"You look pretty." Ben had walked in on Juliet, who had just finished changing into a sky blue cocktail dress. Her hair was up in a bun, and she had a perfect amount of make up on. "Have you got a date or something?" He asked only half-sarcastically.

"It's the hospital staff party," Juliet said coldly. They hadn't been on speaking terms since that fateful night 2 days ago. She put on a pair of strappy heels, grabbed a clutch and shawl, and headed for the door. Upon arriving at the event theatre it was being held at, she saw Henry and Isabel standing just inside the door, dancing. As she walked passed them to the coat check, she gave Henry a wink, and he gave her a gleeful smile in exchange. After checking her coat, she walked over to the food table. There was nobody there, and she didn't like dancing, so it was an obvious choice. She was soon joined by Robert, who she remembered as one of Jack's fellow spinal surgeons.

"Hey," he said. "You're Dr. Burke, right? The new fertility chick?"

Juliet giggled a little. "Yep, that's me."

"How come you're not dancing?"

"I don't have anyone to dance with," Juliet replied in a manner which she could only suppose was slightly flirtatious.

Robert chuckled. "Well, I'd offer you a spot with me, but I'm here with my wife," he pointed at a red-haired woman standing a few metres away, talking with someone else.

Juliet felt guilty for flirting, she seemed to have a knack for liking married men. "Well, that's okay, I'm not much of a dancer."

"Well you've got to try sometime. Come on, I know just the perfect bachelor to set you up with." Before Juliet could object, Robert said "stay here," and walked away.

A few minutes later, Juliet felt hands slip over her eyes. Before she could scream, she heard Robert's voice coming from behind her. "It's only me," he said. He continued talking to someone else. "Aren't they a perfect match?"

She heard the voice of one of her fertility colleagues, Ivan, coming from what sounded like a close distance. "Nice one, Rob. Let's let the two of you have some fun." Juliet felt her back being pushed, and when her eyes were uncovered, she found herself poised in dancing position in the arms of no other than Jack Shephard. By the look on his face, she guessed he had been blindfolded as well. Jack lifted his hands from her waist, and gave Robert and Ivan dirty looks.

"Guys, it's not funny. I don't dance and-"

"Shephard, we just put you in the arms of the hottest woman on staff," Juliet blushed at this, "so could you please explain to me why you're objecting?" Ivan retorted.

Jack gave them another dirty look, and then turned to Juliet. "They're going to keep bugging us if we don't," Juliet tried.



"Yeah, I know," Jack replied.

Slowly, but surely, they started off into a slow dance, accompanied by cheers from Robert, Ivan, and various other doctors. "I thought you'd have brought Ben," Jack said smarmily after a while of silence between them.

Juliet sighed, annoyed. "Jack I don't want to talk about this. I've told you the truth, and if you're not ready to accept it, let's just not talk."

For some reason he didn't quite understand, Jack wanted to talk. "You look nice," he said, hoping it wouldn't rub her the wrong way.

Jack swore he saw a smile come across her face. "Thanks," was all she said in reply. "You look good in a suit."

"Thanks," he replied. Juliet averted her eyes to the ground, and they danced to the rest of the song in silence. The song ended, and Robert, Ivan, their dates, Henry and Isabel all gathered around what they considered to be the hospital's newest couple.

"We're having an after-party at our house," Robert said, "and the two of you are invited."

"No is not an answer," Ivan interjected, and Jack and Juliet were pulled into the group. The 8 of them walked happily back to Robert and his wife Anne's house, where they got more drinks and sat about in the living room making small talk. Jack and Juliet had been shoved onto the same sofa, and occasionally their elbows or knees would bump when they reached for their drinks.

The minutes turned to hours, and the 8 friends gradually got more drunk. Jack had been avoiding the alcohol, but Juliet was feeling fairly woozy. So much so, in fact, that when Ivan's date Mary said something funny, she wasn't paying enough attention while she was laughing to notice that she had spilled her red wine all over Jack's suit.

Turning in horror after finally noticing, she began to try to help him wipe it up. She could see the annoyance in Jack's eyes although he kept on denying it, and the tension must have been obvious to the others as well, because Isabel soon spoke up.

"Woah... you two alright? You look like you'd rather kill each other than be in the same room."

"Yah," Robert added, the most drunken out of all of them, "you two do look tense. What say we help you cheer up? 7 minutes in heaven should be enough, eh Ivan?"

The two men laughed fiercely, and Juliet, looking at Jack, found him just as reluctant as she was. Ivan and Robert did seem to have a way of getting what they wanted though, and soon Juliet and Jack were shoved into a closet that was locked shortly after.