Chapter 32
When it was all over, Jack and Tony packed up their things and headed out. They had to catch an early evening flight back to New York. Gen watched them go, glad to be rid of them for good. She decided what she needed to do right now was to relax on the bus till the show started, maybe take a nap- she didn’t want to get weepy again. Taking a seat on the couch, she picked up her phone and dialed Stacey; Gen knew she’d still be at work right now.
“This is Stacey!” she announced a little too chipper for so late on a Friday.
“Stace, it’s me. How’s it goin’?”
“Gen! Honey, I haven’t heard from you in so long. What’s up?”
“Oh my God. Everything. I’ll have to take a day or two or ten and tell you about it,” she laughed. “I’m calling to make sure you’ll be there to pick me up tonight.”
“Of course I’ll be there. I’m just glad it’s the weekend so we can stay up late. I want all the details.” Stacey was positively giddy.
Gen let go of a knowing chuckle, “Stace, if you only knew…I’ll tell you later, ok?”
“So you’ve had a good time? Got to see the Midwest and all?”
“I’ve had a great time! I mean, really great. Who knows where it goes from here,” she stated cryptically.
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing, Tulsa’s gonna suck compared to your adventure! You’re going to miss the groupie life…on the road…hangin’ out with rock stars,” she laughed. “You’ll have to wait for the next tour to see these guys. You think you’ll make it that long?”
Gen giggled, “No. I won’t.”
“You’ll make it sweetie. You can relive the experience in a few months on TV. I’m really excited about that. Till then, MTV’s gonna have to do ya.”
“Yeah, well, not quite. What I meant was, no, I don't have to wait.” She chewed her lip trying to decide if she should divulge any more.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Uh, Stace, I’ve been invited to see their last show. I’m goin’ to Buffalo in a few weeks.”
“Are you kidding? They asked you? Or was this just another perk from MTV?”
“No, it was a personal invitation,” she hinted.
“Personal? Well, that sounds interesting. Is this more a ‘come see us, we’ll get you tickets’ kind of personal? Or is it a flying you up and paying for your hotel, kind of personal?”
“More the second one,” she smiled. She watched as John came in and took a seat beside her and started playfully twirling her hair around his finger.
“From someone specific?”
“Oh yeah,” she giggled. Her statement left Stacey aghast. “Listen, Stace, I’ve got to go. See you tonight, Ok?”
“Sure. Ohmigod! Can’t wait! Have a safe trip, Gen.”
John nuzzled up to her, “Was that your friend? Did you tell her about your week?”
“Not entirely. She’s at work. I didn’t want her to make a scene,” she teased.
“Oh, that was thoughtful of ya.” He donned a sexy smile and kissed her on the neck. “I can’t believe it’s time for you to leave already. I’m really gonna miss you, y’know.”
“And I’ll miss you, but that goes with out saying.”
“Aw, c’mon, you’re just interested in me because of my job,” he teased her. “If I was a plumber you wouldn’t give me the time of day.”
“It's Friday night, and if you were a plumber,” she announced with a wry smile, “I’d be at home fixin’ hot dogs for our kids right now.” She observed the sexy grin on his face as he fantasized about having an ordinary life “And you’d be upstairs in the shower getting ready to take me out on the town.”
“Sounds kinda nice, y’know. Thank you Gen for that dose of…proletarian romanticism, I know I can count on you when my head gets too big,” he laughed before coming back to reality. “I want you to leave me your numbers so I can call you, ok?”
“Can I call you?”
Like a clap of thunder, the door to his inner self, his soul, suddenly slammed shut. The plumber, his wife and kids were gone. “You know I’m never in one place for long, I’m pretty hard to reach.”
If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was avoiding her. “You’re right. But, I wanna hear from you. I’ll have to live vicariously for a little while. You can keep me posted.”
“Sure,” he yawned.
“You sound tired. So am I,” she smiled.
“Gee, wonder why?” he grinned back at her. “We have a couple of hours till the show starts. I actually came in here to catch a few Z’s before the show. Wanna to join me?”
“You want me to sleep with you?” Gen giggled.
“No…well, yeah, actually. I’m dead tired right now. And so are you, apparently.” He grabbed her hand and led her back to his bunk. “There’s not much room, it’ll be cozy.”
She half way figured this would be the prelude to something, although on the bus at the show didn’t seem like a very wise idea. But before long they were both sound asleep.
A few hours later, they were awakened to the sound and vibrations of someone running frantically through the bus. “Rzeznik, get your ass up! We gotta get ready,” Robby yelled as he pulled back the curtain that hid them from the light of day, though by now it was evening. “C’mon man, we gotta get goin’”
Johnny jumped up quickly and crawled over Gen. “Sorry, babe. I”ve gotta go.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Try to let me know when you leave if you can.” And with that, he was gone.
When they took stage, she found a seat off to the side to watch the show from backstage. It was a pretty obscured view, but she enjoyed it. A good forty-five minutes into the set, she was tapped on the shoulder by a crew person who had been put in charge of getting her to the airport on time. “Ms. Redlin? It’s time for us to hit the road. I’ve got your things in the car. Are you ready?”
“Um, yeah. Can we wait till the end of this song?” The crewmember nodded in agreement. For the rest of the time, she tried desperately to grab John’s attention, but seeing as he was doing the singing, it was not going to be easy. Finally she caught Robby’s eye and signaled for him to tell Johnny she was leaving.
When the song ended, she couldn’t see him, but she heard him excuse himself for a moment and he dashed back to say goodbye, guitar in hand. “Gen, I’m gonna miss you. Thanks for a great time.”
“Thank you! The pleasure’s been all mine…all of it.”
“You left those numbers, right? Cause someone's gonna call you with the information on the Buffalo trip.”
“Ok,” she kissed him softly, then turned to go.
“Wait, Gen…Genevieve,” he got a very serious face, “I want you to let me know how, uh, things turn out. Ok?” He wasn’t comfortable being more specific in front of so many people. “Keep me posted, darlin’.” Then he ran back to his audience before she could remind him that he’d never given her any way to contact him.