Dear Diary
Saturday 30th August - 12:00pm

Mark Lutz and Sue revisit, "Hi again!"

Having now met David, I sit down on a nearby chair completely oblivious to the fact that I am now in the supporting cast's autograph room and that I was in fact in the queue for Kelly Donovan's autograph and photo session. Realisation hits me when Kelly beckons me, "Hi again," he says signing those exact words on my personal item. He poses for a photo and tells me he'll see me again later no doubt. Go to see Kristine Sutherland next although Mark Lutz was actually next in line but his queue is building up nicely so I'll bypass him for the time being. Kristine is incredibly beautiful and I'm amazed at how much younger she looks than on screen. She asks me where I am from and when I tell her she smiles and remarks about how many people she has spoken to from my neck of the woods. "Have you ever been to Manchester?" I ask and surprisingly she tells me she has and that she loved it! (she's not going to tell me she hates it though, right?). She then proceeds to say that she has travelled all over England but never been to Scotland although she has always wanted to go. The photographer waits patiently as she reminisces over a trip to Ireland trying desperately hard to remember where it was she had exactly visited.

I rejoin Mark Lutz's queue. "Ah you again", he says as I sit down. "Actually Mark, you and I have met on more than one occasion," I say as I hand him my personal item to sign. "I know," he replies, "I recognise you." I give him an incredulous look and challenge him to come up with where we had met before. "Blackpool," he states confidently. I smile. "That one was easy Mark," I mock, "there were 2500 people at End of Days so the odds were pretty high that I'd be one of them." He frowns. "So where else did we meet?" He thinks a while before replying, "London?" he asks, "No", "Birmingham?" "No," "Glasgow?" "No". He turns to his companion who just happens to be the organiser of the 2002 Caritas tour he embarked upon with Andy Hallett. "Where else did we go?" he mumbles under his breath before confidently announcing Leeds as his next guess. I confirm that he is right which leads to a huge smile, "Hey do you remember that unbelievable raffle draw we did in Leeds?" he asks, "You know the one that no matter what ticket number Andy or I pulled, the same guy kept winning all the prizes". I nod, "In fact at one point you pulled me out of the audience to help you draw a ticket," I reply. Mark hands me my autograph and with a cheeky grin, he simply says, "See I told you I remembered you."

"I am sure that I must have been sitting there with a mindless, completely besotted grin on my face."

On to Nick Brendon who had already signed my photo of himself upstairs in the Green Room. "I've got nothing for you to sign", I say as I take my place by his side, "You have already been there and done that." "Then I guess it's just time to smile at the camera," he replies, carrying out his promise wholeheartedly. Now the autos are over, sit around for a while, watching the crowds come through the supporting cast autograph room before being given the opportunity to sit in David's auto room for a brief 5-10 minute spell. As I enter the room, taking my place at a table by the window to the side of him, I could have sworn David smiled directly at me and waved. I'm so taken back by his incredible grin that I don't wave back which in hindsight is a good thing as it appears David was actually waving at Tom his manager on the table in front. See both Laird and Avie come through for their photo/auto sessions and think it is quite sweet that David saves some of his best smiles and banter for ladies old enough to be his gran.

Go off to the main auditorium in search of Binnsy to see how her day is going and to tell her about mine so far. As Nic and I sit on the front row watching the "Once More With Feeling" karaoke taking place on stage, I watch with almost motherly pride as CoA citizens Avie and FaithLouise accompanied by a third girlie belt out their rendition of Going Through The Motions. They look at me with a little bit of fear as they know that their little performance will be posted on City of Angel for all to see! I think it was my evil grin and rubbing of hands that may have given the game away. When we arrive at the Sky lounge we are then told that David is going on stage so quickly we all race back downstairs so as not to miss his entrance as we had missed his opening ceremony earlier in the day. David was being announced downstairs on stage and thankfully we make it in time to see his arrival. He is about 10 minutes into his Q&A session, when the AAA hosts try to get us to go upstairs to the Cocktail party as the supporting cast are up there entertaining the crowd. I decline the invitation preferring instead to watch the remainder of David's session on stage. For the whole 45 minutes or so, I am sure that I must have been sitting there with a mindless, completely besotted grin on my face which must have seemed virtually maniacal when David almost removes his shirt to prove that the Gryphon tattoo Angel has on his shoulder is a fake!

Sue gets a Xander sandwich via Kelly Donovan and Nick Brendon

As soon as David's feet leave the stage after his one-on-one with the audience, I'm up making my way back to the Sky lounge to await David's arrival at the cocktail party. There is a table by the door with rows upon rows of flute glasses filled with champagne and orange juice. Just as I reach out for a glass, I look up and notice David is standing right in front of me. He moves through the room talking to people, shaking their hands and posing occasionally for photos (even though the rather large security guard had told us not to ask). I don't remember at which point I found myself stood in front of him nor do I remember holding out my hand for him to shake. I do remember the moment he took my hand in his and held it there for a few short moments. His hand was cold to touch but extremely strong and as I look up to thank him for a wonderful day, his chocolate brown orbs look directly into mine and well, *goes into girlie dream mode*. Minutes later he was gone! Now David-less, go back to the main auditorium to meet up with Binnsy and watch the supporting cast on stage. They are absolutely hilarious and the rapport they have with one another sees them on fine form. Once Nick and his crew go back to their auto signings, I decide to go out for what turns out to be a very eventful curry with the CoA gang before returning to the Brighton Centre ready for the evening's activities.

Nick, Mark, Kelly, and Kristine take to the stage to open the evening's activities. Mark talks to the crowd assembled at the front and tells them he wants to try something that has never been tried before. With the help of Nick he divides the crowd into two sections and gets an impromptu version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat going to resonate throughout the room. I smile at Binnsy, "Didn't Mark and Andy Hallett do this at End of Days?" she asks. I nod. "So much for it being a first time thing!" But that is just Lutzy all over! We waited in the Sky lounge bar for a couple of hours, before being transferred to David's green room. Of course David had long since gone, swap mobile numbers and e-mail addresses with our new chumlies before making my weary way back to the hotel. Spend the next couple of hours dressed in PJs chatting about the day with Binnsy and Nic before dozing off for a Boreanaz enhanced dream!

Drive past the Brighton centre on the way back to Heathrow and I just want to go back into the building to see David and Nick and the gang one more time. Board the plane back to Manchester feeling very disheartened after the excitement of yesterday and struggle to get mood back up. Although there were a fair few disappointments (most of which I haven't catalogued here), I made a lot of new friends (as well as some CoA converts hopefully), Amanda, Annette, Buffie and Cidergurlie to name but a few. Also discovered a newfound adoration for Nick Brendon and his brother, Kelly Donovan. Kristine was lovely and it's always a pleasure to be in the company of Mark Lutz. But most of all, I met David Boreanaz, the man who has been the object of my affection for more years than I care to remember. He didn't disappoint and if anything he is on a higher pedestal than he was before. With my auto, photo and my green room 'souvenir', have brilliant reminders of the day I met my Angel!

Written by CoA Writer, Sue Grimshaw