Chapter 47

Jon paced his room like a caged animal. He had been down to work out, but that hadn’t eased the tension. Every channel on the TV was in Portuguese so he had slapped the television off and now he paced as he waited for room service to arrive. When the knock came he flung the door open and was surprised to see Richie standing there and not his food.

“What do you want?” he asked a bit more sharply than intended.

Richie held his hands up in defense, “hey, just because you’re in a piss poor mood is no reason to take my head off man. What the hell is your problem?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing my ass.” Richie studied his friend, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, the dour expression on his face. “You’re missing her, aren’t you?”

Jon glanced over at his table, the pink box mocking him. There was only one pink box he wanted and it might as well have been a million miles away right now. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “so what if I am?”

Richie wandered further into the room, “have you talked to her lately?” They had found special deliveries once during their time in Germany and again when they had arrived in Portugal. Richie had even added gym time to his day because of it. He smiled ruefully, damn her.

“What’re you smiling at?” Jon hoped it wasn’t because of him and his situation.

“I was just damning your girlfriend” Richie told him. “She’s made me have to start working out again.” Jon snorted, “yeah right. It’s all Cilla’s fault.” Richie chuckled, “okay maybe not all her fault, but she’s certainly not helping matters any, no matter how good those cookies taste.”

Jon raised an eyebrow in surprise, “all you get is cookies?”

Richie reached for the box on the table, “why, you get something different?”

Jon smacked his hand, “do not touch that. Just step back and I won’t have to break your fingers.” Richie eyed his friend, “you know I can kick your ass, right?” Jon leveled his gaze at Richie, “you’d have to catch me first and you know you can’t do that, right?”

They stared at each other over that box for several long minutes. Richie would have looked away but a knock on the door had Jon being the first to move. Wheeling the room service cart over to the table he looked over at Richie. “Sorry man.”

Richie waved off his apology. “Just call her man, look at what she’s doing to you, to us. If you don’t, I’ll call her and talk to her myself.”

Jon relaxed his stance, “I know. I just don’t understand why it’s so hard this time. I don’t remember it ever being like this before.”

Richie shook his head, “think man, think back to 20 some years ago, when you went after Dot. You were miserable until you went and got her and brought her out on the road with you; at first. After you guys were married it was easier for you, mostly. You always have separation anxiety for the first couple weeks of a tour. You’ll get through it.”

Jon sighed, “I guess.” He looked down at the food, the club sandwich held no appeal now. “You hungry, want a sandwich?” Richie shook his head, “no, but thanks. Look we’re going to head out in a while, do a little sightseeing, get some food. Why don’t you join us tonight? You have kept yourself holed up in whatever room in whatever hotel for the last two weeks. Maybe a little fresh air will help distract you.”

“Maybe” Jon agreed. “What time and where are we going?”