left to go next door but promised she would be popping back later to check on her. Entering the garden everyone welcomed her, she could already smell the food sizzling away on the BBQ. Explaining that Dot wasn’t coming was an easier task than she had expected, everyone seemed to understand. “Follow me Mrs, we have to give you the grand tour so you know where to find everything,” Richie said grabbing her hand to take her into the kitchen showing her where all the alcohol and glasses were kept. Leah burst into laughter when he landed almost inside one of the cupboards as his daughter came running in and jumped on his back. When he emerged from the floor he was also laughing hard but had managed to save the two glasses he had in hands from breaking. Pouring the wine proved to be a rather difficult task for both of them due to the laughing causing their hands to shake. Ava eventually pulled the bottle from Richie pouring it herself, “Look at the mess you’re making, like a couple of lovesick kids,” she said while shaking her head. Richie and Leah looked at each other as though they couldn’t believe what she had said before laughing hysterically. Richie finally managed to speak, “Why would you say that Ava?” Ava paused and looked at both of them in turn, “Well dad it’s clear to me that you two fancy each other,” she stated matter of factly before running off into the garden. Leah and Richie were left alone in an awkward presence of laughter and embarrassment. “Well I see she likes to tell it as she sees it,” Leah said still laughing. “Yeah, she’s great….usually. Never heard her say anything like that before, but I must say the way she done it was hilarious,” Richie said as he put his arm around Leah leading her back into the garden.


By the time everyone had finished eating most of them were well on their way to being drunk. Jon especially had been drinking a lot, he was sitting on one of the chairs with a glass of wine in one hand and a whole bottle in the other. He again started watching Leah and wondered if he had been too obvious when she made her way over and sat down beside him. “You look as happy as larry,” she said as she sat down. “Oh I’m great just a little tired and could be slightly drunk,” Jon replied smiling at his bottle of wine. “Slightly? I think you past that stage a long time ago. Look at Richie, now he’s slightly drunk, I’m slightly drunk. You my friend are steaming,” Leah replied laughing. “You like Richie, don’t you?” Jon asked her. “I’ve been watching you all night and you two have hardly been apart. What‘s he got that I don‘t?” Leah couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. Ava’s arrival came just at the right time so that she wouldn’t have to answer the question, “Leah come and dance with me, none of them will and they all said you’re a good dancer.” Bouncing up from her seat Leah took the escape and started spinning Ava around, dancing all over the garden until Richie told her it was time for bed. Giving everyone a goodnight cuddle, Ava made her way upstairs with Richie. Picking up her empty glass, Leah made her way to the kitchen for a refill when Jon followed her in. “Your some mover! Lets dance,” Jon said walking towards her. “I think what you need is some water to sober up,” Leah laughed. “I’ll tell you what then, you dance with me and then I’ll take the water, deal?” Jon put his arms around her, she could feel him swaying all over the place from the drink. Feeling uncomfortable at how close he was holding her, she pulled away a put in some spins. When she stopped spinning she leaned beside the sink while Jon still had his hands on her waist dancing away on his own. She wasn’t paying much attention just letting him dance away and before she knew it he had went in for a kiss. His lips touched hers softly before she realised what was happening and pushed him away. “What the hell is going on here?” Richie demanded from the doorway.


“Was this the plan from the start, you work with his wife while you fuck around with her husband behind her back, and to distract from the truth you just play me along?” Richie was angry and aggressively accusing Leah, “And what about you Jon, how could you do that to Dot especially after all that’s happened?” He was in Jon’s face now looking for a reaction. Leah pulled his arm turning him round to face her, “Nothing has happened between me and Jon. He’s far too drunk and he made a stupid mistake, didn’t you see me push him away?” Richie looked into her eyes and examined her expression, he believed her but he had to heard it from Jon. “It’s true, I fucked up,” Jon told him before sitting down at the kitchen table. Leah pulled Richie aside asking for his help to get him home to his wife, which Richie agreed to while apologising for jumping to conclusions. “Jon I think you should go back to Dot now. She’ll be wondering where you are and I think you both have some things you need to sort out,” Richie tried to get through to him but it didn‘t seem to be working. “Jon is this about the baby?” Leah asked him gently. Richie spun in her direction as though amazed she knew about it. Jon replied mumbling, “She’s not the same anymore. She changed and I don’t know if I can be with her anymore, I can’t take it waking up not knowing what she’s going to be like today. She thinks I coped well with what happened but I didn’t, I just hid it from her, from everyone.” Leah laughed softly, “I think I’ve had this conversation before. Jon I need you to get up and go back to your wife. There are a lot of things that need to be discussed and only the two of you can do it. The both of you haven’t dealt with losing the baby, Dot has the same problem as you, she told me she’s scared of losing you because of this.” Jon looked as though a new air of hope had hit him at hearing his wife still needs him. Leah could see that they had shut each other out after they lost the baby in their own attempts to deal with it. He cuddled both Richie and Leah before heading out the door.


“Well that was eventful!” Richie said turning back to Leah. He was shocked to see her with tears streaming down her face. “What is it? You okay?” Leah laughed softly at his concern, “Nothing I’m fine, just got caught up in an emotional train wreck. Not sure whether I’m happy or sad.” Richie moved to where she was standing and pulled her into a cuddle, causing her to cry harder. “Do I really smell that bad?” Richie joked. Before she could stop herself Leah began to speak through the tears and laughter, “I’m sorry, I’m not usually one for crying my eyes out. I lost a baby once too, it was years ago now but I still remember it clearly. My circumstances were completely different though and there was complications and now there’s a chance I won’t ever be able to have children. When I look at Dot and Jon, I think there going to make it. I can imagine them in the future with lots of children running around them, they’d be great parents. I have no idea why I’m telling you this, I’ve never told anyone before.” Richie wiped away her tears and pulled her close, not saying a word.

Chapter 12

Leah awoke early the next morning. She had set her alarm so that she would be ready in time for the boat trip but woke hours before it. Getting out of bed, she showered and got dressed before making her way to the kitchen for some breakfast. Deciding she would be bored waiting on the others to get up she wrote a note telling them she would meet them at the boat as she was planning on going into town first. Leaving the house quietly so not to wake anyone, Leah crept down the stairs and started walking towards the town. She didn’t realise the walk was so long and was glad when she heard a car pull up beside her with Tico and his wife in it. On the drive into town Leah invited them along on the boat trip but they already had plans for the day. Saying good-bye Leah left them and made her way to the shops.


“Well hello stranger!” Leah jumped at hearing Richie’s voice. He had appeared from nowhere while Leah was reading a magazine on a park bench. He chuckled softly at her fright, “Haven’t seen you in a while, where you been hiding?” Leah turned to face him, “Hiding? Nowhere. Just been busy is all. What you doing up so early anyway?” Richie pointed towards the swings in the park, where his daughter was sitting. “She likes to keep me on my toes,” he said smiling. Leah couldn’t help but smile back, the man really was contagious. “Sorry I missed your dinner last night, lost track of the time but I heard it was really good,” Leah mumbled, looking for something to say. “Well you better be there for the next one. Having a BBQ tomorrow so be on time, I’ll cook you up a dream,” Richie informed her. Leah couldn’t help but grin, she was dreaming all right but it didn’t involve cooking. The man did something to her whenever he was near, she never seemed to be totally in control when she was with him. “I’ll be on time, I promise. Are you going on the boat trip today?” Leah asked, so much for avoiding him, she thought. He then explained that he would have gone but had already promised Ava they would go to the zoo. He kissed her on the cheek before bidding good-bye and their eyes met once again in the same longing way they had the first night they met. Leah managed to break the stare, telling him to enjoy himself and waved to Ava. Watching Richie leave with his daughter, she found herself looking forward to the BBQ.


Leah arrived at the boat on time, slightly confused as to why no-one else had arrived yet. The man who was sailing the boat for them was starting to get restless when after the departure time there was still no sign of anyone. Eventually Leah saw Jon approach the boat alone not looking too happy. He instructed the man that they could now leave, much to Leah’s confusion. Seeing the look on her face Jon began to speak, “Dot isn’t feeling great and David and Katie changed their minds about coming.” Leah was still confused, “You know you could have just called me and cancelled it, I wouldn’t mind.” Jon smiled for the first time, “But I would have. Wouldn’t be much fun on here on my own.” Leah felt uncomfortable at the thought of spending the next few hours on the boat alone with Jon but forced a smile adding, “Well lets have some fun then.” She made her way to where the man was steering the boat, hoping he would be kind enough to teach her a little about sailing and also as an excuse to not spend the whole time with Jon.


Jon watched her closely while she took in the information the sailor was giving her. She really was interested in it, unlike the many people Jon had seen enter a conversation just for the sake of having something to say. He couldn’t help but think about the times where it was Dot who would grab his attention in this way, he missed those days and wanted them back badly but the way things were going he wasn’t sure they would ever be the same. He couldn’t stand the way she was behaving lately, almost like a different person every morning she woke up. The independence, strong willed nature and love for life that he had once admired in Dot, he was now seeing in Leah. He jumped at hearing a splash, bringing him out of his thoughts. He had been so wrapped up in them that he didn’t notice Leah dive into the sea. “You coming in?” Leah shouted as she saw Jon’s head appear at the side of the boat. “Are you nuts? There’s sharks in there!” Jon replied amazed. “I don’t see any. It’s beautiful in here,” she said hoping it would change his mind. She didn’t know what the problem was but he had been moping about since they got on the boat and needed some serious cheering up. “No thanks! I’ll probably get eaten!” Jon replied while closely investigating the water for anything he thought could bite. Leah laughed, “Do you know what the chances of getting attacked by a shark are? You’re safe. Look at it this way, we’re guests in their home, if we behave ourselves then there’s no problem. Don’t know about you but I don’t make a habit of eating my guests.” Jon laughed, she had managed to talk him round and before she could blink he had whipped off his clothes and was diving in wearing his trunks. The idea had definitely worked for cheering him up, carrying on in the water both of them had stomach ache unsure of whether it was the swimming or the laughing that had caused it. On leaving the boat Jon felt sad. He would give anything to stay a little longer but he knew he would have to face Dot sooner or later.


On the journey back to the house they had laughed all the way until they arrived at the front door. Leah felt the atmosphere change immediately, sensing that Jon and Dot weren’t on the best terms she excused herself saying she was going for a walk, hoping the time they had alone would get things sorted. Standing on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean, Leah heard someone crying. Looking around she found a woman at the bottom of the hill sitting on a rock, it was Dot. Making her way towards her Leah spoke gently, “Dot, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Her reaction surprised Leah, she jumped from the rock throwing her arms around her before falling to her knees crying again. Unsure of how to handle the situation, Leah sat on the sand beside her placing an arm around her to comfort her. They never spoke for a long time but Dot’s crying began to ease up. Eventually she spoke, “I’m so sorry, we were supposed to be having a nice holiday down here and I go and ruin things.” Leah didn’t know what to say, settling on, “You haven’t ruined anything and if you apologise one more time it’s going to drive me mad.” Dot managed a small laugh before saying sorry again which caused them both to laugh softly. Dot turned to face Leah, “It’s just since I lost the baby, nothing’s been the same. I’ve lost myself and I’m losing Jon. I just don’t know what to do. He dealt with it much better than me. I’m just so scared, Leah.” It was all Leah could do to pull her into a hug, she wasn’t prepared for the news and didn’t have the slightest idea how to deal with it. “I’m scared he’s going to leave me. I love him so much but I just can’t help being like this,” Dot continued through tears, “I try so hard to be the woman I was but I keep failing.” Leah spoke gently, “Your not failing at anything, you just haven’t fully accepted what happened. Lots of women have miscarriages and their marriages make it through. I’ve seen the way you and Jon look at each other, you’ll make it through it will just take some work.” Dot thanked her for being there for her which caught Leah off guard as she tried to wipe away the silent tears on her face before Dot saw them.

Chapter 11

The next two months seemed to fly in. Everyone was so busy with work, the guys doing shows and having to appear on TV and do countless other interviews. Dot and Leah felt as though they had spent the whole two months in a cupboard as it was tiny rooms they were using for the project. It had a come a long way since they first started and things were now starting to take shape. Throughout the time Dot had had her ups and downs, some days she was great while other days she spent in tears. This still bothered Leah as she still hadn’t told her what was wrong. At first she thought it was Jon that was the problem as they seemed to both be in strange moods at the same time then she began to notice that some days Jon would be fine and it would just be Dot who seemed to be fragile. Keeping with her decision not to push Dot into telling her, Leah backed off and just let her be. Since Leah’s encounter with Richie she spent most of the time avoiding being near him which wasn‘t hard considering both of their schedules. She couldn’t understand why this man made her feel the way she did when he was near, it scared her.


Arriving at the airport, Leah immediately felt the atmosphere different from previous flights. The guys were all excited at the thought of having a week off and getting to spend it on a beach in Australia. David had invited Katie along for the week and Tico’s wife was meeting them in Australia along with Richie’s daughter Ava. Dot and Leah decided they wouldn’t keep any strict plans for work during the week so they could enjoy the time too. The flight went quickly since most of them were catching up on sleep while they could. When the time came to get off the plane Leah watched Richie run to his daughter and pick her up giving her a big cuddle, she couldn’t help but give a big smile at the scene in front of her. He spoke to her every day on the phone but seeing him now it was clear he missed her while on the road. Tico took a much less noticeable approach to welcome his wife, he just kissed her then put his arm around her and started walking as though he had just picked up his luggage which made Leah laugh, they were clearly used to being apart during the tour. They all made their way to the cars waiting outside to take them to where they would be staying for the week. To Leah’s surprise they pulled up outside two big houses on a beach, she had been expecting another hotel. Tico’s wife then directed everyone to which house they would be staying in as she had already been here for two days. Each house had three rooms and in the first house was Jon and Dot, David and Katie and Leah, while Tico, his wife, Richie and Ava would be sharing the other house. Making their way inside they each found their room and began to unpack.


The house was beautiful, infact in Leah’s eyes it was perfect considering it was so close to the beach, her favourite place. She felt relieved that she hadn’t been put under the same roof as Richie but knew she couldn’t spend the whole week avoiding him like she had been doing previously. Deciding to push the thoughts away and deal with it later, Leah finished her unpacking and made her way downstairs. Taking some time to find her way around the house and get to know where things belonged she found they had been left with a supply of surfing equipment. Ecstatic at the thought of going surfing again she sprang to her feet running back to her room to get some things together passing Jon and Dot on the way, “There’s surfing stuff in the cupboard, I’ll see you later!” Laughing at her excitement both of them mentioned something about “fun” that she couldn’t make out due to her dash to get to the sea before it disappeared.


Leah spent a long time in the sea, she wasn’t sure exactly how long but could have stayed longer if it wasn’t so dark. On her way back to the house she met Jon coming back from a walk. As they entered the garden a strong smell of food wafted towards them. “Where the hell were you two? We tried to call but no-one answered. Just missed a great meal that Richie cooked up for us!” David yelled from the other garden. Jon and Leah both apologised, they hadn’t realised how late it was. “Looks like its just you and me for dinner then, Dot and Katie went into town earlier and their getting something while their out,” Jon informed Leah before they made their way back to the house. Leah excused herself to go get showered and changed while Jon decided to make a start on dinner.


On Leah’s return to the kitchen, she found Jon still where she had left him staring into a cupboard. “So does it magic itself out of there when its ready then?” Leah asked which made Jon jump. “We have a problem. We’ve got all the ingredients for Spaghetti Bolognese except the pasta,” he said scratching his head. Leah laughed at his expression before looking in the cupboards, “Well how about Tagliatelle Bolognese, not sure if it’s a real thing but I think it will still taste the same.” Without a reply Leah whipped out a bowl and began throwing in flour, eggs and water to make some pasta. Jon watched her for a while as though he had never seen anyone in the kitchen before. Leah was hoping for some help when she asked him to chop some tomatoes only to see a tomato fly across the room in his attempt to cut it. The look on Jon’s face as the tomato flew was enough to send Leah into hysterics every time she looked at him while they were cooking.


After what seemed like hours, dinner was finally served. Jon had set the table for them and picked out a nice wine. Leah couldn’t help notice how flirty he was with her, during the cooking he had been very touchy feely but Leah just brushed the thought away deciding he must be like that with everyone. During their meal she got to know a different side to him, from the way he spoke about his music and things he loved she could tell a lot about him. At times she even thought she could see the same sadness in his eyes as she had seen before in Dot’s. “Well I must say that is one of the best meals I’ve ever had and I had a lot of fun making it too,” Jon said after finishing his meal. Leah had begun washing up when she got splashed in the face. Shocked she looked round finding Jon doubled over in laughter, he had tried to rinse a glass but the water fired back out the top and all over Leah leaving her soaked. “Well I thought you liked the water? Surfing and all,” Jon said with a grin. “You must be thirsty after all that cooking, here’s something to help,” Leah replied before throwing a glass of water back at him. Both of them soaking, went back to washing up and cleaning up the floor discussing how they would like to take a boat trip during the week. They heard the front door open and Dot and Katie return from their visit to the town loaded with shopping bags. “I’m not even going to ask,” Dot said looking at both Leah and Jon before kissing Jon hello. “Just testing the water! What do you think about taking a boat trip tomorrow?” Jon asked Dot and Katie who both agreed to it. They arranged the leaving time for the next day before they all headed to bed.

Chapter 10

Outside the pub Richie stood at the corner, if he was right Leah would come out soon and head back to the hotel. If he was wrong then he just let the other guy win by leaving but he was sure she would be out of there soon. Looking at the time, Richie heard a door swing open and right on cue Leah emerged from the pub alone. With a big grin on his face Richie stepped back enabling himself to hide behind the side of the building. Waiting until she had just walked past him, he stepped out and swung his arms around her lifting her off the ground, “Guess who?” Leah screamed at being taken off the ground and then began to laugh when she heard Richie’s voice. “I thought you had gone to bed?” She asked as she turned to look at him. “Well I was going to but I wanted to know if I was right,” he said smiling at her. “Right about what?” Leah asked. “I knew you were leading that guy on just to get my attention. It was obvious,” he replied beaming at her. “Don’t flatter yourself, and who said I was trying to get your attention? I was innocently learning how to play some music. Isn’t that allowed?” she turned and started walking towards the hotel with Richie following. “Now I could have believed that if you didn’t play the guitar better than he did,” pulling on her arm gently, they both stopped “Walk with me?” Had it been an order Leah would have never went with him, but she liked the way he asked and looking into his eyes she couldn’t resist.


They spent a long time walking in circles around the area the hotel was in, discussing everything from the leaves in the trees to the names of their first ever pets. Leah avoided the questions she didn’t want to answer by throwing them back at Richie who sensed there was something she wasn’t comfortable with talking about and didn’t push the issue. They had a lot in common and spent a lot of the time laughing and playing off the other. Making their way back towards the hotel Richie had an idea to break into Tico’s room and show her the artwork she had heard so much about. She had been told he was very good but every time she asked about it he would refuse to let her see his work, dismissing it as nothing more than a hobby. As they reached Tico’s room, Leah kept watch while Richie attempted to get the lock open. After what felt like hours the door swung open allowing them both to enter. They had been looking for less than five minutes when Leah heard someone at the door. Grabbing Richie by the hand she pulled him out onto the balcony and they both jumped onto the next balcony that was Richie’s room. They fell in a heap on the floor scrambling to get out of sight. Richie pulled Leah close to him so Tico wouldn’t see her from the next balcony where he was standing looking rather puzzled as to why his doors were open.


Fumbling with his own key Richie eventually managed to get his door open after making sure Tico had gone inside. Silently they got in and closed the doors before bursting into laughter. “Well so much for getting to see his artwork,” Leah managed to say while laughing. Richie had collapsed onto a chair still unable to speak through his hysterical laughter. “Did you see his face out on that balcony? That was priceless!” he finally managed to say. “I don’t know about you but I’m thirsty, want a drink?” Richie asked moving to the small fridge in the room. Leah followed him over to see what was there, both bending down to look at the same time they bumped heads and burst out laughing once again. They stood for a moment just looking into one another’s eyes as if in a trance before Richie swooped in meeting Leah’s lips with his own. To his surprise she accepted him hungrily, tasting each other he pulled her closer wanting more. Lost in sweet intoxication Leah and Richie kissed passionately until they were interrupted by a ringing phone. Breaking away Leah smiled at him, “You better get that it could be important at this time of night.” Richie looked at her then at the phone before saying, “What if I don’t want to answer it? Maybe I would prefer to do this instead,” he touched his lips to hers again kissing her deeply. “I’ll just tell whoever it is your busy then,” Leah said as she seductively moved towards the phone picking it up and using her sexiest voice, “This is Mr Sambora’s room he is currently…” Leah stopped talking when she heard a woman on the other side crying and quickly passed it to Richie. She recognised the name he used immediately as being his ex wife and decided to take her leave whispering goodnight before slipping out the door.


The next morning Leah woke up confused. She had enjoyed last night a little too much for her own liking and even found herself wishing it had gone further. As much as she liked Richie she had to force herself to stay away, she had been through enough in her life without adding to it, how could a relationship with a rock star work? She even found herself laughing at the fact she had even considered that he would want a relationship with her, he was used to having a different woman every night wasn’t he? Why should she be any different? Then she found herself thinking about the ways that he didn’t strike her as being a rock star, which made her want him more. He had been so real last night that she had forgotten he was famous at all. Finally tired at the thought of fighting with herself over it for the rest of the day, she decided it would be best all round if she just avoided him for a while.

Chapter 9

“Mind if I join you?” Leah jumped at hearing Richie’s voice in her ear, she thought she would be the only one up this early when she left her room to go and get some breakfast. Making himself comfortable on the seat next to her Richie shouted over the waitress to take his order. “I don’t believe it! I thought that was some sort of set up last night him leaving with that girl!” Richie’s eyes were wide in disbelief as he watched David from his seat in the café across the road from the hotel they had stayed in. He was walking hand in hand with the woman he had met in the bar last night before kissing her passionately and putting her in a taxi. Leah laughed at Richie’s amazement of the scene taking place outside the window, “you know your going to start catching flies if you leave your chin hanging like that.”
“Did you see that? I mean did I really see that? That never happens to him, I’m that guy that should be standing over there.” Richie seemed shocked at what he had just said. “Eh…not that I’m always throwing women out my hotel room. Well not throwing exactly, you know what I mean. Should I keep digging?” He asked much to Leah’s amusement. “Well if you dig any further I reckon your gonna have a hard job trying to get back out that hole.” Both of them laughed. “Why are you so surprised at seeing him with a beautiful woman anyway? He is in Bon Jovi, can’t be that hard finding a woman willing to go home with you,” Leah asked, still laughing at Richie’s outburst. “David has a history of really bad lines, there have been times when he’s ended up with black eyes, couldn’t give you an example though he never repeats them again. What did you tell him to say last night?” Richie asked eagerly awaiting the answer. “I told you it’s a secret. Anyway if your throwing women out your room every night I don’t think you need to know.” Richie smiled at her and leaned in close, “I think you want to tell me but you’d be jealous of all the other women that I would take home with me.” She felt her stomach flutter as he got closer to her, “Jealous? That’s what you think? Could I remind you that you were left on my doorstep the other night. Now I’ve got work to do so I’ll leave you to it.” Leah flashed him a cheeky smile while she moved from the table. “Oh and you might want to deflate your head before you leave, could be a little embarrassing if you get it stuck on the way out.”


Jon had woken up to a phone call from Richie telling him to meet him in the café across the road. Grudgingly he forced himself out of bed and got showered and dressed before heading to meet Richie. “Why didn’t you just wait until I was up before you marched over here for breakfast and then phone me up complaining you were left sitting here on your own?” Jon asked him as he took the seat Leah previously occupied. “Well I woke up early and spied Leah coming over here so I came over and she left quickly and told me to deflate my head,” Richie mumbled, slightly embarrassed at admitting he had followed Leah and then been insulted by her. Jon looked at him before bursting out laughing. “What were you saying? Infact don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. Never thought I’d see the day where Richie Sambora is following women to breakfast!” Jon was laughing hysterically now. Richie tried to defend himself, “Well thanks for your support! It was like I couldn’t resist, when I saw her come in here I just thought I would give it another go while David was out of the way. Plus I still think she likes me, despite her words. She does this thing with her eyes and it’s like she says one thing with them and then another with her mouth.” Jon looked at his friend dumbfounded, “So you think a woman who in my opinion has no interest in you in the slightest, is stuck in some sort of war between her eyes and her mouth? From what I’ve seen she never throws her head around snapping her teeth in the direction of her eyeballs. Richie I think what your seeing is called wishful thinking.” Richie laughed, “Call it what you want but I can definitely see it.”


Leah arrived at Dot’s room just in time for them to start work. She had decided last night that she wanted to get back to the project straight away and ensured Leah that she wasn’t going to burst into tears again any time soon. This Leah didn’t believe, she had been through enough in her life to know that Dot wasn’t coping well with something and she guessed that she was now resorting to hiding the problem rather than dealing with it. Dot was in a good mood today she was ready to get started on work before Leah sat down and was throwing out more ideas for them to work on. “What’s up with you today? You’ve been on another planet for the last half hour sitting there smiling to yourself,” Dot had said to Leah bringing her out of her daze. She couldn’t help but think about her meeting with Richie at breakfast, she also couldn’t believe he had the ability to make her smile even when he wasn’t there which made her feel stupid as she didn’t know what to say to Dot. “Huh? Oh I don’t really know I just woke up in a good mood today and have been wrapped up in it all morning.” Hoping Dot had believed her pathetic excuse she forced her head into work mode successfully. By the end of the day they had made huge progress and knew which direction they would take things in the following months. Before Leah left the room Dot pulled on her arm, “I just want to say thank you for the other night, I really needed some time for me and I really enjoyed myself. It also helped me face Jon and I think we’ve sorted some things out now.” Leah was surprised that she had brought it up, “Your welcome, I had a good night myself and I’m glad you sorted things out but if you ever need to talk you know where I am.” The two women hugged before going their separate ways.


Later that night they all met up at a local bar after the show. Much to Richie’s amazement David had brought along the same woman from the night before and introduced her to everyone. Her name was Katie and she made a good first impression on everyone. She was shy and spent a lot of time blushing when Tico or Richie made a comment about her going home with David. They looked like a very cute couple together and from the way David was talking Leah was sure they hadn’t seen the last of her. Leah herself was enjoying herself and couldn’t help notice the way Richie was watching her every move, remembering their conversation about jealousy at breakfast, she decided this was her chance to make him jealous. While at the bar she started flirting with the guitarist that was playing in the pub next door, having heard him play she knew he wasn’t the greatest guitarist but that was what she wanted. She had talked him into teaching her how to play and he had taken her to a table and got her to sit on his lap while he showed her how to play it. She made sure it sounded terrible so to grab Richie’s attention which it certainly did as he had moved to the bar to get a better view of what was going on. Going to the bar to order her and her new friend a drink Leah took the guitar with her. “You know if you wanted to learn how to play you could have just asked me, I could teach you better than him,” Richie said moving to her side. The bartender put her drinks down and Leah paid for them before smiling at Richie, “Jealous, are we? I reckon I’m getting good at this guitar thing.” She then played a little on the guitar, lifted her drinks and went back to the table. Just then Jon joined an open mouthed Richie. “Did you see that? That was not wishful thinking that was real!” Jon laughed at the expression on his face, “Sorry but I never saw a thing. What happened?” Richie looked flabbergasted, “I can’t believe you never saw that! She just came over here and ordered drinks for her and that guy but while she was here she asked if I was jealous then played that fucking guitar like an expert! Why am I the only one who see’s these things?” Jon looked back and forth at Richie and Leah who was again playing really badly before answering, “I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t call that playing like an expert. I’m getting worried about you, how much have you had to drink exactly?” Richie shook his head, “I can’t believe you missed it! I knew she liked me. That woman is the devil or something, she shouldn’t look that amazing and she’s going to end up getting me locked in some nut house, got you thinking I’m crazy already.” Jon laughed and patted Richie on the back, “Well you just stay here as happy as a pig in shit watching her over there with another man.” Deciding he wasn’t going to sit there all night watching he told Jon to say goodbye for him and went over to Leah planting a big kiss on her cheek and saying goodnight before he left.

Chapter 8

“Damn, that woman can move! Dot wasn’t bad either last night. Can’t believe they made more papers than us,” David was skimming through the news papers that Richie had passed him. Turned out Dot and Leah’s good time got a bit more attention than they expected. “Where are they anyway? Was expecting to have bumped into them by now are they not working today, Jon?” Startled at David saying his name, Jon had him repeat the question only offering a shrug as the answer. A little bewildered at Jon’s lack of answer David caught Richie’s attention to see if he knew what was wrong with him. Richie mouthed the word Dot and David nodded acknowledging he was in the way, he knew Jon would only ever tell all the details to Richie so he made himself scarce. “So how did it go last night when she got back?” Richie asked after David had left. “I’ll let you know when she gets back,” Jon replied angrily. “You mean she never came back?“ Richie was stumped, he had never known Dot not to come home. Jon just shook his head. “Do you know where she is?”
“No idea, she doesn’t talk to me anymore. She won’t pick up her phone either,” Jon seemed almost detached when he spoke. “Well do you have Leah’s number? She was with her last night maybe she stayed at her place.” Jon searched through his phone and on finding Leah’s number he passed it to Richie.


“Hello?” Leah answered. “Eh, hello there Leah, sorry to bother you but I was just wondering if you had seen Dot today?” Richie asked nervously. Feeling a tap on his shoulder he turned to find himself facing Leah. “I thought that was you two in here,” Leah said then turning towards Jon “I’ve just delivered your wife to her room. I think she wants to talk to you.” Leah was surprised to see the relief in Jon’s face when she told him, after the welcome he gave his wife at the show last night she was expecting him to be mad but she could see the love this man had for his wife just by looking at him. “She wasn’t having a great day yesterday so I took her out for a while and we had a little too much to drink that’s why we ended up at my place, sorry.” Jon pulled her into a cuddle, “Don’t be sorry, thank you for looking after her.” Leah was shocked at his reaction, she had definitely expected some fireworks when she explained where they had been. Letting go of Leah, Jon made his way to exit the bar, “I better go see her. Oh and by the way great moves last night!” Leah felt herself go pink. “Well fancy a drink while you’re here then?” Richie asked her. Agreeing she sat down beside him while Richie ordered the drinks. She couldn’t help but steal glances at him while she thought he wasn’t looking. The man was so sexy it was hard not to look at him. Realising neither of them had spoken since she sat down, Leah asked “so what time should we be at the airport at to get to Boston?” He explained how they normally work with the schedules and told her she would be picked up by one of the cars later in the day. She was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him and found the man unbelievably funny. He had her in tears from laughing so hard. Eventually they had to part company to get their things packed for the airport.


A short time later a car pulled up outside Leah’s hotel to take her to the airport. She happily jumped in the back finding she was in the car with Tico and David. Both were teasing her about the dancing she had done the night before and about the articles that had been printed about her and Dot. As they neared the airport for the short flight to Boston she suddenly started panicking over the plane they would be going in as she wasn’t the biggest fan of flying. She was grateful that she was with David and Tico as they helped keep her calm and assured her she wouldn’t be crashing in any plane of theirs. Standing inside the airport waiting for the others to return from the toilet, Leah got a fright when Richie appeared at her side whispering in her ear, “I don’t know what you did to they two but it seems to have worked.” His voice sent shivers done her spine. She turned to look at who he was talking about and found Jon and Dot walking hand in hand looking very cosy. Shocked at the sight of them so happy together she turned back to Richie, “I don’t know what happened but it definitely had nothing to do with me.”


The flight to Boston went quickly barely giving Leah enough time to get used to the private plane they would be using to travel almost everywhere during the tour. She watched Jon and Dot a lot of the time when they arrived in Boston, she wasn’t sure if they were really happy or if it was an act they had put on, she had never seen anyone have such a change of heart in such a short time. Deciding it was none of her business, she turned her thoughts to work and developed some ideas for them to work on tomorrow. Dot and Leah had gone to the show again tonight but instead of jumping around all night Leah watched the guys on stage. They really loved what they were doing. She watched each of them in turn but found her attention always strayed back to Richie. When he played he looked like he had left the country, it was as though he had gone to his own little place. A few times he had looked up and straight into Leah’s eyes which made her blush, she felt as if she had intruded on his little place.


After the show finished they all headed to a local bar for some drinks before they would have to head back to the hotel. After watching David get thrashed in a dare game that he, Tico and Richie were playing, Leah decided to come to his rescue. He had approached a number of women in the bar that Tico and Richie had dared him to try and pull but to no avail. “Would you guys mind if I gave him a tip?” she asked as she sat between David and Tico at the table. “No funny stuff, I’ll let you two pick the girl.” After discussing it as though it were an important business decision the two picked out one of the best looking women in the bar for David to pull. Leah spent the next few minutes whispering in David’s ear so the other two wouldn’t hear. As he made his way over to her, Leah heard Richie say “It’s never going to happen, he’s got no chance look at her.” Leah smiled before replying “Watch and learn boys, watch and learn.” To Richie and Tico’s amazement within 30 minutes David was leaving the bar with this beautiful woman. Before he left he ran back to their table, “I think I win! You are a genius lady!” Planting a big kiss on Leah’s cheek. She couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on the other two’s faces, their chins were almost on the floor in shock. “Did that really just happen?” Tico asked Richie, who nodded his answer, “That’s usually you that’s leaving with the beauty and you’ve never managed it in that short a time,” Tico stated still wide eyed in amazement. Richie moved into the seat beside Leah putting an arm around her, “So how many drinks do I have to buy you before you tell me the secret of whatever you just told him?” Leah laughed before adding, “Secrets are for keeping, if you tell them to anyone they don’t mean anything anymore.” She winked before announcing she was leaving to go to bed.

Chapter 7

“Well I was going to say good morning but judging by the look on your face it isn’t,” Leah had said to Dot who hadn’t even noticed her enter the room she had hired for them to use for the project. “Oh sorry!” she jumped at hearing Leah’s voice. “I’m feeling ill from all that drink last night, didn’t realise I had drank so much.” Leah laughed and went to pour Dot a drink before sitting down and discussing what they would start with. Successfully putting a plan in place for them to follow over the next 8 months took much longer than Dot had expected. Ensuring that all business meetings would be dealt with by both of them and making a schedule to fit around the various places they would be visiting during the tour was proving to be a challenging task, one of which she was glad Leah could help with. By time they had finalised the schedule the two women were feeling hungry and left work for a late lunch. Leah was surprised when reaching the hotel restaurant, Dot stuck her head round the corner only to walk back out saying she wanted to try a new place for lunch. Leah not being bothered where they ate followed Dot out the main entrance wondering why she had suddenly changed her mind. Deciding not to press the subject she walked with Dot to a small Italian place on the corner of the street.

“Good afternoon everybody! The sun is shining, the food smells good, I’m feeling great …hell, you look like shit!” Richie had made his entrance to the hotel restaurant as his usual happy self until he spotted Jon sitting at the bar in a less than happy mood. He was sitting with his head in his hands staring into a glass of Jack Daniels that Richie had assumed had been untouched probably since he ordered it. Over the years Richie had come to know exactly what Jon would do when he wasn’t in the best of moods and this was one of the unhappy Jon rituals he had witnessed during their friendship. “Well if you’re not gonna have it don’t mind if I do?” before Jon could look up Richie had already swiped the glass from him and started to drink it. “So would this be a three letter word that we’re drowning our sorrows over?”
“Hmm, how did you guess?” Jon asked without looking at his friend.
“Well usually your only ever pissed before a tour if something’s not working, as far as I know everything’s all good, so that leaves….” Richie paused as if looking for a drum roll. “Dot,” both of them had said at the same time, nodding their heads.
“So what’s happened this time?” Richie had been watching Jon and Dot over the past couple of months fighting a lot. In public they were forever the happy couple but that wasn’t always the case behind closed doors.

While waiting on their meal to arrive, Leah and Dot continued to discuss ideas for the project. Dot was rhyming ideas one after the other, hardly giving Leah the chance to process the thought before she threw another one in her direction. At first she thought it was excitement that was causing the overload but then she caught the sadness in her eyes as she watched an old couple pass the window. Realising Leah had seen her, Dot excused herself before heading to the bathroom. She was clearly upset over something but Leah wasn’t sure whether to go in after her to make sure she was alright or to give her some space, after all she had only just met this woman and she might not want a stranger knowing her business so she chose to wait in her seat.

“Richie I just don’t know what to do anymore. It’s driving me mad,” Jon looked at Richie with a worn-out expression. Richie could see that the recent problems between them were taking there toll on Jon. Not on Jon the performer - he was still as good as ever on stage, but on the real Jon who he had come to love as a brother over the years. Richie always felt uncomfortable discussing marriage with Jon, how could he possibly give his friend advice when he had not too long ago went through a divorce. Jon had been there for him so he was determined to be there for Jon through whatever this thing between him and Dot turned out to be. “Jon, you know I can’t tell you what you should do, but you have to decide whether what this is doing to you is worth it or not.”
“That’s the problem though isn’t it. I just don’t know if it’s worth it, I don’t know if it will ever be the same again. I mean some days she great its like having the old Dot back but other days she’s like someone I don’t even know. This sudden desire for independence - I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, where will this whole design project actually lead her. Is she looking for someone new?” Jon spoke with a mixture of sadness and anger unsure of what his true feelings were. Richie, feeling the need to lighten the mood decided he was going to drag his friend with him to a local football match, that always cheered him up even if it was just for a short while.

Back at the restaurant Leah was still waiting for Dot to return. Deciding that the woman must be in no fit state to emerge from the bathroom and eat calmly in public, Leah asked the waiter to arrange the food to go and went to find Dot explaining they were going to head back to her hotel room with the food. Dot was grateful of Leah’s decision, putting her sunglasses on to hide the redness of her eyes she left the restaurant with Leah and followed her to her hotel. Both women unsure of what to say to each other they spent the first 10 minutes in the room eating silently. “I’m so sorry!” Dot exploded. “This wasn’t the first day of work that I had planned on. You must be thinking I’m a complete idiot.” Leah shook her head and sat beside Dot putting an arm around her. “You don’t need to apologise to me, plans are only ever there to be rearranged anyway. We can start when your ready, plus I wouldn’t call you an idiot, I’d say you were hurt from something but not an idiot,” Leah said smiling, hoping it would brighten her spirits. Dot looked at her as if looking for the right words to tell her something but not managing to find them. “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Leah had said, she felt great sympathy for this woman yet she wasn’t sure why. “How about I leave you here for a while, let you get your head together?”
“That would be great. Thank you,” Dot replied with a slight smile clearly thankful at being given some space.

Leah made her way back to the hotel they had been working in earlier. She wanted to get everything cleared up so Dot wouldn’t have to when she got back. After the show tonight they would be heading to Boston, Leah decided Dot didn’t need anymore things to worry about. It still bothered her that she felt so much sympathy for the woman when she didn’t have the slightest idea what was wrong, but she wasn’t going to interrogate her about it, she knew from her own experience that wouldn’t do her any favours. A person should want to tell you something, not feel that they have a duty to. Unsure of how long she should leave Dot on her own, Leah made her way out of the room planning on going for a walk when she bumped into Jon and Richie coming through the door. Jon was looking a little happier than he had been and on seeing Leah he put on one of his trademark smiles. “Well how are you today, not too hung over from last night I hope? Heard you sent Richie and David packing last night, nice one girl! Work finished for today then?” Unsure what to tell Dot’s husband, Leah just smiled and agreed that work had finished. “Shouldn’t you two be starting some time soon?” Leah asked finally working up the courage to look at Richie. “Yeah, well we’ll be leaving in about an hour for sound check and that, have to find the other two first though,” Richie smiled. Seeing Richie smile seemed to be contagious, it was like a built in reaction that the minute he smiled she felt the need to smile which made her feel like an idiot around him. “Well I better let you boys go and find your missing members, wouldn’t want to make you late,” she said heading for the door. “Hey, what time you want picked up at? You are coming tonight aren’t you?” Jon had shouted over to her. Seeing the confused look on her face Jon continued, “I take it Dot forgot to mention the concert then?” Leah just nodded unsure whether to say anything more. “I’ll get her to call you later with the details then. See you later!” Leah forgot about her walk and started towards her hotel. As she entered the room Dot was just picking up her phone speaking calmly to whoever was on the other side. Putting the phone down Dot jumped up ushering Leah to get ready because they were going to the concert and Jon had promised one hell of a show. Leah couldn’t believe the change in her since she had left, she was like another person. Happy that she wasn’t still upset, Leah accepted the change and rushed to get dressed before the car arrived to take them to the concert, she let Dot borrow some of her clothes as she didn’t have time to get back to her hotel.

Pulling up outside the stadium the two women made their way through the crowds to the front of the stage just before Bon Jovi were to take to the stage. Opening night was one of their best nights, the atmosphere was electric and it gave them the boost they needed to face the long tour ahead. Tico showed up first greeting the two women with a kiss on the cheek, followed by David who did the same, then Richie who had a group hug with them before Jon came out and icily said hello to his wife and kissed Leah on the cheek. Leah watched the short lived happiness drain from Dot immediately, she continued to look sad even while the band were on stage performing their much loved songs. Leah didn’t want to see it any longer, she hated seeing people in pain and would do anything in her power to cheer them up. Grabbing Dot by the hand, Leah asked with a mischievous grin “Shall we dance?” Not taking no for an answer she started spinning Dot around before they started jumping about to You Give Love a Bad Name followed by a waltz to Bed of Roses. Dot was smiling uncontrollably, Leah assumed it must have been a long time since she had any real fun. They had attracted a lot of attention from reporters who were there and were now taking photos. Leah could feel Jon and Richie watching from the stage which gave her more motivation to make sure Dot had a good time, she didn’t know what had happened between them but tonight she was going to have some fun.

Chapter 6

Back at the table Leah found herself jammed between David and Richie who were firing questions at her so fast she could hardly keep up. She could see in the corner of her eye Jon, Dot and Tico shaking their heads at their friends obvious battle to see if either of them would be taking Leah home tonight. She found it quite funny and when Richie put an arm around her shoulder, David tried to put his around her much to Leah and everyone else’s amusement when she moved leaving Richie and David looking like they were holding hands in some sort of man hug. “Should I leave you boys alone for a while,” she winked and moved into the space between Tico and Dot much to the disappointment of Richie and David. Jon watched her closely, she didn’t take offence to the way the guys were acting it was more of a playful decision she had made to move that would secure her place as the one in control of this game Richie and David were playing as she was now directly across from them instead of stuck between them. Jon smiled to himself, if he had been single he would have loved to take part in this battle, this woman was smart and he was certain that she wouldn’t be going home with Richie or David tonight or any other night for that matter. It was much to his amazement when they were leaving the bar, Leah agreed to have Richie and David walk her back to her hotel.

Walking arm in arm, Leah had David at the left side and Richie on her right the three of them started up the street towards her hotel. It was a beautiful night and she walked almost silently letting the two men do the talking. Both were trying desperately to impress her with stories of things that had happened on past tours hoping to get an invite up to her room. Just as they reached the entrance Leah stopped beside a window making sure she could see both men’s faces reflected in it. Slowly she turned to Richie, “Thank you for a good night, I’ll see you tomorrow,” and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As she moved back she could see David’s face in the window looking like the cat who got the cream and she saw him mouthing the words “You lose, she picked me,” to Richie. She then pulled him over, kissing his cheek, “Ok Mr Happy, thank you for a good night too and I’ll see you tomorrow.” When she walked through the hotel doors she smiled at the confused look on both their faces, they clearly weren’t used to being left at the door.

Richie looked at David who was looking back at him with the same astonished look on his face then the two men burst into laughter. “I guess she’s not interested then,” David said while still laughing. “Well at least she thought I was cute and cuddly.” Richie burst into more laughter when David explained what had happened before he arrived. “I would have killed to see the look on your face!” Richie insisted on teasing him all the way back to the hotel where they bumped into Jon in the hall. “Well I was expecting 1 of you to come back not both. Did you decide it was some man to man time you needed after all?” Jon joked. David just smiled pleasantly and showed him his middle finger before saying good night and going to bed, leaving Jon and Richie alone. “So what do you think of Leah?” Jon asked him. “That woman is something else! Have you ever seen a woman that beautiful? It should be illegal - I nearly died when I saw her at the bar tonight. She’s so, so, so……I don’t know the word.” Jon was surprised at his friends reaction, he’d never known him to be short of the words he wanted to use and couldn’t remember the last time he was so enthusiastic over a woman. “Yeah, she’s definitely something else, shame she wasn’t interested in any of you.” Jon playfully hit Richie’s back before heading to bed. Richie made his way to his own room. He was still confused about Leah, she had made it clear she wasn’t interested in him or David but he couldn’t help thinking about when their eyes met across the room at the bar, her eyes were saying a different thing from her mouth then - he was sure of it. He felt a connection with her then and it was unlike anything he had felt before.

Back at her own hotel Leah was thinking about the same moment. It had surprised her how strongly she was attracted to this guy. She hadn’t felt like that in a long time, she even began to wonder if she had ever felt like that over someone, had she felt it with Joe all those years ago? It scared her to think of questioning her time with Joe as he was such a big chapter in her life, to feel like it might have been a mistake or that they were just together because it ‘worked’ was a thought that terrified her. Thinking of Joe was still a painful thing for her and talking about it seemed to be impossible. She had tried many times to tell the people she cared about what she had went through but the words just didn’t seem to be there. She even went out for revenge to help herself feel better but that turned into a self-hating fast track to destruction that she eventually managed to bring herself out of. Determined not to go down that path again she decided she would keep her guard up and dismissed her thoughts about Richie as nothing more than a crush.

Chapter 5

After waking up with a raging hangover Leah forced herself out of bed, she never usually mixed drinks but she had got carried away last night. Pouring herself a drink of water and making some toast she wished for some Irn Bru - that was her hangover cure while in the UK and it worked like magic, a bottle of that and the pain was gone but it was hard to find outside of Britain so she forced herself to eat the toast and found some pain killers. Packing up her things quietly so not to disturb Josh, she began making phone calls to book seats on a flight to New York and made sure she had a room at the hotel that she often visited while on business. Eventually Josh appeared looking worse than Leah felt and helped her finish off the rest of her packing. She placed her trophy from the contest on a shelf and told him to keep it safe for her since he seemed more impressed with it than she was. He looked as if Christmas had arrived early and threw his arms around her in a big bear hug. Breaking free, Leah started packing her belongings into Josh’s car since he was supposed to be taking her to the airport which he only agreed to after she promised that she would drive and Josh seemed convinced he was cursed around her at the moment. This even carried on when they arrived at the airport with him refusing to go inside incase a plane crashed - so they said their goodbyes at the door and promised to stay in touch.

The flight to New York had gone smoothly and Leah was eager to get to the hotel to abandon her bags and relax a little before going to work. She wasn’t in the hotel more than 5 minutes when she got a phone call from Dot. She had told her that the plan had changed and asked if she’d like to join them at a bar tonight and get to know the rest of the guys before the tour started the next night. After agreeing she forgot all about her need to relax a little and decided to treat herself to shopping for something new to wear for tonight. She had at least 5 hours to herself before she would have to get ready as she knew the place they were going to meet up and it wasn’t far from the hotel she was staying at. After trying on what felt like millions of outfits Leah finally decided that the outfit she had tried on in the first shop was the one she liked best so she made her way back there before going back to the hotel for a bite to eat.

The meal she has was delicious accompanied with a glass of white wine to get her started before she went out. She decided it was time to head back to her room for a relaxing bath before going out. Hanging the outfit over a chair beside the bathroom Leah ran the bath and added a little of the salts that came with the room. She loved it when the hotels provided these little bits and bobs because her own bathroom was full of them. Taking another look at the black skirt and black and white halter she had finally picked out she nodded to herself and got into the bath. A short time later she emerged feeling refreshed and ready to have a good time. After doing her hair and make up, she again studied the clothes she had chosen and gave them the final nod before putting them on and decided she had made the correct choice - it was sexy yet sophisticated.

The time had past rapidly since she arrived back at the hotel and Leah now found herself leaving her room and heading down the street. Turning the corner that lead to the bar she suddenly got hit with last minute nerves, oh shit, I’m going to meet the rest of Bon Jovi. Calming herself down she slowly approached the door and began to scan the room looking for them. She didn’t have to look for long as it was them who saw her first and Jon shouted her over. She made her way over and hugged both Jon and Dot who then introduced her to Tico first who greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, followed by Tico’s wife with whom she shook hands before being introduced to the last person at the table, David. He stood up and planted a big kiss on her cheek and made room at the table so she could sit between him and Jon. “So I hear you’re the Da Vinci of the design world then,” David had said after Leah had ordered her drink. “If your designs look half as good as you do then I reckon our Dot here’s on to a winner.” Leah blushed a little at the attention his comment had attracted before smiling and answering, “So if looks determine a persons success you would describe your music skills as say cute and cuddly?” David looked shell shocked, that certainly hadn’t been the reply he expected, he immediately knew this woman was more than just a pretty face, but he took it well and laughed it off with the others. Tico almost choked on his drink before shouting “I’m buying this girl a drink! Jon, I think you were right there’s not gona be any problems with her.” David nodded in agreement and they all raised their glasses to Leah. They spent the next hour chatting to each other and Leah found them all to be really nice people. She enjoyed watching them and how they were with each other and decided it was like a family - they all played off each other. Finding out Jon was actually their boss also came as a shock to her, she wouldn’t mind a boss like him, he messed around with the others as if he was just one of them. Seeing the glasses were drying up, Dot and Leah made their way to the bar to get the next round in.

“Well where the hell have you been?” Jon asked Richie when he appeared at the table. “You were supposed to be here ages ago.”
“Had some problems when I dropped Ava off at Heathers she wasn’t exactly in a friendly mood.”
Jon rolled his eyes, since the divorce 4 years ago Heather never liked to allow Richie to do something in a simple manner, it all had to be the way she wanted or else Richie would have to put up with her tantrums which at times included objects getting thrown at him from across the room. Jon felt sorry for his friend having to put up with it. Richie studied the table for a moment before asking “Where the hells my drink?”
“Well we started to wonder if you were ever going to show up so Tico drank it earlier, sorry mate,” David said. “You can still catch Leah and Dot at the bar though they just left to order.” Before David had finished the sentence Richie was already on his way.

“Oh, here comes trouble. That’s Richie on his way over,” Dot had informed Leah when she seen him approach them at the bar. Leah turned to look then quickly wished she hadn’t. She had seen pictures of him in magazines before but this man walking towards her took her breathe away. He was tall, dark haired and tanned and from what she could see he was in great physical shape. She met his eyes with hers and felt drawn into them, they were a warm brown colour like she had seen on a million people before but his stood out to her. “What’s a guy got to do to get a drink around here?” he asked with a cheeky smile and his voice made Leah shiver. “You must be Leah, pleasure to meet you,” he said while wrapping an arm round her pulling her into a cuddle and planting a kiss on her cheek. Leah responded by smiling and ordering up his drink for him before lifting the first tray of drinks back to the table leaving Dot and Richie to get the next. “Hey, don’t get any ideas Mr, I’ve seen that look on your face before,” Dot had said to Richie after seeing the way he watched Leah go back to the table. “What do you think I am woman?” he smiled back. “Well you have competition anyway, David’s been up there flirting with her all night so you missed your head start.” Dot informed him hoping it would put him off. “Oh, really?” Richie said with a glint in his eye before taking the next tray back to the table.

Chapter 4

Leah spent the early part of Saturday morning sitting at the table on the balcony watching the sun come up over the ocean. She had trouble sleeping last night but she put it down to excitement of the competition nearing and the fact that she had drank more wine than she had planned to at dinner the night before. She was never one of those people who fell asleep after drinking a lot of alcohol, infact she was the complete opposite and at times found she had stayed up all night at parties cleaning up after the sleeping people just to give herself something to do. On the few occasions that she did manage to get to sleep she often found that she would wake up at the crack of dawn eager to get going with the days plans - this was one of those days. After what seemed like an eternity watching the sun come up Leah got the house in order and organised all her things to take to the contest with her before cooking up some breakfast for her and Josh. She decided it would be best to have the food ready before waking him up because Josh was definitely not a morning person. Feeling brave Leah hammered on his door and shouted “Wakey wakey!” only to receive an aggressive reply of “Fuck Off!” Followed by deathly silence then a thud she realised he had stopped complaining to smell the food then had dived out of bed too quickly for his still sleeping feet. Opening the door slowly, Leah found him lying in a heap unsure whether to hold his feet or his nose. He had dived out of bed so fast he stubbed his toe on the bedside cabinet and flew into the wardrobe whacking his nose. She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. His toes were just bruised but when Leah cleaned up his nose he was mortified when she had told him he would have to keep a plaster over the cut - Josh being Josh only had plasters that were bright blue with Disney characters on them. Breakfast seemed to fly by with Leah bursting into a fit of the giggles every time she saw Josh take a bite out of something with his cute plaster stuck to his nose. After washing up, Leah gathered her things and headed to the beach alongside a rather reluctant Josh who had needed a lot of encouragement to even stick his head out the front door.

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Jon and Dot had also got up early today. After having something to eat they had headed into town to take in the sights - not wanting to be accused of only seeing sand the whole time they were in Hawaii. As much as they were impressed by the place, both of them were eager to get back to the beach to watch the contest and to catch up with Leah and Josh again. As they strolled onto the beach they both seemed to see Leah at the same time, both enthusiastically pointing at the same time which made Dot laugh but Jon blush since he thought it looked like some sort of bad tourists dance. He thought it odd that on a beach of thousands they both managed to point her out but as they got closer he decided to put it down to the fact that she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She was sunbathing beside her board wearing a simple black bikini that looked great on her, then again most things looked great on her, she had a body that some women would kill for. Sensing she was being watched she turned around to see Dot and Jon heading over and waved at them. Dot was wearing a brown bikini top with a pretty little summer skirt and Jon only had on a pair of blue and white shorts. Leah thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head when she saw the mans body up close. Wow, Dot is one hell of a lucky lady, she thought, who ever said there’s no such thing as perfection? She felt it a struggle to peel her eyes away from the ripples of muscle that covered his perfectly toned stomach and seeing him smile again sent shivers down her spine, he had to be the best looking man she had ever seen.

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Leah jumped up to greet them and made some space for them to get comfortable. After a short period of pleasant conversation Jon asked where Josh had got to. Pulling towels out of the way, Leah uncovered a mans body to the other side of her then removed a hat that was lying over Josh’s face. “He had a bit of an accident today and was a bit embarrassed coming out here,” Leah answered with a grin before bursting into laughter at the look on Jon and Dot’s face trying to work out what was stuck to Josh’s nose. Josh didn’t know where to look as his face turned scarlet, “If she hadn’t started cooking while I was still sleeping then I would still be in one piece.”
“Well Mr, if you taught one side of your brain to communicate with the other then you wouldn’t have so many accidents,” Leah replied causing Jon and Dot to start laughing. “You really done that to yourself just by trying to eat breakfast?” Jon asked attempting to cover up the laughter in his voice.
“It wasn’t my fault! She’s too happy in the mornings it’s some sort of curse. I’ve been injured everyday since she’s been here. Can you believe my welcome was a stab in the belly with a fork?” With this news and the expression on Leah’s face Jon doubled over laughing, “I can’t wait to take you on tour! Why don’t you start tomorrow instead of next week? Unless you have other plans?”
“Really?” This had surprised Leah but she was more than willing to start early and they agreed the times and arrangements for meeting up tomorrow night in New York.

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“Would contestant numbers 390, 443, 293 and 398 please approach the judges and get ready to compete we are ready for you now,” shouted an Australian accent through the speakers.
“You made it!” Josh had jumped in the air at hearing Leah’s number getting shouted out to compete in the woman’s finals attracting attention from at least half the beach who were looking at him like he was an escapee from the local funny farm. She had already taken part in the smaller rounds before Jon and Dot had joined them on the beach but didn’t bother to mention it as she hadn’t felt she done enough to get through to the finals. Felling slightly embarrassed she made her way through the beach with many people shouting good luck messages to her. Josh filled Dot and Jon in on the details about what would happen now and how the points system worked in the contest. As Leah took to the water and the final began the three of them stood and cheered her, Jon pleased that Josh was attracting all the attention because of how stupid he looked which left him being able to blend in for a change. Leah and the other contestants were making a meal of the waves giving it all they had until the alarm sounded to tell them it was all over. Within 5 minutes the judges had came to a decision and announced Leah Mendez as the new World Champion. She was gob smacked. Even more so when Josh came out of nowhere charging towards her and knocking her flat on her back closely followed by Dot and Jon who each congratulated her with a big hug.

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Leah couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the night. She still couldn’t believe she had won the whole thing and there was even a party in her honour that the four of them had gone to. Her head was buzzing from both winning the contest and from the excitement of starting her new project tomorrow. People she had never met before were throwing drink in her direction all night making it almost impossible to stay sober but she managed to for the first half of the night wanting a clear head for tomorrow but after Jon and Dot gave in and started drinking she couldn’t resist any longer. The four of them sat in a booth in the club enjoying each others company until the late hours of the morning before they said their goodbyes and they all staggered home to bed.

Chapter 3

Leah continued to pretend she was busy behind the bar for another 20 minutes while still listening to the conversation taking place between the husband and wife. Eventually Jon said “Well you might want to think about phoning her at some point soon or she’ll think you’re a no-show. Hell we didn’t come all the way out here to sit in this pub all day.” Dot shot an angry glance at her husband. She understood that he didn’t want anything to mess up his tour but she also knew that he supported her in this new thing she was trying out and that’s why he had came all the way out here with her to meet this woman she’d be working with. “No Jon, we didn’t come out here to drink in the pub, we came out here because I heard this woman would be taking part in the surfing contest tomorrow and I wanted to make a good first impression and get to know her before the work starts, this is important to me.” Jon smiled at her then planted a big kiss on her lips “I know it is honey.” Feeling like she had just invaded the couples privacy Leah quickly started polishing off the counter at a rapid speed when she heard Jon ask what the woman’s name was. Dot replied simply with “Leah Mendez.”

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“Sorry to interrupt or appear nosy but did you just say you were looking for Leah Mendez?” Leah had asked the lady who had seemed caught off guard at the question from the barmaid.
“Yeah, I’m going to be doing some business with her, do you know where to find her?” Dot replied still slightly bewildered.
“Your looking at her, you must be Dorothea,” Leah extended her hand and shook the lady’s hand who now seemed more than confused at the fact her designer was working in a bar. “Don’t worry I only work here 6 nights a week so we’re free to do some work together every 7th night.” Leah could see Jon’s smile in the corner of her eye then heard him start to laugh softly at the panic that had hit Dorothea’s face. “Sorry that was my bad sense of humour, I just took over at the bar for my friend who’s up the back there entertaining some ladies.” With that, Dot felt relief sweep through her and smiled. “I should really be the one apologising I left it so late to call you today, I’ve been so nervous this is going to be my first real project and I’m really looking forward to working with you on it. I’ve heard lots of great things about your work.”
“Honey, you’re going to get your head stuck up her arse if you suck up to her any more,” Jon stated, making Dot blush and Leah laugh. Finding her voice again Dot introduced Leah to her husband Jon and they shook hands. Dot was about to mention he was in a band when Leah said “Yeah I know who he is.” Jon looked like he had been slapped across the face with something extremely hard. “You knew who I was? You never even done a double-take!” Leah laughed and then leaned in, “A man who wears his hat in the manner you were wearing your’s strikes me as someone who doesn’t want to be disturbed so I thought I’d obey your hat.” Jon grinned to himself, maybe having this woman on tour wouldn’t be so bad after all, she didn’t seem to be the stuck up in your face designer that he was expecting to have to put up with and he also thought the other guys in the band would like her.

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“Well more drinks anybody?” Leah asked and before getting a reply she had already poured the two of them another glass of wine. Dot began to relax and treat the meeting in a more casual manner which Leah welcomed as she never liked working with people who only ever talked business it drove her nuts. As they chatted Leah began to look forward to working with this woman, they seemed to have clicked and they both had big ideas for the project. Even Jon seemed to have warmed to her after claiming he didn’t want anyone new joining them on tour. Just as she was thinking about the tour Jon brought up the subject, “So Leah are you cool with the idea of coming on tour with us and doing the work there? You would have to put up with the rest of the guys but they don’t bite, well not much anyway and you’d be flying from place to place on the private plane with us so transports not a problem.” Leah looked at them both before smiling and raising a glass, “Looks like it’s all sorted then. To the tour!” and the three of them clinked glasses.

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Moments later Josh made his way back to the bar, “Did you scare her away?” Leah teased him. “Honestly? I have no idea! Turns out she doesn’t speak English,” Leah looked at him incredulously before asking “What the hell were you doing over there all this time then?” Josh turned a pink colour then admitted “Well I just kinda stared at her and nodded a lot.”
Leah heard a commotion at the bar and looked to find Jon doubled over in laughter and his wife trying to keep him quiet. “Can you believe this guy?” Leah asked him but to no response as laughing seemed to be all he could do. Hearing Jon’s laugh started Leah off, followed by Dot and then Josh joined in and caused more laughing after saying “Hey, I don’t even know why I’m laughing.” Eventually they all calmed down and Leah introduced him, “Well Dot and Jon this is Josh, first class idiot but also a first class friend.” As they all exchanged handshakes Jon found himself looking forward to introducing her to the guys, she would definitely fit in well with them that much he knew already. Josh was due to finish his shift so he suggested they all go out to dinner together which everyone agreed to and arranged to meet at a restaurant not far from the pub at 7pm.

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Dot was pleased that Jon approved of Leah, if he hadn't liked her she didn't know where this project would have gone and it meant so much to her to do something on her own. "That woman is a breath of fresh air, she might even be good for the guys to be around!" was what Jon had said of Leah after they left the pub to get changed for dinner. Dot was intrigued by her too, she didn't expect her to be anything like the woman they had just spent the day with and was looking forward to finding out more about her, perhaps this projects going to turn out more like fun than work, Dot hoped as they made their way down to the restuarant. "Wow! She looks amazing," Dot had blurted out the minute she seen Leah at the restuarant in a pretty white summer dress. "Shes gona have to bat the boys away with a stick when they meet her." Jon was blown away by how good she looked only able to mumble out a pathetic "Something tells me shes used to it." He couldn't remember the last time a woman looked good enough to have that impact on him. Leah saw them approach and couldn't help but think how great they looked together, they seemed so at home in each others company. She also couldn't help thinking what a lucky woman Dot was, seeing him at dinner he looked even better than before. The four of them enjoyed a quiet meal at the restuarant before calling it a night since Leah had to be up in the morning for the surfing contest. Dot and Jon promised they would be there to watch her and with that they wished each other good night and headed home.

Chapter 2

Leah woke up early on the Friday morning feeling refreshed and excited about competing in the competition tomorrow. She jumped out of bed quietly so not to disturb Josh as she didn’t know what time he arrived home from the pub at. After getting her stuff together and having a slice of toast she made her way towards the beach to get some surfing practice. She soon realised she should have set her alarm for an earlier time when she noticed how busy the beach was with people who were getting in some extra practice before the big event. Finally finding a free space she set down her things and took to the waves. She loved being surrounded by other surfers, it made her laugh when she saw how competitive and even aggressive some of them became on the waves and never quite understood it as she had always considered it a hobby and wondered why if a sport made someone so miserable why the hell they would keep doing it. She spent the best part of the morning and some of the afternoon enjoying the surf before heading back to Josh’s place to go for a shower and get changed. She still hadn’t heard from this Dorothea woman about what time or where she would like to meet up so she headed down to the pub to keep Josh company while he was working.

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Although she thought she was doing Josh a favour by keeping him company after about 15 minutes Leah felt she was nothing more than a seat warmer as everything she said to Josh seemed to fly in one ear and straight out the other. Looking around the pub Leah finally noticed what had grabbed his attention - he couldn’t keep his eyes of a beautiful Italian looking lady at the back of the pub who was showing just as much interest in him. “Did you know that if you twist a pigs tail tight enough its ears will fall off?” Leah had decided it couldn’t be ignored any longer. “Yeah, sure I did,” then a second later he swung his head round looking more than confused “what the fuck are you on woman?”
“Well it got your attention didn’t it? So now I’m going to take over at the bar while you go over there and use your leprechaun charm on the little lady. But please stop dribbling if the safety inspector came in here now he’d think you were hiding a leaky pipe, so mouth closed before you go, and I won’t take no for an answer.” Hell, he didn’t need to be told twice - he planted a big kiss on Leah’s face before taking off like a bolt of lightning.

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Realising she was standing grinning like a mad woman Leah started rearranging things behind the bar since she had a lack of customers at this time of the day - seeing Josh smile was something she hadn’t experienced in a while and it made her feel really happy for him. Hopefully this woman wasn’t some sort of psycho, she hoped. Hearing the door swing open she turned to greet her new customer hoping it would be someone up for a laugh with her as she was already getting bored behind the bar. Unfortunately for her she could tell straight off that this guy didn’t want to be bothered, she couldn’t see his face but the way his hat was sitting to hide him was a warning not to bug him. Without looking up he ordered two glasses of wine which Leah happily provided thankful that she was getting something to do. When he handed over the money to pay for them he made eye contact for the first time and seeing Leah’s quizzical look at the second glass he mumbled “that’s for the wife she’ll be along in a minute” and he politely smiled at her. As soon as she saw his face she recognised him immediately but tried not to show it as the man clearly wanted some peace and quiet. He was just as good looking in real life as she had seen on TV and in magazines - its no wonder women fall at his feet with a smile like that. Why the hell was Jon Bon Jovi sitting in this bar was all Leah could think about while still rearranging bottles behind the bar now more out of feeling nervous than actually being bored as she could feel his eyes watching her from under the hat and sunglasses, shouldn’t he be at some posh place in the city?

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Jon wasn’t sure how to feel, it had been a long time since he had entered a bar and not been recognised it felt weird to him. He even flashed her one of his smiles (maybe half heartedly as he wasn’t in an entertaining mood) but he still expected to be noticed and yet this woman hadn’t batted an eyelid at him. He continued to watch her as she fiddled with bottles beneath the counter finding himself wondering why the hell is a woman that beautiful working in here? He felt it was hard to draw his eyes away from her - she had a mesmerising quality about her and it seemed he wasn’t the only one who felt drawn to her as he quickly glanced around the pub he noticed that the few men who were there kept watching her too. He found it odd that she didn’t seem to notice them, he then smiled to himself thinking maybe she’s just really thick, before turning his attention back to his wine.

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Just moments later he was joined by a dark haired woman who Leah assumed was his wife. The woman seemed really excited about something and Leah found herself accidentally listening to their conversation. She came to the conclusion that Jon wasn’t looking so happy because he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of some stranger coming on tour with them to work with his wife. When she overheard him calling his wife Dot the penny finally dropped for her and she realised they were talking about her - it would be Jon Bon Jovi’s wife that she would be working with. What the hell? Me on tour with Bon Jovi? Would think someone could have mentioned it before now, but it definitely explained the travelling part that she was expecting with this job. Deciding to wait and make sure she had the right end of the stick she chose to wait until she was sure before introducing herself. Her head was buzzing with the information and she wasn’t sure how she felt about having to tour with Bon Jovi - it wasn’t that she didn’t like them or anything, infact she was quite keen on a lot of their music but she didn’t know much about the band itself other than being able to put a name to the faces which made her fell unsure about the whole thing.