Huh. Never guessed I'd get caught in some not-so mushy romance with the sun god. Well, life's like that, I guess. So, anyway, I'll explain how it all started.

To begin with, my name is Katherine Gordon and I'm twenty-two years old. I was born and raised in New York but after high school, my mother passed away and my father sent me to work in a poetry club called The Lone Island in Missouri. Probably because I reminded him too much of her. Anyhow, work was great. People drift from all around every night to release their pent-up emotions through their verses, to refine their reading and writing techniques, to critique other people's work to make them feel better, to sympathize with others' words, or just to simply have a drink and chat with buddies. I was the bar maid, serving the refreshments to the people who needed them. Sometimes they'd read to me for practice then ask for my opinion. It was an interesting job. Not too boring. Not too exciting. Just interesting. What made it so interesting were the strange folk that came by.

You see, I... well, saw things. Things that normal people can't. I don't know what they are but all I know is that I can see them and everybody I tell thinks I'm a nutcase. Most of the time they were gruesome. Horns. Claws. Razor sharp teeth. The works. Sometimes, they were eerie. Those kinds looked almost normal but they gave off this kind of aura. A weird, ancient kind of aura that made chills run up and down my back whenever I saw them. Now there were the shiny ones. These guys literally radiated power. Seriously. I've seen two or three of them so far: a runway model with a biker (yeah, both of them) and a businessman. They didn't scare me- Okay, maybe the biker guy did. What? He had 'I'm gonna pound you to a pulp if you mess with me' written all over him-but they sure did intimidate me. I generally avoided looking at them but, luckily, they don't drop by for a beer every Tuesday night.

So it was the first day of autumn. A Thursday to be exact. I was chatting with Joanne, one of my co-workers, about the many useful ways to use super glue. As all afternoons were, it was lazy, with drifters coming in for a drink or a meal every now and then. It was the usual. So I wasn't really expecting anyone particularly interesting to open the door and come in at this time of day. Well I was wrong.

The chimes above the door tinkled as it opened, a man stood at the doorway. And this wasn't just any man. He was the shiniest guy I'd ever seen in my life. It was almost like he was the sun itself. Never knew how right I was there. I had to squint to see him properly and even that didn't help. The guy was hot. Not literally hot-though I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case- but supermodel hot. I looked around at my co-workers and all of them were in awe at the surprise customer but none of them seemed to have the need to squint or cover their eyes. I had a feeling that they just saw the hot guy without any of the light. He walked in with a sort of easygoing kind of spring in his step and I knew he was just one of those handsome guys who think that just because they've got to-die-for good looks, they've pretty much got every female on the planet in the bag.

"I'd like some ginger ale and a burger please," he said with a wink directed at one of my co-workers, Sarah. She immediately stammered an "okay" and scrambled off to get the order in... well, order. He grinned toothily and I had to look away from the intense light. Seriously. I muttered something about going to the restroom. Nobody replied of course because they were all busy attending to the every need of the male superstar who had arrived in their midst. I immediately scurried off towards the restroom (which only allowed one person at a time, thank the gods) and washed my face.

I stared at the mirror, wondering whether I was human or not. Then wondering if he was human or not. Most likely NOT. I wanted to ask him so bad what I was. What he was. What those other things I saw were. I wanted to ask why I could even see stuff like that. Maybe he'd tell me what I needed to know. Or maybe he'd just tell me that I needed a strait jacket ASAP. Or maybe this could all be just some bizarre-o dream I'm having and I'm asleep in my mom's hospital room, waiting for her to wake up. I pinched myself.

"Ow," I said softly. Well, it wasn't a dream. That sucked. I asked myself, Now what?

I asked myself that but part of me already knew the answer: corner the shiny guy and interrogate him. Maybe even ask him to turn down the light a bit. This same part of me knew that he knew all the answers to my questions. He knew what I was and probably what I would be. He knew. He just had to. So I took a deep breath, forced a smile, and reluctantly exited the safe haven that was the comfort room (which isn't called that for nothing).

It wasn't hard looking for the guy, considering the fact that he glowed like the sun (again, had no idea then how much I was right). I found him hanging out by the bar with some girls I'd seen and never seen before. They were probably attracted like bees to honey nowadays. The poor dears, I thought as they laughed at something he said. I wondered how they would react if I told them that he wasn't human. Probably say something like, You're just jealous that you're not dating him. Just get out of here, you freak.

Yeah. Something like that. I then felt sorry for myself, for ever being born with such a nutty brain. But still, I had to do it. As soon as I told myself that, I turned right back around and decided that I would look for the next opportunity. I wasn't scared! I was nervous... But I dare you not to be wracked with nerves before talking to a guy whose looks make your hormones go on overdrive and make you feel self-conscious about how you look in front of him, regardless of whether you liked him or not.

"I know, right," sighed Joanne from behind me. I whirled around and saw her with her chin resting on her arms that were crossed on the counter. "He's so... impossible. Ugh, why did I have to be born a geek? Why couldn't I have been a hot blonde or something?"

"I don't like him," I said, looking away from him and his light. "He gives me the creeps." Which wasn't totally untrue. I took a seat in front of her, blocking her view of him.

"Oh, come on, Kathy," she said, smirking. "I haven't seen you so flustered since you dated Mike."

"Don't me remind me of that jerk," I growled. Ugh, all that guy wanted was every penny I had. I could see his hand making for my wallet every time we went out for dinner or something.

"Face it, girl," Joanne chided, nudging me. "You are in L-O-V-E."

"Oh, please," I said, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "He's just another playboy who knows something I need to know."

"So you need a little one-on-one?" Joanne giggled and nudged me some more. "I think I can figure something out..." Her eyes suddenly swirled out of focus as she thought about the different ways she could arrange our meeting.

"Without the candles and the roses, please," I said loudly, snapping her out of it. She grinned mischievously but held her hands up in defeat saying, "Okay, okay. Just stay right here after closing time. I can handle it."

I was the ever-stubborn sceptic. "You sure? And the girls?"

"Don't worry about it," laughed Joanne. "I was an expert at fooling teachers into thinking that I had nothing to do with whatever 'heinous' thing I did."

"So even the geek can be a rebel."

A glint appeared in Joanne's eyes for a split second but disappeared before I could see it for what it meant. But in the end, I went with her plan and just went the whole day determinedly avoiding looking at the guy for fear that my eyeballs would get sizzled the second I did.