Chapter 52

 

“That was so cool, Richie.” Jason said and was still jumping up and down when they were leaving the airport.

Fran watched her son smiling. He would never forget his first flight. Of course Rich arranged for first class seats and Jason couldn’t believe all the things he could do during a flight. Rich sat with him and explained patiently the functions of the media center and the seat. He was really great with her son.

“I’m glad you liked it, buddy.” Richie told him and gently pushed him into the waiting car. He already spotted the pap-rats in the building and was worried Jason would be scared when they rushed over to him and Fran.

“Get in the car, Franny. I’ll be right back.” He whispered and pointed towards the photographers. She nodded and closed the door with its tinted windows.

A little concerned she watched Richie walking over to the pap-rats and posing for some pictures before talking shortly with them. To Fran’s surprise they stopped taking pictures and really seemed to listen to what he was saying.

“What did you tell them?” Fran asked when he was back in the car and they were driving over to Heather’s place to pick up Ava.

“I told them, if they want pics of me they have to leave you and Jason alone.” He told her in a low voice so Jason couldn’t hear them, but the boy was occupied with looking out of the window anyway.

“And that worked?” Fran was surprised. Rich grinned evilly.

“The little threat that they would hear from my lawyer when they take pics of you guys sure helped.” Fran stared at him with wide eyes.

“Darling, I only wanna protect you and Jason. You’ll get used to it in a little while, but I don’t want him to have a bad experience with them. Believe me, they can be brutal.” He kissed her cheek softly and pulled her close.

“Ok, I trust you in this. You know best how to deal with them.” She agreed a little overwhelmed.

“Richie, where is the beach? You said LA has a beach.” Jason suddenly said. Rich laughed.

“You’ll see the beach soon, buddy. LA is rather big; we need to get close to the Pacific first. When we pick up Ava, you can already see the beach.” He promised.

“Cool! And when are we there?” Jason asked excited.

“Well, I would say another 15 Minutes. If we don’t get into a traffic jam.” The guitarist answered and squeezed Fran’s had softly when he felt her shaking lightly.

She was really nervous about meeting Heather and he really hoped his ex would act civilised and not bitch around, but he wouldn’t count on it. She’d always had terrible mood swings. If her coffee tasted too bitter in the morning, it could already ruin the whole day for her.

When the car pulled into the driveway Ava was already waiting impatiently at the door for them.

“DADDY!” his daughter rushed over to him as soon as he stepped out of the car.

“Hello, princess. Did you miss me?” he asked while hugging his girl dearly.

“Yes, Daddy.” She whispered and made a little jump so he could carry her. Rich was a little surprised by her reaction and watched her worried. She was a teenager now and normally not doing things like this anymore.

“Everything ok, princess?” he asked her in a low voice. She nodded against his shoulder, but didn’t look him in the eyes. He sighed. He sure needed to talk to her when they were at his place. She never told him what was on her mind when her mother was there. His gaze waved over to the door where Heather was waiting for them. He wondered what she told Ava again.

“I love you, princess.” He said and kissed her cheek softly.

“I love you too, Daddy.” She answered and squeezed him a last time before greeting Fran and Jason.

“Come on Jason, I show you around the house and the beach.” She grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him into the house, giving him only enough time to say hi to Heather.

“Is she ok?” Fran asked while they were walking towards the door.

“I think so…but I’ll talk with her later at my place.” Rich said in a low voice.

“Hi Heather.” He greeted his ex-wife. “This is Fran. Franny, my ex-wife Heather.”

“Hi nice to meet you.” Fran said and shook Heather’s offered hand. She sure noticed anger in the blonde’s eyes when Rich called her his ex-wife.

“Nice to meet you too, Fran. Ava talked a lot about you. Come on in.” Heather said in a calm voice, but Rich could see that she was close to explode. He learned years ago to recognize her real mood behind her actress face.

He was sure Fran wasn’t what Heather expected. She probably thought she would only be another fling for him, but now she could see that Fran wasn’t any starlet, but very down to earth and the fact that she was younger than her and much more natural only made her more dangerous in his ex’s eyes.

“Oh, the house is really gorgeous, Heather.” Fran said when they walked through the hall into the open living room.

“Thank you. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe some ice tea?” the blonde offered.

“Yes, thanks.” Fran said.

“For me too please.” Rich told her and Heather left for the kitchen.

“Franny, be careful. She is close to exploding.” Rich warned her in a low voice. She looked at him surprised.

“You sure? Why?” Fran was surprised. In her opinion Heather was really nice so far, but it seemed she was a much better actress than she thought.

“Why?” Rich chuckled. “Because you are younger, much more attractive and more beautiful than her. Our daughter loves you and I think it’s rather obvious I’m head over heels for you. You are a threat to her, darling.”

“But…but …she divorced you, right?” she stuttered in a low voice as well.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she wants me to be happy with someone else again.” He told her just seconds before Heather came back with their drinks.

“Ok, here you go.” Heather hand them the drinks and sat down on the couch.

“So, Ava said you are working at a hospital.” Heather started the questioning.

“Yes, I’m a nurse. I’m working at the children’s medical unit of Harlem Hospital Center.” She said still a little nervous. Richie watched Heather and realised she sensed Fran’s nervousness as well.

Oh, oh…

“Well, it’s good to know that someone will know what to do when my daughter gets hurts.” She told Fran and gave Richie a long look.

“I know very well what to do when OUR daughter is hurt or in pain, Heather.” Richie said with a hard edge in his voice.

She always tried to make him look like a total incompetent idiot when it came down to taking care of his daughter, but the truth was he understood his little princess better than she ever would…and she knew it.

Fran watched Heather irritated. Was she really trying to make Richie look bad in front of her? She couldn’t believe it.

“Sure you can.” The blonde said sarcastically after Richie’s response.

“Well, he sure did a nice job, when Jason was hurt.” Fran stated calmly. Heather looked at her surprised. She didn’t expect that woman to say anything.

Richie grinned. Fran was slowly becoming herself again and he was sure sooner or later she would set Heather straight.

“Whatever.” Heather said. Rich nearly laughed out loud.

They continued to chat for a little while, before the bitch regained control of Heather once more.

“So, will you move to California with your son, Fran?” Heather asked suddenly.

“Heather.” There was a warning in Richie’s voice.

“What?” She asked her ex-husband. “I have a right to know! She is living on the opposite side of the country; the chances are pretty high you will live there when she isn’t willing to move to LA. I need to know if you would abandon Ava here.” Her voice was shrill and Fran hoped her son and Ava would not be close to hear Heather.

Rich took a deep breath, but Fran’s hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to her surprised and could see anger in her eyes, the nervousness was gone.

“First of all, Rich would never leave Ava.” Fran said in a dangerously calm voice and set her drink on the table.

“Second, she could also move in with us in Philadelphia.”

Heather’s eyes grew wide and fear became visible.

“It would probably be nice for her to be closer to her grandmother and Jon’s and David’s kids. They all know how it feels when their fathers are away for touring and as far as I understand they are good friends.” She paused shortly.

“But it would probably easier for Jason to change school than for Ava, but that doesn’t mean we all have to move here. There are also very good schools in the New York area.”

She would never ask Rich to move to New York. Everything was already confusing enough in Ava’s life and it was much easier for Jason to find new friends than for a teenage girl, but Heather didn’t need to know that. All she needed to know was that she wouldn’t let her control in anyway.

Rich tried hard to hide his grinning. Heather thought she had Fran in her hands and could push her around, she was definitely wrong with that idea. His lady had claws and she would use them not only to protect her son, but his daughter as well.

Chapter 51

 

“You really think she liked me?” Fran asked for the third time since they left his mother’s house after spending the day with her.

“Yes, darling. I’m sure.” Richie grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before focusing on the traffic again.

His mother prepared a great lunch and was very happy to finally meet Fran and Jason. Fran couldn’t really relax during the meeting though. Seeing Joan together with Jason had a bitter sweet taste for her. She wondered if her mother would have treated him with the same affection.  

Rich could see she was miles away with her thoughts a couple times during the day. He hoped when the two women would meet more often and get into a relationship, some of her pain would be eased away. Right now, he could already see that his mother adored Jason. She started immediately to spoil the boy and by the time they were leaving, Jason was calling her “Gran” and wanted to stay overnight.

Unfortunately that wasn’t possible though, because Rich invited them both to California this weekend. Ava had called him a couple times since she first met Fran and Jason and begged him to bring them to LA, so she could show them their house and the beach.

Now they were on their way back to his apartment in Philadelphia with a sleeping boy in the back seat and a still extremely nervous Fran in the passenger’s seat.

“Rich, maybe we shouldn’t come with you tomorrow.” Fran said staring at her hands.

“What? Why not darling?” Richie’s head snapped shortly to her and he could see the worry in her eyes.

“Well, Ava sure wants to spend some time with you and…” Fran started.

“Wait a second Franny…” Richie interrupted her and pulled the car over, stopping at a small parking lot. He got out of the car and opened the door of the passenger side.

“Come here, darling.” He offered his hand and helped her out of the car. Checking on Jason shortly, he walked her away from the car a couple steps not to disturb the boy in his sleep.

“Franny…” Richie grabbed both of her hands. “ …Ava wants to show you and Jason how she lives, she begged me over and over to bring you to LA. She is excited about seeing you again. She wants to spend time with all of us.”

Fran sighed. She’d really hoped she could avoid getting on the plane and flying to LA. Even though her son would probably be rather disappointed. He was totally excited about flying for the first time in his life.

“Fran what is it?” Rich pulled her close and rubbed her back lightly. Since their fight about the money issue a couple days ago, they promised each other to talk about their feelings and not try to hide them from the other one.

“Rich,…I…” she took a deep breath. “ I guess I’m just nervous about meeting Heather.” She finally admitted.

“It will be fine, darling. You’ll see.” He tried to assure her. She shook her head.

“Ok, listen I’m not saying that you two will become best friends and go out for shopping, lunch and pedicure together, but I’m pretty sure you two will get along. She even asked me when she could meet you.” Rich pointed out.

“But what if she doesn’t like me, what if she doesn’t want Ava…her daughter… to spend time with me and Jason, what if you and her got into a fight about custody for Ava again about this… what if…” her voice was desperate.

“Whoa, whoa…stop , darling.” Rich pulled her close and stopped her talk with a long kiss. Slowly Fran relaxed against his body.

“First of all…Ava is my daughter too. Heather knows very well that she is walking a thin line of losing custody when she tries to interfere my time with her. We already had that discussion a couple years ago with a judge.” Rich explained calmly.

“Second she would lose every fight about custody, she is barely at home…travelling the world with her new boyfriend. That’s why I spend so much time in LA, I don’t want my daughter to be raised by the housekeeper. The only reason why I didn’t ask for full custody so far is that I think that Ava needs her mother even though she is rarely at home.

Fran looked at him surprised. She didn’t know all of this.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She wondered. Rich sighed.

“Because I don’t wanna think about all this shit, because I don’t wanna talk about my ex if not absolutely necessary, because I want us to be a happily little family. The four of us.” He added emotional.

She softly caressed his cheek and stood on tip toes to kiss. “Maybe we can.” She whispered.

“God, I love you, Franny.” Rich sighed and pulled her close for a long hug. He really hoped this time everything would work out just fine and he wouldn’t be alone again in a couple years heartbroken.

“How about we get back to the apartment.” He asked with a husky voice. Fran closed her eyes shortly and shivered when she felt his already half-erection through the denim of his jeans.

“I would like that a lot.” She whispered.

He grabbed her hand and led her back to the car. In no time they were back in Philly and reached his apartment. Carefully Richie carried a still sleeping Jason to bed, before entering his own room.

Fran was standing with her back to him and was wearing the deep red silk robe he bought her. His mouth watered when he was thinking about what was hiding under the silk.

He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled when she felt the warmth of his hard body pressed against her back.

His hands found the belt and tucked to open her robe. He growled deeply in his throat when his fingertips only found smooth skin.

“You naughty girl, you ain’t wearing any lingerie.”

“I thought it would only be in the way.” She told him with a smile and turned slowly in his arms. Rich swallowed hard. The robe fell open and revealed her already hard nipples and with every move she made, he could get another glimpse of her perfect creamy skin.

He growled again when her next step let him see her curls.

“God, I need you.”

He took two hurried steps towards her and pulled her roughly against him. Fran gasped when her sensitive nipples rubbed against his shirt. Before she had a chance to say something, he tossed her robe aside and pushed her down onto the bed.

“Rich!” her breathing sped up when she saw the hunger in his eyes.

He shrugged off his shirt and was out of his jeans in a flash.

“I need you, Franny. You are so sexy, so beautiful, so hot.” He breathed into her ear when their bodies met.

“Oh, God…Rich!” she moaned when he entered her in one long push.

“So sexy…so wet…just for me.” He mumbled and set a fast pace.

“RICH!” she wrapped her legs around his hips and tried to meet his trust. Her body tingled with pleasure at his treatment.

While rocking her harder his mouth found hers and demanded roughly entrance. Happily Fran obliged and let him ravish her mouth. His hands wandered over her body and pinched her rocking hard nipples.

She screamed into his mouth and arched into his touch. She was so close she could tasted it.

Rich grinned and his mouth left hers. She moaned at the loss of his tongue and nearly screamed when he softly bit his way down to her breast.

“God, Rich…I….I…”

“Come for me, darling.” He told her before trusting deeply into her and flipping her nipples at the same time.

“RICHIEEEEEE!” her scream echoed back from the walls, when he grunted and empty himself into her.

Chapter 50

“I’m not sure I wanna see him now.” Fran said when they reached Jon’s apartment.

“Fran, you know you have to talk to him. I’m pretty sure he’ll understand your reaction much better and won’t think twice about such an offer again.” Kim tried to assure her best friend.

After their breakfast she urged Fran to talk to Richie, but she declined. So Kim literally had to drag her over to Jon’s place.

“Hi honey.” Jon greeted her when he opened the door.

“Hi baby.” She placed a quick kiss on his lips and giggled when he gave her the duck-lips.

“Hi Jon.” Fran said a little unsure. She had no idea if he already knew about her fight with Richie and how he would react.

“Hi Fran. How are you doing, babe?” Jon gave her a short hug.

He could see her uneasiness, but there was nothing she had to worry about. Even though Rich told him about their fight and he partly agreed with his best friend, he would never say anything about it to Fran. This was something they both had to settle and not him. It took him years to realize that he couldn’t fix all his friends problems, but only his own.

“Rich is here, right?” Kim asked him and put her handbag on a small table in the entrance area.

“Yeah, he’s in the living room.” He grinned. She was still thinking she needed to help everyone. He could bet in a couple years that would be different.

“Good. Fran, come on.” She grabbed her hand when her girlfriend tried to stay behind.

“Hi Richie, how are you?” Kim greeted the guitarist when she entered the living room and pulled Fran along.

He looked up surprised and took in his girlfriend’s face. She was pale and it looked like she’d been crying.

Why was she so stubborn about this money thing? Everything could be just fine when she would agree to it.

“I had better days before, Kim. I had better days.” He said a little down.

“That’s what I thought.” She looked at Fran and waited, but her best friend wasn’t going to say something or met Richie’s eyes.

Kim rolled her eyes while looking at Jon and took a deep breath. He tried not to chuckle. Yep, just like him years ago.

“Ok, you two really need to talk.” She pointed at Richie and Fran.

“I think everything is said concerning this matter.” Rich said calmly watching Fran, but she stayed silent.

“No, it’s not!” Kim said forcefully.

“Fran, say something.”

“You know I can’t talk about it.” Her friend whispered. Just talking with Kim about it a couple hours ago, brought tons of bad memories back. Right now she had the feeling she was drowning in these sad emotions.

Kim sighed and pulled Fran close for a hug. “I know it’s not easy for you to talk about it, like it isn’t easy for to talk about some things my dad did or said to me as a child.” She gave Jon a short glance and he nodded understanding. At least she was admitting it herself now.

“But Richie needs to know about this, Fran.” Kim pleaded.

Jon and Richie exchanged a confused look.

What was she hiding? And why?

“Do you want me and Jon to leave? Tell Rich when you are alone with him?” Kim offered.

“No!” A slight hint of panic was in Fran’s voice and she grabbed Kim’s arm to stop her from leaving. Kim sighed.

“How about I tell the story?” she suggested softly. Fran closed her eyes briefly. Rich could see her hands trembling and wished he could comfort her somehow, but he doubted she would let him get closer to her.

“Ok.” Fran whispered and sank down on the couch.

“As you may already realize, Richie, Fran told me about the little discussion you had.” Kim started.

“Nice phrasing, Kim. Really nice.” Rich said dryly. She gave him an angry look.

“I’m not here to say your opinion or Fran’s is right or wrong. I’m here to give you some extra information that may help you to understand Fran’s reaction.” Rich nodded.

“When you offered her the access to your bank accounts, I know you only wanted to know that she is at least financially taking care of when you are touring the world in a couple weeks, but for her it felt as if she needs your money to take care of herself and her son.”

“But I never…” Rich started, but Kim stopped him.

“There is more, Rich. Fran never depended on a man financially. Even when she was married with Michael, she had her own money. She could always decide what to do with it. Most of the time she was saving it and bought something for Jason, because they could rely on Michael’s income. But it would have given her the freedom to leave him anytime.”

Jon and Richie stared at Kim.

Why would Fran wanna leave Michael? Weren’t they deeply in love?

“This behaviour is something Fran learned rather early.” Kim took a deep breath and squeezed Fran’s shoulder softly. She closed her eyes and suddenly the words tumbled out of her mouth.

“My father was an alcohol addict.” Her eyes found Rich’s for a short second and saw realization sinking in.

“When he was drunk he got violent…and he was drunk a lot.” Fran paused.

“He was the sole earner. My mom stayed at home with us kids. She didn’t have any money. Every time he’d beaten her up again or tried to beat us kids, she swore we would leave him…but she couldn’t with three small kids. And she was too ashamed to get some help from anyone. So we stayed…beating after beating.” She choked on her words.

Richie slowly walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her, carefully taking her trembling hands in his.

“She finally moved out the day I graduated from high school and took a job at a hotel cleaning the rooms….Richie, I swore myself I would never be in her situation, I would always have some money to walk away from a man.” Tears were streaming down her face.

“Oh, Franny…why didn’t you tell me…I would have never…” Richie pulled her close and held her while she cried.

God, he felt like an idiot. And with his background, with everything he’s been through in the last couple years, she probably needed this financial backup even more.

He already wondered why she was so damn demanding when it came to alcohol. She would watch him very carefully every time he could drink some. He never did and already asked himself if she didn’t trust him, but it seemed she simply didn’t wanna make the same mistake as her mother.

Jon watched his friend and Fran for a second, then grabbed Kim’s hand and led her out of the room.

“Where is her mom now?” he asked when they entered his bedroom.

“She passed away shortly after Jason was born, because of long term consequences from the beating.” Kim whispered and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“She was a great woman.” She added sadly.

“I’m sure she was.” He paused and pulled her close. “What about her dad?”

“He never showed up again. We don’t know where he is, same goes for her two older brothers. They didn’t even show up at their mom’s funeral.”

Jon shook his head in disbelieve and held Kim tight when she told her about Fran’s mother.