"Hey Annie."

She turned, somewhat relieved to find that she was staring not at Jimmy, but at her best friend.

"Oh… Hey Caroline. So… What did you think of the show?"

Caroline smiled nervously and turned to Del and Charlie; the three of them wearing the same nervous expressions. "Oh well, it was… um… Del? Charlie? What did you think?"

Del cleared his throat. "You were great, Annie. Outstanding, amazing!"

"Yeah, yeah, you were great, Annie." Caroline echoed, glaring at Del and Charlie. "What did you think, Charlie?"
"Great, great. Annie." Charlie said.

Annie meanwhile was fuming. "Damn it, I wasn't talking about me! I was talking about Jimmy!"

"Oh man, he was awesome!" Charlie shouted, causing several heads to turn, including those of Caroline, Del and Annie.

"Charlie!" Caroline hissed.

"What? He was amazing, Caroline! I'm so glad that we hired him!"

Annie threw up her hands in disgust. This was getting worse and worse by the minute. She started to say something in protest but she felt two arms wrap around her and a pair of soft lips touched her neck. The sensation made her turn in surprise and she found herself staring into those gorgeous blue eyes.

"Jimmy…"

"I'm sorry if I scared you." He said with a smile. "It's just that you're so beautiful, I can't seem to keep my hands off of you!"

Annie blushed deeply. "Jimmy, come on! People are watching!"

"That's never stopped you before!" Charlie pointed out. He grinned at Jimmy who only had eyes for the woman next to him the cat costume. "Usually Annie has guys crawling all over her! Sometimes, literally!"

"Charlie!" Annie yelled, feeling strangely embarrassed. The old saying really was true. The truth hurts.

Daringly she turned to look at Jimmy and laughed nervously. "Don't mind him, he's just-."

"A godsend." Jimmy finished.

All eyes turned to Jimmy in disbelief. But Charlie beamed with pride. "Me? A godsend?"

"Yes, are you kidding me?" Jimmy said enthusiastically. "Because of you, I finally know what it's like to be a star!"

"What's he doing here?"

To Annie's horror, she looked up to find Helen glaring at her.

"Helen, what a nice surprise!"

"I thought I told you to get rid of him!"

Annie swallowed hard. "Um, right. You did. Jimmy, I think there's someone waiting for you in your dressing room" She lied.

"Another fan?"

She shrugged, feigning innocence. "Could be!"

Jimmy turned to leave but then paused to face her. "Oh. I forgot something."

"You did?"

As before, he took her into his arms and kissed her passionately, a kiss that was better than the first.

"I love you." He whispered.

"Jimmy-."

"Have dinner with me!" He shouted as he turned and ran.

"What?"

"Have dinner with me, Annie! Tomorrow night! I won't take no for an answer! I'll pick you up at seven!"

"But how-."

"I know where you live, remember?" He shouted, blowing her a kiss.

When Jimmy was gone, Annie stood in the midst of her friends, feeling their stars. But she didn't dare look at any of them.

"I'm warning you, Annie. Get rid of him or else!"

"Hey!"Caroline snapped. "Don't talk to my friend that way!"

Annie's eyes widened. "Caroline!"

"I'll talk to her any way I please!" Helen retorted. She stormed over to Annie, pointing a finger. "If you don't get rid of that pathetic excuse for a man, then I'll have get rid of you as well!" Without another word, she turned and left.

"How dare she talk to you that way!" Caroline said.

"Oh, it's …"

"Well, can you blame her?" Del scoffed. "He was horrible! Oh my God, did you see him? I mean how could you not? And I can't believe that people sat through that crap!"

Annie was strangely perturbed by Del's insults. "H-he wasn't that bad!" She stammered. "After all, it was his first performance! And he knew all of the lines!"

At this, Caroline burst into laughter, falling against Richard. "Not that bad! Yeah, right! In his dreams! He needs to be put out on the street!"

Now all three of them were laughing in hysterics. Annie would have been laughing along with them, but it just seemed wrong.

"God, I can't believe he asked you out on a date!" Caroline said. "You'd have to be nuts to say yes!"

Annie stiffened. "Right… I would."

"He seemed really sure of himself, didn't he?" Del pointed out. "Or at least in the dating department."

"Give him a break; he's an IRS agent, not a Broadway star!" Annie shouted. "And so what if he asked me out? It doesn't mean that I have to accept! I mean, it's a free dinner, right?"

"If you say so." Richard shrugged. "But I think you're nuts!"

"Look, it's just one lousy date!" Annie reasoned, wondering why she was so adamant about defending Jimmy of all people. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Famous last words." Richard said. "I think it was Vincent Van Gogh who said, and I quote …"

But Annie wasn't listening to Richard. She was listening to the feeling of uneasiness that came over her. This was crazy, right? It was just one date. And after their date, she'd never have to deal with Jimmy Callahan ever again.