When I was promoted to be Sandra’s publicity manager, I never imagined the job responsibilities would include running errands, showing reporters around, and now - managing her fan club.

That was a big… eye opener for me, for lack of a more polite term. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of a celebrity before. So the utter devotion of some fans to Sandra was, to put it lightly, shocking for my wizened mind. Especially since Sandra was a conceited, pompous bitch hiding behind a bewitching smile and intense blue eyes. I called her the blue-eyed devil.

Her fans, however, proclaimed their heartfelt love for Sandra all day, every day, and professed to know everything about her. From the number of hairs on her scalp to the size of her, well, thighs, they knew all the small details. It was crazy! But they were also her most ardent supporters and that meant I had to be accommodating of their whims.

Today’s request was simple though. The company and the fan club wanted a celebrity magazine to publicize the inner workings of being a Sandra fan. All I had to do for the day was accompany a reporter as he interviewed a young Sansan (the name of Sandra’s fandom); I was sure the fangirl had changed her name to Sansan on purpose. 

The reporter was a middle-aged man around my age. He introduced himself as Li Wai. By his sharp eyes and the straight line drawn by his lips, I could tell he was the no-nonsense type. 

We met on the sidewalk of a busy road and as I brought him across a full parking lot and towards where a bunch of girls and guys were gathered, I asked him whether he had any experience with fans. He replied in the negative. I chuckled inside, knowing he would be in for a ride.

When we reached the pack of fans, the leader broke away upon recognizing me. She was a young teenage girl with bright round eyes and carefully done makeup, out to impress. A professional long-distance camera hung around her neck like the rest of the fans. 

I introduced Li Wai to her and she shook his outstretched hand while wearing a demure smile, the picture of class and style. His observant eyes having noticed the thick, colorful books held by some of the girls, Li Wai asked her what those were.

“Those are fan compilations of Sandra’s pictures,” she explained. “Some fans write encouraging messages to go with the pictures as well.” She pointed to the thicker books. “The thicker it is, the more pictures they hold.”

Her lips drew into a small pout. “Some lucky fans even managed to find her baby pictures, I heard. And apparently, she had the cutest little-”

She caught herself midway through her sentence, eyes growing wide when she realized she was talking to a reporter. Clearing her throat, she regained her professional look and gestured to the front. “Let me bring you closer to where the action is.”

The tinge of red dusting her cheeks was a dead giveaway, however, and Li Wai exchanged a conspiratory look with me before letting her lead us through the throng of fans. 

"Is it always this crowded?" he asked.

"Today is better," the young Sansan shouted above the din. "Sometimes if you're lucky, you might see her water bottle!"

Li Wai frowned. "What use is that?"

Confused by his question, she lifted an eyebrow as she adjusted the strap of her camera. "It's important information for us. It tells us whether Sandra values certain people in her life, whether she's eating well or sleeping well."

At the sound of activity up ahead, the fangirl snapped her attention back to the front of the hotel. She raised her camera to her eyes, ready for action. Her calm composure from earlier completely disappeared, replaced by a tense excitement. 

Having lost the attention of his subject, Li Wai turned to me and shook his head in disbelief. "How do they get all that from a water bottle?"

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. "Welcome to the world of fans."

Just then, a group of bodyguards escorted Sandra, who was wearing a pink down jacket, out of the hotel. Despite the cap, sunglasses, and face mask obscuring her face, the Sansan leader and the group of fans erupted into a cacophony of cries. 

They pushed past Li Wai and me, coming to a halt at the erected barriers. Their cameras clicked away with rapid speed, the flashes from the white light dazzling like stars.

Hearing the sound of her fans, Sandra turned and lowered her sunglasses, revealing her sparkling blue eyes. A few girls to my left swooned. Two guys behind me hollered, their screams almost deafening me. Li Wai squeezed an eye shut, his hands around his ears.

A small smirk made its way across Sandra’s face when she saw me among her fans. She gave a half-hearted wave and mouthed “Good luck” in my direction.

The nerve. I resisted the urge to flash her the middle finger and pivoted on my heels, letting some other fans push past me to reach the front. Unfortunately, the fans completely misread Sandra’s lips.

“Oh my god,” one Sansan squealed. “She just called us darlings!”

I facepalmed internally but dared not contradict them. The alternative would be worse since I would be the one to single-handedly destroy Sandra’s reputation. Wouldn’t that be great? Beside me, Li Wai grimaced at the fans’ reactions and I could see his eye twitching in annoyance. I patted him on the shoulder and rolled my eyes dramatically to show him he wasn’t alone in his thoughts.

Then we heard a muffled thud followed by endearing squeals of “Ah she’s so adorable”. The shift in the fans’ tones piqued Li Wai’s curiosity and he nudged me, gesturing with his eyes that I should check it out. With my larger build, I pushed past the crowd to reach the front again. Among the flashes of the dozens of cameras, I finally picked out the cause of the commotion. Breaking out into a laugh, I had a chance to show Sandra my smug face before turning back to fill Li Wai in.

"What happened?" he asked, his eyebrow curving upwards at my change in expression.

I grinned and jerked a thumb towards Sandra. "She slipped on a banana peel."