Johnny Blue (16 page)

What would I do?

The door burst open again and I spun.
A gray haired man
, t
all and lean.
“What on earth is going on in here?”

I clutched the robe tight to my chest, tears causing him to blur in my vision. “I—I don’t know.”

His face transformed with sympathy and he shut the door and hurried toward me. “Was Johnny’s brother here? I saw him on the way up. Right after I saw Johnny. He was furious. Tell me what happened.”

A sob burst out and I let him lead me slowly to the beautiful dining table that I’d
just fifteen minutes ago
imagined our little family at.

“Alright dear, you’re okay, it’s fine,
we’ll
work this all out.”
His tone cooed.

“I-I-I was cooking for Johnny and this man came in and I’ve never seen him b
e
fore and he-he tried to force himself on me and Johnny came in and he thought, he thought I wanted that!” I grabbed the man’s forearms, my desperation
gushing
. “I love Johnny sir, I love him, I would never do that, I would never do that to him,
I
love him
.” My voice strangled on the words as my throat closed.

“Alright dear, I believe you, now don’t worry, I’ll talk to Johnny. It’ll be okay, he’s just sensitive when it comes to his brother after what the little devil did to him with his fiancé.” His words turned acidic
as he
rushed to the counter and poured me a small shot of whisky and hurried it to me.

With shaking hands I took it and downed it, trying to push back the growing panic building inside. Panic over how I felt. Like everything I stood on
was crumbling out from under me and I would lose it. Lose everything, including my
suddenly very
fragile mind.

I needed to call my therapist.

“Look…” he glanced at his watch, “In two hours Johnny is going to be at
Soth
e
by’s
for an art exhibition. I know one thing at this point. And that is, Johnny loves you.
Or else he would not be this upset. Now, he planned to take you with him tonight, I a
l
ready discussed it with him earlier.”

“What? But
…I don’t have
nothin
to wear, he didn’t tell me to pack for—
”

“I know, I know,” he soothed, pouring me another bit into the shot glass. “
It was a surprise. Everything is arrang
ed, down to the gown you are to wear.
Don’t worry about it, I will make a call and have you fixed up within the hour. I will arrange for your limo and escort, you will be fine, you’ll see, and Johnny will be too
,
once I talk to him and explain everything.”

My breaths slowed a bit at his confident tone.

“That’s it,” he patted my hand, encouragingly.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Johnny’s personal assistant. And only true friend, I’m afraid.”

I shook my head, confused. “What—exactly is…what does Johnny actually do? I mean, I thought he was a painter, but…I don’t know anymore, seems so odd ever
y
thing.”

His brow softened. “You don’t know?”

“
Know what?”

“
My dear.
Johnny hates the
fame,
I’m not surprised he hid it from you. The man is very talented and his works are highly sought after the world over. He’s somewhat of a legend in his artistic field and rich out of his young mind. But that’s not what he’s about inside.”

My mouth
fell
open in shock. “What—what is he about?”

He raked a hand in his hair, making it stick up. “Johnny is…well he just wants normalcy, really. But he’s been searching for himself for years.” The man poured anot
h
er drink and downed it this time. He set it carefully down, studying the
glass
before looking at me with tender brown eyes. “
I’m never sure what he’s looking for. But it’s there in his eyes
, the l
ooking and searching.
Ever since his father died, he’s not been the same.
Wished I knew what it was, not
even he seems to know. Ah damn. I need to get a move on. You okay now?”

I nodded, feeling a whole lot better.

“Well, let me make a few calls sweet heart and we’ll have this patched up, you’ll see.” He chucked my chin with a finger and I couldn’t resist a smile. The man was like the father I never had and craved.

“Thank you.
For all that.
Sorry about the hysterics.”

“Oh no you don’t.
Those hysterics mean my Johnny is in good hands with you. I can’t tell you how pleased I am about that.” He pulled his phone out. “
Now, e
xcuse me
one moment
.” He turned and walked a few steps forward and gave instructions to somebody on the other end. In less than a minute, he had my world back in order with a limo and an escort on its way. “I’d accompany you myself dear, but I must go see about Johnny and straighten this out.”

My heart lurched. “
Oh God, y
es, go.
Hurry.”

He gave a little bow and turned and left. I followed him and locked the damn door
this time
.

Chapter Eleven

Not thirty minutes later, the doorbell
blonged
and in
strolled
a mobile movie star wagon with staff.
For the next
thirty minutes,
I felt like Misses Potato Head having all her parts changed out for Cinderella ones. And
I was
gorgeous!
Floor length,
glittering
red
gown
slit halfway up my right leg,
hair up
on the sides with
the rest spiraling
in
ringlets
! And there were even
matching ruby gems
thro
ughout and
rubies dangling from
my ears
and hugging
my neck!
Matching red lipstick
and dainty pumps adorned with, surprise, surprise, rubies.
They had to pull me away from the mirror, I couldn’t stop staring and thinking,
Wow,
am
I
really
that beautiful? 

Thought sure I’d vomit on the way into this huge fancy glass building
with the giant half open blinds across the entire front. The name Sotheby’s sat above the row of glass entrance doors, just below an array of flags representing other countries
.

Please
L
ord don’t let me puke, whatever you do, just keep my food in my sto
m
ach, I beg you.

I had never been more eager to sit. Third row, fourth seat. Dammit, what if I needed to run out for air? I should’ve taken
one of my
anxiety meds.

I looked right and saw a group of people standing and talking on phones. I looked around
and my eyes snagged on a man that looked
exactly
like Tom Cruise. A bit more scanning and I found another guy that could’ve been Brad Pitt’s twin! Then it hit me.
They were the real people!
I scanned the crowd and sucked in my breath at seeing
so many other celebrities. Wow.
I searched for
Johnny
but didn’t find him.
It was
an
oddly small crowd, but
definitely
a sophisticated event. Tuxedos, ballroom gowns, je
w
elry glittering
—definitely not average.

A
young man
finally
took the stage and stood behind a podium. “Thank you all for coming tonight for our sixth annual fundraiser drive. Twenty-five percent will be awarded to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization, and seventy-five percent
will go to the survivors of these types of accidents.

I swooned with a wave of nausea. Oh God. God, please, help me not faint.
The nightmare phrase
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
taunted me
for the next painful
forty-five
minutes
as
Johnny’s paintings
were
unveiled and bid on.
I sat there, n
umb with shock and horror, feeling so dirty and vile, not even the awe of his paintings opening up at
four million
dollars could distract the anxiety attack looming all around me. Please, please, please God, help me through this.

Where was Johnny? Was he still angry? Had that kind man failed to convince him? Was this it? Was it all over and I was just sitting here waiting to be told?

“And now for the final event,” the young man suddenly announced. “Please welcome, ladies and gentlemen,
Mr.
Johnny Blue.”

My body jolted at the name, sucking in a sharp breath. Damn it, shit.

He came on stage in a tuxedo, looking my God, so beautiful. His ebony hair framed his face, and those electric blue eyes seemed to glow against the flawless white skin and black tux and hair. He truly made these movies stars look second rate. Except maybe Tom Cruise.

“Ever since my father’s life was taken by a drunk driver, I’ve done this drive.” The familiar rough velvet of his voice gave me goose bumps and his words brought a mad pounding to my chest. Why that crime? Why not something else? “I remember feeling this deep sense of confusion in the years that followed. Always asking why? I thought I’d never get peace from it.” A silence followed and he cleared his throat. “I went away a few months ago. To a wonderful little town in Louisiana called St. Fra
n
cisville.” He gave a light chuckle and glanced up. “Just wanted to get away from the big city, try and find myself
. But I think I was
hoping
that
maybe
…maybe the big answers would just…” he gasped a chuckle
and shook his head a little
, “
I don’t know,
somehow find me
,
I guess
.
”

I held my breath, watching his every move and expression. Something was bot
h
ering him, he was keeping his emotions in check, but which ones?

“
I know, talk about reverse psychology with fate
, right
.”

Soft lau
ghter rippled through the place as two people carried in a covered canvas on an easel. Was that the same one I’d seen covered next to the window? Had he fi
n
ished it?

“Oddly enough, my little theory worked. All my answers came to me while there
, while I filled this little humble town with my soul, painting murals all over the place like a kid with a crayon
.
” More soft laughter.

My throat tightened at
hearing how he saw himself
and what he did, saw his passion
.

“It wasn’t an audible voice, just…a knowing deep in my soul, that I was right on it, right on the answer, I could feel it, I just…needed to put my finger on it.”

H
e looked right at the audience
.
“I
thought I had.
But something happened t
o
night
that made me realize, I was wrong.
” He shook his head. “Boy did I ever realize I was wrong.” I swallowed hard and froze as his eyes zeroed in on me
.
“Jewel. Would you come up here please?”

“Oh shit,” I whispered, trying to steady my breathing.

He held his hand out. “Please.”

Sounded safe
. K
ind. Not angry.
Just go dammit, it’ll be fine.

I got up on shaky legs and made my way out of the row, focusing on not falling or twisting my ankle or snagging my heel or
slipping
on stage. Shit shit shit. I held his gaze like a lifeline as I approached him. The look in his eyes was so damn
intense,
I’d never seen it before.
So raw and…something.

I
fixed my gaze on
his hand he held to me and took it. He squeezed it softly. But I still couldn’t be sure if that was just a pretense. I barely glanced at the faces on the first row.
Big mistake.
She
was there, his ex-
fiance
. What was she doing here? Why was she smiling?