~Obviously I know nothing about what the film version of the Two Towers or
its premiere will be…this is pure fiction!~
Chapter 14: Apple Juice in the City that Never Sleeps
Orlando stood anxiously on the curb in front of the hotel he and the rest of the Fellowship were staying at in New York City, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and chewing on his lip.
"Ahhh!" he yelled as he felt a pair of hands shove him from behind. Another caught him before he plunged face first into the city traffic, then dropped him with a thud on the sidewalk. Standing up and brushing himself off, he glared at a near-hysterical Elijah and Billy. "Tryin' to bloody off me, or what?" he snapped, only succeeding in making them laugh harder.
"No," Elijah replied finally. "We were just trying to see exactly how one- tracked your mind is right now…and Jesus, man, could you have been paying any less attention to what's going on around you? I mean," he said, winking at Billy, "what if she comes from a different direction than your looking, man? She'd just about give you a heart attack!" Orli frowned as Lij and Billy began laughing at him again. He feigned ignorance. "Who?" he asked, and it even sounded contrived in his own ears as Billy rolled his eyes. "I'll give you one guess…no, maybe even less than that," he replied. "'Bout 5'2", blue-eyed with an American accent…though not one like the ones they've got 'round here," he added, wrinkling his nose at the thought of the nasal New York City accent. Orli shrugged. Ok, maybe Reilly was on his mind, but so what? He hadn't seen her in almost 2 weeks, and anyway… "well, she's my date for tonight! I'd just like to know when she arrives!" he insisted.
"Whoa, easy killer, don't worry I'm not gonna flake on you and run off with some artsy street musician type…well, actually…" a voice spoke up from behind the three boys. Orlando felt his cheeks burn, wondering how much they had been overheard, as he turned to see Reilly standing on the sidewalk, garment bag in hand and teasing smirk on her face. "Hey hot stuff," she winked. Orli grinned and leaned down to kiss her cheek, and felt a little sting when she didn't much respond to his hug. He shrugged it off. "Where'd you come from?" he asked her, and she smiled. "I know my way around, Mr. Bloom. I'm very cosmopolitan, you know!" He laughed as Billy took her bag from her and Elijah grabbed her hand. "We have a surprise for you!" He announced, dragging her into the hotel, with Orlando and Billy following.
"Tricia!" Reilly cried, her eyes widening in shock as her roommate opened the door. "Hey girl!" Tricia replied with a grin as she ushered everyone inside and gave Reilly a hug. "What the hell are you doing here?" Reilly blurted out. Tricia laughed. "What, think you're the only one cool enough to get invited to the Lord of the Rings premiere? I don't think so, babes! And I made the trip all the way from Minneapolis!" she smiled as Elijah put his arm around her waist, and Reilly smiled back, excited that Tricia was there. "Whoaaaa…" Tricia said slowly, lifting Reilly's right wrist to inspect it carefully. "What?" Reilly asked, confused. "Where is it?" Tricia replied. "Where is what???" Reilly wasn't getting it. "You're back in America, and in a few short hours you will be at an event on the arm of a man who will most definitely have three million cameras shoved in his face," Orli groaned at Tricia's comment as she continued "which means that you yourself, Ms Scott, will most definitely be making it onscreen yourself…and no Tiffany's bracelet? What ever will your boy think of this?" Reilly stared at her, trying to send brainwaves, as the room fell silent enough that she could hear her heartbeat. Tricia raised her eyebrows knowingly after a moment, and a look of concern flickered through her eyes, but Reilly shook her head slightly and mouthed "later". Tricia nodded, as Orlando felt his heart jump a little. No more Tristan. He looked to Reilly and wanted to ask a million questions, but it was obvious she didn't feel like talking.
"Hello?" A knock and Dominic's voice came from the door, and Reilly's heart leapt. She was so excited to see Dom…but…she was afraid to talk to him about what had happened. She wasn't really up for talking to anyone about it really, not yet, anyway. But especially not Dom. She was…ashamed. She didn't want him to see the truth, how terrible she had been, how she hadn't deserved Tristan's love and probably didn't even deserve Dom's friendship. She couldn't handle that. It was hard, though, not saying anything, trying to remain so aloof. She had to be careful. She had seen the hurt look on Orli's face that he quickly covered up when she hadn't returned his hug. It's not that she didn't want to hug him…his arms had felt so good, so comforting…but she didn't think she should. Not right now. She didn't want to let anyone too close at the moment.
"We're supposed to make our way downstairs now to discuss how this whole things gonna go down, with interviews and all…hi," Dom breathed as Billy stepped aside and he caught sight of Reilly behind him. "I…I didn't know you were here yet," his eyes didn't leave her face as Orli and Elijah went to follow Billy out of the room. He waited for her to respond, or to run over and jump on him like she normally would, but she didn't. She stayed where she stood, and then dropped her eyes from his gaze. He frowned. Something was wrong. He crossed the room to her and put his arms around her, feeling hers loosely circle around his waist. His frown deepened. "Courtesy hugging now, are we Ri?" he asked her, using her own term. He felt her tremble a bit, then tighten her hold on him, burying her face against him. "Hey…" he said softly, and looked at Tricia, who was watching them with a concerned look. "You gonna tell him, Ri?" she asked quietly. Reilly raised her head and managed to throw her roommate a glare, before facing Dom and forcing a smile. "She's talking about Tristan," she told him. "He…we…that's over," she said finally, and had to clench her jaw when she saw the sympathy in Dominic's eyes. "But I'm fine!" she hurried. "And this is not the time, or place to talk about this, so...you go do your things, I'll see you later!" Dom looked a little shocked at the sudden way she pulled back from him, but he saw the look in her eyes and nodded, making his way out the door.
Reilly closed it behind him, and glared more intensely at Tricia, who rolled her eyes. "What, Ri? Were you not gonna tell him? It's not like he wasn't going to know something was up, you wouldn't even look at him!" Her expression softened. "I'm here, Ri…" she trailed off, and Reilly smiled. "I know, Trish, and I appreciate that. And I do want to talk about it with you, just not now, ok? Now I just want you to make my hair look beautiful, and I want to have a good time tonight, ok?" Tricia nodded, happy to see a spark of her old roommate in her eyes.
The girls were sitting on the bed, giggling over Reilly's happier stories from her birthday party and applying their eye makeup when the boys burst back in. "Ow, ow!" Reilly catcalled, and Tricia whistled. The four of them were all wearing standard black suits, Elijah and Billy with white shirts underneath, Dom's blue, and Orli's red. "Oh baby, we are going to be so patriotic tonight!" Reilly grinned up at Orli and indicated to her royal blue dress hanging on the closet door. It had spaghetti straps and a dipped back and was asymmetrically cut along the hem. At the moment she and Tricia were still in cotton shorts and tank tops as they finished applying their faces and lotions, etc.
"Reilly, Tricia, this is Sean, the hobbit you have yet to meet," Elijah presented Sean Astin to the girls with a grin, and Tricia stood up holding out her hand while Reilly stared, starstruck, and announced : "goonies never say die!" The room cracked up as Reilly finally shook Sean's hand. "It is soooo nice to meet you!" she gushed, and Dom laughed at his usually so composed friend. "Hey! No drooling over celebrities!" Elijah ordered, poking Reilly in her side. Her jaw dropped in mock inidignance, and she shoved him back lightly. Within seconds the two of them were on the ground, which was followed by Sean yelling at Elijah not to wrinkle his suit and Tricia yelling at Reilly not to ruin her hair. Which was then followed by Tricia yelling at Reilly to get off her man, which was followed by Tricia joining the party on the floor, taking Orlando down with her to occupy Reilly's interests. Dom, Billy and Sean stared open-mouthed, wondering if they shouldn't leave the improvisational orgy, but they rather quickly found themselves involved, as Sean jumped onto the bed to avoid capture by the two girls. Dom tried a similar technique but was not so successful. "Ow!" he groaned as he slipped and landed on his back on the floor. "Oops!" Reilly stated obviously, then tickled him as she saw Billy trip cleverly over Elijah and come crashing down beside them. "Hey!" Elijah yelled. "Watch the…" Dom started. "Argh!" Billy finished. "Uh-oh!" Sean announced. "Oooh, that's the…" Tricia began. "MY APPLE JUICE!" Reilly shouted as she saw the golden liquid come flying at her, soaking her tank top through. Orlando looked disappointed. "Too bad you weren't wearing a white one!"
"Oh NO!" Reilly was fretting. "Do I have time to take a shower?" Orli laughed. "Um, hardly love, we've got to be out the door in about 13 minutes. You have to put on your dress and get a move on!" Reilly glared at him. "Ok, Mr. Kick-the-End-Table! I'm going to smell like kindergarten because of you!" The entire room stared at her and gave a collective "kindergarten?" Reilly looked at them like they had six heads apiece. "Yes," she responded, with a complete "duh" edge to her voice. "Kindergarten. It smells like applejuice. All the little kids. They smell like applejuice. And paste. And then they EAT the paste too…ew, little kids…" she trailed off and looked around. "Nevermind." Orli had his eyebrows raised. "Right then," he said. "Who wants to trade dates?" Reilly threw a pillow at him and he dodged it, ducking out the door. "9 minutes now ladies!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Tricia looked over her shoulder and gave Reilly an excited smile as she made her way through the press on Elijah's arm. Reilly smiled back as she took Orlando's offered hand and stepped out of the limo. Wow, she thought to herself. Intense. Cameras flashed so much that she could hardly see, and she heard people yelling for the guys. Orlando slipped his arm around her waist and gripped her hand, waving to the crowd with the other one. Reilly clung a little tighter to his hand as she saw the looks she was receiving from some of the crowd, and Orli laughed softly and put his mouth close to her ear. "Don't worry love, I won't let the 13-year-olds eat you!" he whispered, and she giggled. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Dom and Sam. He walked slowly, shaking the hands that reached out to him, and gave her a little smile when he saw her watching him.
Making it past the crowd, they stepped onto the carpet, and Reilly caught her breath. Ok, so it wasn't the Oscars, but it was still a carpet, and it was still red. She snapped back to attention as she realized she and Orlando were standing next to a woman with a microphone, and had a camera fixed on them. "And tell us who this lovely young woman you have with you is, Orlando?" The woman prodded in her overly-cheery voice. Orlando smiled and a wicked glint appeared in his eye. "This is Reilly Scott, the next big thing to come out of Britain. She's up for the role as the next Bond Girl." Reilly's eyes widened incredulously, but she recovered nicely and managed to smile and put on her best British accent to say hello to the reporter. As they walked away she whispered frantically: "Orlando Bloom! British? The next BOND GIRL?! Can you just say that?" Orli shrugged and laughed. "C'mon, Ri, they're going to print whatever they want anyway, we can have a little fun!" Reilly didn't look convinced, but after a few more stops she and Orlando were giggling uncontrollably and trying to come up with more outrageous stories to tell the reporters. After announcing that she was the American Goodwill Ambassador to Poland ("giving me an edge with the international-affairsy types" Orli winked. "Affairsy?" Reilly repeated.) they made their way inside.
* * * * * * * * *
Later that night Reilly walked in a daze, Orli's hand in hers, as the group walked down the latenight city streets, still in their premiere clothes. She was still lost in a dreamworld. The Two Towers, always her favorite of the trilogy, had been pure magic onscreen. After seeing the Fellowship she had wondered how anything could compare, but now…needless to say she was already peeing her pants in anticipation of the Return of the King. She watched Dom walking ahead of her with his arm around Sam, whispering cutely to her, and Billy with his date Adrienne. The two of them had been phenomenal in the film, really showing the change that appears in Merry and Pippin as the war of the ring begins to take its toll. And then there was Orlando…she gazed up at him, tall and dark beside her. It was amazing, really, how he brought Legolas to life…how at a glance you could see no Orlando in Legolas, or vice versa, the contrast seemed so stark…one a stoic, princely hero, the other a charming, devilish joker…but he's in him, Reilly thought to herself. There's some of that Elf prince in Orli. She could see it. In the way he knew things, the way he looked at the world, and in the way he carried himself. Amazing, she thought to herself. "What's that, love?" Orli looked down at her with a soft smile. "I just said…you were amazing…in the movie…" Reilly couldn't tear her eyes from his. No, no, no, no, NO you don't, Reilly Scott, she ordered herself firmly. His smile deepened and he held her hand tighter "Well it was amazing having you there to watch it with me," he replied, and Reilly smiled, then looked away from him and turned her eyes upward, disappointed that she couldn't see any stars in the city sky.
Chapter 14: Apple Juice in the City that Never Sleeps
Orlando stood anxiously on the curb in front of the hotel he and the rest of the Fellowship were staying at in New York City, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and chewing on his lip.
"Ahhh!" he yelled as he felt a pair of hands shove him from behind. Another caught him before he plunged face first into the city traffic, then dropped him with a thud on the sidewalk. Standing up and brushing himself off, he glared at a near-hysterical Elijah and Billy. "Tryin' to bloody off me, or what?" he snapped, only succeeding in making them laugh harder.
"No," Elijah replied finally. "We were just trying to see exactly how one- tracked your mind is right now…and Jesus, man, could you have been paying any less attention to what's going on around you? I mean," he said, winking at Billy, "what if she comes from a different direction than your looking, man? She'd just about give you a heart attack!" Orli frowned as Lij and Billy began laughing at him again. He feigned ignorance. "Who?" he asked, and it even sounded contrived in his own ears as Billy rolled his eyes. "I'll give you one guess…no, maybe even less than that," he replied. "'Bout 5'2", blue-eyed with an American accent…though not one like the ones they've got 'round here," he added, wrinkling his nose at the thought of the nasal New York City accent. Orli shrugged. Ok, maybe Reilly was on his mind, but so what? He hadn't seen her in almost 2 weeks, and anyway… "well, she's my date for tonight! I'd just like to know when she arrives!" he insisted.
"Whoa, easy killer, don't worry I'm not gonna flake on you and run off with some artsy street musician type…well, actually…" a voice spoke up from behind the three boys. Orlando felt his cheeks burn, wondering how much they had been overheard, as he turned to see Reilly standing on the sidewalk, garment bag in hand and teasing smirk on her face. "Hey hot stuff," she winked. Orli grinned and leaned down to kiss her cheek, and felt a little sting when she didn't much respond to his hug. He shrugged it off. "Where'd you come from?" he asked her, and she smiled. "I know my way around, Mr. Bloom. I'm very cosmopolitan, you know!" He laughed as Billy took her bag from her and Elijah grabbed her hand. "We have a surprise for you!" He announced, dragging her into the hotel, with Orlando and Billy following.
"Tricia!" Reilly cried, her eyes widening in shock as her roommate opened the door. "Hey girl!" Tricia replied with a grin as she ushered everyone inside and gave Reilly a hug. "What the hell are you doing here?" Reilly blurted out. Tricia laughed. "What, think you're the only one cool enough to get invited to the Lord of the Rings premiere? I don't think so, babes! And I made the trip all the way from Minneapolis!" she smiled as Elijah put his arm around her waist, and Reilly smiled back, excited that Tricia was there. "Whoaaaa…" Tricia said slowly, lifting Reilly's right wrist to inspect it carefully. "What?" Reilly asked, confused. "Where is it?" Tricia replied. "Where is what???" Reilly wasn't getting it. "You're back in America, and in a few short hours you will be at an event on the arm of a man who will most definitely have three million cameras shoved in his face," Orli groaned at Tricia's comment as she continued "which means that you yourself, Ms Scott, will most definitely be making it onscreen yourself…and no Tiffany's bracelet? What ever will your boy think of this?" Reilly stared at her, trying to send brainwaves, as the room fell silent enough that she could hear her heartbeat. Tricia raised her eyebrows knowingly after a moment, and a look of concern flickered through her eyes, but Reilly shook her head slightly and mouthed "later". Tricia nodded, as Orlando felt his heart jump a little. No more Tristan. He looked to Reilly and wanted to ask a million questions, but it was obvious she didn't feel like talking.
"Hello?" A knock and Dominic's voice came from the door, and Reilly's heart leapt. She was so excited to see Dom…but…she was afraid to talk to him about what had happened. She wasn't really up for talking to anyone about it really, not yet, anyway. But especially not Dom. She was…ashamed. She didn't want him to see the truth, how terrible she had been, how she hadn't deserved Tristan's love and probably didn't even deserve Dom's friendship. She couldn't handle that. It was hard, though, not saying anything, trying to remain so aloof. She had to be careful. She had seen the hurt look on Orli's face that he quickly covered up when she hadn't returned his hug. It's not that she didn't want to hug him…his arms had felt so good, so comforting…but she didn't think she should. Not right now. She didn't want to let anyone too close at the moment.
"We're supposed to make our way downstairs now to discuss how this whole things gonna go down, with interviews and all…hi," Dom breathed as Billy stepped aside and he caught sight of Reilly behind him. "I…I didn't know you were here yet," his eyes didn't leave her face as Orli and Elijah went to follow Billy out of the room. He waited for her to respond, or to run over and jump on him like she normally would, but she didn't. She stayed where she stood, and then dropped her eyes from his gaze. He frowned. Something was wrong. He crossed the room to her and put his arms around her, feeling hers loosely circle around his waist. His frown deepened. "Courtesy hugging now, are we Ri?" he asked her, using her own term. He felt her tremble a bit, then tighten her hold on him, burying her face against him. "Hey…" he said softly, and looked at Tricia, who was watching them with a concerned look. "You gonna tell him, Ri?" she asked quietly. Reilly raised her head and managed to throw her roommate a glare, before facing Dom and forcing a smile. "She's talking about Tristan," she told him. "He…we…that's over," she said finally, and had to clench her jaw when she saw the sympathy in Dominic's eyes. "But I'm fine!" she hurried. "And this is not the time, or place to talk about this, so...you go do your things, I'll see you later!" Dom looked a little shocked at the sudden way she pulled back from him, but he saw the look in her eyes and nodded, making his way out the door.
Reilly closed it behind him, and glared more intensely at Tricia, who rolled her eyes. "What, Ri? Were you not gonna tell him? It's not like he wasn't going to know something was up, you wouldn't even look at him!" Her expression softened. "I'm here, Ri…" she trailed off, and Reilly smiled. "I know, Trish, and I appreciate that. And I do want to talk about it with you, just not now, ok? Now I just want you to make my hair look beautiful, and I want to have a good time tonight, ok?" Tricia nodded, happy to see a spark of her old roommate in her eyes.
The girls were sitting on the bed, giggling over Reilly's happier stories from her birthday party and applying their eye makeup when the boys burst back in. "Ow, ow!" Reilly catcalled, and Tricia whistled. The four of them were all wearing standard black suits, Elijah and Billy with white shirts underneath, Dom's blue, and Orli's red. "Oh baby, we are going to be so patriotic tonight!" Reilly grinned up at Orli and indicated to her royal blue dress hanging on the closet door. It had spaghetti straps and a dipped back and was asymmetrically cut along the hem. At the moment she and Tricia were still in cotton shorts and tank tops as they finished applying their faces and lotions, etc.
"Reilly, Tricia, this is Sean, the hobbit you have yet to meet," Elijah presented Sean Astin to the girls with a grin, and Tricia stood up holding out her hand while Reilly stared, starstruck, and announced : "goonies never say die!" The room cracked up as Reilly finally shook Sean's hand. "It is soooo nice to meet you!" she gushed, and Dom laughed at his usually so composed friend. "Hey! No drooling over celebrities!" Elijah ordered, poking Reilly in her side. Her jaw dropped in mock inidignance, and she shoved him back lightly. Within seconds the two of them were on the ground, which was followed by Sean yelling at Elijah not to wrinkle his suit and Tricia yelling at Reilly not to ruin her hair. Which was then followed by Tricia yelling at Reilly to get off her man, which was followed by Tricia joining the party on the floor, taking Orlando down with her to occupy Reilly's interests. Dom, Billy and Sean stared open-mouthed, wondering if they shouldn't leave the improvisational orgy, but they rather quickly found themselves involved, as Sean jumped onto the bed to avoid capture by the two girls. Dom tried a similar technique but was not so successful. "Ow!" he groaned as he slipped and landed on his back on the floor. "Oops!" Reilly stated obviously, then tickled him as she saw Billy trip cleverly over Elijah and come crashing down beside them. "Hey!" Elijah yelled. "Watch the…" Dom started. "Argh!" Billy finished. "Uh-oh!" Sean announced. "Oooh, that's the…" Tricia began. "MY APPLE JUICE!" Reilly shouted as she saw the golden liquid come flying at her, soaking her tank top through. Orlando looked disappointed. "Too bad you weren't wearing a white one!"
"Oh NO!" Reilly was fretting. "Do I have time to take a shower?" Orli laughed. "Um, hardly love, we've got to be out the door in about 13 minutes. You have to put on your dress and get a move on!" Reilly glared at him. "Ok, Mr. Kick-the-End-Table! I'm going to smell like kindergarten because of you!" The entire room stared at her and gave a collective "kindergarten?" Reilly looked at them like they had six heads apiece. "Yes," she responded, with a complete "duh" edge to her voice. "Kindergarten. It smells like applejuice. All the little kids. They smell like applejuice. And paste. And then they EAT the paste too…ew, little kids…" she trailed off and looked around. "Nevermind." Orli had his eyebrows raised. "Right then," he said. "Who wants to trade dates?" Reilly threw a pillow at him and he dodged it, ducking out the door. "9 minutes now ladies!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Tricia looked over her shoulder and gave Reilly an excited smile as she made her way through the press on Elijah's arm. Reilly smiled back as she took Orlando's offered hand and stepped out of the limo. Wow, she thought to herself. Intense. Cameras flashed so much that she could hardly see, and she heard people yelling for the guys. Orlando slipped his arm around her waist and gripped her hand, waving to the crowd with the other one. Reilly clung a little tighter to his hand as she saw the looks she was receiving from some of the crowd, and Orli laughed softly and put his mouth close to her ear. "Don't worry love, I won't let the 13-year-olds eat you!" he whispered, and she giggled. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Dom and Sam. He walked slowly, shaking the hands that reached out to him, and gave her a little smile when he saw her watching him.
Making it past the crowd, they stepped onto the carpet, and Reilly caught her breath. Ok, so it wasn't the Oscars, but it was still a carpet, and it was still red. She snapped back to attention as she realized she and Orlando were standing next to a woman with a microphone, and had a camera fixed on them. "And tell us who this lovely young woman you have with you is, Orlando?" The woman prodded in her overly-cheery voice. Orlando smiled and a wicked glint appeared in his eye. "This is Reilly Scott, the next big thing to come out of Britain. She's up for the role as the next Bond Girl." Reilly's eyes widened incredulously, but she recovered nicely and managed to smile and put on her best British accent to say hello to the reporter. As they walked away she whispered frantically: "Orlando Bloom! British? The next BOND GIRL?! Can you just say that?" Orli shrugged and laughed. "C'mon, Ri, they're going to print whatever they want anyway, we can have a little fun!" Reilly didn't look convinced, but after a few more stops she and Orlando were giggling uncontrollably and trying to come up with more outrageous stories to tell the reporters. After announcing that she was the American Goodwill Ambassador to Poland ("giving me an edge with the international-affairsy types" Orli winked. "Affairsy?" Reilly repeated.) they made their way inside.
* * * * * * * * *
Later that night Reilly walked in a daze, Orli's hand in hers, as the group walked down the latenight city streets, still in their premiere clothes. She was still lost in a dreamworld. The Two Towers, always her favorite of the trilogy, had been pure magic onscreen. After seeing the Fellowship she had wondered how anything could compare, but now…needless to say she was already peeing her pants in anticipation of the Return of the King. She watched Dom walking ahead of her with his arm around Sam, whispering cutely to her, and Billy with his date Adrienne. The two of them had been phenomenal in the film, really showing the change that appears in Merry and Pippin as the war of the ring begins to take its toll. And then there was Orlando…she gazed up at him, tall and dark beside her. It was amazing, really, how he brought Legolas to life…how at a glance you could see no Orlando in Legolas, or vice versa, the contrast seemed so stark…one a stoic, princely hero, the other a charming, devilish joker…but he's in him, Reilly thought to herself. There's some of that Elf prince in Orli. She could see it. In the way he knew things, the way he looked at the world, and in the way he carried himself. Amazing, she thought to herself. "What's that, love?" Orli looked down at her with a soft smile. "I just said…you were amazing…in the movie…" Reilly couldn't tear her eyes from his. No, no, no, no, NO you don't, Reilly Scott, she ordered herself firmly. His smile deepened and he held her hand tighter "Well it was amazing having you there to watch it with me," he replied, and Reilly smiled, then looked away from him and turned her eyes upward, disappointed that she couldn't see any stars in the city sky.