6 months later)
“Anneka, look over here luv, give us a smile!” The flashing camera’s and the voices of the newspaper reporters were demanding her attention as Anneka stepped out of the car and hooked onto the arm of the tall fair haired, Michael Ross, the male star of a long running successful American cop show, her date for tonight, both of them attending a British TV award show.
She had known Michael for over two years on and of, and he had asked for her company tonight whilst he was in London, and she had happily obliged. She liked Michael a lot, they were great friends as well as one time lovers, like her he was not into commitment.
She was completely at ease in his company, and she didn’t mind the fact that his only reason was asking her was because she added a bit of glamour and prestige to his appearance. And if they ended up in bed by the end of the evening there would be no big deal kissing goodbye the following morning and not seeing each other for another year or so.
They posed for the camera’s with their best dazzling smiles before going into the building and joining the crowded throng of other celebrities in the foyer, a lot of whom they knew and recognised, and called out a greeting and a waved of hello. Some of them they stopped to exchange more than a few words with.
They were about to enter the main theatre when Anneka heard her cell phone go of in her purse.
Taking it out and looking at the screen she realised it was Bono, he picked his moments she mused. She hadn‘t heard from him in over a month but then he had been busy finishing of the tour with the band from when they had got back of the photo shoot in Africa six months before. She had only been in contact with him over the phone occasionally since then. As far as she recalled he was somewhere in south America
“Will you excuse me a few moments, I had better take this call, I will be with you in a bit, you go on in” Anneka urged Michael extracting her arm from his. He reluctantly went ahead whilst she found a more private quiet area in the foyer and answered her phone.
“Hi pretty lady,” the sound of his familiar friendly drawl sent a warm feeling over her, despite the fact she wanted to remain indifferent to him
“Hey Bono, I am afraid I can’t talk for very long you caught me at a bad moment” she informed him “Actually I was about to turn my phone of” she admitted with a small laugh
“Oh yeah? Where are you?” Bono enquired with idle interest
“At a Television award ceremony in London, its about to start soon, I am accompanying a friend”
“Anyone I know” Bono enquired.
“Not sure, you might have heard of him, Michael Ross? He acts in an American cop show, a very successful American cop show, he is over promoting the new season, so he wants to be seen out and about” Anneka found herself trying to make light of it, not even sure why she felt she had to explain herself to him
“And I guess being seen out and about with you, can do him no harm” Bono remarked
“I guess not” Anneka agreed
“I just phoned you to find out if Jan has been in touch, has he send you the rough copy of the finished book, I got mine today”
“Oh yes” Anneka replied “I got mine yesterday with his note asking if it met with my approval before it goes out for publishing
“Well its certainly got mine, I think he did a great job” Bono replied “I was talking to him on the phone earlier, so thought it would be good to have a small launch party before the big publication date, Y’know for family and close friends. Thought we could hold it here in Ireland if that’s ok with you.. say around next month sometime?”
“Yeah sure,” Anneka replied enthusiastically,
“Great, well see you then, if not sooner” Bono said, “I’ll phone you back so we can arrange a date when you can make it over”
“Ok, sounds good, looking forward to it” she tried not to make it sound like she was not rushing him, but she couldn’t help it. Everyone had almost disappeared from the foyer and the ceremony would be starting soon
“Right, I will let you get back to your TV cop, he probably won’t be very happy you are getting the attention of another man” he mused
“I doubt it, he is not the jealous type, besides as I said, we are more like friends” Anneka pointed out
“You mean like we are?” Bono queried
“Not exactly,” she answered elusively and resisting the urge to squirm
“I see… lucky him” his tone was light but yet she felt the tension growing between them
Even though she could not see his face, she could imagine those blue eyes on her, Anneka felt her face heat up.
“I really have to go now” she told him
“Of course.. Have fun” Bono told her and hung up.
Anneka switched of her cell phone looking a little pensive, why was she feeling deflated all of a sudden? there was no real reason for it. It wasn’t like she was setting out to make Bono jealous, she was just trying to carry on with her life as she normally would from she had come back from Africa.
It had been easy pretending or dismissing what happened between them had been caused by the high African heat, and they had both got a little crazy, imagining they were falling in love with each other, when he wasn’t around and she was so busy with her own life again she didn’t have to think on it too hard.
She almost believed it until she spoke with Bono, and then she knew she was fooling herself and it was a swift reminder she could not keep running away from it. She would have to deal with it sooner or later, the only trouble was she still wasn’t sure how.
Putting her phone in her purse, she once more pushed it to the back of her mind to go and find Michael
He was waiting for her inside the doorway looking a little anxious, “Everything OK?” he enquired.
“Yeah fine” Anneka smiled, “It was just Bono, wanting to ask me something to do with our charity work together” she informed him almost dismissively not wanting to go into great detail.
“Bono, the guy from the rock band U2?” Michael queried with mild interest.
“Yeah the one and only” Anneka replied with a wry grin
“It figures, he is always banging on about Africa. Did he get you roped in as well?” he sounded amused
“It wasn’t like that” Anneka found herself on the defensive, “Actually I was interested in the problem in Africa after I went there to see it for myself, I didn’t need Bono to influence me, I don‘t know why everyone seems to think that”
“OK” Michael replied, seeming a little taken aback by the frostiness in her tone, “hey I didn’t mean any harm, its just as I said, that guy Bono is always going on about the poverty in Africa, I just assumed.. Y’know..” he trailed of lamely
“Well I guess you assumed wrong, ” Anneka replied not wanting to discuss it further, realising the subject of Bono was making her more touchy than usual for reasons she didn’t want to examine here and now. She put her arm through Michaels, “ I am sorry I didn’t mean to snap like that, C’mon lets find our seats, its about to start” she added her tone softening
Michael was only too happily to oblige
But despite trying to enjoy the evening, Anneka found she was distracted, and could not really concentrate and enjoy herself, Her mind was elsewhere ever since Bono’s phone call, even from a distance he was managing to turn everything upside down. His presence seem to be there in the background of her mind, no matter what way she turned, there was no escaping it.
When Michael left her home that evening, standing in the hallway of her apartment, he kissed her, but in her minds eye all she could see was Bono’s face, making her pull away from him
“I’m sorry” she apologised finding it hard to look him in the eye, “I didn’t realise how tired I am, its been a busy week, I am not the best of company right now”
“I noticed you seemed a little out of it tonight, not your usual self” Michael remarked his hand stroking her back soothingly “Are you OK?” he then asked in concern.
“I will be, I just got some personal stuff to sort out” Anneka replied, “I don’t mean to be such a spoilsport, but you mind terribly if we called it a night”
“Well I won’t say I am not disappointed” Michael admitted ruefully, “This wasn’t the way I expected our night to end”
“Me neither” Anneka sighed, “But I feel I really would prefer to be alone right now.. I really am sorry” she apologised again
“Its alright, I will catch you again the next time you are on my side of the pond” Michael, realised it was no good pushing her, he could see she was on some sort of a downer.
“Yeah sure” she managed to smile and reached up to kiss him on the cheek “thank you”
Inside she was feeling troubled that the small conversation with Bono was having this affect on her, When Michael had gone she closed the door after him and wondered in dismay if this was how he affected her after a phone call, how on earth was she going to deal being with Bono again when they got together to promote Jan’s book?
“Anneka, look over here luv, give us a smile!” The flashing camera’s and the voices of the newspaper reporters were demanding her attention as Anneka stepped out of the car and hooked onto the arm of the tall fair haired, Michael Ross, the male star of a long running successful American cop show, her date for tonight, both of them attending a British TV award show.
She had known Michael for over two years on and of, and he had asked for her company tonight whilst he was in London, and she had happily obliged. She liked Michael a lot, they were great friends as well as one time lovers, like her he was not into commitment.
She was completely at ease in his company, and she didn’t mind the fact that his only reason was asking her was because she added a bit of glamour and prestige to his appearance. And if they ended up in bed by the end of the evening there would be no big deal kissing goodbye the following morning and not seeing each other for another year or so.
They posed for the camera’s with their best dazzling smiles before going into the building and joining the crowded throng of other celebrities in the foyer, a lot of whom they knew and recognised, and called out a greeting and a waved of hello. Some of them they stopped to exchange more than a few words with.
They were about to enter the main theatre when Anneka heard her cell phone go of in her purse.
Taking it out and looking at the screen she realised it was Bono, he picked his moments she mused. She hadn‘t heard from him in over a month but then he had been busy finishing of the tour with the band from when they had got back of the photo shoot in Africa six months before. She had only been in contact with him over the phone occasionally since then. As far as she recalled he was somewhere in south America
“Will you excuse me a few moments, I had better take this call, I will be with you in a bit, you go on in” Anneka urged Michael extracting her arm from his. He reluctantly went ahead whilst she found a more private quiet area in the foyer and answered her phone.
“Hi pretty lady,” the sound of his familiar friendly drawl sent a warm feeling over her, despite the fact she wanted to remain indifferent to him
“Hey Bono, I am afraid I can’t talk for very long you caught me at a bad moment” she informed him “Actually I was about to turn my phone of” she admitted with a small laugh
“Oh yeah? Where are you?” Bono enquired with idle interest
“At a Television award ceremony in London, its about to start soon, I am accompanying a friend”
“Anyone I know” Bono enquired.
“Not sure, you might have heard of him, Michael Ross? He acts in an American cop show, a very successful American cop show, he is over promoting the new season, so he wants to be seen out and about” Anneka found herself trying to make light of it, not even sure why she felt she had to explain herself to him
“And I guess being seen out and about with you, can do him no harm” Bono remarked
“I guess not” Anneka agreed
“I just phoned you to find out if Jan has been in touch, has he send you the rough copy of the finished book, I got mine today”
“Oh yes” Anneka replied “I got mine yesterday with his note asking if it met with my approval before it goes out for publishing
“Well its certainly got mine, I think he did a great job” Bono replied “I was talking to him on the phone earlier, so thought it would be good to have a small launch party before the big publication date, Y’know for family and close friends. Thought we could hold it here in Ireland if that’s ok with you.. say around next month sometime?”
“Yeah sure,” Anneka replied enthusiastically,
“Great, well see you then, if not sooner” Bono said, “I’ll phone you back so we can arrange a date when you can make it over”
“Ok, sounds good, looking forward to it” she tried not to make it sound like she was not rushing him, but she couldn’t help it. Everyone had almost disappeared from the foyer and the ceremony would be starting soon
“Right, I will let you get back to your TV cop, he probably won’t be very happy you are getting the attention of another man” he mused
“I doubt it, he is not the jealous type, besides as I said, we are more like friends” Anneka pointed out
“You mean like we are?” Bono queried
“Not exactly,” she answered elusively and resisting the urge to squirm
“I see… lucky him” his tone was light but yet she felt the tension growing between them
Even though she could not see his face, she could imagine those blue eyes on her, Anneka felt her face heat up.
“I really have to go now” she told him
“Of course.. Have fun” Bono told her and hung up.
Anneka switched of her cell phone looking a little pensive, why was she feeling deflated all of a sudden? there was no real reason for it. It wasn’t like she was setting out to make Bono jealous, she was just trying to carry on with her life as she normally would from she had come back from Africa.
It had been easy pretending or dismissing what happened between them had been caused by the high African heat, and they had both got a little crazy, imagining they were falling in love with each other, when he wasn’t around and she was so busy with her own life again she didn’t have to think on it too hard.
She almost believed it until she spoke with Bono, and then she knew she was fooling herself and it was a swift reminder she could not keep running away from it. She would have to deal with it sooner or later, the only trouble was she still wasn’t sure how.
Putting her phone in her purse, she once more pushed it to the back of her mind to go and find Michael
He was waiting for her inside the doorway looking a little anxious, “Everything OK?” he enquired.
“Yeah fine” Anneka smiled, “It was just Bono, wanting to ask me something to do with our charity work together” she informed him almost dismissively not wanting to go into great detail.
“Bono, the guy from the rock band U2?” Michael queried with mild interest.
“Yeah the one and only” Anneka replied with a wry grin
“It figures, he is always banging on about Africa. Did he get you roped in as well?” he sounded amused
“It wasn’t like that” Anneka found herself on the defensive, “Actually I was interested in the problem in Africa after I went there to see it for myself, I didn’t need Bono to influence me, I don‘t know why everyone seems to think that”
“OK” Michael replied, seeming a little taken aback by the frostiness in her tone, “hey I didn’t mean any harm, its just as I said, that guy Bono is always going on about the poverty in Africa, I just assumed.. Y’know..” he trailed of lamely
“Well I guess you assumed wrong, ” Anneka replied not wanting to discuss it further, realising the subject of Bono was making her more touchy than usual for reasons she didn’t want to examine here and now. She put her arm through Michaels, “ I am sorry I didn’t mean to snap like that, C’mon lets find our seats, its about to start” she added her tone softening
Michael was only too happily to oblige
But despite trying to enjoy the evening, Anneka found she was distracted, and could not really concentrate and enjoy herself, Her mind was elsewhere ever since Bono’s phone call, even from a distance he was managing to turn everything upside down. His presence seem to be there in the background of her mind, no matter what way she turned, there was no escaping it.
When Michael left her home that evening, standing in the hallway of her apartment, he kissed her, but in her minds eye all she could see was Bono’s face, making her pull away from him
“I’m sorry” she apologised finding it hard to look him in the eye, “I didn’t realise how tired I am, its been a busy week, I am not the best of company right now”
“I noticed you seemed a little out of it tonight, not your usual self” Michael remarked his hand stroking her back soothingly “Are you OK?” he then asked in concern.
“I will be, I just got some personal stuff to sort out” Anneka replied, “I don’t mean to be such a spoilsport, but you mind terribly if we called it a night”
“Well I won’t say I am not disappointed” Michael admitted ruefully, “This wasn’t the way I expected our night to end”
“Me neither” Anneka sighed, “But I feel I really would prefer to be alone right now.. I really am sorry” she apologised again
“Its alright, I will catch you again the next time you are on my side of the pond” Michael, realised it was no good pushing her, he could see she was on some sort of a downer.
“Yeah sure” she managed to smile and reached up to kiss him on the cheek “thank you”
Inside she was feeling troubled that the small conversation with Bono was having this affect on her, When Michael had gone she closed the door after him and wondered in dismay if this was how he affected her after a phone call, how on earth was she going to deal being with Bono again when they got together to promote Jan’s book?
I love it! Bono's such a little devil, creeping in the poor woman's heart like that... 
