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.