Chapter 3:

Lisa and Cynthia continued to laugh and chat all through their lunch together. The attempted assassination on Keefe had brought the girls much closer together. They were practically inseparable now. They felt they could tell each other everything after being a part of the events that had happened a year previous. Suddenly Cynthia caught a glimpse of an attractive man sitting diagonally from them, and studying them.

"Hey, Leese! Gorgeous guy at 1:00! I think he has his eye on you…" she teased.

Lisa turned around and caught the man's eye. He smiled at her, a sweet almost shy smile that seemed to lure an identical reaction from her before she turned back to Cynthia, "Yeah, but he could have just been looking at you, Cynthia. You're cute, why do you assume he's attracted to me? He could only see the back of my head."

"Well, for one, he only smiled at you, and two, he saw your face when you turned around so how can you say there's no way he can be attracted to you? Plus your hair and body are a dead give away that you're gorgeous."

"You flatter me, Cynthia, now you should tell yourself these things when you look in the mirror in the morning. It will help your self esteem a lot."

"Thanks for the advice, Dr. Phyllis…I'll keep that in mind," Cynthia laughed, "He's coming over here right now, so I guess we can end the debate."

"Excuse me ladies, but you both look so familiar…where could I have seen you before?" the young man questioned, his green eyes boring into Lisa's own.

Lisa opened her mouth to speak, but for some reason found herself stricken speechless. However, Cynthia was never one to be at a loss for words, so she took over.

"We work at the Lux Atlantic Hotel, maybe you've stayed there before?"

"Yes, I think I have. I'm Jacob Skinner," he introduced himself and he extended his hand first to Cynthia and then to Lisa.

Cynthia grasped his hand and shook it, "I'm Cynthia!" She smiled, a gesture which he returned.

Lisa took his hand next, "Lisa Reisert," she stated, professionally.

Jacob smiled and kissed the back of her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Lisa."

Lisa blushed and looked over at Cynthia, who had her hand on her heart and was mouthing "Aw!!!"

"Wait a minute," Jacob said suddenly, "are you THE Lisa Reisert? The one who was held hostage by that terrorist bent on assassinating the head of Homeland Security?"

She smiled and blushed, staring at her plate, "The very one." 'When the hell did I become this shy around guys?' she asked herself.

"Now I am honored to make your acquaintance! Now I can say you're the bravest woman I know," he grinned boyishly. Lisa found it cute, but then again, his light brown hair, square jaw and muscular bod weren't bad either…

"Cynthia played a major role in that as well, if she hadn't followed my instructions, the Keefe's, as well as many other guests might not have survived."

"In that case, Cynthia, you are the second bravest woman I know."

Cynthia giggled, "Yeah, but you don't really KNOW either of us. Maybe you and Lisa should get to know each other a little better over dinner sometime?"

Lisa was shocked, "Cynthia!!"

Jacob just laughed, "You know that's not a bad idea. Would you like to go out with me for dinner sometime, Lisa?"

Lisa looked to Cynthia for the answer, and saw her mouthing, "Yes! Yes!" Laughing to herself, Lisa accepted. What the hell, right? She needed to get back into the dating scene again anyway.

Jacob's grin spread from ear to ear when she accepted his invitation, "What nights are you free?"

"Surprisingly I'm free Saturday night around seven."

"Great! Where should I pick you up?"

"Whoa, how about we meet somewhere and see how that goes before I get in a car with you," she laughed, "For all I know, you could be some psycho terrorist needing to use me in an assassination attempt."

Jacob laughed, "Ah, no you don't have to worry about that with me. I'm just a single guy hoping to have a great date with a brave and gorgeous woman."

Lisa smiled again and twisted her napkin nervously in her hands, "So where would you like to meet?"

"How about The Mirage?"

"Sure, the Mirage at seven. Don't stand me up, now."

"How could I stand up a woman like you? Lisa I'll be there at seven in the morning if that's what it takes!"

She laughed, "How about you just be on time, and spend your morning doing something for you?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then!" He grinned and headed back to his table.

Cynthia squealed giddily, "EEE! Oh Lisa's got a date! Lisa's got a date!!"

Lisa laughed, "Yeah, thanks to you!"

"Hey, I got you a date with a gorgeous man, I think I did pretty well today."

"But why didn't you try to get with him? You were just as attracted to him as I am."

"Yeah, but I knew I'd be rejected for you. That's okay, it's the price to pay for being your best friend."

"Cynthia, I think you need to raid my library. I'm sure Dr. Phil or Dr. Whoever has a book on self esteem, and I'm pretty sure I own it."

"Thanks for the offer, Leese, but I'd much rather raid your closet and help you pick out an outfit for Saturday night."

"And borrow some of my clothes."

"But of course!" Cynthia laughed.

Lisa smiled, "Why don't you come over tonight? We'll have a girls' night at my apartment. You can stay over and we can drink to our hearts' content. You can help me pick out an outfit and borrow whatever you want."

"Okay, but this night also has to involve chocolate, popcorn and a couple old romance movies!"

Lisa laughed, "It's a deal!"

The two girls paid the bill and parted ways for the afternoon. Cynthia promised to drop by Lisa's apartment around six with a supply of booze and whatever else they could think of for the evening. Lisa hadn't had a night with her girlfriends in a long time, it was going to be a nice change.

(A/N: Yes, I know, it is still short. I write as it comes to me. I have a burning question for the next few chapters if anyone wants to help me out? It will involve a minor spoiler for the ending, but it won't entirely give it away, and I could really use the help. So if you care to help me, just send me a private message and I'll let you know my problem.

A special thanks to: DaniBDMythStar Black DragonPirate Gyrlbookfanatic123angrwcoleycole6; and faniwhiskers for your lovely reviews. They really made my day. Also, for all of you who put my story on ALERT, thank you!! It lets me know people actually care about my writing!

Lastly, I may disappear off the face of the earth for a little while due to a crazy schedule with school. So don't yell at me if I don't update for a while. Plus, that pesky thing called Writer's Block is trying to latch onto me. holds up spiked baseball bat I'm ready to do battle you pesky menace! Hm…well I see it's in hiding for now. Let me know what you think or you won't ever receive an update! Muahahaha