Vin Diesel

The tray I held, teetered precariously, as I was jostled by the anxious crowd.

‘ Dammit!’ I cursed inwardly, as I quickly got control of the tray.

To make things worse, I could feel a pounding starting at my left temple… the signs of an oncoming migraine.

As I reached the bar with my loaded tray of empty glasses, a group of young women nearby started screaming excitedly. I winced as their excitement intensified the pounding in my head.

I decided to try and ignore and smiled wanly at the bartender.

“ This place is crazy, huh?” I asked, unloading my tray.

“ Yeah!” he answered, looking every bit as excited as the group of women. “ And it’s gonna get much crazier, cos’ I think the guest of honor just arrived!”

I took a look toward the doors, but I couldn’t make out anyone in particular through the mob.

“ Who IS the guest of honor anyway?” asked, as I turned back to Mike, who busily reloading my tray.

“ You’re kidding, right? Geez Azrial… for an Traverso, you sure are clueless about the movie biz. What have you been doing for the last 10 years? Hiding under a rock?”

“ Oh shut up, Mikey! I’m just not into all that stuff! Hell, I don’t even remember the last time I was able to treat myself to a day at the movies.”

“ Well… girlfriend… if you paid ANY attention, you’d know that we’ve got none other than the biggest name of all here tonight. The guest of honor is Vin Diesel, Fae… and if you ask me ‘who’s that’, I swear I’m gonna send you off to a loony bin!”

Laughing, I held up a hand.

“ Hold on there, I DO know who you’re talking about. That is, if you’re talking about the guy the cooks were talking about. They said something about how this actor directed and starred in that new 3 – part blockbuster that won so many awards recently. Is that him?”

“ Yeeess, it is!” answered Mike, sarcastically. “ It’s nice to know that you’re not totally cut off.”

“ He must be good then, huh?”

“ Good? He’s great! Not to mention GOURGEOUS! And I’m going to get myself an autograph and a picture with him, if it kills me!”

Suddenly, another waitress named Crystal came up with a Polaroid camera in one hand, and waving a picture in another.

“ Not likely, jerky!” she sneered. “ ‘Cos I’VE got head table tonight… So I guess you’d better start lining up with the rest of the peons, loser!”

“ YOU got a picture with him?! C’mon Crystal switch for awhile so that I can get one too!”

Crystal grabbed the tray that Mike had loaded with glasses of iced tea, and turned back to the crowd with a toss of her bottled red hair.

“ In your dreams, twerp!” she shot back, as she disappeared into the crowd.

“ Bitch!” Mike spat, actually shaking with anger.

“ Hey Mikey, don’t worry about her.” I said, trying to calm him down. “ She’s just being her usual bitchy self. Don’t let her get to you.”

“ But I wanted to meet Vin so bad, Azrial!” he wailed.

“ Hey…” I said firmly. “ Did you forget that YOU’RE serving the private lounge when he takes his 9 o’clock break?”

Mike’s distressed features smoothed out in realization and joy.

“ Oh yeah! Shit! How could I forget?! And it’s almost nine now! Screw Crystal!”

“ Um, no thanks… rather screw a poodle.” I joked.

Just then, the women nearby let out another round of screams for some reason, and I was reminded again of my migraine.

This time Mike noticed my discomfort, and his brow furrowed in worry as he studied me. He now noticed the paleness of my face and the sweat beading my upper lip.

“ Are you okay, sweety?” he asked.

“ Yeah, just got a migraine coming on.”

“ I told you… you shouldn’t have come in tonight. Here, take these.”

He handed me two aspirin from beneath the counter, a glass of water, and I gratefully swallowed them down.

“ Thanks.”

“ Hey why don’t you take your break? You’re looking paler than usual, sweety.”

“ Okay, I think I will.” I got out, right as a massive sneeze took me by surprise.

Mike recoiled as if I’d suddenly grown a third eye.

“ You’ve still got that cold too!” he exclaimed.

“ Relax.” I mumbled, as I blew my nose on the napkin he threw at me. “ It’s starting to go away… believe me, it was much worse yesterday.”

“ Honey… haven’t you ever heard that a person is most contagious when they are starting to get over a cold?! No offense, but please just stay away from me, a cold is the last thing I need.”

“ Geez, thanks for the sympathy.”

“ Oh shut up, you know I love you! Now get out of here! Shoo! Away, O nasty, germy girl!”

Laughing, I tossed my damp napkin at him. Watching him writhe to avoid it, I burst out laughing at the irate glare he shot at me as he picked up the napkin with a set of tongs and threw it in the trash.

I made my way out to the back entrance of the hall hoping to get some fresh air and quiet. Pulling a cigarette out, I lit it and took a deep pull… ignoring the voice in my head telling me I shouldn’t be smoking, especially when I had a cold. Sure enough, a deep coughing fit hit me as the smoke tickled my already sore throat.

I was so busy trying to quell the coughs, I didn’t even notice when the doors I had exited earlier, opened again to let another person out.