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

Chapter One

They had just about finished for the day. They had written a couple of songs and tweaked a couple more. It was very productive for them.

“Hey J, I feel like getting out of here. Maybe roam around and grab a bite and a beer?” Richie stated.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Let me just grab a shower and we’re outta here.”

The boys left Jon’s SoHo apartment and headed for midtown. They took a cab to Richie’s hotel on Central Park and he showered and changed. They were ready to go. The two meandered down the street and came upon a piano bar. Richie always stayed in the area when he was in New York City he knew their food was good, so they went in. 

It was late enough in the evening that the piano player was in full swing. There were a couple of girls at the piano and a few patrons scattered around the room at tables. The bar in the back was pretty quiet so they chose to go there. Once they ordered and had drinks in front of them the boys turned their attention to the room.

The room was pretty calm as the piano player took a break. A couple of more patrons showed up. The noise level grew a little. It looked like a good crowd and the boys sat back to talk and people-watch. It was refreshing to be on this side of things for a change.

After they finished their meal, they decided to have another drink. One of the girls at the piano was going to sing. She looked around the crowd. Jon knew the minute she spotted them. Her eyes scanned the room, saw them, moved on and darted right back when she recognized who they were.

“Okay, for this next song I need a male to sing with. If anyone here is willing to do Meatloaf’s ‘Paradise’ with me come on up.” 

Jon took a swallow of his drink as he rose from his seat.

“What the fuck are you doin’ man?” Richie asked.

“Feel like singing.”

Richie watched as his friend went to the piano. He shook hands with this girl and they discussed the song.  She doesn’t look star struck, Richie thought. She’s actually kinda cute. Too bad, she’s not a blonde. He sat back and waited to see what happened with their duet.

They played off each other great. Richie laughed as the girl got another patron to do the announcer part of the song. He enjoyed it.

“Hey, Rich, man, come on over. We’re gonna sit with the girls.” Jon stated as he came back to the table. He grabbed his drink and jacket and went back to the piano where the girls were.

Richie followed with his own drink and jacket. With a finger in Jon’s back as his only warning, Richie took the stool next to Teri. Jon sat on the other side of her friend.

“Great job with Paradise,” Richie said as he sat. “Richie,” he said as he extended his hand to shake hands with the singer.

“Thanks. I’m Teri and this is Gloria.”

Richie and Gloria said hello and he sat back.

“So, come here often?” he asked her.

She smiled at the line. It was an old corny line.

“First time. I’m from Connecticut, just here for a quick get-away for my birthday. We ended up here.”

“You came HERE from Connecticut for your birthday?” Richie asked. It was an unusual place to celebrate as far as he was concerned.

“Well, not HERE exactly. We came in for lunch at Tavern on the Green and are staying a few blocks from here. After scaring ourselves half to death watching a movie…”

“Because we missed the beginning, and didn’t have a clue that it was that film with Jon Travolta ‘Face Off.’ Not to mention the complimentary champagne we consumed, a drink with lunch AND the fact that we did a raid on the mini bar,” her friend Gloria interjected.

The boys laughed as Gloria told the story.

“Yeah, you should have seen this one,” she said with a nod to Teri. “She was so scared she went and hid in the bathroom.”

Teri who was first off mortified, then bewildered her friend would out her like that felt the need to chime in and… save face “I didn’t go there to hide,” she said as she gave her friend an icy glare. Then with a very prim and proper voice and posture, which included re-crossing her legs and placing the drink napkin in her lap, she looked up at Richie and stated, “I went to admire the decor.”

The four erupted in laughter. Teri took a sip of her drink, raised the glass in a silent toast, and turned a few shades of red.

She quickly changed the subject and grabbed the song book off the piano to look for a song.

As she perused the pages she stopped. A smile formed on her face. She turned to Richie with a challenge in her eyes.

“Can you do back up to Bonnie Taylor’s ‘Total Eclipse’?”

Richie snorted, “Easy. Let’s do it.”

They sang the song. It was good. It would have been great if it wasn’t for the fact that every time Richie looked at Teri as they sang he started thinking about how amazing she would feel under him, naked in his bed. The more he thought about it the harder he became. Damn, he thought. I am so going to give her a birthday present she’ll never forget.

Prologue

Tired, Richie sat on his deck at the table that sat ten comfortably. He had his bare feet propped up on one of the chairs at their home in Southern Connecticut which looked out onto Long Island sound in the quiet evening as he held his cup of coffee. All you could see was darkness. The lights from the cottages across the bay cast a spotty glow on the water. All you could hear were the gentle waves as they lapped up onto the small private beach or as the tide stroked the rock wall that kept the ocean at bay.

Richie was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and his hair was still damp from his recent shower after a very intimate show of love and compassion for his wife. But none of that mattered. Well, the shower didn’t at least. Richie reflected with a grin. Right now all he could think about was life. His life. The last twenty-two years in fact.  Who would have thought, that I, Richie Sambora, would have finally settled down? I have a fantastic gorgeous wife, three amazing kids, and a couple of great dogs thrown into the mix.  I am home. I found contentment. Yeah, that’s what it is - total and complete contentment. Even with the craziness that my life is. It’s still contentment. Why, I wonder? Easy answer. It’s real, and it’s MY life. 

It was a long day, he mused. He and his wife, Teri, had moved Stevie out of their home to his first place on his own. That kid’s shit was heavy. I’m a musician not a moving company. Shit, I haven’t carried that much crap in years. We have roadies who do that stuff.  What a milestone that was for him, AND us. Our first born son left the nest. Time stands still for no man.

Teri was taking a nap after her shower. At least he hoped she was asleep. It was a stressful day for her. Her baby left home. Empty nest syndrome at its finest had struck her hard.

Richie didn’t want complications for Teri. Stress could trigger that. He tried to keep on top of Teri’s Multiple Sclerosis. Now THAT is something none of us ever expected.  It was hard as he was away so much and she was good at hiding any issues. You would never know she had the disease by looking at her. Most of the time she kept it to herself, damn her. That’s why I need to remind myself that she’s not superwoman but my fragile wife…who doesn’t know when to slow down, he chuckled to himself. Kinda like me.

She had been a rock for their Stevie; but inside, he knew, she felt it as it hit home.

His thoughts turned back to the past twenty-two years.

I am complete here with my wife and children. Even though ‘here’ is a relative term. We could be anywhere in the world. I was resigning myself to the fact that Ava was going to be my only child but I so wanted more. Teri gave me that gift. That life of the 80’s was one I don’t want to go back to. I made mistakes, sure, and a lot of dumb decisions on who was going to end up in my bed. I can’t justify it. Nor, do I want to. That was my past. This is my future.

NO, wait, he thought with a start. Our future. Teri and I have discussed our past histories. Granted mine was way more colorful; but it was discussed and then completely put in the past. Where it belonged, as Teri said.

This is Home. With a big sigh and a smile he took another sip of coffee. Their home was an amazing place. Teri was totally open to his ideas once they found what they were looking for. She lovingly called their home “The Compound”. We all do. And honestly, it fits. There was the main house, where he was sitting, with its 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and a total of twenty-some-odd rooms. There was also a studio, which originally was Teri’s old house. It had 3 bedrooms which they kept.  Then there was the guest house. It had 6 bedrooms that Teri referred to as ‘The Dorm’ when the boys were in residence, which was usually when the guys were writing new material, or when they played Mohegan Sun arena or venues in Massachusetts, and or Pennsylvania, or hell let’s face it, he grinned to himself, whenever they damn well wanted to. They were in and out of there a lot. It was nice to have them around even when they weren’t doing Jovi stuff. They were family too. It’s so much nicer to be home, instead of another hotel room, Richie thought, which Teri fully agreed with, so the boys were always welcome with open arms.  Teri had threatened to have a Jovi flag made up with the band’s Heart and Dagger logo, and fly it over the Compound when “Frick, Frack, and the other one” as Teri fondly called them, were in residence to “warn” the neighbors that they were here again. Kind of like what the queen of England does He chuckled. He loved her humor. Richie couldn’t believe she actually DID it too.

Time for more coffee, Richie thought as he rose from his seat. Teri really should get up. Otherwise she won’t sleep all night. He continued through to the kitchen for coffee, and to start some for Teri. This will help. It’s only 9 p.m., he realized as he checked the time on a wall clock in their big, but extremely comfortable kitchen, which only Teri had been able to pull off. Nowhere else have I seen a kitchen as large as ours that’s as cozy as this one.  Hell, it has a sitting area with a couch and fireplace!

Richie realized that the same feeling carried all over the house. In every room and corner he could find another piece of paradise – reminders of vacations, paintings he and Teri had fallen in love with or some little thing that reminded them of special times.

Then, all hell would be break lose around here. The kids would be getting ready for school while Elsa made breakfast. The dogs ran around as the phone started to ring, and a new day would begin. No wonder Teri got up so early, he thought. A good hour is needed to gear up for the on slay that happened on a school day.

The Keurig made its distinctive sound as it finished his coffee, bringing Richie back to the task at hand. He made the hazelnut coffee Teri preferred and carried a cup for each of them to their bedroom. He stopped cold in the door way and watched Teri sleep.

Such a peaceful face. Content still after our lovemaking earlier.

Teri had said many times in the past, “It’s knowing you are home, Richie that helps me get to sleep. I miss you on every level when you are gone on tour but that is what has to be and I cherish every moment you are home with me. Our time is after the kids are asleep and we can close the door against the world.”

With a big smile on his face that showed his dimple, Richie crossed to the bed, put the mugs of coffee down, and began to wake his wife with small kisses, on her forehead, nose, eyes, and finally, her sensual mouth.