Party for Three by Missy Lyons Page B

sticking around as his friend for twenty
years it would take, so she could throw an over the hill party for
him. She smiled to herself imagining the expression on his face. It
would be worth it. Even if she would be 60 years old with gray
hair.
    Eek.
    Gray hair.
    Wrinkles.
    Being sixty years old.
    That was something she would rather not
think of. Not until it happened.
    Someday she would have to learn how to grow
old gracefully. Sherry was interrupted in her thoughts as a
wineglass was thrust into her hand. She looked up from the glass to
see Sean's smiling face.
    "Wow. You look great. Thanks for coming
Sherry." He tipped up on his tiptoes to kiss her on the cheek. That
was new and almost European to greet her by kissing. It made her
stomach turn with butterflies, but she knew he didn't really like
her. He might as well have kissed her on the forehead. She was
kidding herself if she thought it was anything else. That was a
friendly kiss.
    Nothing else.
    Yet she couldn't help her body's reaction to
his body being so close to hers. Her cheek was still warm where his
lips brushed her skin. She brought her hand up to the spot he
kissed her.
    She tried to maintain a lighthearted note to
her voice when she spoke, but her voice wavered slightly, "I can’t
miss my own party."
    "You had threatened to miss it. I was
beginning to worry you just might not show up tonight."
    Sherry looked at him curiously, arching one
brow high. It was difficult to see him outside of the office, not
joking constantly. It was almost like he meant it. His eyes held a
sparkle of concern as he looked deep into her eyes. He would have
missed seeing her.
    "Well anyways, I am glad you are here." He
took her hand between the two of his.
    "Thanks Sean." She looked down at their
paired hands, not wanting to pull away.
    "Come on." He said pulling her to a pair of
white French doors.
    "Everyone is out on the veranda."
    Sherry smiled and waved at the group of
people that dotted the veranda. She recognized most everyone from
work, but there were a few faces she didn't know. They must be
Sean's friends. Some very hot guys were there. Sherry took one long
sip from her wine glass with the sweet red wine, appraising the eye
candy in front of her.
    They looked to be about the same age as
Sean, perhaps they were college buddies. The three young men looked
back at her with warm smiles, one even winked at her
suggestively.
    Perhaps this party wasn't
a total waste of time . She thought
smugly.
    They said hello to everyone and then Sean
introduced her to the three men she didn't know. Turned out that he
knew all of them for years, some from all the way back to his
elementary school years. How did she guess? Two had been friends
from high school and two more had been friends of the family for
years, Jeff and Andy. Sean knew Alan since kindergarten.
    Sherry had friends that had stayed in her
life for a long time, but since kindergarten? That was something
she never expected to learn about Sean. It was nice to know that he
could keep relationships so long.
    "So, you work in the music industry with
Sean, Sherry? What do you do?" Jeff asked before taking a long puff
on his cigarette. He was a handsome man leaning against the
railing, but Sherry didn't feel much attraction for him. She never
really liked the idea of dating a smoker because she always thought
it would be like kissing an ashtray.
    What did she do at the record studio? How
about asking what she didn't do? Funny how people asked her these
questions and expected her to answer with some glamorous response.
It was as if they expected her to say she met stars every day and
she wrote music or something. She was lucky if she saw pictures of
the stars and her job would never allow her the time to write her
own music, even if
    she had the talent for writing. Which she
didn't. She always admired those who could write such moving words
though. She couldn't even write poetry.
    "Nothing all that exciting. In fact it is
rare I even