Chapter 98

She was standing at the stove scrambling the eggs she thought she wanted for her dinner when he found her. After her shower she had dried her hair and, for now, it hung in loose waves down her back. He moved up behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder, “how are you feeling?”

She turned and kissed his temple. “All right I guess.” She turned off the burner and scooped some eggs onto a plate. “You want some of these?”

He released her and opened the drawer with the silverware. “If there’s enough.”

She got out another plate and slid the rest of the eggs onto it along with a slice of toast. Sitting across from him at the counter, Cilla poked at the eggs on her plate. When she felt the warmth of his hand on hers she looked up. “Talk to me Jonny. Tell me about your schedule, your kids. What did you do while I was asleep?” She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen in another hour from now. She just wanted it to be done and over with already.

He took a bite of eggs. He understood. She didn’t want to talk about Sid and his friend with the scissors coming over later. They would have to talk about it eventually, but for now he would play along with her. “I actually talked to the kids today. They want us to come to Jersey this weekend. It’s Halloween you know.”

“That’s right” she sounded surprised. “I nearly forgot Halloween was this weekend. Do you take the kids trick or treating or do you stay back and pass out the goodies?”

He watched as she took a bite of eggs. It was working, she was eating. “Dorothea and I usually trade off. This year it’s my turn to walk with the monsters.”

Cilla chuckled as she got up to get the jam. “Do you dress up to go out with your monsters?”

Smiling, Jon shook his head. “Just a hat and my sunglasses usually.”

She nodded. “So you dress up as a rock star every year then.”

Chuckling, Jon spread jam on his toast. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Gathering their dishes, Cilla started to load the dishwasher. “You could change it up, wear your cowboy hat or something.”

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “What about you? Do you dress up for Halloween?”

She turned in his arms to face him. “Sid and I have at least worn some kind of fun hat or something. He has this great pirate hat with a huge plume on it that he’s worn the last couple years.” She started laughing, "I did my hair like Princess Leia one year. That was fun.” She sighed. She wouldn’t be able to do that again for a long time.

Jon lowered his forehead to hers. “It’s okay babe.”

Her eyes met his, “I don’t want to think about it.”

Straightening he took her hand, “come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“You wanted to know what I did while you were sleeping, right?”

She nodded.

He led her into his office. There on the table was a box with a large teal bow on it. “That’s for you.”

“You went shopping while I was sleeping?” She traced the package with her fingertips.

“Sort of.” He motioned her toward the sofa as he handed her the shirt size box. He held his breath while she slid the box from the wrapping. He had rummaged through some stuff in storage to find some of what was in the box. The rest he had purchased the other day while he had been out and about. He hoped she liked them.

Lifting the lid and parting the tissue Cilla paused. Scarves, he had bought her scarves? She fingered each one and, on closer inspection, realized they were bandanas. For her head. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at him. Could he be any more thoughtful? “Thank you.”

He sat down next to her and moved the three off the top, “you didn’t get to the best ones yet.”

She looked down and then back up at him, “I can’t believe you kept them for all these years.”

He nodded, “I keep a lot of shit I probably shouldn’t. But in this case, I was glad I had them.”

The two at the bottom of the box had to be 20 years old if they were a day. The black one had skulls scattered all over it and the other was a myriad of gypsy colors. Each, she knew, he had worn while on stage during one tour or another. Picking up the black one she turned it this way and that, studying it. “This gives me an idea.” She turned and smiled wickedly at Jon.

“What?” he asked warily.

“With a black leather jacket and a pair of sunglasses, I can be a bad ass rock star for Halloween.”

As their laughter faded, the doorbell rang.

~

Sitting on a chair in the kitchen Cilla closed her eyes and waited. Could they just get this done already? Did she really need to know hear how good Jon's hair would look if he let Louis cut it? Feeling a hand on her arm she opened her eyes. "What?" Sid was crouched in front of her. He handed her a brown paper bag. "What's this?"

He tried not to smile. "An idea for you for Halloween."

She eyed him warily as she reached into the bag. Her hand came out with a white hat and a gold earring. "Mr. Clean? You want me to be Mr. Clean for Halloween?"

He shrugged, "it was either that or Mr. Freeze. I like Mr. Clean better."

She started laughing, only Sid. "If your friend is done flirting with my boyfriend, I'd like to get this done."

He patted her hand and leaned in close for a minute. "You really sure you want to do this?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I have to Sid. I don't see the point in putting it off any longer."

He kissed her forehead, "okay. I'll let Louis do his thing."

When Louis moved behind her she closed her eyes again and tried to block out the snip of the scissors, the air that caressed her neck. She felt the air move in front of her and strong calloused, fingers grasping hers. She tried to smile and opened her eyes. "I'm okay."

Jon nodded. "I know. I'm just going to hold your hands for a minute if you don't mind."

She gave his fingers a squeeze. "Thanks."