Chapter 11

It was Saturday afternoon in Northern New Jersey, and that meant one thing: the malls were packed. Even with that in mind Melissa, Angela and Tommy had piled into the car and headed out in search of the perfect dress for Melissa’s date. After 10 minutes of trying to find a parking spot, Tommy was beginning to second-guess the women’s plan.

“Maybe I can just drop you guys off, and I’ll pick you up later. I don’t think we’re ever gonna find a spot.” Tommy said going down a new aisle in a now desperate search of a parking spot.

“No Tommy, we need a man’s opinion. This has to be perfect!” Angela said from the front seat.

“But why did we have to come on a Saturday? We’ve got like 20 other cars to fight for one nonexistent parking spot.” Tommy whined.

“No, just keep going this is going to be perfect if it kills us.” Angela said pointing down a new row of cars.

“I really, really appreciate this Tommy! And this was the only day that none of us were working. And I talked to Jon last night and he gave me all the details, so now at least we know what were looking for,” Melissa said.

“I don’t mind the shopping so much as I mind the Saturday part.” Tommy said driving passed rows of cars.

“Sorry Tommy, but the good news is we can make a plan before we get in.” Melissa said.

“Exactly, so we’ll need to hit the department stores for a dress, and maybe for some new shoes. That will depend on what we get of course. And then hit Victoria’s Secret too to get some nice lingerie.” Angela said.

“Let’s not push it with the lingerie. But the department stores are a definite.” Melissa said.

“Come on this is Jon Bon Jovi, we have to be prepared! So what are you thinking of, so I can visualize it?” Angela asked closing her eyes.

“I dunno. He said we’re going somewhere nice on the beach. So something light, and shoes that are easy to get off incase we end up at the beach. I’m thinking a red dress, not to heavy. Maybe something chiffon-y” Melissa said, letting her imagination take over.

“You got all that from someplace nice on the beach? You women amaze me, and I still don’t know why we had to get something new,” Tommy said turning down another aisle. “I think there may be spots down here, if not we’re gonna have to try the other side of the mall.”

“Yes she got all that from that one sentence. And I can totally see it. Perfect now we know what dress were looking for. Tommy I think this is one,” Angela said.

“Perfect,” Tommy said pulling into a spot, “Now you can go find the perfect dress for Jon Bon Jovi.”

The two girls squealed at the thought and hopped out of the car as soon as it was in park. The were a few cars down before Tommy had caught up with them, and they were deep in dress talk.

When the trio had entered their first store at the mall, the girls went right to work at the dress racks picking up each one and analyzing its pros and cons. After a few exchanges of ‘this material is a little heavy for the beach, but its length is perfect,’ or ‘this is way too short but otherwise perfect’ Tommy left the girls to their in depth analysis with a half dozen dresses in his hands, and found a seat by the dressing rooms.

Melissa and Angela continued to look at the racks studying each dress in detail. Finally Melissa found it. “Oh my god Angela I think this is it!” Melissa grabbed the dress off of the rack. “What do you think Ang?”

Angela walked over and stopped as soon as she saw it. “As long as it fits, honey that’s the one. Is that your size?” Melissa nodded, “Come on then what are we waiting for?”

The girls walked over to the dressing rooms to find Tommy and four other men holding clothes. Angela walked over and grabbed the dresses from Tommy and walked with Melissa to the dressing room. “Ok Mel, I’m gonna leave you here, but come out and show me as soon as you have it on!”

Melissa entered the dressing room and hung up all the dresses on a hook, leaving the last one she found on top. She put it on carefully and zipped up the back to look at herself in the mirror, and she smiled at her reflection. The dress was perfect, and it hugged in all the right places. It was a deep shade of red, and fit her like a glove. It had thin straps, a sweetheart cut and came down a little past her knee. The material was perfect, it was light and flowing chiffon that would be perfect with a little breeze from the ocean. She took one last look in the mirror before going out to her friends. “This is the one,” she said and made her way out.

When she could see her friends Angela jumped up and rushed over to her. “Oh my god Mel this is the one. He is gonna die when he sees you in this. Tommy what do you think?”

“Mel you look amazing. You really do.” Tommy said with a smile.

“I’m not asking you as my brother Tommy, I’m asking as Tommy the man. How do I look?” Melissa asked turning to show off the whole dress.

“Mel you look so good that I don’t know if I should let you out with someone with a reputation like his,” Tommy said with a smile.

“Of course she’s still gonna go out in this dress. That’s the point,” Angela said rolling her eyes. “Alright kid that’s the one were taking, go change. And I’ve got the perfect shoes for you.”

“Wait so all those dresses I was holding you’re not even gonna try on?” Tommy asked stunned.

“Sorry Tommy, not this time. But thanks anyway,” Melissa said and turned to change letting the thoughts take over.

I can’t believe I’m gonna wear this when I see Jon. It sure beats what I was wearing the last time I saw him. I still can’t believe this is happening. My Jon is taking me out to dinner, and on the beach. This is like a dream.

Melissa finished changing and took her dress out to pay. In line Melissa and Angela giggled like schoolgirls about the dress, and the upcoming evening. Once they had paid, and met back up with Tommy, they stopped at Victoria’s Secret on their way out. ‘Just in case’ Melissa had told her, ‘You don’t want to be unprepared’. Two hours after they arrived, they were on their way back to the car with three shopping bags for Melissa’s dream date.

*********

It was Sunday morning in Red Bank and Jon was sitting in his kitchen waiting for Amalia and Cara. The last two days had gone by in a blur. His Friday night with his sons was something slightly short of disastrous. His oldest son said less than a hundred words to him the 5 hours they were together, and never more than 5 words at a time. His younger two sons cared less about spending time with their dad, and more about getting answers about why their sister was moving out. He spent the evening try to tell them that just because his daughter was moving back with him, didn’t mean that he loved his sons less. When he dropped his sons back at his ex-wife’s, she looked satisfied with Jon’s frustration. When he had talked to his daughter on Saturday night, she told him that she planned to spend the weekend at her friend’s house and maybe one or two days during the week before she left. She hadn’t exactly said that Dot had been treating her differently, but Jon could tell that she was or things were awkward at the very least. Jon’s heart broke at the thought of her having to hide out from her own home, but when he offered to move her in earlier, she brushed it off, and insisted that she was fine until the end of the week. Feeling helpless he was determined to make her moving back a celebration and as easy as possible. As Jon let his thoughts travel to his life and how he had let it spin so out of control, he heard his doorbell ring in the distance and echo throughout the empty house. He didn’t move from his seat until the two women entered the kitchen.

“Morning Mr. B! I’m so sorry I’m late. My husband got a touch of food poisoning last night and he was pretty nasty looking this morning, and I wanted to get him some stuff before I left.” Cara said apologetically, looking out of breath.

Jon got up and walked over to the women looking at Cara concernedly. “Cara is he ok? Do you need to go home, you should have called me.”

“Oh god no he’s fine, just trying to milk out a couple things before I left. He can be such a baby when he’s even the slightest bit sick. Last time he had a cold, he acted like he was dying. Anyway I’m sorry again that I was late. What’s up Mr. B your message sounded important.” Cara said placing her bag on the counter.

“Something important is happening and I needed to talk to you about my schedule also. Can I get you a cup of coffee, before we start?” Jon offered, and Cara nodded digging in her bag.

“I’ll get that for you Mr. Jon, and then I will leave you two to your business,” Amalia said.

“That’s ok Amalia I can get it. I want you to stay, I need to talk to both of you.” Jon said grabbing a mug, “You like yours black right Amalia, no sugar?”

“Yes please, Mr. Jon,” Amalia said getting the cream from the refrigerator.

Jon walked over to the table where the two women were waiting for him and took a seat. “This has been a busy weekend for me and I want to catch you guys up there are gonna be some pretty bight changes around here. And I need us all to be on the same page.”

“Ok, I’m ready Mr. B,” Cara said with her blackberry out, planner and notepad in front of her and a pen in hand.

“First, I know I’ve told you this a million times before but you know you can call me Jon, right ladies.” The two women exchanged glances and nodded. “Any chance of that happening?”

“I’ll see what I can do Mr.- umm Jon.” Cara said unsure.

“Very good, now in light of what you told me this morning, I want to make it clear that I understand that you have your own lives outside of work. And while I wouldn’t suggest making a habit out of it, if there is an emergency or something comes up, please please don’t hesitate to call me and tell me. I can manage a day or so without you two, I don’t want you to feel obligated to neglect you personal lives or families. You two understand?”

“Thank you Mr. Jon, I still remember when you paid for me to see my sick mother in Italy all those years ago. What was that 1993? I think it was shortly after Miss Stephanie was born. I am so thankful everyday of your kindness.” Amalia said beaming.

“Ok, Mr. B, but I promise my husband’s just a big baby he’ll be fine. I’m just relieved you didn’t mind I was late, not that I’m going to make a habit out of it I promise. But thank you anyway. Never in any job that my husband or I have ever had, has a boss been so understanding. And my husband used to work with his father.” Cara said smiling thankfully.

“Wonderful! And I’m not as wonderful as you two lovely ladies make me seem, this house wouldn’t run without you. Next order of business. My schedule is open for this week right Cara?” Jon said, as he watched Cara look through her organizer and double check it with her blackberry.

“Um you have an interview with a local news station, I believe it’s for News 12 NJ, about the work you’re going to be doing in Newark with Mayor Booker. Yup here it is, that’s Tuesday at noon, in Edison at the Raritan Center. A car from the station will be picking you up at 11:15, and driving you home when you’re finished. Do you need me to go with you?” Cara said making notes in her book.

“Nope that’s fine, you’ll just have to remind me again tomorrow. Anything else for the week?” Jon asked.

“That’s it for this week and then you’re pretty free. You have an appearance at the groundbreaking ceremony in Newark next week, and then the next real thing you have is the concert in Philly for the Soul. But that’s not till the third week in September,” Cara said double-checking her planner with her blackberry.

“That’s perfect. Now that I know I’m free I will be going down the shore with Richie for a couple days this week. Definitely Wednesday and Thursday, I may go down Tuesday afternoon but I’ll definitely be back by Thursday night. And while I would love to give you ladies the couple of days off I will probably need some stuff done around the house.”

“Ok sounds good, just let me know what day you’re leaving and I’ll make sure that I have you packed up, and the car’s all ready for you.” Cara said writing down the date and other notes in her book.

“And whatever you need done around here Mr. Jon you know I will be more than happy to do. Is there something specific this weekend that we will be preparing for?” Amalia asked curiously. “That is if it is ok for me to ask,” she added incase she sounded too nosey.

“Amalia I think we’ve known each other long enough that you can ask me anything. And yes something is happening when I get back Thursday night. Steph is moving back here with me.” Jon said happily, and couldn’t help but smile. The two women looked at him surprised at what he said. “Come on its not that shocking. Is it? I know its not gonna be easy and I’m gonna need some help.”

“No Mr. B, that sounds great, I just didn’t know you were thinking about brining the kids back here.” Cara said.

“What brought this on Mr. Jon? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Amalia asked a shocked look still on her face.

“We’ll between the three of us, and only the three of us. Steph asked me if she could move back, because of an ongoing situation with her mother. It kinda all happened when she was here Thursday, and Friday morning. Dot and I had a huge fight, and I think its best for all involved. For now at least. But I want to make this as easy for her as I can, and I know I’m gonna need some help. She’s been through a lot more than I would ever want my baby girl to go through. I think I’m gonna kind of count of you Cara to supply whatever kind of womanly support she’s gonna need. And Amalia you’ve known her since she was born, which I think will help. But we all need to be on the same page with everything. Rules are gonna be the same as they were before they left, but I know there’s gonna be a trial period until we can all figure out how this is going to run. And if you could keep any mention of my ex to a minimal without being too obvious about it, that would help also.”

“Ok that sounds good. I don’t really know your daughter, so if I could get some info about her that would be great. Now that I think of it I don’t know if I’ve ever met her. The boys I have, and if I remember correctly that got you in a bit of hot water with your ex. But whatever either one of you needs, that’s what I’m here for,” Cara said taking more notes.

“Thanks Cara, and I’ll make sure that she doesn’t think that you two are here to cater to her every need. And I’m not asking you to raise my daughter just help out when I’m at a loss, and seeing as I’ve never been a teenage girl you are already at an advantage. And in the future if all of my stuff can be scheduled during the day when she’s in school and overnight stuff for weekends, when at all possible.”

“Absolutely, Mr. B. That sounds great. And it’ll be nice not to be the youngest in the house anymore,” Cara said.

“I’m very happy for you Mr. Jon, I know how hard the separation was on both of you. And I don’t think she’ll try to get too much out of me.” Amalia said, “I have known her since she was a baby, and I treat her like one of my own.”

“Wonderful ladies, and any questions you have let me know. For now I think I’m off for a good run. If you need me you know where to find me.” Jon said getting up.

Amalia rose next to him and gave him a hug, “I’m really happy for you. I think the two of you need each other. I’ve thought so since they left, but I didn’t want to say anything. I haven’t seen you this happy in a while.”

“I’ll get right on this stuff Mr. B. Oh I forgot to ask you how was your time at the hospital?” Cara asked.

“It was wonderful, I will definitely be going back.” Jon said with a smile.