Josh wandered around a bit, looking at all the celebrities and beautiful women before entering what looked like a fantasy inn.
His stomach let him know that some food would be welcome and at the bar he ordered a fantasy sandwich.
He washed it down with a beer and turned to look around.
Megan was right, there were quite a few standard costumes, Legolas being favorite.
Glad he followed her advice to try something different, he felt original.
Continuing his sightseeing, Josh walked into the garden that was connected to the inn.
Despite it being indoors, it looked real enough, the magic of Hollywood he thought to himself.
He was halfway through when he heard an altercation.
Moving quickly to where he had heard the sound come from, he entered a lover's alcove and saw a Jedi slap an elf princess in the face.
Josh saw that the guy was rather big so opted for a bluff instead of a physical confrontation.
Besides, he didn't want to come up on charges if he did beat up the guy.
"Sir, you will release her immediately or I will be forced to arrest you on assault charges."
The man let go of her wrist at once and looked startled around, squinting at Josh.
Only then did Josh notice a red and angry palm print on his face and saw glasses lying on the ground near a bush. Moving in closer with a determined stride, Josh quickly kicked the glasses further under the bushes, hoping that the guy would have bad eyesight.
"Please explain yourself" Josh followed up in keeping with his act.
"This whore told me she couldn't make it tonight but instead she was here with someone else."
"Is she your wife or girlfriend?" Josh sternly asked, knowing where this would lead to.
"No, she's a call girl okay" the man almost shouted, getting angry again.
"Sir" Josh asked in a no nonsense tone of voice "are you freely admitting that you came here with a paid date, in other words a solicitation?"
The man then stopped and looked surprised at Josh.
Josh turned his attention to the girl who had sat down while Josh grilled the man.
Her lip was thick and bleeding, her make up running from her tears.
"Would you like to press charges?" Josh asked her.
She didn't reply, just shook her head no.
"Very well then, I suggest that you remove yourself from this area and leave this woman alone or I will press charges, now move buster" Josh almost shouted against the big guy.
Unsure of himself the man walked briskly away, cursing under his breath.
Josh moved closer to the girl and offered her a tissue.
"Are you alright?" Josh asked softly in a kind voice.
"I'll be a fine officer" she replied "thank you for coming to my rescue."
"I am not a cop miss, just a guest like you but he was too big for me to take so I thought I'd bluff my way with him."
Only then did she look up and saw his face and costume.
A faint smile appeared on her face and she said "thank you for your bravery then."
She opened her purse and got her phone out, starting to send a text message.
"Could you wait with me for a little while?" she asked "until my boss gets here?"
"Sure" Josh said and sat down next to her "I'm Josh, what's your name?"
"Melody and I are pleased to meet you Josh."
When she was done texting, she gave him a good stare and asked "how old are you?"
Turning a bit red Josh answered "seventeen."
That made her smile reach her eyes until she grimaced from pain from her hurt lip.
"Very brave indeed" Melody continued "are you alone here tonight?"
"No, I am with my dad and his date but they were discussing business so I decided to wander around."
"Good thing you did, for me at least" she sighed and tried to repair some of her makeup.
They spend a few minutes in silence when finally her boss arrives accompanied by a huge man dressed as Morpheus, only bigger and blacker.
Josh got up, nodded at the new arrivals and said to Melody "I hope the rest of the night will be more fun for you, take care."
She smiled at him, mouthing thanks one more time.
He was about to walk out when the big guy said "hold on sport."
"Could you tell me what happened?" he asked in a deep voice.
Josh nodded and moved with him out the lover's corner onto the main path.
Giving him the short rundown, the guy grinned and finally laughed out loud in such a fashion that Josh couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Well done sport" he said "my name is Burt and I am a pro bodyguard, should you ever need help in that regard, give me a call, I am liking you a lot" and gave Josh his card.
Josh did the same and wrote down his new number on the back.
"Just in case you need help" Josh joked and both laughed again.
"I'll better see to Melody, thanks again sport" Burt said and moved back into the corner.
Almost halfway back to the inn, Josh heard his name being called.
Turning around he saw the woman that accompanied Burnt walking briskly towards him.
She was a stunning sight, commanding in her presence and from a distance looked a lot like Beyonce. Her white semi translucent dress flowing around her and her long dark brown hair held tight by a tiara.
Josh waited until she had reached him, noticing the differences with Beyonce as she came closer to him.
"Thank you for waiting Josh" she said a little flushed.
"No problem miss"
"Do you know who I am?" she asked, looking him up and down, taking stock.
"Nope," Josh said, "but I know what you are."
She raised her eyebrow at his statement and laughed when he continued to say "absolutely gorgeous."
"Sweet talk will get you everywhere Josh" she replied grinning "do you need to be somewhere or do you have a few minutes?"
"I have all the time in the world so sure, what can I do for you?" Josh replied confidently.
This day had done wonders for his self image and he felt really good about himself.
She considered his statement and mulled something over in her head.
"Well then, I am going to steal you for more than a few minutes, come with me" she said in a way that showed that she was used to being obeyed.
Josh followed her to the elevator, noticing the stares of some of the men to her.
Once in the elevator, she produced a key and turned it in a lock, the elevator display suddenly showing several floors more.
She pressed the semi top destination marked The Den.
"Josh, let me start by thanking you for what you did for Melody, it was uncommon and chivalrous and really appreciated."
"Did she tell you she was a call girl and that she worked for me?"
"No, but going by what that idiot said, I figured as much, still doesn't give him the right to treat a woman like that" Josh answered.
"I agree, unfortunately it's more common than I would like" she replied smiling sadly at him.
"My name is Danni by the way, I completely forgot to introduce myself, so sorry dear" Danni said "but I am also known as the Hollywood Madam."
Josh blushed a bit and grinned when he said "Burt didn't look like a madam, true."
Her laughter filled the elevator and she moved a bit closer, leaning with one arm against the elevator wall.
"When we arrive in a moment, don't be alarmed, there is security because of a rather large fetish party with some famous people so they will frisk you."
"Just follow me and pay as little attention as you can muster to what you will see okay?"
He nodded and was a little startled when suddenly she moved in closer and sniffed in his neck.
She grinned and looked at him with new respect saying "you smell of sex Josh, care to tell me?"
At that point the elevator came to a halt with the customary ding, saved by the bell Josh thought.