Not This Time

Jon: May 30, 1986

     I let myself into Nina's hotel room with the keycard she'd given me at the beginning of the month. In my other hand was the small box that held the vinyl that Bob had pressed for us. I called out for Nina as I shut the door behind me, but there was no answer. Weird. Nina was usually home whenever I got done at the studio. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen her car in the parking lot. It wasn't a big deal, Nina had her own life, it was just weird walking into her hotel room without her there.
     Shrugging it off, I dropped my keycard on the coffee table and pulled the three 45s out of the box Bob had given me. On the plain white slip covers, Bob had very lightly marked in pencil which side had which content. I could just barely make out the word 'song' on the side nearest me.
     I sat down at what the hotel called a proper dining table. It was more like a breakfast nook, but it served my purposes. I let the box fall to the floor beside me as I laid the three discs out on the table. The third 45, the one with the Mercury label, I pushed away before pulling each of the other two out of their slip covers. Blank white labels stared back from the middle of the discs like a set of misshapen white wall tires.
     The mug that sat in the middle of the table held all sorts of writing utensils. I'd never commented on Nina's complete misuse of hotel property. In fact, I'd never thought about it until that moment when I was fishing through that mug for a Sharpie. I pulled out a black Sharpie and glanced at which side I was going to be writing on before I pulled the cap off the marker.
     Across the tops of the round, white labels on both discs, I wrote, 'Nina and Jon'. On the left curve of the labels, I wrote 'Side A', and on the right curve, 'Lesson'. I frowned a little at my messy handwriting. I probably should have waited until Nina got back to let her write it. Her handwriting was so much better than mine, neater, prettier.
     Once the ink had dried on the A side, I carefully flipped the 45s over, admiring the flawlessness of the pressing. I loved brand new vinyl. I picked up the Sharpie and started at the top again. I started writing the J in my name before I realized that I had put Nina's name first on the opposite side. I paused and stared at the horizontal line that was supposed to be the top of my J. There wasn't a single way to improvise that line into Nina's name. After a minute of hesitation, I just went with it and decided to change the order of our names for the B side.
     I wrote 'Jon and Nina' at the tops of the labels, shaking my head at the stupid mistake. It was gonna look so dumb. I wrote 'Side B' on the left curve of the label and the song title on the right: 'Never Say Goodbye (Duet)'. I snapped the cap back onto the Sharpie and dropped it back into the mug, picking up that third 45 as I did so.
     This disc had a standard black record company label on it. The band had never released those two songs on the same single, but I knew there were still labels in inventory from when they'd been pressed individually.
     Across the top was the word 'mercury' in fancy black letters that were outlined in red as if they were glowing. Right above it was the record company logo, which, unsurprisingly, also said 'mercury'. '45 RPM' was printed on the left curve of the label with a few other details about publishing and such. The other side said 'Stereo' in all caps with the matrix number and the producer's name printed just below it. The name of the song and the band, both, were at the bottom of the label. This particular side said 'Runaway' in all caps. Squished between the title and the name of the band was '(J. Bon Jovi/G. Karak)' in much smaller print.
     I didn't have to turn the disc over to know that the opposite side looked pretty much exactly the same except for a few minor changes. The song title on that side was She Don't Know Me, and the name in parentheses below it wasn't mine.
     Setting that record aside once more, I reached into the mug again for a pencil, or rather, an eraser. I erased the slight pencil marked Bob had made on the slip covers and swept the eraser shavings aside, careful not to get anything on the 45s. Then I gingerly picked up each disc and slid it back into its respective slip cover, placing one with side A up and the other with side B up.
     I'd just risen from my seat, examining my work, when I heard it. A soft beep came from the door as Nina's keycard unlocked it. I glanced over my shoulder with a distracted greeting as Nina shuffled through the door. I was still annoyed that I'd messed up the names. It was hopeless; there was nothing I could do about it now anyway.
     With a defeated sigh, I turned to face my girlfriend. The first thing I saw, though, was not her, but the boxes of pizzas that she was balancing on one hand. My mistake completely forgotten, I stared at the boxes with a slowly growing grin. Then I brought my gaze to Nina, who had just looked up from putting her keycard away somewhere in her purse.
     "Oh man," I chuckled, still grinning at her, "You know the way straight to my heart."
     She snickered as she set the boxes down on the coffee table. I plopped down on the couch and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her toward me. She fell backward, landing on the couch beside me with little grace. Nina smirked at me and gave me a quick kiss before pulling a video cassette tape out of her purse.
     She held it up for me to see. "I stopped at a movie rental place," she said as I took the video from her hand. Once Bitten. Jim Carrey was in it, and Lauren Hutton. It looked like a cheesy vampire movie. I rolled my eyes a little and shook my head with an amused smirk.
     "Before we get into that," I chuckled, setting the video down on the couch and glancing over at the pizza. "And before I tear into the food," I went on as I ripped my eyes away from the boxes to look back at my girlfriend, "I've got a surprise." I got up and waved over my shoulder for her to follow me. "Come on."
     The smile that spread across Nina's face when she saw the 45s was enough to make me forget about the pizza for a minute. I watched her trace my handwriting absently. I saw the moment she noticed that the names were switched on the B side. Her grin grew as she picked up one of the discs and looked at the other side.
     "The names are switched!" she giggled, looking up at me, "Did you do that on purpose?"
     I looked away in embarrassment, but smirked nonetheless. "Sure," I sighed with a shrug when I brought my eyes back to her. She offered a knowing smile and turned toward me fully.
     "Well, I like it," she complimented, "I think it's cute." She put the vinyl back down on the table without another word. As she did this, I watched her eyes drift up to the third disc on the table. I started to reach for it to give it to her, but she beat me to it. "That's uh.." I started, but I wasn't sure where to take that sentence.
     "I love these songs," Nina mumbled, flipping the disc over in her hand to look at both sides. She grinned up at me. "I never knew you guys released these two singles on one disc! I totally would have bought it!"
     I smirked and took the disc from her. "We didn't," I explained, carrying the disc back to the couch with me. She followed me, waiting for me to continue. I sank back into my seat and held up the disc, patting the seat next to me. Nina sat and curled up against me, letting me put an arm around her shoulders as I cleared my throat. "So I ordered this for you. Because these songs are..." I paused and tried to figure out how to word it, "...more or less.....about you."
     Nina blinked at me. "Runaway..?"
     "So not exactly about you," I corrected, holding up the hand with the disc to stop her. I shrugged. "The song was inspired by a group of girls I saw on a New York street one evening in '82. Hookers. My co-writer and I weren't completely satisfied with it, though," I told her, "We weren't sure how to tie it together until you came into town. Then those rumors started about you and we decided that the girl in the song definitely should've run away from home." I shrugged again. "It made it all work. It made the song."
     Nina stared at me, listening in what appeared to be confused silence. I didn't want her to be offended, but I knew that those rumors were sort of a tender subject for her. I watched her face as she thought about what I'd said. After a minute of silence, she nodded and reached over to point at the B side.
     "And this one?" she asked, tapping the title.
     I rolled my eyes. "She Don't Know Me was written by somebody else for another band, but it was given to us last minute. I don't really like it. I've never really liked it..." I trailed off with a shake of my head. I was getting off subject. "But," I said firmly, "The lyrics pretty much described the way I knew you."
     I could feel Nina's eyes on me. "What do you mean?"
     "I, uh," I laughed, unable to meet her gaze, "I was infatuated with you, and......and you didn't even know I existed. You didn't know me."
     "I didn't know?" Nina mocked in the rhythm of the song, raising an eyebrow teasingly. I frowned at her and she grinned. She leaned into me and giggled a little. She was only teasing, but it was still annoying. I hugged her as she shook her head and took a deep breath. "I hated the video for that song," she whispered, staring at nothing in particular, "It was way too close to real life."
     "Tell me about it," I scoffed. I looked down at her. "I used to go to that diner every other night to sit at the bar and watch you work."
     She tilted her head a little, grinning at me. "You never sat in my section," she commented. She shook her head with a slight shrug, asking without words.
     I grinned too. "I couldn't bring myself to. Maybe I felt guilty for even looking at you when I was with Dotty. Maybe I was just too shy," I thought out loud. Nina stifled a laugh and pulled away to look at me.
     "You? Shy?" she scoffed.
     "Yeah, I didn't think that was it either," I agreed. She waited for me to set the vinyl on the coffee table next to our pizza boxes before leaning against me again. I hugged her close to me and smiled a little, staring at the pizza. I was hungry, and the pizza was probably getting cold if it wasn't already, but I was still thinking about the diner, about that night. I knew that's what she meant when she said the music video was too much like real life.
     "I'm so glad I don't work at that place anymore," Nina stated out of the blue. I asked her why, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. She didn't respond for a long time, and when she did her voice was weak. "One time, these three guys followed me from work," she explained softly, "They almost got me, but somebody stopped them. This guy fought them off for me." She shuddered, shaking her head. "It scares me to think about what they might have done if he hadn't showed up. I didn't even see his face. He told me to run and I did."
     I rubbed her arm affectionately, thinking about the events of that night for the first time in a long time. I frowned. Even now, it still made me angry. The feeling wasn't as strong as it had been that night, but it still surprised me. I shook my head, trying to push those memories down again.
     "I remember," I muttered.
     I could feel Nina's confused hesitation before she pushed away from me again. Her eyes were dead serious when they met mine. She stared at me for a minute and then simply shook her head.
     "Don't fuck with me, Jon," she hissed defensively.
     I shook my head too. "I'm not. I was there. I was the guy that fought them!" I assured her. I frowned as I rushed to recall the memories I'd just pushed back. "Let me see, there was one shit face with red hair, one with a crew cut, and the last one had, uh, dark hair, uh, dark...Curls! Yeah.."
     Nina stared at me as I recounted her attackers. Her serious expression had fallen away, leaving only surprise in its place. Her mouth was hanging open a little and her eyes were wide. One more time, she shook her head.
     "It really was you?" she breathed.
     "I was at the diner that night," I told her, "I saw how they were treating you. I just didn't trust them. I..." I shrugged and added with an embarrassed chuckle, "I'm not proud to say I followed you out too."
     Nina leaned forward and kissed me as soon as I'd finished speaking. I wrapped my arm around her waist, as usual, not holding her there, but not letting her go too far either. When she finally pulled away, she rested her head on my shoulder.
     "I'm glad you did," she whispered. I wasn't sure if she was crying, but her voice sort of sounded like it. I looked down at her the best I could. No tears that I could see. She smiled up at me. "Thank you, Jon," she said. She laughed a little and added, "You're like my Superman."
     I laughed too, still holding her close. "Does that make you Lois Lane?" I challenged.
     Nina shook her head. "No," she replied, reaching up and tapping my nose. I swatted her hand away from my face, but she went on. "Superman stopped dating Lanes since the last one didn't work out."
     "Woah-ho-ho, hold on," I protested jokingly.
     Nina smiled innocently before continuing. "Besides," she said, "Lois has got to be pretty stupid if she can't tell he's Superman just because he's wearing glasses. I mean, come on!"
     I laughed at that too and let her go with a roll of my eyes. She was ridiculous, but that was one of the things I liked. She stuck her tongue out at me as she reached for the pizza boxes. I watched her open the top one to peek inside, and then take it from the stack, leaving the bottom one for me. She made some comment about how long the pizza had been sitting and how cold pizza was better anyway. I smirked and shook my head at her as I opened my pizza box to find a room-temperature pepperoni.
     "Is it still the way straight to your heart even if it's not hot?" Nina questioned with a small giggle.
     I grinned at her. "Go put in your movie," I scoffed, shaking my head in amusement. She actually did as told, though, sticking her tongue out at me one more time as she grabbed the tape and went over to her VCR to set it up. I let her do her thing as I dug into my pizza. When I looked back up, Nina was watching me with her hands on her hips.
     "I'll take that as a yes," she snickered.