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the
other side of the pool, which is where I thought he'd gone, so I pick my way
through the crowd until I'm close.  I spot his blond hair and chiseled jaw
immediately, but he's not alone.  He's talking to a strikingly beautiful
brunette, whose hand is resting familiarly on his arm and he's making no
attempt to remove it.  As I watch, he leans close, speaking into her ear and
then she throws her head back and laughs before leaning forward and kissing him
on the cheek.  She's clearly not just another fan.
     
    I walk quickly up to
interrupt them and she turns to me even before he does.
     
    "Lila!" he says
when he finally notices me.  He sees me glaring at the girl next to him. 
"Lila, Let me introduce you two.  This is Denise Parks.  She's my..."
he pauses for just an instant before her voice chimes in to finish his
sentence.
     
    "Girlfriend." 
I feel my eyes widen as I turn my glare away from her and slide it onto him.
     

 

     
     
    "Ex," Chase
corrects her quickly.
     
    Denise throws her head
back and titters with a shrill little laugh.  "Of course, ex, ex.  I'm
just teasing Lila here."  Her eyes meet mine as her head comes back but
they show no sign of mirth.
     
    Denise looks older than
me, probably in her early thirties.  Her hair is pulled up into an expensive
and professional looking updo and her eyes are framed with more than a hint of
eye shadow.  She purses her full red lips as she looks me up and down. 
"Lila," she says my name again slowly, making it sound as if both
syllables are separate words.  "You must be a new... friend... of
Chase's?  He hasn't mentioned you before."
     
    "Funny, he hasn't
mentioned you either," I respond.  I get more of a reaction from that
statement than she did, which satisfies me.  There's a flash of anger in her
face, but Chase is quick to step in.
     
    "Ladies, ladies,
let's be civil here.   Lila, Denise and I have been broken up for a while but
we're still friends.  Denise, Lila and I just met but I really like her and
would love it if you two could at least act friendly to each other."
     
    Denise laughs again,
putting her hand on Chase's chest and letting it slowly slide down.  "Of
course, I'm just teasing, you know me.  Why don't we all get acquainted over a
drink?"
     
    Chase looks over at me
and I force a smile onto my face.  "Sounds great."
     
    He turns and hands me the
drink he had originally left to get.  From the corner of my eye I can feel
Denise watching.  Judging.
     
    Before any of us can say
another word, two men approach and step between us, rudely separating Chase
from Denise and I.
     
    "You're Chase
Anderson!" one of them accuses.  "No fucking way."
     
    "We watch you on TV
all the time!"
     
    Great.  More fans.
     
    "So you're Chase's
new distraction?"  Denise has taken Chase's diversion as a chance to
launch a new attack.
     
    "Excuse me?"
     
    "Oh don't be so
sensitive, darling.  I'm sure you know that a man like Chase doesn't stay
around long.  There are always plenty of younger, prettier things to distract
him.  The dangers of trying to tie yourself to a celebrity."
     
    I'm caught off guard by
the accusation and I don't even know how to respond, so she continues.
     
    "Trust me, Chase is
a free spirit.  You won't be able to drag him to the alter no matter how good
you are in bed."
     
    I can feel the heat in my
face and wonder whether the night is hiding my flushed skin or if the club
lights are betraying me.  "What are you talking about?"
     
    "Please, honey, you
don't think you're the first weekend tourist to try to win the heart of Chase
Anderson, do you?"
     
    "I didn't even know
who he was,"  I protest, before I can hold my tongue.  I shouldn't even
respond to this woman, she's obviously just trying to get a rise out of me. 
Not to mention that I had planned to leave in the morning anyway.  Monday at
the latest.  I have a flight, after all. 
     
    "Oh, of
course," she says sarcastically.  "You just happened to