Chapter 83

“God dammit!” Jon cursed when he entered his dressing room in Philadelphia and the door hit his beloved guitar and it crashed to the floor.

“Everything ok?” Rich had the courage to react when he heard his friend’s curse.

“Who put that fucking guitar behind that fucking door? That’s fucking irresponsible! It could have been broken! Who knows if it had cracks now!” The famous Bongiovi temper was in full swing.

“Jon…you put it there after the Matinee.” Rich told him softly. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously and stared at him, but Rich wasn’t scared. He knew Jon way too long for it.

“Fuck it!” Jon mumbled and sank to the couch, balancing his guitar carefully on his knees.

“Jon, you need to calm down and relax a bit. We got another show today and tomorrow night the next one. You need to focus.” Rich tried to talked him down. Jon rubbed his eyes.

“And she won’t be here.” He whispered.

“It’s just 100 Miles and we won’t see each other.” He continued.

“Where’s the problem?” Rich asked and sat down next to him.

“Her life is the problem!” Jon growled.

“Hey, Jon…we are the once with the odd life style not our girlfriends.”

“Yeah, I know…it just pisses me off that things ain’t working out they we planned it. The apartment isn’t finished yet, she didn’t find a replacement for her work yet ….and to top it all…she has a damn stalker! Bastard!” Jon’s voice gained more and more volume.

He could hear how scared she was when they were talking on the phone. She really tried to not let it show, but she didn’t fool him. Even though she didn’t say it, he had a pretty good idea who it could be. He totally could see a guy who nearly raped a girl once stalking her years later.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…a stalker?” Rich tried to find his way through Jon’s outburst.

“Yeah, for already a couple months she has the feeling someone is watching her when she is outside.” Jon told him.

“Pap-rats or a fan, who doesn’t like the fact that you ain’t single anymore?” Richie wondered. Jon looked at him surprised.

“I never thought of that.” He had to admit.

“Who did you think of?” Jon only looked at his best friend and sighed.

“I’m not in the position to tell you, man. Let’s just say that there was someone in her life that didn’t treat her the way a guy should treat a girl and she was just lucky that something stopped him.”

Rich stared at him for a full minute. His mind was trying to process what Jon had just told him or better what he didn’t tell him.

“And that bastard is still free?” he finally brought out.

“Yep…oh, and Fran doesn’t know about it. Kim didn’t tell anyone. She somehow blocked it out. It was rather painful for her, when the memories came back.”

“But don’t you think she needs to talk with someone about it, especially now that we ain’t home and that guy is following her?” Richie really didn’t like the idea of keeping anything from Fran.

“She talked with Dot.”

“She talked with Dot?” Rich repeated dumbfolded. Jon grinned.

“Yeah, my girlfriend and ex-wife are getting along just fine. Apparently they are doing karate three times a week together.”

“God, I wanna have your life.” Rich said sighing deeply.

“Your ex being her usually charming self?” Jon asked softly.

“Yeah, and my little princess is right in the middle of it. Heather doesn’t like it that Ava and Fran get along. She even told Fran to stay home and not come to the Show three days ago. And Ava so wanted to show her the dresses and see her walking the runway.”

“I’m surprised Fran stayed home.” Jon told him.

“Well, she was sure Heather would get all melodramatic and she didn’t wanna put Ava through that. She was already nervous enough about doing a runway show the first time.” Rich paused shortly.

“I wished I would have been there.” He whispered and swallowed hard.

“She knows you love her, man. And that you are proud of her and would have been there if possible. She doesn’t held it against you. She’s a smart one.”

“She sure is.” Richie sighed with a sad smile. Jon nodded and both were silence for a long time thinking about their kids.

“Don’t you hate it sometimes?” Rich finally asked.

“Right now…. I hate every minute of it.” Jon told him. “But we don’t have a choice. We are too stupid to do anything else for a living.” Rich snorted.

“You better only speak for yourself, man. I’m gonna be the next big star in the fashion industry.” Jon laughed dryly.

“Now you sound like one of our daughters.” Rich nodded chuckling and checked his watch.

“I think I gonna try to get a hold of my girl in LA. You good?” He asked before leaving.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Six more days then she’ll be in D.C. Thanks man.”

Chapter 82

Kim slowly entered the big open room in which nearly the whole floor was covered by martial arts mats. When she realized she was already in the dojo and not just an entrance area, Kim immediately took off her shoes. She could see Dot nodding approving from the corner of her eye.

A dojo was considered something special and something to keep clean. It wasn’t uncommon that before and after a training session the students would clean the dojo.

Kim sat down on one of the chairs that were placed against the wall for the parents to watch their children’s training. She turned her attention to the children in the white clothing who were completely focused on Dorothea and her explanations of the right movement for the next step in their training.

Kim smiled when she recognized the movements and remembered her first time executing them. When Dot moved through the lines of students and corrected the movements of the children, she felt as nervous as she was as a kid. She always thought she was doing everything wrong. It took her trainer years to convince her that she actually had a great talent for martial arts and was one of his best students.

Kim sighed. Hopefully she would remember some things and not make a total fool out of herself in front of Dot.

After the training was over and all the students and their parents had left, Dot smiling walked over to Kim.

“Hi Kim. How are you doing?”

“Hi Dot. Honestly…I had better days.” The brunette looked at her surprised.

“What’s wrong?” she wanted to know, while opening a bottle of water.

“Well, you mean besides the fact that the man I love is hundreds of miles away and I work more than I sleep?” She looked at Dot a little shocked.

“I’m sorry.” She said. How could she say that to his ex-wife?

“Don’t worry.” Dot said and patted her arm encouraging. She really didn’t seem to mind her words.

“So, what’s really wrong?”

“I think I have a stalker.” Kim said.

“Do you know who it is?” Dot asked concerned.

“No. I’m not even sure there really is someone.” Kim got to her feet and started to pace around unsettled. “I never saw someone…it’s…it’s just this feeling that someone is watching me.” She finally said frustrated.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” she looked at Dot unsure.

“I don’t think it’s crazy, Kim. I think you should trust your instincts. They are very important, especially for women in my opinion. They are the reason we have the car key already in our hand when walking to our car during the night. They exist for already Millions of years and I doubt that your instinct was ever wrong.”

Kim nodded. “Yeah, normally I’m right when I’m listening to my gut.”

“That’s what I thought. When did it start?” Dot wanted to know.

“Shortly after Jon and I went public with our relationship.”

“Wow, that was over six months ago. That’s a little scary.” Dot said worried.

“Yeah.” Kim only said and bit her bottom lip. She was unsure if she should tell Dot about the incident with Nigel.

“Is that the only reason why you wanna start with karate again.” The brunette asked casual. Kim snorted lightly.

“You are good.”

“Well, I have to deal with four kids and an ex-husband who is not known for always saying immediately what is bothering him.” She said dryly. Kim sighed and sat down again. A little hesitantly she shared what happened in the Boat House six months ago and when she was sixteen.

“And you never pressed charges.”

“No, I simply left for college….what really scares me though is the fact that I didn’t use karate. Six months ago I couldn’t move, I was so shocked that I didn’t have any control of my legs.” Kim told her shivering lightly. Dot supportingly put her arm around her shoulder.

“Well, that were exceptional circumstances. He was your friend. You trusted him. You would have never expected him to do something like that. It takes a lot to develop so much anger against someone you love and trust to attack. It’s not easy.”

Kim only nodded. “Do you think I can learn it?”

“Yes. I was able to teach Steph, I think I’m able to teach you.”

“Steph is still doing karate?” Kim asked surprised.

“Yes, and I’m very happy about it. I know she can defend herself. Maybe not for long that sure depends on the other person, but she will probably surprise him and cause enough trouble so someone else will notice.” Dot told her when they walked to the locker rooms so Kim could change.

“Ok, why don’t you change and we start with some simple combinations to see if you still remember everything.” Dot suggested.

“I don’t think remember will be the problem, but my body not doing what my mind wants him to do.” Kim said grinning.

“Well, it’s been a while. You need to be patient.” Kim only gave her a long look.

“Great. Jon and you sure will drive everyone crazy.” Kim laughed at her comment.

“But seriously Kim. It will take some time. If we can start with the special training in three weeks that would be really good.”

“You’ll kick my ass, right?” Kim asked already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, I will try to switch from frozen to the spot to aggressive bitch when someone is threating you. But better me than someone else right?”

“Right. Maybe Fran should do this training too. She could sure use it in LA.” Kim said and pulled her karate suit from her bag.

“Heather being her normal charming self?” Dot asked sarcastically.

“How do you know?” Kim turned around surprised. Dot laughed grim.

“I know that woman. She may look cute and naïve, but she will do everything to keep her good image in the public. And she wants to make a star out of Ava. She would sell her own grandmother to get what she wants. You gotta be careful around her Kim…and Fran too.”

Chapter 81

“Hey, my friend. I miss you.” Fran’s voice made Kim smile.

“I miss you too Fran. How is L.A.?” she asked and sat down on her couch. She was just home from work. Of course, she had to work much longer than planned…again.

“Well, the weather is nice, Jason loves his new school and he already found new friends.” Fran told her and tried to sound enthusiastic, but she couldn’t fool Kim.

“Ok…but..?” her best friend asked. Fran sighed.

“But these people here are driving me crazy. I don’t seem to fit into this whole Hollywood glamour world and I miss Richie. And…Heather…well, is Heather.” Kim could hear Fran’s frustration. If she would only have a job by now, but somehow it was way more difficult to find one in LA than everyone thought.

“You ain’t getting along any better, right?”

“No, I have the feeling it’s getting worse, especially for Ava. She loves to spend time with Jason and me. That only makes Heather more bitchy.”

“She doesn’t even try to play nice?”

“No. She established the image of an actress and mother. You know single mom still having a carrier. The problems is, she is a terrible mother. She barely spends time with Ava. The public doesn’t know that though and now pics of me and the kids having ice cream or doing shopping show up in those gossip magazine.”

“I see. Losing her image worries her probably more than losing her daughter.”

“Exactly.” Fran sighed. “It’s so frustrating. I wish I could jump on the next plane and go and see Rich for a couple days to escape this twilight zone.”

“Why don’t you?” Kim wondered.

“Kim, I can’t leave Jason alone. And Joan is just back in Jersey. I can’t asked her to come out again. She really deserves some time on her own.”

“What about Richie’s housekeeper? I thought she and Jason get along well?”

“Yeah, they do…but I don’t feel comfortable leaving him alone with her for a couple days…and nights. I can’t get myself to do it.”

Kim sighed. Fran always had problems leaving her son for more than a day.

“What about you, Kim. Why are you working so much, I thought you already wanted to be with Jon by now?” Fran wondered.

“I wish I would.” Kim sighed. “I miss him like hell.”

“Tell me about it.” Fran mumbled.

“There is just so much to do and the apartment is not done yet. I think it will take a while. And I at least wanna check the work out when I come home in the evening. I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving with the work still in progress. Besides Andrew always has tons of questions even though we talked everything through.”

“You said this is the first big job for him. He probably wants to make sure he got everything right.”

“Yeah, I know. And I appreciate it…really. He is here every day and makes sure the craftsmen are working and doing everything right. Even the dogs start to like him. I found him sitting with them on the patio the other day giving them biscuits.”

“Then he really seems to be a nice guy.” Fran said laughing. Those dogs wouldn’t be nice to someone they didn’t like.

“How is it going in the hospital?” she wondered.

“Oh, Fran…believe me, you don’t wanna know.” Kim sighed and opened a bottle of her favorite wine.

“Why? What’s wrong?” her best friend asked worried.

“Well, you know we were already short on doctors. Now Maureen left, because she is pregnant…”

“Really? Oh that’s great. I’m so happy for her. I need to call her tomorrow.” Fran interrupted her excited.

“…Yeah, I’m really happy for her too, but with her being gone and Allan mysteriously getting sick every second week, it’s really getting difficult.”

“Is he ok? Or is there something we don’t know about?” Fran asked a little concerned. It really didn’t sound like Allan to stay home for nothing.

“I’m pretty sure he is ok. I think he is close to quitting as well. He barely has time left for his family and they shortened his budget for his research.”

“You gotta be kidding me? They always said his research was untouchable!”

“Yeah, I know. He was more than pissed when they told him…or better let Donald tell him. They didn’t even had the guts to come down from their offices and tell him by themselves.”

“Wow. So how do you guys keep it running?” Fran wondered.

“No idea. Somehow it works. But the problem is that every candidate that comes in to replace me, is a little shocked by it. Then I tell them their income and they leave.” Kim sighed.

“Well, that’s not surprising. If you wanna support a family with that income you have to keep it pretty tight. You just never had that problem.” Fran told her.

“Yeah, I know, Fran. But where are those doctors who wanna work to help children and don’t give a damn about where the hospital is located and how many hours they gotta work?” Kim asked.

“Well, I think you graduated from med school three years ago.” Fran said dryly.

“Haha, thanks a lot. I can’t be the only enthusiast out there.”

“I wouldn’t be sure about it.”