Writing Partners

After lunch on Friday, Richie went back to his hotel room. He checked the clock. Jennifer was six hours behind him, making it around seven-fifteen in the morning in Boston. He was pretty sure she would be at the office by now. Dialing her number, he toed off his boots and sat back against the headboard of his bed, making himself comfortable. He hoped she had a room she could go to, because this time he wasn’t stopping.

When the phone rang, Jennifer was disoriented. Who the hell was calling so early? Stretching an arm out from under the blankets, she snagged the phone off the nightstand angrily. Then she saw the display on the phone and smiled. She flipped the phone on to speaker, laying it on the mattress beside her, and snuggled back into the blankets.

“This is Jennifer,” she said.

“What, you don’t want to know how you can help me today?” Riche’s voice came from the little speaker and filled the room. It also made her heart do a strange little flip.

Jennifer laughed huskily; sleep still dancing around her vocal cords. “I had an idea it was you,” she said. “You’re the only one that comes up on my ‘berry as ‘private caller’. How was your flight?”

“The flight was good,” Richie said, chuckling as he remembered the trip out on Wednesday.

When they were settled on the plane, Jon looked over at Richie. He saw his friend smiling as he looked out the window. Richie’s fingers were drumming anxiously on his leg, and every once in a while, he would chuckle or shake his head a little. Jon was preoccupied with Tiff, knowing that she was at the hospital now, in surgery. He kept looking at his phone, willing it to ring, but it hadn’t yet, which was pissing him off. Sighing, he looked at Richie, who was irritating the shit out of him, and elbowed him roughly.

“What’s up, man?” Jon asked him, desperate for a diversion.

Richie looked at his best friend and grinned like a fool. Jon grinned back at him. He couldn’t help it. He hadn’t seen Richie smile like that in months. “Jon, my man, I am planning a grand seduction,” Richie said, waggling his eyebrows.

“What are you talking about?”

“I called her,” Richie said softly.

Jon knew right away who he was talking about. His eyes narrowed as he considered his friend. “You do remember I told you she isn’t one of your, uh, little skanky playthings, right?”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I heard you, and I haven’t been ‘playing’ for a lotta months, man, you know that. Nah, it’s something else,” he said and quickly turned to look out the window again.

Jon craned his neck to look at Richie’s face. “Are you…shit, are you blushing, man?” Jon laughed. “What the hell is going on?”

Richie looked to make sure David and Tico were otherwise occupied. They’d razz him relentlessly if they overheard. Jon would razz him for sure too, but privately. Probably. “You know that story of hers?” he asked quietly. Jon nodded and Richie continued. “Well, she wrote more, and sort of left it hanging, the tease, and I called her on it. Asked her why she didn’t take it further, and damned if she didn’t dare me, DARE me Jon, to come up with the next scene.”

Jon stared at him, incredulous. Then he burst out laughing. He clapped his hands over his mouth, but couldn’t stop. He collapsed back in his seat, tears streaming down his face, and couldn’t catch his breath.

“Fuck you, man,” Richie said, trying to scowl at him, but not quite pulling it off.

“No, no, stop, stop, stop, wait,” Jon said, trying to get himself under control. With a final spate of chuckles, he said, “So let me get this straight. You’re going to write fan fiction about yourself? For her? To post?” He started laughing again, and David and Teek looked at him curiously from across the aisle. Jon waved them off. “God, man what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Who said it’d be fiction? I just may be psychic,” Richie said. “And hell, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me.”

Jon sobered when he saw the look on his friend’s face. “Look Rich, you know I know what you’ve been going through the last year or so. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the parade of bimbos that came after Denise. It’s like you were trying to make as many bad choices as you could. This girl,” he said.

“Jennifer,” Richie said, cutting Jon off. “Her name is ‘Jennifer’.”

“I know what her name is, asshole, I’m the one who told you.” Jon laughed and slapped his friend’s leg. “This girl seems different. I’ve read her posts on this board. She has her fair share of hero worship and lust, but she also seems to get it. I mean, when that TMZ asshole cornered you at LAX – she was so outraged on your behalf, I had to laugh.”

“I know she’s different,” Richie said. “I could tell that right away. Hell, when I called her the first time, she was sarcastic and smart ass to me.” He laughed remembering. “She has her moments, but for the most part, just treats me like a regular guy.”

“Then maybe there’s something wrong with her,” Jon said. “You are anything but a ‘regular guy’. Fuck, man, you define ‘irregular’.”

“Go to hell,” Richie said without rancor. “Do you know what she asked me? Last time we talked? She asked me if the fun of touring and performing really balanced being away from home. Then she felt badly for asking, and apologized.” Richie shook his head and looked sideways at his friend. “How the hell is she in my head? Christ, I told her that I talk to Ava and Ma every day ‘cause I miss them something fierce. I don’t even know this woman, and I’m telling her things. And I didn’t even feel like I had to tell her, I wanted to tell her. And she was so damned nice about it. Fucking scary, if you ask me.”

“What have I been telling you? Regular women, Rich. Regular. Not models. Not starlets. Not media-hungry bitches. Hell, Rich, she turned down a backstage pass for the Boston show because she didn’t want to leave her friends out.” Jon shook his head. “I still can’t believe she turned that down.” He smiled.

Richie stared, wide-eyed. “I didn’t know about that.”

“Because she didn’t tell you about that,” Jon said. “She’s not your average fan. She seems to actually care about the shit that happens to us. From what I can tell, she’s not stupid, she’s very insightful, and hell, man, I’m glad you called her.”

“Me too,” Richie said, still shocked about Jennifer turning down the pass.

“So, you’re gonna call her again, and do this, this sex thing?” he waved his hand in the air, not wanting to say “fan fiction” again. The look on Richie’s face said it all, and Jon started laughing hard. Again. “Jesus,” Jon said, wiping the moisture from his cheeks. “God, I needed a laugh like that. Thanks, man. I so canNOT wait to read this.”

Richie just had to ask her about the pass. “Jon said that he offered you a backstage pass to meet me, and you turned him down.” He put some pout into his voice. “Why don’t you want to meet me?”

She brushed him off with a light chuckle. “It’s not that I don’t want to meet you, it’s that I don’t want to ditch my girlfriend. She’s had a really tough year.” She told Richie about the explosion and her house being condemned and finally demolished, and how her daughter came close to being killed, and about the fights with the insurance companies, and was tearing up.

“Enough of that,” she said, clearing the tears from her throat, and Richie had an intense desire to hold her and let her cry it out. “How’s Germany?” Jennifer asked. “I haven’t been there in YEARS. How was the show last night?”

“The show went well,” Riche said, letting her change the subject. “And Germany is still the same as the last time we were here – really far away from home. Beautiful country, though.”

Jennifer sighed. “Hmmm, I’m sure the show went better than just ‘well’, and when I was in Germany, I absolutely loved the castles,” she said, shifting on the bed.

Richie frowned. “Where are you? You don’t sound like you’re at work.”

Jennifer chuckled sleepily. “I’m not at work yet. I took the morning off. I figured if you actually called back and were willing to play, that this was not a game to be played at work.”

“And why wouldn’t I call you back?” There was silence on the other end, and Richie sighed. “Look, Jennifer, when I say I’m going to do something, I do it, okay? And listen, I really like talking to you. You make me laugh,” he said. And your voice makes me happy, he added silently to himself.

“I really like talking to you too,” Jennifer said. “OK, sorry. It’s just my track record with blind setups hasn’t been the best,” she said, and Richie would swear he could see her shiver when she said that. He resembled that remark, and told her so. “Oh come on,” Jennifer said. “They can’t be as bad as mine.” She went on to tell him about some of the men her friends had set her up with, and Richie was laughing along with her by the end of her recitation.

“Yeah, okay, you win. Remind me not to have your friends set me up,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure these guys aren’t your type.” Jennifer quipped, and took another minute to get her laughter under control. As she settled down, her alarm went off. It blared “If God Was A Woman,” and Richie heard her squeak, yell “SHIT!” then some fumbling around before the music finally stopped.

He laughed at her. “And what the hell was that?”

“That, my dear friend-of-Bill, was my alarm clock. You, babe, are my wake-up call. Have been for years.” He could tell she was smiling. “It’s one of my favorites of yours. Sorry ‘bout that.” She was blushing furiously. She couldn’t believe she forgot to turn off her alarm when she answered the phone.

“Don’t apologize, it’s not a problem, though I KNOW you know my na – ” he broke off. “Wait a minute. If that was your alarm clock then…”

“Yep,” Jennifer said. “You guessed it; you’ve caught me in bed.”

Richie’s pulse leapt when she said that. He lowered his voice to a raspy growl. “And?”

“And it’s nice and toasty warm under these covers,” she said, purposefully misunderstanding his unspoken question. She hadn’t forgotten that she hadn’t answered him about whether or not she slept alfresco. She stretched and groaned lazily, and Richie sat upright on the bed.

“What are you doin’, darlin’?” His mouth was suddenly dry.

“Ahhh, just stretching – wait a sec –” Richie heard a popping sound and an appreciative sob of pure pleasure. The pop concerned him, but the sob went right to his dick. “There it is,” Jennifer said. “I have to remind my back that straight is the order of the day. Damn that felt good. Now I’m awake.” There was silence on the other end, and Jennifer smiled. “You still there, Richie?”

“Yeah, darlin’, I’m still here,” he said softly. “Are you ready to play?”

“Absolutely,” she said, though she wasn’t at all sure. “So, when we left our story, our leads were trying to decide on lunch.”

“Oh no, baby,” Richie said sexily, wishing he knew what she looked like so he could picture her in bed. “I had decided what I wanted for lunch. You.”

“Richie --” Jennifer started to protest, to tell him to stop making this story about the two of them, but Richie shushed her.

“Hush now, baby, it’s my turn,” he said. “Unless you’d like to work on this together?” He shut his eyes for a moment, waiting to see what she would do.

Jennifer cleared her throat, and spoke softly. “Jen looked at him, at his eyes, and saw heat and passion there. ‘Where do they serve that?’ she asked him.”

Richie smiled. Oh yeah…

By the time they were done, they were both breathing heavily. Richie’s pants were unbearably tight, and after making sure the door was locked and chained, he retrieved a towel from the bathroom, and opened his pants to help relieve the pressure. He took himself in hand, and bit back a groan. Now he really wished he had a picture of her.

Jennifer thought she heard the soft rasp of a zipper on the other end of the line, but didn’t say anything. She just snaked a hand under the covers to slowly massage her throbbing clit. Just the thought of him unzipping his pants had her wetter than the story got her.

“Wow, Jennifer,” Richie said, struggling to keep his breathing under control. He didn’t want her to know what he was doing. “That’s not where I thought the story was going at all.”

“Wow is right,” Jennifer agreed, her own words a mere whisper, because her voice had left her. “And these things just take on a life of their own.”

“You sure have one vivid imagination,” he added, gritting his teeth.

“So I’ve been told,” Jennifer said with a hitch in her breath. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She was getting closer and was going to have to mute her phone soon.

“That was good,” Richie said, biting back a curse.

“Real good. Are you okay?” Jennifer asked, hearing the change in his voice.

Richie couldn’t concentrate. The sound of her voice, her incredibly turned-on voice, was blurring his head. “Yeah,” he hissed through his teeth. Just a minute more, he thought, his hand pumping furiously.

“I should go,” Jennifer said, wanting to stop her hand’s motion so she didn’t embarrass herself, but damn, she couldn’t. The sound of his sexually-charged voice was just so damned good, and impossible to resist.

“NO! Don’t go!” Richie said. “I mean not yet.”

Jennifer heard something in his voice, and it made her shudder. “My God, are you…?” She couldn’t say it, but Richie knew exactly what she meant.

“Are you?” Richie answered.

“I am if you are,” Jennifer hedged, her head starting to thrash, and her legs staring to tense.

Richie’s heart tripled its pace. “If you are baby, I am.”

“Oh, God,” Jennifer cried, her eyes rolling back, and sweet release coming. Great shudders racked her body, and little groans escaped her clenched lips.

“Sweet Jesus,” Richie responded. Hearing her release made his own control snap, and his cock gave a twitch and his seed pumped into the towel.

Richie and Jennifer were lost in their own sensations, shared yet not. They were silent for quite some time, and finally, Jennifer couldn’t stand the quiet anymore. “You know,” she said, “I never put out on the third date.”

Richie laughed, breaking some of the tension.

“And,” Jennifer continued, “now my eyebrows have burned clean off, and my hair is on fire. Not to mention, I think I have to burn these sheets.” She laughed nervously, amazed at what just happened.

Richie chuckled. “And why do you have to burn your sheets?” he asked, then figured out the answer to his own question. “Fuck me, you DO sleep naked!!”





In case you want to see which chapter "they" came up with...