Not This Time

Jon: February 7, 1987

     "So what's going on out here?" I asked, leaning out of one of the doors of the venue. There weren't any fans out there yet, but a handful of anti-rock protesters had gathered to stake out positions that they'd later get shoved out of once the lines started forming. I scoffed at the stack of fliers that they probably intended to attempt passing out. Richie and I had snuck away to explore the venue before sound check. This is what we had stumbled upon.
     One girl turned and started toward us with a frown. She couldn't have been older than me. In fact, she was unquestionably younger. Her straight, flat, red-brown hair hung almost all the way down to her waist and was held back from her face with an yellow headband that matched the tee shirts that the group wore. Her blue eyes glared at Richie and me. She might have been pretty if she didn't look so severe.
     "Damage control," she answered frankly. She put her hand on her hips as Richie and I exchanged glances and tried not to laugh. "Your music is the work of the devil!" she accused, still glaring, "We can't let people follow you heathens blindly!"
     "And the shirts are so you don't lose each other in the sea of sin?" Richie challenged jokingly. The girl nodded, crossing her arms over her yellow tee shirt. I stifled a laugh and Richie and I exchanged glances. "Well shit, you're serious," Richie joked, laughing along with me.
     I looked back at her, trying not to laugh anymore. "How old are you? I asked, looking past her at the women passing out protest signs to others in the group, "You don't seem old enough to be out here with these nuns." When I looked back at the girl, her frown had deepened, like she was offended.
     "The Truth of the Lord has no age requirement!" she declared. With wide eyes, I leaned away a little in response to her overstated enthusiasm. Richie only shook his head.
     "Man, you are one uptight chick!" he scoffed, "You need to get laid something serious."
     I grinned as the girl sputtered and fumed in what appeared to be disgusted outrage. Richie grinned too, then I smacked his arm gently and pretended to scold him.
     "Can't you keep it in your pants for one minute, Rich?" I joked, "This woman is trying to make a statement!" The girl nodded to me and opened her mouth to agree, but I didn't let her. "Even if it's not true," I finished, turning back to look at her.
     She scowled at me. "If it does not worship the Lord, it worships the devil!" she sneered, "All you promote is lies, violence, and godless sex!"
     I shook my head. "I've never had sex that didn't involve God," I assured her.
     "Oh, you're married?" she challenged, raising an eyebrow. If she knew who she was talking to, then she probably knew that I wasn't. Nevertheless, I shook my head anyway.
     "No, I'm not, but she screams 'oh my God' every time," I answered. Richie burst out laughing. I tried not to laugh, but I failed. The girl didn't seem as amused by my joke as Richie and I did.
     She narrowed her eyes. "That's sex outside of marriage," the girl scolded, "It's unholy and the church does not condone it!"
     I stared at her for a minute, utterly unintimidated by her glare. Did she really think I cared about what the church thought of my actions? My parents raised me Catholic, but little of it had actually stuck with me through my childhood. I smirked a little, still leaning on the open door. Slowly, my smirk grew into a grin.
     "Y'know," I snickered, "I'm suddenly inspired to use a gospel choir in one of our next records, Rich." I turned my grin on Richie and nodded to him. "A record about sex, maybe. What do you think?"
     "Sounds like a great idea!" Richie agreed excitedly, goading the girl on.
     She scoffed again and shook her head. "It's not a gospel choir unless it sings the gospel, which your filth certainly does not," she spat. She uncrossed her arms and pointed at me, taking one little step closer, "You, Vince Neil, are nothing less than a dirty, virtueless devil-worshiper!"
     I gaped at her. Even Richie was speechless. Had she really just called me that? She didn't even look like she knew she'd made a mistake. She looked fully convinced that she'd used the right name. I choked on another wave of laughter and it came out like an amused fit of coughing.
     "Maribelle, come on!" someone from the group shouted over at her. It was such a unique name. The only other time I'd heard it was when Nina was telling me about her crazy mother. I'd never met anyone with that name until now. The thought of it sent chills down my spine as the girl turned to look at the person who'd called her name. "The miscreants are starting to line up!"
     Richie laughed at the other woman's words. "The miscreants!" he repeated in amusement.
     Maribelle turned back to us and put her hands back on her hips. "Those miscreants are your followers," she informed us, tsking, "Poor, misguided things. I hope we save some souls tonight."
     Richie, apparently done making fun of Maribelle's overbearing beliefs, rolled his eyes and leaned back into the building, pulling his door shut in the process and locking it after himself. I watched him and then turned back to Maribelle with a small nod.
     "I hope you do too," I told her flatly. I started to pull the door shut, but then I stopped and leaned out of the building again. "Oh," I added with a chuckle, pointing at her tee shirt, "By the way, people have been dying our shirts yellow so, uh, have fun."
     Maribelle looked down at her shirt and then gaped back at me as I stepped backward into the venue, pulling the door shut and locking it. She looked like she wanted to tell me off, but instead, she just tossed her hair over her shoulder and stalked off to join her protest group in handing out fliers to the fans who were showing up early for the concert.
     "There you are," a familiar voice said out of nowhere. Rich and I both looked over to where the voice had come from. As expected, Reg was walking toward us. He looked kind of annoyed and kind of amused.
     There were venue staff, merch guys, and venue security guards making sure all their individual responsibilities were in order. The concession stands were opening up. The whole venue was making last minute preparations for the show. Any second now, somebody would come along and shoo us out of the lobby so that the fans didn't charge the doors. Richie and I both turned and waited for Reg to catch up to us.
     "Everyone's been looking for you guys," Reg said, stepping over to one of the arena doors, "You guys can't just sneak away like that! We're ready for sound check." He tugged the door open and motioned Richie and me through. When we got into the arena, we were on the end opposite the stage, nearer the tech station. "I found 'em!" Reg shouted, stepped past us and waving for us to follow him.
     I could see Nina look back at us from the sound board. I wanted to tell her about the girl I'd spoken to outside, but I could tell from her tired expression as we drew closer that this was not the time. She wasn't around after sound check, and I was onstage during show. By the time the concert was over, I wasn't even thinking about the chick from outside. I was still hyped up from the show when Nina stepped into the locker room we were using as our dressing room.
     She looked up at me, and I looked down at her from where I stood on one of the team player benches. She rolled her eyes slightly, shaking her head at my silliness as she nudged the door shut behind her. Tico had been left in charge of me while the rest of the guys were out grabbing snacks before we hit the road again. When he noticed her, he smiled and got up from his chair by the counter.
     "He's all yours," Tico said, nodding to me, "I gotta go."
     "There's a restroom right there," Nina said.
     Tico shook his head as he danced around her and opened the door. "No. You guys don't want to hear what I gotta do," he said as he left the room. Nina made a face and I hopped down from the bench. She smiled at me but didn't make any moves, letting me catch my breath and calm down a little bit.
     "It was a great show," I commented, sinking to sit on the bench I'd previously been standing on. God, the tiredness was finally hitting me. I took a deep breath and smiled up at her. "You can't possibly have notes for me," I sighed.
     Nina shook her head, coming to sit next to me. "Do I ever, really, though?" she snickered, "You guys know what you're doing. My notes were always kind of useless anyway."
     "I like your notes," I muttered, leaning toward her and resting my forehead against hers. I closed my eyes for just a minute, which was a mistake. Now that I was so tired, it was hard to get my eyes open again.
     "Don't lean on me," Nina scoffed, leaning away from me and forcing me to open my eyes and sit up, "I'll fall over too." I blinked at her and smiled. She did look tired, but she always did. She snapped and pointed at me. "Meant to ask," she said, "Where were you and Richie hiding before sound check?"
     I smirked. "We were messing with some people that were hanging around outside the venue."
     "You mean your fans?" Nina challenged, "You were messing with your fans?"
     I shook my head, still smirking. "No, they were anti-rock protesters," I corrected.
     All you promote is lies, violence, and godless sex!
     I closed my eyes and shook my head, grinning at the words of the one girl I'd spoken to outside the venue. Maribelle. That chill ran down my spine once more. I opened my eyes to find Nina's blue ones staring at me questioningly. I blinked and shook my head again.
     "The girl that we were talking to was such a bitch," I grumbled, leaning away from her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her tilt her head, but she waited patiently for me to go on. "She was so against this concert, but then.." I paused and laughed, thinking back on what she'd said, "Then she called me Vince Neil!"
     "Oh God, I'm sorry," Nina groaned, "What a gracious compliment to Vince Neil!" I looked over at her with a grin. Nina grimaced at the floor and then at me, shaking her head in those tiny little shakes the whole time. I was about to say something back when she added, "And Mötley Crüe!"
     "Now you're just being mean," I laughed.
Nina narrowed her eyes at me and shook her head. "Are you kidding me? Bon Jovi is way better than Mötley Crüe any day!"
     I got up and stretched, looking down at her. "You're only saying that because you're sleeping with me," I said. She got up and met my eyes, giving me a defiant look. I smirked a little and she wrinkled her nose. She was adorable.
     "I was saying that before I even met you," she insisted.
     I scoffed, "Bon Jovi wasn't even a band before you met me!"
     Nina's defiant expression dropped and she blinked. She looked like she was just realizing how true my statement really was. She knew that, though; she was there in the beginning. She raised an eyebrow at me with a smug expression and shrugged.
     "And you were still better," she recovered. I laughed and shook my head at her, pulling her into a hug. "Mmmh," she sighed as I squeezed her, "So, this bitch you were talking to outside seemed to capture your attention. Was she cute or something?"
     I pulled away from her and stared at her again. There was that chill again. I shivered and then shook my head. "Not really," I said. I wasn't sure what else to say, so I just came out with the part of the story that was still giving me creeps. "Her name was Maribelle."
     Nina's teasing smirk faded and she looked away. She seemed a little unsettled by this information for some reason. Maybe she knew something I didn't. Her eyes drifted back to me and she frowned a little more.
     "I forgot for a minute that we were in Houston," she mumbled.
     "Hey!" I exclaimed, forgetting all about Maribelle in my excitement, "We're in Houston! That means Valentine's Day is only a week away!" I brushed some of her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. She knew what was coming and rolled her eyes. "Our anniversary's coming up," I reminded her. She smiled, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. I smiled too. "What are we doing for that?"
     Nina looked down and then shrugged. "We're gonna be on the road," she sighed, looking back up at me with a shake of her head. "If I remember correctly, we'll be in Florida for a show that night." She pouted a little and shrugged again.
     "St. Petersburg, yeah," I agreed. I only remembered because the next day, the band would be participating in a charity event that I was actually pretty excited for. We had a baseball game. I loved baseball! I couldn't wait to win. It was gonna be a great break in tour. I shrugged, forcing my mind back to the topic at hand. "We could get together that night after the show," I suggested.
     Nina pressed her lips together and gave me a look. "After show, really?"
     "Why not? It's always after show when we get together," I reminded her. She snickered and shook her head. She knew I was right. I couldn't blame her though, for wanting this to be special. I did too. I just didn't know what else to do.
     "Don't you have that game thing the next day, though?" she asked. I nodded, an excited grin growing across my face at the thought of it. I really was ready for it. I hadn't gotten time off to play a game of baseball in what felt like forever. She smiled too. "I can't wait to see that," she giggled, "I'm sure I'll be able to get a seat. I just hope it's a good one."
     I smirked and snickered at her too. "You're not gonna play?" I teased.
     "No way!" she scoffed, "I suck at baseball."
     "I can teach you," I said, leaning toward her a little.
     "Not in time for the sixteenth," she countered.
     I smirked again. "I could if you'd come to my room after show."
Nina chuckled a little and stepped away from me. She wouldn't look at me for a second and then she shook her head. "I don't want you tired out on that field," she whispered, bringing her eyes back to mine, "And you would be."
     I smirked a little at the insinuation, but shrugged nonetheless. "So when can we do something?" I complained quietly, "We only get one first anniversary." When she blinked up at me, there was something in her eyes. Some look I couldn't identify. She sort of looked sad. After a minute, I chalked it up to her being disappointed about our conundrum.
     Nina blinked and pursed her lips again, looking down at my necklaces as she spoke. "First chance we'll have is when we get to Puerto Rico," she said, her eyes flicking up to me again.
     I leaned away from her again with a grimace. "Uuugh," I groaned, "The Bozz told me about that. We're gonna be there for a few days, but we're doing press days before and after she show date." I closed my eyes and brought my hands up to rub my face. I knew that the interviews were part of the job, but I rarely looked forward to them. I was always worried they would drag on and on, but for the most part, they were never as bad as I imagined they'd be.
     "So that rules out the twentieth, the twenty first, and the twenty second," Nina counted, either completely unaware or simply ignoring my apprehension about the endless interviews. "We're going to be in Oklahoma City on the twenty fourth," she said.
     I shrugged. "So can we plan something for the twenty third?"
     Nina tilted her head back and forth, thinking about it. She bit her lip and then shrugged. "We can.."
     "But?"
     "But it would be our luck that we'd plan something for that day and then wind up traveling back to Oklahoma before we could act on it," she supposed. She looked up at me and shook her head. "I can't sleep on a bus, there's no way I'll be able to nap on the plane. I'm gonna want to sleep before show the next day."
     I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair. I didn't know what to do. There was only one other option. At first, I thought it was kinda crappy, but then again. Wait. There was no show the next day. I dropped my hand and smirked at her.
     "We can plan something for the nineteenth," I told her with a slight shrug. She looked like she wanted to protest, but I held up my hands to stop her. "I know we're going probably going to be flying in that day, but you know it'll be in the morning. We'll probably have the rest of the day off," I explained, "And there's no concert the next day, you can catch up on some rest the next morning."
     A small smile grew on Nina's face as she spoke, but that same weird look was in her eyes. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't help but wonder why it was there now. Then she blinked and it was gone. She looked just as excited as I felt as she bit her lip.
     "At the very least we could have dinner together," she whispered, closing the space between us. I smiled back and nodded. She brought her arms to rest on my shoulders as I wrapped mine around her waist the way I usually did.
     "And some fun," I added just as quietly, leaning in to give her a small kiss. She smirked a little when I pulled away. That look I'd seen just a minute ago was gone; there wasn't even the faintest sign of it. She looked absolutely taken with me. I didn't understand it, but then again, maybe that's what I looked like to her when I stared at her lovingly. I leaned in and kissed her again, softly this time, sweetly.
     We had literally just finished that kiss when the door burst open. Nina and I jumped away from each other in a panic. I shoved my hands into my pockets and, when I looked over at Nina, she was a good five feet away, arms crossed.
     The band came clamoring into the room with their arms full of chips and other snacks they'd taken from the hospitality room. When the door fell shut behind them, I let out a sigh of relief and ran my hand through my hair again. No Bozz. Whew. Dodged a bullet there. That was terrifying. The thought of us getting caught and her leaving as a result was the worst thing I could imagine happening right now. She was making tour just a little more bearable.
     "So the nineteenth," Nina stated, pointing at me acknowledgingly as she started toward the door, nodding to herself nervously. "I've got to get back to work," she muttered.
     "Hey," I called, taking one large step and grabbing her arm before she could get away. She looked back at me just in time for my kiss to land on her cheek. "I love you," I reminded her.
     She smiled a little, but that sad look in her eyes was there again. It was starting to worry me. What could she possibly be thinking after I said that to her that would make her sad? Her smile widened, distracting me from my concern. Maybe it was just how close we were to our anniversary, but any little thing she did made me feel like she was the most amazing woman on Earth.
     "I love you too," she replied with that same smile. She took my hand and squeezed it as she pecked my lips. Then she let go of my hand and she was gone.
     Eight more days until our anniversary. I really cared about her, so yeah, I kept track. I really did love her; I didn't just say that to keep her coming around. Twelve more days until it would be just us again. Even if only for the night. I was so excited, I could taste it.
     "Dude," Alec chuckled, "You alright?"
     I looked away from the door and over at my band with an embarrassed smile. Then I nodded, making my way over to them. I was alright. I was more than alright. I was great.