Chapter 1

I was sitting at the bar, the only acceptable place for a lone woman to sit. Sipping my glass of water as my old fashioned was being prepared, I realised how significantly louder the crowd got. I looked in the mirror behind the tall, bearded bartender and saw people’s heads turning in one particular direction. That’s when I noticed a group of young men. They were led to a corner booth to my right. They all sat down carrying on a conversation when my old fashioned appeared in front of me. I swirled it around absent-mindedly and took a sip. I discreetly looked over. “I bet a lot of people would kill to have my vantage point,” I muttered to myself. A long chit appeared and one could only assume it was their drink order. I found myself watching the bartender, lose his cool for a hot minute. I sipped my drink as I observed his every move, mixing and pouring.

C was a tall, handsome young man with clean-cut brown hair and piercing blue eyes. When he laughed, the whole table would light up. The energy around him was contagious. Soon the drinks were delivered to the table and for a split second, they all quieted down. As the drinks were distributed, the conversations resumed..

I continued sipping my drink and surveilling the room through the mirror. Most people’s attention was still directed to C’s table, although some others were busy whispering to their neighbours. It amused me to see how people’s behaviours had changed. Suddenly, someone pulled the bar stool to my left. “Excuse me,” a beautiful blonde said, trying to get the bartender’s attention.

“ I’ll be just a minute,” he said politely.

“ Fine.” She said a bit annoyed and then turned over to me. “You don’t mind if I sit here for a moment, do you?”

“Of course not,” I replied. She was stunning. Her makeup was flawless, her lips were perfectly botoxed. Every hair where it needed to be. Her outfit clung to her in all the right places. Shoes impeccably polished and at the perfect height to disguise her otherwise short legs.

“Thanks.” she answered as she looked past me. “I can’t understand why it’s taking so long to order some drinks.” I wondered if she was even looking at me. I just couldn’t tell.

“Well, it suddenly got really busy in here,” I offered as an explanation.

“That is not an excuse. I really just want to order drinks quickly, you know, before they all go!” She flipped her hair nonchalantly.

“Right. I understand.” I still couldn’t figure out if she was looking at me or not.

“Good evening. I’m Aaron. What can I get for you?” the bartender said as he wiped the bar.

“Finally!” she said with great exasperation. “Could you send over a round of drinks to that table,” she asked while discreetly pointing to C’s table with her freshly manicured finger.

“Certainly,” Aaron replied as he walked away.

“Make sure you tell them it’s from me,” she said loudly. He answered with a nod. “I hope they invite me over. That will definitely help.” She blinded both Aaron and I with her teeth.

“I’m sure it will,” I agreed, but somewhat not convinced it would.

“Are you here alone?” she asked as she tapped on her phone.

“Yes,” I said. I wondered if she really cared for my answer.

“I’m Amber,” she extended her limp hand out towards me.

“Nice to meet you,” I shook it delicately. “I’m—”

“Can you believe how long it’s taking to pour some drinks,” she interrupted me. I looked over at her and smiled. “My friends are over there somewhere, but they are so boring tonight! When I saw C come in, I thought I would take charge of my evening and make it better.”

“I see. Well, good luck to you,” I said as I turned her attention to the drinks on their way to the table.

“Here we go,” she said with excitement. “Do you mind if we switched places, so that I can be nearer?”

“Sure.” I got up to let her sit in my seat. Aaron, witnessing the whole thing, took my drink and moved it over for me. I thanked him.

The delivery of the drinks was met with a bit of teasing and whooping. The server leaned over to C to mention, what I believed to be about Amber. She was fidgeting in her seat and positively all smiles.

“Oh, I wonder what he’ll say. I hope he invites me over. What should I do if he does? He’s still single I think. Wow, that would just be like, so awesome!” She delivered these lines in one breath. “Oh, my God, he just got up and is walking over!” She turned to me. “How do I look?”

“Beautiful.” She really did. Compared to me and my minimum effort to look presentable, she looked like a supermodel.

“Hi!”C said. “I’m C and you are…?”

“I’m Amber,” she said as she offered her hand. “We’re not together. I mean, I don’t really know her. We just met a few minutes ago.” C glanced over at me and smiled, “My friends and I are sitting over there,” she said to get his attention back. “I’m so glad you came over.” C was about to say something when Amber interrupted him, “You completely turned my evening around. Let’s take a photo,” she suggested without missing a beat and she handed me her phone. Before I could answer, she turned and flipped her hair. C put his arm around her, but rested his hand on the bar. I aimed the phone at them. “Perfect smiles all around,” I thought to myself.

“All right. Three, two, one, smile !” Without warning, she grabbed her phone back.

“Let me see !” Puzzled, C and I looked at each other while she looked at the photos. I thanked C.

“Amber, it was very kind of you to buy us a round of drinks. I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening,” C said to Amber who was otherwise occupied on her phone. C raised an eyebrow and looked at me. “Well, you enjoy your evening,” he said to me.

“Thanks again.” I answered as I raised my glass. He smiled and walked away.

“Wow, can you believe it ? I got photos with C!” Amber said without looking up from her phone, editing the chosen photo with filters and caption. “This is going to be a fantastic post with lots of likes,” she continued as she walked away. I watched her in the mirror as she made her way back to her friends. I grabbed my glass to take a sip, but met Aaron’s eyes.

“Did she even thank you for taking the photos,” he asked as he mixed a drink. I shook my head.

“Nor did she thank him.” I shrugged. “I do believe I disappeared as soon as he appeared.” I laughed. “This whole time, I even wondered if she was looking at me or past me.” Aaron chuckled.

“Ah, well, I know how that feels, especially in this line of work.”

“That’s horrible,” I said disgusted.

“Well, you’d be amazed at how people use you to get these celebrities’ attention .”

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“Sometimes, but then again, it’s great entertainment.”

“Surely the tips must make it worthwhile.”

“Ah,” he exclaimed. “You’d think so, right?” I nodded. “Usually they don’t realise how much a round of drinks is. These celebrities don’t all drink rail, they usually drink premium, so, you do the math. Tipping is often kept to a minimum, if at all.”

“Wow, that’s unbelievable!” He took away my empty glass and replaced it with a fresh drink.

“Compliments of the gentleman at the VIP table,” he said as he wiped his workstation. I glanced over to my right and smiled.

“You didn’t put that on her tab, did you?”I laughed.

“I should have!” He looked towards the other side of the bar. “Enjoy your drink,” he said as he walked away.

“Thank you, Aaron.” I just sat there pensively, trying to process what had just happened. I looked into the mirror again to see Amber and her friends getting ready to leave. I had a feeling that they were going to do a little detour towards C’s table. They were all involved in an animated conversation. As expected, Amber and her friends made their way towards the VIP table but did not stop. They definitely slowed down as they past the table though. None of the guys paid them any attention.

I watched Aaron mixing another drink, when suddenly he looked up at me and subtlety suggested that I look over my shoulder.

“Hi.” C said softly.

“Hello.” I said, blushing.

“I’m sorry about what happened earlier, with the photo and all that.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it, » I shrugged. « It happens all the time.”

“To you or to me?” he smiled.

“Actually, to us both!” I laughed. “I’m rarely the focus of attention though.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you go unnoticed.” He looked at me for a moment. I lowered my gaze for a moment and noticed that Aaron, who was busy cutting some citrus, was smiling. “Aaron, could you get us another round,” C asked.

“Certainly.”

“Would you like another,” C asked me. I looked up at him but didn’t answer. “I think she’ll have another as well.” I smiled timidly.

'“Perfect,” the bartender nodded.

“I never thanked you for the previous one.”

“That was the least I could do after that whole situation.”

“That wasn’t your doing. I joked with Aaron that he should have charged it to that girl!” We all laughed. “Imagine? Karma will take care of her.”

“I believe it already has,” Aaron chimed in. “I don’t believe she realised how much a few photos would cost her.”

“I’m sure she thinks it was worth every penny,” I said. Aaron put our drinks in front of us. We cheered as the other drinks were brought to the table. “Aren’t you going to join your friends?”

“I’m sure they are fine without me. They have a round of drinks in front of them,” he smiled as he turned around. The guys were waving him over. “I guess not! Excuse me for a moment.”

“Sure.” I watched him walk back. The bar really felt much busier than before. All the seats around me were now taken. I caught Aaron’s attention. “Could I settle up with you? It got so crowded all of the sudden and I wouldn’t want to bother you when it’s this busy.”

“It’s quite all right, no bother at all.” He cleared his throat. “It already has been taken care of.” He smiled, waiting for me to figure it out.

“Really?” He nodded as the crowd got more agitated. I looked over to my right. C was making his way back towards the bar, but had to make several stops to pose for photos..

“Hey, I’m sorry it took so long,” he apologised.

“Don’t worry about it,” I shrugged.

“Listen, it’s getting pretty busy in here and I’m not sure how much longer I can stay. I don’t want to be presumptuous and you can be totally honest, but,” he stuttered. He sighed. “We are probably going to head somewhere a little quieter, if you want to join us.”

“I’m fine, thank you. I mean, you’re out with the boys, I wouldn’t want to crash, but here’s my number, I mean, not that a man like you would ever call, and that’s fine, but I guess that’s a chance I’ve got to take,”I said nervously.

“Okay, that’s totally fine. Well, you enjoy the rest of your night. I’ll call you,” he said before he kissed me on the cheek. Before he pulled back, I said,

“You don’t have to lie. I understand if you won’t.” He looked at me intrigued. He thanked Aaron and walked away.