Chapter 15

Jon took Danielle to the airport the following morning, even though he can’t go inside he doesn’t want his fiancée to just be dropped off. While in the limo he handed her a visa card.

”Jon no.”

“You don’t even know what it's for.” He’d try to justify.

“No.”

“Damnit Danielle get used to the fact that I’m going to spoil you. You also need to remember that your fiancée is a multi millionaire and you will be too the minute you say I do. The card isn’t a credit card. The credit card you’ll have will be one with no limit. That is a gift card works just like a debit card, I just put some money on it to take care of the hair removal and your other needs after you quit your job. Will you please use it?”

“Jon I don’t like feeling like a kept woman.”

“Hey sexy – you aren’t a kept woman you’re engaged to a millionaire just get over it.”

Danielle put her head down and looked at her ring. She realized she did actually accept his marriage proposal that morning, he’s speaking no lies.

“How much is on here?”

”Nevermind.” Jon doesn’t want her to go off on a tangent on the amount.

“Jon if I’m going to accept this card you have to be honest with me and not just expect me to do it blindly.”

“It’s got about a quarter million on it. I don’t want you to want for anything. Anything you want to have done, pay off your house do whatever.”

“Jon”

”I mean it.” Jon pulled her to him for a rather urgent kiss. “Time for your flight sweetness I’ll talk to you soon.” He kissed her again and off she goes.

Danielle got through security and to her gate. She called Helen to make sure she has a ride home from the airport and then her mom to let her know she has a man in her life and they are getting married. She assured her mom that it's not because she’s pregnant they just know it's right. After that conversation she’s bored quickly and so she calls Jon.

“Hey beautiful, I was wondering how long it would take for you to call me.”
Jon smiled into the phone knowing she’s starting to care about him already.

When Danielle walked off the plane in Milwaukee she smiled that her best friend Helen is there already. They run to hug each other and Helen is all about grilling her for info the second she sees the ring on her hand.

“Damn, is that thing real?”

”Yes Helen it is.”

”Do you have any idea what a ring that size costs?”

”Yes I do, I was with him when he bought it.”

“You are seriously going to marry someone you don’t know?” Helen asks trying to get her mind around this turn of events. Danielle is not the spontaneous type. She’s the one that likes to plan things, she’ll do wild and crazy stuff but she has to know about and think about it first.
So for Danielle to up and decide she’s going to marry someone it's huge.

“Ok woman fill me in – why the sudden flip flop from your normal character?”

“Meaning?”

”You don’t jump off cliffs without parachutes. Do you really hate dating that bad you’re just going to marry a stranger?”

”Helen – yes I do hate dating. I hate everything about dating. It's so fake and contrived and old. I’d much rather take a risk on a guy who wants what I want, a real relationship the good and the bad, one that wants to work through that cos they want to be married.”

“Isn’t he already married?” She asked as we get in her truck.

“No he got a divorce 8 months ago.”

“You’re seriously going to marrying this man?”

Danielle showed her the ring. “Yep.”

”OH why the hell not.” Helen laughed. “Is he good in bed? He better be after how long you’ve wanted to bang him.”

”Helen!”

“What I’m the honest friend remember.” She smiled. “Just remember sweetie, his life is all about him. You hate that about Doug, and he only has people in this county who know him. You’re man would have the whole world on him.”

“Good thought.” Danielle told her.

Later that night when Danielle and Jon are on the phone, shortly before he has to go onstage he asked her how Helen is.

“You remembered her name?”

”Yes you told me she’s your best friend. I figured if she’s important to you I should know who she is.”

”You’re the best. Anyway Helen is great, she has new pictures of my little man for me. But she and I had a great talk on the way back from the airport.”

”Really about what?” Jon would smirk, knowing damn well it was about them being engaged.

“you and I, but primarily about you.”

“OH really and what about me?” Jon sat down wondering if this is good or bad. He doesn’t know Dani well enough yet to read her voice.

“Just that I have to remember that the world knows you and that you’re life is all about you and I’ll have to accept that. I hate her husband for his all about me attitude so it is kind of scary.”

”Tell me about his attitude.”

“Well he’s a selfish prick. He’s greedy, self absorbed and arrogant.”

“Damn how do you get along with her if you hate her husband so much?”

“Well he’s pretty important person in one of the counties around where I live so when I first met him I thought he was just stressed from the elections and all. Now I know he’s a ass. He actually called her fat when she was pregnant, I was there when he did it. Everything is about him, he can’t even manage to get his own ice cream out of the freezer.”

“Well sweetheart I’m not like that anymore. I grew up. When Dot and I had kids, I grew up and realized that I’m not nearly as important as they are.”

”But since we don’t have kids will you try to pull that crap on me?”

”No and if I did something tells me you’d put me in my place pretty quick.”

“You’re right I would. Doesn’t your career come before everything still though?”

”Not quite sweetie. I carve out time now that is just for family. The holidays, I take a month off before the kids go back to school stuff like that to make sure that they have one on one time with me with no rock star persona to put up with.”

“What about the rest of the year, or the rest of the people in your life?”

“Share. I won’t lie I am the busiest guy in the band. I’m incredibly busy but that reminds me always that I need a strong independent woman who won’t cave into the demands. She has to tell me – no Jon it's my time. She can’t need me to make her life whole. That’s why I think you and I will work so well. You want me in your life but can survive without me if need be.”

”Jon if I’m moving and quitting my job to be with you how does that equal independence?” Danielle asks him the question that’s been nagging at her since she said yes.

“That depends Del what do you wanna do?” Jon asks her knowing this could make or break the relationship, she’s not going to just follow him, he knows that because she told him she was going to have a hard time quitting her job and just doing errands for the next few weeks.

“I’m going to manage Bon Jovi.” She states rather matter of fact.

Jon choked on his coffee. “You’re what?”

“You heard me. I’m going to manage my favorite band. I think I can get the current manager to see things my way. After all kissing him really well got me a diamond ring so I’m thinking give him sex, move to New Jersey he’ll see things my way.” Dani would smile.

“Danielle this is me you’re talking to here. Be serious. You want to manage my band?”

”Yes. Jon I’m more than qualified, you’ll be right there if I have questions and this way some of the stress can come off your shoulders. You only have so many hours in the day and lets be real you’re not old but older and you need to have a balanced life.”

”But Danielle it's my band.”

”Yes it is, and it's the band that’s been my favorite since 1983. Do you really think I’d do something to fuck it up?”

Jon knows he’s gonna lose this. He knows that she’s qualified, they’ve talked about her education and he also knows her last statement is the biggest reason she’d succeed. She’s a fan. “Del one condition.”

”That I say I Do first?”

”Well that is already gonna happen. My condition is you act as my wife first, manager next, then a fan.”

”Why is the part of me that helped put the money in your bank account to buy a 19 room 32,000 sq foot house the least important role I’ll have?”

“Because babe, that’s the part of you that will put the band in the hospital first.”

”What?” Danielle said completely shocked.

“Del, my wife will want her husband home, safe and sound. My manager will want it to be lucrative for both the band and the company. My fan would want to see me – anywhere and everywhere. That’s the part that scares me. I never want steroid shots in the throat again.”

“Woah wait a minute shots in the throat?” Danielle said thinking the stories she had heard were exaggerations.

“Come on baby, you’re the fan tell me the story.”

“Are you testing my Jovi knowledge?”

”In some ways yes.” Jon states.

”You guys made Slippery, toured for over 2yrs, turned around and made Jersey immediately and went back on the road for 16months. By the end of it you were getting shots in your throat because your vocal cords were inflamed?” She told him the story she’d heard.

“Very good babe, that one isn’t an urban legend or a myth. That is true and I’m telling you now. Another Dr. will never put another fucking needle in my throat again. That’s why you have to be my wife first if you take this job. I need to know the person doing this is looking out for me as a human, a man, a father, a husband. I need to know you’ll never take us so far from home we can’t get back. You’ll be on the road but the rest of the guys and I all have commitments and kids back home so we need to be able to get back for them.”

“Jon not only will I manage your schedules in a way that will allow for going home but I’ll also make it more lucrative to do shows, I’ll give you 2-3 within driving distance of each other so you aren’t flying every night.”

Jon laid down on the bed in his hotel room and hit the speakerphone on he cell phone.

“Really?”

”You just put me on speaker didn’t you?” Dani would ask him.

“Yep my phone is laying in bed with me.”

She’d put him on speakerphone too and lay down.

“Honey I’d much rather have you in my arms for this discussion.”

”Sorry honey I’m in Wisconsin.”

”You’re sexy ass needs to get out of Wisconsin and get into my arms.”

“Soon Jon.”

”Can’t we talk about work some other time.” Jon grabbed a pillow and pull it close to him as he talks to Danielle.

“Jon this is something I need to know you can do. You are Mr. Type A personality. You control everything. Can you give up this section so I can feel better knowing you aren’t stressing yourself out. Let me handle the part of you that interests me, the music, the band.”

”That’s what interests you?” Jon opened his eyes as he responded suddenly wide awake.

“Career wise yes. I don’t have an understanding of Arena football that much, I mean I know I like it and it's kind of like hockey cos they hit each other hard but that’s all I know. You’re charitable work is your thing. I’ll volunteer at the Humane Society again when we land in Jersey. I know your band, I know that job it's what I went to college for.”

Jon would exhale deeply. “You’re catching me at an easy time.”

”Easy time? Cos you’re laying in bed?”

”Yes in bed naked talking to my soon to be wife who want talk dirty to me until I tell her she can manage my band. I tell you, the compromises I make to get a little action around here.” Jon smiled.

”You are so horrible. Seriously though Jon I can’t just marry you and be your wife. I have to do something. Let me do the one thing I’ve always wanted.”

”I’ll never let go completely it's me, its my name.”

”It’ll be mine too in 7 days.” Danielle reminds him.

He’d smile huge.

“I see that smile through the phone.”

“I train you to do things my way until I’m ready to let go.” He says.

“No.”