Part One

Well, today was the day, she thought to herself as she roused herself from her bed. She, North, was going to the LFN convention in Toronto. Looking at the clock she realized that she had slept in. Oh well, it wasn't as if she had a plane to catch or anything. She was one of the few who could actually drive. Lucky for her too as she didn't think her husband would have sprung for the airfare. He still couldn't understand why she would want to go to a convention for a tv show. He had even called the day before to ask her again where it was she was going and why. Then came the bottom line... 'How much is this going to cost me?' he had asked. North of course was quick to respond that it wasn't going to cost much at all. Liar!! Well, it wasn't as if she had a lot of money to play with anyway so it wasn't too far off the mark.

Grabbing a quick wash, brushing her teeth and getting dressed, she found her checklist and made sure that she had everything. Realizing that she had forgotten to get film she made a note to herself to stop off on the way and grab some. She had talked her son into letting her use his camera. Car packed, she headed off after telling her boys to behave. Yeah like they were really going to listen to her. After all they had the house to themselves for the whole weekend. She could just imagine the plans they had. Oh well, she would deal with whatever when she got home on Sunday.

A few hours later, after finding the hotel quite by accident after making a wrong turn, she was registered and taken to her room. In all the hustle and bustle of getting ready and finally arriving she was quite worn out already and decided to take a shower before heading downstairs to find the con registration. She wanted to look her best after all!! So, taking advantage of the coffee maker in the room, she made herself a coffee while having her shower. Nicely refreshed, cup of java in hand she quickly unpacked and hung up her clothes. She picked the bed by the window, leaving the other one for her roomie. She was looking forward to meeting Curlly. She sounded like a blast on the list. Curlly wouldn't be arriving until later that night. When she was done, she made sure she had her room key and made her way downstairs.

North looked around at all the people clustered around the registration tables and shook her head in amazement. Hard to believe that all of this was put together by volunteers. She had looked forward to this ever since she read about all the fun of the first one on the internet. She had made quite a few more friends in the year since and was looking forward to meeting them here. But the question was... how on earth in this throng of people would she find who she was looking for?? A lot of the name tags she had seen only had the person's real name on and not their online name. Of course some of them she knew but for the most part all she had to work with was a screen name.

Making her way to the registration table she learned that the welcome packages hadn't arrived yet so they were making do with stick on name tags. Oh well, it was better than nothing. At least now she was official!! She was registered. Now if only she could meet one of her online buddies. Well she would walk around a bit and see what was happening. She stopped into the Video room where they were showing the episode, 'I Remember Paris' so she stayed to watch a bit of that. Seeing as it was dark in the room, she couldn't see any name tags so couldn't tell if there was anyone there she knew. Feeling a little thirsty, North headed to the little shop just off the main lobby of the hotel. There were a few people milling around looking at the chocolate bars and comparing them to the ones from the States. Not wanting to get in their way, North moved off until she heard one of the girls say the name 'Sage' at which point she jerked her head up. "I'm sorry but did I hear one of you say Sage?"

The girls looked at North and then to her name tag. "Northstar?" the one asked. "From the Covert Lovers list?"

"Yup, that's me."

"I'm Sage from the Birkoff Babes list." and with that the two of them hugged. The other girls were Adriana and Gap Girl also from the BB list. They chatted for a few minutes and then North invited them up to her room. She had made up some goody bags for her fellow list members and she wanted to make sure that Sage got hers.They all trudged up to her room and chatted for a bit, took some pictures and ate some of the cheesecake tarts that North had brought along. Shortly after they went back downstairs to see who else they could find. Not seeing anyone right away they headed into the hospitality suite and grabbed a few munchies. North had a meeting with another list she was on and she didn't want to miss that. The other girls went on their way soon after and promised to meet up again later.

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Part Two

After her meeting North got up and went in search of more of her list members. Sure enough she managed to bump into Rita and her friend Cindy. They decided to explore all the different rooms. There was the video room of course and then there was the Reading room where selected pieces of fanfic were on display for our reading pleasure. North recognized some of the names on the booklets. By this time it was almost time for the opening ceremonies. The weekend was about to officially start. North, Rita and Cindy made their way to the room and found themselves some seats. Things were running a little behind but soon it started. Introductions were made of the Con committee and about what was going to happen that weekend. After it was done, the girls went upstairs, but got sidetracked at JoJo's room. They stopped in for a bit and chatted and then finally got to North's room where again the cheesecake and cookies were brought out. After getting aquainted for a bit and finding out that neither of the girls had a room at the hotel, but were staying at Cindy's for the weekend, North offered them the use of the room as a stopping off point for them. The girls were going to a bar that night with a few other fans so they had to leave soon.

Going back downstairs they watched a bit of the fanfiction panel and the trivia contest and soon the others were on their way. It was time to Party!!! Hussypalooooza party!!! What a blast they were having. After getting registered and picky up the goody bag it was time to meet the Hussies. The room was crowded with a lot of fans all in their hussy veils. Mingling for a bit and meeting up with K3, head hussy, and a few others North finally met up with Andrea. Not wanting to miss meeting her roomie she made her way to the lobby to see if she had checked in yet. It was after 11pm but so far no sign of her. North decided to sit for a bit in the lobby area to wait and ended up running into Alicia. Good thing too or else with all the people there she may not have met up with her. After chatting for a few minutes Alicia had to go as she too was going to the Guvernment club with some of her friends. She had gotten in the day before, gone shopping and today was party time. We said our good byes then.

Checking in at the Hussy party again, North finally got to meet Chris Heyn. Andrea was kind enough to take her picture with him. He really was a nice guy and asked personal questions as each person went up to him. After mingling for a while longer she decided to call it a night.

Upon reaching her room, North noticed voices coming from inside.. Great, Curlly must have arrived!! Sure enough after stepping into the room, there she was. Chatting until the wee hours of the morning they got to know each other before finally falling asleep.

*****

The weekend was going much too quickly. They had seen the blooper reel, Chris Heyn's Q & A, Laurie Drew, KD MacRae and so much more. It was all so wonderful. One of the outstanding panels of the day was with Carlo, Matthew and Don. I was sorry to have missed out on getting picked for the autograph lottery but it was almost just as well as they announced that the official merchandise was finally going on sale. We were a bit disappointed when we heard though that you could only get one of each item. A lot of us had orders to fill for others that couldn't come. The people in line were great though cause if you needed something and they weren't getting it they got it for you. The fans are a truly great bunch of people.

Before long it was time to get ready for the banquet. Curlly, Cindy, Rita and I made our way upstairs to get ourselves all gussied up. We played fashion show with different outfits to get the other's opinions on what we shoud wear. It was great. It was "this or this?" and which shoes look better? After getting the final consensus we were all dressed and ready to go.

Dinner was great and so was the talent show after which was MC'd by none other than Mick himself, especially when the Torture Twins made an unannounced appearance. I think they were the hit of the fans.

It had been a long day and after standing in line for a bit to get Carlos' and the TTwins autograph, and listening to the bands for a bit it was time for bed. Tomorrow would be the final day and the day we got to see Alberta and Eugene.

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Part 3

Getting up the next morning was a chore. Both Curlly and I were tired from all the fun we were having. But we managed to get downstairs and grab a much needed drink of coffee and juice and ready for the first panel of guests which were the writers of the show. After that there was a short break and we were more than ready to see Alberta and Eugene. We were not disappointed. It was a fantastic session and it was strange to see them in their real life persona's rather than their characters. In no time at all the session was over and it was time to get set up for the charity auction. Again I had been in the right place at the right time and was able to get an autograph from Alberta. Having to leave to catch a plane she left us.

Curlly and I decided then that we had better grab a seat for the auction so as to get a good view but as luck would have it, we were a little late. They had already started. It was great. Here was Walter and then Operations and Mick all doing their part to get the most for the items. Bidding was fast and furious on a lot of them and some coaxing had to be done on others. Then the bidding war for the set visit was upon us and afterwards everyone needed a break from the tension that had built up.

Deciding to get a breath of outside air, I snuck out the door, head down fumbling in my bag for my smokes when I bumped heads with someone. I was still in shock over the final bid for the set visit and not really watching where I was going. Looking up I noticed I had collided with my dream man!! Mumbling an apology I moved over to the potted plant and lit up. I couldn't believe I had just done that. Thank goodness no one else was around to notice. Sighing dreamily about the fact that I had actually touched him I quietly smoked my cigarette.

"Excuse me but don't I know you?"

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" I managed to stutter.

He looked at me and then my name tag which had gotten mangled over the weekend. Taking his finger he straightened it up to read it. "Northstar. Yes I do know you. I'm glad I finally got to meet you."

I was confused. How could he know me and from where? "How do you know me?" I asked.

"Northstar, I can't believe you've forgotten me!!" he answered. "I took you out to dinner and then had you over to my place after. Surely you can't have forgotten. It was only a few weeks ago."

"Dinner? Your place?"

"North, I swear if we weren't outside I'd say we had an echo going here. Come now, let me refresh your memory for you." He leaned down and taking her face between his hands he kissed her resoundingly. When finally coming up for air he looked at her again. "Now do you remember?"

North shaken to the core by that wonderful kiss could only nod her head. She took a deep breath and shook her head as if to clear it. "Operations. I'm sorry. I guess that bump on the head affected me more than I thought. How could I ever have forgotten that night or the next morning."

"Well we did bump our heads pretty hard."

"We must have." North laughed. "The girls were ribbing me for days about that night. Here they went and did all that stuff to my office and I barely gave it a notice."

"Yes I can remember that too. I thought Shadoe would have reamed me out too but it seems she had found another while I was away."

"Oh yes. I wonder if he ever recovered from his injury that Aly inflicted on him. I really didn't know she had that in her."

"Well we haven't seen Shadoe for a bit so I would say he has recovered." he commented. "How would you like to spend another evening with me?"

"I'd love to." North responded with a smile. "And this time I promise not to forget about it."

"NORTH!!"

"NORTH!!"

North looked around to see who was shouting and poking at her. It was Curlly. "Hey North. The auction is about to start up again. I wondered what had happened to you."

"Curlly?" North looked around disoriented. Where was Operations and who were all these people standing around.

"Who else were you expecting?" Curlly asked.

"No one. I must have been daydreaming." North sighed. "Let's go and grab our seats."

With that the two of them went back inside and watched more of the auction. North couldn't get over how real it had all seemed to her. She could have sworn it was really happening.

Oh well.... at least we have our dreams!!!

This story ©copyright Northstar, 1999

Karin finished reading the final story. Yup, she decided, she was going to go. It sounded like a fun time to her from what she had read and maybe there would be some intrigue as well. Besides, how could she pass up the opportunity to meet with her friends that she met over the last year and a half.

Getting up from her chair she went to the phone to call her friend Trace to let her know the good news.