Chapter 23

Kara had just finished up with her last class of the day when her phone rang. “Hi Jen” she sang into the phone.

Jen laughed, “hello yourself. What are you doing?”

Kara stacked the sheet music on her desk, “just finished my last class of the day. Why?”

There was a knock on the classroom door. Kara walked to the door as she was talking and laughed when she found Jen on the other side. “You nut, what are you doing here?” They tucked their phones away and hugged each other.

“David picked up the girls so I thought I would pop in and see how your trip was.”

They crossed the room and sat at Kara’s desk. “My trip was good, tiring, but good.”

“Uh-uh.” Jen wasn’t going to be so easily appeased. “Girlfriend, you were with my fantasy man out there, I want more than just ‘good’.”

Kara laughed, “what do you want me to tell you, that he’s the best I’ve ever been with, that we rang in the new year all night long, that I think I may be in over my head here?”

Jen’s mouth opened and closed several times before she could speak, “you rang in the new year all night long? That is just so… you are so…, oh my God I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Kara shook her head and laughed, “I didn’t either. You know me Jen, I don’t do that kind of thing. I don’t know what got into me that night.”

Jen laughed at her, “I know, Richie did.”

Kara laughed “you are so bad Jen.”

“And that would be why you love me. So, seriously” Jen started, “have you made any decisions about anything yet?”

Kara moved to the piano, “I think maybe I have.” She took a deep breath, “I want to do this Jen; I’m just terrified of the outcome.”

Jen went and sat next to her, “it’s okay to be scared. I’d be worried if you weren’t. I just have one question.”

Kara looked at her friend, “what’s that?”

Jen put her arm around Kara, “do you trust him?”

Kara ran a scale, “you know, I think I do. I really think I do.”

“Well, that’s a step in the right direction.” Jen was pleased with Kara’s answer. “Have you told him yet?”

Kara shook her head, “no. He told me to think about it while he’s away and then we’d talk again at the end of the month when he gets back.”

Jen considered this, “well, why don’t you use the faculty/parent night as a trial run. See how it goes. If it feels right, then go ahead and give it a shot. If you still think you shouldn’t, then you still have your job and no one is any worse off. Right?”

Kara hugged her, “I never thought of that. It’s a good idea and I think I may do just that.”

She gathered her things and they walked out together. As the girls approached their respective cars Jen turned to Kara, “want to come for dinner, its pot luck night.”

Kara shook her head, she knew what that meant, her friend was pushing leftovers. “Thanks but I think I’m just going to go home and veg tonight, maybe start putting together a list of songs for next month. Rain check though, definitely.”

With a glass of wine and the stereo on, Kara settled herself in front of her computer. She had finished all her preparations for school the next day and decided to check her e-mail and play for a while. She was surfing around when she decided, for the heck of it, to plug in Richie’s name in the Yahoo search engine. She was floored by all the results that came back. She was reading his bio on the Bon Jovi website when her phone rang. She groped for the phone, answering absently.

“Hello.”

“Hi princess.”

Kara felt her face heat up at the sound of his voice. She was looking at a picture of him and she felt like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Hi Richie, how are you?” She hoped that sounded normal as she clicked a few keys, bringing up one of his songs.

He heard the click of the computer keys, “what are you doing?”

She swallowed, “I’m on the computer checking e-mail, surfing the web.”

He swiveled in his chair, turning back to his desk and booting up his laptop. “Wanna give me your e-mail? I can drop you a note from time to time while I’m away, maybe send some pictures.”

She nodded her head, “okay, its karad@yahoo.com. Wait, did you say pictures?”

He nodded, “I did, is that a problem?”

Kara smiled, “naughty or nice ones?”

Richie laughed, “any kind you want princess.”

Kara’s voice dropped, “lucky me.”

Richie sobered at her tone, “you going to reciprocate?”

Kara laughed low, “I just might, but I’ll need your e-mail, care to share?”

Richie chuckled, “I think I’ll hold that out and see if you can figure it out when I send you something.”

She pouted, “you are so mean to me. Maybe I won’t send you any pictures.”

He just shook his head as he talked, “you don’t like surprises much do you? I bet you’re no fun on Christmas either.”

Kara laughed, “you would be right about the surprises but I try to behave on Christmas.” She sighed, “ It’s good to talk to you Rich.”

Her tone changed, softened and Richie suddenly wished he was there with her instead of on the other side of the country. She had only been gone for a day but he missed her more than he cared to admit, even to himself. “It’s good to talk to you too princess. How was your day today?”

She sat back in her chair, “My day was fine thanks. I have to confess, I was Yahoo-ing you when you called and I found this really great picture of you. I’ve been staring at it while we’ve been talking.”

Richie was surprised and a little hurt that she would do this instead of talking to him. “I would have told you anything you wanted to know, you didn’t have to look me up on the internet.”

Kara hung her head, “I know, but I just did it on a whim to see what would come up. I didn’t realize there were so many sites out there pertaining to you guys and the band.”

He laughed, “yeah, there are a few. So, what did you find out about me?”

Kara smiled, “you really want to know?”

He nodded, “sure, go ahead.”

Kara took a breath, “okay, here goes. Your birthday is July 11 and you will be 49. You have brown eyes, but I already knew that. You are 6’1” and” she paused, “you live in California and have one child, Ava who will be 11 in October. Oh, and you have two albums unrelated to Bon Jovi that you released in the 90s.” Kara chuckled, “about the only thing it doesn’t list is your shoe size.”

Richie gave half a laugh, “12.”

Kara smiled, “I really didn’t do this on purpose, but I guess my curiosity got the better of me. I even found a song that I think I’m half in love with just from the snippet I heard.”

His curiosity was piqued, “which one?”

She glanced at the screen again, gazing at his picture, “Harlem Rain. It’s just beautiful.”

He nodded, “yeah, that’s one of my favorites.”

“So” Richie decided to turn the tables on her, “you know all this stuff about me, what about you, Are you going to share any personal tidbits with me?”

Kara shifted in her chair, “what do you want to know? My eyes are blue, I’m 5’3”, I live in New Jersey and have no children. My birthday is January 25 and I will be 39, and I wear a size 6 shoe. Now you know all there is to know about Kara D’Angelo. Feel better?”

He chuckled, “somehow princess, I think there is a lot more about you yet to be discovered and personally, I’m looking forward to doing a little exploration.”

Kara felt warm all over at his words and the meaning behind them. “Well, on that note I think it’s time for this princess to head to bed before she turns into a pumpkin.”

Richie glanced at the clock, it was late for her. “You get your rest princess. I’ll call or e-mail you soon. Sweet dreams.”

They hung up and Kara gave the picture of Richie one last glance before shutting down her computer, “sweet dreams indeed” she muttered to herself as she headed to bed.