Chapter 3

Katie rubbed her eyes, and looked at the alarm clock. Ugggh, she thought. No time for even one snooze button. The clock flashed 6 a.m. and played Lay Your Hands On Me from her CD.

What you get aint always what you see
But satisfactions guaranteed
They say what you give is always what you need
So if you want me to lay my hands on you

Lay Your Hands On ME!

The last couple of weeks had flown by for Katie. She was covering for Becca while she was vacationing with her family up in Kennybunk, Maine. It had not been too bad, up until this point. Earlier this week she had a few corporate head shots and a real estate shoot. This was sandwiched in between her own clients. She sighed and pulled the covers up over her eyes. The sun had not yet started to peek over the horizon. She knew she had to get moving. The early morning light was the best and she had that photo shoot with the musician today. The information Becca had left her said with a "rock star." Great. Another dude with an attitude. Rock star.....sure....she thought. Probably just some guy who played local bars and thought he was all that. Or maybe some one hit wonder trying to duplicate his former success. At any rate, morning light was best, so she rolled out of bed, and headed toward the shower. She turned it on and went downstairs to grab a Diet Coke. She was normally a coffee addict, but she didn't have time to wait for it brew this morning. She popped the top and took a long, slow sip and was off to the shower.

The sun was starting to brighten the edges of the sky as she speed along the Interstate 495. She was headed out west a bit to an old mill town, Lowell. This was going to be an edgy shoot, concrete, brick, and the first light of the morning by the river. She took her exit, weaving through the streets until she made her way to a row of old mill buildings by the river. She parked her car and took a quick look around. Big old mill buildings, concrete with weeds growing through the cracks, and the "lovely" Lowell River. But it seemed to be a perfect backdrop for some urban, rock type photographs. Katie thought, maybe it would be kind of fun. She didn't get to do this kind of thing very often. And even though it really wasn't her thing, it was always good to stretch one's self once in a while. Just as long as the guy wasn't too full of himself.

She got out of the car and grabbed her camera out of her bag. She put her cell phone and keys in her pocket. It wasn't the best area to be alone in, but she knew the rest of the crew was on their way with the lights and other equipment. She had planned on getting there a bit early so she could look around, check the place out. She walked toward the building, looked at the old, beat up doors and windows. She took out her light meter and started testing the light, thinking about what cool effects she might be able to produce here. Too deep in her thoughts and planning, she didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind her.

All she heard was a male voice say, "You must be my photog for the day."

Katie jumped and wheeled around on her heels so quickly her camera, swinging from it's strap, hit her soundly in the elbow.

"OW!" she said just as she met a pair of black sunglasses under a baseball cap. The man lowered his sunglasses and she found herself looking right into a very familiar pair of blue eyes, slightly crinkled in the corners from the smirk on his face. Her mouth dropped open and she couldn't find the words......rock star indeed. There standing right before her was the one and only Jon Bon Jovi.

After what seemed like eternity, Katie finally seemed to find some words.

"Yes....uh.....that's me....I think?......maybe....but how....no way....seriously?" Katie stammered as she tried to form a coherent sentence. For the past 25 years she had dreamed of being this close. Dreamed about it, rehearsed what she would say if she ever was. And here she was, not able to keep her mouth from hanging open.

Jon chuckled. "Nice to know I still have that effect on women. My name's Jon. What's yours?"

Katie again tried to string more than three words together. "UH, yes...I know....who you are....ummmmm.....I am.......Kkkkkatie! Yes, that's who I am!" She sputtered. Good Lord, woman, she thought to herself. Get a grip on yourself or you will never make it through this.

She wiped her hand on the leg of her jeans and held it out, "I am Katie. Yes, I believe I am the photographer today." Phew, ok. That was better. "And I know who you are. I have been a huge fan for the last 25 years. It is a huge pleasure to meet you...finally!" She spit out. She felt like a giddy teenager who had no idea how to conduct herself. She let out a big sigh and smiled at him when he took her hand and shook it. His hand was just as she always imagined. Smooth, yet she could feel the callouses from all the guitar playing he must do. But it was warm and well, very nice. Just as she always knew it would be.

Jon smiled and nodded back at Katie, and said, with a chuckle in his voice, "Nice to meet you, Katie. Don't be to rough on me today, K?" He still often found it kind of comical that women just seemed to loose all ability to think around him at times. He was not effected by it, it just sort of amazed him. Over all the years with all their success, Jon never did let it go to his head. For him it was all about the music and the performance for the audience. Sure, he could seduce an audience better than anyone he knew, but it was all just a part of the act. He took a few minutes to check out this photographer, who, by most photographer standards that he had seen over the years, seemed totally down to earth and not the least bit cocky at all. He smiled and looked into a pair of wide open green eyes, greener than any eyes he could ever remember seeing. And he had seen many sets of eyes on many women over the years. The eyes matched up with the long, deep auburn hair made a very nice combination. The body wasn't bad, either. He guessed about 5'5, 130 pounds, looked fit and quite lovely in the boot cut jeans she was wearing. He was not obvious, though. He had learned how to be very discreet over the years.

To Katie he just appeared to be smiling and getting a slight chuckle at her expense.

Chapter 4