Typed/Posted: June 29, 2001
Revised: July 22, 2003

Disclaimer: I do not know Ryan Stiles, Drew Carey or any other cast member personally. I have never met any of them. This story is purely fictional. The Drew Carey Show and the characters contained belong to Warner Brothers & AOL Time Warner/ Mohawk Productions. Cher/Jennifer Nakamoto is a character that I have created. I have used the characters/settings (i.e.: The Warsaw) from the Drew Carey Show (without permission) to write my first fan fiction. If you have any problems or would like to use her in one of your stories, please email me first @ tweety@hi.net. Mahalo Nui Loa. Thank You Very Much. The Fiction Starts Now…

Author’s Note: The Story Continues…Thanks for the kind feedback. J As you can see, I’ve decided that I couldn’t just leave everyone hanging with a one-part story.  In this fic, Ryan and Cher drink one bottle of wine (meaning they each had about two glasses). Ryan dropped Cher off at the hotel after dinner. Just to clear things up, I don’t support drinking, then driving…but 1) It’s only a story & 2) They are over 21 years of age and are allowed to have a drink or two. Ryan was probably under the legal limit anyway.

**8:56 P.M.; Zia’s Italian Restaurant – Ryan Stiles and Cherilyn (Cher) Matthews sat together in a cozy corner booth. They had just ordered their meals and a bottle of the house white wine. There was light Italian music playing in the background, and the dining area was lit solely by candlelight. Each of these accented the restaurant’s romantic aura.

After an eerie silence, Ryan began to speak, "So, Cher, what brings you to California?  It’s a pretty long way from home, isn't it?  You do still live in Hawaii, right?"

Cher took a sip of water. How did he remember? After swallowing she said, "Yeah, I still live in Hawaii.  How did I get here? Well…it all started off when I submitted my first fan fic to my friend’s fan fiction group at Yahoo!. The feedback was mostly positive and I was happy with the comments I was getting. A couple of days later…" She paused to smile at Ryan. She still couldn’t believe she was in California sitting next to one of her favorite celebrities and was staying so calm.

Ryan, who was giving his full attention to her, smiled back. "Go on." He said.

"Okay, well a couple of days later, another one of my friends, Kimi suggested that I enter my fan fic in ABC’s DCS Fan Fiction Contest. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I..HEY! Wait a minute!" Cher took a breath and thought, Why did Ryan ask me this? Hello! He is part of the cast of the DCS! He should know about the contest already.

"Cher?" Ryan almost waved his hand in front of her face.

"Oh geez…I’m sorry, Ryan. I was just thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Ryan took a second to stare into Cher’s dark brown eyes.  He thought they were beautiful. He thought she was beautiful.

"Didn’t you know about the contest already? I’m sure the execs would have already told you…" Cher paused and waited for a response. A puzzled look traced her face.

Ryan shook his head. "Nope. I guess Drew wanted to surprise me. He told the rest of the cast and crew, but I had no idea. Did you win?" Ryan asked.

"Obviously!" Cher grinned and let out a laugh. Ryan’s cheeks flushed.

As she bobby pinned a loose strand of hair to her up-do, Cher said, "Sorry! Well, the grand prize was that the winner would be flown to California, an all-expenses paid trip for a week to be with you guys on the set as an extra.  But, due to the circumstances I mentioned earlier, here I am, Jennifer Nakamoto at your service."

"Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t know about the contest. Tell me, how did you enter?" Ryan’s green eyes were brimming with curiosity.

"Well, I…" Cher began, "I went to ABC.com and clicked on the contest link." She paused. "But, I can see why you wouldn’t know if Drew didn’t tell you…I mean you only have one computer, right? The one in your trailer." Cher looked somewhat proud that she knew so much about Ryan.

"That’s true..I do have one in my trailer, but actually, I own three computers." Ryan said. Cher sighed and thought, I guess I don’t know that much about Ryan after all.

"My friends and I all figured you only had one…because you don’t really like computers and the Internet."

"Well, you learn something everyday, right? The guys have been trying to teach Col and I how to surf the net. Computers aren’t that bad, really." Ryan took a sip of water. "Aah," He said. "That’s better."

Cher looked away, then looked back quickly. "Oh, look, the waiter is bringing our food. That was fast, wasn’t it?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I’m surprised. Cheesy restaurants like this one usually move at the speed of snail, If you know what I mean." Ryan had slipped in a reference to one of his favorite Whose Line? Games. Cher giggled. Just then, the waiter arrived carrying a round tray. One by one, he placed each of the plates on the tray in front of Ryan and Cher.

"Who had the Grilled Portabella Mushroom Sandwich?" He asked.

"I did." Cher reached up and carefully took the plate from his hands.

"So, you sir must have had the Chicken Marsala." He placed the piping hot plate in front of Ryan. "Be careful," He said. "The plate is really hot."

Ryan inhaled the sweet smell of his meal. "It smells delicious." He said.

"Sir, would you care to taste the wine before I pour you a glass?" The waiter asked Ryan.

"No, I trust the wine is decent. You can just pour." Ryan replied. The waiter poured Ryan and Cher each a glass of wine, said, "Enjoy your meals," and walked away.

"Where were we?" Cher asked. "Oh yeah. Drew, a couple of weeks ago, when he called to inform me that I had won the contest, mentioned to me that I could bring someone with me to watch the tapings.  I decided to invite one of my closest friends, Jamie West.  She'll be coming tomorrow to the set straight from the airport."

"She will have a great time, I'm sure."

"Of course she will.  Although she wanted to watch us, when I hinted that Colin would be on set tomorrow, she most likely lit up like a Christmas tree. She loves Colin." Cher took a sip of her wine and ran her tongue lightly across her lips.

"Well then." Ryan said after eating a piece of chicken. "We’ll just have to arrange a little meeting then, won’t we?" He smiled, letting his pearly whites show for once.

"Really, Ry? That would be awesome! Now, if only…" Cher cut her sentence short. She didn’t want to bother Ryan by asking for a favor after what he just said.

"If only what?" Ryan asked, after finishing his second glass of wine.

"Well, my friend Gail, who I met online, like Jamie…is dying to meet Drew. I think you might have met her once.." Ryan’s mind drifted back to the conversation he and Drew had that morning outside the studio.

A second later, he asked, "Cher, what did you say her name was?"

"Her name is Gail, and she just loves Drew…She is literally obsessed," Cher took a bite of her sandwich.

"You know what’s funny?" Ryan said.

"What?"

"Drew was bragging about her this morning at the studio!"

"That is funny. What a coincidence. I bet you guys were talking about her webpage."

"That’s exactly what we were talking about." Ryan smiled.

**10:21 P.M.; The Los Angeles Luxury Hotel

Outside room 602, Cher inserted her key in the slot. She could feel Ryan’s warm breath on her neck. The lights flickered green to red, and back to green. This meant the door was unlocked. She pushed the door gently. Then, Cher and Ryan entered the peaceful room. It was silent except for the steady humming of the air conditioner.

Ryan yawned. Cher saw this and pointed to the coffeepot. "Should I make some coffee?"

"Nah, It’s getting late, I should be heading home. We’ve got a 9:45 call tomorrow, you know." Ryan stretched his arms in the air, nearly missing the ceiling.

"Aww, come on Ryan." Cher made a face that Ryan could not say "No" to. She draped his navy blue jacket over the arm of a chair. "It’ll just be for a little while. I want to show you something anyway. Make yourself at home while I start the coffee." Cher walked towards the kitchen area of the hotel room.

Ryan’s eyes scanned every inch of the room. There was a fairly large walk-in closet, a his/hers bathroom, a large TV and a DVD Player, a coffee table, two double beds…

"Why do you have two double beds, Cher?"

"It’s for Jamie. She’s going to be around for the rest of the week, remember?" He nodded.  Cher handed Ryan a mug of hot coffee. The hotel’s logo was imprinted on the outside of the mug. "Cream, Sugar?" She asked.

"No, thanks." Ryan shook his head. He liked his coffee black, unlike Cher – whose dark coffee had just turned the color of chocolate milk.

"Ryan, here’s what I wanted to show you." Cher placed her coffee cup carefully on the table. She opened a seemingly empty suitcase and revealed a lap top computer, as well as some high tech accessories whose names Ryan could barely pronounce. "This is my computer. I take it everywhere." Cher finally said.

Ryan laughed, "Is that what you wanted to show me? We already went over the fact that I have three of those."

"No, wise guy!" Cher playfully punched him in the arm. It took less than two and a half minutes for her to connect everything and to get online. Ryan moved his chair closer to Cher’s so he could get a better view of the computer screen.

"Alright, we’re online," Cher said. "What I want to show you is..."  All of a sudden, a clip of "5 O’clock World" started to play, interrupting her.

"Why’s that song playing?" Ryan asked. One eyebrow shot up.

"Oh, someone’s online. That’s my instant messenger." A message box blinked in the middle of the screen. It read, "drewsahottie is online."

Ryan smirked and said, "I think I may know who that is! Can I message her?"

"You bet." Cher giggled and tossed back a lock of her brown curls. She scooted her chair over to the side so Ryan could sit in front of the screen. He clicked on Gail’s screen name and then the ‘Send an Instant Message’ button.

Ryan typed, "Hi Gail."

"Aloha Cher! What’s up?" Gail responded.

"This isn’t Cher, Gail." Ryan typed. For a beginner, Ryan can type pretty well! Cher thought.

"Then who am I chatting with?"

"You get one guess…but I’ll give you a clue. It’s NOT Drew."

"Gee, I figured that much." Gail sarcastically responded. "Is it Cher’s brother?"

"Nope, It’s Ryan."

"Ryan, who? Did Cher forget to tell me she had a boyfriend?"

"No, no...It's Ryan Stiles, believe it or not."

"Cher, stop posing! It’s not funny."  Gail started to get mad. How could Ryan be chatting with me, especially through Cher's screen name? Then she realized, "She won that contest…didn’t she?"

Ryan took a break from typing. He asked Cher, "How does everyone seem to know about the contest except me?!"

"Ryan, she’s waiting for an answer!" Cher replied.

"Oh, right." Ryan went back to typing.

"Gail, yeah, Cher did win the contest."

"I knew it. Hey, what are you doing in Cher’s hotel room? ;)"

"We just came back from dinner and, she invited me up to the room for some coffee. Honest." Ryan replied.

"I have to admit, I’m still skeptical."

"Oh, it’s okay Gail. I guess I would be too, if it was the other way around." Ryan pressed send. He glanced at his wristwatch. 10:49 P.M. Shit! I gotta go home. Better get to the point, Ryan. He thought, then typed, "Listen Gail, whether you believe me or not. This morning, Drew and I were talking, he bragged that you were planning to make an official webpage for him."

"Yeah, well, I’m trying to." Gail typed.

"Anyway, He said something about him having the final decision on whether or not your page would be used. Officially I mean. So I was thinking, why don’t you come to LA and show him your page yourself? My treat."

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Ryan could almost hear Gail scream from her home in Cleveland.

"I’ll take that as a yes." Ryan typed. "I hope you can take off of work for a while…I’ll have a ticket sent to you very soon. Give your address to Cher, okay? I gotta go. Kirk out."

"Bye Ryan!!!! Cher, are you there girl?" Gail typed anxiously.

"Yeah, hold on. I gotta say goodbye to Ry." Cher typed.

"Thanks, Ryan. You really didn't have to do that, ya know?" Cher said aloud as Ryan pushed his chair back into its original spot.

He put his coat on and said, "It was my pleasure.  Tonight was great. I’d like to stay longer, but I’ve gotta get some sleep. Thanks for the coffee. It should keep me awake while I’m driving home." Just as he opened the door to leave, Cher said, "Ryan." He turned around. Cher stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, Lewis."

"Good night, Jen-Jen." He gave Cher a hug and started walking down the hall. Ryan was glowing with happiness. As he walked towards the elevator he thought of the eventful evening that he had had with Cher and a big smile spread across his face. He whispered to himself, "She likes me, she really likes me. And, I like her. I really like her."

Meanwhile, back at the room, Cher sat in front of the computer. "Hey Gail, he just left." She typed.