Times Square

Leigh Stafford took a long pull on her cigarette before blowing the smoke into the surrounding air. Fresh rain sparkled upon the streets as the lights of the New York nightlife blinked in the dark night. The sound of her rain boots hitting the wet ground was muffled underneath the overwhelming din of the New York life. Taxis honked at pedestrians who were crossing the street. The sound of music coming from the Broadway theater signaled another showing of Wicked. People talking or yelling to one another was heard over the rumbling of the city buses. The food vendors were cooking their specialty foods and selling them to tourists and city residents alike.

Leigh took great care to avoid the men who stood on the sidewalks trying to sell bus tours. She'd been living in the city for nearly five years and every day she walked by them, they tried to sell a ticket to her. She'd given up explaining to them that she lived in the city and wasn’t a tourist. They never listened anyway.

Pausing outside of “Times Square”, the new nightclub she managed, Leigh finished the cigarette she'd been smoking and stomped it out with her heel. She took one last look at the city she lived in before deciding to enter the loud venue. As she turned towards the door, she noticed out of the corner of her eye, a tall slender man with curly dark hair and piercing blue eyes glance her way. He was smoking a cigarette like a lot of other people outside, but there was something about him that drew her attention. She was almost tempted to stop and talk to him, but remembering what she had to do before the day was over, resumed her walk into the club. The bouncer, who's name was Tiny though he was nowhere near tiny in appearance, nodded at the sight of Leigh and allowed her inside without a word. The sound of the pop rock music blasted at her eardrums as made her way through the building to her office.

There was a popular Finnish band playing tonight and Leigh had a few unfinished things to do before she had to make sure everything was prepared for them. As she settled behind the desk in her overstuffed office chair, Leigh let out a sigh. She missed the nights when she'd go out partying and watching famous bands play clubs and bars. Now she was thirty two years old and far from enjoying those nights anymore. She had a job to do and she was damn good at it.

There were still nights, however, that Leigh wished she could let loose and just party it up.

Knock Knock.

Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those nights.

“Come in!” Leigh called out as she pushed her datebook to the side of her desk. She'd been looking through her schedule trying to see what bands were playing the rest of the week. She picked her head up so her blue eyes could take in the sight of her assistant, Veronica, standing in the doorway. “What is it, Vee?”

“It's the lead singer of tonight's band, ma'am.” Veronica's pale features were so full flushed that her cheeks nearly matched the color of her deep crimson hair. “He's being... difficult.”

Leigh's eyes slanted in suspicion. “What do you mean by 'difficult'?”

Veronica blanched as if she were afraid to explain.

“Spit it out, girl.” Leigh told her employee before Veronica could run away.

“He refuses to eat the food we served him. He is demanding to speak to the manager.” Veronica's hands were clenched around a piece of paper. “I didn't want to bother you, but he won't perform until he sees you.”

With a groan, Leigh wished that for one day, she didn't have to deal with whiny, narcissistic assholes who wanted people to bow to their every whim. She stood in the next moment and waved Veronica away, the sign that she'd take care of whatever 'issues' there were concerning Mr.... Turning back to her planner, she read the name of the band and it's members. Lead singer …. Ville Valo.

Mr. Valo better be prepared for the Stafford wrath. Leigh thought to herself as she reached for her leather jacket from the back of her chair and pulled it on over her conservative blouse. Then she left her office to deal with the situation.

Making her way to the VIP room, Leigh tried to go over everything she was going to say to this annoying little jerk who thought scaring her assistant would get him anywhere at all. She hated people who took advantage of others and Veronica hated confrontation. Whenever she knew she'd done something she shouldn't have, the young woman would literally avoid Leigh until she couldn't anymore. The fact that this man thought he could treat a sweet lady like this was enough to put him on Leigh's hit list.

Stopping at the entrance to the VIP room, Leigh glanced at the head of the club's security detail. Charlie was standing beside the door with a grim look on his face. If any of the club's patrons approached this room, the man's stance would scare them off before they got close enough.

“Are they inside?” Leigh asked her most trusted employee with a wave towards the room.

“Yeah.” Charlie's eyebrows came up at the look on her face. “What did they do?”

“The singer scared Vee.” She told him with her anger clearly displayed.

“What?” Charlie seemed confused by the very thought. “He seemed cool when he introduced himself. Why in the world would he scare Sweet Vee?”

Leigh shrugged, though she didn't care to know why he did that more than she wanted to know who he thought he was. “I need to speak to him.”

Charlie waved her on, but appeared to worry. He'd been on the receiving end of Leigh's anger and he must have felt bad for the unknowing Ville Valo inside. Clearing the doorway, Leigh put on her best attitude as she took in the appearance of the members of the Finnish band. The guys were must older than she expected to find. She thought she was dealing with a handful of teenagers or young men, not full grown adults with beards.

At her entrance, all of the men lifted their heads in unison. Her gaze slid over the group taking mental notes as she went: A slightly overweight man with long dark hair and a full faced beard. One man who looked to literally have a head full of dreadlocks. The third was sitting beside the other two with brown hair that draped across his shoulders and a small goatee on his face. Another chubby man with no hair was drinking from a water bottle but stopped as he stared at her. And the last member...

A pair of mesmerizing ice blues eyes gazed at her from underneath long eyelashes. Curly black hair fell into those eyes and cascaded down to just above his shoulders. He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Then it hit her. She'd seen him already today. Just barely thirty minutes before outside of the club.

“It took you long enough, love.” The man with blue eyes spoke with his perfect accent.

“You?” Leigh asked in disbelief. “You're the asshole?”

His eyes crinkled at the sides as if he wanted to laugh, but he was smart enough not to. “My name is Ville.”

Rolling her eyes, Leigh crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to get over her shock. It didn't work. “Why did you scare my assistant, Ville?”

At the sound of his name on her lips, the blue eyed man smiled widely. “I didn't, love.”

“But she said-”

“She did exactly as I asked her to.” Ville cut her off with that melodic voice. It appeared that he knew how to use it to his advantage. “I asked her to retrieve the beautiful manager for me.”

Leigh felt as if her jaw would drop to the floor. “So this was a setup?”

Vee had lied about the man making a fuss. No wonder Charlie had been so shocked over the idea of Ville being mean to her.

“Yes, love. I wanted to meet you.” Ville leaned back into the chair he was sitting on. “I saw you outside and knew I had to know you.”

“Why?” Leigh asked not understanding what the point was. She was just like any other girl in this huge city. Why would some Finnish singer want to meet her?

At the question, the other four members of the band shuffled out of the room to give them some privacy. Once alone, Leigh allowed her eyes to fall on the gorgeous man lounging in front of her. He seemed to be too comfortable with the situation.

“You were saying?” Leigh asked. Letting her arms fall to her sides, she walked further into the room, but refused to relax. She was still technically working and he was distracting her.

Ville leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees as he watched her closely. “Go to dinner with me.”

“Excuse me?” She asked in amazement. “Where did this come from?”

“You seem like a hardworking and passionate woman. You're clearly compassionate about those who work for you otherwise you wouldn’t have come here to bitch at me on behalf of your assistant. I like the fiery side of you that I see and would love to see a few other sides of you as well.” Ville said all of this with a smirk and for some reason, it was working on Leigh. Dammit, but he was tempting.

“But I don't understand. Why?” Leigh asked next, sitting on the couch across from him because he was offering her something she hadn't realized she wanted. A chance at finding love.

“I like what I see so far. I'd love to know more about you.” Ville paused long enough for his words to sink in. “What do you say?”

Leigh bit her lip, wanting to tell him no, but she was sinking into those blue eyes and the promises he was pretty much telling her.

“Please- just one dinner? If you don't like me, then we'll call it.” Ville promised with a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but all it did was make Leigh's inside melt. “What do you say?”

Leigh felt her resolve slipping. “I-”

“Please.” He said again, his Finnish accent making her want to sink into the floor all the more. “I don't bite. I promise.”

Leigh couldn't stop herself. She didn't know where it came from, but all she could think about was the look on his face when she said her next words.

“What if I want you to?”