Beth was more than impressed with the accommodations on the yacht. She was used to a certain 'class' in her own life, and this shadows what she's used to. She looks around and thinks that four days on this won't be so bad. She walks up to Jon, who's behind the bar pouring her a glass of wine, kisses him softly on the lips and says, "This might be your best idea yet, Mr....oh, excuse me, I mean Dr. Bon Jovi."
He leans into her kiss and says, "Before I give you this, when was your last pain pill? You can't mix the two, ya know."
Beth reaches out and snatches the glass and tells him, "If you don't give it to me, you're going to need the pain pill." She tips the glass and sips the red wine he poured her. "My last pill was before William and Tammy came to say goodbye. So, it's wine or a pill. I pick the wine." She tells him as she watches him pour a glass for himself. When he's finished, he comes around the bar and sit next to her on the bar stool.
Looking at her like he's known her forever and like he's going to be with her forever, he asks, "What do you want to do now? We have this huge boat to ourselves. And the sea at our finder tips." He is game for whatever she wants to do. "Name it baby cakes, we'll do it."
"I think we should eat, I'm a little hungry. I haven't had really anything all day." She reaches over and puts her hand on his arm and gently rubs it and rests her head on his shoulder. "What do you think?" he can't seem to take his lips off her, he continues to talk
He is kissing her hair, taking in her smell and he mumbles to her, "We can eat, what sounds good?" He puts an arm around her and pulls her closer to him, he wants her as close as she can be.
"It doesn't matter, what's on board?" She tilts her head to look up at him, "You pick."
Jon just looks at her, thinking to himself, the only thing missing right now is his children. Life would be perfect for him if they were on board. Since they can't be, he's in his own private heaven right now. "I know there is crab and lobster on board, does that sound good? I told them we really don't eat red meat. I'm sure there are plenty of fruits and veggies....."
"It's up to you.....lobster sounds great though, steamed veggies with a little lemon pepper? Nothing fancy." she tells him what sounds good to her, and he does exactly what she knows he'll do.
He picks up the state phone and calls the kitchen. The chef says it will be served in the dining room in an hour. Jon thanks the man and hangs up. Noticing that Beth is drinking her wine a little faster than usual, while refilling her glass, he asks, ""Are you okay? Are you in pain?"
She gives him an odd look and says, "No, why do you ask?"
"Well, you drank that wine pretty fast, I'm just checking." he admits he was concerned, he wants her to relax and enjoy the ride.
"I haven't had good wine in days Jon, it's nice to drink something that doesn't taste like it was just pulled from the vine." sipping on glass number two, "and my pain is minimal, doc." She winks at him and gets up to walk out on deck. She almost has hopping on one foot down to science, and is confident she can get her and her glass of wine on the deck,............realizing it was too big of a feat, after having but one glass, she looks back at her rockstar and says,, "Can you help the drunk out onto the deck, please." She's laughing at herself because after just one drink she has a little bit of a buzz. She's blaming that on no food.
Jon helps her out onto the deck and they stand there side by side, looking at the sunset. Neither saying a word, just soaking it in and both are realizing how lucky they really are. The orange of the sun and they blue of the ocean meet and make a beautiful green streak on the horizon. Jon slides his left hand up Beth's buttocks, up her back and rests his hand on her left shoulder. She is yet drawn to him in a way that she wasn't familiar with. Her head had to rest on his shoulder, she had to be touching him. "Can you hear that?" she asks Jon.
He's quiet for a minute and says, "Hear what?" he didn't hear anything.
"The sunset, can you hear the sunset?" she replies. "It's one of the prettiest things you'll ever hear."
Jon has never had anyone talk to him, with him, the way that Beth does. Beth has a way of making him look at things from a different perspective and she can usually find the good in everything and everyone. "Now that's something I have never heard before." Is all he says. They continue to watch the sun set on the horizon, side by side. Right where they both want to be.
As the sun drifts below the horizon, they are interrupted by a member of the staff. "Excuse me, sir?" Both are startled and they turn around, forgetting that they weren't alone.
"Yes?" Jon says to the steward in black pants and a white chef jacket. "What's up?"
"Dinner is ready, sir. We set the table in the dining cabin. It's right this way, if you'll follow me." the steward has been on board with Mr. Bon Jovi before, so he's a little familiar with Jon's routine. "I have taken the liberty of opening another bottle of wine and placed it on the dinner table." The steward turns to walk away, with Beth and Jon right behind him.
Pulling out her chair, Beth takes a seat and Jon helps her get her chair back in. She pulls the napkin off of the table and places it across her lap, while she watches Jon take his seat. He sits down and places his napkin on his lap as well. There is a steward to the right of both of them, and in concert, they remove the silver dish coverings off of Jon and Beth's plate. The smell is amazing! Beth looks at Jon and says, "Good choice." and she winks.
"It smells delicious." he replies. "I hope you like the eggplant and summer squash, drizzled with brown sugar sauce."
Beth cuts a bite of the squash and her mouth almost went into convulsions, it was that good. "I've never had brown sugar on vegetables before, oh my god this is so good." she takes another bite.
Jon lets her in on a little family secret and tells her "That's how my mom does it, it's an old family secret. That's how she got us boys and my kids to eat our vegetables. Heat it just to where it caramelizes, yummy!" he is pleased that she likes his selection. They continue to eat their delicious meal and Beth makes the conversation.
"Jon, when I was with Brian, we would have dinner together whenever we could and that was our time to catch up and just have conversation. Do you mind if we do that tonight? Catch up and really talk?" she was afraid that he might look at it as a comparison and that is not what she intended. She just wanted to make it a point to pick a part of their days and allot that to talking. They needed that. Really needed that.
"Babe, why would I mind? Of course, let's talk. Is there something on your mind?" he assures her that her idea is fine and they will make it work, but it was kind of an odd time, he thought.
"Dorothea. Let's talk about Dorothea and the conversation earlier today." she flat out says. She has thought of little else all day.
Surprised, he looks at her and says, "OK, what about Dorothea and the conversation?" Thinking to himself, what could she want to know about that?
"What is being said in the press or on TV?" Beth had no idea, she didn't ask him earlier and he didn't tell her about the conversation. Trust was not an issue here, but Beth wanted to know what was being said about her in the press. She had a career to think about.
"There are pics of you and us on TV. You and me kissing, you and me arguing and of your black eyes. The caption or the blurb was about the Bahama's and she thought that it was from a previous trip you and I had been on. I straightened her out. She was curious how you broke your leg and all I told her was that you were in an accident. So, really it was just Dot being nosey. I told her I'd talk to her when I got back to New York and that if the kids needed me they could call me on your cell phone." Sipping his wine, he looks at her for a sign that she believes him. And she does.
"Why would you walk out on to the patio to talk to her then?" Beth thought it was odd that he got up like that, but it is what it is.
"I can sometimes get a little heated with her, and I'm not ready for you to hear or see that side of me yet. That's all really." he tells her. Jon can quite easily lose his temper and say things in the heat of the moment, and he wasn't ready for Beth to see that side of him. He wanted her to see the lover, not the fighter.
"Did she say anything else about me?" Beth just wanted to know what Dorothea really thought of her. Beth has thought about how Dorothea must feel, but if she was to believe anything, she believes what Jon tells her about the divorce being eminent. It was a done deal as far as Jon would say, but what did Dot really feel?
"All she said was that she's not ready to see it, yet. And I don't know what she expects? That we live our life and have our relationship in secret? I'm not doing that." he finishes his glass of wine and pours another. ""Do you want more?" he gestures with the bottle of wine.
Shaking her head no, Beth says, "Are we rushing things Jon?" Beth prayed he would say no. Still, she knows how he felt about it. She has her moments when she thinks they are, and then when they aren't together, she misses him. And it's not been very long. In the life cycle of a relationship, this is still the sperm/egg stage. But here they are, on a yacht in the middle of the ocean headed to Los Angeles.
"Beth, how could you ask that? I don't think we are, do you? For who I am, do you think this is too fast?" he puts that out there.
"Who you are?? What the hell does that have to do with anything? As far as I'm concerned Jon, you're a man. Your fame and fortune mean nothing to me, so how does WHO you are have anything to do with the speed of our relationship?" Beth is getting a little hot under the collar. She is really hoping that she misunderstood what he was trying to say, but she didn't think so. He needed to explain this to her.
"Hey, what are you getting so excited about?" he asks, with a look of shock on his face. He has not seen her this way yet, and he's not real sure on what to do.
Pointing to him, and then to herself, she says, "You, Jon Bon Jovi have just as much to do with the speed of this relationship that I do. Who you are, Jon Bon Jovi has nothing to do with it. I am not here with you right now because you are the singer in a band. I'm here with you, Jon, the man I'm getting to know and falling in love with." She's still mad, it seems to her like he has just about cheapened what they have, and he never intended for that to happen. She knows that, she just can't help the way she feels.
"Is that what you got out of that? That we're right here, right now because of who I am? The singer in a band? It wasn't meant to come across like that. I meant quite the opposite actually. " he seemed to be digging himself out, but maybe she took it wrong.
With one big gulp, her glass was empty and she set it loudly on the table. Glaring at her rock star she says, "OK, what did you mean then? Because it sure sounded like we are right where YOU want us to be in this relationship. And I was going to clear that up pretty fast. I thought I might need to point out that you were only in the Bahama's because my assistant conspired with you. I didn't ask you to come to St. Bart's - you did that on your own." She was feeling good, she was finally feeling like she had a voice in this relationship.
"Are you kidding me? Beth, listen to yourself, will ya. That is not what I meant at all. I meant that because I'm in a band, and I"m using the stereotype here, I should have slept with you and been on my way. Not a few weeks into it and I'm already head over heels in love with you." He gets that out as fast as he can, to diffuse any other thoughts she had about WHO he was. "Beth, we are right where I want us to be. It's still new, it's exciting and yet, I wanna bang my head on the wall because we live on opposite sides of the country. I want to be with you all the time, and I can't be - because of WHO I am." He gets out of his chair and grabs the bottle of wine. The steward was long gone. As soon as there was a raised voice, he excused himself.
Jon, against his better judgement, poured Beth another glass of wine. That makes 3 glasses on a half empty stomach, she needs to slow down. He's not going to tell her that, instead he asks, "Babe, how's your pain? Do you need anything for it?" he's sincere, and he'll give her anything that she asks for. But she shakes her head no and says, "The wine is helping. Thanks." and that should be all, she adds, "What do you think of me Jon? I mean after all, we just met and here we are in the middle of the ocean on this beast of a boat - do you think it's too fast?"
Taking the seat next to her, he sits and asks, "What do you know about me. About John Bongiovi, not Jon Bon Jovi?" he looks to her and waits for the answers.
Looking back at him, seeing the question in his eyes, she begins, "I do know that both Jon's love me. I also know that both Jon's would do anything I ask of them. But what I know about YOU", she taps his chest, "is that you love with everything you have and expect nothing in return. I know that you are a very devoted and loving father and son." She reaches up and starts to trace the outline of his face,"I know that you are a wonderful man that tries to lead by example. You are a man of integrity, and that's rare." she is now tracing the outline of his lips, 'And I know that you are an unbelievable lover." She pokes the end of his nose and leans back in her chair.
Smiling, he looks at her and says, "Are you done?"
Her gut response is always her best so she asks, "Can I be?" and she laughs, knowing she's not being fair. "Honey, you are everything I want you to be, except D.I.V.O.R.C.E.D. No joke, I love everything about you, except that." The more wine she sips, the less lobster and squash she eats, and Jon thinks she's had enough to drink.
"I'm getting a bottle of water, would you like one?" he gets up and heads towards the bar.
Beth liked that idea, so she replied with, "Yes, please." He returned with two bottles of water and he took the seat next to her again.
Taking her plate and moving it from in front of her, Jon asks her "Do you see this as a long term thing babe? Me and you? Do you see us past Los Angeles?" Beth is a little thrown off by the look on his face, he looks like she has already answered the question with a no, and that couldn't be any further from the truth.
"I can tell you this, if I didn't see us way passed Los Angeles Jon, I wouldn't be here right now. Life is to short to waste time of any kind. Whether it be begged, borrowed or stolen. When you stopped me that night in L.A., I knew.....I knew there was something there. But being as busy as I am, and as famous as you are, to me, what was the point?" She's rolling the top to her water bottle back and forth on the table, trying not to look at him. She knows she's feeding his ego by being honest, but she had to. She promised, and a promise has to be kept.
Jon leans forward and lays his head on his arms, that are crossed on the table. He lays his head so that he can look at her and says, "Tell me about Brian."
I think Beth needs to put the wine glass down because she seems to be blowing things out of porportion.
ReplyDelete