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.