Chapter Two

“Ter, this is such a great idea. Lunch in the city and then just hanging out. I don’t get in for this kind of stuff often enough. Thanks.”

The girls were encased in a limo on their way into New York City to celebrate Teri’s birthday. She had decided to do lunch at Tavern on the Green and then spend the night at The Plaza hotel. The two would head back the next day as Teri had a rehearsal that night for the latest musical she was directing.

Teri truly loved her dear friend Gloria. She’s one of “The Girls”. There were only three of them but these girls were the best friends a woman longs for in her life.

“I agree Glor, it’s gonna be a blast. We never get the chance any more to do this kind of stuff. I’m glad you were free to come.”

“Hon, I wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world. I miss you at work. It’s not the same.”

“Yeah, life has taken some interesting roads over the last few years. I miss working with you, too, and Elsa! Did I tell you I talked to her yesterday? I am to set a date for the three of us go for dinner.  I do love directing. It’s in my blood. It was a good career change for me. I hated working in insurance.

The girls chatted the rest of the way into New York City. They had looked forward to this day for a while and were glad when it finally arrived.

Once they got to the Plaza Hotel and checked in it was time to start their fun. Teri had an appointment at the Donatella Versace house for a fitting of the new dress she needed for her opening night which was only a month or so off. They then stopped in on a couple of shops along 5th Avenue. Their limo driver had the patience of a saint as he stopped wherever the girl’s next whim was. The final stop was at Manolo Blahniks’ boutique on 54th. The girls relaxed as they tried on the latest styles. Teri ended up with five pairs of shoes and she purchased two for Gloria as a gift. Gloria arranged for their purchases of one-of-a-kind shoes to be delivered to their hotel later that afternoon.

Once they got back to the hotel, they had just enough time to shower and change for lunch. They decided to wear some of their new clothes and had a good time as they got ready.  Lunch was amazing, as they expected. The girls talked and laughed. They had an amazing afternoon.

Back in the car, the girls talk turned to what they wanted to do for the rest of the day. They decided to play it by ear. They dismissed their driver for the evening. He was grateful for an evening off and they arranged the times for their return trip to Connecticut the next day. They were off to their suite to try on all the purchases they acquired that afternoon and enjoy the relaxing evening they had planned. Teri had booked the Plaza suite for their stay, which was a two-bedroom suite with a big living area and a breathtaking view from the 17th floor.  As they relaxed and tried on their new clothes and shoes Gloria opened a bottle of champagne that she found in its wine bucket – a gift from the hotel to celebrate Teri’s birthday. Even though this hotel was Teri’s second choice, it worked perfectly.

“Ter, we raided the welcome basket, and the mini bar of snacks. Now, I think it’s time for some real food. How about we go out, grab a bite, and see what kind of trouble we can get into tonight?”

“Sounds like a good idea. I could use getting out and about after sitting here drinking ever since we got back.”

The girls retired to their bedrooms to shower and change.

“Glor what do you think of this?”

Teri walked into Gloria’s bedroom. She needed advice on what she was wearing. After all, Glor WAS the Shopping Queen. She had on a pair of white jeans with a silky off-the-shoulder form-hugging top, blue as the Caribbean ocean, which went perfectly with her blue eyes. They made those eyes so much brighter.  She paired that with a pair of shoes she bought earlier that day that was so close in color you would think they’re made for this specific outfit.  Some silver jewelry and a couple of leather bracelets completed the outfit. Teri chuckled to herself as she adjusted the bracelets. Just that morning she had seen a pic of Richie Sambora and he wore similar bracelets. Oh my, that man can make me shiver, she thought. Divorced, but in a relationship, he wasn’t really on the market but if he had been, Teri would make a play for him. Okay stop that, she said to herself. There was no reason to fantasize about something that will never be. It wasn’t like they ran in the same circles or anything.  

Gloria looked amazing in a form-fitting pair of jeans and a sweater. She, too, wore a pair of new heels and topped it off with some gold jewelry and a few spritzes of perfume.

You know, Teri thought to herself, I would never have thought that at this age my boobs would still look good.

“Love that top, Ter. So glad I made you buy it,” Gloria said with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah. I bow to you, ‘O Shopping Queen’ of mine.”

“Okay, I guess we are ready. Just got to spritz some perfume and put a couple of things in one of my new pocketbooks and we are outta here.”

Teri went back to her room and picked out a small pocketbook, threw the essentials in it - money, credit card, room key, license - then at the last second she grabbed a few condoms out of her other purse and tucked these inside, too. A few hits of perfume, which she also put in her purse and she was ready to go.

“What do you think about walking a few blocks until we figure out what we want to do?” Glor questioned Teri.

“Sounds good. It’s a nice night.”

They headed off down 5th Avenue with no particular place to go. They wandered here and there looking in store windows.

“Hey, what’s that?”

Teri looked where Gloria pointed. About halfway down the block, there was a neon sign that noted the name of a club and that it was a piano bar. The girls decided to check it out. They were hungry again since lunch had been hours ago and figured, at worst case, they would have a drink and move on.

They entered the restaurant/bar and picked a table. After ordering a drink and a couple of burgers for dinner they sat back and talked as they waited for their meal.

“Glor, I kinda wanna stay.” Teri said.

Gloria was having fun and agreed that it would be nice to stay and enjoy the evening.

The piano player had started, and Teri was having fun. She had already gone up to the piano to sing a song.

“Okay sounds good; but let’s go sit at the piano. I feel too far away all the way back here.” Gloria decreed.

The women settled their bill then moved to the piano. It was fun for them to look through the songbooks and discuss the songs with the piano player.

Teri started with ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from Les Miserable. She got up to sing the song and looked around the room. She paused, and then suddenly her eyes darted back to two guys sitting at the bar. No F’n way. No it can’t be. She caught Gloria’s eyes and signaled her with her own to look in the direction of the bar. Gloria did. She looked at Teri while she turned away from them and her eyes got huge. Teri was correct. That WAS Jon Bon Jovi and Richie F’n Sambora in the bar. Teri hadn’t seen Richie and Jon come into the restaurant. Richie was someone she could I.D. at 20 paces. My radar must be off, she thought. Thought to her credit, it wasn’t exactly the place she would expect to run into him.

Now mind you, Teri thought, Jon is great but its Richie that I’m into, not just for his out of this world guitar playing but well, hell… Teri felt she could just sink deep into his chocolate brown eyes and he had one of the most handsome faces she had ever seen, with a voice so deep and sexy that curled her toes. She started to wonder about that voice, What would it be like to have him leave a message on her voice mail that started out with ‘Hey baby’? Teri almost growled out loud at the thought. And his body… now THAT was perfect, no matter what. In Teri’s eyes, he was all the man she would ever want or need. This HAS to be karma. I was just thinking about him earlier tonight.

Teri took a deep breath and started her next song Liza Minnelli did this in her live show at Radio City Music Hall called ‘Sara Lee’. Teri even had the facial expressions down.  It was a campy fun song. She played it up as only an actress could. She pulled out all her skills and got the patrons involved. She would lean in to this one or gestured to that one. Teri wasn’t Teri. She was ‘Stage Teri’ who could lose herself in the song and the character she portrayed. The patrons seemed to like it and clapped hard when she finished.

 “Ter, sing another song. How about ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Lights’? You can sing it!” Gloria prompted.

She knew that Richie was interested, as she had snuck a few glances at him as Teri sang. She had his attention with the Sara Lee song. Both of them actually. But, Gloria saw only Richie. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table as she sang. Richie liked what he heard. She was pretty good.

“Yup, I can Glor, only problem is that our friend here, David, won’t sing  it was hard enough to get him to sing back up for the last song. I need a guy to do the other part.” Teri sighed then picked up the microphone.

 “Hey, everyone, who wants to do the guy part of ‘Paradise’ by Meatloaf with me? If you can sing it, come on up.”

She never expected the person who came up to join her. David, at the piano, was so excited. He grabbed another mic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm round of applause for Mr. Jon Bon Jovi. It looks like he has agreed to sing tonight for us.”

Later when Teri would describe how she and Richie met she would say that she hadn’t expected it to be Jon. When Jon talked about the evening, he said he wanted to see the extent of Teri’s vocal range. Teri always replied with “Nah, he wanted to see if he could rattle me. DIDN’T HAPPEN!”

Teri extended her hand.

“Hi, I’m Teri,”

Jon shook it.

“Hi, Jon.”

No fanfare, no looking for autographs or pictures from Teri. Jon was impressed. (Although, Teri KNEW Glor would take some with her camera.)

 They sang, they played perfectly off each other, exactly on pitch, and messed around with a little acting in the song. Another customer picked up the part of the announcer. It was a lot of fun and there was a standing ovation when they finished. Teri was SURE the applause was for Jon, but she basked in the appreciation also.

 Jon then asked if he and his friend could join them. Teri’s insides were mush. Gloria answered for them.

“Sure, bring your friend over. It will be fun.”

 All four sat at the piano. Sometimes, they sang, sometimes they talked. Teri ended up between Jon and Richie, be still my heart, and just started talking about normal stuff, like why they were in the city and that they were from Connecticut, how it was her birthday, the show she was directing, and so on.

After they had talked for a bit, Teri grabbed the mic again. She turned to Richie and looked him directly in the eye.

“Care to do back up on Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’? That is, if you know it, of course,” Teri said with a smile and challenge in her voice.

Richie snorted,

“Let’s do this.”

After the song, Teri couldn’t get Richie off her mind. Even as the four of them talked and laughed, she kept thinking about him. Slowly and nonchalantly, Richie had put his arm across the back of Teri’s chair. When they talked he moved his hand to her leg. She was very receptive

I can feel it, Teri thought. Tonight, I am going to wrap my legs around his waist. That man won’t know what hit him. Once he has had me he will never go back to anyone else ‘cause I am one of a kind. His kind.

Sara Lee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoemlvcaHvQ