Chapter 64: Sightseeing

Sunday morning, there was some sort of noise coming from the nightstand. It sounded like Nickelback. It WAS Nickelback. Ang was calling me. I cracked open an eye. It was 9:30. Oh shit. I flailed out to grab the phone.

“Yeah, Ang?” I said, yawning. “What’s up?”

“Are you dragging your ass out of bed yet? I’m bored. Entertain me.”

I started laughing. David asked me what was wrong. “Ang is bored,” I said. “She wants me to change that.”

David grabbed the phone from me. “Well good mornin’, darlin’,” he purred into the phone. Ang was going to be no match for his sexy morning voice. It got to me every time. He chuckled. “Well, you come on over, and we’ll see how bored you stay.”

David wouldn’t let me listen in to Ang’s side of the conversation, but I could just well imagine what was going on. If I was insecure, I’d be getting annoyed at the two of them. I went to take a shower. I dressed casually in jeans, my Daughtry T-shirt from Saturday night, and thick-soled hiking boots. If we were going out and about today, I wanted to be comfortable. David, when he was done with Ang, gave me back my phone. “She’s all yours,” he said.

“So, Ang,” I said, laughing. “Still bored?”

“Holy shit, Hath,” Ang said. “I am SO not bored anymore.” She laughed. “I may just need another shower, though.”

When we hung up, I checked the display. Whew. Jon didn’t call. He’d never let me hear the end of it if I had slept through his call. Come to think of it, he probably would have been pounding on the door. Guess he and Sam were having a lie in. Good.

We went down to the lobby where the others were already gathered. I greeted mah girls with hugs and kisses and we settled in to wait for Richie and Lucy. They finally dragged their asses down around noon. “Nice of you to join us,” I said, as we all clapped for them.

Richie flipped me off. “Doesn’t Jon need coffee or something?”

“No,” Jon said, “but I do need help with my coat.” He handed it to me, and stood with his back to me, waiting. I held it out for him, and when it was on, I smoothed it over his shoulders, and smacked his ass. “What the hell?”

I just winked at him.

We piled into one of the band’s SUVs, and Lucy took us on a tour of her city. "Ooooh, Lucy what's that?" Sam asked excitedly. "Is that what I think it is?"

Lucy looked to see what Sam was pointing at and answered, "If you think it's the 'L' train, then yeah."

"Oh my God!" Sam squealed, as Jon chuckled softly at her reaction.

"Lucy, can we ride the 'L' train?" Sam asked, bouncing in her seat.

"NO," three male voices said in unison. Jon, Richie, and David all said ‘no’. Matt wasn’t getting involved.

"Why not?" Sam began, frowning at Jon. "Ya'll don't have to ride it. Lucy, me and the other girls will ride it by ourselves. Won't we girls?"

There was silence from the seat behind Sam, but before Lucy could answer her, Jon said softly, menacingly, "Lucy, if you value your life, you'll tell her no."

Lucy almost told Sam that of course they could ride the 'L' just because Jon had threatened her like that. But instead, she told Sam, "No."

"Why not? What's wrong with it?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing, if you don't mind being mugged," Lucy answered, laughing.

"Oh," Sam sighed regretfully. "I guess we can't then."

Jon just smiled in relief and leaned back in the seat putting his arm around Sam's shoulders.

I reached up to pat Sam's shoulder in consolation. "I'm sure there are other things to see and do that will be just as exciting, Sam."

We went to Grant Park, which I’ll bet looked beautiful in the spring. The park has a series of bridges which cross railway tracks that are still on the park's grounds. After the bridges, the park is divided in sections with lawns, trees and monuments, though the lawns and trees weren’t green yet. One of the statues was of Abraham Lincoln, and the park fronted Michigan Lake and had a track that even in the cold sported lots of joggers and cyclists. Buckingham fountain looked kinda funny with no water coming out of it, but Lucy told us about how it lights up at night, and I think we may just have to come back in the summer.

Sam screamed, and Lucy thought something was wrong. Sam was just excited about Lake Shore Drive. We went to Navy pier, and the driver took us to the top of the parking deck. We got out to stretch our legs and take some super shots of the Chicago skyline and the lake.

Sam started snapping pictures of the skyline, and Ang was taking her own pictures. David and I were looking out at the lake and snuggled together. Sam’s voice cut through the air as she ordered us, then Steph and Matt, and finally Richie and Lucy to stand in front of the skyline so that she could get pictures of us. Then she asked Jon to take a picture of her with Ang.

After Jon had obliged her, he yelled, "Hey, Jeeves."

I looked up at the sky and sighed. "What, boss?"

"C'mere and take a picture of me and my girl," Jon ordered.

"Sure thing, boss," I said, and goddamn it again, it didn’t bother me. I David's waist a tight squeeze before I walked over to Jon.

Jon handed me the camera and gave me the same instructions that Sam had given him on the use of the thing. Jon walked over to stand with Sam, pulling her into a loose embrace. I snapped a picture and asked, "Just one, boss?"

"No, one more," he answered. Then he turned Sam slightly toward the camera and pulled her shirt tight across her baby bump. "But this time make sure you get the baby in the picture."

Sam laughed at him, and I snapped that picture. Jon looking into Sam's eyes lovingly, as she laughed with her long hair flying in the wind.

I handed the camera back to Sam with a grin. "He's so in love with you and that baby," I said softly.

"I know," Sam replied, smiling serenely. "The feeling is mutual." Then she turned and caught part of the lake out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, I need some shots of the lake," she said excitedly, and headed for the other side of the parking deck. Sam wanted to get up on the wall to get a better shot of the lake, but Jon was having none of it. He told her it was a big lake, and she didn’t have to take a shot of the whole thing.

After we took more pictures, and Sam roped some sweet couple into taking one of all of us with the skyline in the background, Lucy took us to Soldier’s Field. On the way, she showed us the Aquarium and some other museums, but we didn’t have time to check them out thoroughly before we had to drop the guys off for sound check, so we passed them by.

Lucy dropped us hotel-dwellers off, and Sam and I had late snacks in the hotel bar before we headed over to sound check. As we were leaving, Queen blared from my ass. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my phone. “We’re coming, boss,” was all I said, and hung up.

We made it to the arena close to the end of sound check. The guys were rushing, wanting to be done. The show was as great as the night before, they played a couple of songs that between all of us we hadn’t ever heard them do live. This time, when they did Bed of Roses, and Jon slapped some random girl’s ass, Sam got mad, and we couldn’t talk her out of it. Uh-oh. Boss was in trouble.

Of course there was an after party, but we were all exhausted. David and I begged off early, and headed back to his suite. We took a really quick shower just to wash the day off, and crawled into bed together, cuddled up and went to sleep.