“Welcome to Ireland” Bono greeted Anneka with a hug. It was a month or so later. He had flown her over in his private jet, and been waiting to greet her at the small private air field
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble “ Anneka replied, “I was quite happy to take a commercial flight”
“I wanted to make it special, for this special occasion, to celebrate our coming together working for a better future and making people aware of those less well of than ourselves in Africa” Bono informed her, “and it would not have been possible without you”
“Well it was Jan’s idea for the book” Anneka pointed out refusing to accept all the glory, and trying to give credit where it was due.. She didn’t want Bono putting her up on some sort of pedestal.
“Yeah but he wouldn’t have come up with the idea if he had not been inspired by your charity work” Bono pointed out, “He told me so himself, so this weekend you are the guest of honour”
Anneka just laughed “That is very sweet but also not necessary .. Really” she insisted
But Bono ignored her protests and ushered her towards the waiting car, giving her no time to register her mixture of emotions at being in his company again, he seemed to be going out of his way to sweep her of her feet, and she was trying very hard to keep her feet firmly on the ground.
Keeping her eyes on the passing scenery outside, but acutely aware of Bono sitting next to her in the back of the chauffeur driven car, Anneka tried to calm her fluttering stomach.
“Its been a long time from I have been to Ireland, not since Jake and I use to come and visit you and Laurie at your place here” she realised ruefully, “I feel a little strange coming back now, I remember how we use to look forward to come and visit you in your lovely house.. And look how everything turned out”
“I sold that place after the divorce” Bono informed her, “But you will like my new house, it’s a little bigger, I have more private grounds, and I think you will like your guest bedroom where you are staying over the weekend, the view is great” he added cheerfully
Anneka blinked in confusion. “Guest bedroom? Oh no, you have made a mistake, I am staying at a hotel in Dublin, I know, I got Julie to book a room she even gave me the papers I have them somewhere in my bag”
“Yeah, well I cancelled it, no way am I going to have you staying in some hotel, when there is plenty of room at my place, what kind of friend an I if I can’t offer you hospitality, besides its far more convenient and you will have your privacy” Bono informed her briskly
“B-But” Anneka stammered, “You didn’t have to do that I was quite happy staying at the hotel, I wasn’t expecting you to put me up.. Besides I don’t think it’s a good idea”
“Why not?” Bono turned his blue eyes on her intently as if he could see her mind working overtime on this new turn of events, “What are you worried about? Not me surely?” he was smiling that little half smile full of mischief as he continued,
“Scared what could happen if we are under the same room together? That I might try and take advantage of you by sneaking up into your room at night and seducing you?”
“That’s not what I meant at all” Anneka denied feeling her cheeks flame and hating herself for it that he could do this to her, even though she knew he was only teasing.
“I just don’t want to put you out, that’s all”
“Well you won’t be” Bono replied, “And if you are fretting people are going to talk about us being alone under the same roof together, you can relax on that score too, because you are not my only overnight guest, I invited Jan and Bruce as well as some others”
“Bruce?” Anneka queried in confusion, it was hard to keep up with Bono at times, and she was still trying to get over the shock of his he had rearranging her accomodation arrangements, wanting to be mad at him for taking the liberty, but at the same time unable to, he made it all seem so reasonable and practical and innocent and making her feel like she was being paranoid.
“Yeah Bruce Springsteen, you might have heard of him” Bono grinned
“Oh, of course, I forgot you are good friends with him” Anneka realised
“Yep, and he was in Europe. He is interested in what we are doing so I invited him for the weekend. Believe me my house will be overcrowded, we will be lucky if we had a chance to be alone for a minute. So I hope that settles any concerns you have,” he reached out to cover her hand with his and patted it“
“Yes, I guess you have,” Anneka agreed, realising she could not fault him, she wasn’t sure whether to feel annoyed or pleased.
He squeezed her hand, “Y’know I do understand, and I wanted to make your stay as comfortable as possible when you are around me, being a good friend and everything” he smiled meaningfully
Anneka try to ignore the sudden warm fuzzy feeling she felt all over being in his company and seeing that smile, realising how he had went out of his way for her.
“Thank you” she manage to reply, thought it seemed totally inappropriate for the way she was feeling “You are a very good friend,” she assured him, squeezing his hand in return, whilst fighting down the urge to reach over and kiss him instead.
********************************
“You know I think I really like this photo with you and Bono best, you know the sexy one” Adam remarked as he browsed through the book, Anneka found herself sandwiched between him and Jan. on the sofa in Bono’s house where the party for the private launch of the book took place later that evening.
Anneka realised Bono had not been exaggerating when he claimed his house would be full, not only with guests that were staying over, but friends and family dropped by famous faces familiar and unfamiliar were introduced to her, but she was happy being around the other members of the band again as well and spent most of the evening chatting with them.
The book of course was the talking point of the evening, and it seemed a great success, there had been a lot of jibes thrown at Bono about being dressed as a submissive woman, but he took them all in good humour. But now Anneka found the attention on her.
She still had mixed feelings about the shot Adam was referring to, remembering how she felt when they were doing it. Though it did look kind of classy with the shot of her and Bono up close and personal, oozing desire in stark black and white, with the arid African background in colour superimposed over it as Jan had envisioned.
“You know you two look really good together” Adam then remarked
“That’s what I keep trying to tell her, but she won’t listen to me” Bono seem to come out of nowhere behind them
“For a fleeting moment Anneka wondered had this been set up, but then dismissed it as her paranoia again
“Bono manages to make himself look good beside any woman he has that charisma, that has them drooling all over him” she pointed out in amusement trying to make light of it
“Except for one” Bono pointed out softly leaning over the sofa so he was looking over Anneka’s shoulder
Anneka decided it was time to change the subject onto a safer topic and turned the page of the book
“I really like this photo too with the African children” she then said
“Yeah they are cute, nice to see them smiling and looking like normal children instead of those awful pictures of them starved, its how they should be” Bono replied.
“This is proof that what we are trying to do is not a waste of time” Anneka nodded in agreement, “I look forward to the day when they will all look like this”
“Yeah makes it all worthwhile” Bono smiled, but then his attention was diverted by someone else who wanted him and he moved away to talk to them
Adam leaned over looking at the book with her again, “Y’know Bono is a very determined guy, he gets very passionate about his causes and goes to any lengths he has to, to get what he wants”
“Yeah I noticed that” Anneka grinned.
“He is like that about everything” Adam then remarked casually his eyes resting on the opened book as he spoke, “and he usually gets his own way in the end especially when he feels he is right about something, so you might as well just give into him and save all the hassle”
Anneka frowned, not quite sure what Adam was trying telling her, though she had her suspicions
“Really?” she replied warily
“Yep” Adam smiled, “I mean, when you know something feels right, why make it difficult” he turned his eyes directly on her then “He always gets what he wants in the end” he finished meaningfully
“What has Bono been saying to you?“ Anneka demanded, realising she was not being paranoid after all
“Oh you know how it is when we get talking,” Adam replied airily refusing to commit himself any further.
“Is there anything you guys don’t discuss amongst each other?” Anneka asked in slight dismay
Adam just grinned “Very little actually” he admitted
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble “ Anneka replied, “I was quite happy to take a commercial flight”
“I wanted to make it special, for this special occasion, to celebrate our coming together working for a better future and making people aware of those less well of than ourselves in Africa” Bono informed her, “and it would not have been possible without you”
“Well it was Jan’s idea for the book” Anneka pointed out refusing to accept all the glory, and trying to give credit where it was due.. She didn’t want Bono putting her up on some sort of pedestal.
“Yeah but he wouldn’t have come up with the idea if he had not been inspired by your charity work” Bono pointed out, “He told me so himself, so this weekend you are the guest of honour”
Anneka just laughed “That is very sweet but also not necessary .. Really” she insisted
But Bono ignored her protests and ushered her towards the waiting car, giving her no time to register her mixture of emotions at being in his company again, he seemed to be going out of his way to sweep her of her feet, and she was trying very hard to keep her feet firmly on the ground.
Keeping her eyes on the passing scenery outside, but acutely aware of Bono sitting next to her in the back of the chauffeur driven car, Anneka tried to calm her fluttering stomach.
“Its been a long time from I have been to Ireland, not since Jake and I use to come and visit you and Laurie at your place here” she realised ruefully, “I feel a little strange coming back now, I remember how we use to look forward to come and visit you in your lovely house.. And look how everything turned out”
“I sold that place after the divorce” Bono informed her, “But you will like my new house, it’s a little bigger, I have more private grounds, and I think you will like your guest bedroom where you are staying over the weekend, the view is great” he added cheerfully
Anneka blinked in confusion. “Guest bedroom? Oh no, you have made a mistake, I am staying at a hotel in Dublin, I know, I got Julie to book a room she even gave me the papers I have them somewhere in my bag”
“Yeah, well I cancelled it, no way am I going to have you staying in some hotel, when there is plenty of room at my place, what kind of friend an I if I can’t offer you hospitality, besides its far more convenient and you will have your privacy” Bono informed her briskly
“B-But” Anneka stammered, “You didn’t have to do that I was quite happy staying at the hotel, I wasn’t expecting you to put me up.. Besides I don’t think it’s a good idea”
“Why not?” Bono turned his blue eyes on her intently as if he could see her mind working overtime on this new turn of events, “What are you worried about? Not me surely?” he was smiling that little half smile full of mischief as he continued,
“Scared what could happen if we are under the same room together? That I might try and take advantage of you by sneaking up into your room at night and seducing you?”
“That’s not what I meant at all” Anneka denied feeling her cheeks flame and hating herself for it that he could do this to her, even though she knew he was only teasing.
“I just don’t want to put you out, that’s all”
“Well you won’t be” Bono replied, “And if you are fretting people are going to talk about us being alone under the same roof together, you can relax on that score too, because you are not my only overnight guest, I invited Jan and Bruce as well as some others”
“Bruce?” Anneka queried in confusion, it was hard to keep up with Bono at times, and she was still trying to get over the shock of his he had rearranging her accomodation arrangements, wanting to be mad at him for taking the liberty, but at the same time unable to, he made it all seem so reasonable and practical and innocent and making her feel like she was being paranoid.
“Yeah Bruce Springsteen, you might have heard of him” Bono grinned
“Oh, of course, I forgot you are good friends with him” Anneka realised
“Yep, and he was in Europe. He is interested in what we are doing so I invited him for the weekend. Believe me my house will be overcrowded, we will be lucky if we had a chance to be alone for a minute. So I hope that settles any concerns you have,” he reached out to cover her hand with his and patted it“
“Yes, I guess you have,” Anneka agreed, realising she could not fault him, she wasn’t sure whether to feel annoyed or pleased.
He squeezed her hand, “Y’know I do understand, and I wanted to make your stay as comfortable as possible when you are around me, being a good friend and everything” he smiled meaningfully
Anneka try to ignore the sudden warm fuzzy feeling she felt all over being in his company and seeing that smile, realising how he had went out of his way for her.
“Thank you” she manage to reply, thought it seemed totally inappropriate for the way she was feeling “You are a very good friend,” she assured him, squeezing his hand in return, whilst fighting down the urge to reach over and kiss him instead.
********************************
“You know I think I really like this photo with you and Bono best, you know the sexy one” Adam remarked as he browsed through the book, Anneka found herself sandwiched between him and Jan. on the sofa in Bono’s house where the party for the private launch of the book took place later that evening.
Anneka realised Bono had not been exaggerating when he claimed his house would be full, not only with guests that were staying over, but friends and family dropped by famous faces familiar and unfamiliar were introduced to her, but she was happy being around the other members of the band again as well and spent most of the evening chatting with them.
The book of course was the talking point of the evening, and it seemed a great success, there had been a lot of jibes thrown at Bono about being dressed as a submissive woman, but he took them all in good humour. But now Anneka found the attention on her.
She still had mixed feelings about the shot Adam was referring to, remembering how she felt when they were doing it. Though it did look kind of classy with the shot of her and Bono up close and personal, oozing desire in stark black and white, with the arid African background in colour superimposed over it as Jan had envisioned.
“You know you two look really good together” Adam then remarked
“That’s what I keep trying to tell her, but she won’t listen to me” Bono seem to come out of nowhere behind them
“For a fleeting moment Anneka wondered had this been set up, but then dismissed it as her paranoia again
“Bono manages to make himself look good beside any woman he has that charisma, that has them drooling all over him” she pointed out in amusement trying to make light of it
“Except for one” Bono pointed out softly leaning over the sofa so he was looking over Anneka’s shoulder
Anneka decided it was time to change the subject onto a safer topic and turned the page of the book
“I really like this photo too with the African children” she then said
“Yeah they are cute, nice to see them smiling and looking like normal children instead of those awful pictures of them starved, its how they should be” Bono replied.
“This is proof that what we are trying to do is not a waste of time” Anneka nodded in agreement, “I look forward to the day when they will all look like this”
“Yeah makes it all worthwhile” Bono smiled, but then his attention was diverted by someone else who wanted him and he moved away to talk to them
Adam leaned over looking at the book with her again, “Y’know Bono is a very determined guy, he gets very passionate about his causes and goes to any lengths he has to, to get what he wants”
“Yeah I noticed that” Anneka grinned.
“He is like that about everything” Adam then remarked casually his eyes resting on the opened book as he spoke, “and he usually gets his own way in the end especially when he feels he is right about something, so you might as well just give into him and save all the hassle”
Anneka frowned, not quite sure what Adam was trying telling her, though she had her suspicions
“Really?” she replied warily
“Yep” Adam smiled, “I mean, when you know something feels right, why make it difficult” he turned his eyes directly on her then “He always gets what he wants in the end” he finished meaningfully
“What has Bono been saying to you?“ Anneka demanded, realising she was not being paranoid after all
“Oh you know how it is when we get talking,” Adam replied airily refusing to commit himself any further.
“Is there anything you guys don’t discuss amongst each other?” Anneka asked in slight dismay
Adam just grinned “Very little actually” he admitted
