Unexpected (2 page)

 Once raised from bed, she gazed at
her body in the full-length mirror and critically cataloged her features. She
knew she wasn’t Vegas showgirl material. Her stomach wasn’t as flat as she
would have liked and no amount of crunches was going to change that, but she’d
learned to live with that. She was a size 16 with bodacious breasts to match
and a nipped-in waist like a classic 40’s pinup. One customer had likened her
shape to those old Coca-Cola bottles (something she had to Google since the
only Coke she knew came in aluminum cans), and she found the comparison rather
flattering. Dark brown eyes slowly moved over her face, long nose and pouty,
full lips. No, I’m not that bad at all, she grinned as she wiggled her curvy
hips. Apparently Mr. Gorgeous Pie-Guy thought so too. Her black hair was chin
length with auburn highlights. She tended to pull it back in a small ponytail
to keep it out of her face, but seeing it tousled from the bed, gave her kind
of a sexy, kittenish look.

 Noel strolled into her small but
tidy kitchen. She owned nearly every cooking gadget any aspiring chef would
drool over. She was especially proud of the stainless steel espresso machine
that resembled some fantastic steampunk invention and which made the most
heavenly froth. None of the gadgets was for show; Noel loved to cook because
she loved to eat and she had no patience for anyone who didn’t feel the same
way. Unfortunately with the erratic hours she kept, there was seldom time to
indulge her passion for food.

 She set a pot of steel-cut oatmeal
with milk, honey and dried apples to a simmer, then sliced a cinnamon-raisin
bagel in half to toast. While breakfast danced merrily on the stove, she
figured she'd spend the day catching up on housework. Her laundry was in
desperate need of attention.

 After breakfast Noel set to work,
vacuuming, dusting and tackling six huge loads. Who knew one woman could make
so much damn laundry
, 
she thought with a wry grin. Thankfully most
of it was jeans, her work shirts and underwear. Noel had a hard and fast
rule that if it had to be dry-cleaned, she didn’t want it. She changed the
sheets on her bed—her one luxury being satin sheets. She loved the silky feel
of the material on her bare skin. She couldn’t help thinking Mr. Gorgeous
Pie-Guy would like it too. In fact, she could imagine his long, lean body in
a 
come and get it
 pose, those sexy eyes promising all kinds of
wonderfully naughty things. 

 Knock it off, she chided herself
for about the millionth time. You’ll never see him again, so get over it.
Steeling herself for another day at the diner, she stripped out of her sweats
and padded into the bathroom. 

 The diner was somewhat empty with
only a handful of regulars in the booths. When Noel walked into the locker
room, Rachael was getting ready to head out. The redhead had a forlorn
expression on her face as if someone had just kicked her favorite puppy.

 “Are you okay,” Noel asked as she
pulled her hair into its regulation ponytail, securing it with one of those
snag-proof elastics. “You didn’t have any customers from hell today?”

 “I won’t get to see Mr. Gorgeous
today,” she replied pitifully and Noel just shook her head in amazement.
Rachael looked steadily her. “But I bet 
you
 will. You gonna
give him your phone number?”

 Noel’s jaw dropped. “You’re not
even close to serious. Firstly, I doubt we’ll ever see him again and second, I
don’t give my number out to strange guys,” 
no matter how drop-dead sexy
they were
, she added silently.

 Rachael’s look and body language
screamed she wasn’t buying her co-worker’s reasons, but said nothing as she
slipped her arms into a leather jacket. “Well, if he does come back and you
don’t want to give him your number, I’d be your friend for life if you could
give him 
mine
,” she said jokingly.

 “Sure,” Noel remarked drily. “Why
don’t I just send him over to your place and skip the preliminaries?”

 Rachael slapped her on the back.
“Now you’re talking!”

 A few hours into her shift Noel
had yet to spot Mr. Gorgeous Pie-Guy and she was somewhat relieved. The diner
was packed again, a mixture of the weekday business crowd who came for lunch,
the low-rolling gamblers taking a breather from giving their hard-earned money
to the casino, and the always amusing senior bingo crowd. Noel spent most of
her time being proposed to by a randy greybeard named Glenn who had to have
been her grandfather’s age.

 “Just because there’s snow on the
roof don’t mean there’s no fire in the furnace,” Glenn quipped wickedly. One of
the women cackled and replied, “Well honey, your roof done caved in!”

 Noel laughed as the two of them
playfully argued back and forth. People like this were one of the perks of
working in such an eclectic place.

 Suddenly she got a strange feeling
in the pit of her stomach and looked towards the entrance.

 Mr. Gorgeous Pie-Guy 
had
 come
back and his eyes seemed to be scanning the entirety of the diner as if looking
specifically for 
her.
He spoke quickly to the hostess, who escorted
him to a table in Noel’s section. Noel’s legs went weak, finally able to get a
good look at him and realizing he was even better up close the second time
around.

 Kai had spent a sleepless night
thinking about Noel. He thought of her voice, her smile, the way the gaudy
Hawaiian shirt molded itself to her amazing curves, and he thought of getting
her naked. He wasn’t really hungry—at least not for food—the plan was simple.
He had no intention of leaving until he’d introduced himself properly 
and
 made
her promise to see him outside of her job.

 Kai was often surrounded by
beautiful women, but none of them ever kept him in a perpetual state of
horniness as the one his eyes feasted upon, watching the slow roll of her hips
as she walked towards him.

 Once in front of him, he ignored
the menu and concentrated on her.

 “Wow, two times in a row. You must
really like the pie.”

 The hot gaze that swept over her
was as blatant as any one she’d ever experienced. Without a single word, it was
more than clear that the dessert he really wanted to enjoy was standing right
in front of him.

 “It is very good,” he said, “But
so is the beautiful woman who suggested it.”

 Noel’s eyes practically bugged out
of her sockets. “Me,” she squeaked.

 “Yes, 
you
,” he stated
definitively, completely focused on her. “I find it impossible to believe that
no man has ever called you beautiful. American men must be blind. By the way,
I’m Kai.”

 He extended his hand and before
she could stop herself, extended her own and just the feel of the velvet
strength of his grip was more than enough to wish the two of them were alone.

 When she could finally manage more
than ‘uh’ she responded, “It’s very nice to meet you Kai, now what can I get
you today?”

 Without missing a beat Kai
answered in that smooth baritone of his that made her body throb, “You.
Preferably having dinner with me.”

 Flabbergasted, Noel laughed
nervously waiting for him to admit he was just kidding, but as he was still in
possession of her hand and having not taken his eyes from her even once, she
realized with shock that he was serious.

 Noel tried to behave as
nonchalantly as possible and hoped that the other servers weren’t noticing the
situation. “I don’t think that entrée is on the menu sir, so you’re going to
have to pick something else. The bakery we order our desserts from just brought
in some more chocolate cream pies.”

 Dark eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Very well Noel, I’ll have the spinach and cheese omelet, some coffee and a
slice of chocolate cream pie, with special emphasis on the 
chocolate
.”

 Noel couldn’t believe this was
happening, much less could she believe her body was reacting to Kai’s nearness
and she realized he was still holding her hand. It was a damn good thing she
was wearing her serviceable Playtex 18-hour bra; her nipples wouldn’t be
popping out like headlights and give away her condition.

 “Look Kai, I’m totally flattered
by your attentions, but you don’t even know me.”

 “But I would very much like to. Is
that too much to ask? Am I being too fast perhaps?”

 Instead of answering, Noel used
her free hand to scratch his order down on her pad. “Let me go put this in.
I’ll be right back,” and sensing his unwillingness to let her go, Noel gave a
mild tug and scooted away like a scared rabbit.

 Her entire arm burned sensually
from Kai’s touch. His hand had been so warm, so strong in spite of its softness
and it made her wonder what he did for a living. Maybe he was a model or
something which again made her wonder what he could possibly want with her. Kai
was the kind of sexy, urbane man any woman with the ability to breathe would
want.

 Kai waited impatiently for Noel to
bring him his order. Normally he wasn’t so forthright, but there was something about
Noel that made him throw all caution to the winds. Seriously, he just didn’t
understand most men’s male fixation upon women who looked like they were
allergic to eating. Noel’s gorgeous body was made to entice and to please a
real man, which he considered himself to be. She was also refreshingly
unpretentious, and in his business that was a rare commodity.

 Somewhat jealously he watched her
with other customers, smiling and laughing and that smile took his breath away.
She obviously had no idea what she did to him, and from the admiring looks she
was getting from a few of the male patrons, she truly had no idea that she was
desirable.

 After what had felt like an
eternity she came bearing his omelet, the coffee and the pie on a tray. He
noticed she seemed a little shaky, so he took the hot beverage from her hands.

 “Is there anything else I can get
you Kai,” she asked and the huskiness that had crept into her voice made him
want to grab her, carry her to someplace private and hear that tone while he
was kissing her from head to toe.

 “Before I eat, I really want you
to consider my offer Noel. I am not some lunatic, just a man who sees a
beautiful woman and wishes to become better acquainted. Unfortunately, tomorrow
will be my last night here and I would be honored to spend it with you.”

 “Let me think about it, okay?” she
said hesitantly. “This is kind of happening way too fast Kai.”

 He nodded. “Of course. I sincerely
hope you say yes.”

 She left him then, and though he’d
only ordered the omelet just to give him some reason for being here (other than
her), the food was very good. He’d dined in Michelin-rated restaurants all over
the world, but few of them had food that was as delicious as this. None had a
waitress who was as delicious-looking as Noel.

 Noel practically ran into the
employee locker room, her heart sinking into her stomach and hating the feeling
of desolation caused by knowing Kai wouldn’t be around. She had no idea why his
disclosure bothered her so. There was no way that she could have fallen that
hard for Mr. Gorgeous Pie-Guy so quickly. Still, her fingers tingled and she
heard the sincerity in his voice. Maybe he really did want to go out with her.
She knew damn well if it were Rachael, the redhead wouldn’t hesitate one
second.

 By the time she’d mustered up the
nerve to agree, Kai’s table was empty save for the crisp one-hundred dollar
bill, more than enough to cover the food. He’d left so quickly she hadn’t been
able to tell him she didn’t work the next night. 

The very last thing Noel wanted to do
was hang out with Rachael and her frenetic fourteen year-old sister at some
K-Pop concert this evening. She paced back and forth, trying to think of a
decent excuse that wouldn’t sound like she was planning a pity party consisting
of a large meat lover’s pizza, a bottle of white wine and a Doctor Who
marathon—which was exactly the plan.

 It was ridiculous for her to feel
so dejected over something that more than likely was just mild flirtation at
best or a chubby chaser at worst. Noel usually wasn’t so self-critical, but
she’d nursed a small grain of hope that the man’s attentions were
genuine. She hated to admit it, but he’d managed to get to her.

 Taking a deep breath, she dialed
her friend’s number and prepared to be whined at until she gave in, which was
Rachael’s standard modus operandi.

 The phone rang a few times before
Rachael’s painfully chirpy voice answered. “Hey girl, what’s up?”

 “Hey Rach, about the show
tonight…”

 Before the faux apology could drip
from her lips, Rachael went on defensive. “Oh no you don’t, no way! You
are 
so
 not bailing on me and leaving me at the mercy of a
bunch of scary pre-teens screaming their guts out! You promised to go and keep
me 
sane
.”

 
Sane
 and 
Rachael
 were
two words that should never be uttered in the same sentence, Noel thought
wryly, but she couldn’t help feeling like crap for not keeping a promise no
matter how much she didn’t feeling like being social.

 “Please Noel, you’ve 
got 
to
have my back,” Rachael pleaded dramatically. “Kami is driving me effing 
nuts
 about
this damn show! She’s been running around the house singing in some language
she doesn’t even understand and drooling over a bunch of guys who are prettier
than you, me and every woman combined! I swear if you leave me to suffer alone
I’ll 
never, ever 
share my naked Matt Smith wallpapers with you
again!”

 “Okay, okay I’ll go,” Noel
surrendered as she knew she would. “But not because you threatened to hold out
on my Matt Smith fixation. I owe you for working the week I had all those
interviews, so I’ll pick you two up around six.”

 “You rock, Noel,” and before she
could say ‘you’re welcome’, the line went click.

 Since she was now committed, Noel
walked over to her closet needing to decide just what the hell to wear to a
K-Pop show. She was sure neither her Black Keys nor her Far East Movement
t-shirts would go over well, though the latter was at least Asian. After a few
minutes of fashion angst, she settled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a
sleeveless black top with a deep v-neck that accentuated her ample cleavage
without making her look slutty, and her black Ariat engineer-styled boots. It
was a simple, but casual (and comfortable) outfit.

 She checked the clock by her
bedside. There was a good five hours before the show so grabbing her gym bag,
she headed for a quick workout and a swim. Activity was always good for a
broken heart.

 By the time she came limping back
into her apartment after having tortured her muscles into doing things they
didn’t want to, Noel had just enough time to scarf down a leftover bowl of
chicken and broccoli alfredo before heading to the shower and blissfully hot
water to soothe her aching body. She also popped a couple of Tylenol for the soreness.

 Noel wiped the condensation from
the mirror and as was her usual, gave her body its look-over and though she
still wasn’t crazy about her poochy stomach, the rest of her got raves. She
especially liked her big and very firm breasts. No plastic there.

 She moisturized from head to toe
and pulled her water-slicked hair into a sassier ponytail with a side part. She
settled on simple makeup, dusting her face with a mineral bronzer, black
mascara and a light touch of Clinique’s Black Honey lipstick, then went to get
dressed.

 She was out the door with thirty
minutes to spare.

 Kami came barreling out of her
house, practically dragging poor Rachael behind her.

 “Hold up, will you,” she yelled at
the eager, shorter carbon copy of red hair and freckles with hazel green eyes,
but the young girl was obviously not listening as she continued barreling to
toward the car.

 “I told Nevra and Shawni that I’d
meet them around six,” Kami replied breathlessly as she plopped herself in the
backseat of Noel’s Civic. “Hey, put this on,” she ordered handing Noel a CD.
She looked at it cautiously. 

 “Who is it?”

 “It’s T4L.” The teen gave her one
of those annoyed looks so beloved of adolescents everywhere when the adults
around them were being obtuse. “One of the bands we’re going to see tonight. Oh
my god, Kibum is 
so
 hot!”

 Noel pointed to a sticker she’d
mounted to the dashboard above her stereo system that read 
Get In.
Strap In. Don’t Complain About The Music
.
In smaller letters below
it 
You Can Always Walk
.

 Kami took back her CD, but that
did not stop her from chattering endlessly as they made their way down the
Strip to the MGM Grand where the concert was being held.

After nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop
fangirling, Noel had to cut in.

 “What exactly is this K-Pop?”
Noel’s musical tastes were pretty eclectic (one former flame told her
point-blank that black people and heavy metal didn’t mix which was why he was
a 
former
 flame), and she liked everything from Alice in Chains,
to MGMT, all the way to Lupe Fiasco, as well as old-school R&B.

 Kami’s eyes lit up, obviously
eager to make a new convert since her older sister was into totally boring
stuff like John Mayer. “It’s a general term for Korean pop music. Like there’s
J-Pop from Japan, and C-Pop from China, get it?”

 “Got it. So who are we seeing
tonight?”

 “There’s three groups that are
gonna be there, but the best one is T4L! There’s five members and they
are 
so
 hot, especially Kibum!” The teen sighed theatrically.
“I 
so
 want to marry him! He’s got the best body and he’s a
blonde! Nevra thinks Kwan is hotter but she’s also got a thing for Hyde of
L’arc en Ciel. My second favorite is Kai, but he’s always so serious.”

 Noel’s heart sank at the mention
of that name, but she was determined to get over it. There were a million Kais
in the world anyway. She thought she could hear her friend grinding her teeth,
but she just had to ask, “So who’s Hyde?”

 “Hyde is the lead singer of the
J-Rock band L’arc en Ciel. They’ve been like one of the biggest bands in Japan
for like twenty years or something. I think he looks like a girl, but he can
sing.”

 “You’re complaining about guys
looking like girls when your entire wall is plastered with pictures of guys
wearing as much makeup as me,” Rachael asked with utter disbelief.

 Kami just glared at her sister.

 A few minutes later Noel pulled
into the several-story parking structure adjacent to the hotel/casino complex.
As expected finding a parking place that wouldn’t require a GPS to find one’s
way back to the car was a complete impossibility. Obviously not everyone was
here to see a Korean pop band. This was Vegas after all.

 She found a space on the fourth
floor of the structure and grabbed it, not wanting to waste any more time
hoping for anything closer.

 As they got into the elevator that
would take them to the casino proper, Kami seemed to be literally vibrating
with excitement. Headed to the main floor, the elevator became more and more
crowded with teen girls being escorted by their deer-in-the-headlights parents
who took a silent look at Kami, another look at Noel and Rachael and their eyes
read ‘We feel your pain’.

 Noel couldn’t help noticing that a
majority of the K-Pop fans were surprisingly not Asian, though they were
definitely represented. She was secretly pleased to see two young black girls
wearing T4L t-shirts and chatting animatedly with Kami.

 When the trio reached the arena,
the line was long and filled with the excited banter of teenage girls and even
a few boys. While waiting, two girls approached them and Kami squealed so loud,
her sister instantly winced.

 “Oh my god, can you believe we’re
finally going to see them,” one of the girls said, her eyes as wide as saucers.

 Kami grabbed both girls in a manic
group hug. “Oh my god I know! I know if Kibum looks at me I’m gonna die!”
Rachael rolled her eyes and Noel grinned.

 “Oh Noel, this is Nevra and this
Shawni,” she said introducing both girls. Nevra was black with long dreadlocks
she wore framed around her oval face. She smiled at Noel, thinking her another
kindred spirit. Shawni was Asian with razor-straight bangs that accentuated her
heart-shaped face and high cheekbones. “You know my boring sister already,” she
added offhandedly.

 The minutes passed and the line
just seemed to grow longer still. Noel was amazed at how popular this K-Pop
stuff really was. It seemed so strange and she was pretty damn sure that most
of the fans didn’t speak Korean. The old adage about music being a universal
language was obviously true. When the doors finally opened to admit the
concertgoers a huge cheer went up and the line slowly began to move.

 Reaching the arena box office,
Rachael handed over the tickets and received the stubs back in return. The
arena was quickly filling up and it seemed it would be a sold out show.
Following Rachael and Kami, Noel saw they were headed towards the stage and
wondered just how close they were going to be.

 She soon received her answer when
they stopped at the third row and headed toward the middle of the aisle. Noel’s
jaw dropped. “Good lord Rach, how much did you shell out for these seats?”

 Rachael quipped sarcastically,
“Remember all that overtime I worked?
This
 is where it went!”

 Kami literally began dancing. “Oh
my god, I’m going to be right in front of Kibum! Alison Walker’s gonna be 
so
 jealous!”

 In spite of it all, Noel started
absorbing the frenetic energy all around her as the capacity crowd began
chanting for their favorite groups. No matter the style of music, concerts were
pretty much the same when it came to that heightened sense of expectation, the
racing of a pulse and the excitement of being one with hundreds of like-minded
souls. She’d never heard of this T4L, but who knew, she might end up a new
fan. 

 Suddenly the lights went down and
Kami let out a loud squealing sound which was echoed by a hundred of such
squeals as laser lights flashed and a crazy techno-beat began throbbing through
the arena.

 The first act was an all-girl
group singing hyped-up bubble gum pop, so cute and sweet with their adorable
synchronized dance moves it was hard not to like them, though it was definitely
not Noel’s style. Kami had no such reservations and joined her fellow seatmates
dancing around like drunken dervishes as Rachael and Noel laughed.

 The second group was a more of her
speed. They were all-male and more R&B in style. In fact, some of the songs
were so funky, Noel found herself shaking her groove thing, which scored major
brownie points in Kami’s eyes.

 When they left the stage, the
crowd was ready for the main course. They were chanting “T4L” over and over
again as their fists pumped the air. Noel glanced over at one girl who was
practically in tears waiting for her idols to arrive. She’d never cried at a
concert, but she understood the overwhelming feeling behind it.

 The stage slowly filled with
rolling fog, eerily backlit with green lights. The noise in the packed arena
swelled to a crescendo then a beautiful, very soul-sounding voice began singing
in Korean, only to slowly drift away. The crowd went wild when a thumping
bass-backed hip-hop beat was soon followed by each of the members emerging from
the fog, each singing a verse, but there were only four onstage. It seemed that
everyone in the place knew the words.

 Noel leaned into Rachael having to
literally shout in her ear over the noise, “I thought she said there were five
guys in the group.”

 No sooner had the words escaped
her lips, a silhouette appeared behind a large white backdrop. The mysterious
figure joined in the chorus and Noel felt an inexplicable sensation of déjà vu.

 “Oh my god it’s Kai! It’s Kai!”

 The backdrop lifted and Noel’s
entire world tilted on its axis.

 “
Kai
?!”