Chapter 1

Jeannie Roberts looked at her fiancé, Neal James. Her sky blue eyes wandered to his body, his looks, and his personality. She wished she would look at him with love filled eyes, but instead her eyes were those of true annoyance.

Jeannie was getting cold feet about the wedding that was coming soon. She had known Neal for the longest time, it seemed natural. Boring. They met back in high school. She was the shy good girl who couldn't hold the attention of those sex driven boys so when Neal, the school geek, asked her out, she accepted. She soon learned that he was very smart, very nice, and very predictable. It didn't bother her back then. They went to different colleges and had different jobs. Neal worked as a journalist for "People" magazine, but when they got engaged he quit his job to be closer to Jeannie. A little too close he was now. Now they both were journalist working for "The Orlando Tribune". Jeannie was the investigative reporter while Neal was the lifestyle reporter. Her work always ended up on the front page and his was somewhere in the back.

When they started working together that's when she realized she was bored by him. They needed a vacation, they needed some time alone for them to relight the spark that they once shared.

Now, Jeannie gripped the drink tighter in her hand as she looked at him. His medium brown hair which was styled the same way as it had been when he was a kid. He had shown her pictured of himself when he was little, 7 or 8, and that hairstyle was still the same. What a shame. He wore school boy glasses on his long nose. He was short too. Not the hottest guy on earth, he wasn't even close.

"Neal," Jeannie said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, she wished he would have manly broad shoulders but again, another flaw. "Come on, you can gamble later. Let's dance."

"Wait, I'm on a winning streak." Neal said without even looking at her. What winning streak? He's been losing for the last 30 minutes.

Jeannie felt ignored as always. Everytime she would ask for attention, he would ignore her. And when she would want to be ignored, he was in her face like a little puppy begging to go outside. Puppies are cute, but Neal wasn't.

She glanced at where the birthday boy, her boss, and his wife were dancing. The Las Vegas Casino was beautiful and exotic. The music was romantic and her legs longed to dance to the beat.

Across the room, she glanced at Kenneth Chance. A photographer for "The Orlando Tribune", he was the most annoying person she has ever met. His looks didn't help. It was hard for her to truly hate him, he looked like Brad Pitt. Hot, hot, hot. Ken was talking to his girlfriend of 3 years, Barbie, or whatever her name was.

Ken joined "The Orlando Tribune" only a year ago. He used to be a photographer for "Sports Illustrated" but Barbie always got jealous when he had to shoot the swimsuit issue and demanded him to quit or she would leave him. So he quit.

Along with his broad shoulders, magical blue eyes, sexy hair, and hot body, came a bad side. Two words, big ego. Ken had a big ego and that was what made him annoying as hell. He acted like he was the smartest, hottest, coolest man on earth. Annoying.

It seemed like Kenneth and Barbie were talking to each other, arguing. Her eyes showed annoyance and his showed frustration. Jeannie guessed that even the stupid blond was annoyed by plastic man's big ego.

--

"Come on Kenny, let's just go say hi." Julie Benson said to her boyfriend, Kenneth Chance.

"I don't like them." Ken argued his point. He was going to bring up that he hates being called Kenny but he decided this wasn't the time to get into a fight. He and Julie had been on rough edges lately. Ever since Julie lost her job as the model for "Dilzy Fashions" because Dilzy went bankrupt, she had been the bitch he didn't expect her to become. True, she had been worried sick about getting a new job but she really needed to loosen up. Now they were at a party, celebrating his boss's 45th birthday. The least they could do is dance but Julie would rather say hi to people they both don't like.

"Who cares. We have to let them know that we're both fine."

"We are fine. So what, you lost your job, I still have mine." He didn't know why she had her big obsession with pretending like everything was perfect. So now then had a little set back. Most people move on but Julie was the type who would force others to believe everything was pure perfection. "Come on, let's just go back to the hotel room, talk, make love. Forget about everyone else."

"But what would they think when they see us leave?" Julie always cared about what everyone would think, that annoyed Ken.

He glanced around the casino. His boss, Mr. Cars, was dancing with his wife. Other co-workers and friends of his were either dancing, eating, chit-chatting, or gambling. There were lots of people he didn't know as well, or some he wished he didn't know. He glanced over at Jeannie Roberts. She looked annoyed and it helped to know that he wasn't the only one feeling annoyed. Her long blond hair up in French twist, she wore a long tight black dress with sparkles on the hem and sparkly black sandles. She was standing next to Neal, the boring Neal.

Then he turned back to Julie and from the corner of his eye he could see Jeannie looking at him. "Why can't you just relax? Come on, let's dance."

Julie seemed to think for a moment, "Fine," she finally said, "But let's go say hi to them first." she pointed to the old couple who were the richest people they knew. True, Ken was working for Mr. Cars, the editor but the newspaper was owned by the most stuck up pieces of old ass, that couple who's asses Julie was eager to kiss.

Ken glanced in Jeannie's direction again. He didn't really like her. She was a stuck up know it all but at this moment he felt like talking to her rather the perfectionist he was with. Jeannie was walking out of the casino, "Jul's, I have to go outside for a minute. Would you mind?"

Julie released a sigh, "Sure, go ahead. I can sense your need to annoy her, but please come back soon."

--

Jeannie walked over to the bench outside the casino and sat down. The feeling of sadness took over her. Everyone was happy inside. Everyone had that special someone who they loved. She on the other hand pretended to love and wondered if love is just a meaningless word. Putting the champaign glass to her lips, she sipped the last drop of the beverage. A cold wind flew by as the drink burned in her throat.

"Cold?" a sexy voice from behind startled her and she quickly turned around. Kenneth Chance was standing behind her with a sexy smile on his face. For a minute she wondered if it was the beauty of the night that made him look less annoying or was it that for once she wasn't fighting her feelings. But she had to fight and suddenly a protective barrier formed in her mind.

"No. I'm ok." she said annoyed though she was actually cold, "where's Barbie?"

"It's Julie," Ken has now officially corrected her for the millionth time. "She's inside."

Jeannie didn't know what else to say. She could hear soft music coming from the casino and she wanted to dance. She just wanted to forget the outside world and form her own land of security and happiness. Jeannie wasn't the type to care about what other people think and didn't have a need to please them. She just longed to be with that special someone, but he wasn't there.

"I know you're cold. If you are I could give you my jacket." Kenneth said while unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket, "Well, actually no I wouldn't." he smiled.

"Asshole." Jeannie said as she looked at her empty drink glass.

Suddenly, Ken took off his tux's jacket and draped it over her shoulders, "I don't want you to catch a cold." he said and walked into the casino.

Jeannie felt warmer and a little depressed. Neal didn't care about her, Ken has vanished, and now she's all alone. Minutes passed and noone came you to see her. Has Neal completely forgotten about her? How come Ken wasn't there to annoy her? She would rather have him with her then be alone right now, she just needed someone to talk to. Someone who would understand.

Suddenly the casino door opened and Ken was out again. He was carrying around two drink glasses. "Here, I though you would like a drink," he said while handing her one drink.

"Thanks," she said and immediately drank the whole glass. The icy cold champaign turned hot and burned while she swallowed. She had to drown her misery and it seemed like Ken was doing the same thing.

Jeannie knew that she shouldn't drink. She might do something she would later regret, but who cares. She looked at Ken and demanded another glass.