Page 127 of One Night

When I get there, I'm seated by a girl about my age with sleek dark hair and olive skin.

"I love your voice," she says, handing me a menu as she smiles at me. So she's a fan of the band. That explains why she's acting this way. She's been flirting with me since I walked in, her body brushing against mine as we weaved through the restaurant to my table.

"Thanks," I tell her, opening the menu.

"I heard you're playing on Saturday. It's been all over the radio."

"Yeah, it's kind of a big deal. We've never played there before." I glance up at her and see her still smiling, looking like she might ask me out. I know that look because I get it all the time from fans wanting to date the lead singer of Vandyl.

"So um..." She bites her lip. "Would you maybe want to get coffee some time?"

I look around and still don't see Amber. Maybe she didn't have to work after all. Maybe the other waitress showed up for her shift.

"Do you know if Amber's working?" I ask.

"Um, yeah, why? Are you guys friends?"

"I'm her boyfriend. I was hoping to surprise her. Is this one of her tables?"

"You're dating Amber?" She sounds shocked. Does Amber never talk about me?

"Yeah, we've been dating for months."

"Are you serious?" She looks behind her, which is where my eyes are because I just spotted Amber coming out of the kitchen.

The girl waves at her, getting her attention. Amber glances at the table and sees me and immediately smiles. It's the smile she only uses with me and I suddenly feel relieved, setting aside my suspicions that something was wrong between us. If there was, she wouldn't smile that way.

She's in her uniform, a tight black skirt and white button-up, her hair down and straight. She looks gorgeous and I notice all the male customers checking her out. All older businessmen, probably married with kids, yet still staring at the waitress. My girlfriend.

She comes up to the table. "Dylan, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." I get up and kiss her cheek, not wanting to give her a real kiss at work and risk getting her in trouble. "I had to come downtown to meet with the bar manager. The place is just down the street so I thought I'd stop by to see you and have lunch."

Hostess girl hasn't left and says to Amber, "You didn't tell me you were dating a celebrity!"

"I talk about Dylan all the time," Amber says.

"Yeah, but you didn't say it was THAT Dylan, the lead singer of Vandyl."

She shrugs. "I guess I just didn't think to mention it."

"Are you crazy?" The girl turns to Amber. "If I were dating him, that'd be the first thing I'd tell people. You know how many girls want to date him?"

"I try not to think about that," she says, looking at me. "So did you check out the menu? I should get your order in. We're really busy. It might take a while."

"Oh, shit," the hostess says. "I've got people waiting." She hurries back to the hostess stand.

Amber motions to her. "That was Angela if she didn't already tell you. She's one of your biggest fans."

"Why didn't you tell her about me?"

"Because I don't like people thinking I'm only dating you because you're in the band." She gets her order pad out. "Did you decide what you want?"

Just like that, she turns business-like, as if I'm just some random customer.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

---