J

"Did I miss something?" Hyunji asked, her eyes looked me up and down like I had the word 'guilty' written all over my body.

"What do you mean?" I tried to sound oblivious to her accusation. I was not going to volunteer anything – I promised Lisa.

She tilted her head over towards the window where two photographers stood on guard outside. I wanted so badly to run upstairs and dump a few buckets of water out of my second story window to shoo them away.

"I have no idea. Maybe some of the famous wandered off the reservation," I replied flatly. "Did you cut up any limes yet?" I was searching for a new topic while keeping my fluttering heart in check; there was no way I was going to discuss the past few hours.

"Yeah, but we're almost out," she grumbled.

Eventually the paparazzi disappeared, obviously disappointed that they were not going to get the million dollar shot of Lisa Manoban in my pub.

The rest of the night my mind lingered over the memories of the day. Lisa had been so charming, so kind, and funny. I felt such remorse for saying out loud that she was full of herself. I could not have been more wrong about a person.

Her brown eyes were so mesmerizing when she looked at me while kissing my hand. How strange I felt from this chance meeting. I allowed myself a brief smile before forcing my mind back on running my pub. I knew I'd never see her again; we came from two different worlds that weren't meant to exist together.

The next day I had some errands to run; I had put off grocery shopping long enough. I also had bands booked for Friday and Saturday nights and that definitely meant that we would have much bigger crowds than normal. I completed my personal food shopping and then packed my cart with fresh lemons, limes, and oranges for the bar before heading to the checkout.

I picked the lane with the fewest people standing in line, thinking that would get me out of the store quicker. How foolish of me to assume that would be the case. The elderly lady in front of me began arguing with the cashier, and you know things are only going to get worse when the cashier calls someone for a price check. Just my luck.

I let my eyes glance over the front covers of the magazines that filled the end racks, trying to kill time. Most of the covers had delicious pictures of baked items surrounded by words like 'low fat' and 'diet' or photos of Hollywood actresses airbrushed to perfection. The absurdity of it all made me chuckle.

I studied the pictures of the Hollywood superstars that filled the front covers of the rest of the magazines until my eyes focused on a familiar face with piercing brown eyes. There she was – Lisa Manoban – a side note or feature on the cover of every gossip magazine on the rack.

I glanced over some of the titles around her pictures:

Seaside Star: Lisa - The Whole Truth

Lisa Manoban - Hottest Celebrity on the planet!

SEASIDE'S Lisa Manoban and her Messy Love Triangle

As much as I despised those rag magazines, morbid curiosity got the better of me. I grabbed the first one with 'The Whole Truth' advertised and thumbed through it until I came across Lisa's featured article. The pages were filled with glossy pictures of her trying to look inconspicuous in some club, pictures from the movie set, and photos of her posing.

There was no 'truth' as the headline promised. All the words that surrounded her pictures were nothing more than speculated hints of scandal and allegations of her indiscretions.

As I scanned over the print, it appeared that I knew more 'truth' and facts about this person than this pathetic magazine did. During our time together Lisa had revealed a lot about herself – indirectly just through my observations – and directly through her stories.

I noticed Lisa rubbed her forehead a lot when she was stressed, how she cracked her knuckles out of habit, and how she chewed on the inside of her lip when she would ponder something.

My mind drifted over the four amazing hours we spent together yesterday. Those memories of Lisa were different from the visions plastered in the magazine. She was nice, down-to-earth, just like a regular person.

For as kind and friendly as she was, I noticed other character traits that most people probably didn't see. Many people deem actress to be outspoken and gregarious, but Lisa was anything but that. She was shy but very playful, lousy at flirting, and a bit of an introvert… just like me.

But through her career decision, some good luck, and perhaps some incredible timing, Lisa's status was raised from normal person to almost God-like overnight. Any chance she had at being a normal person was now destroyed by fame. That realization made me sad. I pitied her.

My lips pursed together as I read the caption under one of the pictures: "Lisa and Mina – making out on and off set." The words cast visions into my mind of her kissing every girl that presented an opportunity. She was desired by so many that she could have her pick.

My internal monologue started again. She probably has a different girl in her bed every night just like my ex-fiancé, Mingyu. The thought completely disgusted me. I shut the magazine and slapped it back on the rack.

By Friday night, I had replaced thoughts of Lisa Manoban with about thirty different mixed drink recipes. I was happy to see a decent sized crowd enjoying the guitar player I hired. She was engaging the crowd with a good mix of popular tunes, and I couldn't stop myself from dancing behind the bar. I'll have to book him again, I thought to myself as I mixed two jack and cokes for a customer.

I caught sight of Fred, my weekend bouncer and long-time friend, as I scanned the crowd. He was six foot three, built like a linebacker with a real thick neck and a close-shaved goatee, and was partially blond but mostly bald. He wasn't hard to miss. I wondered what was wrong to make him leave his post at the front door. I noticed he was escorting a young man with short brown hair and ripped jeans over to where I stood. The boy looked like she was an older teenager, but definitely not old enough to be in a bar.

"Jennie," Fred yelled over the music. "This kid says he has a delivery for you."

"Are you Jennie Kim?" the boy asked.

"Yes – that's me."

"I have a message for you," he said loudly as he handed a white envelope to me.

I tore the envelope open; inside was a hand-written letter.

Jennie,

This nice kid in front of you is Jason. He's the son of one of our production assistants that I bribed to hand-deliver this note to you.

I had a wonderful time with you the other day and I'd really like to see you again.

If you'd like to see me, please write down your cellphone number so I can contact you in private.

I hope you say YES.

Lisa

I had to read the note twice; it didn't sink in the first time. Does this mean that she likes me? She wants to see… ME? Why? So I can be a third leg of some new love triangle? So she could get her rocks off with the local selection while she's in town?

She was a super celebrity and I wasn't - and as much as I wanted to see her again, I'm intelligent enough to know that nothing lasting could come from it.

I grabbed a pen from next to the cash register, bit the cap off with my teeth, and with all my strength and resolve I wrote NO on the back of a Kim's napkin. My heart was thumping from this ordinary but strangely painful action. She wasn't the first person I'd denied, but she was definitely the first for a denial on a napkin via teenager messenger service.

Lisa Manoban was not long-term relationship material and I had no interest in having a one-night stand with anyone, regardless of how famous they were – so why even go through the motions? I could not put my heart on the line for this one.

I swallowed hard, folded the napkin, and handed it to the boy.

"Please give this to her, Jason," I muttered somberly. I was hoping not to regret this decision.

My eyes shot over to my trusty friend.

"Fred, please make sure this young man makes it safely to his car." I stood there and watched as the boy left through the front door with my reply in his hand while an old, familiar pain caused the fissure in my heart to crack a bit wider. It would be another long night devoid of love.

The next morning, the sounds of the birds chirping outside my window pulled me from my dreamless sleep. It was gray in my bedroom; not the bright, sunny yellow I had hoped to wake to. The weather seemed to match my sullen mood perfectly.

I took a deep breath and held it in my lungs for a moment before exhaling with force while a vision of Lisa appeared in my thoughts. I pushed my hair back off my forehead and tried to rub the sleep from my eyes. Maybe if I press hard enough into my skull the vision would disappear?

As I trudged my way down the hall to the bathroom, my thoughts flashed back to writing "no" on a napkin. Why did I do that? She asked for my phone number and I chickened out.

A split second later, rationality sunk in. She's not just another person who has the potential to rip your heart out and hand it to you while it's still beating. She would be capable of much more damage than that.

But she wanted to see me again – so she must think that I'm attractive enough. After all, her last known speculated girlfriend was beautiful.

I took a long look at myself in the mirror, trying to see if I could agree with her assessment.

I pulled the hair tie from my ponytail, brushing out my long hair. My summer tan was faded, my bikini lines were just about gone, but I still had a bit of glow left on my face.

I turned the sink on, splashing some cold water on my eyes. The more I rubbed, the bluer my eyes appeared.

"Not bad for a twenty-seven year old," I whispered out loud to the mirror.

But so what if she likes me - then what? Do I get to add a famous person to my short list of friends? Deep in my brain, doubt slipped out of its cage.

Despite Lisa's outward gesture, how could I ever compete with the many Hollywood starlets out there? All of them waiting in the shadows to bag their own leading man. With their designer clothes, designer hair, and high-gloss tans - not to mention their killer figures, silicone breasts, and filthy-rich bank accounts. Examples of them were listed conveniently in the supermarket tabloids, and they were all on the hunt for one of their own kind. Lisa Manoban was definitely on their eligible bachelor's list.

Then I wondered why I thought the famous, single actresses would be any different from me. They too had their fair share of stardom hell with losing their men to on set hook-ups and wandering infidelity. Even the beautiful starlets were left broken-hearted.

And then my depressing thoughts got worse. Standing directly in line with the gorgeous actresses looking for husbands would be the legion of super-hot models looking for their own arm candy. Ooh, look at me, I have Ms. Super-Hot Celebrity Sweetheart on my arm.

If she wasn't an celebrity and extremely famous at the moment, would any of these women ever, ever give her the time of day? I think not.

Heck, while I'm making the list, why not add in all the eligible daughters of the rich and powerful… and top it off with several million regular women around the globe who would kill for a shot at Lisa Manoban.

That would be an awful long line to stand in for one person.

Oh hell, what's the point? In a few weeks she'll be gone anyway. Off to another location to do her next movie with some totally sexy co-star who she'll bond with, and in no time they will surely try to get into each other's pants.

Every day millions of people go off to work, but how many of them have to fake romances or stick their tongues in someone else's mouth for a living?

Honey, have a great day at work and I hope you get some good tongue action on set today! Oh, you're doing a love scene today with a hot, single actress? Good for you! Should I call the lawyer now or wait until you officially leave me for her?

How many actors' personal lives are ruined because of it?

I wondered if it would be possible for someone like Lisa to ever have a normal relationship. Maybe she would follow in the footsteps of so many others before her and just stick to brief relationships with a variety of actresses?

I thought about the majority of relationships amongst actors - only a handful of them were between actors and normal humans. The odds were stacked against me regardless.

I shook my fingers through my hair to toss the thoughts away. I am just deluding myself to think that this – whatever it was – could have ever amounted to anything.

Time to get back into the real world, Jennie. Someone like that don't fall for ordinary people like you. I suddenly felt very insignificant all over again.

--

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Hyunji grumbled at me while she was making a drink. She knew me well enough to know that something was wrong.

I had spent the entire day beating myself up internally; by nine o'clock my internal struggle reached the outside of my body.

I shook my head and tried to shrug her off. Best friend or not, there was no way I'd ever spill my secret to her; my private faux pas would become the public knowledge of everyone who stepped foot in the bar because surely she would chastise me out loud for the rest of the night.

She leered at me, demanding an answer.

"Something didn't work out the way I had hoped." I figured that was good enough of an answer to give her. I met a wonderful, quirky guy who could make me really happy but she's also extremely famous and could never be mine…

"You want to talk about it?" Hyunji asked.

I knew she cared about me but this was something I couldn't share.

"No," I replied softly. "Nothing to talk about. I'll be fine."

I was thankful that I had a large crowd of strangers mingling around my pub; there was enough of a commotion going on that I could stay distracted. One of my favorite local bands just finished setting up their equipment on the stage and soon we would all be enjoying some rocking music. Fred held his usual position, perched on a stool inside the door, making sure to check everyone's ID and to collect a small cover charge for the band.

As I looked around, everything that was always stable and constant in my life was just as it should be. I accepted that my decision was a wise and healthy choice and stood firm in my resolve.

The evening progressed and Hyunji and I were dancing behind the bar as usual, mixing drinks and sliding glasses and bottles to our customers. The music was jamming, the crowd was thick, and my bad mood for the most part was lifted. Everyone was having a good time.

I was waiting on a customer when all of a sudden I felt a hand clamp tightly around my forearm and sharp fingernails dug into my skin.

"Hyunji! What are you doing?" I asked, looking down at her clenched hand. My eyes shot up to look at her face and I noticed she was turning white; her mouth was gaping open. I glanced down the bar in the direction of her petrified stare; I didn't know what the problem was.

"Hyunji?"

I scanned the crowd rapidly and then I saw her – Lisa Manoban - and a small group of people filtering through the crowd.

One of my regular customers, Dan, started smacking his hand repeatedly on the bar to get my attention. "Jennie, Fred wants to see you NOW!"

"Hyunji, let go!" I shouted, peeling her fingers off my arm. I ducked out the other end of the bar and made my way through the crowd to the front door. Fred was holding back a large crowd when I finally reached him.

"Jennie! What the hell was I supposed to do? I had to let her in – she paid!"

"Fred, we can't let any more people in. We're at max now. All I need is the Fire Marshall to show up – they'll shut me down," I yelled over the music.

"Well then you have to tell all of them that I can't let them in!" Fred pointed at the crowd that stretched all the way down the sidewalk.

"Fred, just close the door and sit on your stool in front of it. I'll get Dan to help you." I stepped outside onto the sidewalk and raised my voice to speak to the waiting crowd.

"I'm sorry everyone, but we are at maximum capacity. If you'd like to come in, you will have to wait until other customers leave."

I rushed back into the bar and quickly located Dan.

"Oh, Dan, another thing..." I turned to take hold of his muscular arm. "If the crowd out there gets out of control, call the police, then come and get me immediately."

I hurried to get myself back behind the bar; in all the years we'd been in business we had never had a crowd this size before. Customers were two to three people deep at the bar. It was insane.

I spotted a burly man standing at the opposite end with money sticking out of his hand. His stance was somewhat intimidating. Hyunji was still dazed from seeing Lisa; she was having a hard time waiting on customers and remembering drink orders.

"Hi, what can I get you?" I asked the burly man. I figured he was personal security for the actors. He fit the look.

"Hi there," he said, smiling at me as he proceeded to rattle off a drink order.

I glanced around looking for Lisa; I knew she was in here somewhere. Our eyes locked when I found her; she was leaning on the far brick wall by the poolroom with her arms folded across her chest – staring at me with a slight grin. There was already a swarm of girls around her, but she didn't seem to be paying a lot of attention to them. She was talking to some guy instead.

As I was mixing their drink order, I noticed that two of the famous actresses from her movie were also in my pub. A few male patrons were trying to break through the bodyguard force field that surrounded them.

Lisa seemed to be having a good time. she had a big glass of beer in her hand and she was laughing and being quite social with her group, but not so much with the general public.

I felt weird from thinking about our first encounter and my rejection when she asked for my number. I was so nervous from seeing her again that I tried to ignore her, but it was hard. I could feel her presence all around me.

I was at the far end of the bar waiting on a customer when Hyunji nudged me with her elbow.

"She's sitting at the bar!" she squealed with excitement. She was squirming around so much I thought she was going to pee her pants.

"I tried to wait on her, but she said she wants to talk to you!" she babbled as she pointed a finger at me.

I flashed my eyes down the bar. She was sitting there casually with her arms folded, wearing a bit of a smirk, on the same stool she sat on the first time she was here. I continued to take care of my current customer before I made my approach. I wasn't going to rush.

I slowly walked towards her, taking care of several customers on my way, while my mind was flashing a million different thoughts. Do I say hi? Should I pretend not to know her? I wished I had another forty feet to walk, but I was out of floor.

"Hi!" Pathetic as it was, that was about all I could get myself to say.

"Hi back," she said, flashing a sexy smile. "How are you?"

"Surprised?" I shrugged. "And extremely busy thanks to you!" I tried to sound aloof.

"That's good, I guess." Her eyes flickered over to the stage. "You have some great entertainment here tonight."

"Thanks. These guys are great. They play here a lot."

I felt myself smiling at her as we spoke while my mind drifted over the memories of the last time she was here. No matter what, it was still easy to talk to her. That was until I became aware that people were staring at us.

"So, can I get you a refill?" I asked, trying to be casual with her like she was just another customer. I snapped right back into business mode.

Lisa quickly finished her beer and slid the empty glass towards me. As I walked over to the beer taps I glanced back at her; her eyes had followed me and she was smiling. I couldn't help but to smirk back.

"What do I owe you?" she shoved her hand in her front pocket.

I shook my head again in disapproval. "Nothing, it's on the house; I know the owner." I shrugged. I was trying to be nonchalant.

"You don't have to do that, you know." She scowled at me.

I wrinkled my nose at her in response to her unhappy expression.

She mimicked me, until a smile cracked on her lips. "Thanks… Jennie." Those piercing brown eyes of her quickened my pulse.

There were so many people at the bar, I had to tear myself away and wait on the next customer. People were shouting drink orders and waving money.

No sooner did I turn my eyes away when three women descended on her. They were giggling, gushing, flirting, and trying to get her to pose with them so they could capture their celebrity moment on their camera phones.

My lips curled in disgust. I was glad I made the decision that I did. There was too long of a line to get to that man. I attempted to ignore her again.

"What can I get you?" I asked the somewhat good-looking guy who was waiting for a drink. He mumbled something unintelligible; the music mixed with the hum of people talking and yelling made it almost impossible to hear.

I heard Lisa sneeze a couple of times in a row. My attention automatically shifted back to her. I wonder if she's catching a cold? I slid a few white cocktail napkins in front of her in case she needed a tissue. I wasn't looking as I set them down near her hand; I smiled when I felt her warm fingertips brush over mine.

"Sorry, I didn't get that." I cupped my other hand around the back of my ear so my latest customer would get the point. "What would you like?" I asked again.

"You're beautiful!" he shouted at me.

I grimaced at his words and his lame attempt to hit on me.

"Thanks," I replied flatly. "What can I get you?" I was getting impatient.

"How about your phone number?" he yelled back to me as he was almost lifting his body onto the bar. I noticed that after he spoke he looked back at his buddies so they could acknowledge his bravery.

I looked down and smiled as the embarrassment made me blush. My golden rule was not to date random customers, especially the ones who were assholes.

"Thanks. I'm very flattered," I replied with a half-hearted smile. "But sorry, the only thing you're going to get from this side of the bar is alcohol."

My eyes flickered back to Lisa, who was sitting there staring at me with a smug grin on her face.

"Oh, come on!" the young man pleaded with me. I just shook my head no.

A few men sitting at the bar teased the poor guy. "Ooh, shot down in flames! Ouch!"

I gave them a disapproving look.

"What do you want to drink?" I asked again, trying to be more cordial. In reality, he had ten seconds to reply before I was going to move on to the next customer.

"Three lagers," he finally yelled back.

Ten drink orders later, I was making a whiskey sour for a female customer when I noticed one of the actresses, Lia Choi, descend upon Lisa. Lia was young, leggy, super thin, with straight, long brown hair. She looked like a model. She was leaning on Lisa's shoulder with her arm around her, whispering in her ear.

I happened to be looking when she ran her fingers over Lisa's hair. She winced and tilted her head away from her touch. I could tell it bothered her. Why does that bother me? There was something about the way Lia touched her that irritated me.

A few moments later Lisa moved back to the table with her to rejoin their group. She sat down in one of the side booths, but there were so many people around them that my view of her was obscured.

"What did she say to you?" Hyunji asked. She was going out of her mind with curiosity.

"I gave her a beer. She said thanks." I shrugged. "That's it."

"You had Lisa freakin' Manoban at your bar and you didn't talk to her?"

"Hyunji, what was I supposed to say?" I was not into having this conversation with her, so I walked away.

Lisa stayed at the table with her group, although I was trying not to keep tabs on her whereabouts. Three bulky security guards hovered around them, keeping the general population at bay. I saw a few women manage to squeak through and get an autograph, and I wished that they would just leave her alone.

I wondered if the way she ran her finger back and forth underneath her nose to scratch was another nervous tick, but she started to sneeze again. She must be getting a cold.

As I was filling another drink order, my mind contemplated over what the big deal was to get someone's signature on a piece of paper. Was it simply the act of stopping her from whatever she was doing to make her acknowledge another human being's presence?

I signed my name several times a day – mostly on checks to pay the bills – but it wasn't like the Power Company was on my doorstep flirting or screaming my name to get me to sign the check.

I watched as she scribbled her name on the bottom of some girl's shirt. What would possess these girls to want her to write on their clothes with permanent marker?

I did notice one thing though; some of the girls that stepped up to bug her ranged from quite pretty to very attractive, but they all seemed to be forms without faces to her. She didn't even really look at them. It was like she too was in business mode.

"Hi!" shouted a male voice that snapped me out of my private thoughts.

I looked up to see a nice looking man wearing a suit jacket over a nicely pressed button-down shirt. Thick, dark hair… slight dimples in his cheeks… no wedding ring on the hand that rested on the bar.

"Hi. What can I get you?" My eyes adjusted to this new handsome man.

"What do you have on tap?" he asked, flashing an alluring smile at me.

I listed the ten different drafts that I had on tap and handed him a menu of available bottled beer just in case.

"Hmm, you've given me too many options. What do you recommend?"

"Well that depends," I responded, "on whether you prefer a darker, full bodied beer or a lighter, pale ale."

He leaned further onto the bar. "You're not making this easy for me. Why don't you pick one? I'm sure I'll like anything you choose."

I walked away smiling and grabbed a new glass along my way. I tapped one of the more popular ales and slid the glass across the bar to him.

"Mmm, that's good!" He grinned and winked at me. "You have excellent taste!"

His compliment made me laugh. He wasn't the first man to tell me that.

"My name is Sehun. What's yours?"

"Jennie," I replied, wondering if he was going to pay for the beer I just served him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jennie." Sehun smiled and held out his hand to me.

I didn't want to be rude, so I shook his hand.

"Your hand is soft," Sehun complimented.

"Thanks," I said warily, attempting to end our handshake.

Before I knew it, the slick man clamped his hand around mine, trapping my hand in his. I tugged back against his grip, but he was stronger than I was. My smile quickly faded as I didn't like the hold he had on me.

"Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you are?" he crooned. His free hand started petting my wrist and forearm in the same manner that you would pet a housecat. My stomach twisted in a knot.

I tried to pull my hand free but he maintained his hold.

"Let go of my hand," I stated calmly, in an almost teasing fashion.

"I can't. Not until you tell me why I'm so drawn to you," Sehun pondered, like it was my fault that he couldn't control himself.

I tugged several times while he attempted to lamely flirt with me, but I could not break his grip.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Hand." I emphasized each word.

I looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Lisa standing right behind him. Her beer was in one hand and the fingers of her other hand were tucked in her pocket; her narrowed eyes were fixed on mine. Next to her was one of her bodyguards.

"Oh Jennie," Sehun flashed his best smile at me, "I can't let you go! Since you were so good at picking out a drink for me, I think you should pick out a restaurant for me to take you to."

"I don't think so," I replied coldly, tired of his game.

"Oh, come on, sweetie. Don't be like that!" His tone made me wince. He trailed his presumptuous finger over my wrist.

Lisa looked at my new admirer and back at me; her face was showing her concern. I shook my head ever so slightly, hoping Lisa would heed my warning. I didn't want any trouble.

Two young women approached Lisa and attempted to get her attention. One of them grabbed her arm. Lisa immediately raised her elbow, obviously displeased with their forward behavior and intrusion. She almost spilled her beer. I could see she didn't like people touching her either.

I repeated myself, raising my annoyed voice at Sehun. "Let go of my hand. That's three dollars for the beer."

"Come on – you should go out with me! We'll have a lot of fun, I promise." His tone dripped with coercion, but he finally released my hand.

"No. That will never happen. Three dollars, please."

Lisa held up her hand to the girls and I thought I heard her say, "please, not now" to them. Her bodyguard immediately intervened.

"Just take a chance! I know you felt something just now when I held your hand. There was a connection there. Don't deny it!" Sehun pressed.

Lisa was glaring at him now. Her anger was evident.

"Sorry. I didn't feel anything," I stated flatly, keeping all emotions out of my tone. This guy was beyond being an asshole.

"You hurt my feelings," Sehun pathetically pouted.

Hyunji was watching me out of the corner of her eye too; we always looked out for each other. We had been friends since junior high, and we worked the bar together for so long, we had the creep signal down pat. I pulled the bar rag out of my back pocket and dropped it on the floor.

"Who's your new friend, Jennie?" Hyunji yelled over to me.

"Oh, this is Sehun," I stated loudly as I pointed at him. "He wants to take me to dinner, but I just really want him to pay for his beer. It's such a dilemma!"

Lisa chuckled ever so subtly.

My new admirer finally got the hint. He peeled three ones from his folded money, tossed it on the bar, and turned in a huff. He almost bumped into Lisa as he fled his spot at the bar.

Lisa smiled at me before raising her glass to take a sip of her drink. I flashed my eyes between Lisa and the open seat, hoping that she would get the hint. She didn't disappoint.

"Can I refresh your drink for you, Ma'am?" I said in a proper yet joking tone as I snatched her glass off the bar.

She laughed slightly and nodded her head. I set her glass in the sink and tapped her a fresh beer in a new glass.

"Can I also interest you in doing a shot of one of the smoothest tequilas you'll ever have?" I set her new beer in front of her.

"Definitely interested," she stated directly, her piercing eyes locked on mine.

I reached up to the top shelf behind the bar and wrapped my fingers around a clear bottle with a round, silver stopper.

"What is that?" she asked, trying to read the bottle.

"Gran Patrón Platinum tequila." I poured two shots.

"Here's to… psychotic fans!" I cheered, raising my shot glass in the air.

She tapped her glass into mine and we both tossed the shots back into our mouths.

Lisa reached in her pocket and pulled a wad of money out, but I shook my head at her.

"No. Put your money away," I whispered as I collected the empty shot glasses.

She frowned at me. Instinctively I scowled back at her. Then, like a two-year-old, she stuck her tongue out at me! I casually rubbed my middle finger across my eyebrow. We both started laughing.

When I glanced back up at her again, Mina Myoui, the other actress who followed her into the bar, was hovering around her. She whispered something in her ear; whatever she said made her roll her eyes and purse her lips. She didn't look happy with whatever she said.

Without saying a word, she got up and moved back to the table with her original group, where she stayed for the rest of the night. They had several additional rounds of drinks and seemed to all have a good time. I noticed Mina trying to hide as she swayed back and forth to the music. Lisa sat facing in my direction, and every once and a while she'd stare at me until our eyes met.

Lisa's brown eyes were hypnotic and I couldn't help but smile every time one of us was caught staring. She was extremely beautiful, but there was something else. She didn't hold herself in high regard; she just wanted to blend.

Lisa's eyes held mine for an extra moment. She smiled at me, tilted her head slightly, and then proceeded to unbutton her top shirt. I was curious as to why she was undressing in my pub. I couldn't look away.

She patted her hand on her chest and stretched back. That's when I noticed she was wearing my blue T-shirt under everything else.

I chuckled to myself; no longer could I contain my big grin. She raised her eyebrows a couple of times and winked at me.

It was almost one o'clock in the morning when her group got up to leave. Lisa stood there staring at me while she put her jacket on. She left out a sigh then turned and headed for the door. And just like that, with no words, no goodbye, she was gone.

Fortunately when the celebrities left so did most of the crowd. The pub was trashed. We went through most of the bottles of beer I had stocked in the coolers as well as most of my liquor reserves. Bottles, glasses, and empty pitchers covered most of the tables.

"How freaking crazy was that?" Fred shouted as he helped collect the garbage.

Hyunji had tray after tray of dirty glasses lined up on the bar top, but despite the huge mess that awaited clean-up, she was still smiling from her celebrity encounter.

"I cannot believe that they came here!" she giggled. "I'm still jittery!"

I smiled at her. Lisa and her friends were just people who wanted to have a good time tonight too.

"One thing is for sure - Lisa Manoban couldn't take her eyes off of you!" she teased me.

I groaned at her for pointing that out.

"And don't you roll your eyes at me either!" she reprimanded.

I let out a big sigh while visions of Lisa flashed through my mind. We did stare at each other a lot tonight.

Why did she try to protect me? I started washing dirty glasses trying not to think about it, but I was failing miserably.