Chapter 115: Back to Normal

PM FROM FOOTBALLGODDESS TO NINERGIRL:

I need some good ideas for t-shirts to wear around here to get the point across that I’m pissed off. I’ve only come up with a few:

"Back off, fucknut"
”Just do your damned job”
"Because I SAID so!"
“I’m pregnant, not a Buddha”

I need your help, Steph. It’s either this, or I start hitting people...

PM FROM NINERGIRL TO FOOTBALLGODDESS

Crap, don’t start beating people up, Hath. You don’t need the hassle. Definitely go for the t-shirts, how about

“You'd look better with duct tape over your mouth! “
"All pissed off and nobody to choke. C'mere..."
"In touch with my inner bitch"
"Piss me of, and suffer the consequences"

Put the minions in a time out until they behave like they are supposed to. You're the boss and they need to understand that.

Sam told me a little bit about what you guys talked about. The way we see it, David is just so head over heels in love I don't think he can help it. The rest of them need to back off a bit and you need to tell them that. I can tell them for you when we get there if you want.

Try to get a little rest before talking to Jon. You don't want to go off on him or cry in front of him do you?

PM FROM FOOTBALLGODDESS TO NINERGIRL:

I like yours. I'm adding them to the list. Tony's gonna be a busy monkey.

I know they need to back off, and I have to make them understand that, and on some level they already know, but it isn’t the conscious level.... Oh, maybe it's just because they see the end of the tour tunnel, as it were, and are giddy about going home. Whatever the reason, they have to cut the shit. Seriously.

I so don't want to cry at or go off on Jon. Neither of those things work, though both would be gratifying, and it’s not professional. That’s why I haven’t gone to talk to him yet, I’m still too upset. I’m going to talk with him in the morning, when he goes for his run in the hotel gym, though. I have to, but I don’t want to.

And I know David can't help it. I can't blame him for it when I love that he loves me so much. I just wish he'd put a cork in it in front of the kiddies, you know?

I’ll work it out, I guess. Thanks for listening Steph.

Stephanie had never known Hath to back down from anything, and hadn’t ever seen her so upset. She wondered why in the hell David was letting this happen. She slept on it, but in the end decided to call David. He had to know what this was doing to his wife. She consulted the clock and did some quick math. It shouldn’t be too early to call, but one never knew with rock stars.

“’Lo?” a slightly sleepy voice rumbled.

“David, it’s Stephanie. Queenie. Oh hell, did I wake you?” She was rolling her eyes. It had to be close to noon where he was.

“S’alright, Stephanie, I was supposed to be up half an hour ago.” She heard him stretch and groan appreciatively as the kinks worked their way out of his back. “What’s up?”

“Listen, David, what is going on over there? I've been PM-ing with Hath and she is miserable.”

David bolted upright, totally awake now. “What do you mean ‘miserable’? Sure, she’s touchy, but that’s just the hormones.”

Stephanie smiled. The poor, deluded man. “You need to say something to the guys about the cutsey touchy, feely behavior they are laying on her. It is way too much. And if you call her hormonal to her face, she will kill you. Slowly.”

David was surprised that Hath was upset. She wasn’t showing it. “Jesus, why didn't she say anything? God, the guys just love having her and the babies around; reminds us all of our own/other/whatever kids. She's just such a happy glowing pregnant woman that she makes us all smile, and God, they – we – just love feeling the babies move, though it makes Jon miss Sam more, and Richie gets this strange look in his eyes. Teek just gets this wistful look....” David stopped when he realized he was rambling. “Aw, hell, Steph, we didn't mean anything by it...”

Stephanie chuckled. “I figured it was something like that. And maybe if you were all home it wouldn’t be a big deal. But it’s starting to impact her work.” Stephanie took a deep breath. “Look, her ‘minions’ aren't giving her the respect she deserves; they are going over her head and behind her back for all sorts of crap. This is crazy. She was hired to do a job and if no one is listening to her, what's the point?”

“Wait, what? The crew is giving her problems? None of us knew that. I know for sure Jon didn't know about the staff – he’d never have let that happen. Hell, he gave them the speech...shit, guess he has to do it again. I will get the guys to fix this. She has things running so smoothly here, we hardly have to THINK of something we want to have happen, and it gets done. Damn, I wish I had known sooner.”

“Well you know now,” Stephanie said patiently. “You need to do something. She wants to come home with us next week and doesn’t want to tell you; she just wants to disappear during one of your shows. And I'm worried about her. She says her blood pressure is up and she is way stressed out.”

“Aw hell, I don't want her having stress; and her BP is up? She never said anything. If anything happens to her or the twins, I'll never forgive myself. Thank you for telling me, Steph.”

“That’s what friends are for, David. Now go take care of your wife before she kills someone.”

“I will. See you soon, and thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. See you soon. Bye.”

While David and Stephanie were talking, Hath had gone up to the gym to talk to Jon. She watched him through the door for a minute, gathering her courage, then strode in like she owned the place.

“Morning, Hath!” Jon’s smile was wide and genuine. “What’s up? Couldn’t resist watching me run, huh?”

Hath had to chuckle. “Glad to see your ego is still firmly in place, Boss. No, I needed to talk to you about something, and this was the only place I can think of where nobody bothers you.”

Jon saw the look on Hath’s face and slowed then stopped the treadmill. “Judging by the look on your face, this is something serious. What’s happened? Are the babies okay?”

“They’re fine, Jon, but I’m not. Look.” Hath sighed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the bench and tossed it to Jon. “I feel like a bitch for even mentioning it, because I truly appreciate the love and concern you and the others show me and the twins, but do you think you guys could please stop touching and coddling me in front of the staff?”

Jon looked taken aback. “What are you talking about? We don’t...” he trailed off as he thought back over the last few weeks.

“Yeah, you do. You guys go all goofy and mushy, and the minions think it's OK to do the same, and they’ve stopped listening to me.”

“Minions?” Jon chuckled. “I’m gonna have to get them tshirts that say ‘MINION’ in stead of ‘CREW’. But what do you mean they’ve stopped listening to you?”

“They go to Tony or Obie or even Paul with questions they should be coming to me with. They try to second-guess what I want them to do, and they all look at me like I’m some fragile little creature... Bottom line is they don’t respect me anymore, and a lot if it has to do with the way you guys act around me.” Hath was blushing furiously. She took a deep breath and let it out, feeling loads better for having gotten that off her chest.

Jon was surprised, then Hath watched in amazement as ‘pissed off’ crept into his face. He grabbed his Blackberry from the gym bag on the floor, and called the crew chiefs. He arranged for a meeting in an hour, before they went about their business for the day. Hanging up, he looked at Hath. “Don’t worry, they won’t know you finked on them.” Hath started to protest but Jon held a hand up. “I’m kidding, Hath. You should have come to me when it started to be a problem, though.”

“I thought I could handle it, but I can’t. I seriously don’t want to go to jail, Boss, and I swear, I am about THIS close to killing someone.”

“I can tell, now that I really look at you.” He crossed to Hath, and gave her a brief hug.

“Ugh, Boss, you stink.” She laughed and pushed at him when he wouldn’t let her go. “What’s David going to think when I go back to our room smelling like you?”

“He’s gonna think I’m one lucky guy.” He wagged his eyebrows and held her tighter for a moment before dropping his arms.

“Oh, you’re impossible,” Hath said, backing away, chuckling.

“I’m glad you’re smiling. Now, don’t worry about the crew; we’ll get that straightened out.”

“Thanks, Boss.”


After breakfast, Hath noticed things slowly getting back to normal – or what passed for normal around the backstage area. The crews were doing what they were supposed to do, and when there were issues, they found Hath. She was still going to have Tony make up those t-shirts for her, though. No sense in letting a good idea go to waste.

That afternoon, Hath called Stephanie to give her an update.

“So, he called a meeting and told the team if they had a problem working for me, they could work somewhere else,” Hath said. “I didn’t believe it for a minute, but apparently they did. He told them that they were to treat me with respect, regardless of what the band did. Jon told them they earned the right to be familiar and friendly with me, and the rest of them didn't.’

“Wow,” Stephanie said. “He doesn’t do anything halfway, does he?”

“Nope, not at all. So the funny thing that happened today... after lunch, Jon came and apologized to me again, and said he promised that he'd only put his hands on me in private. His face was so serious, I burst out laughing.”

The two women shared a laugh over that one. Stephanie sobered first. “God, that must have been priceless.”

“Hell, he didn't really realize what he had said at first, but once he did, he started to chuckle, which made me laugh out loud. The twins liked Mommy laughing, and started kicking up a storm. Jon saw my face, and looked around furtively before putting his hands on my belly.”

“You know what this means, right?” Stephanie asked.

“No, what?”

Steph laughed. “Now they're gonna sneak attack you.”

“Oh hell. Well, it’s only for a few more weeks, then I come home. I’m going to take the doctor's advice, and not go to Canada or Michigan.”

“Oh good,” Steph said. “You need some time to unwind and relax. What about the summer?”

“Oh, I’m still going to be working, but from the offices at home. Don’t quite know how that’s going to work, but I’ll figure it out. As for the summer, I'm going to Boston because it's close, and Sam and I are going in a limo and don't have to fly. That ought to be fun. Hey, are you flying straight out to Beantown, or do you want to come to Jersey and ride with us? Lucy's flying in on the 7th, and we're all going on the 8th. We may have to stop a zillion times on the way to pee but it should still be fun.”

“I actually hadn’t decided what to do yet, but that sounds like fun! Count me in!”