St Elmo's Bar and Grill was hopping with activity. It seemed that everyone in Georgetown had come to celebrate something. What they were celebrating on a weeknight was news was a mystery, but Kirby Kager didn't care. After all, no one in Georgetown needed a reason to party.

"Kirby! Over here!"

Kirby looked up to find Jules waving at him. With a sigh he pushed his way through the crowd.

"Hey, Beautiful." He said, kissing her cheek. "What'll you have?"

Jules laughed, advertising that she'd lost her sobriety long ago. Kirby knew it was wrong to get her any more to drink, but he'd make sure that she got home safely.

"Kirbs, this is Mark." She said, smiling sweetly at the handsome man sitting next to her.
Kirby nodded in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Mark."

"So what sounds good, Honey." Jules purred.

Mark grinned seductively. Kirby knew that look. He'd given it to plenty of women in his lifetime. "What I want ain't on this menu, Babe."

Jules slowly began to unbutton her blouse, stopping just at her chest. "Here... let me show you my menu." She put her hand around the back of Mark's neck and pulled him into a scorching kiss.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Kirby looked away and fanned himself with his order pad. Had it suddenly gotten hot in here? Nervously he ran a hand through his brown hair.

"I-I'll come back later, okay?"
When he looked back at Jules and Mark, the searing kiss had progressed to four-alarm. Jesus, those two really need to get a room!

It seemed as though Jules dragged a different guy into St Elmo's every week. Kirby was pretty sure she'd been with every guy at Georgetown University and was now working on expanding her horizons. He'd be willing to bet a week's salary that Mark was well past college age.

It was none of his business anyway. He tossed the worn checkered dishtowel over his shoulder and began to clean up a nearby table.

Slobs.

He couldn't believe that people who drove BMW's around campus would have such disrespect for the most popular bar in town. But what did he know? He was far from BMW status.

When the table was clean, he walked around looking for more customers. It wasn't easy; despite the crowd most people were either sharing appetizers in favor of a full meal, or nursing drinks that they'd bought hours before.

The tips tonight were sure to be lame.

Billy Hicks and his band walked onto the stage, prompting a roar of the crowd.

"Are you ready to rock?" Billy yelled. When he pulled his saxophone over his tall, thin frame, the screams from the college girls were deafening.

Within seconds, nearly the whole place was dancing to the music; Billy's saxophone playing taking center stage.

Kirby watched in amazement as Jules let go of Mark's hand and danced her way through the crowd, pausing to dance with several men along the way.

Finally she reached the stage and was greeted by Billy, who guided her up the stairs and into the spotlight he shared with the band. As they danced to the music, Billy grabbed her and kissed her full on the lips, causing a mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd.

When Kirby looked back at Mark, he was stunned to find that the guy seemed to be enjoying himself.

Unbelievable.

"Kirby!"

The booming voice of his obnoxious boss could be heard over the music, which was a miracle, considering how loud it was in the bar.

What did that moron want now?

Kirby cursed under his breath and walked over to his boss. "Yeah?"

"Look, I know the lady is sexy and all..." He said pointing to Jules, who shared another kiss with Billy "But you've got customers. Now get over there and help them before I fire your ass."

"What? Again?" Kirby said with a laugh. He pulled out his order pad and pen and walked over to a small corner table where a man and woman were sitting with their backs to him.

"Hi, what can I get you?" He asked, giving them a fake smile.

The man scoffed. "It's about damn time! I thought we were going to have to sit here all night!"

Kirby smirked. "Well if I knew you were going to be such a jackass, I would have let you sit here all night."

The man stood so forcefully that the wooden chair he'd been sitting in fell to the ground. "Listen you smart-ass punk. I'm gonna make sure-."

"Honey, please. Don't make a scene." The woman said. "Let's just leave."
"Like Hell we will!" the man said. "I have a right to be in here and so do you!"

The woman kissed the man on the cheek. "Here, help me take this off."
The man smiled and reached over and pulled the fleece hood from the woman's head.

"Thanks, that's much better." She sighed. She shook out her hair which fell in beautiful waves down her back.

That hair...

Kirby's mouth went dry and he stood, mesmerized at the sight of her silhouette.

"Dale?"

When she turned in surprise, his heart fell.

Damn... it's not her.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

Suddenly the man took notice. "What in the hell are you doing, looking at my girlfriend?"

Kirby backed away slowly. "Hey, lay off, Dude. I thought she was someone else."

"And you're gonna wish you were someone else by the time I'm through with you."

"Come on, Chuck. Let's go." The woman said, grabbing his sleeve.

"Keep away from my property, do you understand? Kirby?" Chuck said, glancing at Kirby's name tag.
"No problem, Jerk. Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Chuck." Kirby said, laughing at his sudden humor.

"You son of a-."

Chuck tried to swing at Kirby, but in the nick of time, Kirby felt someone grab his arms and pull him away. When he looked up, Chuck was gone.

"That was close." Billy said.

"Hey thanks, Man. I owe you one." Kirby said.

"I'll keep that in mind. I think I've exhausted my favors with everyone else around here." Billy said with a laugh.
Kirby went back to cleaning the table, and found that he couldn't stop thinking of her...

Dale Bieberman.

She was the love of his life.

Only problem was...

Kirby was the only one who knew it.