Not This Time

Epilogue (June 20, 1982)

   "What can I get you?" the bartender asked them as they took their seats at the bar. Emma ordered a Tequila Sunrise without hesitation, still drinking in her surroundings excitedly.
     "Rum and Coke," Nina shouted over the music. The bartender nodded and turned away to make their drinks as Nina turned back to face the stage. She couldn't believe she was doing this. He was so young. He probably didn't even remember this when they were together. But all the clues from what Dorothea had told her made perfect sense; Nina couldn't come to any other conclusion.
     The bartender set the drinks down on the bar and started to say something about starting a tab, but Nina cut him off with a wave of her hand and a shake of her head. She pulled out her wallet and retrieved a hundred dollar bill from it.
     "Take all our drinks tonight out of this," she instructed, setting it on the bar, "If we use it all, for God's sakes cut us off, but if we don't, consider what's left a tip."
     The bartender seemed pleased with that arrangement. Nina figured he wouldn't complain if he was going to have a hundred bucks through the bar either way. She picked up her glass and nodded her thanks before bringing the drink to her lips and looking back at the band, specifically the singer.

     "The spotlight," the young man sang, "can't bring back your love to me."
     Nina smiled at his singing. He was still so young and inexperienced. It was adorable. It was hard for her to believe that this was the same man who would break hearts and steal hers in just a few years. As she watched him up there on the stage, though, all she could do was smile. He was so....cute.
     She turned away from the band and took another swig of her drink. A tall guy with chestnut-colored hair stepped up to the bar next to her. Nina only gave him a passing glance, not really interested in interacting with anyone besides the man on stage, she was shocked to find that she recognized him. He grinned at her when she did a double take. It was Dan! Jon's friend Dan!
     He picked up his beer and tossed her one more grin before walking away, shaking his head. Nina watched him go for a second until she remembered that staring was probably not the best idea. She didn't want him to think she was interested. She was just stunned because his presence confirmed her suspicions. It was her.
     Nina downed the rest of her drink and ordered another. This was happening. She glanced over at Emma, who was taking steady even sips of her Sunrise through the straw. Emma knew what Nina was anxious about. It was the end for her, why wouldn't she be anxious?
     "Nina, you look the part, your make up is perfect, and you already know it's going to be okay, calm down," Emma scoffed. She was right. They had used the Revitalight to make Nina look younger because this was 1982, when Nina should have been nineteen, according to her 80s history. Emma took another sip of her Sunrise and pointed at Nina. "And don't forget Dorothea is the one who told you this even happened! You know how it turns out!"
     It was a fair point. If her misadventures with time travel had taught Nina anything, it was that you can't actually change things. The more Nina thought about it, the more she started to agree with Emma.
     "You're right," she declared, holding up her drink in a mock toast, "Besides. She got one of my kisses when she came to visit Jon on tour in '87. It's only right, then, that I get one of hers!"
     "Yeah!" Emma cheered, tapping her glass to Nina's. They both took a drink and Nina looked back up at him on stage, singing his heart out.
     "Tonight's ours, but baby in the mornin' I'll be gone!" He held that last note out as long as he could and closed out the song. The crowd clapped and a few people even cheered. Nina set her glass down and clapped as well as the singer caught his breath. He looked so energized and pleased with himself. "Thank you, Sayreville!" he called out to the crowd in front of him. "I'm John Bongiovi, and these are the Wild Ones telling you goodnight!"
     With that, the lights went down and Nina tensed up. Oh boy. This was it. Dorothea had said it was after the show. She hadn't specified when. Nina was just about to set her drink down and jump up on stage when another young woman beat her to it. She just about tackled John as he was coiling up a mic cable. It took Nina a moment to recognize Dorothea.
     Nina turned back to the bar and continued with her drink. By the time the band had finished striking the stage, Nina had finished sipping her Rum and Coke. Emma had ordered and finished another Tequila Sunrise by then and was half-way through a third. She was already tipsy and well on her way to feeling those Sunrises when the sun came up tomorrow.
     "I think that's enough for you, tonight," Nina snickered. She made eye contact with the bartender and he nodded, grabbing the bottle of rum off the wall behind him to make her another drink. She knew she probably wouldn't finish it, anyway.
     "You know," Emma giggled, pointing to the bottles lined up in three neat, elevated rows behind the bar, "I bet I could sling my hair tie onto one of those bottles."
     "Emma, you're drunk."
     "So? I could do it!"
     Nina nodded another thanks to the bartender as she picked up the drink he'd just left. "Just don't," she sighed to Emma. She brought the drink to her lips and took a look around for John, humming along absently to Aerosmith's Walk This Way that played over the house speakers. She just managed to see John disappear into the crowd.
     With one last swig of her drink, Nina turned back to Emma to set it on the bar and tell her it was time to get moving. Before Nina could say a thing, though, Emma snapped a hair tie out of her hands and toward the wall behind the bar. The wall that was lined with bottles.
     For just that minute, the world seemed to move in slow motion. The hair tie flew across the area behind the bar and just so happened to hit one of the emptier bottles on the second row. The bottle tipped back first and then leaned forward, knocking into the one in front of it. Both bottles fell from their shelves and crashed to the ground with a glorious shattering sound.
     Emma burst into laughter, grabbed Nina's hand, and took off running, effectively yanking Nina off her stool. Nina had no idea if the bartender was coming after them or not, but she kept running anyway. As she weaved through the crowd, she noticed Emma run right past John. This was her chance, now or never.
     Jon turned back to see where they were coming from just in time. In one swift movement, Nina threw an arm around his neck and turned him almost completely around as she brought her other hand up to his cheek and kissed him. John recovered from his surprise quickly and kissed her back. His hands settled on her waist, where they belonged. Just like they used to.
     For a moment, everything felt normal. Like another secret kiss in a dressing room backstage. Like she'd never left and they were still in love, about to go public, in 1987. She had missed him. Nina pulled herself closer to him and just barely slipped the tip of her tongue between his lips.
     Then she remembered that he wasn't hers. She pulled barely an inch or so away and peeked through her lashes at those beautiful blue eyes of his for just a second as they both caught their breaths. This was the end. There would be no more longing gazes. No more bated breath. No more secrets. Just stories of Nina and her Rockstar. Just memories. As it should be.
     "Bye," she breathed, a little surprised to find that she was okay with that. She gave him one last quick peck on the lips before pulling away and running off after Emma. She didn't look back. She didn't dare. She'd done what she'd come to do and it was time to go home.
     As she ran out the door and across the parking lot to where the Triple T was hiding, a bittersweet smile crept across her face and she laughed a little, in spite of herself. How fitting. Their very first kiss was their first kiss goodbye.