My friend Sandie and I wrote this.
It wasn't supposed to be so nice in New York in early January. Yes, it was cold, but the sun was bright in a sky of cerulean blue and full, puffy clouds sailed over the city. Simone stepped out of the Algonquin Hotel, passing through the wide door held open by the stodgy doorman, looked up and down 44th street, and pulled her collar of her coat up before starting to walk.
She was meeting her good friend Gwen at FAO Schwartz, of all places. They both wanted to get toys for their kids and they wanted to get Star Wars and Lord of the Rings toys for themselves. Especially Lord of the Rings toys. If only we could play with some of the actors, Simone thought.
Simone hadn't seen Gwen for five years, ever since they had sold the toy business they had had together, but the women's friendship had never diminished. They were both in their early 40's, both divorced, and both had two kids, so they had more in common than ever before. Not to mention their attraction to younger men, something they had discovered about each other when they had met in the third year of college in upstate New York and found that they were constantly going after the same freshmen.
The two women also discovered that they both loved toys and games. They became THE Dungeons and Dragons wizards at their dorm and they would hold marathon sessions on the weekends, sometimes extending into the next week. They wouldn't sleep, eat or go to class. Just play. They met their husbands at one of these marathons, sweet shy boys, a few years younger than the girls. Funny how both couples had grown apart and divorced around the same time. The women had been there for each other through it all.
They kept in touch all the time on the net and called each other at least once a week, but it had been so long since they had been in New York and they missed seeing each other, so they decided to meet after Christmas. Early January seemed like just the time to take in the much loved and well-remembered sights of the bruised Big Apple. The Christmas crowds were gone and life in the city would be getting back to whatever passed for normal in what was, to Simone's mind, the capital of the world.
I could walk to FAO, but I'm running late and it's cold so I'll hop a cab, Simone thought, as she pulled her coat tighter around her and fanned her long auburn hair over the collar. She usually had luck getting a cab in New York so she stepped off the curb, put her hand out and after a short wait, a yellow and black taxi pulled over from the busy street, and quickly beating out the other woman who was making a run for the cab, she got in and slammed the door.
"FAO Schwartz, please!" The driver looked back at her for a second with a befuddled look. ' You know, the big toy store on Fifth Avenue?"
"Ah..ok, that one!"
He smiled a big toothy grin back at her and started to drive.
Part Two
FAO Schwartz glittered. There was no other way to describe it. Simone hadn't been there in so many years, too many to count. It had been fixed up, redone, and rearranged, and no matter how many permutations it went through, it was still the greatest toy store in the world.
When they had talked before this trip, Gwen had suggested meeting in the store, one of their old haunts in NewYork. Simone laughed at the idea of FAO Schwartz being a 'haunt,' but they used to meet there all the time when in the city and walk up and down the aisles as hushed as if they were in a medireview European cathedral.
Simone headed straight for the display of LOTR toys, where Gwen had wanted to meet. She looked for the honey blonde hair of her friend and saw it shining under the lights of the display. Gwen was lost in thought as she picked up a toy in it's box and turned it over in her hands.
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Gwen turned over the box with the Legolas toy and smiled as Simone came up next to her and said, "I thought I’d find you here."
Gwen laughed and hugged her friend, still holding the Legolas toy in her hand. With them, there was no need for inane pleasantries. They always had so much to talk about. They were talking so much that neither of them noticed the dark haired young man who was playing with a LOTR toy too until he backed in to them, almost knocking them both down.
"Oh, I’m so sorry," he touched them both on the shoulder. "Did I hurt you?" He had the most amazing British accent and a soft, sexy voice.
"You’re." Simone said, and he finished for her. "Orlando Bloom, Orli to my friends."
Gwen, ever the smartass, nodded to the Legolas toy in is hand and said, "Playing with yourself again, I see."
He blushed. "I’ll never live that down."
"Oh, it was cute," Simone smiled at him. They introduced themselves to him and shook his hand. His hands were very beautiful, Gwen thought, as they touched hers. She couldn't take her eyes away from his chocolate ones. She thought she might faint when he smiled at them. She glanced over at Simone and she could tell from her flushed face and glittering eyes that Orlando was having the same effect on her. When Orlando noticed that Gwen held a Legolas doll in her hand too, he raised an eyebrow. "Its.. uh for my .. ah shit! I'm not gonna lie! It’s mine! I’m an elf fancier!"
He laughed, a lovely sound. "So, other than being elf fanciers, what brings you to the toy store?" He seemed genuinely interested in both women.
Simone and Gwen told him their story and how they had agreed to meet in the store today after not seeing each other for a long time. He seemed very intrigued, and agreed when Gwen asked him if he'd like to have lunch with them. They made their way out of the toy store and down the street to a little café that didn't even have a name on the door. Simone and Gwen always ate here when they got together in New York. The food was good, the chef would make just about anything you wanted, and it was quiet. It seemed most intimate today as the three of them sat near the back. They had ordered a bottle of wine and as their lunch and the afternoon wore on, they drank, ate and talked.
Orlando sat between them, sort of. Somehow, without them even realizing they had done it, both Gwen and Simone had managed to move very close onto either side of him. He didn't look at all unhappy about it as he looked at first one of the women, then the other. The food was delicious, the wine was good, and Orli, once past his original shyness, regaled them with stories of his time in New Zealand and some stories about working with Ewan in BHD. They laughed, oohed and aahed over everything he said. He was a natural story teller and a sweet, easygoing young man.
"What are your plans today, Orlando?" Gwen suddenly asked. Asking things that were not any of her business didn't seem to bother her at all. She did it all the time and it was one of her more endearing qualities.
"I’m in town for a photo shoot in a couple of days, after being on Regis and Kelly, so I'm not doing anything really! I’m shopping for my family and relaxing a bit."
"That’s sort of what we’re doing too. Wanna hang round with us today?" Gwen asked.
He actually looked delighted. Perhaps the prospect of being all alone in New York wasn't that alluring to him. After they'd finished eating, they caught a cab, heading back to Orli’s hotel to leave his toys before they went to do a bit of the tourist thing.
Part Three
The cab ride was a long one. Traffic was horrendous.
But that was a good thing to Gwen and Simone. An idea was forming unspoken between them, and as if they could read each other's minds, (their ex-husband's swore they could!), the excitement of what they were thinking was transmitted between them by a single look.
They had Orli captive between them, his warm thighs against theirs, his scent filling their senses. He seemed to feel the electricity that had been building between the three of them, and he suddenly slid an arm around each of them, pulling them closer. Gwen quickly looked down at Orlando's legs and noticed that Simone’s hand had found a tight thigh to rest on. He certainly didn't seem to mind at all, and when he leaned over to Gwen to answer a question, he leaned so close that his lips almost touched her face.