Penny woke up early on the day of the concert. Not that she had slept much the night before. The excitement of being within touching distance of the man of her, and millions of other women's dreams was too much to bear. She looked over at the alarm clock, 6.30 am. "shit" she said, "Twelve and a half hours til the concert, and Jon and the Boys aren't on until 9ish." she said out loud, then shook her head, realising she must have sounded crazy.
She grabbed the remote off the bed-side table and flicked on the T.V. The news was on and she browsed through the channels to see if there was anything on. "What a load of crap," she thought. She stretched and got up to go to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and noticed the bags underneath her eyes. "Eww!" she exclaimed. "Gross! I'm gonna have to go shopping for some new clothes AND make-up now. Oh well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!"
She went to the kitchen and half filled the kettle and flicked it on and popped two slices of toast in the toaster. Grabbing a mug off the drainer, she spooned instant coffee in the the mug, "Too early to be messing about with fresh coffee," she thought. The kettle boiled at the same time as the toaster popped up. Making herself a breakfast of marmite on toast and coffee, she wandered back to bed and curled up under the duvet and settled down and watched early morning cartoons. After finishing her toast and coffee, she lay her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
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A few hours later she woke up, and glanced at the clock, 10.32, "damn it," she said and jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom, turned on the shower and decided on a quick one and would pamper herself when she had been shopping. Drying off and dressing in a pair of faded cut-offs which showed her long tanned legs and a pink tank-top, she slipped on a pair of flip-flops and pulled her long dark hair up in to a high pony-tail, grabbed a pair of sun-glasses and her bag and headed out the door.
Driving through town, she parked in the multi-story car park and made her way to her favourite salon, Sally's. Sally was a friend of hers who she had known for a few years and would fit Penny in any time she wanted and would always give discounts, and free products out when ever she was there. In return, Penny would put the word around and show off her hair and nails or waxing or whatever treatment she had done that day, just to drum up some business. "Hi babe," Sally called from behind a perm she was in the process of doing. "Hey sweetheart," Penny answered, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hows business?" she asked. "Good thanks, been busy, what with it being summer and all. What time are you setting off for tonight?" "I'm leaving Oxford at 5ish to get through traffic, then I'm gonna rock the night away!" "You lucky girl, I'm so jealous!" Sally said and called over to Chloe to take over from her so she could start on Penny's waxing, nails and hair.
"Okay, lady, where do you wanna start?" Sally asked. "Legs, hair then nails please, babe." she answered. "Sure, no problem. Just give me a minute to get the wax warmed up and we'll get started." Just as she sat down, Penny's phone buzzed in her bag. Flipping it open, she saw that it was Bell. "Hey babe, what's up?" "Nothing, hon, just checking you're ok and if you need me to do anything for you before you leave." Penny could tell Bell was worried from her voice. "Babe I'm gonna be fine, I promise. The only thing I might do is sleep with the singer if I get my way," she joked. "Ha ha, very funny," Bell laughed down the phone. "Just promise you'll keep checking in with me, please, babe?" her voice pleading. "I will, stop worrying so much, sweetie, I'm gonna have the best night of my life. I love you, Bell." "I love you, too, babe. Have a great time, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" " Will do honey, take care." she said and flipped the phone shut.
"Now then," said Sally, coming back with a trolley with all the things she needed for waxing. "Let make sure Jon notices you, shall we?" Setting her professional hands to work, she waxed her legs and underarms, cut and blow-dried her hair and gave her a full manicure and pedicure, all the while they chatted about the concert. "I still can't believe I'm going to be close enough to smell him!" Penny said. Butterflies were starting to appear in her stomach now with the excitement. "You may even be one of those lucky ladies who gets a kiss," Sally replied, while packing up her things and heading for the till so they could settle up. "I wish, hon, there are literally thousands of people there, I doubt very much if I'll be that lucky." Penny replied. She kissed Sally goodbye with promises to ring and tell her all about it tomorrow, and left the salon to continue on her shopping spree.
She went to her favourite store and browsed the rails, and decided on a pair of sexy low-rider jeans, which she would wear with her cowboy boots and her favourite Bon Jovi t-shirt. Going up a floor to the under-wear department. The whole floor was full of beautiful garments. She picked up a sexy lace set in baby pink. The price tag was higher than she expected, but she had the money, so why not treat herself? she thought. Working as a secretary for the local law firm was an ok job, but it didn't give her the excitement she craved. Still it paid the bills and was paying for this under-wear and the concert. The concert, she thought, glancing at her watch, "Shit," she whispered to herself. It was 1.30, and she still had to get home, eat, shower, change and apply make-up and check all the last minute things before setting off. Paying the cashier, she made her way back down in the lift and on her way home.
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The band was doing a sound-check for the show tonight. The sun was shining and they were in good spirits, despite Jon's hay-fever. "Fuckin' allergies," he said, sneezing for seemed like the hundredth time that day. "Hey man, are you gonna be ok?" asked Richie. He had never seen Jon this bad before. "Yeah, I'll be fine, I'll live." he replied, his eyes all red and swollen, "I'll take some more shit before the show. Hopefully no-one will notice."
They ran through the whole set list, while all the lights and equipment was checked to make sure everything ran smoothly. They always put on amazing shows for the fans and this tour was to be their best yet. When they were satisfied that everything was perfect, they headed backstage to chill out before the show. They each went to their dressing rooms to shower and change.
Jon stood under the water and let the spray run over his body, on to his shoulders and down his back, letting the heat un-knot his muscles, which were tense from the fight he had had on the phone with Dot earlier this morning. She had rang him, asking him to talk to Stephanie, who had taken the divorce badly, and was being defiant to everything her mother was telling her. Staying out late on school nights was her latest stunt. Jon had tried to talk to her but she had made up her mind that she was going to do what ever she wanted and there was nothing that he could do to stop her. She was so like her mother, beautiful and strong-willed, but this was the root of the problem. She had grown up with both of her parents telling her to stand up for herself, and now she was, Dot felt like she was losing control over her only daughter. A blazing row had followed, ending with Jon slamming the phone down after she had accused him of not taking enough responsibility for their daughter. Jon's response was "let lover boy deal with it!" He now had a knot in his stomach, felt sick with guilt. They had always pulled together in decisions involving their kids, but he had woken up feeling rough, and this was the last thing he needed. He decided to ring Steph on her cell phone later and try and talk to her when Dot wasn't around. Even though he didn't admit it out loud, Stephanie was his favourite. The fact that she was so much like Dorothea made it much harder when their family had started to fall apart.
Punching the wall, angry at himself for letting Dot know how pissed off he was, he finished showering and sat on a chair, pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took a long draw. "Damn it, woman!" He was trying so hard to quit, smoking wasn't good for his voice, but he really felt like he needed this. "I'll try again tomorrow," he promised himself, resting his head on the back of the chair, took another deep draw, and closed his eye. "Hey, Jonny!" Richie tapped on the door, pulling Jon sharply from his thoughts. "What, asshole?" he answered a little more harshly than he meant. "You ok in there?" Richie ignored the abruptness in his voice, as he knew about the fight this morning. "Yeah, sorry bud, give me 5, ok?" Jon answered, his voice softer. "Sure man, no problem."
Jon stubbed out his cigarette, and stood to get dressed. He chose a black tank-top and spray-on jeans, and his black boots to open the show with. Brushing his perfect teeth, he took one final look in the mirror and took a swig of anti-allergy medicine "Let's get this show on the road," he said to his reflection. He turned on his heel and headed out the door to meet the rest of the band.
She grabbed the remote off the bed-side table and flicked on the T.V. The news was on and she browsed through the channels to see if there was anything on. "What a load of crap," she thought. She stretched and got up to go to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and noticed the bags underneath her eyes. "Eww!" she exclaimed. "Gross! I'm gonna have to go shopping for some new clothes AND make-up now. Oh well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!"
She went to the kitchen and half filled the kettle and flicked it on and popped two slices of toast in the toaster. Grabbing a mug off the drainer, she spooned instant coffee in the the mug, "Too early to be messing about with fresh coffee," she thought. The kettle boiled at the same time as the toaster popped up. Making herself a breakfast of marmite on toast and coffee, she wandered back to bed and curled up under the duvet and settled down and watched early morning cartoons. After finishing her toast and coffee, she lay her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later she woke up, and glanced at the clock, 10.32, "damn it," she said and jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom, turned on the shower and decided on a quick one and would pamper herself when she had been shopping. Drying off and dressing in a pair of faded cut-offs which showed her long tanned legs and a pink tank-top, she slipped on a pair of flip-flops and pulled her long dark hair up in to a high pony-tail, grabbed a pair of sun-glasses and her bag and headed out the door.
Driving through town, she parked in the multi-story car park and made her way to her favourite salon, Sally's. Sally was a friend of hers who she had known for a few years and would fit Penny in any time she wanted and would always give discounts, and free products out when ever she was there. In return, Penny would put the word around and show off her hair and nails or waxing or whatever treatment she had done that day, just to drum up some business. "Hi babe," Sally called from behind a perm she was in the process of doing. "Hey sweetheart," Penny answered, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hows business?" she asked. "Good thanks, been busy, what with it being summer and all. What time are you setting off for tonight?" "I'm leaving Oxford at 5ish to get through traffic, then I'm gonna rock the night away!" "You lucky girl, I'm so jealous!" Sally said and called over to Chloe to take over from her so she could start on Penny's waxing, nails and hair.
"Okay, lady, where do you wanna start?" Sally asked. "Legs, hair then nails please, babe." she answered. "Sure, no problem. Just give me a minute to get the wax warmed up and we'll get started." Just as she sat down, Penny's phone buzzed in her bag. Flipping it open, she saw that it was Bell. "Hey babe, what's up?" "Nothing, hon, just checking you're ok and if you need me to do anything for you before you leave." Penny could tell Bell was worried from her voice. "Babe I'm gonna be fine, I promise. The only thing I might do is sleep with the singer if I get my way," she joked. "Ha ha, very funny," Bell laughed down the phone. "Just promise you'll keep checking in with me, please, babe?" her voice pleading. "I will, stop worrying so much, sweetie, I'm gonna have the best night of my life. I love you, Bell." "I love you, too, babe. Have a great time, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" " Will do honey, take care." she said and flipped the phone shut.
"Now then," said Sally, coming back with a trolley with all the things she needed for waxing. "Let make sure Jon notices you, shall we?" Setting her professional hands to work, she waxed her legs and underarms, cut and blow-dried her hair and gave her a full manicure and pedicure, all the while they chatted about the concert. "I still can't believe I'm going to be close enough to smell him!" Penny said. Butterflies were starting to appear in her stomach now with the excitement. "You may even be one of those lucky ladies who gets a kiss," Sally replied, while packing up her things and heading for the till so they could settle up. "I wish, hon, there are literally thousands of people there, I doubt very much if I'll be that lucky." Penny replied. She kissed Sally goodbye with promises to ring and tell her all about it tomorrow, and left the salon to continue on her shopping spree.
She went to her favourite store and browsed the rails, and decided on a pair of sexy low-rider jeans, which she would wear with her cowboy boots and her favourite Bon Jovi t-shirt. Going up a floor to the under-wear department. The whole floor was full of beautiful garments. She picked up a sexy lace set in baby pink. The price tag was higher than she expected, but she had the money, so why not treat herself? she thought. Working as a secretary for the local law firm was an ok job, but it didn't give her the excitement she craved. Still it paid the bills and was paying for this under-wear and the concert. The concert, she thought, glancing at her watch, "Shit," she whispered to herself. It was 1.30, and she still had to get home, eat, shower, change and apply make-up and check all the last minute things before setting off. Paying the cashier, she made her way back down in the lift and on her way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The band was doing a sound-check for the show tonight. The sun was shining and they were in good spirits, despite Jon's hay-fever. "Fuckin' allergies," he said, sneezing for seemed like the hundredth time that day. "Hey man, are you gonna be ok?" asked Richie. He had never seen Jon this bad before. "Yeah, I'll be fine, I'll live." he replied, his eyes all red and swollen, "I'll take some more shit before the show. Hopefully no-one will notice."
They ran through the whole set list, while all the lights and equipment was checked to make sure everything ran smoothly. They always put on amazing shows for the fans and this tour was to be their best yet. When they were satisfied that everything was perfect, they headed backstage to chill out before the show. They each went to their dressing rooms to shower and change.
Jon stood under the water and let the spray run over his body, on to his shoulders and down his back, letting the heat un-knot his muscles, which were tense from the fight he had had on the phone with Dot earlier this morning. She had rang him, asking him to talk to Stephanie, who had taken the divorce badly, and was being defiant to everything her mother was telling her. Staying out late on school nights was her latest stunt. Jon had tried to talk to her but she had made up her mind that she was going to do what ever she wanted and there was nothing that he could do to stop her. She was so like her mother, beautiful and strong-willed, but this was the root of the problem. She had grown up with both of her parents telling her to stand up for herself, and now she was, Dot felt like she was losing control over her only daughter. A blazing row had followed, ending with Jon slamming the phone down after she had accused him of not taking enough responsibility for their daughter. Jon's response was "let lover boy deal with it!" He now had a knot in his stomach, felt sick with guilt. They had always pulled together in decisions involving their kids, but he had woken up feeling rough, and this was the last thing he needed. He decided to ring Steph on her cell phone later and try and talk to her when Dot wasn't around. Even though he didn't admit it out loud, Stephanie was his favourite. The fact that she was so much like Dorothea made it much harder when their family had started to fall apart.
Punching the wall, angry at himself for letting Dot know how pissed off he was, he finished showering and sat on a chair, pulled out a cigarette, lit it and took a long draw. "Damn it, woman!" He was trying so hard to quit, smoking wasn't good for his voice, but he really felt like he needed this. "I'll try again tomorrow," he promised himself, resting his head on the back of the chair, took another deep draw, and closed his eye. "Hey, Jonny!" Richie tapped on the door, pulling Jon sharply from his thoughts. "What, asshole?" he answered a little more harshly than he meant. "You ok in there?" Richie ignored the abruptness in his voice, as he knew about the fight this morning. "Yeah, sorry bud, give me 5, ok?" Jon answered, his voice softer. "Sure man, no problem."
Jon stubbed out his cigarette, and stood to get dressed. He chose a black tank-top and spray-on jeans, and his black boots to open the show with. Brushing his perfect teeth, he took one final look in the mirror and took a swig of anti-allergy medicine "Let's get this show on the road," he said to his reflection. He turned on his heel and headed out the door to meet the rest of the band.
1 comment:
Loving the story so far. You have imbued the characters with real human emotion I can relate to Jon and his troubles with his kids and ex. great job so far off to read the next chapter.
Love,
Shotgun
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