Haley quickly and efficiently put her blonde hair into a French braid while on the subway to her job. Again, numerous men tried to catch her eye, but she kept her ear buds in and her eyes down as she prepared for work. She knew she was lucky to have gotten this job, where generous tips from grateful clients sometimes added up to more than her actual wages.

The air had turned sultry, with humidity creeping up as the day wore on, and Haley hoped the air conditioning was strong where she'd be working. It was a small boutique hotel in Midtown, a party thrown by some rock star to celebrate selling out Madison Square Garden a bazillion times or something.

Haley exited the subway to the warm, evening air, redolent with the smells of New York City: car exhaust, food, and the mysterious aroma that emanated from the steam emerging from the manholes and subway grates.

She reached the hotel, which bore the unlikely name of Cherry Tree Inn. It was a brick building dwarfed between two towers of steel and concrete.

Haley went around the back to the service entrance and found her boss, Adele, who already looked harassed and busy.

"Haley, thank the baby Jesus, someone who doesn't suck at their job got assigned to me tonight," Adele said, hugging Haley briefly. "You don't know how glad I am to see you."

"You're welcome," Haley responded with a laugh. "Glad someone's so happy to see me." She looked around. "Where are the aprons?" The hotel had specified that the staff was to wear the aprons with their logo on them.

Adele gestured at the pile of aprons on a chair. "Okay, you know the order, right?"

Haley nodded, already heading to the kitchen for a tray. "No worries, Adele, I've got you," she callee over her shoulder.

Haley looked around as she entered the main room with a tray of shrimp tartlets. The party was already buzzing, a room full of beautiful young people, along with a sprinkling of older, self-assured business looking types.

Haley moved through the room with efficiency, covering a lot of ground while not seeming to move too quickly.

The star of the party didn't seem to have arrived yet, however. The room had the air of waiting, of anticipation, and Haley knew the noise level would ratchet up significantly when he arrived.

His name was Luciano deLaurentis, though he was known simply as Luc to the entire world. Haley was always careful to do a little research into the party's host before a job; you never knew when such knowledge would come in handy.

Luc was the son of an Italian diplomat of some sort, though he didn't seem to have a relationship with his father. His mother was Egyptian. He began putting out songs and videos on social media when he was fifteen, and the rest was history.

He was very good looking, Haley was willing to admit, with his dark, brooding eyes and head of incredibly curly hair. He was tall almost to the point of lankiness, and had cheekbones to die for.

He was known for going through girlfriends like tissues, and Haley knew without even seeing him in person that he was type number two, like the boy at the pizzeria, full of himself and feeling like his mere presence was a gift to all women.

After an hour or so, he did show up, with an entourage of about ten people, all as young and beautiful as himself,

In person he was quite intimidating, with a masculine energy that permeated the room. His hair was in careless disarray, and he wore a teardrop pearl earring that almost glowed against his skin. He looked around, smiling, knowing he would be the most popular and sought after man in the whole room.

Haley thought about the paycheck, and hopefully the tip that was coming her way, and put on her most professional, neutral expression. She'd finished with the shrimp tartlets and moved on to crab puffs, which were very popular.

"Ooh, puffs, gimme gimme," called a woman, a ragamuffin blonde in a skin tight orange dress.

Obediently, Haley made her way to the woman, who had a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"Hm, I have a bit of a problem," she said with a laugh, looking from one hand to the other.

"Quite the quandary," Haley agreed.

Oops, had she said that out loud?

The woman looked at her with narrowed eyes, trying to decide if the comment was genuine or if Haley was being a bit of a smart aleck.

"Cheeky little thing, aren't you?" she finally said.

Haley merely smiled, deciding it was her safest bet.

The ragamuffin opened her mouth while gesturing to the crab puffs with the hand that held the cigarette.

Haley looked from her face to the tray and back again, wanting to be sure she understood her.

The woman nodded, gesturing again and ashing her cigarette on the floor. "Put one in my mouth," she said for emphasis.

Inwardly sighing, Haley carefully grasped a puff and put it in the woman's mouth, being careful not to touch any part of her.

"Thanks, Love." The woman moved away, taking a sip of her drink as she went.

Haley thought her accent sounded a little contrived, as it seemed to come and go. She wondered where the woman was actually from.

Haley watched her go, eyes wide, wondering if she was going to fall over before she got to her destination, which seemed to be Luc himself. She teetered on eight inch platform heels, wobbling her way through the room.

"Gigi!" Luc cried, enveloping her in a hug. He then proceeded to kiss her, a very NSFW kiss, but pretty mild, compared to some Haley had seen at these parties.

"Luc!" Gigi responded after they broke the kiss, putting her cigarette out in her drink. "I made it, I told you I would, didn't I?" She turned in his arms to press her front against him.

"Yes, and I'm so glad to see you," he responded, flashing his famous, million dollar smile. He carefully released her, making sure she wouldn't fall before he did. She was obviously a few drinks ahead of him. Around them, the glitterati of New York looked on with envy or amusement, depending on their gender and position in the social strata of the party.

"OMG, can you believe the level of hotness at this party?" Charlene, one of the other servers, commented when they both appeared in the kitchen for fresh trays. Charlene grabbed champagne flutes, while Haley picked up a cheese tray. "These guys are, like, off the charts!"

"And most of them are probably gay, so I wouldn't get too excited," Haley responded drily. "It is New York, after all. They all look sort of like drama majors, don't they?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Charlene looked at her, shocked. "These guys are part of Luc's world, the world of straight musicians, and most of them are on the make." She put her tray down to adjust her blouse, unbuttoning the top button. "So glad I wore my good bra tonight," she concluded, pressing her breasts upward.

Haley laughed at her friend and re-entered the main room, which was now seriously rocking and rolling, redolent with cigarette smoke and perfume. She, unlike Charlene, was glad for the impersonal and unimaginative uniform she wore. She wanted nothing more than to blend into the background, provide food and drink, get paid, and go home.

"Hey there, you got some food for me?"

Haley felt herself grabbed from behind, and was nearly lifted off her feet. It was with great difficulty that she kept her tray from upending.

She was released, and turned carefully to see who'd nearly knocked her over.

He was young, slat thin with bad posture, and had blue eyes and brown hair. Tattoos covered the part of his arms that she could see, and he had a cigarette dangling from his thin lips.

All in all, Haley was left with the impression of a ferret, though she could tell he considered himself good-looking.

And judging from the number of young women around him, others considered him good-looking as well.

"Hey there, darling," he said, reaching for some cheese. "Let me get some of this delicious looking gruyere inside me, then we can have a bit of a chat."

Unlike the blonde from earlier, Haley could tell his English accent was real.

"Well, I'm meant to circulate with the food and drinks, you know," Haley demurred, turning to leave.

"Oh, come on, you can stand there for a quick minute, I think," he returned, slipping an arm around her. "Besides, I'm a guest at this party, and you're feeding me, so you're doing your job, quite admirably, I'd say." He grinned at her, grabbing some more cheese off her tray and cramming it in his mouth.

"Lewis, stop hogging all the pretty servers for yourself," a voice called. Haley turned to see that it was Luc himself, tall and confident, striding toward them, huge smile on display. About a dozen women trailed in his wake, wanting to be a part of whatever he was saying or doing.

"Now then, let's see what's on your tray," he continued, perusing its contents as he pulled her away from "Lewis."

"Ooh, cheese, yes, let's have some," Luc continued, reaching for some Brie which was spread on a cracker and dressed with a slice of apple.

He smiled at her, and Haley smiled back automatically, unable to help herself. His smile lit up his whole face, white teeth gleaming. Smiling only accentuated the angle of his jaw, which was nearly perfect.

"So, what's your name?" Luc continued as he selected more cheese from her tray and ate it. Lewis and his lady friends were standing around, watching the interaction.

"Haley," she responded, gesturing towards her name tag.

"Haley," Luc repeated, smiling again. "Haley with the hazel eyes," he continued, tipping her chin up so he could see her face more clearly.

"Yup, that's me," she responded, uncomfortable with the attention. She backed away, eyes lowered.

"No no, none of that," Luc admonished, reaching for more cheese. Her tray was nearly empty at this point. "You're part of the convo now, no leaving, young lady."

"Well, I'm meant to circulate, you know," she repeated lamely.

For some reason, the people gathered around her found this statement hilarious, and everyone laughed.

"Of course you are, but I'm the host of the party, paying for the whole thing, you know, so I'm the most important person here, in a way, don't you think?" he asked, nudging her with his shoulder. "Keeping me happy should be your number one priority, I believe."

Haley smiled at him, noticing that his eyelashes were so long they nearly touched his eyebrows. How was such a thing possible?

"Okay, everyone, nothing to see here, please disperse," Luc said, addressing the crowd. "Haley is going to get some more food, and you'll see her, erm, 'circulating' in a bit, won't you?" he asked, looking to her for confirmation.

Haley nodded, taking a deep breath.

So everyone, including the odious Lewis, left, leaving Haley alone with one of the most famous men in the world.

"So, go on then, off to the kitchen with you," Luc encouraged with a smile and a nod in the direction of the kitchen. "Go grab another tray, Haley with the hazel eyes."

"Okay," she responded, heading toward the kitchen. "Any particular requests?"
"How about those mushroom cap thingummies?" Luc suggested with another smile. "Those are simply smashing, I think."

Haley nodded acquiescence and headed toward the kitchen.