Athena

Robin bit his lip as he stood shivering in the cold, clutching his pen and sketch pad close to his chest. He’d been stood out in the cold for over an hour alone, stood tight to the securities metal railing to ensure he would have the absolute best spot.

He stood hugging himself tightly, not that it helped keep him warm anymore. The cold had long since seeped so far into him the only thing that kept him from running to find somewhere warm was the fear that, should he leave his spot, he’d return to find it taken and his chance of seeing her, Athena, gone forever.

The singer Athena had caught the world by storm, nobody a year ago, the young woman had taken to the celebrity lifestyle like a duck to water and was now breaking records with her angelic voice and addictive tunes. A plus-sized woman, she had easily overcome a lack of confidence to become a global lyrical sensation, selling out venues wherever she performed, her fanbase, a veritable legion of screaming girls, following her wherever she performed.

Robin might not have been one of the many girls, but he, like them, was so incredibly enamoured by her beautiful music and voice that when he heard she would be performing in his city, he just had to be there.

He could hear the distant booming of the bass and the low shrill of the fangirls inside the stadium as she performed, doubtless giving thousands of eager fans the best concert of their lives, but the prices on the tickets had been exorbitant and way outside of his price range.

He shivered and blew out a cloud of mist, holding himself tighter as he reminded himself time and time again in his mind that she would be coming. Soon she would soon be finishing her show and would have to come from the door to his right to her waiting limo on the left, and, in doing so, would have to pass him and the other girls who, by then, would be crowded in around him.

Time bled by and Robin shivered as a few groups of girls began to arrive around him, early leavers from the concert who valued the chance of an autograph and a glimpse of her up close over the end of the actual concert they had paid for. Many of those beginning to stand around him were in small groups, chatting amongst themselves to pass the time, but he didn’t have that option, he simply listened, hearing her first hand on the wind, it was muted and crowded in by the screaming of her fans, but it was there.

He heard as the set ended, the screaming crowds intensifying, the encore coming and going for two more songs, all the while feeling the cold of the lengthening night chilling him further as more bodies pressed in around him.

He bit his lip and looked up, the crowd around him moving in tighter to the metal railing as it became guarded, hulking men crammed into cheap tight suits, bodyguards if ever Robin had saw them, a good indicator that the moment was finally drawing close.

As the roaring from the stadium declined, the excitement in the air around Robin grew more and more electrified, the quiet waiting group beginning to buzz as they collectively sensed the moment was due.

He watched the door intently, waiting for it to move, knowing his window to see her, to actually see her, would be very brief and he didn’t want to miss a second of it.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as the door swung open and for a moment, just for a moment, the world seemed to pause, she was looking right at him, their eyes meeting, the world was silent, still, she smiled wryly as she stepped forward and his lips parted in a whisper, “Athena?”

The world exploded around him and Robin found himself pressed forward against the steel bars of the fence, the screams of the girls and their chanting of her name filling the cold night air.

“Athena! Athena! Athena!” A chorus of shrill voices, arms outstretched, offering books, CD’s and pens to her as she made her way down the line, smiling so perfectly with her ruby red lips as she thanked people for coming out.

While Robin had managed to stay at the front, small as he was he could only just reach out as far as the people in the row behind him pressing forward, he wanted to call her name, to get her attention, but he knew in the din of everyone else’s calls it would be washed away, so he simply watched her draw closer and closer.

She looked a little tired, unsurprising, given that she had just done a full show, but even so she was so gorgeous, her dress hugging a tan figure with curves worth showing, her hair a bleach blonde, one side of her head cropped close, the other long and partially covering her face.

She came so close he could almost have reached out and touched her, though her always attentive guards were ensuring no such attempts were made.

As she passed by he looked up and saw the sparkle in her sea blue eyes, so pure, he thought, made all the more intense by the dark eyeliner and shadow that expertly rimmed her gaze. Her lips were curled into a warm innocent smile as she offered bright thank you’s in her rich accent, not directed at anyone in particular but at the gathered crowd in general, glad to see everyone, her charisma enchanting even through her exhaustion.

She plucked a pad and pen out of a girl’s hands to his right, then passed it back, his heart skipped a beat as her hands reached out, so close he could see the glitter in her red nail varnish, see the difference between her warm tanned skin and his own, pail and fair, but it passed by onto the next screaming fan.

And like that, the moment was over. A few more signatures, a few more steps and she gave a beaming smile and wave, her beauty and sparkling dress illuminated in the bright light as camera flashes caught her at her best.

As she stepped around her limo and sat down inside it, he felt himself relax, clutching his pad and pen close to his chest, not feeling disappointed by failing to get her signature like he thought he would be, in fact Robin found he was smiling.

For the best part of a year he’d been enamoured with her talent and beauty, and just to have seen her was enough for him, the memory worth more than any hastily drawn scribble on some poorly drawn art of her.

With the press of people behind him starting to disperse, Robin was so practically frozen to the bone from waiting out for so long that he found himself unwilling to move and stretch out what he was sure to be aching limbs. It didn’t take long before Robin found himself stood almost alone, leaning on the metal railing a little more casually, savouring the experience for as long as he could before the long cold walk back to the bus stop.

He pursed his lips a little curiously as he looked over towards the limo that, oddly he thought, still hadn’t pulled away. He guessed they wanted to wait until the traffic lightened up on the way out of the venue and that, for Athena, the back of a limo was as good of a place to relax and unwind after an event as any.

He perked up for a moment as the limo door opened, but quickly relaxed again as a slender lady with a tight professional hairstyle stepped out, adjusting an earpiece and clutching a clipboard. She closed the door behind her and looked around sceptically, walking back towards the back door of the venue before spotting Robin and slowing her stride somewhat, surprised to see anybody still there.

He offered her a warm smile and raised his hand briefly as if to say ‘hey’ and she gave an odd sort of smile in return.

“Hey,” she said, stepping towards the barrier, catching Robin, who hadn’t actually been meaning to strike up a conversation, a little off-guard.

“Uh, hey,” he said, voice soft and welcoming, though it was difficult to hide the chill he felt, “good show tonight?”

The woman nodded some, maintaining that curious gaze, “Very good, didn’t you see it?”

Robin shook his head, “Couldn’t afford the tickets, but I got to see her when she came out!” he enthused, his smile genuine.

“Oh? You came all this way just to see her come from the door to the car? Not even to perform?” She asked, curious.

“Mmhm!” He laughed a little, brushing a strand of his long black hair behind one ear.

She laughed a little too and smiled brightly “Oh that’s so sweet, were you waiting out here long? And did you at least get something signed?”

Robin shrugged a little, “Ah, just a couple hours, and sadly no, but I’m just happy I saw her, really.”

She smiled knowingly, “You must really be her biggest fangirl then hm?”

“Fanboy,” he said a little defensively, but maintained his smile, used to people getting that wrong, “but definitely her biggest fan!” He laughed softly and the woman paused, a smirk on her lips as she eyed Robin up and down as if seeing him for the first time, scrutinizing him, as if undressing him, seeing under his coat to the slender, lithe body beneath, then back up to his soft round face and long well maintained black hair that he kept tucked behind his ears.

“Mm…” She glanced around a little, surreptitiously before leaning in closer to Robin, her voice lowered, “If you want, I could maybe see about getting that signed for you?” She tapped his pad with a pen held in her fingers.

Robin blushed crimson, his eyes going wide, “R-really?