Saturday, August 9, 2014

New Beginning

After Harry's naptime, we did exactly what I had suggested.

Once we got outside, Richie helped setting up the foldable push chair and we were good to go. The tube station wasn't that far from my flat, a five minute walk, if that.

As Richie wanted, I let him push the pram. I had no problem with him taking up his fatherly duties.

It was easy to find the office, I knew where it was because I had been planning on visiting some day.

"You're sure about this?" I asked Richie.
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know, it's always in the media how people claim to have celebrity their babies and you accepted this so easily."
"He looks just like me." Richie said, convinced that he was the father.
"He does, because he is your son but still, most people would want DNA tests."
Richie shook his head. "Too much hassle, Harrison doesn't need that. With you having to get everything arranged to visit in L.A. at the end of the summer will be busy enough for him." He explained. "I still need to arrange a few things for you then."
"For me?" I asked, opening the door to the office so he could push Harrison's stroller inside.
"Yes, moneywise. I need to be sure Harrison gets what he needs."
"He gets what he needs." I said, slightly annoyed because he was assuming Harrison was missing out on things because I wasn't rich like him.

I walked up to the reception and asked about the situation and where we exactly had to be.

"He has everything he needs." I told Richie again as I walked back to him and over to the lift to go to the third floor.
"I know but passports are expensive, plane tickets. I want to help out." He said.
"Oh." I didn't know he meant that. He was right, I did need help with those and maybe some things for Harry. He was growing very fast, his clothes were getting small.

We arrived to the third floor and easily found the office room we needed to be in. It was just like registering Harrison's birth again but this time he'd have a father.

Together we walked up to the reception of this office and asked for the documents to be changed. We were lead to a seperate room where Richie and I sat down in two chairs with Harrison between us.

Just like last time I gave up all the information about Harrison even though they could just copy it off his current birth certificate.

With nothing to keep him occupied, Harrison was getting bored and announcing it to everyone in the room. Quickly, before Richie could, I picked him up and cuddled him in my lap, trying to make him happy with that.

The clerk explained everything to Richie, how it would make Harrison officially his child and that we needed to arrange custody of our child too as we weren't together.

That was something I had forgotten about but certainly Richie wasn't taking that from me. I cuddled Harrison closer.

I watched Richie pick up the pen and read the certificate. "Harrison Richard?" He looked at me.
"Well, yeah." I said. I wasn't able to use his last name to give him a piece of his dad before so I gave him Richard.
"Sambora." He added when he read the full name and lifed his pen to sign his name on Harrison's birth certificate before passing pen and paper to me. His signature looked different from the autograph I had seen often.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Step 1

It was sweet to see Richie on the sofa with Harrison while I cleaned up the table after lunch. It was a moment he deserved, they both did.

I stalled in the kitchen as I watched Richie entertain Harrison with stuffed animals, making voices up for them and making Harrison laugh and clap. He was adjusting very easily to a new person.

When Harrison started to get tired and less interested in the stuffed animals acting silly, I decided to join them on the sofa.

"He's getting tired." Richie commented.
"It's naptime." I agreed with him. "Probably best to check his nappy before he falls asleep." I said, ready to pick up Harrison to go do so.

Richie picked him up and put him in his lap before I could.

"Let me do it. I'll get him to bed." He picked Harrison up and stood up with him. "Does he need pj's?"
"Just take his jeans off and he'll be fine." I told him. "Everything is at his changing table."
"We'll manage." Richie said before going to Harrison's room.

I heard him talk in the other room, telling Harrison that he had to go sleep and have some nice dreams. His voice was sweet and low, a soothing voice to get Harrison to sleep.

A few minutes later Richie walked back into the living room, pulling the bedroom door closed behind him, leaving it open for an inch.

"He's sound asleep." He said with a smile on his face as he sat down on the sofa next to me. "We need to talk."
I nodded.
"You should have tried harder to let me know about this-"
"I tried as hard as I could, Richie, I really did." I interrupted him straight away. He needed to know that I had done everything I could to let him know. "I wanted you to know about this because he is your son, you deserve each other."
"I know, I got it." He assured me. "But now we need to figure this out. I want him to be my son."
"He is your son."
"I mean on paper, his birth certificate and all that stuff."
I nodded, he was absolutely right. "We'll need to get that adjusted but then you need to be with me to sign those papers."
"We'll need to figure out how to do that."
I smiled and shook my head, watching him frown at me before I explained. "I did research, I asked when I registered his birth. They said that when the father wants to be on the birth certificate and recognize him as his child, we'd just have to go back, register him again and he gets a new birth certificate with your name on it."
"Just like that?" Richie frowned.
I nodded. "Yeah, we just need to go to the office and get it adjusted."
"So we could even do that now?"
"I think so."
"And how long does Harrison nap?"

We talked for the rest of Harrison's naptime. Agreeing on what had to be done.

As soon as Harrison was awake we'd go and get his new birth certificate, step one. With having that, I should be able to apply for a passport and afterwards,  work visa to get to the United States. Perhaps it wouldn't be on time to go with Richie but at least by the end of the summer to which he agreed. Knowing he was still busy during the summer and had another child at home that he needed to inform.

I agreed, while Richie was away now, I'd get everything in order. After the last concert in Scotland, he'd drop by London for a day or two before going home to Ava where he had to break some tough news to her.

Knowing that a work visa could take up to two years, he agreed to help out with it. After all, Harrison was his son which should be able to push the visa for both of us so Harrison could be with his father.

With that, Richie also agreed that Harrison and I could stay at his house until I could get by on my own. I wouldn't be his burden.

"You'd have to move to L.A., ,you're just okay with that? What about your friends and family? Your parents, wouldn't they miss you?"
I shrugged. "My parents live on the other side of the island, where I grew up, I haven't seen them since I started college here and I haven't heard from them since I told them I was pregnant and couldn't tell them who the dad was."
He frowned, as if he couldn't believe it. "What about friends?"
"They're all busy with school or jobhunting or being succesful. I have a child to watch 24/7, our lives are too different now."
"Oh." He didn't know what to say.
"Harrison is really the only person I have."

Friday, July 4, 2014

Step by Step

"A flat white."

I don't know how many orders I had filled that day but that was the first one that made me smile.

I made the cup of coffee and turned back to Richie.

"Is there anything else you'd like today?" I asked him politely.
"One of those paninis." He pointed at the glass screen at the one he wanted. "Maybe a croissant for your son and grab yourself something too."

A few minutes later I handed him his complete order to go.

"When do you get off work?" He asked me as he paid.
"Exactly at noon," I checked the time on the cash register. "three minutes."
He nodded. "I'll just wait then."

I helped the next person, watching Richie picking out a table to sit down for a few minutes. The coffee shop was small and there weren't much tables to pick from.


Just as promised, I caught up with him at his table a few minutes later.

"Finished." I smiled down at him. "Your panini is probably cold by now."
"It's fine." He said, pushing away his coffee cup and getting up with the bag of food.

Together we walked out of the shop and crossed the street back to the small space between two shops where my door was hidden. In unlocked it and showed him upstairs again.

"I'll go get Harrison." I told him after opening the door to the flat and letting him in.

When I returned to my flat with my little boy, the small table in the kitchen had been set and the panini were steaming heat. It made me smile.

"Thank you." I said to Richie as I passed Harrison over to him.
Harrison didn't mind at all and continued cuddling just as he had done with me.
"Where's his high chair?" Richie asked.
"Oh. I just hold him when I feed him or let him sit on the chair."
"Okay." Richie agreed and sat down, letting Harrison sit in his lap.

He grabbed the croissant he had bought and started ripping pieces off of it to feed Harrison.

I smiled and started eating the panini Richie had paid for me. Reheated twice but it still tasted great, they always did but I hardly ever bought them for myself, even with a 25% discount it was cheaper to make a sandwich.

"He'll nap after lunch?" Richie asked when Harrison had eaten most of the croissant.
"Yeah for about two hours." I told him.
"Okay, then we need to talk and figure some things out."
"We do." I agreed, knowing that it wouldn't be easy but Richie had a right to see his son. "What about the tour? You're quite busy right now."
"That's why we need to talk." He continued feeding Harrison pieces of croissant. "When the tour is over, this part, I want to see him and I want to keep seeing him."
"We're not exactly neighbours." I pointed out.
"We'll have to figure it out." Richie said sternly.

I knew he was right but how would we cover that much distance so he was able to see Harrison? There was no way I had enough money to take Harrison all the way to California whenever Richie wanted to see his son.

"His birthday is soon." I reminded him.
"When?"
"July fourth."
"Really?" Richie asked, a little surprised. "That's original. I like that. So he'll be 1, are you having a party?"
I shrugged. "Who would I invite?"
"I'll be here." He said determined.
"I guessed you would be."
"What does he need?" Richie asked.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Something he needs, like clothes, a high chair."
"We get by." I assured him. All the money I earned by working, was mostly spent on rent and supporting Harrison. Personal items for me came last.
"Anything he needs?" Richie tried again.
"A dad."

Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Morning After

I woke up, thinking I had heard Harrison but the flat was quiet. Sunshine was creeping into the room, it was early morning. Over my waist, I felt a warm, heavy arm. It rested there gently.

I knew I had to move away from him to go check on Harrison in a few minutes but I decided to wait in Richie's arms until Harrison woke up. This was exactly where I wanted to be, every single morning. Richie felt warm behind me, making the futon much warmer than it usually felt in the morning.

A whole fifteen joyous minutes I was able to spend in Richie's comfortable warmth. Did he know he was doing this or was it unconciously? I didn't mind, he was there and I was going to enjoy it while I could.

Harrison woke up quietly. He wasn't loud, just loud enough to let me know he was awake.

Carefully, I moved away from under Richie's arm, careful not to wake him up or disturb him.

Dressed in shorts and a loose tshirt, I quietly made my room around the small flat. Richie was right, it wasn't much, the rooms were plain except for Harrison's. His room had everything he needed.

I quietly walked into his room and picked him up out of his cot and cuddled him for a second before going to change his nappy.

The boy was his usual happy self as I carried him back to the living room. Even though Richie was still asleep, I put Harrison on the futon bed, it wasn't high and he often played on it. He knew where to stay and to stay on it.

I left him with sleeping Richie as I went back to the kitchen where I could still see the both of them on the futon.

Taking care of Harrison's breakfast first, I made him a bottle with formula milk, it was the easiest and cheapest but also gave him all the nutrients he needed in a day.

I checked the fridge for something Richie and I could eat.

To my surprise, I heard a giggle from the living room. I quickly put what I found on the counter to look around to the sitting room.

Harrison was laying down next to Richie, giggling as Richie played with him. I hadn't heard him wake up but was glad to see him have a sweet moment with his son, even if it was without me. I figured he needed a minute without me too.

Instead of interrupting, I continued cooking, letting Richie have a few moments to get to know his son. He deserved that just as much as any other father would, if not even more. He was right, he had missed a year in Harrison's life, which wasn't nothing.

Breakfast finished, I brought it over to the futon and sat down on the side where I had slept and where Harrison was laying right now.

"Hungry?" I asked Richie.
"Thanks." He said, sitting up on the bed, getting comfortable and able to eat.

I passed him a plate with with eggs, toast and ham, hoping he would like a simple breakfast for now. He accepted the plate and eagerly started eating.

Harrison drank his bottle by himself so I was able to eat too.

"So you leave for work soon?" Richie asked me.
"Yeah, in half an hour."
"And you'll be back by noon. So I can see Harrison the rest of the day."
"Of course." I agreed. I wanted him to see Harrison but I couldn't trust him to stay alone with Harrison for an entire day. Other than being Harrison's father, he was still pretty much a stranger to me.
"What about tomorrow?" Richie asked.
"If you can make it over, you can visit as often as you'd like."
He nodded, looking as if he really appreciated that.
"He's your son, he has to see you too."
"I don't know about tomorrow yet." He said, thinking it over.
"That's okay."
He shrugged, "I'm busy all month now but I want to see Harrison too. We need to talk about this when you're back from work."

I agreed, he was right. We needed to figure something out to make this all work. He had a very busy schedule right now but after that, there had to be some way that he would be able to see Harrison more often.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

The Road Ahead

"I can't believe it." He repeated. "And you're absolutely sure?" He turned to me again?
I gave him a questioning look. "You were my first and last. You saw Harrison."
"Hmmm." He turned again and continued pacing.

His pacing was starting to make me nervous.

I let him be and walked over to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" He asked.
I gestured towards the fridge. "I'm just going to get a drink, do you want something too?" I offered him.
He shrugged. "I suppose."

Surprising to me, he followed me to the kitchen as I got two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with tap water.

He followed my lead when I sat down at the kitchen table.

I watched how he took a deep breath, held it and then released it. A few seconds later he took a sip from his glass of water.

"Alright?" I asked him, hoping he had gotten over the first shock.
He nodded. "When does he wake up?"
I checked the time before answering. "When he did, then he sleeps the night. He'll be up between 6 and 7."
"Okay, wouldn't want to wake him up either." He said. "So I can see him in the morning." He concluded.
"You're still staying the night?" I asked surprised, sure that he would have wanted to go back to the hotel by now.
"Unless you mind, I guess, I can come back in the morning."
"I have to work in the morning." I told him.
"No problem," he waved it off, "I'll watch him."
I frowned at him. "I don't think so. I'm not just going to leave him with you."
"Where else is he going while you work? You can't afford a babysitter."
I sighed and ignored his remark. "He's going to the lady upstairs, she helps me out. I don't mind you staying all night but I'm not letting him alone with you."
"Fine. When are you back from work?"
"Noon, I'm only doing a short shift. If you want to leave, you can come back by noon."

He considered it for a few seconds, weighing all the options before he decided.

"You don't mind if I still stay the night?"
I shook my head, I didn't. "I don't mind, I thought you would have wanted to leave by now."
"I wanna see him in the morning. I'll leave when you do and I'll be back by noon."
I nodded, I could agree to that. "We'll do it like that." I agreed.

A few minutes later, I arranged the futon to sleep. I offered to sleep elsewhere but Richie ignored my idea, I didn't have anywhere else to sleep. As he had suggested, we both got comfortable on the futon bed which wasn't very large at all.  He was so close to me that I could smell him. He might still be angry with me but he was still the man I dreamt of. To have him this close to me, was where I always wanted him. Even if he was angry with me.

Hopefully tomorrow would work out better for everyone.

A year I had hoped for Harrison to meet his father, before he was old enough to realize that he wasn't in his life. I didn't want that for him. Hopefully Richie felt the same way.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The Shock of Your Life

As I saw him look into the same brown eyes, I knew he knew what he was seeing. The same messy brown hair, gorgeous brown eyes and even the same lips.

After a while his eyes softened, I became more nervous but Harrison calmed down.

Richie looked more intensely at my little boy, then reached out his arms to take him. A little hesitantly, I passed Harrison over to him.

For a few seconds Richie looked at him, then held him on his hip and wiped Harrison's face gently.

I watched them both very closely, I still didn't know how Richie would react or if he was going to be this calm about it.

He smiled warmly at him, "Hi buddy," he said.

It surprised me when Harrison calmed down and leaned his head against Richie as he soothingly stroked his back.

"You should go back to sleep so your mommy and I can talk."

Still, I had no clue of what to expect or even what to say at this moment. I was at a loss for words, but their interaction was one of a kind.

Harrison became sleepy again and Richie gently put him down in his cot and tucked him in before walking out of the room. I sighed deeply and followed him back to the living room. I was pretty sure we weren't going to continue where we had left off almost half an hour ago.

Richie was pacing beside the futon when I walked in to the room, he was thinking deeply.

Finally he looked up at me, the hurt in his eyes shocked me. "He's mine, isn't he?"
I nodded carefully, unsure of where this was going and how it was going to get there.

He turned around and paced to the wall, once there, he turned back towards me.

He sighed, hesitated and wanted to say something but shook his head and turned back to the wall.

Once he faced me again, his gentle brown eyes had turned angry. "How could you keep this from me? I have a one year old son and I didn't know about any of this shit? How could you do that? Why?" He said angrily before turning back to walk towards the wall.

I had answers to his questions but I wasn't able to say anything.

"That's why you wanted to come here instead of the hotel." He muttered. "To show him to me, and then what?" He faced me again, anger still in his eyes. "You bring me here, show me where you live... Want me to pity you?"

That angered me. "No! I work hard to be able to afford this, it's not a mansion like your place but it's my own place. I brought you here so you could finally meet Harry."
"Why now?" He asked.
"I tried to get in contact with you when I found out I was pregnant and when he was born."
He gave me a skeptical look. "You obviously didn't try hard enough."
"I did." I defended myself, I had tried every which way I could. "I found your agent, talked to her a few times on the phone and each time she told me to leave you alone and wouldn't pass on a message. When the band was here for promo I hung out at the BBC building for days but you never saw me. I wanted to try again in July with the concert and finding out you were going to The Stones concert but Harry prevented that. I tried." I said very firmly. I had tried to get in contact with him to let him know about his son but every way I tried had failed and that wasn't my fault.

He sighed as he shook his head and continued his pacing.

"I have a son." The disbelief was clear in his voice. "I have a son and I missed an entire year of his life."

Monday, June 16, 2014

The Truth Is...

Richie smiled at me. "A boy or a girl?"
"A boy, he'll be one in three weeks." I said proudly, thinking of my boy.

Wanting to make the flat a bit more comfortable, I started clearing everything off the sofa and coffee table so we could sit down.

"I didn't know you had a kid." Richie said as I cleaned up around him.
"I didn't when we met, remember?" He'd been my first. I offered him a seat on the sofa as I told him.
As he sat down, he remembered it. "Oh right."
Or maybe he acted as if he remembered. "If you don't mind, I'm quickly gonna go check on him. Make yourself at home."
"Alright."

Sure he had had girlfriends with kids but I'm sure he didn't expect this tonight. I quickly walked into the dark bedroom to check, he was still sound asleep so I let him be and went back to the living room.


"Everything okay?" He asked when I walked back in.
"Yeah, still asleep." I said as I sat down on the sofa next to him.

He smiled at me when I told him, glad that we had our privacy. He moved closer to me on the sofa, wrapping an arm around me, he reached into kiss.

Even though I felt nervous about this again, kissing him felt amazing. He definitely had enough experience to become such a great kisser. It was tender but passionate at the same time.

Reminding me of last time, I felt his hand creep up around my waist, carefully slipping under my top as he reached my back. His hand felt soft to the touch, even though he had played guitar his entire life, his fingertips were gentle and soft against my skin. Every touch he made felt warm.

As his hand reached the middle of my back, he starting pushing me down to lay down on the sofa. I obliged right away and laid down on the sofa as he moved above me.

His kiss only paused briefly when we needed to gasp for air, other than that, I was sure he could keep this up for hours. So gentle and sweet.

After a good while of deep kissing, I could feel him grind his pelvis into me. He was obviously hard and wanted more than just kissing.

When he was sure he had made it clear to me, he pulled back from the kiss and raised on his arms.

"Do you have a bedroom too?"
I frowned. "No, this is my bedroom."

I tried to sit up so I could show him and he moved away from me. Getting up off of the sofa, I pulled him with me so he would stand too. At the bottom of what looked like cushions, I pulled two straps until the sofa clicked and folded out into a futon to sleep on.

"My bed." I said, gesturing to it with my hand, as if I was proud of creating it.
Richie shrugged and smiled at me. "Works for me." He said and got onto the bed.

He padded the thin mattress next to him for me to sit down there too.

I smiled, glad he didn't mind it and sat down next to him. Right away, we went back to where we had let off.

Just as we were laying down and getting comfortable, we heard crying from the bedroom.

I pulled away from the kiss and sighed, noticing Richie did exactly the same. I felt sorry, I didn't mean it to happen like this at all.

"I'm sorry;" I said, "I'll quickly get him back to sleep and we can continue this." I said as I got up from the bed, halfway to the only bedroom.

I heard him say "okay" as I walked into the room and switched the lights on.

Fifteen minutes and a nappy change later, the crying continued which made me think if he was simply hungry or thirsty. I didn't know what to do or how Richie would react to this. He was obviously disappointed by the interruption but if he found out more, he'd be raging but I felt too nervous to take my baby to the kitchen to eat or drink.

Had I made a wrong decision?

A knock at the door, made me look up at the door, seeing Richie standing there.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

His eyes went wide with recognition when he saw my little Harrison.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Weathering the Storm

By the end of the concert I was absolutely sure he had recognized me. A few times he caught my eye and smiled at me, I'm sure he had a reason to. He remembered me.

The show was amazing, every song was unique, not just by him but the entire band. It was an incredible feeling and experience once again. Just as everyone had hoped it would be.

There was a strict curfue to the show and sadly it didn't last a minute longer.

Richie left the stage, I sighed. He was gone, the show was over and I didn't get the chance to talk to him, just a few minutes would be enough.

"Hey you!"

Somebody from the crew shouted at me, I turned towards him. Most of the crowd had left, I stayed with hope.

"Wanna come backstage?" He asked.
"Of course." I said eagerly, remembering how it had gone last time.

A few minutes later, I was backstage again, a different venue but backstage wasn't that different. I was lead to Richie's dressing room and was let in only a few minutes later.

I walked in feeling nervous. Sure I'd meet him before but that was two years ago and things had changed since then, I had no idea what to expect from this.

"Hey." He said nicely when I walked in.
"Hi." I answered.
"We met before, haven't we?"
I nodded. "The last London concert in 2012."
"Right, we had a great night."
I smiled up at him. "Yeah, we did."
He didn't beat around the bush for a minute. "Wanna do that again?"
I don't remember ever smiling that wide. "Yeah."
"Just a few minutes, gotta pack up in here and then we can go back to the hotel."

I watched him pack up his belongings as I thought about what he had said. Back to the hotel, just like last time but I wanted more privacy than that.

Hesitatingly I asked, "Why don't we go back to my flat?"
Richie looked up, considering it. "How far do you live?"
"In Newington."
He looked at me confused.
"Close to the London Eye." I added quickly.
His eyes lit up when he could place it. "Yeah, okay, let's do that."

He picked up his leather bag and put it over his shoulder.

"Ready to go?"


The drive wasn't very long but the closer we got, the more unsure I was of showing him where and how I lived.

Eventually the car parked and we got out.

"Oh a coffee place right there, where do you live?" Richie looked around the area, only noticing the store fronts and rows of small attached houses between them.

I pointed a few houses away. There was a small shop but above it were three small flats. I walked the way to show him where it was.

There was a small space between the shop and the next shop that had 3 letterboxes and a black door. With my key I opened the door to reveal a staircase.

"Luckily it's the second floor." I said.
"Not too bad."

He said it but I saw him look around the cramped space as we went up the stairs, he was regretting coming here already.

At the landing there was only one door and another set of stairs, for this door I also had a key.

I pushed the door open and let Richie in behind me.

The apartment was small and not exactly perfectly clean.

"You're back. Finally."

For a second I had forgotten about the girl in my flat.

"Sorry it took so long."

She walked over to me, not happy about the situation but that was her problem. She too knew life wasn't always as easy.

"We agreed on 40 for the day, right?" I asked, profusely hoping that didn't change.
"Yes, but you're over an hour late which doubles my rate."
I gasped. "80 quid?"

I opened up my purse and looked through my money, not even close to 50. I pulled out what I had and handed it to her.

"That's not enough." She complained.

I saw Richie pull out his own wallet, I didn't want him to but if he was going to offer, I also wasn't going to pass. I just wanted her out of the flat. He gave the girl a 50 on top of what I had given her. Much happier, she finally left.

"Babysitter?" Richie asked when the girl had left.
I nodded and put my things away, feeling ashamed of how she got more than what we agreed upon.
"You got a kid?" He asked, wondering.
"Yeah." I smiled a little, feeling nervous.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Back to London

Only two weeks ago I finally managed to find a ticket to Richie's show. The tickets had sold out so quickly, I hadn't been able to get one. Honestly, I couldn't really afford one back then anyway but I needed to see him.

On Facebook I saw a page post about somebody selling two tickets for the London show so I immediately grabbed my chance and messaged the person in question. Luckily she didn't mind selling only one to me. I was happy enough with one ticket, sure with a friend it would be fun but my friends still didn't like my music and I had lost contact with a lot of friends after college.

Today was the day.

Sadly, I wasn't able to leave the building as early as I had wanted to but when I was finally outside, I was only half an hour late.

At least the tube was almost always on time and today it was, I quickly got on, with the morning-rush it was quite busy so I had to stand all the way to the station I needed to get off and get on another. It was my way to get around London, quick and much cheaper than buying a car and in fact, must faster too.

When I got there, there were a few people there already. There were always people before me but I'd done quite well in getting here on time.

I checked my ticket in my pocket and got in line behind a group of 30-something women that were all showing much more excitement than I was.

As long as I got the front as much as possible as last time, maybe he'd recognize me in the crowd. Just like he had done last time. He had to.

The line was pretty calm for the next four hours until Richie showed up! Right there!

The queue had grown immensly and now Richie arrived right here.

He was looking just as good as two years ago, I realized I had missed him in those two years.

While he stopped for autographs for everyone, he caught my eye and smiled at me. Was he just smiling to be nice or did he remember?

A few seconds later he came over and we did exactly the same as all the other fans, he signed a piece of paper for me and as he continued to the person next to me, I snapped a few pictures of him with my crappy phone.

As he went into the building a few minutes later, the crowd quieted down significantly, it had become so calm and quiet now even though people were very eager for the show to start. So was I.

I was almost sure he had recognized me.

He had to recognize me.