Chapter 44
“Gladdy?” he asked as he carried his dishes to the sink, “You won’t get upset if we skip outta here for a little while will ya?”
She started to give him a disappointed look, but picked up on the pleading expression. “No problem. You will come back won’t you?”
“Oh yeah. Her flight isn’t till 8. We’ll be back.” He glanced over to where Gennie sat. She looked a little worse for wear in her overalls and one of his t-shirts. Her hair was clipped back casually and she’d forgone the makeup today. He still thought she was the most beautiful woman he knew. A smile crept across his face when he saw that his youngest nephew had curled up next to her on the couch and had fallen asleep watching The Little Mermaid. Gen looked like she was about to doze off too, but she put up a valiant effort for the little kids as she sang along with them.
“She looks like she had a rough night,” Phyllis observed as she helped Glad load the dishwasher.
“Yeah, she did,” he nodded, picking up more dishes from the table.
Glad lowered her head and gave him a disapproving look. “So, I take it you haven’t talked to her yet.”
He had the guilty face of a naughty little boy. “No, Gladdy. Not yet. That’s, um, why…”
She sighed and took the half eaten bowl of mashed potatoes from his hands, “Give me that! Now, get out of here!” She shooed him away with a smile. “I don’t need you crowdin’ up my kitchen. Go take her to see a buncha water!”
He walked over to where Gen sat and crouched down in front of her, resting his hand on her knee. “Are you up to seeing the falls?” he asked with a loving smile.
“Sure!”
He reached for the small boy curled up at her side. “Hey, big guy,” he carefully sat him up, “Mind if I borrow my girlfriend for a little while?”
The little boy grunted, rubbed his eyes and scooted closer to Gennie. He wasn’t willing to give up his pillow/girl so easily.
John smiled. He wished he could curl up next to her too right now. “Aww, c’mon, buddy.” He slowly moved the sleepy child in the other direction so he was now lying down on the couch. He pulled his blankey over, covering him. When he was sure the little guy was comfy, he kissed him on the head and stood up. He took Gennie’s hand. “Let’s go,” he said quietly, then announced to no one in particular, “We’ll be back in a little while.”
They made their way across town to the park on the American side. “Gen, I hope you don’t mind just seeing the patriotic view today.”
She looked at him, puzzled.
He laughed when he realized she had no clue what he meant. He pointed to the Canadian side of the water where huge crowds gathered in the warm mid-afternoon sun. “There’re just so damn many people over there right now. If it’s Ok with you, we’ll just stay on our side of the border. The view’s not as good here, but it’s peaceful.” They walked the all but deserted path through the park on the little island in the middle of the water.
Gen got a decent view of both falls but knew she was missing something. “I bet it’s really pretty over there,” she pined wistfully.
John glanced down at his feet and nodded. “Well, yeah, it is.” He hated to disappoint her, especially after the most recent turn of events. He would give anything to make her happy right now, but he couldn’t see being in the huge crowd on the other side. “It’s not like you’re never comin’ back. I’ll take you over there next time.” He took her hand and led her to a bench in a quiet secluded corner. “Gen, darlin’, I’ve got so much I wanna say to you.”
She gave him an understanding smile. “Johnny, honey, if it’s about last night…” She shook her head, her voice trailing off trying to think of what to say. She’d gotten over being upset shortly after Robby spoke with her. She didn’t want to agonize over it any more than they had to.
He sat sideways on the bench pulling one knee up in front of him. “Genevieve, I’m sorry for always being such a jerk. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like…”
Her fingers affectionately stroked his arm, “Johnny, I’m trying everything I can think of to figure out this rock star life you have. I’m learning, but slowly. It’s gonna take patience on both our parts, so you don’t need to apologize.” Her eyes looked skyward as she sprouted a mischievous smile. “Well, you do.” She rolled her eyes. “But no more than I do. I was kind of a bitch to you too.”
He chuckled at the thought that she somehow thought she might be partly to blame. “What? You mean for that comment in the limo?” he asked blushing. It was humiliating to him to recall how he had behaved. “Cause Gen, you were right.” He took a deep breath. “God, you keep me so grounded and in touch with my normal side. I need that, y’know.” He took a deep breath and got a serious look on his face. “So I…”
“Excuse me,” the woman said with an ingratiating smile. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but...”
John sighed and smiled, hiding his irritation with this woman for interrupting him. He knew the routine. It wasn’t the most opportune time, but he felt honor bound to oblige. He’d smile for a few pictures, maybe sign an autograph, and she’d be gone.
She waived her inexpensive camera toward the family standing behind her. “Would you mind taking a picture of us?” She smiled at John who nodded politely, trying to hide the fact that he was turning beet red.
It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected. “Sure, no problem.” He turned to flash a conspiratorial grin at Gennie, who got a kick out of the fact that he wasn’t used to being asked this question in quite the same way.
She found the exchange unbelievably funny and resolved to work harder to keep him ‘grounded’ and ‘in touch with his normal side’. It seems she was failing him in that area right now. It was obvious to her what the woman was going to ask; she decided it should’ve been for him too.
The woman handed him the camera and he took a couple snapshots of the vacationing family. “Oh, thank you, so much,” she smiled as she snatched the camera out of John’s hand and walked away, never realizing that she’d had her picture taken by the man whose voice she’d just been singing along with on the drive here.
As John sat back down beside Gennie, she stole his all but patented shit-eating grin. “Get over yourself, Rzeznik” she teased. Both he and Gennie dissolved into a fit of giggles; hers were sincere, his were self-conscious. They both sighed.
“So Gen…” He stared into her red, tired, hung over eyes and realized that this wasn’t the best time to discuss important issues with her. “Um, well, I’m sorry. I wanna say it’ll never happen again. But I’m pretty much a fuck up, as you know,” he shrugged with a timid smile, “So it probably will.”
Gen just looked at him for a moment. She could tell he felt terrible. “I know,” she grinned and kissed him quickly.
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence,” he chuckled, blushing.
Gen smiled back and took his hand, weaving her fingers between his. She was captivated as she watched the raging waters roar past only feet from where she sat. It was a perfect allegorical image for what every moment with him was like: exhilarating, tempestuous, extraordinary, and rushing by entirely too quickly. Water cascaded before her as she sat precariously close to a rapture that was formidable in its grip, it symbolized the hold he had on her heart. She hoped, however, that things didn’t end at a similarly abrupt conclusion. In that respect, she wanted to be more like one of the birds circling in the mist at the break in the waves, enjoying the excitement of the swiftly moving water, endlessly immersing themselves in it, but never getting sucked over the precipice.
“Johnny,” she sighed, “when am I gonna see you again?”
He was happy she wanted to see him again. Last night as he lay in bed watching her after he got her almost lifeless body undressed and tucked into bed, he wondered if she’d even speak to him again, much less be seen with him. “Well…” he paused, chewing his lip, trying to recall his schedule over the next few weeks, “I’m here for another few days, and then I have to go back home,” he grunted, obviously less than pleased, “back to LA.” He took a deep breath and sighed, this distance thing was already becoming a problem for him despite the fact that they weren’t more than six inches apart at the moment. “But!” he exclaimed as a brilliant idea struck him, “Are you off for Labor Day? That’s soon, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’ll be great cause it’ll give me time before we have to get ready for Europe.” He looked into her eyes and wondered how one girl could look so utterly ecstatic and totally despondent at the same time. It confused him; he didn’t know how to react. “You can come see me Gen! I’d love to show you around LA.”
“I’d love to come see you, but…” she affected an even sadder face, “we never get to spend more than a couple days together.”
He took her in his arms to console her. “It’s a long weekend, Gen. Get an extra day or two off and make it even longer,” he suggested hopefully.
“Sure,” she chuckled sarcastically. “Do you realize that in the last month I’ve only been at work for what, seven days?”
“But I want to spend time with you, Gen!”
“John,” she smiled raising her head from his chest, “I have spent every single one of those days away with you! I don’t think I can easily ask for any more, you know.”
He screwed his face up into a thoughtful expression, “Well, I suppose I could come see you.”
“Would you spend a few days? I’d love to have you visit!” Her face was beaming. “Stace would love to see you again, too…now that things are, um, different.”
He’d done it! He’d made her happy! A proud satisfied smile splashed across his face. “I’ll see what I can do, darlin’.”