Chapter 21 The Talk

Grab some coffee and get comfortabled. This is a long chapter.  Hope you enjoy it.

Teri was nervous. She and her best friend Gloria were at the gym. She was pushing herself more than usual.

“Hon, what the hell are you doing today? You are pushing to the limit, and then some. What’s going on with you? I have not seen you this crazy on the treadmill since you and Richie started dating.”

Teri grunted at her friend and sped up the pace She was already going faster than normal and on an incline on her treadmill.

“Ter, I asked you a question. Now what's going on? You would have told me if you and Richie had a fight so I know that’s not it.”

“Later Glor, I promise. Let me just finish and we can meet up for coffee at your place after I shower.”            

“Well, I am heading home to shower now. See you in an hour.”

 She turned to leave, went back to Teri’s machine, started to slow it down to where she can look at her friend in the eye and get the same in return.

 “Ter, one hour tops. Got it?” she slowed the machine to a stop.

Teri looked at her friend.

 “Yeah got it babes. I’ll leave with you now.”

Almost exactly an hour and fifteen minutes later Teri was sitting in Gloria’s kitchen they both have fresh cups of coffee in hand and are sitting at the island. Teri was scratching Gloria’s dog behind her ears. She started the conversation not wanting to prolong it any further.

“When Richie gets home tonight we’re going to have the talk.”

“Gloria looked quizzically at her friend.

 “The Birds and the Bees? Think you’re way too late for that one Hon.”

Teri almost choked on her coffee

“Ha! That may be easier. No, we’re having the ‘lets discuss our past and put it there in the past conversation.’ I’m going to cook and...”

Gloria interrupted her friend.

“WHAT? YOU are going to do WHAT?”

“Shut up. Yeah, I am going to cook. I do know how to make a few things” Teri said with a smile.

“True.” said Gloria. “YOU, know how to burn boiling water, and you know how to make coffee. Great dinner idea Hon.”

Teri laughed. She knew how true this really was.

 “Well I was hoping you would help me with dinner. We can precook it so all I have to do was warm it up when Richie got in later.

“What time was HRH in, and what do you want to make?” Gloria asked.

 “Around 6 and something easy. HRH?” Was her friends reply?

“His Royal Hotness,” Both women laugh at the name and Teri blushes a little. “No problem we can go raid your freezer and figure it out. Let’s finish our coffee then hit the road.”

 “Okay.” said Teri

The girls are at Teri’s house an hour later.

“How do you survive? You’re fridge was full of Diet Coke and yogurt?” Gloria said in disgust. “There’s more than that. I do have some Vienna Mocha Chunk ice cream in the freezer, and some chicken, and of course coffee.”

“Yeah, yeah,” her friend replied in jest.

“Okay, off to the store then we’re going to talk as we cook. I want to hear all about this conversation you’re having tonight with HRH”

“Glor,” Teri warned. “If you keep that one up I am going to have a hard time looking Richie in the eye later.”

Gloria grinned back. “Nope, until I know what was going on? Richie was now HRH. “

The girls did their shopping. They decide on a stuffed pork loin, and some asparagus, red potatoes a nice salad, and crusty French bread for dinner. At the last moment, Teri who was driving, pulled into a local bakery liked by both Richie and Teri. She picked up a dessert which she knew was a favorite of Richie’s and then they head home to cook.

The girls worked side by side to make dinner Teri made the salad, and set the table, and Gloria put together a pork loin stuffed with garlic, and apples they start to talk.

 “Ter, are you ready to hear about Richie’s past?”

“I have to Glor it was a mutual decision to have this talk now and I have already poured my heart out earlier this week when I was on the road with him. We spent time talking one evening in bed we decided it should be now not later. I told him I wanted to hear it from him on what was going on in the early days.”

 “We also decided to get tested.”

 “Tested?” Gloria stopped peeling the apples, and looked at her friend. She raises an eyebrow at Teri in question.

 Teri saw the look. She stopped ishing vegetables for the salad motions for Glor to grab a chair and sit. Teri turned on the coffee machine and waved a mug at her asking silently if she wants coffee. The woman nodded yes. Teri grabbed two mugs took out the coffee creamer her friend liked and put it on the table in front of her. She then turned back to her coffee making. After the chore was done and both women had steaming mugs of fresh coffee Teri resumed her conversation.

“We are going to get tested for Aids and any other sexually transmitted disease Liz can come up with," Gloria knew Liz was Teri’s gyno. “We have an appointment with her tomorrow for the blood tests and should get the results in a few days.” In having this conversation we decided to discuss our past with each other.”

 “Ok, hold on a second,” Gloria needed Teri to back up a bit. “How did the conversation to be tested come around?”

“Actually, it was Richie’s idea. He wanted me to feel comfortable enough around him so that he doesn’t need to wear a condom. We have slipped a couple of times to be Honest with you.”

Gloria said nothing at that news but she gave her friend a look. Teri knew she was not happy with the information.

“Come on Glor tell me you never forgot. I am on the pill so THAT part was taken care of” Teri smiled at her friend.

Gloria smiled back and nodded her head yes.

 “Okay then. So after the conversation about being tested came and went I said that if we were going there it was probably a good thing to discuss our past meaning sexual and well his drinking and drugs too cause both of those subjects seem to go hand in hand in his life.”

 “What did HRH say? How did he take the question?” Gloria asked.

 “Very well. I was saying that if we’re going to do the test then, I thought the time had come to discuss our past. He seemed fine, and then as we laid in bed Tuesday night, I told him all about my sordid past.”

Both women chuckle at the comment. They knew that Teri by far doesn’t have a sordid past.

“Honey, I told him about EVERYONE, and ,about the pot in high school and well everything! We talked in bed a long time and he held me a lot as I told him about the ass holes I ended up with all my life. We ended it by Richie saying that he wanted to discuss with me his past. But it would take more time than mine. I laughed at that. He said we would talk when he got in today. He said it again on the phone this morning on my way to your place for coffee. He was getting ready to board the plane back home. I know you, and you’re asking yourself why? I know a lot about Richie. More than he knew about me when we first started dating. by word of mouth and other fans at concerts. Remember I have been a Jovi fan for a long time. I want to hear it from him for many reasons mainly because he and I trust each other enough to be totally honest. I’m not going to run to find out why, every time I hear that he sneezed on stage. I have to trust him, as he had to trust me. End of subject. Now, will you help me set the table before you go? Richie’s due in a few of hours, and I want to take a nice long bath before he gets here.”

The two finish their coffee, then put the final touches on the table. Dinner was ready.

Richie exited the limo, handed the driver a tip, and grabbed his bags, which the driver took out of the trunk for him. A quick wave, ‘See ya in a couple of days’, and Richie put his key in the front door of Teri’s home. As he opened the door, his senses are assaulted with the heavenly aroma of something cooking in the kitchen. He places his bags in the foyer next to the stairs to the second floor and heads to see what was cooking. On his way to the stove he stopped and grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge. It was there he sees the note.

Hon: The pork goes into oven on 350 degrees, for ____ minutes. Asparagus gets STEAMED. Wine’s chilling in fridge, and potatoes go in to oven BEFORE the pork was cooking. You should be fine. Talk to you tomorrow…. Oh, the smudge over the time in for the pork was intentional babe. Figure it out. You KNOW how to cook….. hahaha call me I’ll fill you in….

 Love you, Glor

 Richie smiled at the note. He figured Teri was upstairs changing or still in the tub. So, he picked up his bags, and headed up the stairs in that direction.

As Richie was coming up the stairs, Teri was in her walk-in closet looking for a top. She’s wearing a pair of straight leg jeans, and nothing else. She had her bra drawer open in the closet, and, now needed to figure out a top, and bra. She was swinging her hips to a bootleg version of Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, and Joe Perry, singing Walk this Way as she looked on her side of the closet for a top. Richie already had a portion of the closet for his stuff.  Richie stopped just inside the door watching his girl as she’s making her decision. He goes into the small windowless room and puts his arms around her moving waist and hips placing a kiss on her neck. Teri turns around looked up and smiles at Richie she runs her hands up his chest and he lowers his head so they can properly kiss hello. To her surprise he doesn’t kiss her lips but goes lower and takes her left nipple into his mouth and sucks on it. Gently teasing the nub to attention. Teri grabs the back of Richie’s neck and arches her back at the sensation he’s causing to give him total access.

Richie leaned back to look into Teri’s eyes.

“Hi” he said to her

 “Hi.” she said to him.

They smiled at each other. Richie inwardly groaned, thinking that what he just did was so reminiscent of the early days. Teri runs her hands around Richie’s waist and lays her head on his shoulder. He runs his hands over her bare back slowly as Teri sighs in contentment. They stand this way for a few minutes then Teri pulled back with a sigh grabs a bra and top got dressed and shoos her boyfriend out of their closet. Richie gives a playful pout sticking his suckable lower lip out at her. Teri said “I know you well enough Mister if we stayed in there any longer you would have wanted to have kinky closet sex.” Richie laughed out loud.

“What was kinky closet sex?” he asked on their way back downstairs as Teri needs to check on dinner. “

 “Idontknow,” she said “But, knowing you, I can rest assured you would have thought of SOMETHING.” They both laugh.

“Dinner smells great baby. What are we having?”

“Oh, just a little something I threw together. Pork, potatoes, asparagus, and a salad.”

 “Hope you did not go to much trouble.”

 “Not at all Rich, I love to cook.”

“Really?”

“Sure...”

“Then how come you have directions here from Gloria?”

Teri had the good grace to blush beet red.

 “Well, ok, you got me. This wasn’t something to lie about. SHE loves to cook. I love to watch her cook. It’s a perfect friendship.”

“Yup, you do have a perfect friendship. You can burn boiling water.”

“Not fair! Who ratted me out? When did this happen? Where was I?” Teri was getting upset at her friend.

Richie started to laugh, and handed her his bottle of water as she’s getting dry mouth spouting all the questions at him. Once he got his laughter under control he said.

 “Last time we got together with Glor, she had mentioned to you that she was making something or another, and you said, sounds great, but, you could burn that in a minute and her response was “Hell, you burn boiling water. “Then, there was also the note that said the same thing.”

The dinner conversation was easy and light.  The meal was so amazing, Richie insisted on calling Gloria to thank her so Teri grabbed the phone and called her friend.

“Hey girl, just wanted to call and say, dinner was amazing.”

“Thanks Ter…” Before Gloria could finish her sentence, Richie grabs the phone to send his own thanks and hears “...how did HRH like it?” Richie looking at Teri smiles and continues her phone conversation.

“Glor, Teri, was right the dinner was amazing and Thanks.”

 “Oh, hey Richie. Don’t suppose that you missed that last part, huh.”

 “Glor got something to ask you.” He said into the phone. Meanwhile Teri was waving her arms and shaking her head no. She stands up and goes to Richie’s side had her hands on his arm trying to drag him away from the table and pry the phone out of his hands at the same time. He was laughing.

She yells out.

 “Gloria, don’t do it! Don’t say a word!”

Richie still laughing said.

 “Glor, what does HRH mean?”

 “NNNNNOOOOOOO don’t answer Glor.”

Gloria who was laughing said “His Royal Hotness. Bye!” Then quickly hung up the phone.

Now Richie was laughing hard and Teri was mortified. She had blushed about six different shades of red in the last two seconds.

“Come here little one,” Richie opened his arms and Teri takes a step back out of reach. ”Seriously baby come here.”

She moved further away. Richie stands and Teri takes off she runs up the stairs and into their bedroom. Richie was in hot pursuit. He can over take her in a second but lets her get upstairs and into the room. Slowly he advances to Teri she crawled on the bed and was kneeling on it Richie wraps his arms around her before she could move and Ter buries her head into his chest.

“You got me. I’m so embarrassed.”

 “Baby, to you, I don’t have any issues with being called HRH.”

“Really?”

“Really. From you it’s flattering.” Richie replied Teri looked up at his face. He was smiling. There was no anger there at all. They kiss.

“I guess now’s not the time to tell you that Gloria came up with it?”

 Richie laughed again, and pulled her close.

“Remind me to thank her.” He got a female version of one of his sexy growls in response.

“Well, let’s go clean up downstairs. We can put on a movie after.” Richie was in agreement, and they make short work of cleaning the kitchen and dining room.

“Baby, for someone who doesn’t know how to cook you use a ton of pans and dishes.”

 Teri smiled, and said as she loaded the last dish into the dishwasher.

“Gloria baby, Gloria used all this stuff. And SHE knows how to cook. Now, let’s go see what’s left from my video rentals that I haven’t watched yet."

They hit the living room, and got comfortable on the couch together Teri laid between his legs. Her head rested on his chest. After they paused the movie a few times to get drinks, popcorn and a bathroom break, the couple finish up the movie, clean up and head to bed. Teri put on an ankle length blue silk negligee, and Richie stripped off his clothes. They both get into bed. Teri scooted over so they met in the middle. She turned on the news and relaxed. Richie loved the feel of Teri’s silk against his body. He was more nervous as they came up to bed. He knew this was it. Teri had not said a word all night in regards to their imminent conversation. She moved slightly so her head was on his right arm. Richie grabbed the remote, which rested on his side of the bed, to turn off the television. He rolled to his right. The motion moved Teri, so she shifted a bit, and she faced Richie. He propped his head up on his right hand and took his left to place on Teri’s hip. She propped her head up too.  But, with her left arm and hand. This way they faced each other so they could talk easier. Teri felt deep down that this was the beginning of their impended conversation.

“Ter, in thinking the last few days, I’ve come to the realization that my life was by far one to be proud of.”

Teri opened her mouth to say something, but, Richie stopped her.

 “Let me continue. Honey I know, you know, I am very proud of what I have accomplished in my life musically and of course Ava. I have worked long and hard. I put my music above almost anyone and anything else. That’s not the issue or the discussion. What this was all about tonight, was my past in other ways. The part I am not proud of.”

“Once the money started to roll in, things changed, drastically. We actually were recognized by people who became our fans. We had money coming in. More money than any of us knew what to do with. The girls were becoming a dime a dozen. I can’t tell you how many times I got Tony to get the prettiest girl I could see from my side to come back stage. They would blow us, fuck us, and party with us. I was never without a girl… Ever. Every town, every night had a girl more than willing to screw around. The drugs kept us high for the stage, and low to sleep. They kept us euphoric, and thinking that nothing can stop us. And nothing did stop us. I was doing cocaine, I was freebasing, I did Halcion but that fucked Jon and I up so much, we swore off them. I think, that was probably a decision that helped us get where we’re today. That shit messed me up so bad. I didn’t know what was a nightmare, and what was real. The next stop we made after that shit, Jon spent thousands of dollars on Valium and we stayed in our happy little no pain world for a really long time. We used it to sleep. It helped the panic attacks, which woke me in the middle of the night.  Amphetamines also kept us up, with less fatigue during the day, and loss of appetite, which kept us lean and mean. The drugs really were not our high. Not in the beginning. It was the excitement of being on stage, and actually making it to the big time. That was more than any of us dreamed of.  I was drinking more. A lot more. Those gift baskets in the hotels were gone quicker than I could open the next bottle. We kept the champagne to drink on the plane. Each of us had bottles of it every night. We drank as much flying the next morning. I couldn’t wake up without pills, and a warm body beside me.”

“There was this list that was code for what we wanted. If I needed a bimbo, which I think was number 10, and some cocaine which was 8, then a crew member would get on the radio, and relay what was needed. We need 8, and 10.  We didn’t need to have this shit broadcast. So it made sense to us. I wanted a 10. Someone nice to look at. I felt it was deserved. I had two hotel rooms. And two limos. One for the incoming girls, and one for outgoing girls. Baby, I can go on for hours on this stuff. It really doesn’t matter. What matters right now, was that I am with you, and you’re with me.”

“Richie I am very happy that you’re telling me all this. But I have just a few questions for you. First off are you still doing the drugs?”

“Not as much as back then.”

“How much are you doing?”

Richie looked at Teri’s face. She wanted answers and I promised to be Honest with her. “Next to nothing. Jon thinks I quit and I made a decision in the car on the way home to stop.” Teri smiled and nodded, but it’s more to the home comment than to the decision to stop the drugs.

Teri said nothing and waited for him to continue. Shit Richie thought. He’s quiet. Richie laid on his back he stared at the ceiling.

“The tours are getting longer, and longer. I need something to sleep. I need something to get up. Fucking Jon had interviews scheduled and long ass days.”

“Are you done with your excuses yet?” Teri calmly asked. By this time she was on her left side her head was rested once again on Richie’s shoulder.  She leaned her head back a bit and whispered in his ear. “Thank you.”

Now Richie was more confused than before. Did she thank me for the fun and intended to break up? Or did she thank me ‘cause I was honest. If it’s the second then I need to be really honest here and not be like I am now with the half truths.

“For what baby?”

“For telling me as much as you did. I have a feeling there was more. A lot more.  But, I’m happy that you told me what you have so far. We’ll have this conversation again in the near future. Trust me on that. But, for the moment, I'm okay with what you told me so far.”

Richie rolled on to his right. Teri took her right leg and puts it over Richie’s. They are both facing each other.

 “I realize that this was not easy for you. It isn’t easy for me. But, I also realize my past was not even a spot on the wall compared to what you’ve experienced. I know that and realize we have a long way to go. I’m prepared to take whatever you give. Baby, I may be naïve, but I am not dumb. I’ve read about your past and take it all with a grain of salt ‘cause it WAS your past.”

“Thank YOU,” Richie said. “Yeah, there was a ton more of stuff.”

“Just tell me a couple of things baby and we can drop this conversation for now.”

“What do you want to know?”

 “Are the drugs taking over your life? I mean, do you have to have drugs to function? I’ve been with you for a few months now, and I really don’t remember drugs too much.”

“No baby, I’m actually off the drugs, for the most part. I don’t need them to function. I was hiding it from you most of the time. I didn’t know where this was going, and I figured the less you knew the better for me. ‘Cause, well, as you said, there’s too much about me, and about the guys, out in the tabloids. ”

“Okay Richie,that’s great to know. What about the drinking?”

“I have that under control. “

“I agree with that also. Now, one more thing, if you don’t mind and we can put this part of the past in the past where it belongs.”

“Of course. You’ve been really great. I’ll answer anything you want to ask.”

“Are the stories about the Zucchini sisters true?”

Teri laughed and stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend. He grabbed her, and pulled her close. Kissed her long. So long, that all she can think about was having his cock inside of her. As she whipped off her negligee and began to straddle him, he pulled her down so she laid on top of him. He whispered in her ear.

 “Yes.”

 She smiled and whispered back into his ear.

 “Then you won’t mind if I try to erase those memories of yours with some new ones of mine right?” She sat up as she was still astride him, and sunk onto his cock in one fluid movement. Their eyes meet and she began to erase those memories.