Unexpected (3 page)

 “Is everyone having a good time,”
he shouted at the crowd in the middle of the song, his lean body decked out in
all white and bathed in red and blue lights as he pop-locked to the beat. The
response was deafening, but all Noel could think was
Kai?
Even Rachael’s
mouth was wide open and she looked at Noel, clearly assuming that
she
had known.

Once he smiled and those delicious
dimples had popped out like a beacon, she knew, and suddenly his last words
about being gone tomorrow made perfect, painful sense.

In spite of her mixed emotions, T4L put
on one hell of a show and it was damn near impossible for Noel to not want to
dance to every song. The five men on stage were all consummate artists, working
the crowd with their sultry R&B moves that would give Usher and Nee-Yo a
run for their money. And when one of them started rapping in Korean, she threw
her hands up in the air and waved them like she just didn’t care. It didn’t
matter if they were singing in Korean or whatever. These guys knew how to get
down
and yet her eyes were always drawn back to Kai, who by this time had loosened
his shirt revealing abs sculpted by God. Damn the man was
fine
with a
capital FINE!

And there was no way in hell that
he
could possibly want
her
.

Kai had a funny feeling in his stomach
all day before the show and the feeling had only grown stronger as the time for
their set drew closer. There was no concrete reason for it, but once onstage
he’d had felt the overwhelming desire to dance better, sing stronger, and to
pour every bit of his heart and soul into his performance. Not that Kai had
ever been less than stellar, but tonight of all nights he felt as if he were
singing for someone special. The arena was packed with screaming fans and yet
Kai thought he felt Noel’s eyes on him. Even more improbable, he swore he could
smell her distinct fragrance.

Though he and his bandmates often
improvised and played off the energy of the crowd, there were some things the
management frowned upon, such as overly suggestive dancing, but at that moment,
hoping against hope that Noel was watching him, he put on his sexiest moves
which sent the predominantly teenage crowd into paroxysms of sheer insanity. Of
course the rest of the guys followed suit which threatened to cause a
near-riot. They’d hear about it from the higher-ups, but this T4L show would be
the one those in attendance would be tweeting about for weeks afterward.

They retreated to the wings before the
first encore to rehydrate and have their attire and hair repaired and to catch
their collective breaths. Kwan gave Kai a puzzled look but said nothing as G.K.
swaggered back out onstage.

“You guys want more?” he yelled into his
wireless microphone as the crowd roared their approval, stomping their feet so
forcefully that it practically shook the stage. With a fist raised in the air,
the rest of the band re-emerged as a funk-styled groove began to rock the
audience.

As he’d been doing all through the set,
Kai was on fire and the crowd loved it. Normally he was the straight singer,
but on this last song he joined Kwan as they free-styled back and forth in a mock
emcee battle. What was normally a three-minute song turned into the extended
dance-mix that had the entire arena on its feet and probably dancing in the
aisles. By the time the last note faded and seared itself into the collective
memory of the fans, T4L had torn the place up.

They took their final sweat-soaked bows,
each member tossing a piece of their clothing into the crowd as walked off in a
hail of adoration and shouts for more.

 “What was up with you tonight
Kai,” Kwan asked, high-fiving his friend and bandmate. “You were off da hook!”

The other members murmured their
agreement as G.K. chimed in, “Yeah it’s like you were trying to show off for
someone or something.”

Kai waved his hands in a dismissive
gesture. “Knock it off. You know I’m
always
good. You old guys just
can’t keep up with me.”

Amid the looks and comments of
“whatever”, all said with the teasing banter of life-long friends, Young (whom
ironically
was
the youngest) said, “I still think you were showing off
for someone. So, who is she and how did you manage to meet her?”

Kai walked up and ruffled Young’s hair.
“Seriously man, you need to get back to your girlfriend and get laid. You’ve
got girls on the brain. Now come on, let’s clean up and head out to meet our
adoring fans.”

“You mean our crazy fans,” Kibum
quipped, running fingers through his bleached-blonde hair. “I have to admit
it’s a little disturbing when some older woman with her daughter in tow asks me
to impregnate her.”

Noel felt Kami grab at her hand, pulling
her and Rachael towards the least-congested of the exits.

“Come on you two,” she yelled over the
crush. “We’ve got to get in line!”

“For what now,” Noel wanted to know as
Kami practically dragged the both of them out of the arena, following a smaller
yet no less enthusiastic group of fans who were still buzzing about the amazing
show they’d just seen.

Kami held up her ticket. “Duh! These are
VIP passes to the signing! We get to see T4L first and spend time with them
before everyone else! I’m finally going to meet Kibum!”

Rachael’s green eyes lit up thinking
she’d been given another chance at Mr. Gorgeous. Noel was less than thrilled.

He’s a pop star, Noel thought
dejectedly. He’s a Korean pop star with fans all over the world. What the hell
could he ever want with
me
? I didn’t even know what K-Pop
was
until tonight.

She tried her best to tune out the
expectant chatter of the lucky few who’d paid extra for the privilege of seeing
their idols up close and personal. Noel had no idea what—if anything—she would
say to him.
Nice show? Thanks for not telling me who you really were?

“Wow, can you believe it girl,” Rachael
said, a huge grin plastered across her face. “We had a real life K-Pop star in
our diner and we didn’t even
know
it!”

When her sister heard that, her eyes
widened. “You didn’t tell me about that!”

“We didn’t
know
,” Rachael
answered then looked archly at Noel. “At least,
I
didn’t.”

“Uh excuse me, but I didn’t know
either,” Noel replied defensively. She was already feeling pretty raw and
wasn’t in the mood for such foolishness. She was torn between wanting to see
Kai again and wanting to go home and have a good crying jag. “I mean, he wasn’t
there long enough to tell me his life story.”

Kami reached out and soothed her hand.
“That’s okay Noel. Hey, at least you and my idiot sister actually had Kai in
your restaurant. Wait till I tell Amber Huntley. She’s always bragging about
all the famous people who come into her dad’s jewelry store. Who cares about
some old guy who was famous when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you two
waited
on Kai of T4L
!” She said the last so loud that no one in the line could
miss it and suddenly both Noel and Rachael found themselves the objects of
fascination and envy. Kami tried and failed at humility. She had bragging
rights and was going to use them for all they were worth.

As Kai seated himself at the autograph
table, he felt that sensation again. He couldn’t explain it, but somehow,
through some strange twist of fate, Noel was
here
. If that was truly the
case, then he would do everything possible to make sure they had some time
alone. He’d meant what he’d told her yesterday at the diner.

He heard security outside the double
doors laying down the standard ground rules concerning gifts and photography.
Unlike most bands, T4L actually enjoyed taking pictures with their fans. Sure
it was time-consuming but it also made their fans some of the most loyal and
dedicated in the world.

Glasses of ice water had been laid out
as well as nearly several dozen permanent markers for autographs. The
atmosphere amongst the band was casual and relaxed. They’d done this countless
times and each was guaranteed to have at least one (if not more) memorable
moments. T4L’s fans could be unpredictable.

Kibum fiddled with his New York Yankees
baseball cap, getting the angle just so. Out of all of them, he took his
hip-hop and rapping skills quite seriously. Unbeknownst to their management, he
planned on taking his act a lot farther than the Korean entertainment industry
usually allowed.

Slowly the double-doors opened and like
a cresting wave the fans rolled in, shouts and declarations of “I love you
fill-in-the-favorite-member” assailed him. In spite of what appeared to be
complete chaos, security had everything under control as they queued off ten
people at a time to approach the table.

Kai looked for Noel in the part of the
line within his vision, still certain she was here.

The closer they got to the autograph
table the more panicked Noel became. She tried to center herself, to not feel anything
at all, but she was failing miserably. She was both excited and nervous to see
Kai again. She wondered what he’d say to her. More importantly, what the hell
would she say to him? Rachael certainly wasn’t helping matters.

“I’m going to give him my phone number,”
she said in an excited whisper. “I mean I know he’s a big pop star and all but
it couldn’t hurt, right?”

“Yeah, right,” came Noel’s noncommittal
response. “Wow, talk about fangirling. You can’t make fun of your sister
anymore you know?”

“But this is different,” Rachael argued.
“He was in
our
diner! You and me got to wait on him, how cool is that?”

He also flirted with me and asked
me
out, Noel said to herself, something she’d
never
tell Rachael.

Meanwhile, Kami’s two friends Nevra and
Shawni were like junior satellites bouncing off the walls, holding each other
and cackling like the fangirl version of Macbeth’s witches. Noel just wanted
the whole thing over and done with. She’d made up her mind right then and
there. She’d be polite, get his autograph and leave. There was just no place
for ‘what-ifs’ in her world. He was an international star and she was a
waitress in a low-rent faux-Hawaiian diner in a last-chance casino.

By the time the redhead from the diner
arrived to the table, Kai felt he’d already signed a zillion autographs and
taken over that amount in pictures, but once he spotted Noel hanging back
behind her and a smaller mini-me version, his energy came rushing back. All he
wanted to do was jump over the table, grab her hand and find the quietest place
in the hotel and just hold her. He wanted to tell her everything; wanted her to
be with him. Instead he contented himself with hoping to catch her eye.

The younger girl, obviously sister to
the redhead, was taking her time with each of the members, but definitely had
it bad for Kibum, who loved being the object of adoration of females worldwide.
They snapped a couple of pictures and he signed her t-shirt with an extra
flourish, which nearly caused the pint-sized redhead to swoon. The big sister
however, with a seemingly reluctant Noel in tow made a beeline straight at him.

“Oh my god, I never thought one of my
customers would be a famous singer!”

Kai chuckled, his eyes still on Noel,
who seemed intent upon staring anywhere but at him. “Nice to see you again
Rachael…and Noel.”

“You actually remembered my name,” she
sighed. Handing him the CD she’d just bought she said breathlessly, “I just
loved your show,” Rachael gushed effusively but Kai only had eyes for Noel.

“Thank you. Always happy to have a new
fan, or two,” he replied, finally catching Noel’s gaze. “And how about you,
Noel?”

“Now I see where all those calories
went,” she said, her voice cool. “It really was an awesome show, Kai.”

His dark eyes lit up with pleasure and
his lips formed a smile so sultry that he saw the ice-queen act instantly thaw.

“Thank you Noel,” he replied huskily as
the Sharpie glided over the proffered ticket stub. “I admit I am surprised to
see you here. I didn’t know you liked Korean music.”

“I didn’t know anything about it until
tonight, but I definitely enjoyed you guys.”

“And which of us in particular did you
like most,” he teased. Suddenly G.K. chimed in, mugging it up for her, “She
liked me ‘cause I’m the cutest.”

“Not even dude. She thinks
I’m
the cutest
and
the best dancer,” Young chimed in, striking a sexy pose
that caused another decibel-shattering round of shrieks from the fans that were
still waiting for their opportunity.

Kai watched Noel blossom a little more
as she became the center of attention. The sexy little chuckle that spilled
from her lips was doing very bad things to his libido. Dammit, he had to get
her alone.

“I won’t just pick one of you because
you’re all great,” she said diplomatically. “Soon as I leave here I’m going to
grab all your CD’s.”