Chapter 2
Paper Plate Princess
Brian returned to the bar just as eleven o'clock rolled around. The party was under full swing, and two thirds of the partiers were drunk beyond all mentality... AJ included. Drumming his fingers over the counter top, Brian waited to be served. He was disappointed when a tall red head approached him.
"What can I get for ya?" the girl asked him.
He stalled for a moment, then spoke. "Do you know where Dana is?"
"Dana?" the girl repeated, eyebrows up. "Dana Commons?"
Brian shrugged. "I guess. She's kinda short, brown hair... "
The girl nodded and continued, "She's gone for break right now, is there a message that you want me to give her when she gets back?"
"Naw -- actually, you can..." Brian read the girl's name tag. "Julia." he thought, considering his words carefully. "You, Julia, can tell her -- tell her that I want a sunrise."
"A... sunrise? You want me to tell her that 'Brian Littrell wants a sunrise'?"
"No!" he exclaimed, annoyed that Julia knew who he was. "No, no. Tell her that 'Brian wants a sunrise'. She'll know the rest."
"'Brian wants a sunrise'"
"Yeah" he confirmed, and went back to the table. Nick was gone, he noted. The other three were on the dance floor, dancing... 'grinding' Brian corrected himself with a smirk. 'Trust them to make a bee line for the first girl willing to get a little dirty on the dance floor'.
- - -meanwhile- - -
"Brian wants a sunrise."
Dana squinted her eyes, confused. "What?"
Julia repeated herself. "Brian wants a sunrise."
"Brian wants a sunrise?"
"Yup... he said you would know the rest," Julia shrugged and continued on her way.
Dana scanned the crowd of people, wondering who the hell Brian was, until her eyes rested on him and she remembered. He waved at her childishly. She smiled and fixed a sunrise for him. Walking over to the table, Dana weaved her way through the dancers. "Your sunrise," she said with a flourish, and set the drink on the table.
"It's not for me," he smiled, and Dana knitted her brow.
"Huh? I thought you wanted a sunrise?"
"I did, but not for me, for you. Sit down for a while," he offered.
Dana shook her head. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Cause I'm working."
"So take your break!"
"I just finished one."
"When's your next break?"
"Two hours, maybe three if it gets busy again."
Brian sighed. His plan was failing him. "Well, if I'm the one who's paying for this, then I'm paying your check for tonight right?"
She nodded, not understanding where he was headed with this.
"That means I'm your boss for tonight, and as your boss I'm telling you to take a break now."
Dana laughed. "Creative, aren't you? Okay, you've got twenty minutes boss."
"Do you live down here?" he asked, not wasting any time.
"No, I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota. I'm at U of South Florida studying geography as my major, english as my minor. What about you?"
"Yeah, I live here. I was born in Lexington though, not here."
"What else do you wanna know?" she wondered.
"Hmmm," Brian pretended to think hard. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one in a couple months..." Dana grinned.
"And you're drinking a sunrise... I'm supplying a minor with alcohol," Brian laughed.
Dana smiled cheekily. "And I love ya for it. No, I'm just jokin', I can't drink tonight, I'm on duty." She changed the subject with a grin. "When's your birthday?"
"February 20th."
"Oh, really? That's the same day as my little sister Meghan."
"How old is your sister?" he asked.
"She's seven... a really, really little sister," Dana's face was expressive, smiling loosely.
"Yeah, that's, uh, thirteen years younger than you. That would qualify as younger," Brian laughed at Dana's goofy attitude.
"Meghan's adopted, so that's kinda why. My mom didn't want to go through labour again, I was like 36 hours and it was painful she says. Meg is a sweetheart, she's absolutely adorable," Dana raved.
Brian watched, amused, as Dana twiddled strands of hair around her fingers and continued to talk about her family.
"What about you, any siblings?"
"Yup. I've got an older brother, Harold... Harry."
"Harry... " Dana thought. "I knew this kid name Harry when I was little..."
He laughed every so often, discovering little tidbits about her childhood and other things.
Dana was amazed at how easy it was to talk to Brian. There hadn't been a person that she'd been able to talk to like this since, well, ever. He was startlingly attentive to her every word, something Dana was unfamiliar with. The twenty minutes passed quickly, filled with animated laughter and friendly smiles. Regretfully, Dana stood up. "I've gotta go back to work."
He was quiet, watching her go back to the bar. Brian reached for the full glass Dana had left, and looked at the lipstick print on it. Kevin returned to the table, and grabbed Brian's arm.
"Come on Bri!" he encouraged. "Dance with me!"
- - -four hours later- - -
There were only about fifty people remaining of the original three or four hundred, and Brian trudged over to the bar, exhausted. He was just about to go up to his hotel room, but he just wanted to say bye to Dana. He sat on one of the stools, and waited a couple seconds for someone to come over to him. "Hey, do you know where Dana Commons is?"
"Dana left already," the guy informed him. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
His heart sank. For some reason, he was incredibly sad that she had already left. "No, I-"
"Wait, are you Brian?"
Brian smiled falsly. Autograph time... "Yeah."
"I'm... " the guy reached into his pocket. "I'm supposed to give you this." He passed it over to Brian, who stared at it, puzzled, and broke into a smile. It was a folded up paper plate, with a grease stain in the corner. 'Dana Commons 490-2257' was scribbled across it in bright blue marker.
"Thanks man," Brian accepted the plate, half-amused, half-relieved. "Thanks a lot."
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