Chapter 14

Gia plopped down on Em’s bed, irritation written all over her face , How much ranting and raving can one woman do ? “ I swear Em I can’t take this anymore I am so ready to run off for parts unknown  “ She huffed “Care to join me ? I -- we should have exchanged our tickets home to another good vacation spot. “

Emmie sighed and kicked a fluffy stuffed bunny across the floor before dropping hard onto her bed with a groan. “I don’t get it Gia, what’s the big deal? SO I signed up for some college classes? It’s not like I shot the freakin’ sheriff or something, but damn you’d think I did.”

Gia squinted her eyes ,placed her hand over her heart  and preceded to mimic her aunt “ Because Emmilie darlin’ we are Cadens , and  Cadens doesn’t go to -- that type of school . If you insist on going to school . Why not Harvard or something that is a school for the Cadens “

Emmie snickered, “yeah cause its just so easy to get into Harvard.” she said sarcastically. “Really Gia, I don’t see why it matters where I go do you?” She paused but not long enough for Gia to be able to answer. “It’s just an English lit, and a pre-algebra refresher course, it’s not like I need Harvard for THAT. Hell I don’t even know if I want to actually go to collage or not, don’t even know what I would major in if I went, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a couple of credits outta the way and test the waters a bit before I made a decision ya know.” She ended in a whine.

“Cuz , community colleges are worse than gum stuck to your favorite Gucci shoes “ Gia giggled “But seriously , she wont be happy til you’re married to the CEO of a major company , popping out heirs “  Gia flung her legs over the bed and sat up . “This is why I want to leave , I’ll never live up to what I should be , thats not me “

“yeah well you don’t have to, not really. You came into your trust fund a few months ago Gia, honestly I thought you’d be long gone once you did.”

Gia traipsed over to Em , turned her to face her . “Cuz , we’re family and I don’t wanna leave you behind. You been like a sister to me , only one that has besides Uncle Daniel to accept me for me . I can’t leave that behind “

Emmie had to smile,”Yeah I know, I know” She sighed. “Well Daddy will be home any minute now, I’ll just talk to him. He’s the one who said I should do things, find myself so he will tell her to lay off!”

“What you wanna do til he does? I know one thing avoid her as much as  we can “ Gia laughed then sighed “Wish we were stll  on the island , laying out , you getting hit by the volleyball “ a devilish twinkle flashed in her eyes.

Emmie chuckled then stood up and walked to the window, moving her curtain aside she peered out. “ Yeah, I’m glad daddy suggested that ya know. That whole trip was his doing. I wonder if we spoke to him about it if he’d set something else up for us to.......” her words trailed off and she stared out the window with a look of confusion on her face. “I really......oh shit...” She turned on her heel and fast as a flash took off out the door and down the stairs leaving Gia standing there open mouthed.

Gia watched her cousin dash out of the room, a look of bewilderment crossed her face when it sunk in that Em cursed.  She walked over to the window , her eyes widened “Well fuck me ! “‘Gia exclaimed , and quickly followed after her cousin .

Richie peered through the front window of the bus “Well hell, Em  said they were wealthy , maybe she really is a princess “ He joked while they waited for someone to answer the buzz at the gate.

Jon peeked over his shoulder, “I thought you said, she said her father was a Senator, this place looks like fucking fort knox, sure she didn’t say the president??”

“That’s what she said , Senator Caden , guess they get the protection as the president” Richie smirked.

Emmie was nearly squealing with delight as she blew thru the kitchen “Open the gate, open it!” She ordered one of the house staff as her Mother stood looking curiously at the invaders at the gate. “It’s ok mom, I know them!” she said excitedly as she traipsed thru the hallway into the huge foyer and out the front door.

“Emmilia is this the reason for your flippancy  and defiance lately?” Regina’s eyes widened when the huge silver coach halted at the far end of the horseshoe drive way, the door opened and two very strange and unsavory looking  fellows stepped onto the concrete. One wore a bent up old black stetson he must have picked up off a b-movie western set, and the other. Her face puzzled even more, Was that MAN wearing  PINK animal print pants? She huffed as Emmie ignored her. “ I told your father we shouldn’t have sent you girls alone to that -- beach. I just knew you’d get mixed up with people we try to protect you from I....“ Em’s mother paused trying catch her breath,

“Emmilia don’t you dare let those hooligans in here . You hear me young lady !! “

Gia smirked and seized the opportunity to seize the opportunity to send her aunt into a bad case of the vapors “OH Auntie Regina, oh yes better stand back they been known to bite and I believe they maybe rabid “  she said in all serious she could muster .

Regina stared at her niece, a wave of fear flew over her face and she peeked timidly from behind the safety of the screen door as her daughter practically launched herself at the large, tall long haired..... cowboy?

Emmie  threw herself into Richie's arms and hugged him tightly. “Richie!!! You came! You really did! I mean I know you said you would but I didn’t really think you would but you did!” she rambled happily.

Richie instinctively wrapped his arms around her , “Didn’t I tell you that I would darlin’ “he answered with a smile while dropping a kiss on her lips.

Gia nudged her aunt  out of the way to join the circus , practically launching herself on the one who her aunt glared at with disgust.  Her arms slipping around his neck , breathing in his scent. “Well Jersey-boy you are full of surprises aren’t you “ not caring her aunt was near to the point of collapse , she kissed him.

Jon wasn’t sure what kind of reception he was going to receive from Gia. when they parted ways in Jamaica, it was kind of unspoken that the fling was over, good times had and that was that. He was pleasantly surprised and relieved when she slipped her arms around him and kissed him ardently. He pulled her flush against him, fully aware of his surroundings and the stern and stately blonde woman peeking out the door of the mansion. He knew she must be Emmie’s mother, Gia’s aunt. Remembering Gia telling him how much she seemed to detest any all things ethnic he broke the kiss and grinned down at her, “Well it’s good to see you too Gianna Ricci.” he said loudly enough for the scandalized woman to hear. he winked at Gia then kissed her again for good measure.

Regina’s face blanched white over the scandalous name spoken , she worked hard to keep that a secret . Stepping outside “You two are not welcome here , please leave or I will call security “ She huffed but not brave enough to step near these beasts   “Emmilia and Gia get in this house this very instant before I call Daniel

Emmie stopped cold. She’d been chatting excitedly, hugging Richie and dragging him towards the house. So happy to see him, wanting to show him her home and everything. She sighed, trying to keep her irritation in check. “Mother, these are my friends and I’d appreciate it if you showed a little respect please. Daddy will be home any minute, and I’m glad cause I’d like him to meet them. Once he has, if he still feels they should leave then so be it, after all it is his house but for now, would you please allow me to show them a little hospitality, they’ve traveled quite a long way.” she said in soothing tone.

Richie bit back a smirk, standing there silently as Em put her mother in her place in a very proper manner, so unlike the girl he had spent 7 wonderful days together . When she had spoken of her mother , he thought maybe she had been exaggerating but from what he just witnessed she wasn’t wrong by a long shot . He had met snooty people before but Regina Caden had to take the cake.

Regina huffed ‘ IF you let them in the house , they don’t touch anything  Roger , Roger where are you please follow them to make sure they don’t take anything either “ and then she turned on her heel back into the house “ Wait til your father gets home , Emmilia “ She called back as her voice grew lower and lower  til no one could hear her.

“Can’t wait” Emmie mumbled sarcastically to her mothers back before shooting her famous princess glare at Roger who knew when to back off. She watched as the man nodded to her then made himself scarce. Emmie cleared her throat then spoke again. “Well, now that the shows over, how would you boys like a nice cold drink?” She smiled at Gia hoping to ease the anger she saw bubbling up in her cousin.

Gia pinched her eyes shut willing her mouth to remain shut while Em handled Aunt Regina , if she hadn’t jumped in and spoke first , her temper would have exploded to unprecedented portions.  Once she knew her aunt had left , she opened her eyes , returned a  grateful gaze to Em . Em knew once Gia’s temper was unleashed everyone better duck for  cover “ I swear Em I am so close in telling her to go screw herself.  How could my mother and her have been sisters I will never know “

Emmie shrugged and led the small group thru the front door, through the foyer, past the kitchen and out the back veranda. Picking a shady spot near the pool she motioned everyone to sit down then politely asked one of the housestaff if she could please bring them some iced tea and a nice chilled bottle of Cabernet sauvignon, She made sure to add “Oh not daddy’s special ones, he’d kill me, but make sure it’s a good year Clara please?” As the woman ran off to do her bidding she looked at Jon, Richie and Gia and said “ I really am sorry for how she spoke to you, she knows better. Daddy will not be happy with her."

Richie gave her a reassuring smile “It’s okay darlin’ , We’re used it really . We get oh here comes the drug sex crazed rockstars again everytime we check into a hotel “ he winked , reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Gia remained silent , her aunt’s insolence grated on her last nerve.  She almost couldn’t bare to look at Jon for the embarrassment she felt. “Yea well its still no excuse , Uncle Daniel will burst a gasket knowing how rude she had been “

Carla returned with glasses for which she placed in front of the girls and the two gentleman  , “Wine or Tea . Miss Gianna ? and smiled , Never could understand why Mrs Caden treated her niece with such disdain .

Gia smiled ‘Wine please Carla I think I could use some right now “

Clara nodded and poured a glass for her “Sir?” she asked Jon.

Jon looked up. He had to admit he was a bit overwhelmed by this place. It was truly astounding, grand even. And servants? He didn’ t think anyone really had servants anymore but as he let his gaze travel over the place he saw many many people doing many different things and he knew, he’d stepped into a whole new world. “ Uh yeah wines good thanks.” He felt a bit odd sitting there in his tight spandex and converse shoes, bandana holding his unbrushed hair out of his face and all around him was beauty and elegance. No wonder the woman thought we were Satan incarnate he thought.  He watched as Emmie poured herself a glass of ice tea and Richie took wine of course. He glanced at Gia whose face was still pink. whether from anger or embarrassment he wasn’t sure but she’d finished her first glass of wine already and asked for another. “Hey babe... take it easy will ya? I didn’t show up just to get ya drunk and take advantage of ya..” he paused “ although the taking advantage part wouldn't be quite so bad so long as your sober.” he flashed her his winning  grin.

His silver coated voice floated over her like a warm summer wind , quickly dashing her anger and she smiled “ I seem to remember didn’t take much for you to take advantage of me “ She winked  “So now that you met the wicked witch of California , what brings you two this way ? “ Gia gazed into those blue eyes damn if she hadn’t missed the effect they had on her . The naughtiness she saw hidden behind them , brought a twinge of excitement that had been lacking the last few weeks . .She reached over placing her hand on his thigh, a bit brazen yea but hell right at this moment she didn’t care , not when she hadn’t expected to see him again.  

“Well ya know we were comin’ thru the area and well, we were feelin a little lonely so...”

She interrupted him sharply  “And another buddy I got a bone to pick with you , why didn’t you tell me who you were? “

“I.....” he stopped mid sentence. His mouth moved trying to form words but he had none. None at all. Why hadn’t he told her?  Cause it was just a vacation fling? Cause it didn’t seem to matter? Cause he wanted to forget the cynical workaholic he was when he was on the road? More like all of the above, but how did he explain that to her. “Well I guess... I guess cause I was just having too good a time just being Jon...” he shrugged and hoped those simple words made sense to her. Hell they didn’t even make sense to him but he had nothing else to explain his omission.

Gia listened intently to his explanation as she flashed him a sympathetic smile,  she could definitely relate to that , all her life she just wanted to be Gianna Ricci , while her aunt wanted her to be anything but . “I’m glad you were just Jon , “ then mentally rolled her eyes I’m glad you were just Jon , God Gia what the fuck is that -- lame is what that was 



He smiled back at her and covered her hand with his, rubbing it softly. So she understood what he meant, good. He wondered when his life had gotten so damn complicated. He was living his dream! He’d worked hard for this but sometimes, when he was alone at night, he wondered if he’d done the right things, made the right choices. He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her cheek. At least this is one choice I righted he thought “So, uh, yeah, ya know we were coming through here, on our way to Arizona actually and had today and tomorrow off and thought, I wonder if those two pretty little California girls would like to come hang out with us crazy fuckers for awhile.”

Gia’s eyes lit up “Yes, we can we leave ‘ then paused to restrain her excitement not just to spend some more time with her dream man well not hers but  close enough but anything to get away from Aunt Regina , she would gladly go  “I mean sure we would love too “

RIchie chuckled “ A bit anxious are we ? “ A twinkle flashed in his eyes  “We are not sure what you might think of the ‘other ‘ us , because to be honest we are a bit more-- “ He winced for a moment before finishing how was he to explain the groupies , the flirting , and all that entailed being a rockstar “ wild “

“Is that why you said I wouldn’t like it?” She frowned a bit. She wondered what had made him change his mind. She’d wanted to go two months ago before she’d even come home but he’d said no. Now he wanted her to come along and see the other side of him? After not a single phone call or anything for so long... strange.

RIchie squirmed a bit , she had him there  Why hadn’t he wanted her  there ? Did he think she was too young to handle what the road dished out ? No , he just wanted to go back to the fun. Yea that worked out so well, the lil lady wormed his way into his mind and wouldn’t let loose. “Yes I did darlin’ just didn’t think you would understand if maybe we flirted a lot with our crowd “ She shot him a  puzzled look  “Ok flirt with the female fans , its our job but a lot of girls don’t understand and they get jealous and angry “

Emmie looked at Gia who was listening to Richie's explanation as well ,and she wondered what was running through her mind. Gia’ had told Emmie that Richie wasn’t gonna come see her, it had just been a simple vacation affair and she should just remember it with a smile. But Emmie had argued, he’d said he would come and he did, sure it took him awhile but he came. But,  Gia was right about one thing. She’d said Richie probably didn’t want her to come along because of all the girls.

Emmie nodded at Richie, “ I guess that makes sense but...” She stopped and shrugged “Well, I don’t care what you have to do on stage i just wanna come along and see what its all about. What your all about” She said with more bravery than she felt. It did sound like fun, but it also sounded like a lot more chaos than her sheltered existence had yet experienced but damn it she’d known there’d been more to their time together than just some crazy tryst and him showing up at her doorstep unannounced proved it! She’d be damned if she let him get away this time! her mind set and full of determination she glanced sideways at him, gave him her sweetest smile and said “ yeah I’ll come with you.”

Richie smiled “ Good how long will you need to get ready ? “ He asked , with more excitement than he probably should have shown ,causing Jon to slid him an amused look.

GIa piped up “Not long at all I can assure you of that , Right Em ? “ She was already standing , while tugging on Em’s arm -- Good God Gia get a grip on yourself girl , she mentally scolded herself.

“RIght not long at all” Emmie agreed,  “ You guys can just relax here and we’ll go throw some things together... Clara, will you see to anything they need while Gia and I go pack some things please? Thanks.”

She stood and kissed Richies cheek then taking Gia’s arm in hers headed indoors. Both girls excited beyond belief did not pay attention to anything what so ever and crashed unceremoniously into a solid wall of....” Daddy...oops!” She squeaked as he peered down at her in concern and amusement.