December 14, 2001 (Friday)

Erin rushed into the warm confines of the Starbucks on the corner of Times Square, her hands rubbing together to warm the flesh beneath her black wool mittens. The pair had been running to avoid the brisk fury of winter whipping winds. Amy, followed several paces behind, losing sight of Erin as she slipped into the coffee shop. Blue skull cap obscuring her vision as she quickened her pace, Amy hit into the closed door. Looking up, amidst scattered blonde tendrils, Amy cursed under her breath.

Erin was nearly in tears as Amy stepped into the coffee shop, muttering something about “blondes” from between her chuckles. Amy was forever accident prone and today was no exception. “You have to be smarter than the door,” Erin shook her head.

Amy readjusted her blue skull cap, pursing her lips as she regarded her friend with dangerous eyes. “Ha. Your so funny, I almost forgot to laugh. Your making a damn scene, happy?”

“Yeah, yeah, I am.” Erin snorted, her cheeks flushed and wind chapped. “Oh damn that was too good.”

Amy shook her head with a smile and walked toward the counter of the jam packed coffee shop. “Can I get a double mocha latte...and a cappuccino latte .” Reaching into the purse slung over her opposite shoulder, she withdrew some cash.

Erin slid behind her, bracing a hand on her friends shoulder, biting back the chuckle in her throat. If she had a nickel for every time Amy had tripped over a curb or shouldered someone hard enough to lose her balance today, she could be independently wealthy .“ I’m sorry, that was just classic. I’ll behave.”

“You are notsorry and you know it, now take your damn latte.” Amy let out slight smile as she watched the mirth dance over her friends dark brown eyes. “Hey, there is another one of these in it for you if you don’t mention this, or anything else that happened today, to anyone...”

Erin crossed her heart before grasping the coffee. “Anyone like...Scott? He’s already seen you in action.. Alright, don’t look at me like that. I’ll shut up, scouts honor.”

“Don’t try to pull that one, you were never a scout. Besides, it really wasn’t that funny.” Amy smirked and pulled her skull cap over her brow till only the round orbs of her pallid blue eyes shone from beneath the material.

Gathering what was left of dignity, Erin and Amy looked about for a place to sit. It seemed every person in the city had opted for a hot drink. The room was alive with the humidity of too many packed bodies in a small area. One of the coldest and snowiest Decembers in history, the temp had dropped below zero for the second straight week. Yet, spirits seemed festive as the streets were decorated with seasonal greetings and joyful hope for the coming new year. Only three months had passed from the infamous disaster of September 11. You could not break a New Yorkers spirit, not with crumbling towers, not with fire and brimstone. A gentle, solemn feeling had taken hold. The sentiment in the eyes of every passer-by who walked up and down the avenues echoed, “hell, we are all in this together”. Amy and Erin felt the change as they made their way through the throngs of humanity.

“Hey, that guy has a table by himself.. Why not pour on the schmooze and see if you can’t get him to agree to some company?” Amy said hopefully, taking a sip from her half filled cup.

Erin, being brash and arrogant, took that as a dare. Untying her scarf to let it hang on the lapels of her winter jacket, Erin smoothed her frenzied burgundy tendrils, beneath her black beret. Erin turned, approaching the lone figure at the table, who sat quietly eating a sconce with his coffee, paper crinkled and opened to the Events section. The gentleman had sunglasses on, a tad large for his angular face, framed by tufts of short dark hair.

“Excuse me?” Erin waited. No response. “Um Excuse you...you have three extra seats available at your table, and I was wondering if my friend and I could join you. It’s kind of crowded in here?” Erin put on a pleasing smile as the man looked up from his paper slowly, seemingly unimpressed.

“Right. Right. Go for it.” He said in a soft and obviously English accent.

“Cool, thanks.” Erin smiled and enthusiastically waved Amy over before plopping into her seat. Erin set her latte down on the small round table. Removing her mittens and gray melton wool pea coat, Erin readjusted her scarf around her neck.

Amy bounded over, removing her leather gloves with her teeth and assumed the seat beside Erin. “You are good, damned if I wanted to stand in here or walk about in this weather! Lets not forget the crowds lining up on 44th Street and 8th Avenue. Looks like some more trivial bullshit is going on at the MTV studios.” Amy took a swig of her coffee. “So did you get a name on...” She gestured her head toward the enigmatic gent who had kindly shared his table. His shaded eyes were intent on the paper before him as his slender fingertips broke pieces from the sconce at his side.

“Nothing.” Erin shrugged and took a swig of her latte. She could see the mischief in her friends blue eyes, beckoning her to start up some dialogue.

“Go ahead” Amy mouthed silently, “He’s kinda cute”

Erin shook her head with a smirk. “He’s got short hair, not my type.” She whispered, barely seeming to stir their quiet companion.

“Just do it!” Amy cracked a mischievous smile as she mouthed her words. “Chicken-shit!”

Erin cleared her throat. “I am Erin and this is Amy, do you have a name?”

No response.

The two exchanged glances, a bit put off by the rudeness displayed. Rudeness? In New York? Shocking.

“Um, Hello?” Erin spoke up, brusquely inserting her hand between his eyes and the newspaper.

The gent looked up, his hand raising up to remove an almost invisible earphone. “Excuse me?”

Erin and Amy laughed. “I said, I am Erin and this is Amy...do you have a name?”

“Right, yeah....” He reached his hand to meet Erin’s and then to Amy who had seized the moment. “Orlando.”

“Good to meet you. So, your not from around here...accent and all?” Erin smiled, withdrawing her hand to bring her latte to her lips.

Orlando set his MP3 player on the table and took a sip of his own drink. “England actually. But let me guess, you must both be New Yorkers.” There was a slight, cockney snigger in his voice.

“Not necessarily. We could be from Iowa...but on second thought, that whole back woods shit never did sit right with me. Saw that movie ‘Deliverance’. Scarred me permanently.” Amy smiled charmingly as she shook her head emphatically. Amy often over dramatized while making an important point. She had a certain charm to her endless babble. Erin shook her head. This guy was definitely Amys’ taste and it was apparent her friend thought much the same as she gave that famous flirtatious grin.

“Right.” Orlando nodded, regarding the two brash ladies at his table. “Do you think Midwesterners and southerners really like pigs that much?” Amy laughed as Erin sighed. She has skipped the drama and gone straight for the mindless blonde prattle.

“Don’t answer that.” Erin could not believe her eyes, this was just cannon fodder to tease Amy with on the way home. What else were friends for? “So what brings you to fabulous Gotham city?”

“Gotham city?” Orlando sounded puzzled, yet his accent was elegant and soft as velvet on bare skin. That cockney brogue always sent a shiver down a girls spine, no matter how tough her exterior. Erin visited Kingston-Upon-Themes regularly, where one of her oldest friends had married and decided to live. Each time that accent washed over her, it melted her.

“Yeah, Gotham City. It was created as a fictional city inspired by New York for some comics. It has just kinda stuck. It’s more of a subculture reference anymore, you know...Goths and so forth.” Erin sipped her coffee. Being a Gothic subculture devotee for nearly a decade, she could not help but slip that in.

“Learn something new everyday.” Orlando nodded, breaking off a piece of his sconce.

“We are being intolerable yanks aren’t we?” Amy laughed, eyeing Orlando down with an obvious appetite, her cheeks slightly rosy.

“You don’t kill the stereotype, if that is what you mean.” Orlando sniggered with a slight upturn of his lips. His smile was effervescent and easy.

“So...what are you listening to?” Erin chimed in, waving a hand before her friend Amys’ face.

“Dylan, man. Really soothes my nerves.” Orlando leaned back, his trendy black wool coat falling open as his arm cocked back along the chair. The shirt we wore was bright rusted copper, the top buttons undone, even in the freezing weather.

“Dylan is dynamite, I like his music, especially ‘I’ll remember you”. Very 60's. Damn its hard not to make an Austin Powers joke in my half baked accent. Sorry.” Erin laughed as did Orlando, his mirth like an infectious bubble.

“I could easily comeback with that American Woman song by The Guess Who. Do you wear the American Flag on your knickers?” Orlando took another sip of his coffee, lowering his glasses to the bridge of his nose. His eyes, deep chocolate brown, held fast to the door.

“Only on Sundays.” Erin smiled. “That is the first comment I have had all day about my knickers. I must be getting old.”

Orlando laughed, his head tipping back. “That was rich. So, what brings you both out on the streets on such a desperate cold day? Visiting MTV with the rest of the masses?”

“Hell no,” Erin said with a smirk. “once upon a time that channel was cool, but then they turned the tides with reality shows and pop culture. I have enough reality to deal with. I think, if I remember correctly, MTV used to play music videos?” Erin had her fascias voice on, her words bordering on a litany. “Actually, we are shopping around a bit, decided to spend the day in the city. Believe it or not, we don’t actually live here, we are about 2 hours upstate in Sullivan County.”

“You mean New York is more than just a city?” Orlando flashed a smile.

“A good deal of history was made up around our parts. We could always bring you about a half an hour up from here to Rockland County. There is this little place called Hessian Lake, in Bear Mountain. That’s a famous spot where the American soldiers tossed the bodies of the Redcoats during the Revolution. Its bottomless...so it always has room for one more.” Erin smiled darkly with a hint of playfulness.

“Ouch, mate. Hostility! I’ll retreat on that one.” Orlando put his hands up in a sign of surrender. He was being cautious rather than his usual over exuberance, he noted. Seemed the lass, Erin, had enough exuberance for all three of them.

“So what brings you to New York City?” Amy smiled, hiding her dismay at her empty double mocha latte.

“Meeting up with some mates, taking in the sites. I’ve visited Boston many times but not too much on New York. Seems the vibe in the city has changed since everything went down.” Orlando was referring to the situation that occurred three months ago, an event that changed the hearts and souls of all Americans...all New Yorkers.

“Yeah...” Amy replied as all fell silent.

“Ahh there is one of my mates now!” Orlando rose, removing his sunglasses and waving his arms emphatically. Erin and Amy turned to note the gent entering the coffee shop, moving toward them.

“Billy!” Orlando exclaimed emphatically as he embraced the shorter gent.

“S’right, I made it. You ‘bout ready mate?” His accent was quite definitely thick Scottish. His eyes turned to the women keeping company at Orlandos’ table. “Guests I see? Going to introduce me to New Yorks finest?” Billy Boyd wriggled his eyebrows, playfully.

“Damn, do we have New Yorkers tattooed on our foreheads?” Erin turned to Amy, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Right. This is Erin, if I recall?” Orlando pointed to the fair skin and burgundy tresses of the woman to their side.

“Erin. A fine, strong name lass! Good to know ya.” Billy shook her fair hand with fervor. “And who is this magnificent blonde lass, eh Bloom? Trying to keep that one fer yerself?” Billy shot his mate a comical look.

“That is Amy? I believe?” Orlando laughed, his arm draped over Billys shoulder.

“Amy...oh my...Amy dear.” Billy took her hand and placed a kiss across her knuckles. “No ring I see, wanna remedy that love? I’ve got about half hour before I have to be on set?”

Amy laughed, charmed by the brusque Scottish brogue and deep set, mischievous eyes of Billy. “Think I might pass,” she giggled. “maybe if you had more time.”

“Ahh, you break me heart, lass!!” Billy grabbed his chest, over exaggeratedly. “Well, I am Billy Boyd, the one, the only. Once you know me, you will never like me and probably never forget me. “ Billy winked. His Scottish accent was simply charming and full of mischief, unlike the serious nature cast to the brogue of the English. Erin and Amy could not help but instantly fall in love with the obnoxious Scotsman.

“Where are the rest of the gang? Thought we were all meeting here first?” Orlando pocketed his MP3 player.

“Promos, fer the most part. Then I recall something ‘bout playin’ chicken on the 59nth street bridge? Don’t know mate, but you know those Americans...poor Dom! He could nae tuck and roll from the car fast enough...think he damn near pissed his pants, he did. Luckily, for these beauties, I managed to escape, mostly in tact.” Billy laughed. “Nah, mate, they’ll be meeting us up at the set. Yer ready for the crowd?”

“Ready as I can be, mate” Orlando flashed the most incredible smile, rendering Erin and Amy to their seats in fascination...a sense of wonderment forming at the term “the set.”

“Are you actors or something?” Erin glanced up along the two, Orlandos’ arm still braced about Billys’ shoulder. The Scotsman had his arm about the lithe waist of the tall, rather beautiful and suddenly animated Brit.

Billy and Orlando looked to each other. “Wee parts in a trilogy of movies, nothing to ponder that pretty head of yers about lass. I am surprised ya didn’t tell them, Bloomerz.” Billy smiled ruefully.

“Call me that again and I have some wee arrows with your name scribed on them.” Orlando laughed with a raising of his elegantly sculpted brows. Orlando could have been cursing and it would have sounded like music. That accent was simply spellbinding.

“Don’t you have some hair to brush or nails to file?” Billy flashed a devilish curve of his lips. “Just to keep the spirit of your favorite tormentor in the present.”

Billy winced instantly as Orlando pinched his upper arm, rather forcefully. “I endured that for long enough mate, time to let it slip away.”

Amy and Erin looked to each other, unsure of precisely what the hell the two friends were chatting about.

“Well, we really should be making our apologies and gettin’ away.” Billy smiled, charmingly, his eyes brimming over with mischief for Amy...who adored his attention and could muster no more than a smile...and the occasional blush.

“Right mate. Erin, Amy...pleasure.” Orlando gathered his coat and fastened it, his eyes lingering a moment on Erin, her burgundy tendrils, black beret and brash American attitude. Quite lovely, he noted. Quite Spirited if not a bit too brash.

“Good to meet you Orlando, Billy. Enjoy New York...and don’t walk down any shadowed alleys.” Erin smiled, her hand gracing both of theirs, respectively.

“It has been a pleasure, yes.” Amy smiled, transfixed.

“You know, there is going to be this little get-together at The Roxy on West 18th and 10th Ave tonight, around 9ish?” Billy smiled, looking to Orlando who simply shook his head.

“That club is nearly impossible to get into, have a bouncer in your pocket or something?” Erin laughed.

“Better than that lass, join us...it will be a time to remember!” Billy flashed that incredible smile.

“We have to get home...I don’t think there will be time.” Erin looked to Amy, then to Orlando and Billy.

“Sure there will be, its Friday night, there has to be a later bus? We can make it work, come on, its the Roxy! I have always wanted to hang out there, please?” Amy pleaded, looking to Orlando and Billy for a bit of help.

“Yeah, right mates, it’s the happening spot. Billy here can get you both in...could be a once in a lifetime...Come on Erin, Amy has always wanted to hang out there.” Orlando batted his lashes, his chocolate eyes seeming almost luminescent and irresistible, drawn into the fun and mischief of the whole scenario. Billy seemed quite fond of the duo. It was surprising to Orlando that the animated Scot had not invited the whole damn place to the after party. Billy was just that way and his energy never changed in all the 18months they had worked together on location. Whether or not the two yanks join us really makes no mind, Orlando noted. Though, it was nice to share a spot of coffee and chat a bit with real people. As of late, with all the promos and interviews, it was refreshing to sit in normalcy. Orlando knew, somehow, experiences such as these would become a rarified memory as he climbed his way up the Hollywood food chain

“Erin, in the name of the Isles lass, give the girl her only wish!” Billy laughed, pleading and over dramatic.

Erin threw up her arms, shaking her head. “Alright, alright. Enough with the peer pressure. We will check with the bus schedule and see what we can do. No promises.”

“You are the best Erin!!” Amy grasped her, nearly knocking her from her seat.

“Your the best, Erin!!” Billy laughed, grasping her from behind.

“Yeah love, the best!!!” Orlando joined in but did not move from his place beside Billy.

“Alright, enough of this hippie crap, off of me!” Erin laughed, flailing her arms. “We don’t even know you two, so, how do I know you are not just pulling our legs about The Roxy? Hmm?”

Orlando slipped back a pace, cocking his head to the side, smiling at the feisty spirit of the American.

“Because I’m Billy Boyd, that’s why lass!!! Just remember that name and give it to the gent at the door, promise ya and I will even throw in a nip of whiskey!” Billy smiled as Orlando observed the time.

Erin shook her head as Amy cried out in sheer excitement. Resigned to her fate for the sole purpose of making her friend happy, Erin smiled. “So be it. If we can be there, we will be.”

“An’ if yer having any cute girlfriends...my friend Dom would be much obliged. He needs all the help he can get, poor ol’ bastard.” Billy wriggled his brows once more. “We are off, lassies!!”

With that, Orlando and Billy exited the Starbucks. Amy turned to Erin with a quirked brow.... “Did Billy just say something about Lassie?”

Erin laughed, slipping her jacket back on. “No hon, gather that last brain cell and lets see what we can’t do about tonight.”

Orlando turned the collar up on his black, knee length wool coat. Head tilted toward the ground, partly for privacy, partly for warmth; Orlando let the smoke from his cigarette curl past his lips. “Any particulars why you stepped in and invited the two out with us tonight, mate? Your not just going to forget, are ya?” Orlando exhaled in the cold winter air.

“Now would I ever do that, mate?” Billy smiled wide, playfully, his exposed skin reddening in the city turned tundra. “That’s why I keep you around, to remind me. Sharp as a tack ya are.” Billy shrugged, “Could be fun. ‘sides, it could very well be these two lassies are the last gals in New York who don’t know yer face er mine, er any of ours from that silver screen. Though ya might be thinking how fabulous it’s going to be when every beautiful lady in the room turns her head to ya, lookin’ at ya with those big doe eyes. But there comes that wonder, pretty elf boy, are they lookin’ at ya ‘cause yer good to look at, a handsome and friendly chap or are they lookin’ at ya ‘cause yer a star? Probably makes no mind to ya now, Orlando...but it will.” Billy walked beside Orlando, his jacket flying wide open as they turned the corner. The streets outside of the MTV studios on Broadway were blocked off and crowded, much as both had expected.

“Aren’t you feeling the nip of the wind, Billy? I’ll be damned. It’s brutal.” Orlando tossed the burnt down butt of his cigarette. “And, thanks for the words Billy....”

Billy smiled as he paused on the street. “Only pretty little English girls feel the nip of cold weather, dressin’ all in layers! HA! In Scotland, we barely begin to put a wrap over our tartans. Let me see you walkin’ around all bandy legged in such fine weather, ye’d be cryin’ and wankin! Much like ya are now.” Billy flashed his brows merrily, “Oh, and yer welcome.”

The streets were overloaded with people packed together behind small blue wooden police barriers, the officers surrounded the area for crowd control. Limousines were pulling up to the set and the paparazzi snapped away as Sean Astin and Elijah Wood came from the first, Dominic Monaghan and Liv Tyler from the second. The huge windows of the MTV studio were littered with messages in digital streaming type, welcoming stars from The Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Rings to TRL.

Orlando exhaled the cold breath from his lips, casting his mouth into a devilish smile. “Well then, least I’m pretty, gaffer! Pearls before swine, meet you there!” With that Orlando took off at full pace, leaving Billy screaming and running behind. The two friends slowed as they connected with fans who had waited patiently on the streets just to glimpse the stars, each young girl seeming to scream out to Orlando Bloom.

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