A Rock & Roll Romance

Chapter Fourteen

"Hi Nathan.. how are you?" "Very good Meg, and you?" "Yes better now I'm here, that flight seemed to go on forever and then waiting for 6 cases was just an absolute chore, thank fuck everything went straight into storage." "Ha. Yes I take it Johnny mentioned all the properties are furnished?" "Yeah he said I could bring whatever I wanted but to be honest I've sent it all to the storage place downtown and will just go get what I need as and when." "Ok. Well come on in, Johnny is just with his sister right now at HQ. I want to introduce you to Ben, he's Johnny's property manager and will be your main point of contact for anything house related." Meghan nodded smiling as they entered Johnny's main residence.

An hour or so later, Meghan had been shown a few of the houses that didn't have residents staying in and picked the smallest. It was still probably classed as a mansion, a 6 bedroom fairly chic home. Ben had offered to locate her anything she needed as well as offered the services of Johnny's housekeeping team which seemed far too extravagant, she agreed with the property manager to speak directly to Johnny about rent, and the finances. She was an independent woman and wanted to pay her way, no matter what he earned or who he was.

An hour after Ben left, Hilda arrived. The woman was Johnny's housekeeper and apparently had been instructed to drop off the essential groceries to her. Something she kindly tried to refuse but Hilda insisted so Meghan smiled and welcomed her into the house. It seemed Hilda knew the house well and put away what she had bought with record speed. She left as quickly as she arrived with a promise to return the next day to see how the young woman was settling in. Meghan headed upstairs where Nathan and Ben had put her cases, she dragged them into the master bedroom and laid them on the bed, opening them all at once, she stared at her life that was contained within them. Everything that was classed essential had been packed in those 6 cases and her carry on. Her furniture and bulkier processions had been flown to a nearby storage unit. She slowly began going through the items of clothing, and heading to the large walk in closet. The closet itself was bigger than her old bathroom in Alex's now abandoned apartment. She began to hang things up trying to make it feel homely, and soon she had emptied three of the cases. She pulled out her freshly laundered Hollywood Vampire merchandise from the recent tour, she had ended up getting every tee and sweatshirt that was offered and she loved them all individually. They made her smile, as she found a spot for them in her "comfies" drawer. A place where all her home comfort loungewear was.

Another hour went by, and she was storing her fourth empty case at the back of the walk in when she heard "Helloo... is anyone here?" It sounded like Johnny. Her eyes widened, as she attempted to tidy the mess on the bed, before shoving a load of it on the floor hoping he wouldn't see it. "Ah there you are!" He said joyfully. "Yes sorry I was unpacking. Is that ok?" Johnny laughed. "Of course it's ok. This is your home." "Yes about that.." Johnny's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh?" "Can you give your bank details so I can schedule payment for rent?" "Doll we've covered this, I'm not taking money from you." "And we've been over my argument, Johnny I refuse to stay here rent free." "Ok I charge you a million dollars a month rent." Meghan's eyes widened. "Well that's hardly fair." She smirked. "You drive a hard bargain then.." he chuckled. "How about this? You can pay a set amount, whatever you see fit, $1, $10 or a $1000 for all I care, and then at the end of the year we will make a shared donation to a charity ok?" Meghan smiled "Seriously?" "Yes. Let your hard earned money help somebody who needs it." "Ok. You've got yourself a deal Mr Depp... so do you want me out by the end of the year? That seems more than fair to be honest." "God no that was just a rough timeframe, this place is yours for as long as you want it. Do what you will with it, but if you throw any parties be sure to invite me." "Oh no don't worry I don't know anyone here there will be nothing like that. I assure you." Johnny smiled "Honestly treat it as if it was your own. I insist. I'll be coming and going, tomorrow evening I fly out to France, I am spending some much needed time with my children, and then I'll be in Italy for much of September shooting a movie that I'm directing." Meghan smiled. "Wow! You really are back on the right side of the roaring rapids hey?" He smirked, "Something like that. I'm sorry I'm rushing off tomorrow so fast after you've moved in but I've only got three weeks or so and I've not seen the kids in some time." "God don't apologise, you've already done so much." "You know Ben already, Hilda said she would pop by, and I'll introduce you to Isaac tomorrow at some point. Now I guess you'll want some peace and quiet?" Meghan followed him down the grand staircase, "Actually I was curious, have you had dinner yet?" He turned on the last step shaking his head "No I haven't. I'll just go reheat whatever Hilda has left." "Well at least let me cook you dinner, a small token of my appreciation. It won't be much as I haven't been grocery shopping yet but I'll ensure it's tasty." He smiled "You really don't need to." "I want to." He smiled and nodded "Ok... have you found the kitchen yet?" He smirked leading her though the living area "Just about!" She giggled.

After opening the fridge Meghan decided an easy pasta dish would suit what she had in. She also noticed a bottle of Chablis white wine. That happened to be one of her favourites. She pulled it out the fridge "I told Hilda you like a good white. She obviously got that out my cellar." Johnny said rolling a cigarette leaning on the island. "Wow, thank you. Would you like a glass?" "I would love a glass. Top right." He said pointing to a cupboard whilst licking his rolling paper. She smiled and turned standing on her tip toes to reach the wine glasses that were on the top shelf. "We'll have to move them. Can't have you reaching and climbing when you're here by yourself." He smirked leaning up behind her and grabbing them on her behalf. He was that close she could smell his signature elixr cologne. "Thank you." She whispered as she turned and grabbed the cork screw he had already got out of a drawer for her.

A while later, they were sat eating at the island laughing and joking. They were reminiscing about the tour and Johnny was telling her anecdotes about other tours they had done when Meghan's phone rang. She saw it was her mum facetiming and silenced it. "Doll don't let me stop you." He said picking up his wine. "No honestly it's fine. I'm not in the mood right now." "Oh?" "Yeah my mum is great but sometimes she's too much, you know the perfect life, the perfect love, I'm such a disappointment blah blah blah." "I'm sure she doesn't feel that way." "Oh yeah she really does.." "how do you know?" "Well my brother is the hotshot business executive in Seattle, he married some daughter of a rich business man and now has a mansion on the sound. My little sister is living her best hippy life and I'm sure mum lives her dreams through Poppy, and then there's me. The little goodie goodie who went off to college and actually got a proper job but ended up loosing it and now waltzes round posting videos and following Uncle Alice round on tour." Johnny nodded slowly "Not your biggest cheerleader then?" "Nope.." Meghan said sipping her wine. "It's fine, we get on well enough. We just aren't inseparable you know how some mother daughters are?" Johnny nodded. "That's why you're so close to Sheryl?" "I swear I'm more like Sheryl than my own mum. She just gets me. We are so alike it's scary, I really really cherish her. Both her and Alice have got me out a lot of situations and I'm so grateful for them. Every holiday without fail they invite me, they make sure I feel part of something you know? And I know they were never that keen on Alex but even now they are nothing but supportive rather than I told you so" "That's good doll, I'm glad you've got them. Make sure you invite them to your new abode ok? I don't want you getting lonely without me." Meghan smiled. "God yeah it's gonna be hard.. going from seeing you every day to nothing for nearly two months. Wow, how will I cope? I guess I'll have to be like the millions of other women who worship you and admire from afar." She said giggling. "You do that." He finished his wine before grabbing the empty plates and placing them in the sink. "I promise I'll wash those before I go." She smiled before flipping him off sweetly.