Chapter two

The next day Sarah was at a busy airport. She was feeling very nervous but it was going to be worth it. On top of that, she was exhausted. Yesterday, after her conversation with Richie she had turned to her mother for advice. It did make her feel like a little girl but at least her mother had had a good relationship with her father until he died and she had nobody else to talk to.

By the time Richie phoned back after the concert, Sarah had made up her mind. Even though Richie said she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, she assured him it was her decision. Her family had agreed and Sarah really wanted to see him.

So now she was at the airport, her cab had left so there was no way back. Richie had booked her a flight so she didn’t have to worry about it. Sarah looked around to find the sign of the company she was flying with when someone bumped into her. She hated busy places like this, too busy. She wanted to get out of here but she wanted to see Richie more.

Finally she noticed the sign of the airline and pushed her cart with her bag on towards the end of the line. Luckily the line cleared quickly and she was waiting to be signaled over to a desk.

Nervous, she stepped up to the desk, she hadn’t flown in years.
“Passport and ticket please.” The man said when she stood in front of the desk.
Sarah grabbed her purse off the cart and retrieved her passport to hand it over.
“Your ticket?” He asked.
More nerves. “Eumh, I don’t have my ticket.” She said, not really knowing what she should to say.
“Do you need to buy a ticket?” The man asked a little annoyed.
Sarah shook her head. “No, you see, my friend is in Germany and bought it for me so I could go see him.” She explained without hesitation, amazing herself.
“And what is your friend’s name?” He opened Sarah’s passport again to read hers.
“Richie Sambora.” She answered quickly.
“I’ll check.” He started typing on his computer, taking his attention away from Sarah.

It made Sarah nervous again, what if it wasn’t in there? She couldn’t afford to buy her own ticket.

After a few minutes the man looked back up at her. “Found it.” He retrieved the ticket from the printer and put it on top of the desk. “You can place you bag here.” He gestured to the automatic band next to him with a smile.
Sarah picked up her big travel bag and placed it on the band.

After her bags were gone she was handed a tie for her carry ones.
“First time flying?” He must have noticed how nervous she was.
“No but it’s been ages.” She picked up her things, ready to go.
“Have a nice flight.”
“Thank you.”

She walked away to find her way to the gate, looking at her ticket for the information, she noticed it said business class, at least there wouldn’t be as many people there, she thought a little bit relieved. If only there were less people right here.

After what seemed like ages, business class travelers were finally called for boarding. Sarah took a deep breath, this was it.

She was one of the first on the plane. She found her seat, which was by the aisle. It was only the third time she was flying; she was a little relieved to not sit by a window.

After putting her purse in the overhead cabin she sat down in her seat, it felt so comfortable, it felt good and made her relax. The seat next to her was empty; making her wonder if someone was going to sit next to her. Unlike in economy class, the seats weren’t close together. If someone was going to sit next to her, it still wouldn’t be close. She tried not to worry about it and tried if the screen that would show movies worked. She found the buttons to control it but it didn’t react. Last time she was on a plane there weren’t any individual tv screens. She noticed that technology had also advanced on planes. Instead she found the booklet with safety instructions and started reading while she waited.

She looked up when someone stood next to the chair next to her. The man smiled at her in a friendly gesture and Sarah smiled back. It would be fine.

More people started passing by to their seats in economy.

After half an hour everyone was sitting down and the attendants started closing the overhead cabins. A slight tingling started in Sarah’s stomach; they were going to take off soon.

As soon as they were up in the air and Sarah sat very comfortably in her chair, she started feeling sleepy. She hadn’t slept the night before. She had been busy packing and worrying about what she was doing. A part of her wanted Richie to make the decision for her so she didn’t have to worry but she was also happy he didn’t push her and she could decide with no hard feelings attached to it. This was her decision; she wanted to be with him.

She picked out her blanket and pulled it over her and tried to let the sleepy feeling drift her off to sleep.

An hour later she was still awake, the plane was too noisy to sleep. Instead she tried the remote control to manage the tiny screen again. She got curious when she noticed the music button on the screen and clicked it to find genres. Then she continued to click for rock and was amazed at how much there was to choose from. Under B she found what she needed. The internal system only had one Bon Jovi album but it was the Ultimate Collection, she thought she’d learn enough from that and pressed play.

12 hours later, she felt even more exhausted as she got off the plane. With over 24 hours of no sleep she hoped she looked alright. Although she never thought she looked any more than just alright.

She took a bathroom break before following the signs to customs where she handed over her passport again. When it was handed back to her she moved to make her way to baggage claim. Finding a cart, she found a place at the automatic band.

As she waited she could see the exit, there were glass walls everywhere and she could see how many people were waiting for someone. Hopefully she could find Richie in that crowd. Oh the crowd, not again. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

As much as she tried, she couldn’t spot Richie in the crowd on the other side of the wall. Finally she did notice her bag and picked it up to put on her cart.

Once the bag stood steady she took a deep, hopeful breath and pushed it towards the exit, ready to meet Richie.

The crowd looked even bigger when she stood in front of it. She stepped to the side of all the people, assuming Richie would stand in the back.

Already people were leaving but she hadn’t spotted Richie yet. Would he be late? He wouldn’t do that, would he?

“Sarah!” She looked up from where the sound came but saw nobody, her name was a well known name, maybe it was somebody else.

Instead she looked around for Richie again when she heard her name again. This time it sounded closer and she recognized the man that had shouted it. He was already walking towards her and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, more relieved than she thought she would be.
“I missed you.” She said as he let go.
“I missed you too.” He said.
Sarah looked at him again, of course she hadn’t recognized him the first time. “Are you hiding?” She asked.

He was wearing a jacket even though it was almost summer, his hat was pulled down low and he had sunglasses on.

“Yeah, so come on before someone recognizes me.” He took Sarah’s cart and pushed it to the parking lot where a car was waiting for them.

As they approached the car the driver got out and took over the cart from Richie. Richie held the door open for Sarah to get in before rounding the car and getting in on the other side. He moved to sit right next to her and wrapped an arm around her. “I missed you.” He repeated, before turning her chin toward him to kiss her. It felt like ages ago, for both of them.

Sarah relaxed, to finally be in his arms again, tiredness washed over her again, making her yawn.
“We’ll be at the hotel soon.” Richie said gently. “You can nap.”
“What time is it anyway?” She had no clue what time it was in Los Angeles or right here in Munich.
Richie checked his watch. “Just past 4.” He answered her question.

4 pm, she still had to survive 6 more hours before going to bed at a reasonable hour.

At the hotel Richie showed her to his room, the driver behind them with her bag.

“Do you perform tonight?” Sarah asked when they were alone in the room.
“No, tomorrow night you get to see me on stage.” He said with a huge smile. It was important to him that Sarah would see him play.

He took her hand to pull her closer to him, he noticed her wrist wasn’t bandaged anymore and raised her hand. “All better?”
“Yeah.” Sarah said as he kissed her knuckles, it made her feel tingly.
He reached up to kiss her lips again. Soft at first but deepening it until his phone ringed.
“It’s Jon.” He said as he looked at his phone, then looked up at Sarah. “I need to see what he wants.”

He answered his phone and took a few steps away, taking a bit of privacy.

Sarah moved to her bag on the bed. Should she unpack? Wouldn’t they be leaving soon?

Richie turned around again, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Do you want to go out for dinner? Jon wants to take the whole band out.”
Sarah didn’t know what to think. Meet them all? Now? She just wanted to sleep.
Richie could see she was getting uncomfortable but didn’t say a thing.
“Now?” She asked, she had to be honest with him. “I… kind of… I’m really tired… I just want to sleep.” She hesitated to say it.
Richie realized she must be tired. “I’m sorry, I should have known. No problem but do you mind if I go?” He wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stay with her.
“No, it’s ok, you can go.” Sarah said, she didn’t want to hold him back.
“Sure?” He asked.
“Yeah, I just want to sleep.” Sarah repeated.
“You’ll meet everyone tomorrow.” Richie said.
Sarah nodded shortly, it would be fine.
“Okay, I’m going to shower. You can, well you can’t really unpack.” He didn’t know what to say so got his clothes from his bag to change in the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the bathroom to shower.

Sarah sighed, meeting the whole band, it made her nervous. It would be fine, she told herself again.
Finally she moved and opened her bag.

By the time Richie stepped back into the room she had unpacked and repacked her bag twice.
“I forgot pj’s.” She looked up at him, dropping the item she was holding in to the bag.
“I don’t mind you sleeping naked.” He said as he shoved his dirty clothes in another bag. When he looked back up he noticed she hadn’t taken his joke lightly. “I’m sorry, I was kidding.” He quickly apologized. “Maybe I have something you can wear.” He said as he zipped open his own bag. He retrieved a blue pair of loose boxer shorts. “You could wear these.” He said, showing her the tag when he saw she wasn’t convinced. “It’s new.” He pointed out. He always bought underwear before going on tour just in case he decided to wear it.
Sarah took it from him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Do you want a t-shirt too?”
“Yes please.” Thinking his shirt would be bigger and be more comfy.
He handed her a t-shirt, then checked his watch. “I should be going. Are you sure you want to stay here?” He moved his bag off the bed so she could sleep.
“Yeah, I just want to sleep.” It wasn’t even 6 pm but who knew how many hours she had gone without sleep now.
“Okay, don’t wait up.” He kissed her before he left.

Sarah was alone in the room, she wasn’t sure what to do. She was tired but it was still early and she didn’t want to be jetlagged the next day.

The room had a big bed but it also had a table with two chairs and a couch in front of a television. She decided to sit down and watch some TV. She hadn’t expected everything to be dubbed over but finally found an English speaking channel with subtitles.

She moved down the couch and lied down.

Richie liked the view he saw when he walked into the room, Sarah was sleeping on the couch. One arm dangling to the floor, the remote just out of reach, her other arm was under her head. A leg pulled up, raising her ass a little. His dick sprung at attention at the lovely sight.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to her, gently waking her. “Hey, sleeping beauty.” He knelt in front of her, picking up the remote and turning the TV off.

When he looked back at her, she was just opening her eyes.
“Let’s get you to bed.” He said as Sarah sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Richie gave her a hand to get up and walked her over to the bed, pulling the blankets away for her to get in before tucking her in.

He took off his clothes, momentarily naked as he looked for shorts to sleep in.

When he wrapped his arms around her, she was already asleep.