A Joke On The Joker.

Gabby was fuming. How could he??!! It’s not like she asked him for a million dollar shopping spree…or to borrow his Porche…or to set her up for a date with some hot new actor or singing celebrity. All she asked for was to let her spend her Spring Break skiing with her best friend! So what’s the big deal that her parents were not going with them? After all her big brother Charlie is now 21 and for all legal reasons is considered an adult! Plus three of his college buddies would be there! She had seen his friends a few weeks ago at Maggie’s house, when she was studying with her. They were hot!! But not as hot as Charlie! That boy was an Adonis! Gorgeous! That’s who should’ve played Edward in the “Twilight” instead of Robert Pattinson. That actor did not even come close to looking like the Edward in her dreams. But Charlie did, as a matter of fact he was Edward in her dreams. And now, Maggie had invited her to come skiing with them, and what did her father do? The man who boasts that he had partied so hard in the 80’s that he does not remember the whole decade! He tells his daughter- NO!!! The nerve! He even jokes that he would rather go on a date with a fan then to let his fifteen year old daughter spend a week with four college boys and one teenaged friend! Wait a second… a date, with a fan…humm this has potential for revenge! Now, didn’t one of the girls on the “Twilight” fan forum board mention that her mother was a Bon Jovi fan? That’s right, few days ago KitKat commented on Gabby’s nick-LunarEclipse on the board. She said her mom was driving her insane by playing a CD with same name in her car, over and over and over again! They chatted for a while and KitKat said something about her mother needing a man… now that she was divorced for over a year! This could work. Gabby logged on and breathed a sigh of relief that KitKat was in the chat room.

LunarEclipse: hey KitKat!

KitKat: hey girl!

LunarEclipse: whatcha doing?

KitKat: not much, just hanging… had a fight with mom AGAIN!

LunarEclipse: same here, but with dad!

KitKat: I hear ya! What’d he do?

LunarEclipse: he went all “parent” on me!

KitKat: LOL! I mean :(

LunarEclipse: didn’t you like mention that your mom was a fan of that old fart group Bon Jovi?

KitKat: yeah, *insert eye roll* por que?

LunarEclipse: does she have a favorite band member?

KitKat: who knows…I tune her out when she rants and raves about them…WHY?

LunarEclipse: just thinking…my dad likes that type of music too… And he has been up my ass lately! Maybe if we get them together and they hit it off…they would mellow out and we both would benefit by getting a break?

KitKat: hummmm, this has potential! How do you propose we do that? And is your dad like an OK dude? He is not a psycho or a nut case?

LunarEclipse: naaah, he’s a pussy cat! LOL, just your typical old fart…who at time likes to pretend he is a rock star and plays occasional gigs with his friend’s band. but he is a nerd at heart! harmless I tell ya, harmless! just annoying as a “parental unit“….

KitKat: LOL! *eye roll* aren’t they all???

LunarEclipse: :)

KitKat: sooooo, how do we get them together?

LunarEclipse: don’t know….need to think…will PM you later!

KitKat: K…what’s your real name BTW?

LunarEclipse: Gabby…and I’m 15... you?

KitKat: Katie…I’m 15 too! Cool….

Gabby signed off the forum. She closed her eyes, deep in thought, she didn’t notice her door opening and her father entering her room, totally ignoring the sign on her door that stated “keep out…this means you too dad!”

“Gabby, can we talk?” he asked.
Opening her eyes with a groan, she shook her head and muttering “ Like it will change anything!” she grabbed her “Twilight” book from her night stand and pretended to be engrossed in it even though she had read it so many times the pages were loose and falling out.

After standing there for few minutes, being completely ignored by his daughter, David shook his head and left her room. Walking in to his bedroom he collapsed on the bed. When did parenthood get so difficult? God damned teenagers! Fifteen year old girls were not that complicated when he was that age! Then again, maybe not…he never got anywhere with them either as a teenager… Of course he was a goofy looking nerd with frizzy hair and glasses then… And now what? A 47 year old, supposedly successful rock star and Musical composer, with a history of a failed marriage and a broken engagement on his hand… not to forget his three kids who thought he was “Sooo Twentieth!” It took him a whole week of internet surfing to figure out they called him “last century”! No wait Lilly still thought he was cool…thank God for little girls who still love their daddies! With a deep sigh, David closed his eyes and drifted off into restless sleep.

In her room, Gabby was back on her laptop, searching through her emails. There it was! The email from Barnes and Noble, announcing a “Twilight” party. Lets see…when and where? Perfect! This SHOULD work! She quickly logged on the “Twilight” fan forum.

PM Message to KitKat from LunarEclipse:
Hey Katie! There is a “Twilight” party at the Barnes and Noble in Paramus this Saturday! Can you get your mom to take you there? I’m pretty sure I can get my dad to bring me!

PM Message to LunarEclipse from KitKat:
Sounds cool! Paramus is like 20 minutes from us! So it’s a definite maybe! Lets work on the “parental units”! Let you know how it goes on my end!

Through a drowsy haze came and annoying whine “Daddy….daddy are you awake?” Oh now its “daddy” and not “dad”, she must really want something. Lets hope its something safe and easy, and hopefully will help me score back some brownie points. David sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his tired blue eyes. “What is it Princess?”

Gabby cringed at the “princess’, but putting a smile on her face pressed on “Daddy, there is a “Twilight” book event at a Barnes and Noble this Saturday. Can you take me PLEASE!”

Hmmm, sounds simple and innocent enough. Maybe its time for a father-daughter outing, it has been a while since we enjoyed one of those.

“Sure sweetheart, but we’ll have to take Lilly with us” he answered her.

“Uhmmm, daddy, can’t it be just the two of us? What if I get Colton to agree to watch her?’ Gabby tried.

David nodded “Sure, if you can arrange THAT miracle, it’ll be fine with me.”

With a grin on her face Gabby ran out of her dad’s room and straight into her brothers.

“Hey Colt! I need a favor!” she exhaled as she sat on his bed.

Her brother slowly turned from the computer monitor and uttered “What?”

“Can you watch Lilly on Saturday night, so dad can take me somewhere?” she asked.

“Now WHY would I do that for YOU?” Colton smirked.

“How about a $25 iTunes card?” Gabby offered.

“Fine” he said and turned back to his monitor.
~~~~~~~~~~

In a northern New Jersey town a similar “transaction” was taking place.
“MOM!” Katie called out.

Must she always scream Emma thought lifting her eyes from her check book. “Yes honey!” she answered “I’m in the kitchen”

Katie walked up to her mom, smiling… “Mom, we haven’t done anything fun in like forever” she started.

Oh here we go…how much is this going to cost me now? Emma thought. Since her divorce, she had retained the full custody of her daughter, and the child support was generous…but, she still could not compete with her stock broker’s ex-husband’s “purchasing power”. Emma smiled and faced her teenager.

“Mom, there is a “Twilight” party at Barnes and Noble this Saturday. Could you take me PLEASE!” Katie begged.

“Which Barnes and Noble?” Emma asked.

“The one on Route 17 South in Paramus.” said Katie.

“I don’t know about this…I was planning to clean up the house this Saturday. You know your grandparents are coming over on Sunday.” Emma replied.

“What if I help? How about if I do the laundry?” Katie asked her mom.

“Laundry…as in wash, dry, fold AND put away?” came a response.

“OK!” Katie rolled her eyes nodding.

Wow, she must really want this. She’s never been this agreeable to help. I guess I should do this for her. Emma thought as she watched her daughter sprint to her room.

PM Message to LunarEclipse from KitKat: All set on my end. what time?

PM Message to KitKat from LunarEclipse: I’m all set too! How about 6pm?

PM Message to LunarEclipse from KitKat: works for me. How will I find you?

PM Message from LunarEclipse to KitKat: here is my cell # 609-555-1234, call me when you get to the store. And keep the “parental unit” clueless.

PM Message from KitKat to LunarEclipse: cool, my cell # 201-555-4321. will call on arrival. And “parental unit” is ALWAYS clueless :)

The week flew by in both households. Kids went along with their school days. Emma worked during the day, spent evenings with Katie, chatted with her Jovi friends on line, and fell asleep listening to her favorite tracks from the Lunar Eclipse CD.

David spent his days in New York at the “New World Stages” theater, supervising the production of “The Toxic Avenger” Musical, and his evenings with his kids.

Saturday afternoon found both girls busy, getting ready for their rendezvous.

Text Message to Katie from Gabby: we r leaving now. B @B&N in an hr.

Text Message to Gabby from Katie: k, c u there in an hr!

Text Message to Katie from Gabby: we r here.

Text Message to Gabby from Katie: b there in 5, where r u n the store?

Text Message to Katie from Gabby: we r n the coffee shop, back of the store. Dad is all in black, I’m blond, white shirt over denim.

Text Message from Katie to Gabby: k, c u n a few!

As she pulled in to the store’s parking lot, Emma glanced over her daughter who was too busy texting to notice her moms attention. “Honey, who are you texting to?”

“Oh, just a friend from the forum, we’re going to meet and have fun at the party.”

“Uhmm, sweetheart, how well do you know this friend?”

“As well as you knew your friend Alice, before you met her for drinks after the fan club concert!” came the reply.

“Katie, this is different!” Said Emma.

“How so mom?”

“Well, we are adults, for one..”

“So what, you are with me, and it is Barnes and Noble! How dangerous could it be?”

Well, she has a point… Emma thought, and remained silent.

They entered the store and Katie took the lead and hightailed for the coffee shop located in the back. Emma followed her absentmindedly. Katie spotted a slim, tall blond girl in a white shirt that was sitting next to an old man dressed all in black, with a ball cap over unruly blond curls and sun glasses. Who wears sunglasses in a book store? She stopped abruptly in front of their table, causing Emma to bump slightly into her.

“Hi, are you Gabby?”

“Yep! Katie?”

“Yep! Nice to finally meet you!” she turned and pointed to Emma “This is my mom, I guess she can hang with your dad while we have fun!”

Gabby could hardly maintain a straight face. Katie’s mom looked like she just saw a ghost…or a vampire! This was working out even better then she hoped! The woman was just standing there with her mouth slightly open…staring at her dad! Gabby stood up and whispered in Katie’s ear “This will be fun!” as she grabbed Katie’s hand and led her away.

Emma nearly collapsed into the vacated chair. She could not stop staring at the man across the table. Sitting across from her, and looking as good as sin, was no other then her favorite Bon Jovi member- David Bryan Rashbaum!.

No freaking way! This is NOT possible! What would he be doing here, at Barnes and Noble’s “Twilight” party? Wait, didn’t her daughter call the other teen Gabby? Oh! My! God! That is HIM! Ok, Emma, get yourself together! And for crying out loud….STOP STARING at him!

David lazily looked at the woman across from him through his sunglasses. The “look” was unmistakable. Oh shit! A fan! Just what I need! Hope she stays quiet and does not cause a scene. Shit, she looks like she is either about faint or explode. He cleared his throat and spoke “ Ah, are you ok?”

She nodded silently, then shook her head “I’m sorry, I’m usually not like this…its …its...just ..I…uhhhh… what I meant to say is.. I was not expecting this.” She exhaled and shook her head… and laughed.

The sound of her laugh stopped him in mid thought. He looked at her again. Hmm, not too bad… has to be in her 30’s… nice curves, warm brown eyes, beautiful cascading, honey kissed, brown curls to her mid back… and that breath taking smile. David could not help, but smile back at her. At that particular moment his cell phone buzzed.

Text Message to Dad from Gabby: hope u r enjoying yr date with a fan :P

David dropped his head back, closing his eyes and groaned.
Opening his eyes he looked back at her smiling wildly at the woman across from him.

“I think…. we’ve been had!”

Seeing her puzzled expression he explained “ I think my daughter, and possibly yours just played a practical joke on me… or rather us, actually… Lets start over?” he glanced at her and smiled.

Emma could not help, but smile back “sure!”

“Hi, my name is David!” he said with a grin and extended his hand to her.

She gently shook his offered hand and smiled “hello David, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Emma”

“Emma, would you like some coffee?”

Gabby kept glancing back at her dad periodically. After he got her text, he actually seemed to enjoy himself. The girls enjoyed the “Twilight “ activities for over an hour, then decided to go “rescue” their parents.
When they approached their table, they found them enjoying their coffee and laughing like they‘ve known each other forever. They both had their cell phones out and were typing something into them. Seeing the girls approach, David exited out of his newly updated contact list, got out of his chair and hugging his daughter, whispered in her ear “thank you Princess!” Seeing her shocked expression he laughed at her.

“ Sweetheart, you got to know that jokes sometimes can back fire!”


THE END