Part 3

A few days later, North, Avillion, Brenna, Rita and Sherry went shopping for the party. Once they had the supplies they needed, it was time to go looking for dresses.

"I really hate shopping," Sherry mumbled. The girls laughed at her. They couldn’t believe that anyone would hate shopping. North had let the others in on her plan. So they all set to work finding Sherry the perfect dress for the party.

It didn’t take long for North, Rita and Brenna to find what they wanted for themselves. Sherry looked, but nothing appealed to her. Of course, it could have been that she wasn’t in the mood for shopping and wasn’t looking all that hard. She figured she could wear something she already had, or maybe Madeline could lend her something to wear. But the rest of the group wouldn’t hear of it.

"Sherry, you get your butt in here and look at these dresses now," Rita ordered.

Sherry saluted. "Yes ma’am! But Rita, this is the fourth store we’ve been in. I’m not going to find anything."

"Not with an attitude like that!" Brenna chided. Avillion found a perfect dress for herself and went to try it on. She quickly made her purchase and then it was Sherry’s turn. Grabbing her arm, Avillion pulled her along. "Come on, Sherry. You might as well get into the spirit or we’ll be here all day."

"All right," Sherry said. "One more store. Then I’m done. If there’s nothing in the next store, I’m wearing something I already have." Rolling their eyes, the others hoped they found something in the next store, because they knew what Sherry’s closet contained and there was nothing in there that would really suit their purpose.

North pulled her over to the dresses and began looking through them. Rita pulled out a dress, but Sherry declined. "Why don’t we look for a nice pants suit," Sherry mumbled. "I’d be a lot more comfortable."

The girls groaned and made it clear that they would not let her buy a pants suit. Brenna and Avi pulled out a few dresses, but Sherry didn’t like any of them. North was glancing around the store when another rack of dresses caught her eye. She moved over to them and quickly found one, which she thought was perfect. "I’ve got it!" she called. Pulling the dress off the rack, she held it up. Sherry was intrigued. She moved closer to get a better look. It was a knee-length black dress with spaghetti straps and flared a little at the bottom.

"It’s pretty, but I don’t know," Sherry started.

Rita shook her head. "It’s perfect. Go try it on." Sighing, Sherry took the dress and went to the dressing room.

"It’s exactly the kind of dress I had in mind," North told the others when Sherry was out of earshot. "Should do the trick."

Smiling to themselves, they all waited until Sherry came back out. "Okay, it fits. And I actually like it. So, let’s get it and get out of here, please," she said. Once her purchase was made, they all headed out to the car for the trip back to CLHQ.

As soon as they returned, North pulled Sherry aside. "Has Michael come around yet?"

Sherry looked up and down the hall. North almost laughed at the mannerism that was so reminiscent of Michael. There was no doubt who had trained her. "No, things are the same."

North nodded. "Sorry. Maybe this party will help."

"I guess we could hope for a miracle," Sherry stated doubtfully and then took her purchases to her quarters.

North headed to her office and found Curlly waiting for her. "Here are the numbers you wanted, North. That last one gave me a little trouble. I asked Mcddor for some help and we finally managed to find it."

North smiled. "Thanks Curlly. I knew if anyone could do it, you could." After Curlly left, North locked her door and made the calls. She was thrilled that three of them immediately agreed to come. This party was definitely going to be interesting.

Part 4

The night of the party finally arrived and everything was set. Luckily, none of the invitees was required for a mission and everyone could attend. Sherry was about to leave for the party, figuring she would be going alone, when Michael sauntered in. He glanced at Sherry and then looked back again.

"You look lovely," he said with a jolt.

"Well, don’t look so surprised," Sherry remarked. Michael wondered at her attitude, but said nothing.

"I wasn’t sure you were coming," Sherry stated.

"Why? You know I’m not on standby," Michael answered.

"Well, I thought maybe you needed to escort Rita or Kit or Jenni or someone else tonight," Sherry sniped, feeling her mood going south quickly.

Michael didn’t know what was going on, so he kept his mouth shut and simply opened the door for her and they headed for the party.

Almost everyone was there when they arrived. Avillion and Jack, Brenna and Xavier, DragonLady and Damien were talking in one corner. Rita, who had decided to let Antonio escort her, Northstar and Paul, Sylvia and Walter were chatting in another corner. Roy and Nabiki, Mcddor and Matt, and Kit and Kathy who were sharing Davenport for the evening, were laughing at something Mcddor said. It seemed everyone had arrived except for the guests of honor. Sherry and Michael wandered over to North and Rita’s group to say hello. They chatted for a few moments and then Curlly and Sinjin arrived. There was plenty of applause, whoops and hollers, whistles, and general good wishes for the couple.

After a few toasts to the happy couple, the music began. Curlly and Sinjin, of course, had the first dance. Everyone watching knew they were in love. They made an absolutely beautiful couple.

As the song was nearing the end, Michael excused himself from the group. Sherry watched him walk away. He moved across the room to speak with Mentz and Snow for a bit and then moved on to speak with Jenni, Genie and Jodi. Sherry sighed and walked over to get a drink. North and the other girls who were in on the plan had been watching. They knew she was ticked. Brenna turned to North.

"So when do they get here?" she asked.

North smiled. "Oh they’ll be here shortly. I gave them each different arrival times so they didn’t all come at once. I just hope this works."

Other couples had started dancing by now and Sylvia nudged Walter to ask Sherry to dance. They didn’t want it to appear as though Sherry was simply standing back waiting for the surprise guests to arrive. Walter walked over to her.

"Hey Sweetness. You look great. Do you think you could share a dance with this old geezer?" Sherry laughed.

"What about Sly?"

"Oh, she wants to wait a while. Doesn’t like this song, she says." Sherry didn’t believe him, but agreed to dance with him anyway.

They were on the dance floor and Walter was regaling her with one of his many stories when someone walked up and tapped Walter on the shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked.

Walter turned and smiled. "Not at all, son. Be my guest."

Sherry was shocked. "Jarod? What are you doing here?" Jarod swept her up in a hug and kissed her cheek.

‘Well, it’s great to see you too," he replied.

Sherry laughed. "Oh, you know I love it that you’re here, but how did you get here? This is an engagement party for Curlly."

Nodding his head, Jarod moved in close and whispered in her ear. "Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m in the monkey suit. And before you ask again, I was invited."

Sherry pulled her head back. "Invited? By whom?"

Jarod laughed. "Well, obviously not you. I was kind of hoping for a warmer welcome."

Sherry laughed and hugged him again. They began dancing and Sherry tried one more time. "So are you ever going to tell me who invited you?"

There was a twinkle in his eye that Sherry knew too well. "Oh, I don’t think so. Not just yet, anyway."

Across the room, Michael was looking for Sherry. When he found her, he was surprised. ‘What was Jarod doing here?’ he wondered. He had met the man once when he had helped save Sherry’s life. He watched them dancing for a few moments. He felt a slight twinge when he saw how close they seemed to be. They were laughing and hugging; Jarod was whispering in her ear, and they appeared to be having a wonderful time. He would have to keep an eye on things.

North had seen Jarod’s arrival and watched Sherry’s reaction. Once she saw how happy his appearance made her, North knew she had made the right decision. Then she sought out Michael. She watched him from across the room. "Good," she murmured when she thought she detected a slight note of jealousy in Michael’s look.

Sherry and Jarod danced through the next song and then moved off the dance floor. They were deep in discussion when another male voice spoke from behind her. "Excuse me, mademoiselle. I was wondering if you would take pity on a poor Scotsman and share a dance with him."

Sherry recognized the voice immediately. She whirled around with a huge smile on her face. "Duncan!"