He was having the time of his life.

Little him at the biggest event of his life. A Tika Foster concert. A private Tika Foster concert. How he, Federico McGhee, was able to get a ticket to the listening party was beyond him, but he accepted it with no hesitation. Tika Foster had been his dream girl since he was twelve years old when he first laid eyes on her watching YouTube.

The hottest woman ever. Everything about her was on another level. Beyond her out-of-this-world good looks, and her immense talent, she seemed like a sweet person.

Of course, he did not know her outside of what fans were privy.

Like everyone else, he watched her from afar. He watched all of her videos, listened to all her music, and attended plenty of her concerts.

And unfortunately, he followed her rollercoaster dating life. Someone like Tika could have any man she wanted. The fact that she was rich and famous meant she attracted men on her level. Rich and famous.

"Aye yo! You see all the girlies up in here?" That was from his new best friend, Anthony, who he had only known less than a year now.

He had eyes for none of them. He was not at the listening party to meet women. When the team scored tickets for the players, he felt it was a sign for him to finally meet the girl of his dreams in person. Not that he told any of his teammates of the massive crush he had on Tika. All of the guys were enamored by her.

Someone like her would never notice someone like him.

"It's a nice concert, let's just enjoy the music." Tika was on stage and his focus was on her. There was no backing band with her, dancers, or even backup singers. Just a microphone and her.

In between each song, she talked about what each song meant to her and if she wrote it, she explained the thought process of the song.

"I remember writing this song in between breakups," Tika said to the crowd. "Yes, yes, we won't get into the messy drama of my life, I'm sure you are all aware.

He did a slow nod to that. It was no secret that Tika dated the hottest of hot celebrities. When she was only seventeen, with the release of her first album, she was attached to the young, up-and-coming singer Daren Mathers. He was only eighteen himself, but a teen singing sensation, and a heartthrob to young girls.

Daren was the boy next door, and Tika was the girl next door, so when the two hooked up, they were Black Hollywood royalty. The next Beyonce and Jay Z. A super couple that had the world in their hands. They walked every red carpet together and were interviewed countless times. They even made songs together. Two separate songs talking about how perfect their relationship was.

Well, that lasted fifteen months before it was over.

Turns out, he was not the boy next door and he was verbally and physically abusive and cheated on her constantly. Daren's career never recovered from that, but Tika only soared.

"You know when you have a little heartbreak in your life, you look at the world differently. Did I do something wrong? Is it me? What do I need to fix about myself," Tika went on.

"It's not you, girl!" someone shouted out.

"Well, thanks. But honey...at that moment, all I had was my pen in my hand and I wrote this little song. Is There Someone Out There For Me, that's the song. Hope you enjoy."

He listened intently to the song, but not just listened, he wanted to understand the words to the song. He wanted to connect with her emotions. He could understand heartbreak. Though he was young, he suffered from heartbreak in his life as well.

Tika's song explained she gave her all, defied everyone else's feelings, and did what her heart told her to, only to be hurt anyway. Was there some way to love after that heartbreak?

He indeed had the same questions.

It almost felt as if Tika was having a breakdown on stage, delivering the song as if she was the only one in the room and the hurt was happening right now. It felt like they were intruding on a therapy session as she relived the pain and all she went through. Everyone was engaged in the performance, all eyes on her, some of the women even with tears sliding down their cheeks.

He felt as if he wanted to wrap his arms around her.

"Thank you," Tika said after the song. "Thank you for listening. I know that song is a lot, but I just had to work through it. Anyway...let's go on to something fun and happier. Let's dance!"

The next song was one of her upbeat club jams which was her signature sound. Tika was not only a singer, she was a performer, and she danced almost better than she sang. The audience was back in a happy mood and singing and dancing along with her. He was not much of a dancer, and though he enjoyed the song, you wouldn't get much more than a sway from him.

"There are some heavy hitters here tonight," Anthony stated looking all around the crowd of people sitting at tables around the front.

"Yes, us!" his other teammate, Manny, said. Manny was a few years older than him and always tried to get him to come out and party with him.

He nor any of his teammates were on the level of Tika Foster. Sure, playing for the major leagues in St. Louis was a big deal, but they were not well-known celebrities, just local celebrities if that. This was his first official year after starting from the minors during the later part of last season. He was making a name for himself, but he was still a nobody.

"Let's not act up too much tonight," he told his teammates. "It's nice to be here is all. Let's just enjoy the show and then we need to leave early for our game tomorrow."

"No, we definitely have to stay late and meet the star," Anthony said, rubbing his hands together. "Up close and personal."

He looked around the place as the show was winding down. Maybe about five hundred or so people in the small venue that he was not familiar with. He was not originally from St. Louis. He was from a small Missouri bootheel town called Caruthersville, population of less than six thousand people. He thought he made it large when he was recruited by Missouri State University's baseball team and moved to Springfield, Missouri. After two years of playing on their team, he went to play for the Springfield Cardinals, the minor league that fed into St. Louis.

His dream to play for St. Louis came true. He should be on top of the world, but it would be better if he had someone on his side to share all his success with. His siblings were far away, not in St. Louis. His mother and father, though happily still married, were older, retired, and traveled a lot. They were there for his formative years, taught him right from wrong, showed him love, and helped him achieve his dreams. Now they said it was their time.

Watching them, he always knew what real love was supposed to look like. They were his example in everything.

He wondered what they would think of him out late partying with his team.

"Focus on the game, and not the girls," his father drilled in his head when he first started to pay attention to girls.

Since forever girls had been after him, but he did not begin to like girls till his pre-teen years. Then all he could think about was girls. That's when he first saw Tika. But that was just a far-fetched dream. Girls in real life gave him all the attention he needed. Something about being the star athlete drove them crazy. He had his first kiss at thirteen, and first blowjob at age fifteen, with losing his virginity shortly after.

It was girls, girls, girls all in high school and into college. That's why his father was always on him to focus on the game. Then it happened. He fell in love with Kelsey Jacobsen during his freshman year of college. She did something to him that any other girl couldn't.

That love was cut short when she told him a year later that she was pregnant and the baby was not his. He knew it couldn't possibly be his because he used protection every time. Kelsey admitted she was sleeping with someone else and they were not using protection.

That was a wake-up moment for him. He tested for every sexually transmitted disease and infection and vowed off sleeping around. That was not what he wanted anymore. He wanted something serious.

His thinking was not in line with most of his young, single teammates. The ones not married were slinging it around left and right because they could. They used their local celebrity to get to women who thought catching a baller meant prestige and money.

He would not be deterred.

"I think they are doing a meet and greet after," one of his teammates stated. "I'm getting some pictures and maybe a kiss."

A couple of the guys all agreed to that. There were only seven of them there, even though they had more tickets. Some of the guys just weren't into the singer as he was.

He would love to meet her, but he would not push the issue.

"Rico, we have to meet her and let her know we're big fans." Anthony was not the type of guy who wanted to meet a beautiful woman like Tika to just be a friend.

"Maybe we should get out of here before all of her other fans surround her. I don't like that type of scene."

"Get used to it playboy, you're going to be the man this year, and the groupies will come."

"I want to just-" He didn't finish his statement because Tika was walking through the crowd now, plenty of fans wanting to be near her, touch her, or have her say a word to them.

He was mesmerized by everything about her. The way she moved in that bright yellow dress, as if in slow motion, in that dress that hugged every curve of her slim body. She walked like a dancer so sure of herself. Grace and self-confidence. And no matter what she may be going through, none of it showed on her face. She smiled at each fan, shook their hand, stopped for photos, and gave a few hugs.

He and the team were not dressed in any kind of way to bring attention to themselves, but to him, they stood out from everyone else. He was the tallest at six foot six, but all the other guys were not much shorter than him, with the shortest at five foot ten. All slim build and dressed in jeans and nondescript shirts. He kept it casual, all black jeans and a black t-shirt.

Tika was making her way towards them and he momentarily froze in place.

"Yo!" Anthony bellowed. "I'm shooting my shot."

His stomach clenched at the thought of Anthony being Tika's next fling. He could not watch this. The woman of his dreams giving his friend even the slightest of attention.

So before Tika made it to them, only a few people away from him, he walked away.