Chapter Nine

Choking on his drink, Richie’s eyes got wide. “Excuse me?”

Sighing, Nikki reached her hand out and gently place it on Richie’s across the table.

“I said, I know about Jon and Dot’s divorce. I sort of overheard you two talking in his office today. I didn’t mean to hear any of it or to listen for that matter.” She could see Richie tense up instantly and she could swear there was an invisible shield between them now. “Richie relax. I’m not going to say anything to anyone. I promise.”

Pulling his hand away, Richie leaned into the back of the booth. “You swear?!”

“I swear to God Richie.” She replied softly.

Taking a deep breath, “Don’t even say anything to Jon. It’ll most likely piss him off and make him more stressed then he already is.” Shaking his head, Richie ran his hands threw his hair. In just the span of a few minutes, Nikki saw Richie’s mood change several times from happy and easy going, to on edge and defensive, to worried and tired.

“It’ll be our little secret Richie. You can trust me.”

“Thanks darlin’ .” Richie looked up and gave her a small grin of gratitude. “I really appreciate it.’

Smiling back, “Its no problem. If you need to talk or anything. I’m here.”

Just then Richie’s cell started to go off, nodding his head in response he flipped it open. “Hello?” Nikki sat there and waited for Richie to finish his conversation with the person on the other end of the phone, who to her seemed to have been Jon. “Yea…. Yea ok.. Well I’m with Nikki right now…. Yea that Nikki.” Rolling his eyes in a sarcastic tone, Richie gave Nikki an apologetic smile. “No, we just went out for a few drinks… I have a good ole Coca-Cola in my hand…. Ok DAD!… yea fuck you too Kid. I’ll call you later…. Alright.. … cya.” Flipping his phone closed, Richie looked across the table to see Nikki trying to hold back from laughing.

“And what is so funny Missy??”

“Oh just the way you talk to each other. Its quite amusing to watch ya know.” Giggling, she shook her head slightly.

Chuckling, “Yea I know what you mean. Hear that a lot from people who aren’t usually around us.”

“So what did he want?? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Nah, I don’t mind. Said he got an idea for a song in his head and wanted me to stop by tonight.”

“Oh, well you can go. I don’t want keep you guys from working your magic on a new song.” As she reached for her drink she gave him a wink.

“He’s a big boy, he can work on it by himself for a while longer. No rush darlin’.”

A while later a cab pulled up to Nikki’s apartment. As she reached for the door she looked over her shoulder.

“Well thanks for the drinks Richie. It was nice, getting to know you a little. I had fun.”

“Your welcome, and thank you for agreeing to go with me. I had a great time too. I’ll see ya later.”

“Goodnight.” Nikki opened the door and stepped out, giving him one last smile and thank you before she closed the door. As she walked into her apartment she could hear Tim on the phone. Closing the door and kicking off her shoes and coat she made her way into the living room.

As she stepped into the openness of the living room she could see Tim pacing back and forth on the far side of the room. With an aggravated voice he said goodbye to whoever was on the phone and threw it onto the near by couch. Nikki stood there silently for a few more minutes watching him pace faster and faster from one end of the room to the other.

“Ya know, if you keep pacing like that, we’re gonna have to get a new carpet, and we’ve only been here for two months” she giggled.

Tim whipped himself around to stare at Nikki with a look of aggravation and concert on his face. “Where the hell have you been Nikki!?!?!”

Nikki was taking aback at the tone in his voice. “Uh I was at work, and then I went out for a few drinks with a.. uh.. Co-worker I guess you can call them. Why?”
Sighing, he made his way over to her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I was worried, that’s why. When you didn’t come home when you usually do, and I didn’t hear anything I got concerned. I called your work, no one answered. I tried your cell, but it just went to your voicemail!”

Reaching into her purse, she grabbed her cell. “Oh oops I forgot to take it off silent. I’m sorry Honey, I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“Well you could of fucking called ya know!”

“Who are you my Father!?!?! I need to call you every time I want to go out with a friend!?”

“Well it would be nice to know where the fuck my fiancé is!! Who were you with anyway?? I just got off the phone with Alex and she said she didn’t know where you were.”

Rolling her eyes, Nikki walked past Tim and headed into the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“Nikki.. Who were you with?”

“Richie! Ok!? He asked if I wanted to go out for a drink, and I said yes. Is that a crime?” Tim’s eyes got wide when she mentioned Richie’s name.

“Richie? You mean that Rockstar that was at the bar a few weeks ago with your boss?” Nikki just nodded her head. “What does he not care that your engaged or did he forget the fact?”

“Hey it was just a friendly gesture!! I had a .. somewhat bad day at work. And he thought I could use a drink or two. And he was right.”

“What happened at work?”

Shaking her head, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Just please Tim, lay off a little ok?”

Sighing, “Ok, I’m sorry baby. It’s just, I don’t know. Just please try to let me know what’s going on ok?” Stepping closer, Tim wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him, kissing the top of her head.

“Ok. Sorry I made you worry Honey. I love you.”

Leaning back to look in her eyes, “I love you too baby.”

Chapter Eight

Richie stepped into Jon’s office, quickly closing the door behind him and took a step towards Jon’s desk but stopped quick when his eyes saw what was before him.

“Jesus Kid! You look like hell!”

Rolling his eyes Jon flipped Richie the bird and then motioned for him to sit. “Yeah Yeah Yeah, you’re not the first person that mentioned that today. Thanks!”

“Talking bout Nikki?” Richie took a seat in the chair across from Jon.

“Yea, how did you….?”

“She asked me if I knew what was up with you. She can see that something is eating at ya, and she said she’s worried.”

“And what the fuck did you tell her?”

Raising his hands up in defense, “Easy Kid. I told her that I didn’t know anything, but if I did it wasn’t my place to say. And then I told her that I would mention it to you about her being worried.”

Letting out a sigh, Jon placed his head in his hands, raking them through his hair. “I’m so fucking lost Rich. The kids are calling me and texting me like every five minutes asking me when I’m coming home. Dot is doing the same thing, saying that we need to talk. I got all these people asking for my time and money. I can’t fucking do this right now!”

“I agree with Dot, you need to talk to her.”

“ I don’t want to right now!! I can’t! I’m not ready to face this shit.”

“Jon, the longer you wait, the harder it’s going to be. Especially for the kids. Trust me you don’t wanna do anything that could make this stuff worse for the kids.”

“No I don’t. Its just.. She’s talking about paternity tests, and that shit just isn’t right. She should know!!!”

Nikki was making her way back to her desk from her short walk when she heard a very frustrated Jon in his office. She’s talking about paternity tests, and that shit just isn’t right. She should know!! Nikki’s eyes widen, and mouth fell open slightly as she stopped in her tracks.

“Look, kid, I know its hard. But you gotta do it. Don’t you wanna know if its your kid or not?”

Jon shot his head up, “Of course I wanna fucking know! But that’s not the point. The point is, we shouldn’t have to be doing this! Dot should know if its my kid or not. She shouldn’t be questioning the matter! She’s my wife for fuck sakes!”

“Yea, but you’re no saint either Jon.”

“I know that! But at least I was always careful! I don’t have kids by anyone but her Rich. Steph, Jesse, Jake, Romeo.. Those are my ONLY kids.”

Richie let out a soft sigh and nodded his head. Just as he went to mention something else to Jon, he heard his cell phone ringing. Rolling his eyes, Jon reached for his phone and groaned as he answered it. “Hello?” Shaking his head he gave Richie a half apologetic, half annoyed look. Chuckling, Richie gave him one nod as he got up and paced the room.

“What!?! Who the fuck told you!?” Richie turned around to look at Jon whose jaw was tightened in anger. “You’re fucking kidding me!…. Unbelievable. Yea, I’ll come by later this week to talk to you. Thanks for calling Steve. Yea.. Talk to you later.” When Jon flipped his phone closed, he looked up at Richie shaking his head. “Dot’s already got the divorce papers started!”

“You’re kidding me!?”

“No! She called her lawyer and told him that she wanted the papers filed and he called up Steve. So Steve called me, not believing it. And now I have to fucking go in and see him later this week to start figuring shit out!”

Richie could see Jon’s eyes watering quickly and walked closer to his desk. When Jon lowered his head and put his hand up motioning for Richie to stop, Richie just stood there. He knew exactly what Jon was feeling at this moment, when he was questioned from a group of paparazzi about his divorce he was so taken aback and shocked that he had no idea what to do or say.

After a couple of hours of talking and calming Jon down, Richie said his goodbyes for the evening and left the office getting ready to head back to his hotel room. As he was walking by Nikki’s desk he told her goodbye. Seeing the look of shock and what seemed like sadness, Richie stopped.

“Hey you ok Darlin’?”

Nodding her head slightly, “Yea I’ll be ok.” After Nikki heard Jon mention Dot’s name and soon after ‘divorce’, she couldn’t believe it. She slowly and quickly got to her desk not wanting to hear anymore. She knew that it was wrong to have stood there and listened to Jon and Richie’s conversation, but it seemed as if she was frozen in place and forced to listen.

Richie stood there for a few moments, hesitating slightly his next move, but going for it in the end. “Hey, this may seem out of line. But you wanna go out for a drink? You kind of look like you could use one.” Nikki looked up at him with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, I had a feeling it was wrong to ask that. I’ll see ya later Nikki.” Waving his hand, Richie began to walk away from her desk. Shaking her head Nikki quickly stood up.

“Richie! Wait!!” Turning around Richie saw her gathering her things and walking towards him. “A drink would be wonderful.” With a half crooked grin, Richie motioned for Nikki to take the lead toward the exit. “Oh I should probably tell Jon I’m leaving. Be right back.”

Grabbing her arm as she tried to walk back to Jon’s office, Richie pulled her gently back towards him. “Nah, he’ll figure it out on his own. He mentioned leaving himself in just a few minutes. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh. Ok. Well let’s go.”

About an hour later Richie and Nikki were sitting in a back booth at a small local bar, enjoying one another’s company. Taking the last sip of her Tequila Sunrise, Nikki looked at Richie curiously. She couldn’t get over just how amazing he really was. In the past hour she heard some stories from his childhood, some from the bands earlier days and she even learned a little about his daughter, whom she could tell by the way Richie talked about her had her daddy wrapped around her finger. In the short amount of time they had been talking she could see just how loving and caring he was of everyone around him and she really admired that.

“So do you still live in California or have you come back to the east coast?”

Motioning for another drink for both of them, Richie responded, “Well I still have my place in California, I stay there most of the time, especially when I have Ava. Heather likes to keep her close by.” Rolling his eyes. “But I just bought a place here in Philly, haven’t gotten any furniture in it yet, but it’s still a place ya know, for when we go to work on the next record and stuff, better then staying in hotels or at Jon’s or even my moms.” Chucking, Richie watched as Nikki took her drink from the waiter and took a small sip. He couldn’t get over how easy going she seemed to be. And how quickly he opened up to her with his personal life. All the guys were always so on edge on who to trust, but with her he just felt so comfortable and relaxed. He had a sense that he had nothing to hide with her, he could just be himself for once.

“Heather don’t like you bringing Ava over here? I bet Jon and his family would love to see her. You’re all close aren’t you?”

“Oh yea, Ava is like a niece or even sometimes a daughter to Jon. To all the guys actually. But Heather likes to be a bitch sometimes, especially after the divorce. I just hope Dot doesn’t…” Richie stopped mid sentence and had to keep himself from slapping himself in the face.

Nikki heard his slip and saw the look of regret on his face. “Richie, its ok.”

“Wh- what are you talking about Nikki?”

Looking directly into Richie’s eyes, “I know about Jon and Dot’s divorce.”

Chapter Seven

The following two weeks went by faster then Jon had anticipated. He was kept busy spending time with his kids, dedicating at least one day with each individually. His day with Stephanie was spent shopping in the city, Jesse’s was spent at a Notre Dame College Football game, and Jake’s and Romeo’s each consisted of just playing around the house. Jon’s time with his kids had always been few and selected due to his line of work, so he had always made sure that during his breaks he spent as much time as he possibly could with his children.

Now here he was in Philadelphia once again, sitting at his desk looking through some of the proposals that several charities had sent his way. Just as he was starting to think to himself that he needed some coffee there was a knock at his door. “Come in.”

Nikki slowly opened the door peaking in to make sure that Jon wasn’t in the middle of a meeting or phone call. Seeing that the coast was clear, she made her way into the office, closing the door behind her and walked up to Jon’s desk setting down a cup. “I thought you might be ready for a nice cup of coffee.” The site before her frightened Nikki slightly, in the time that she had been Jon’s assistant at the Philadelphia Soul, and the time before that when she had been a fan; she couldn’t recall ever seeing Jon look so down before. He had dark circles under his eyes, and at least a two or three day beard growing, just to look at him sent a shock of sadness through Nikki. “Have a rough couple weeks at home Jon?”

Thanking her for the coffee with a nod, Jon held the cup with both hands as he felt the hot liquid go down his throat. “What do you mean?” Setting the cup down after a few more sips, Jon again started sorting out the papers scattered about his desk.

“Oh.. Nothing.. It’s just that you look really tired or something. Looks like something is bothering you is all.” Nikki was afraid that she may be pushing slightly, but she had always been the type to make sure that everyone was ok.

“Oh. Yea.. Its nothing.. Just some things going on at home. I’m fine. Thanks for asking though..” Nodding her head Nikki gave Jon a small grin and then turned on her heel to leave his office. “Oh Nikki.. Before you leave.” As she opened the door, she looked over her shoulder to Jon still sitting at his desk. “Can you see to it that I’m not disturbed today, with visitors or phone calls. Besides Richie.. He’s suppose to be stopping by to talk shop with me.”

“Of course.” With that Nikki gently closed the door and went back to her own desk.

About an hour later, as Nikki was finishing up one her ‘spokesperson’ projects she heard a slightly familiar voice down the hall. Looking in the direction the voice was coming from, she waited to see who it was. As he came into view Nikki felt her heart skip a beat. What are you doing!?! Get yourself together Girl! She thought to herself as Richie approached her desk.

“Well Hello there darlin’” Richie flashed a smile at Nikki as he walked around her desk to embrace her in a hug.

“Hello there Richie.. Good to see you again.”

“How have you been?” Richie perched himself on the edge of her desk.

Taking a seat in her chair, “Oh same old same old. You know how it goes.”

“Yea I know what you mean. So how’s the boss??” Richie motioned towards Jon’s office as he rolled his eyes.

“Keeping himself busy, which from what I know is the usual. Although he does seem a bit down today compared to usual.”

Richie hesitated for a minute, trying to find his words and quickly before she suspected what was going on. “Oh really?? Hm.. I don’t know. Guess I’ll go find out.”

As Richie got to his feet and started to walk away Nikki spoke up. “Richie!?” Turning around Richie gave her a curious look. “He mentioned something about things at home. I know its really none of my business. But is everything ok?”

His eyes widen, as she spoke he could see the sincerity and concern in her face. “Well darlin’, I honestly don’t know what’s going on. But even if I did, it wouldn’t be my place to say. If Jon wants anyone to know, he’ll let them know.”

“Oh, ok. Sorry its just, it really looks like something is bothering him. Just worried.”

Nodding his head, Richie step forward and leaned closer to Nikki. “I’ll let him know darlin.” Leaning back he gave her a wink and turned on his heel making his way to Jon’s office. After knocking on the door once he walked in and closed the door behind him. Nikki turned back to her desk, took a deep breath then stood, grabbed her things and headed out for some air.

Chapter Six

Taking a deep breath he turned the key in the ignition killing the engine, reached into the passenger seat and grabbed his coat before stepping out of the car. As he made his way into the building and to the elevator he glanced at his watch. 1:30.. The kids should still be in school. The elevator doors soon slid open to the top floor of the building, to the penthouse.

Jon had always loved New York City, and when Stephanie began to show a interest in Fashion Design, he and Dot decided that moving to New York City would be a great benefit for Stephanie. Jon searched for months trying to find the best possible place for he and his family, but none of the places he looked at really seemed to scream out at him like he had hoped. Finally his realtor contacted him about a penthouse in Soho that had just became available. Jon immediately set up an appointment to go take a look at it and fell in love with it instantly. After the kids finished up their school year they packed up and moved in. The kids seemed to be adjusting well; Steph, Jesse, and Jake were all doing well in school. Not that Jon wasn’t surprised by that, they took after their mother in that aspect; Dot was always one of the smarter ones in their class. Romeo probably adjusted to the new apartment better then any of the kids, after all it was someplace new that the little guy got to explore, a new playground for him as he put it.

As Jon walked towards the front door he chuckled at the memory; but was pulled away from his thoughts when he was just about knocked to the ground. “Daddy!!” Getting his balance and lowering himself to his son’s level Jon pulled his youngest into his arms and held him tight as he stood back up.

“Hey.. How’s my little man doin’?”

“Good.. Miss you.”

“I missed you too Romeo. Have you been a good boy for mommy?” Almost before Jon could even finish his question Romeo started going on and on about all the things he had done while daddy had been away. From eating cereal every morning with his ‘brovers and sissy’ before they left for school, to making mommy look pretty by putting purple paint all over her face, to racing cars with grampy and winning. “Wow you’ve done a lot haven’t you buddy?”

Bobbing his head up and down quickly, Romeo gave his dad a big smile. “Uh huh!! Play wit me daddy??”

Just as Jon was about to answer he was interrupted. “Romeo sweetie, daddy just got home, give him a few minutes ok hun.” Jon looked through the doorway to see Dot standing there with one hand on her hip, he always thought that was sexy.

“Ok mommy... daddy put me down!!” Chuckling Jon set his son down and ruffled his hair as he made his way back into the house.

“Welcome home Jon.” Nodding his head in response Jon stepped into the house and closed the door only to yet again get trampled.

“Well hello to you too Copper!!” Copper jumped up to his owner and licked his face continuously. “Alright .. Alright alright.. I missed you too copper.. Geez.. Down!!” Wiping the dog slobber off of his face, Jon looked at Dot to see her covering her mouth trying to hold in the laughter. “That funny huh?”

“Well I thought it was cute, a loyal dog welcoming his owner home.” Dot was happy to see that Jon finally decided to come home. She hadn’t heard from him in almost a week, since he walked out of their home in New Jersey. She knew that he wasn’t handling things well. Richie had called her earlier that day to tell her Jon was on his way, and informed her of how he had been the past week. A stray tear ran down her cheeks as she heard Richie’s voice in her head again. You shattered his heart in a million pieces Dot... out of all the women us guys have been with, you were the last one I expected to do this..ever. It was the last words she had heard before he disconnected the call. Shaking her head quickly trying to remove the thought she reached out to give Jon a hug but cringed when he stepped away from her. “Jon?”

Shaking his head, Jon started past Dot towards the living room where he saw Romeo and the dog had both gone. “No Dot.. I’m here for the kids, I’m not ready to deal with us right now. Please, give me a few more days.” With that Jon made his way to the living room to see Romeo curled up with Copper on the floor watching cartoons. Smiling softly Jon continued through the living room into the kitchen, grabbed himself a bottle of water and joined his son and dog on the floor until the other kids got home.

Message From Me!!

Hey everyone! sorry I haven't had any updates.. been a little busy with personal life.. but just wanted to let you know that I'm working on the next chapter now and hoping to have it up before the end of the weekend :)

and I also want to take the time to thank you all for the different comments I've received from this story.. I'm glad you're all liking it :)

So keep checking in here the next few days for the new chapter :)

SilLee~

Chapter 5

“So what are the plans for tonight Kid?” Richie looked across the room where Jon was sitting twirling his now empty glass of wine in his fingers. The last two days, both Jon and Richie kept things quiet, and stayed in the rather small town of Freehold. Although Richie had tried a few times to convince Jon to head home to be with his kids and talk things over with Dot, Jon kept refusing.

“I don’t know.. Was thinking about maybe going out to get a drink or two, wanna come?” Richie watched as Jon stood up from his seat and poured himself another drink.

“Yea I’ll go. Some one needs to keep an eye on you right?” Chuckling, Jon just nodded at his friend and sat back down, leaning his head against the back of the arm chair.

“How about we head down to Philly?? The clubs are better there.”

“Alright, we can do that,” glancing at his watch Richie noticed it was almost six, “we should probably get going though then.” Nodding his head, Jon stood back up, finished his glass of wine, then made his way back into the bedroom part of the hotel room and grabbed his wallet and jacket.

A few hours later the guys were climbing out of Richie’s car at a fairly popular club in downtown Philly that the guys usually went to while they were in the area. The owner of the club happened to be by the front door as the guys walked in. “Jon, Richie, so nice to see you!” Jon noticed the man and gave him a genuine smile and a slight nod as Richie extended his hand.

“Hello Andrew, nice to see you too.”

“Would you like your normal table in the back?” Richie looked at Jon to see what he wanted and, just like Andrew got a shake of the head.

“No that’s ok.. We’re just gonna go sit at the bar tonight, thanks.” With that Jon walked past Andrew and Richie and made his way through the crowd to the bar, quickly ordering himself a drink. Meanwhile Richie gave Andrew an apologetic look at Jon’s slight rudeness and was soon following Jon’s steps through the crowd.

When Richie finally found Jon along the bar he gave a heavy sigh when he noticed the shot glass attached to Jon’s hand. Just as Richie got himself settled into the stool next to Jon, he noticed a pretty little brunette rush up behind Jon trying to grab the bartenders attention. As she half lifted herself up onto the bar to look past the guys and the rest of the people sitting along the bar she took a few glances at Jon and then at Richie.

“Jon.. Is that you?” Jon glanced at Richie quickly and rolled his eyes before he slowly turned himself to look at the person standing behind him. “Oh my god it is you! How are you?” Richie flinched slightly as he watched the little brunette fling her arms around Jon’s neck.

“Good.. I’m… I’m good. How are you Nikki?” Jon slightly pushed Nikki away from him, trying to catch the breath he had lost when she practically jumped into his lap.

“Same old, Same old. What are you doing in Philly, I thought you had things to do in New York or something??” SHIT!! Thats right she doesn’t know, nor does she need to know.

“Yea, well, plans change a lot y’know. Rich, and I decided to just come out for a few drinks, relax a little. Thats all.” When Nikki heard Richie’s name she looked over Jon’s shoulder and saw, probably the most gorgeous thing that her eyes had ever seen. When Jon saw her eyes widen and watched her lips mouth ‘oh my god’, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Nikki, this is my sidekick Richie Sambora. Rich, this is my new assistant at the Soul, Nikki Thompson.”

Richie got up from his seat and stood by Jon as he reached out his hand to the lady before him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Darlin’” As Richie’s eyes skimmed over her he realized that she really was ‘little’ maybe no more then five foot three. She was wearing a black halter top dress that hugged her petite little body and flowed down to just above her knees. She had the biggest brightest green eyes he had ever seen, and the most luscious looking lips.

“Nice to meet you too Mr. Sambora.” Nikki reached her hand out to meet Richie’s. And although she knew she wasn’t at work, she had remembered that Richie was also part owner of the Philadelphia Soul, so technically he was a boss of sorts to her. When his hand wrapped around hers a shock of warmth, it seemed to her almost like a shock on sensation, went shooting up her arm.

“Please, call me Richie.” He couldn’t get over how stunning she was, sure Jon had mentioned his new assistant once or twice. But never did he ever imply that she was, well, a goddess of beauty almost. Goddess of Beauty, Rich what are you thinking?!?!?!?! You’ve seen plenty of gorgeous woman before in your life. But.. There’s something about her... what is it???

Jon leaned back against, folded his arms across his chest, and watched the interaction happening before him. He saw the gleam Richie’s eye and noticed it as that all to familiar attraction spark, and as his eyes gazed over to Nikki he saw something in her eyes that could very well be the same thing. Have I really had that much to drink!?!? Looking over his shoulder, he motioned for the bartender to give him another shot, and then turned back to watch Richie’s ‘charm’ kick in. No fucking way, he’s hitting on her!!! Just then Jon’s eye caught attention to a man quickly walking towards them, reaching his arms towards Nikki; and when close enough snaked it around her waist.

“Hey sweetie, thought maybe you got lost.” Jon and Richie both looked at the guy then at each other giving one another the same questioning look.

“No I didn’t get lost. Just ran into a friend of sorts. Honey, this is my boss Jon Bongiovi and his friend Richie Sambora. Guys, this is my... my..”

“Fiancé...” Nikki looked over her shoulder and smiled shyly.

“My Fiancé Tim Smith.” As she made the introductions, Nikki seemed, almost embarrassed of admitting that she had a fiancé, well in front of Richie anyways, Jon already knew. Richie’s eyes widened slightly when Nikki stuttered, searching for the right word to introduce Tim as, but when he heard ‘fiancé’ some of his thoughts shattered. Putting that aside he reached his hand out towards Tim’s.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nodding his head in agreement Tim exchanged hand shakes with Richie then with Jon.

“Jon, it’s nice to meet you. Thank for hiring Nikki, we were so worried she wouldn’t be able to find something here in the city as quickly as she did.”

Jon slowly slid off of his stool and shook hands quickly with Tim. “It was no problem. Nikki showed some great potential at the interviews and she’s been doing an amazing job. Very glad to have her on the team.” Jon looked at Nikki and gave her a wink. “Drinks.. Let me buy you guys drinks. What’s ur poison??”

Chapter Four

Jon woke the next morning to the sound of his phone vibrating across the hotel night stand. Sitting up to reach for his phone a sharp pain went rushing through his head making him fall back down against the pillows with a groan. FUCK!! Waiting a few seconds, and still hearing his phone vibrating, Jon tried once again to sit up, this time going a little slower. Not even looking at the caller ID he quickly answered. “HELLO!” Grabbing his throbbing head, he flopped back down on the bed. “Daddy?” Hearing the soft female voice on the other end of the phone, Jon’s feeling of aggravation simmered. “Hey there baby girl.”

“Where are you?” Looking around Jon tried to figure out where he was, then looking at the bedding and the drapery he could tell it was a hotel of some kind. “Um.. I’m at a hotel. Why something wrong?” When Jon didn’t hear anything from his daughter he began to get a little nervous. “Steph? Is something wrong?” “What? Oh no.. sorry Jesse was asking me something. Nothing’s wrong. Was just wondering where you were.. When are you coming home?”

Home.. Home? Could he go back home? Now knowing the fact.. The truth about Dot. Jon wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to be around her with out losing his cool, especially if the kids were there as well. He just couldn’t go home, not right now anyways. “Um I don’t know when I’ll be home baby. Some things have come up in Philly. But I’ll be home as soon as I can. I promise ok?” A disappointed sigh came through the phone and tugged at Jon’s heart, he could imagine the sad expression on Stephanie’s face. “I’m sorry Steph.”

“It’s ok Daddy. I miss you that’s all.” “I miss you too, and your brothers. I gotta go now though.. Give your brothers all hugs and kisses for me ok?” “Ok daddy. Love you. Bye.” “Love you too.” Flipping his phone closed, Jon forced himself to get up out of the bed. Reaching for the hotel phone, he called down to room service and order some coffee and an ample supply of Tylenol; with the way he was feeling now, he knew he was going to definitely need it for the rest of the day. Stepping into his pants, Jon sat at the foot of the bed and waited for the room service to arrive, desperately needing the Tylenol for his head. God, what the hell happened last night?!?!?
Sitting there staring at his feet, the memories began to come back to Jon. When he found out about Dot being pregnant, then leaving and just driving for an hour or so before finally stopping at a small bar. And Richie… why was he remembering Richie?? Shit!! I called him….. Right?? Raking his hands threw his hair, Jon took a deep breathe as he heard a knock at the door. Thank God!! Rushing to the door, Jon let the man in and told him to just set the stuff wherever. At that point the guy could of left it all on the floor, Jon wouldn’t have cared, as long as he got some damn Tylenol for his throbbing head! “Thank you!”

After taking a few of the pills, Jon made his way towards the bathroom to take a nice hot shower, when he heard his phone going off yet again. “Are you even kidding me!” This time checking the ID to see who it was he noticed that it was Richie. “Hey Rich..” Sitting back on the bed, he grumbled, realizing that the shower was going to have to wait a few more minutes. “Good morning, where did you end up last night man?” Ok.. I must of called him…

“I’m at some hotel, but I have no idea what one.” Looking over towards the hotel phone he noticed a pad of paper, reaching for it he noticed the logo on the top. “The Holiday Inn .. in… Freehold.”
“Alright man.. I’m coming to get you.. I should be there in like an hour or so.. If I don’t get lost.” Both of the guys chuckled. “K Rich.. I’ll see you when you get here… call me when your close and I’ll tell you what room I’m in.. I’d tell you now but I have a throbbing head and really need a shower.” Jon got up and starting pacing the room impatiently while Richie laughed and made smart ass remarks on the other end of the phone. “Ok I take the hint Kid. I’ll talk to you soon.” “Yea bye.” Throwing his phone onto the bed, Jon made his way into the bathroom, stripped his pants off once again and stepped into the scalding hot shower. Finally feeling his body relax slightly. Thinking over how the previous night went, Jon finally let himself relax completely and let the tears fall freely as he heard Dot’s voice in his head constantly repeating those words that tore his whole world apart.

“I don’t think you’re the father….. I’ve been having an affair for the past two years.”