The Story Behind The Picture

So Deborah had left the building for the night and our karaoke singers were getting ready to wrap things up. We were about 1/2 hour from closing. I was in the office doing my closing paperwork and puttering around by the copy machine when one of the other managers walked through and casually mentioned that "that guy from Dancing With The Stars, Mario something, had just come in with a group". I swear, it was like that movie shot where the camera pans in as I look up and stare with a retarded look on my face. Everything around me went all fuzzy and out of focus. I realized later that was because all the blood rushed from my head to various parts of my body that suddenly required my complete attention. I think I heard a chorus of angels off in the distance. I grabbed on to some furniture to steady myself as someone else inquired "Mario Lopez?" I immediately flashed to his Nip/Tuck shower scene. I think my mouth watered a little.

Of course, I dropped what I was doing to go see immediately. And of course, there he was, looking fine as hell. Some people commented later that they thought he was taller, but I never imagined he was anything other than exactly my height. The better to get lost in those cute brown eyes. The funniest part of this story is I only found out the next day that supposedly Carrie Ann was also part of the group of 6 or so people he came in with, and while that would usually prompt me to at least check out what she was wearing, I totally failed to even notice she was there.

Now normally, I have a pretty strict no picture policy with our celebrity guests. I absolutely abhor people who fawn all over celebrities when they should be working, and I try to remain professional in most of my dealings. We also have a "no bother" policy for the staff when dealing with celebrities, so I try to lead by example and not act like an idiot everytime some B-lister wanders by. Obviously, that rule didn't apply to the former President of the United States. I mean, it was the President for christ sake! And I suddenly and inpulsively decided it didn't apply to Mario Lopez either.

I also think the rules can be broken when the guy has been giving you a hard-on ever since he was AC Slater in a locker room scene. New rule of thumb: If my enjoyment of your career has ever caused me to want to rub one out, my no picture rule is officially out the window. So I grabbed my camera and worked my way over to the bar where our entertainers had intermingled with his group. I have to say as an aside that the man stopped and posed for countless pictures, often getting inturrupted in the middle of sentences. He was incredibly patient. So I quickly slid in next to him while simultaneously shoving a camera in one of my employee's hands. "Would you mind?" Like he had a choice. As you can see from the picture I made sure we were standing right next to each other as opposed to just snapped in the same room. Almost like we were on a date. Except not. And here's one more fun fact I doubt anyone but me would think to tell you. I could feel his body from where we were standing next to one another. His skin is hot. I knew it would be.