Leaving the hotel bathroom, she found Patrick sitting on her bed.

“You know, I’m going to be really glad when the renovations are done with my house and you can’t just barge in like this,” she commented as she bent down to put on her black sandals.

“Did you forget I have a key to your house?”

She straightened and pushed her hair over her shoulders. “I’ll have to change the locks too.”

“Damn, girl,” he whistled. “Talk about cleavage.”

She grinned. “The wonder of a push up bra, Patrick. Every girl should have one.”

“So you’re sure you wanna go alone? Your invitation was for you and a guest.”

“Couldn’t find any girls to come and as soon as I’m in public with a guy, everyone assumes we’re getting married or something. It’s much easier to go by myself.” She sprayed her perfume on her wrists and neck. “Someone’s planning on picking up Ethan from the airport tomorrow, right?”

“I’m going. I’ll wake you up before I leave.”

“Perfect.”

“You need to go.”

“I know. Limo’s outside?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” She grabbed her small purse. “See you tomorrow.”

“Don’t be too skanky!” he called as she opened the door.

“I only do that for you, Patrick,” she smiled over her shoulder and then left her hotel room, meeting Rob in the hallway.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yep. Let’s go.” She followed him downstairs and outside. A few fans were waiting and she waved to them but didn’t have time to sign any autographs as Rob ushered her into the limo. He got into the front seat and then they rolled out of the parking lot. Patrick had told her to expect a lot of reporters waiting outside the club but no reporters were allowed inside which was a relief. Their absence would allow her to actually enjoy herself without worrying that anything would end up in the newspaper the next day.

The ride to Borderline only took a few minutes from her hotel and she could see the red carpet outside and reporters, whose attention focused on the approaching limo. It pulled to a shot and the driver got out and opened the door. She plastered a smile on her face as cameras started flashing and she withdrew from the limo.

As with every other red carpet, she stopped by many of the reporters and answered the typical questions that she had the answers memorized for. Yes, she was thrilled about the success of Moods. No, she and Paxton weren’t dating. No, she wasn’t dating anyone at the moment. She was probably on the red carpet for a good thirty minutes before finally making it to the front doors. The security guard opened the door for her and she relaxed a bit as she escaped from the scrutiny of the reporters and their cameras.

The inside of the club was a completely different environment from the outside. There was a dark, intimate atmosphere, despite the large area and music was pounding. She stood there for a minute, taking it all in, before she heard her name being called. She looked over and smiled when she saw one of her best friends, Michelle Williams, heading her way. While Dawson’s Creek had still been on the air, the set had been in the same building as Moods and they had become fast friends.

“Hey!” Simonia said, giving her a hug. “I didn’t know you were going to be here!”

“Last minute thing. Did you come alone?”

“Yeah. You?”

“No, I brought Chad.”

“Oooh, I’ve never met this new boyfriend of yours. Where is he?”

“At the bar grabbing me a drink. Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

Simonia followed Michelle through the crowd, saying hello to people as she went. When they reached the bar, Michelle slid up beside a tall, blonde guy.

“Chad, this is Simonia. Simonia, Chad.”

Simonia smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Michelle’s always talking about you.”

“Better be good talk, Chelle,” Simonia said, turning to her friend.

“Like I would ever say anything bad about you. Everyone else, of course. But you? Not a chance.”

Simonia laughed. “Of course.” She ordered a drink and then turned back to her friend. “How long have you been here?”

“Maybe half an hour.”

“Anything inter-” She stopped abruptly when two hands slid over her eyes from behind her.

“Simonia…” a male voice said.

Her face broke into a smile as she recognized the voice and she turned around to see Hayden Christensen standing behind her. “Cowboy!” she said, pulling him into a hug.

“Hey, Cowgirl. How’s it going?”

“Awesome.” She pulled back. “Except you never call me. I was starting to think I was annoying or something.”

He grinned. “Only sometimes. I’ve just been so busy. Hey, it’s not like you ever call me.”

“Boys are supposed to phone the girls, Cowboy. That’s how the world works.”

“Must have forgotten about that.”

She took the drink the bartender handed her and took a sip. “Must have.”

“What’re you drinking?”

“Sex on the beach.”

“With you? Anytime.”

She laughed. “You’re just so witty.”

He grinned. “I know.” He linked arms with hers. “Come with me and we’ll pretend you’re my girlfriend.”

Laughing again, she let him pull her away. “Catch up with you later, Chelle!” she called over her shoulder.

“Sure,” her friend replied.

She followed Hayden through the crowds of people, stopping when she saw friends she hadn’t seen in awhile.

By eleven o’clock, she was having a much better time than she had thought she would have. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since she had seen most of the people and it was nice to catch up. One thing she really enjoyed with being around other celebrities was that they just didn’t intrude on her personal life. No one cared if you were seeing this person or sleeping with that person like the media always speculated on. She was free to be herself and not worry about what people would think or say.

She spent a good part of the night with Hayden, traveling from group to group and dancing with him. They had met through their mutual agent and didn’t live to far from each other. Simonia had always thought he was like a clone of herself which is what made them such good friends. They had been paired by the media countless times before and they often played off it, creating stories for magazines and unwanted work for their PRs. It was all in good fun thought. They were way too close as friends to ever screw it up by dating.

A little after midnight, Simonia tore herself away from the table she had been sitting at with some people and made her way to the bar. She ordered a daiquiri and then sat at the counter. She hadn’t had a moment to herself all night and the absence of voices talking to her was a nice change.

The bartender handed her the drink and she took a long sip and then swirled her straw through it, drifting off in thought. A male voice brought her back into the present a couple minutes later.

“So I’m the cockiest guy in the world, huh?”

She looked to her left and was surprised to see Justin Timberlake leaning against the counter by her. “I said you had potential,” she replied, raising her drink to her lips again.

He took a drink of his own drink. “Kind of harsh, don’t you think?”

She shrugged. “Hey, it would be totally understandable if you were.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you have all this money and all this fame and these girls who you could put through any shit you want and they would still love you. That would make anyone the cockiest person in the world.”

“You’re pretty much living the same life as me. Do you think you’re the cockiest person in the world?”

She was silent for a second, taking another long drink of her daiquiri. “Okay,” she finally said.

“Okay?” he questioned, looking confused.

“You made your point. I take what I said back.”

“Just like that?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“Cool.”

She ran her eyes up and down his body before returning them to his face. “How long have you been here?”

“Couple hours. You?”

“Three, four hours. Getting a little dull.”

“Yeah.” She watched his eyes go to her hand. “Let me get you another drink?”

She looked down and saw her empty glass. “Oh, sure.”

“What do you want?”

“Surprise me.” She watched him leave and smiled. This could be very interesting.

Justin returned almost as soon as he had left. He handed her a glass. “Rum and coke.”

She took it from him. “Perfect.” She took a sip and motioned to the stool beside her. “Sit.

He grinned and sat down. “So.”

“So,” she repeated.

“Did you come here alone?”

“Yep. You?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you have to go through the reporters outside?”

He sighed and nodded. “Damn. It was like a never ending line of them. I was probably out there for close to an hour.”

She relaxed a bit as the words came out of his mouth. Moving onto common ground. “I know. I think I managed to miss a few but only because Brittany Murphy got there. I think I was out there for about half an hour.”

“Are you staying in a hotel in the city?”

At that question, the conversation started to flow and Simonia found herself easily talking with him for over an hour before he paused and asked if she wanted to dance. She agreed and followed him away from the bar.

It was a little awkward at first, with Justin not really knowing where to put his hands. She figured he was used to dancing with the girls in clubs where he could let his hands roam wherever he wanted and that he wasn’t brave enough to do so with her. He was wise in not doing that.

Finally getting frustrated, she grabbed his hands and put them on her waist. She looked up and found him giving her a grin.

“Thanks.”

She smirked. “Figured you could use the help.”

He loosened up and she found herself doing so as well, the effects of all the alcohol she had been consuming starting to really affect her. She started to laugh harder and harder at Justin’s jokes which when she later thought about it, really weren’t that funny. He also loosened up and became more at ease with the more he drank. After spending an hour dancing, Simonia couldn’t have ever remembered having so much fun.

Doing shots at the bar with him was about one of the last coherent thing she remembered that night.