Chapter 33

As they usually were, the band was playing like their lives depended on it. They were in perfect sync with one another even with the couple month break. Jon especially seemed to be in a good mood, and he was telling stories and talking with the crowd before nearly every song. He spoke at length joking with the Soul players before singing the theme song of the AFL, “We Got It Goin’ On”.

Melissa and Angela were beside themselves, seeing the concert from a new perspective. They hadn’t stopped dancing along, waving their hands when necessary and even screamed when Richie and Jon would come over to their side of the stage. Right before Jon’s first wardrobe change he once again took the microphone.

“This is a song that I’ve just rediscovered. Every once in a while I go into the studio and I listen to a bunch of older stuff,” Jon began. “Sometimes I think, ‘What the hell were we thinking with this one?’ Other times, like with this one, I think, ‘I don’t know if we realized just how powerful this song is when we wrote it.’ This song actually wasn’t in the first couple drafts of our set list, but it’s been on my mind, so here it is. I’d like to dedicate it to each and every person out here tonight. No matter where you’re from, or where you’ve been, or what you do, you have to love yourself and accept who you are. ‘Cuz I know the five of us up here sure love ya, you’ve all just gotta learn to love yourselves a little bit more.” The crowd went wild at his last sentiment, and Angela grabbed Melissa’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “This song is about accepting where you are in life and taking it to wherever it leads,” Jon looked over to where Melissa was sitting and flashed an extra wide smile. “Now without any more of my yakking, this is Welcome to Wherever You Are.”

As Jon started to play the opening Angela leaned over to whisper-yell into Melissa’s ear. “He was talking about you, ya know. He played that for you last week, and that look he gave you, I am so jealous.”

Part of Melissa knew she was probably right; the other part of her couldn’t stop seeing herself as just another fan in the crowd. Unable to find words she smiled back at Angela, and they quickly refocused to the stage.

She’s right isn’t she? Jon Bon Jovi is playing a song for me. For me! How on earth did I get this lucky, Melissa thought to herself as Jon began to sing. Half singing along with him, and 25,000 other screaming fans the other half letting her mind wonder as she listened to the lyrics.

I am caught between who I am and who I really wanna be. Who do I wanna be? I wanna be with him, I think. He’s helped me through so much; can I really close that door of my life? Is this a new beginning? I’ve made it this far, I’ve gotta believe that this is where I’m supposed to be and this is what I’m supposed to be doing. God makes no mistakes, right? So this is happening for a reason? Come on Mel let it go a little. Have fun, think later, party now.

By the time she cleared her thoughts she heard the last bit of Jon’s “my friend here is gonna sing you a little song” spiel and saw him leave the stage to a rowdy ovation for Richie, including wild screams from Angela.

“Well, thank you very much. This next song is one I haven’t sung in about 10 years, so forgive me if I don’t know all the words. I’m sure you all can help me out, if I need it. When I was talking to the world champion Philadelphia Soul this afternoon,” Richie paused and let the crowd scream their support. “I was talking with the AFL MVP, Matt D'Orazio,” and again the crowd erupted. “And his lovely wife, Nicole, had a request for me and how could I not oblige? So this is off of my Undiscovered Soul album, its called If God was a Woman.” More applause rang out as Richie began to play. It was an acoustic feeling version, without any drums or bass as Dave had been the only member of the band who had done any work on that cd with him.

When the song was almost over Melissa felt her phone vibrate in her pocket again, and saw that it was another text from Jon. dance with me??? Confused, Melissa grabbed Angela’s arm and showed her the message who shrugged in confusion as well. Melissa shot back a quick sure… as she knew the end of the song was near. The response she got was simple ;-) Melissa and Angela exchanged puzzled looks and Melissa tucked the phone back into her pocket and the crowd showed their appreciation to Richie for the rare treat.

The lights went black and a single light showed that Jon returned to his microphone center stage. He stood silently waiting for the music to start. Tico’s familiar intro to Always rang out through the arena followed by the guitar and keyboards. Automatically Melissa, Angela and even Steph, took out their lit cell phones and waved them along with the rest of the audience. Jon wondered over to the far side of the stage and up onto the ramps to interact with the fans. He made his way back to the main part of the stage and then turned over in their directions. Instinctively Melissa and Angela let out a scream as he came near them.

Jon was a few feet from them he locked eyes with Melissa as he sang, “Take a look at my face, there’s no price I won’t pay, to say these words to you.” As the guitar solo started up he grabbed her hand and pulled her on stage with him. Flustered, Melissa followed him on stage and began to dance with him. “I asked you if you wanted to dance,” he said in her ear.

“I had no idea you meant this,” she said still unable to grasp the fact that at this moment she was the one who people were giving those looks to. She was the one dancing with Jon.

“Now baby, what did you think I meant,” Jon said flashing his million-dollar smile.

“Not a clue. You guys are fantastic tonight,” she said smiling back at him.

“Well thank you darlin’. We had to make a couple changes to the set.”

“So I heard. I loved it, thank you,” she said. Somewhere, in the far distance she could hear Richie saying something, bringing them out of their little bubble.

“Miss your cue by just a little bit man,” Richie teased into his microphone.

Jon turned to look at him, his arm around Melissa’s shoulder. “Well I’m dancin’ with a beautiful woman over here, can you blame me for not paying attention to you?”

The band still played Always in the background as the two brothers bantered back and forth. “Don’t mind us, I’ll finish this one up for you,” Richie said as he gave the band a nod and they picked up from where Jon should’ve came in.

Melissa and Jon continued to dance, taking advantage of the blunder. “I can’t remember the last time I missed a cue like that,” he said laughing in her ear.

“Glad to know that I can make you go stupid, just as easily as you do it to me,” Melissa teased.

“But you know I should get back to work,” he said.

“You bet your ass you do. I’d be sorely disappointed if you spent all night dancing with me, and not singing,” Melissa said smiling.

“We’ll let him finish this chorus, it’ll make him feel special,” Jon said with a wink, and Melissa nodded along with him.

During the shorter solo at the end of the chorus, Jon gave Melissa his customary kiss and a smack on the ass, as she made her way off stage and he made his way back to his microphone stand.

“It’s about damn time you decided to rejoin us,” Richie teased as Jon stepped back in and finished the song as though nothing had happened.

When the song ended Jon took the microphone off of the stand and once again spoke with the crowd. “You know I don’t know if I’ve ever been this chatty with an audience before. Maybe I should just take you all home with me,” Jon started to the delight of the sold out arena. “But on a serious note, I have a dedication for this next song,” as he spoke there was a change in the tone of his voice. “I’ve spent a lot of time volunteering at a hospital up in Jersey and I met a very special girl who has definitely had an impact on my life. I end up thinking about her most of the week because she is such an incredible human being. She really is been an inspiration to everyone she meets. So this week she asked me to sing her, but I told her I’d do her one better. I told her I’d get her a live stream of tonight’s show and I’d dedicate it to her. I’m a man of my word, so I got Obie on the project and sure enough he managed to make it happen. Now I need everyone’s help here, can I get a big ‘Hi Lindsay’?”

The crowd happily obliged and Melissa couldn’t believe the lengths he was going to, to make one little girl happy. “Well thank you very much Philadelphia. This one is for you, Lindsay, but I’m sure there’s a lot of other grateful women here that wanted to hear the same thing.” And with that he began playing the opening of Jersey Girl with the rest of the band following. Regardless of the dedication he made every woman from New Jersey in the arena convinced herself that he was singing to her and Melissa and Angela were no different.

As the song came to a close, Melissa couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that he had done so much for Lindsay, who she had come to adopt as a little sister. She knew that a hundred or so miles north one little girl was beside herself, at the very thought of what was transpiring before her. With all that had happened already during the show Melissa couldn’t help but feel that this was one of the highlights thus far. As the crowd’s applause died down, Jon smiled and said, “How ‘bout a trip back to the 80’s?” The crowd screamed their approval and the ground nearly shook as Dave played the familiar intro to Runaway.

They played hit after hit, until Jon took the microphone again with soft music playing in the background. “I’ve been talking to some friends of mine, who are big fans, and they told me that this is a big fan favorite, even though we don’t play it too much. So by popular demand, Richie play them what they want.” Richie played the opening notes of Dry County and again the floor shook, with the excitement from the fans. Bon Jovi shows always had an electric atmosphere, but with all the special treats that the band had in store tonight, Melissa had never seen a crowd so on fire.

The band played all ten minutes of Dry County before bringing it to a close, and the crowd showed their appreciation. Talking to the crowd again, Jon made yet another dedication. “This next song has become one of our biggest hits to date, and it’s about fighting for yourself. I know this songs means the world to a good friend of mine, so this one’s for you. You know who you are,” and as Jon said as Richie’s familiar talk box rang out with the opening chords of It’s my Life. Melissa half ignored the friend comment and stored it in the back of her brain to listen to her anthem. She sang along loud and proud, with tears brimming in her eyes. They were always present when she heard the song live; it was a reminder of all she had endured in her 28 years.

When the song finished and Richie once again took the stage, she took the opportunity to text Jon and sent him her heartfelt thanks. He sent her a quick response, and she quickly focused on Richie, who was singing his soul to the crowd. As he drew the song to a close, the crowd was nearly speechless from the extraordinary performance they had been given, but they managed to show their gratitude.

Jon returned to his usual position, center stage as they began These Days. The cell phones returned in full force as Jon crooned his way through the song. Yet another treat came as Jon pulled a harmonica out of his back pocket and played it flawlessly, leaving many women with their mouths hanging just above the floor as they watched him work his magic. A quick wink to their side of the stage left Angela squealing, as Tico counted them into the next song.

They sang the next five songs, rather uneventfully in comparison, but they were captivated by every note, hanging onto each word. Melissa dug in her pocket for her phone, waiting for a text message from Jon before the encore, but she was surprised to see him take the microphone yet again.

“You guys have been an amazing crowd tonight, I’d like to thank you all for coming out tonight,” he started as the crowd showed their appreciation. “I know I’ve been doing a lot of talking tonight, I hope you didn’t mind too much, I know these guys have.”

“Damn right we have. They paid to hear you sing,” Richie interjected much to the crowd’s delight.

“Anyway, I know I’ve been doing a lot of dedicating, but I’ve got one more to make. Then I promise that’s it for tonight,” Jon continued and Dave started some soft music in the background. “As most of you probably know this last year has been a rough one for me, and I don’t know where I’d be without my brother’s behind me. What I do know is that six weeks ago, my life changed for the better and I am forever thankful,” Jon paused for a minute trying to find the right words, and the audience held on to every word that he was saying.

Angela leaned over and whispered to Melissa, “Melissa Caroline, this is you.” But Melissa shook her head at her. “Come on, who else could he be talking about? This is for you, if you weren’t my best friend I could kill you.”

Melissa thought and knew that she was right. The timing’s right, and what he said last night, I can’t believe this is happening.

“A woman, not just any woman, the most beautiful woman in the world came into my life, like a whirlwind, and I must admit I’m still recovering from the initial shock of it all. She came into my life somewhat unexpectedly, because I didn’t know how much I was missing without her. I had an idea, but I didn’t really know until I found you to what extent. I was backstage after seeing you, and spending time with you today, and I thought ‘Jon, you’ve gotta do something to show her just how special she is to you.’ I thought of all of the songs I could sing to you to show you how I feel, but then it dawned on me like I was hit in the face with an anvil or something. I wrote you a song, why should I cover what someone else wrote about someone else,” Jon turned to face the side of the stage, fighting back a single, stubborn tear. “I won’t embarrass you by making you come on stage, I know you well enough to know that you’d have my head. But baby, this one’s for you. I love you,” Jon said and turned to the band to count them in.

“Cue the piano intro. Here comes Open all Night,” Angela said.

Melissa felt herself about to burst out of her skin in anticipation. Jon was handed his black and white electric guitar by one of the guitar techs, I didn’t think he played the guitar in this song, Melissa thought. Hell what do I know; he’s never sung it live before. The whole audience held their breath in anticipation of the opening chords, so they could guess what song was coming. After what seemed like hours, Jon turned around and gave his nod and familiar guitar chords blasted through the arena.

Melissa’s head spun in confusion, but last night he said Open all Night was for me. I know this song, what is it? Why can’t I place it? As her thoughts mounted Jon sang the opening lines.

“It feels like I'm walkin' on air,
Walk down our street.
When the neighbors stop to watch us going by,
you can hear 'em talking.

Ah, let them talk.”

Shock and disappointment flooded over Melissa, as she saw Steph out of the corner of her eye ecstatic and looking like she was going to cry. Guilt soon came over her, and she passed Angela and Jason and went up the aisle. When she reached the concourse she found Jason and Angela had followed her up.

Angela turned to look at her in her usual no nonsense way, “We’ve got like four minutes before the songs over, talk to me.”

“How could I think that was about me? He just met me, of course it’s for his daughter. I am so overly invested in this. I guess I just needed to know for sure where we stand. It’s not that I’m not grateful for what he’s done for me, and everything that’s happened this weekend. But now I know what’s what,” Melissa spewed.

“Miss Blake is there something I can get you,” Jason asked her, not quite sure what to do with a hysterical woman. This wasn’t exactly in his job description.

“Yes, a bottle of water would be great. We’ll stay here until you get back, there’s a concession stand down there a little way,” Angela said pointing, and took a five dollar bill out of her purse. He looked torn between leaving the women unprotected, but opted for his sanity as he could keep them in sight. Angela came up with a tissue from her purse and looked at Melissa once Jason was out of earshot. “Now you listen to me, you had every right to think what you did, hell I did too. I don’t know what he’s thinking playing with your mind like that. Of course you know he loves his daughter he just used an interesting choice of words, and the timing is just similar. I know he cares about you Mel. Even though he’s Jon Bon Jovi, he can still have ‘man moments.’”

“You know I was actually mad at her? I was actually thinking who does she think she is? His daughter, that’s who. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this whole dating thing,” Melissa said dabbing the corners of her eyes, preventing any tears from escaping.

“Listen, you just need to talk to him and tell him what you just told me. Well maybe not everything,” Angela stopped a minute to hand Melissa the water Jason had just returned with. “Now we’re gonna go back in there and we’ll be ok, because everything is gonna be alright. We both got caught up in the moment and we’re gonna look back on this, hell we’ll youtube it when we get home tomorrow, when the adrenaline isn’t pumping and we’re gonna say of course it was his daughter, but our time will come, and its gonna be perfect. And its gonna happen when its ready and supposed to. And its gonna happen when he knows the truth.”

“Angela, I can’t even think about telling him- ” Melissa started, but was cut off when Angela put up her hands.

“This is not the time, or the place to be discussing that. But its gonna happen, I know it is. Because I know these things, and I can see how good you two are for each other. Trust me,” Angela asked.

“Do I even have to answer that,” Melissa said taking a drink from the bottle.

“Perfect, so then trust me back down to our seats, and we’re gonna enjoy the hell out of the rest of the show, and then either you and me are gonna talk after and then you’re gonna talk to him. Or the other way around,” Angela said as she heard Jon saying goodnight inside the arena.

Melissa nodded, knowing that her friend was right. “What would I do with out you?”

“Beats me, now are you ready to go get our party back on,” Angela asked smiling.

“Lead the way,” Melissa said and she put the water bottle in her purse.

Jason led the way back to their seats, as the lights were out while the band was off stage. Once they were back in their seats, Angela felt her phone ring in her purse and saw a text message from Richie. I saw you leave…is everything ok? She nudged Melissa and showed her, and Melissa nodded her head as she saw Angela respond. perfect! just got a little hot up here so close to the action…needed a bit of air…were back now no worries…did anyone else notice?

Melissa held her breath waiting for an answer; the last thing she wanted was Jon seeing her missing. She breathed a sigh of relief as Angela showed her the quick response. not at all…looks like its another 1 of r secrets

Angela responded, but Melissa didn’t see what she wrote. On the other side of her Steph was texting someone, who she assumed was Jon. After a minute or so she excused herself and moved down the row to where another security guard was sitting and he led her down a few stairs onto the stage.

Refusing to let her mind wonder to Jon, she instead tried to follow where Steph was headed but quickly lost her in the darkness. She showed Angela where she had gone, and they came up with a few theories, each one more illogical than the last. Their question was quickly answered and their theories disproved as they saw a single light focus on the stage. The audience went wild as they expected to find the band, but was surprised to find a young woman there instead. Melissa and Angela exchanged confused looks, as the saw Steph take the microphone from her father’s white stand and take center stage. The last thing Melissa wanted was one more surprise, but it looked like that’s exactly what she was gonna get. The crowd became hushed as they anxiously awaited what she had to say.