"Ah, grub," Nicole said as she sat down with a huge elephant ear and some cotton candy. Her friend though had bought himself a huge bucket of greasy fries and a huge hamburger.

" So, let's recap," she said. " I've heard you scream twice ::coughnancyboycough::"

" Hey!" he protested with a grin. He waved his fry at her, " and you nearly broke my hand on the coaster."

" And you" she pointed at him with one of his own fries, stealing one, " punched me!"

" Sorry about that." He looked down again.

" Ah, story of my life," she joked. He laughed and bit into his burger.

" Who are you anyway?" He asked, his mouth full of hamburger. Nicole snickered but answered.

" Nicole Sunderlin at your service," she put out her hand, which was full of cinnimon sugar.

" Orlando Bloom, please call me Orli," he answered taking her hand with his own, which had grease all over it. Their hands squished for a moment and then returned to their prospective owners. Orli wiped his hand on the side of his shirt; Nicole wiped hers on her leg.

" You're American," he said, not really knowing anything else to say.

" And you're British. Southern England I suppose?" He looked at her strangely and nodded.

" How'd you know?" Nicole smiled a secret smile and wiggled her eyebrows.

" I've been following you, I am a secret agent working for the CIA and you have potential, we just wanted to get to you before your own government." She picked up her elephant ear and bit off a huge doughy piece. Orlando was frozen, probably with shock. Nicole nearly choked on her elephant ear with laughter, but she kept it together nicely. Orli gave a nervous laugh and was about to say something when Nicole reached across the table and grabbed his arm.

" There's one of you men right there, damn I knew we were being followed, NO!" she said sharply when he turned to look. " don't look, then he'll know and we'll be in big trouble." She looked into Orli's eyes. They were wide with surprise. His face looked like an empty glass, and he was gulping up everything she said. He had even abandoned his burger. Nicole was struggling so hard that tears actually came to her eyes. As soon as she felt them roll down her cheek she couldn't keep the bubbling laughter in.

" I'm sorry!" she said in between gasps of laughter. She forced herself to calm down when she saw the mean scowl on Orli's face. " I'm really sorry. I was just kidding. I'm not CIA agent."

" Funny." He said. Sarcasm, isn't it lovely?

" I'm really sorry, Orli! Hey! I'll get you another hamburger on me!" She smiled what she hoped was a winning smile.

" Okay," he said smiling. " Your hair is still sticking up." Nicole gasped and ran her hand through her hair. It seemed okay. He chuckled. She realized it was a minor payback.

" Okay, you got me," she rose her hands like she was caught with something. She smiled and dug back into her elephant ear. Orlando dove into his burger and fries like it was the only thing in the world. Hmm, thought Nicole, I wonder if he's like that with… Oh! Bad Nicole! Stop thinking that way!

Orli finished his last fry and turned his attention back to Nicole, who was silently eating her cotton candy and looking at him.

" How did you know I came from Southern England?" he asked. " Truth this time."

" I work for a publishing company out of North Carolina, who works with various international publishers. I talk daily with people from Yorkshire, London, Carlisle, and Dover, just to name a few." She smiled.

" Sounds interesting."

" It's okay, but not the mind blowing experience of a lifetime. I would rather be traipsing through the valleys, or climbing mountains in some exotic place like here. But no such luck for Nicole."

" Well, you're here now." He supplemented.

" So what do you do for a living, now that I have given you my life story."

" I, uh, I'm an actor." He said, strangely jittery.

" Awesome, one of my friend's an actor, or I should say actress, she's s girl." Nicole smiled sheepishly and took a small piece of her cotton candy. " Been in any good plays?"

" I haven't worked on the stage in a few years, but I'd love to get back into it." He said. Orli sounded a little distracted and Nicole looked up from her cotton candy. He was staring intently at her huge cone of cotton candy as she ate it. Grinning a bit she offered it to him. He grinned back and took a small piece. Nicole had to keep herself from drooling too much as she watched the cotton candy melt on his lips. I wonder, she thought, what cotton candy and Orli taste like. Oh my god Nicole! You've known this guy for like an hour! Damn your hormones!

Unconsciously Nicole reached up and smacked her own forehead to rid herself of her dirty thoughts.

" Um, ow." She rubbed the spot she just smacked.

" What was that for?" Orli looked at her torn between being amused and concerned. At last amused won out.

" Oh, uh, nothing, I think I just forgot to do something today." She smiled and laughed nervously.

" I know the feeling." He chuckled. But suddenly his chuckle turned to a frown. " Actually I know the feeling quite well, as in I'm feeling it right now."

" Well?" she asked before taking another bite of cotton candy. " Whatcha forget? Nevermind, stupid question."

" Oh, damn. Do you have the time?" He took another piece of cotton candy before leaning over the table to look at her watch. She lifted her arm so he could see better, but he in turn took her arm in his dans and turned it ever so slightly so he could see her little watch.

" Oh, bloody hell. I'm sorry Nicole, I must be off. I was supposed to be meeting someone for dinner fifteen minutes ago." He stood to leave, but not without stealing the last bit of cottoncandy fron the paper cone. Mentally Nicole deflated, 'meeting someone' usually meant a girlfriend. Geez Nicole, she thought, already setting up a wedding date are we?

" Well it was nice to meet you Orli. Thanks for the encouragement on the rides."

" Sure, it wasn't a problem at all. I like doing things for pretty girls." He smiled. Nicole did a little mental jerk. Pretty? Then she did a little mental dance.

" Thanks again. I hope your dinner date doesn't hold it too much against you that you're late,"

" So do I, it was a pleasure Nicole." He offered his hand to her and she took it. They held hands a moment over polite, but that didn't bother Nicole in the least. She was positive that if he kissed her hand she would have fallen over and fainted. Luckily for her he let go and gave her a great smile.

" May the fates have our lives so that we may meet again."

" You are an actor. Bye."

" Buh-bye" With that he turned away and Nicole sighed in more of a love-sick-puppy way than she would have liked. Not being in the presence of an awesomely gorgeous will make you immediately bored, such was the case for Nicole. She looked down at her empty cone of cotton candy. It was well, empty, and that's certainly exciting isn't it? Sighing once again Nicole set down the cone onto the tray that was piled with trash. She looked around her in the artificial light that the amusement park produced. People were bustling by on their merry way. She could hear screams from the roller-coaster across the way. Mingled in the frightened and exhilarating screams was clear, happy laughter. Just in hearing it Nicole smiled. She looked at her watch, it was nearly 9:30. She was mildly surprised that it was so late. Getting up from the table she decided to grab a few more rides before the park closed at 10pm.

Unfortunately for Nicole all but three rides closed at 9pm. So she was forced to either ride the "Tunnel of Love" alone, or the scary ride she went on earlier, or bumper cars. Seeing that none of these rides interested her in the least Nicole headed out of the park toward where her car was parked.

The night was warm and slightly heavy with humidity. Though there was no underlying current of cold air, Nicole hugged herself, trying to realize that today was real. It may have not been what she expected but hey it was a far cry from what she would have been doing back in North Carolina talking to publishers from around the globe. She was having fun, and doing a damn good job, she thought.