"What are you doing?" Alexander asked me when he found us looking for Luna in the crowd. "I thought we were dancing."
"I just need to fix something," I said, scanning the crowd for pink pastel hair.
"Fix what?" Alexander shouted over the music. He drew me in to him. "Can't you do it later? I wait all day to see you, and the nights that we have together are cut short by you having to go home. This is our time together."
"I know," I said, feeling pulled in two directions. I didn't want to be apart from Alexander any more than was forced on us by the sun. "But you'll have to trust me on this one." If Luna wasn't in a romantic relationship, then the time I was apart from Alexander would be even harder for me since I knew she'd still be after him.
I reached up and gave him a quick peck on his tender lips. "I won't be but a moment. I promise." Alexander shook his head, and Sebastian asked, "What's up?"
"Just Raven getting into another one of her messes, I'm sure," Alexander said with a chuckle.
I spotted pink hair out among the blondes and brunettes; Becky, Onyx, and I raced over.
I took Luna aside while my friends hung behind me.
"I think Romeo wants to talk to you," I said in as sweet a voice as I could to my adversary. "He said he really likes you."
"Romeo?" she asked skeptically.
"Yes, don't you think he's hot?" I asked as if it were fact.
"He's the bartender," she said flatly.
"Yes. The hot bartender."
Onyx and Becky nodded their heads enthusiastically.
"I guess." Luna couldn't be bothered with my small talk and tapped her fuchsia Mary Janes to the music.
"Haven't you noticed him before?" I asked.
"Uh ... yes. He works for Jagger."
"I know. So what do you think of him?" I inquired eagerly.
She just shrugged her shoulders.
I didn't know much about Romeo except that he was a bartender and that he was nice. In fact, I didn't even know if he was a vampire, but I assumed that, because he worked at the Coffin Club and was in Jagger's inner circle, he must be. I wasn't sure what else to tell her, other than what I'd seen of him.
"He's really worldly," I said, recalling his T-shirt.
"How do you know that?" she asked.
"He's been to Berlin. He loves to travel."
"So? I've been there, too."
"You have? See, you already have things in common. There aren't many guys here who have been to Chicago, much less Berlin."
"I guess that's cool," she said with halfhearted interest.
Becky and Onyx nodded again.
"And he loves art," I added, remembering his tattoo. "He'll take you to the greatest museums."
"He's an artist, too?"
"I think so," I fibbed. "Maybe he can use you as a model for a painting," I suggested.
"He sounds just like Alexander," Becky interjected.
I was ready to stomp on my friend's foot, but Luna's sparkly pink-lashed eyes lit up like a crystal.
That was all Luna needed to know. She sailed over to the bar, and a guy offered her his stool.
She hopped on it, threw back her long pink hair, and leaned her elbows on the bar.
"What can I get you?" Romeo asked.
It was magic when their eyes locked.
"Well, that depends," Luna said in a sultry voice. "What's on the menu?"
"Romeo, I need your help!" Scarlet called. She was up to her elbows in drink orders.
Oh no! I'd finally made a love connection for Luna that didn't involve any of my or my friends' guys, and it was going to be messed up within seconds.
"Stay where you are!" I said to Romeo. "We'll help her."
Becky followed me as we raced behind the bar.
"I don't know the first thing about making drinks," Becky said, overwhelmed with our new mission.
"I don't, either. But since there isn't alcohol in them, it can't be that hard."
"I'm not so sure...." Becky whimpered.
"Just stick an umbrella in it," I said. "It's that easy."
I found bartending wasn't as easy as adding cute garnishes to frosted glasses. I had to take back as many drinks as I served, and Scarlet was taking in all the tips.
Becky and I owed more than we came with, and I hadn't had a chance yet to get back to Alexander.
Alexander finally found us at the bar, exhausted and spent.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, shocked. He and Sebastian sat down on two empty stools. I was pouring a cola from the soda gun; my hair was falling in my face and my charcoal-colored eyeliner was smearing in the heat.
"What would you like?" I asked him. "How about a Serial Killer?"
"We were looking everywhere for you," he said, concerned. "You didn't answer your phone."
"Oh, sorry! I didn't hear it ring," I apologized. "It must be in my purse. I had no idea how hard this job can be. There are three of us here, and we still can't keep up.""Why isn't Romeo working?" Sebastian asked.
"He is. Look," I said. Romeo and Luna were lost in each other's gaze. "Isn't that sweet?"
"That's what this is all about?" Alexander said, scrutinizing them.
"I'm glad she has her fangs on someone else," Sebastian said, his blond dreads bobbing as he turned her way. "That girl is cook-a-loo - !"
"She is not," I chimed in. "Well, sort of. I mean, she wanted you," I said to Alexander, "and then you," I said to Sebastian. "And you both rejected her at the altar. How should she feel?"
Both guys thought for a moment before Alexander spoke. "What do you know about Romeo?" he asked me as I wiped off my hands with the bar rag.
"I know he isn't you. And to me that's all he has to be. Besides, why are you worried about who she dates?"
"I know he isn't you. And to me that's all he has to be. Besides, why are you worried about who she dates?" Alexander shot me a look. "I just want you to be matchmaking for the right reason."
"I am," I replied. "I want her to be happy so she doesn't try to steal you away. I think that is the best reason one could have."
"Why would she steal me away?" He leaned in close and took my hand. "Don't I have a choice in this? Don't you trust me?" he asked.
I trusted a lot of things - I was confident with my style, taste, and opinions. And I was secure with my relationship with Alexander. However, Luna, who was sneaky to say the least, had known Alexander before I did and had grown up with his family in Romania. And now that she was inhabiting Dullsville and living in the Crypt, which was only a few miles away from the Mansion, she was too close for comfort. I didn't trust either her or her brother, and without Sebastian as the object of her romantic attentions she would surely aim her affection toward my true love, Alexander, once again.