Chapter 100

“Gimme the keys!” Kim told him outside in the parking lot. Grudgingly he handed over the car keys for the black SUV.

“Get in the car, Jon!” she said sternly when he hesitated and turned back to the Stadium. He sighed, but got in.

“Tell me where to go, ok?” her voice got softer when they were leaving the parking lot and joined the light traffic. He only nodded and stared out of the window.

For the next 20 minutes he didn’t say a word with the exception of the direction to the beach. Kim kept her thoughts to herself and gave him the time to calm down from his outburst.

When she pulled into a small parking space right at a deserted beach, she looked at him and saw him rubbing his tired eyes. He didn’t sleep very well last night. He couldn’t stop thinking and worrying about the show.

“Walk with me…” she gently tugged at his hand.

“Yeah.” She could barely hear his mumbled answer.

Silently they walked bare-feet through the warm sand for a while. Kim wondered why nobody else was at this calm and peaceful section of the beach.

“I was too harsh, right?” Jon suddenly asked and stopped. Kim looked at him and nodded.

“A little … yes.” He sighed and sank down on the sand.

“Dammit!”

“Hey, Obie knows you…he knows how important it is for you. I’m pretty sure when you talk to him tonight everything will be fine again.” Kim said and sat down next to him.

“You think so?” Jon asked a little unsure.

“Yeah, you should have seen Obie last night. When the sound went out he barked orders and introduction. He really tried to get everyone working together to make the sound come back. He was probably even more frustrated than you.”

“Why?” Jon turned to her surprised.

“Why?” Kim chuckled. “Because the sound system is his baby…and it wasn’t working. I don’t know a lot about those technical things, but I do know that men take it very personal when things ain’t working they feel responsible for.”

“Yeah, we are like that.” He agreed and looked at her with a soft smile.

“I’m sorry that I freaked…” carefully he put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I know…I just need some time to get used to it. I haven’t really seen you like this before.” She admitted and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?” he asked worried. Kim chuckled lightly.

“Fran maybe a little, you know she has her problems with it…me, well… as I said I don’t know you like that. I wasn’t sure what would happen when I stopped you.” Jon stared at her for a full minute.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“It’s ok,…really Jon, …”

“No, it’s not. You shouldn’t worry about shit like this…not right now.” He said rather forceful. Kim pulled away from him.

“Ok, look…just to get one thing straight,…yes, I nearly got raped, …yes, I do have problems right now getting close or intimate with you, but that doesn’t mean you have to treat me with kid gloves in every situation that might come up during the day.”

“Kim, I just…”

“You don’t help me with that…someday I have to be able to walk through the streets alone again, Jon. I know you wanna protect me, but I need to get my independence back…and that has to happen rather fast, because you’ll be leaving in a couple weeks for Europe.”

“I just don’t want you get hurt again, Kimi.” He told her in a choked up voice. She blinked away the tears that forming in her eyes.

“I know honey, but we have to go on with our life. We can’t let this ruin everything.” He sighed deeply at her words.

“You’re right. But I have to admit…it’s tough for me. I’ve never been through anything like this before.”

“I know…but I hope everything will be fine. I was able to get through this once…all alone. This time I have you…that makes it easier for me.” Kim told him softly while staring out onto the calmly blue waves.

Jon watched her smiling. He hadn’t seen her thins relaxed in days. Maybe they were doing the right thing to get through this nightmare.

“So, tell me…why is no one else here?” Kim looked at him curious. Jon blinked about the abrupt change of topic.

“Uhm….Apartment…I have an apartment over there.” He pointed at a rather small two story building across the street.

“You have an apartment here?” she asked surprised. He never mentioned it before.

“Yeah, already for years. It was one of the first places Dot and I got after the huge Tour in the `80s ended. I only keep it, because of the portion of this private beach.”

“Wow.” Kim mumbled.

“And the places comes in handy when you have small children with you, that need to go to the bathroom every five minutes while you are at the beach.” Jon grinned when Kim chuckled softly.

“So Dot is using the places too?” she asked.

“Nah, she said it reminds her too much of the being of my career. Screaming fans and groupies that were crawling over her to get to me. She never set a foot back into that apartment after we bought our first house together.” Jon said with a sparkle in his eyes. It seemed he had very fond memories of those first years of his career.

“So, we could stay there for a while?” Kim asked hesitant.

“Uhm…yeah, sure…but it’s not really big.” Jon was truly surprised by her request.

“I don’t mind. I like the peace and quiet here. There is something special about this places.” She  said and stared into the waves again.

“Well, let me make some calls and get our stuff  and we are ready to crash here tonight.” Jon promised.