Chapter forty-two

Monday they woke up in Spain. Richie had been right about the concert on Sunday. They left immediately after the show to a nearby airport.

They'd flown straight to Barcelona and gone to bed when they arrived at the hotel.

He was relieved he didn't have to get up early to pick up Sarah from the airport anymore.

Even though they slept until close to noon, Richie was the first to wake up. Again he had the chance to watch Sarah sleep, it was definitely one of his favorite things to do.

Now that they were engaged he could really start thinking of her moving in. Would she before or after they got married? Maybe that would depend on when they got married. But Sarah wanted a beach wedding so it had to be during the summer so it wasn't too cold but did he really want to wait for next summer?

He kept watching Sarah as he thought all these things over. There were so many things he wanted to arrange and talk over with her.

Sarah's eyes finally opened slowly, as she saw Richie next to her, she lazily stretched out beside him.

"I haven't slept this well in ages." She did sound very relaxed.
"I noticed, you don't wake up every time I move."
"I'm just a light sleeper. I told you nothing used to be able to wake me up until my marriage went so bad." Sarah said. "Maybe you're just quieter."
"I'm not, I always try to not wake you up but you always do." Why would he deliberately wake her up?
Sarah shrugged.
"Maybe you finally feel safe?"



They spent most of their day at the hotel's pool. Richie had two days off and wanted to do some lazing about too. Tomorrow they could visit another museum Sarah wanted to see. He was sure he hadn't been to that many museums during a tour. It was a nice twist to it and he was making Sarah happy, that's all he wanted, a happy fiance.

It was quite busy at the pool because of the heat. Everyone was lounging around with occasional dips in the pool so Sarah and Richie did the same.

Throughout the day each of Richie's friends came along. Tico only stayed for a few minutes, only taking a short dip in the pool, swimming a few laps before leaving again.

David stayed a bit longer, sitting down next to Richie but by the time he left he hadn't noticed Sarah's ring either.

Jon showed up just when David went to leave, he had clearly gone for a run, pulling off his shirt and getting in the pool before taking the chair David had occupied.

"Where's the ring?" He asked Sarah.
Sarah smiled and held her hand out to show him her ring.
"It's beautiful. Richie made a good pick." Jon smiled back.

Just a perfect lazy day to do nothing. In minimal wear, which was even more exciting according to Richie. The only way she could look even more stunning was naked but a bikini was close enough.

After dinner they spent time on their room's balcony, watching the sun set and the stars appear in the sky high above them. The one brighter than the other.

While watching, with the sun gone, the air had considerably cooled down and they decided to go back inside.

After a quick shower to clean off the day's sweat, they ended up in bed, laying close together, face to face.
Richie carefully pushed Sarah's wet hair away from her face and reached in to softly kiss her.

Tuesday was Richie's second day off. They slept in again and in the afternoon they were off to do some sightseeing. He took his sunglasses and off they were.

They explored the inner city of Barcelona, walking into small shops, looking around for local things.

The city was busy but Barcelona was a very touristic city so it wasn't a surprise, at least not to Richie.

At last they found the colored waving benches of Barcelona and this time Richie actually wished Jon was there. The benches were a piece of art and he hadn't brought a camera with him. Where was his stalker when he needed him?

It was hot in Spain as it was in Greece and they decided to go for dinner before going to the museum. After that they could go back to the hotel.

The museum seemed deserted, it was only a tiny place, through he his sunglasses he could only see two other tourists, a couple like him and Sarah and guide or a member of staff.

"I think it's about to close." Sarah said a little concerned.
Richie checked his watch for the time. "Oh it's almost 8. You're probably right." He shrugged. "They'll kick us out if we stay too long."

They walked around, learning about the museum while Richie noticed the other two people on the other end were paying more attention to something else.

It took him a while before he realized it was him they were paying attention too. Nobody had recognized him in ages, he'd forgotten about it for a while.

A few minutes later the young man walked up to him, the woman seemed a little taken back, she quickly explained she was a fan but didn't want to bother him during his time.

Richie waved it off and agreed to a quick photo.

Sarah stood back and watched him interact. That was the second time a fan recognized him, only this one was a lot more civilized about it.

A minute later Richie walked back up to Sarah and went back to what they were looking at.

"That doesn't happen often. She was really nice too."
"Yeah, they're definitely not all bad." Richie agreed but remembered the girl at rehab's turn around too. She hadn't been that bad after all either.

Ten minutes after closing time they were asked to leave. Richie apologized for staying to long and their driver brought them back to the hotel on the other side of the city.



Wednesday Sarah was excited, it was the middle of the week, half way, her boys and mother would be coming over on Saturday. After the show on Sunday they were going to Richie's home state of New Jersey to spend some time at his mom's house. Strangely, Sarah couldn't wait to meet her.

It was the first time that week that they were up early. Richie had to do an early sound check and invited Sarah with him. It was something she hadn't done and he wanted to show her his point of view from the stage.

They played a few songs during which Sarah kept by the fences that would soon be filled with fans.
During the last two concerts Sarah had stood in the same spot and loved the new view she got of Richie that way. Finally she really got to experience a real concert and couldn't wait for tonight.

After half and hour Richie called her on the stage so she could see.

"Wow that's huge." Sarah said amazed as she looked out all the way to the back. "How many people fit there?"
"A lot, forty thousand or something."
"Don't you get stage fright with so many people watching?"
"I've been doing this for almost thirty years." Richie pointed out.
"What if you make a mistake?"
"That doesn't happen." Richie said, sure of himself.
Jon laughed from his spot by the microphone. "Yeah, it does!"
"You go learn your lyrics." Richie told him.

They were back at the hotel for lunch and decided to stay to watch a movie together.

It was still hot outside and they undressed before getting on the bed to watch but with Sarah half naked next to him, Richie couldn't keep his hands off of her and soon had completely forgotten the movie.



An hour later their bodies were sweaty but not only because of the heat.

The movie was now almost near the end but was completely forgotten as they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Before returning to the venue they showered together and had dinner.

Once again Sarah got her space with security right in front of Richie and anticipated the moment he would walk out to cheers of the crowd.