I nestled under my covers; a smile crossed my lips when Ryan’s voice uttering the words “I’m falling in love with you” echoed in my mind. I let sleep take me under with that being my last thought.

I just about leapt out of my skin when my alarm system went off. A surge of adrenaline coursed into my veins from the shrill of the alarms. I ran to my bedroom door and locked it. I looked at the clock; it was almost five. Not more than thirty seconds passed before the alarm company called my cell phone.

“Hello, this is Taryn Mitchell,” I breathed into the phone.

“Ms. Mitchell, this is Jeff from Shield Security, we have indications of a breach in your building. Are you in the building?”

“Yes,” I stammered.

“Are you secured?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ve locked myself in my bedroom.” My heart was pounding; the alarms were blaring.

“Sensors are indicating a window on your first floor. We have alerted local authorities. The police have been dispatched; their ETA is four minutes. I will stay on the line with you until authorities arrive. Are you in need of medical assistance?”

“No. I’m fine. Scared, but fine.” I was trembling as I put some clothing on.

“Ms. Mitchell, the police have arrived. They are unable to get inside.”

I unlocked my door and crept out into the hallway. I could hear the police banging on the front door.

“I’m going downstairs to let them in,” I informed him.

As soon as I opened the front door the police quickly escorted me out of my building so they could do a sweep for an intruder. I was shaking like a leaf when they sat me inside a patrol car.

Another patrol car came speeding down Fourth Street, red and blue lights blazing. I believe every cop on duty in Seaport was there. After what seemed like an eternity, an officer came to the car. I recognized that he was the same officer who came into my pub when Ryan and our guests were here.

“Miss, my name is Officer Carlton,” he introduced himself.

“Yes, officer. You were here earlier.”

“Yes ma’am. We’ve searched your facility for intruders. No one is inside. It appears that a large rock has been thrown through your front window.

There are no other signs of forced entry.”

I just nodded. I was freezing and scared shitless.

“Is there someone you can contact to help you? You will need to board up your window. We are going to take pictures of the scene first and I’ll need to take a statement from you.”

I still had my cell phone in my hand.

“Pete?” my voice cracked.

Pete and Tammy arrived about thirty minutes after I called.

“Tammy!” Relief washed over me as I hugged her.

“Taryn, are you okay? What happened?” she asked.

I repeated my story again. Shattered glass was all over the table and booth and the impact took down one of my neon bar signs.

“In all the years we’ve had this pub, this is the first time we’ve ever had any vandalism. I don’t understand.” I shook my head. I tried to imagine why someone would hurl a rock through my window. For a brief moment, I wondered if it was some obsessed fan that did it.

Tammy and I held the sheets of plywood in place while Pete boarded up the window. The sun was starting to rise; in another hour or so I’d be able to call a contractor to come fix the glass. I also needed to get the insurance company involved. All this hassle for what? I hoped that whoever threw the rock got whatever was bugging them out of their system.

Tammy stayed with me while Pete went to work. I felt horrible for getting him out of bed so early. He only had four hours of sleep, if that.

“What would be the motivation for someone to do this?” I asked, pouring shattered glass into the plastic garbage can.

“I don’t know. It’s so senseless and juvenile,” Tammy muttered.

“Do you think I was targeted?” I wondered.

“I hope not. Are you thinking it was a fan or something like that?” Tammy asked.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one to have that thought. I nodded my head in agreement.

Ryan’s fans were obsessed; I wouldn’t put it past one of them to do something like this. After all, the first day I met him, one of his fans had gone beyond admiration and moved towards assault.

“Well, at least I know that the security system is working. The security company called me within seconds of the alarm going off.”

After we finished cleaning up, I gave Tammy a ride home. We made it four feet outside my building before the paparazzi descended on us and the cameras started to click. There were eight or nine of them and they already knew my name.

I concentrated on the keys in my hand and the cracks in the sidewalk as we hurried to my car. Just like Ryan had warned, they started prompting me with questions.

“How’s Ryan? Are you his girlfriend? Taryn, to your left – look to your left. What was the occasion for the party? What happened to your window?

Are you and Ryan Christensen dating? Taryn, look over here. You’re beautiful – I can see why he likes you.”

I unlocked the car doors and Tammy and I jumped in as fast as we could. The photographers were still taking pictures as I backed out of my parking space.

“Oh my God, Taryn! I’m freaking shaking!” Tammy stuttered as I drove down Mulberry Street. Her hands were trembling.

I was slightly shaken as well, but not as bad as I thought I would be. Maybe because I had mentally prepared myself for this that it didn’t affect me as severely as I had imagined? The thought of Ryan being proud of how I just handled myself with the paparazzi flashed through my thoughts.

I dropped Tammy off at home and returned to my parking spot a block away from my pub. The paparazzi had mostly disbanded, but there were still three of them lingering by my door. I didn’t smile at them or acknowledge their presence; they were blood-sucking leeches in my book.

I locked myself inside and waited for the insurance adjuster to arrive. I thought about calling Ryan but resisted. It didn’t matter; he still called me anyway. I refrained from telling him about the window while he was still on set filming. He needed to focus and I certainly didn’t want to add another piece of stress to his life. I decided to wait to tell him about the window until he was back at his hotel.

After a few phone calls, poker night was cancelled. Everyone seemed fine with staying home, although Tammy and Marie both offered to come stay with me. I thanked them but declined. I was fine playing my guitar by myself.

“Are you still playing poker?” Ryan asked when he called at eight o’clock. I was surprised that he was in a good mood, considering he was on set for almost thirteen hours.