Cristina waited in the middle of the Hotel Lockhart lobby. She felt strangely undressed, as she was wearing club clothes, which consisted of a tiny red glittery halter top and a short black skirt with sky-high heels. Her back and legs were bare and she received some lecherous looks from some of the older male guests. "Oh, can't this Owen Hunt get here soon enough?" she thought. She was not in a particularly good mood at all. She had time to think about it all day and the more she thought about how she had to babysit this guest, made her even angrier. She realized that she would probably have to behave, a little more decorously than she had planned, since she was representing the hotel in front of this VIP guest. She groaned because she had planned to be wilder than what she usually was. She was even more prepared to dislike the man. "Why me?" she thought. "And where the heck is this dude?" She looked at her watch, impatiently.

Owen closed the door of his room and tucked his room key card into his wallet. He was dressed in a purple shirt and black pants. He hoped he looked presentable for the nightlife scene. Ruben had called him earlier in the day and advised him that he had indeed procured two courtside seats for the Miami Heat game. It came at a premium cost, given the lateness of the request. Owen told Ruben not to worry about that and to just put it on is tab.

The second thing was that the person who was going to be taking him around to the clubs would be Ruben's assistant, Cristina. "She will meet you downstairs in the lobby tonight at 10 p.m. She is an Asian girl with lots of curly hair. You can't miss her."

From that description, Owen knew exactly who his companion would be for the night. He smiled to himself. Things were indeed looking up. He was pleasantly surprised because he thought Ruben would have asked a guy to take him around.

The reason he had asked for the two courtside tickets was that he was going to offer his companion the other ticket for the game. He was now a little unsure. If it had been a guy, he knew that the guy would more than likely jump at the chance to see a playoff game. With a girl, he couldn't be sure that she would be a basketball fan.

He stepped off the elevator and saw her standing there. It was clear she was standing in a position to ensure that he would be able to see her. He greatly appreciated her skimpy outfit, especially since it showed the smooth skin of her back and legs. Unfortunately for her, that skimpy outfit was drawing some ogles from passing male guests. He walked quickly to her so he could end her discomfort from all the leers she was experiencing.

"Hello," he said. "You must be Cristina." She swiftly turned around. "Yes, I am," she responded. She noted the Scottish accent. She wondered if this was the guest that Juanita was talking about. Juanita was right that he was a good-looking man."You must be Owen Hunt. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hunt," she said with a smile.

"Please call me Owen," he said. "If I can call you Cristina."

"Yes, of course," she said. "Are you ready?" He nodded. "Mr. Santos has arranged for a limo to take us to the clubs," Owen told her. "A limo?" Cristina repeated. She certainly was not expecting that.

"Yes," Owen answered. "It should be parked outside. The limo and the driver are at our disposal for the entire night." Cristina had the thought that things were really looking up for the night. Just as Owen said, the limo was waiting for them, right in front of the hotel. The driver opened the back door for them and they both climbed in. The last time Cristina was in a limo was senior prom, when her parents and her date's parents paid for a limo to take them to and from the prom. But that limo, she noted, was not as cushy and comfortable as this one. There was also wine and champagne in the limo. He asked if she wanted anything but she declined. She needed to keep her wits about her in front of this guest. She didn't have to like him but she needed to be polite to him and that was exactly what she was going to be.

"Oh, before I forget, I have to tell you that we will not be alone tonight. I have a couple of friends, joining us at the clubs. You will meet them when we get to the first club, Aries," Cristina said. "I hope you don't mind."

"That's fine. The more people, the merrier," he said. For the rest of the way, until they got to Aries, they were both silent. Cristina was not sure what to say to him plus she was still resentful that she had to entertain a guest on her birthday. Owen felt a certain coolness from her but he didn't know why.

She was so grateful when she finally spotted her friends in the line, outside of Aries. When she and Owen stepped out of the limo, their mouths fell open.

"Riding in style, Yang," Juanita said, with a loud laugh. Cristina grinned. She knew her friends would have gotten a kick out of that. "Hey, guys, this is our guest at the hotel, Owen Hunt," she said. "You already know Juanita. She checked you into the hotel, yesterday."

"Oh, yes," Owen said, nodding to the girl with the dark hair. "Good to see you again."

"And these are our friends, Amber, Collin and Ryan," Cristina said. Owen briefly shook hands with a blonde haired, brown eyed girl, a biracial guy with blue eyes and a guy with light brown hair and green eyes. "Pleased to meet everyone," Owen said.

"So guys, you can get out of this line," Cristina said. "My boss has given me the magic key to the kingdom of Aries."

"What is that?"Amber asked. "His business card," Cristina said. They all got out of the line and went straight to the door.

"Hold up, hold up," the doorman said. "There is a line here and you will have to get back in the line."

"I have this," Cristina said, handing the doorman Ruben's business card. "This is the Owen Hunt party." The man took Ruben's card and stared at it for a moment. "Well, okay then." He removed the velvet rope and allowed them to pass, after he checked their IDs to ensure that each of them was over 21. "Ask for Rosa. She will take you to the VIP area."

As they went in, Cristina and her friends could not help but grin like Cheshire cats. "That was so awesome," Ryan said. "Never had that happened to me before." Cristina looked around and stopped a waitress. "Can you tell Rosa the Owen Hunt party is here?" The waitress nodded. A woman in a gold dress came by. "Hello, I am Rosa. So Ruben sent you?" They all nodded in unison. "Follow me," she commanded. They all fell into line, as she took them upstairs to a room that overlooked the main dance floor. They were each given a green wristband, which would allow them access to the VIP area for the rest of the night. Cristina and her friends were in awe. None of them had ever been in the VIP area of a club before. The boys fell back on to the comfy couches, reveling in their luxurious cushions. Owen was amused by their reaction. A waitress came by and took their drink order. Cristina, Owen noticed, ordered a coke.

"A coke?" Ryan said. "Are you kidding me? You are in the VIP section of Aries and you order a coke." Cristina gave him a deadly stare so he knew when to shut up. With their drinks in hand, they found themselves already moving to the throbbing music.

"Okay," Ryan said. "I can't take it anymore. Let's hit the dance floor." He grabbed Cristina's hand and they ran downstairs to the dance floor. Owen watched as they danced very provocatively with each other. He wondered if Ryan was Cristina's boyfriend. Their bodies seemed very familiar with each other as they swayed to the rhythm of the music. He was disappointed. Amber and Collin also went down to the dance floor. They also seemed to be a couple. That left him and Juanita together. He turned to her, "Do you wish to dance?" Juanita's toothy smile was the answer. He took her hand and led her down the stairs.

He hoped his London dance moves would pass muster in the hot Miami nightclubs. As he and Juanita danced, he kept glancing over at Cristina and Ryan, who seemed to be having a very good time. After some vigorous and rigorous dancing, the six of them made their way back up to the VIP room and collapsed on the sofas. Ryan was sitting next to Owen on one of the sofas. The girls decided to freshen up in the ladies' room, while the men ordered scotch.

"So you and Cristina are close?" Owen asked Ryan. "Yup, you could say that," Ryan replied. "We live together."

Owen knew then that he did not have a shot with Cristina. Clearly, she was committed to Ryan, if they lived together. It was clear to him that they were a couple. He was never going to hone in on another man's woman. He had been cheated on already by his last girlfriend and he had been greatly hurt by it. Their relationship did not withstand the cheating and they parted ways. He accepted that Cristina was involved with someone else and was resigned to the fact that he was only going to be a friend.

Ryan was not lying when he said that he and Cristina were close – they were really good buddies. It was also true that he and Cristina lived together. What he hadn't told Owen was that he and Cristina were just roommates in a two-bedroom apartment and were not a couple. In fact, Ryan and Cristina could never be a couple because he was gay. This was a fact that was unknown to Owen.

The girls returned from the ladies' room and Cristina announced that they would be heading to the next club. Ryan joined Cristina and Owen in the limo, while Juanita and Amber were in Collin's car. After they were allowed into Club Zenith and ushered to the VIP area, the hostess, Lena, asked which one of them was Cristina. Cristina raised her hand.

"Okay, we have a special surprise from Mr. Santos," Lena said. "Bring it out." A server brought out a large cake with 21 lit candles, as everyone started singing, "Happy Birthday." It was her birthday and she hadn't mentioned it at all. No wonder he felt that distance from her, Owen thought. Mr. Santos had forced her to work on her birthday. It was clear that Mr. Santos was trying to make it up to Cristina by ordering this cake for her.

Cristina cut the cake and offered each of them a generous slice. It was rich and full of chocolatey goodness. She sat next to him, as they each devoured their cake. "It's your birthday," he said. "You didn't say anything."

"Yes, it is. I turned 21 today," she said. She checked her watch. It was already past midnight. "Correction – I turned 21 yesterday."

"Happy Birthday, Cristina," he said. Now he felt really bad. "I am sorry that you had to take me out on your birthday. You probably didn't want me hanging around."

"It is okay. I am still here with my friends and we can all have a good time," she said. "Honestly, without you, we would never have been able to get into the VIP sections of these clubs. In fact, if my friends and I are being truthful about this, we would never have even gotten into these clubs without you. They are very exclusive and they don't just let anybody in. So because of you, we found out how the other half lives and I have got to tell you that they have it pretty darn good."

"Well, I am glad that I was able to help in that area," he said. Even though he said that, he felt strange. It was clear to him that to Cristina and her friends, he was not one of them, he was a member of the other half. He almost felt like apologizing for being rich. She smiled at him. It was the first genuine smile she had given him all night. Before then, it had been all polite.

They went to two more clubs before they all decided to call it a night. Collin drove Juanita and Amber home, while Owen said he would take Ryan and Cristina home. They stopped in front of a very nice Mediterranean-style apartment complex. After they climbed out of the limo, Ryan threw his arm around Cristina's shoulder and they began walking away.

"Thanks, Cristina,"Owen called out from the limo. Then, he remembered the tickets for the Miami Heat game that he had. He wanted to thank her for taking him out, especially since he was such an imposition on her birthday. "Cristina, do you like basketball?" She spun around, immediately.

"Yes," she said. "Um, I have courtside seats for the Miami Heat game, tomorrow. I was wondering if you would like to come along," he said. "You can think of it as a birthday present from me to you and also a thank you for taking me around." Cristina looked up at Ryan, in a state of disbelief.

"You should go," Ryan said. "When do you think you would ever get courtside seats again?"

"Yes, Owen, I would like to go," she said. "Good," he said. "I will pick you up, tomorrow." Owen said, closing his door. He was glad that they got Ryan's blessing. After all, he would not want Ryan to think that he was muscling in on his girlfriend.

As the limo drove away, he looked back and saw her jumping up and down in glee. It made him smile.


A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I do appreciate it.