Was It a Dream?

Alena sat in the little bookshop, bored out of her mind. The shop was never very busy at the best of times, but today had been especially slow. She idly wondered whether there were any people left who read books, personally she preferred going online. She lay her head down on the counter and was just drifting off to sleep when she heard the door opening.

She sat up and blinked her grey eyes a few times to clear her vision, which had gone blurry from the sleepiness. She brushed her auburn hair out of her face and looked towards the door. Three guys had entered the store; she couldn't make out too many details as the light was behind them. She was a little nervous as all three of them had their hoods over their heads. They also had sunglasses on. The last one through the door turned around to look outside.

"Did we lose them?" One asked.

This statement definitely made her very nervous. Who were they trying to lose? Maybe she better get out of here.

"Quick, get back. Here they come."

The one at the door said urgently. All three of them scurried to the back of the store, hiding behind one of the shelves. A group of girls ran past the store all excited, they were giggling and definitely looking for something or someone. Alena raised her eyebrows, her uneasiness forgotten as her curiosity got the better of her. Who were these guys and why were they running away from a bunch of girls? Alena was naturally curious and this had gotten her in trouble more than once.

She got out from behind the counter and walked to the door; she stepped out and looked down the street. The girls were still running down the street.

"There!" one of them cried out. "I'm sure I saw them going down that alley!"

The rest of the girls squealed in delight and ran down the alley that the girl had pointed out. Alena walked back into the store.

"Uhm, I don't know why your running from those girls, but they’re gone." she said to the hiding trio.

They laughed and walked towards her. One of them stepped forward removing the hood from his head. He was smiling. He had shoulder length black hair and she noticed that he had a really nice smile. He removed his shades and Alena found herself looking into the most amazing blue eyes that she had ever seen. Her heart skipped a few beats as realization struck her. She was looking at none other than Jared Leto, the Jared Leto the lead singer of the most amazing band. Oh, wait that would mean that the other two had to be his brother Shannon and their band mate Tomo.

Oh shit she thought.

"Thank you, we appreciate your help." Jared said.

The other two removed their shades and hoods as well. Alena tried to keep her cool.

"No problem, I guess you have to deal with this kind of thing every day." She said also smiling. "Stay as long as you like, nobody should bother you here."

Shannon laughed. "I guess you don't get many customers." he said.

Alena laughed rolling her eyes "This has been the slowest day to date; I don't know how the owner can keep this place open."

She walked back behind the counter.

"What's your name?" Tomo asked.

"Oh, I’m sorry! I'm Alena" she replied blushing. She hadn't thought they would be interested in her.

The three of them made themselves comfortable on the couches that were placed at the back of the shop.

"There's some coffee on the table and there should be some snacks as well." Alena informed them.

She tried not to stare at them, but was finding it harder and harder to play it cool. She could hear them talking quietly amongst themselves. Relax Alena, she berated herself. Don't go acting like a silly teenager, that's the last thing they want. Her phone rang and she had been so lost in thought that she jumped in the air when the phone went off. The result was that she fell of her chair, flat on her backside.

That's just great, way to go Alena. She thought to herself as she heard the three of them burst into laughter. Her phone was still ringing so she answered it while remaining seated on the floor. She wasn't ready to face the men from Mars yet.

"Hello" she said.

"What are you doing?" Her best friend Tina asked.

"Nothing much, why?"

"Do you feel like going out tonight?" Tina asked her.

"That sounds good." She replied. “Where do you feel like going Tina?'

"I don't know." Tina replied “Why don't you decide."

"Ok, how about that new club on Second Street. I hear it's great. Meet me at my place and we can go there together"

"Great, see you later."

She smiled as she put the phone down. Tina could be so hyper at times, but she was a great friend and she couldn't wait to tell her about the day’s events. She started to get up and almost had a heart attack when she came face to face with Jared. She took an involuntary step backwards.

"Oh, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to scare you; I just wanted to see if you were ok." He said smiling.

She decided that him smiling was like a nuclear bomb going off, because it did funny mushy things to her insides. She laughed self-consciously.

"Yes, I'm fine thank you."

"What time do you close shop?" Shannon asked.

Alena looked at the clock, it was almost five.

"Well we close at five so that will be now. If you don't feel like going out the front you can come out the back way with me."

They all agreed that that might be the best as they didn't want to run into any of the raging fans out front. Alena quickly closed up the shop and switched off all the lights, gathered her things and walked towards the back of the shop.

The men had followed her and she smiled to herself, she had seen their puzzled expressions when they didn't see a way out. She reached for one of the books "Hidden Adventures" and pulled it back. The bookshelf moved and she pushed it to the side.

"That is so cool!" Tomo exclaimed. He sounded like an excited kid. Alena just laughed.

"The owner is obsessed with these old mysteries; there are secret passages and hidden rooms all over the place."

The guys just laughed. They entered a little passage and Alena closed the "door" behind them. They followed the passage out to the back alley.

"Good bye Alena." Jared said smiling that nuclear smile of his again.

"Yes. Goodbye Alena." Shannon said “Thanks for helping us out of a sticky situation."

"No problem, feel free to run in anytime." She said with a smile.

They left and Alena wondered whether she would ever see them again. I can't wait to tell Tina about this, she's not going to believe me. Damn, I didn't even get an autograph! Oh well, at least I got to meet them.