Chapter 3

Richie led them to a bar close by that had live music and food. The thumping of the music could be heard in the street before they descended the steps into the basement bar. Inside it was small but not so much that it was claustrophobic, the round tables surrounded a small stage and the bar ran the length of the back of the room. There were booths sectioned off on one side of the room, to the left of the bar, which had good views of the stage. Richie walked to the last of the booths and pulled Jasmine to sit next to him, giving her a friendly and warm smile as he did so, which she returned. The others followed inside and tried not to draw any attention to themselves.

The small, dark blues club had a few people already in the audience and several of the tables were occupied. At the front of them all was the small stage, which was currently occupied by a very sultry female singer wooing the crowd. She wowed them with renditions of Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner, before leaving the stage to rapturous applause.

“She wasn’t half bad, have you seen her before?” Jasmine asked while they waited for their food.

“I don’t think so.” Jon answered but was interrupted by the waitress delivering their meals.

With their meals placed in front of them, Jasmine giggled to herself as the table fell silent and everyone tucked into their dinners. She watched them shovel the food into their mouths like people who were coming off a hunger strike.

“Did you guys not eat today or something?” she asked,

“Or something” David replied, swallowing another mouthful and winking at her. She was getting used to the cheeky winks from him and Richie, and had also seen a glint in Jon’s eyes as he joked about earlier in the day. Tico was less of a joker but she had already worked out that he was a genuine person. He just preferred to take a back seat and let the others fool about.

Richie had barely taken his eyes off Jasmine since they arrived and was glad that she hadn’t noticed. He was incredibly attracted to her, her silky blonde hair crying out to have his fingers run through it, but there was something more. He had enjoyed the conversation they had all had at the studio getting to know her, but instead of answering his questions, it had only produced more. He heard the way she talked about music and about her job with such delight, and he wanted to hear more, wanted to know more about Jasmine and her influences. 

Unaware that she was swimming through Richie’s mind at the same time, Jasmine was absent mindedly thinking about Richie and watching him from the corner of her eye. She was still not quite sure if she was in some magnificent dream but if she was, then damn it was a vividly real one. She took in the scene around her and listened to the banter and friendly jibes that were being traded by the men at her table. The more she talked to them all the more she realized that she loved Richie’s sense of humor when he bickered with the guys and how he could say something funny about everything. Returning to the conversation Jasmine listened in as they talked about what needed doing in the morning and what time Jon wanted them in the studio.

“Fuck man, that’s the middle of the damn night” Richie complained,

“Suck it up Rich, it’s half way through the morning. You need to start going to bed earlier.”

“Yes Mom,” Richie saluted his friend and blew him a kiss, which Jon saw and replied with a simple middle finger.

Richie laughed, tipped his head back and his laugh rumbled into his throat. He hadn’t felt so relaxed in ages and was sure that Jasmine’s presence had something to do with it. Whether it was her perfume, the soft tickle of her hair as it brushed against his arm or something else entirely, he wasn’t sure, but he knew deep down that something about the woman calmed him and he liked that feeling.

Jasmine laughed along with Richie at Jon, as did Tico and Hugh, and Jon pouted like the prima donna that he was pretending to be. She shook her head and whispered to Richie, 

“What time did he say we had to be in the studio?”

Richie smirked; Jasmine hadn’t been listening and he wondered what had had her preoccupied.

“Not listening to boss man Miss Moore? You could be expelled for that if he found out,” he whispered back. Jasmine’s heart jumped into her throat shit, I didn’t think of that. She thought to herself.

“Aw hell, don’t tell him. Please. I want this job,” she fluttered her eyes at him.

Richie was turned to mush and found it hard to form his next sentence.

“Well seeing as you asked so nicely, maybe I won’t.”

“So what time DID he say? I wouldn’t want to be late after already not listening to him.”

“10am darlin’.”

Jasmine burst into laughter despite herself. The guys looked at her, wondering what had caused the sudden outburst.

“What?” Tico asked.

“Nothing, ignore me.” She spluttered, then made her excuses and headed towards the bathroom.

On her return Richie shuffled over and patted the seat next to him, smiling at her and, when she was close enough, asked,

“So what WERE you laughing at?”

Jasmine grinned and turned to face him, trying not to get lost in the gaze from his swirling dark eyes,

“You. 10am? Man you really are a night owl aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I just don’t do mornings too well.”

“I gathered that,” Jasmine laughed then turned back to the others before her feelings betrayed her and she would have continued flirting with Richie. 

After dinner and a few rounds of beer Jon yawned and said that he was heading home to Mercer Street. Richie quipped that if he got up later then he wouldn’t be tired yet, but Jon just glared at him and gave him the stink eye. They decided to call it a night, drank the last of their drinks and gathered their coats. Jasmine reached for her purse and pulled out some notes and handed them to Jon.

“What are these?” he asked.

“For dinner,” she said.

“Jeez Jasmine, We asked you. What the hell do you take us for?” he rolled his eyes in her direction.

“Sorry.” She said, looking at the ground, wishing it would swallow her up,

“Don’t sweat it, It’s nice that you didn’t just expect us to pick up the bill, which makes it even more of a pleasure to do so. Go get some rest, we’ll be having a long day tomorrow.”

“Thanks Jon, for the meal and for the opportunity to work with you.”

“Our pleasure, we enjoyed your company and as for work, well your reputation is good enough for me. I only work with the best. See you in the morning. 10am.” He turned to Tico and Hugh and signaled that he was ready to leave and the three men flagged down the next taxi and were gone, headed to Mercer Street. 

Jasmine stood on the sidewalk with David and Richie, who were talking in hushed tones. She pulled her coat closer against the chilly evening air, and rubbed at her arms to warm herself up.

“Hey! You two just missed your ride. Jon, Tico and Hugh just left.”

“We’re not staying darlin’, I’d rather sleep in my own bed if I can and Dave’s the same.” Richie answered.

Jasmine knew what he meant but he had left himself so open to what she said next,

“What? He prefers to sleep in your bed when he can? Now there’s something I didn’t know. I guess you learn something new every day.”

“Ha ha Miss Funny. You know what I meant. And there I was thinking we could give you a ride home. I think I might just forget about mentioning it now.”

Jasmine sighed, fucked that one up Jas, well done. A change from the train would have been great, especially after the shocks of today. She groaned under her breath and mentally kicked herself.

David saw that she was having an internal conversation and that she had gone quiet. He had also noticed the rapport that she had going with Richie and was sure that there was something underlying her quietness.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just grumpy because he has to get up early tomorrow. I assume you’re on your way back to Jersey now?”

Jasmine nodded.

“That’s settled then, we’re taking you home. No point in us going that way and you getting the train to the same place. We’ll get the car to drop me home first then Rich and you can go to Middletown. He still doesn’t live too far away.”

“Thanks. You don’t have to though.”

Richie sighed and instinctively put his arm around Jasmine, who was now shivering but not from the cold. They waited for the car to come around then piled in, David and Richie sandwiching Jasmine in the middle of them.

The journey back to Jersey was filled with laughter and unashamed flirting on all three parts. Jasmine was in fits of giggles at David and Richie’s antics and the competition between them. Both of them were flirting as if it was going out of fashion and Jasmine enjoyed the attention. The day had been a strange one but she was full of excitement and relished the challenge that was ahead.

The time went so quickly that soon they pulled up outside David’s house. He kissed Jasmine on the cheek and nodded at Richie then was gone.

The half hour journey to Middletown was a little strained. Jasmine had been fine when she had been with Richie in the company of the others but having him alone in a confined space was something else completely. Although it had been a fantasy of hers for years to be in exactly this position, now she was here it felt odd and she felt self conscious. Richie watched her eyes flit from one place to another, not settling anywhere and wondered what was up. Something told him not to press Jasmine on it though so he started the conversation with a safe subject, music.

 “So, what got you into this line of work? It’s not often we come across a woman in the recording side of things.”

“Growing up in Nashville had me loving music from an early age so I guess it was only natural that I ended up working in the business. I always thought I’d be a performer though, not behind the scenes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah in my early teens I picked up my first instrument, the guitar,” she said with a smile on her face.

“You play?” Richie asked enthused, his obvious excitement at this new piece of information apparent to Jasmine as his eyes sparkled as he talked to her.

“Yup, I sure do, guitar and saxophone have always been my favorites to play.”

“Wow. Well I never would have guessed. Are you any good?”

“Richie! What a question to ask, especially from someone like you. I’m ok I guess, not anywhere near your league though.”

“I would love it if you could play with me sometime.” He said, chuckling inwardly at how his words sounded. Jasmine shook her head at his juvenile jesting but still replied with,

“I would love that too, Richie,” with a raise of her eyebrows. In all honesty though she was excited beyond belief, knowing it’s not every day you get asked to play with your favorite guitarist.

After about 20 minutes more of talking about anything and everything, they finally pulled up outside Jasmine’s apartment. The journey had been far too quick for both of them, neither wanting the night and the conversation to end.  Richie opened the door and held out his hand for her. He walked her up to the front door, and when they got there, said, 

“Darlin’ I’m glad that you’re working with us, It’s going to be fun, I can just tell,” and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a simple goodnight.

As he walked off she couldn’t help going into her living room with a glow on her face. It burned where he had chastely kissed her and she traced the point of contact with her finger, smiling to herself.  She walked through to her bedroom and sat on her bed to reminisce about her day with Bon Jovi, what was to come with her working with them, and most importantly her time spent with Richie.

“Richie” she thought and his name escaped her mouth; it was barely audible but still there. She sat, remembering how they talked freely with each other and realized that she not only loved his humor but she loved just about everything else about him; from the way his dark chocolate eyes look at her to the way his whiskey smooth voice speaks to her. She knew she had to continue getting to know him but also that she had to be careful not to cross the professionalism line.

She finally fell asleep with a huge grin on her face and Richie’s face in her mind.