Many of the passengers were cramped into the jetliner like sardines inside a small can, but it didn’t matter much to him. The seating in first class was spacious and there was more than a sufficient amount of foot space. While some of his friends preferred to fly coach to save a few bucks, he could never do it. If he had the money, and he had plenty of it, then what was the point of putting himself through such discomfort? If any of the people back there had his riches, they’d upgrade their tickets a heartbeat. It was his prerogative and it wasn’t like he was going to take the money with him when it was all gone. It was meant to be spent, and as long as there was some left over for the kids when it was all said and done, that was cool too. He opened his wallet and pulled out a small picture, one that he kept in his wallet for a very long time. It was the picture of a little girl, but she wasn’t that little anymore.
He wasn’t dressed in what he normally was known to wear, so it might have been for that reason that not many people recognized who he was. That was just the way he liked it. The hair was tied up in a very hip ponytail, and he had a small beard growing which sometimes helped. No matter how he dressed, there would always be someone who would recognize who he was and eventually strike up a conversation or ask for an autograph, which he was always happy to do for a fan. They were the people who make his lifestyle possible, it would be hypocritical for him to not acknowledge their part in the game and give his thanks by sighing something for them.
“Excuse me, sir.” One of the stewardesses asked as she bent over to speak with him. “But are you who I think you are?”
“I might be.” He said with a smile.
“Wow.” She said with a blush. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable but I’ve been a huge fan of your work for a very long time.”
“Thank you very much,” He said with a smile. He didn’t mind speaking with fans, especially when they were as cute as the stewardess that was mingling with him now.
“Would you mind if I could get an autograph for my boyfriend?” She asked with a smile, “He would die if he found out who I met today!”
“Of course,” He replied with a smile. He looked at her slim curves as she walked away and sighed. He turned to the old lady that was sitting beside him. “There’s always a boyfriend these days.”
The lady next to him didn’t seem impressed and ignored him. He laughed and waited for the stewardess to return. When she came back, it was with a small pad of paper and a pen. He took them from her.
“Who would you like this made out to?” he asked.
“Bryan,” She said with a wide smile. She still couldn’t believe that she was talking to him and getting an autograph.
“Alright, here you go.” He said as he finished writing. He gave the pad back to her.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Mitchell.” The stewardess said as she took the pad of paper back from him. “My boyfriend and I have been a fan of the Horsemen since we were kids.”
“Please don’t say that.” Mr. Mitchell replied, “That makes me feel old, as does calling me Mr. Mitchell. You can call me Dick.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Thanks, Dick.” She said with a bigger smile. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
“I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.” Dick answered.
“Red or white?” she quickly asked.
“White, please.” Dick replied.
She immediately left to go get him a glass. He thanked her for the wine when she returned and slowly sipped it while looking at the faded photo that came from his wallet. A picture of someone he hadn’t seen in a while. When she was that age, things were changing. He and his band mates were in a transitional period around the time Sam was born. To the little girl, he was Dad but to the rest of the world, they were slowly become Rock Gods. While his mates were busy partying and looking for a new lady every night, Dick was thinking about saving money for Sam’s college fund. He knew that if she was just half as smart as her mother then she was going places that he never could on his best day.
Dick was more of an artist, never the smartest person in his family. Still he was smart enough to invest and use his money to do more than sit around and collect dust in a bank. Those investments made him a very, very rich man. He had more than enough to the point where he, his kids and even his grandkids if he had any didn’t have to work a single day for the rest of their lives. That still didn’t matter to Dick. He was what he was, and the road kept calling to him and he had a hard time not answering whenever that call came. He loved his band mates, they were like brothers. He was going to go back on the road very soon, and he wanted to take care of some personal business before he did that. Something personal that needed to be settled because he learned the hard way that life is short and wasn’t going to get any longer for anyone, even him. It was time to mend bridges and make sure he had a moment to sit down with the only daughter he ever had. She was different from his other kids. Jenny’s mother was his second of three wives. He had five children, but all the others were boys and for some reason Jenny was the one that got away. She didn’t talk to him and for good reason. He wasn’t exactly a role model for anyone’s kids, let alone his own. It was something he had been working on the last several years but Jenny never returned any of his calls. Not when she was in medical school, and certainly not today.
“That’s a very lovely picture.” The lady beside him said.
“Thank you,” Dick replied, as he finished his wine. “She’s not that young anymore. She’s a doctor, family practitioner. Can you believe that?”
“Given that she came from you, no.” the lady replied.
“I deserve that,” Dick replied with a grin. The fact that she wasn’t like the other kids is what made him so proud of her. She made something for herself despite the hardship that can come from being associated with him. Some of the kids couldn’t handle it, and ended up in rehab and went through years of professional therapy. Dick looked to her with great pride. As much as he missed her, sometimes Dick truly believed the best thing he ever did for her was stay away. Keeping his hardcore rock life away from her likely helped make her the honest, hard working woman she was today. But it was also responsible for the wedge between them and that broke his heart.
“Are you on your way to see her?” the lady asked.
“Yes,” Dick confirmed, “I haven’t been the best father to her, but that’s going to change.”
“Good luck with that.” She replied.
Dick knew she was being sarcastic but he didn’t care. He was well aware of the challenge that lay before him. She wasn’t going to want to hear what he had to say, but it was something he had to say. He had made mistakes in the past and there was nothing he could do to change that. The old lady had good reason to give him the attitude. Considering the kind of history they had with his kids as it was splashed out by the media, he knew the treatment he was getting was well deserved. But over the last several years, he was making an effort to make things right. It was just a shame Jenny didn’t want to hear from him. Whether it was too little, too late didn’t matter to him. He had to at least try. The first step to making up for that would be to at least be there in person when you apologize. Where things would go from there would be up to his daughter.