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5th May 1990 / Sayreville New Jersey
JON'S POV:
"All set?" I heard Richie ask, fluffing his hair up in the mirror ready for cameras.
"I think so, just a couple minutes to get the camera rollin'."
I fiddled with the microphone they'd attached to my shirt, trying to balance it so it wouldn't fall.
I picked my head up when the door opened, and watched with bemusement as Doc strided in. I don't know why he was so insistent on joining us today, all we were doing was just another random interview for MTV.
Neither Richie or I seemed too impressed to see him, ever since the whole wedding fiasco in LA, Rich hadn't exactly been the same with Doc.
"What time are you on?" Doc asked, looking round impatiently.
"About two minutes," I replied, not looking at him for more than three seconds.
Doc looked us both over, and then hyperfocused on my hands. I knew what he was looking at; in fact I took great satisfaction in flexing my fingers, showing off the new golden ring that exhibited my marital status.
"Take that off," he ordered, a sterness in his voice as usual.
I scoffed, "What's the point, everyone knows I'm married by now."
Honestly it had received more traction than I ever thought it could have. It was on every news outlet, the front of every magazine; I'd made headlines with it across the world. It was comical really, the fact that people cared so much.
"Exactly, and now's your chance to gain back some of the audience you will have lost," he said, tone deadly serious, "You're gonna go out there and tell them what really happened. How you got drunk, and married in the middle of the night, waking up without knowing what happened."
Richie and I both looked at him as though he were insane. He'd have to be crazy to think I'd do that, he'd already tried once to get me to publicly denounce my relationship, and it wasn't happening.
"I already told you it's not happening. Leave me and my wife alone, my personal life is nobody's business but my own."
"I'll strike you a deal," he offered, and I wasn't sure I liked his tone. "You do this now, and I'll leave you and Haylee alone. Tell them the story as I told it, and you don't have to worry about me interfering again."
I loosed a breath, we were running out of time, everything was nearly set. "I can't, and I won't."
"Then the interview is called off," he said blankly, "I can't have you risking anymore than you already have."
Richie and I looked at each other, eyes widened in a state of shock.
"Remember what happened last week," Doc warned, taking a step closer to me so no one could hear. I felt my heart shudder in its cage; a threat. The thought of Doc replacing the aches and bruises that still resided in some parts of my body with new injuries scared me more than I liked to admit. "Do this, and I'll leave you and your wife to your own doings."
