Chapter 78

“Hey, there you are. I tried to get a hold of you in the last couple days.” Kim hugged Fran dearly and pulled her down on the couch next to her. They were backstage in Seattle and waiting for the official Tour start.

“Yeah, well…uhm, we were a little busy.” Fran blushed lightly. Kim grinned.

“I bet. Rich looked tired when he was having his sushi at the beach.” She teased her best friend. Fran groaned.

“I still can’t believe the pap-rats followed him to Hawaii. All we wanted to do was spend some alone time before the tour starts and now we are in every magazine.”

“Well, I think we gotta get used to it.” Kim told her.

“They didn’t follow you!” Fran said a little pissed.

“Oh, come on. Did you forget I had constant shopping companions before Christmas, because they had the funny idea of a wedding at New Year’s Eve? I could have thought of nicer things.” Kim replied.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” Fran admitted.

“Who’s getting married?” Tony asked when he entered the room.

“Nobody!” Fran and Kim answered sharply in unison.

“Ok, ok. No need to freak out ladies.” He took a step back at their strictness.

“Oh, sorry Tony. Those paparazzi’s are just getting on our nerves.” Kim hugged him lightly.

“Yeah, I know. But they would vanish if you wouldn’t date one of the band…how is it, ladies?” he asked teasing and gave them his best smile. Fran and Kim laughed.

“Sorry, Tony…I think I’ll stick with your older brother.” Kim told him. Tony sighed dramatically.

“You don’t know what you are missing.”

“TONY! Why isn’t my girlfriend where she should be!” Jon’s voice came from his brother’s walkie-talkie.

“Yeah, and where is my lady?” Richie asked a little concerned.

“Ah, shit.” Tony cursed. “Come on, we better hurry or they will delay the start of the show.”

“They wouldn’t really do that, right?” Fran wondered when Tony escorted them to the side of the stage.

“I wouldn’t count on it. As far as I know men who are love have done stupider things.”

“Hold your horse, we are on the way.” Tony told Jon and Richie over the walkie-talkie.

“Better be true!” was Jon’s short reply.

“He’s really in a terrible mood today.” Kim said shaking her head lightly.

“Nah, it’s fine. He’s just anxious to get this show started. It’ll be the first time we’ll use the whole equipment in a show. He worries things might get wrong.” Tony explained and didn’t seem to worry about the harsh tone of his brother.

“I thought you had the test run in Hawaii?” Kim wondered and nodded at Lloyd when she took her place on the side of the stage. He would make sure nobody would bother her and Fran during the show together with two other Bon Jovi crew members.

“Well, we didn’t have this monster with us.” Tony pointed at the massive video screen.

“Wow!” Fran was impressed.

“38,000 lights.” Tony announced proudly while the two women could only stare at the giant LED screen. It was still dark and Kim wondered what would happen with the crowd when it would come to life. So far only fainted mumbling could be heard from the fans.

“Here, you’ll need those.” Tony handed Kim and Fran earplugs.

“Seriously?” Kim asked while taking them.

“Yep, this close, you’ll be thankful for them. Never been to a show before, huh?” Tony grinned when she shook her head no.

“Well, then you are in for the ride of your life.”

“I doubt that.” Kim mumbled and gave Fran a naughty grin. Her best friend chuckled.

“Band’s ready.” A voice informed Tony.

“Stand by for intro video.” He announced and vanished after a short nod in Kim and Fran’s direction behind the stage to supervise the video crew.

As soon as the house lights went out and the massive LED screen started with the Band’s intro a roar came from the crowd, who was now bathed in blue and black. Kim looked at the fans interested. These people, who had been talking calmly with each other just minutes ago, were now getting frenetic in their excitement.

She shot a short glance at Fran and realized that she was anxiously stepping from one foot to the other and trying to get a glimpse of Richie entering the stage as if she didn’t spend just one week with him in Hawaii.

Maybe she was missing something?

However, when the video intro came to its end, the drums with the light effects were underlining the Band’s movement on the screen, and the crowd erupted in screams, goose bumps crept up her arms.

The screen swung to the sides and parted into smaller pieces, which moved upwards and revealed the four men. The screaming grew stronger when they stepped to the edge of the stage and Jon raised his right hand in a fist.

After a few seconds he shooed the other guys to their instruments and you could see how anxious each of them were to get this show started.

Jon’s guitar tech handed him his beloved black acoustic guitar and Richie started the intro to ‘Blood on Blood’. Fran jumped up and down excitedly next to Kim and screamed something about ‘our song’ into her ear, but Kim didn’t barely realize it. Her focus was on the lead singer, on Jon, on her boyfriend, who was just rocking the stage and interacting with the crowd. She had never seen him like this before and the sexy black leather jacket and deep purple button down shirt were nearly her doom.

Jon felt her eyes on him right from the moment he took the stage. He grinned when he saw the awe impression on her face. She had no idea what hit her and he would make sure it stayed that way before she was flying back later on a red-eye flight to New York. They had time to kill and he already knew how.