Jake

She would be the death of him, Jake Muller was certain of it. She had asked him to come over to her place for Christmas night after he spent it at his mothers home. Sherry had visited work friends and Jake didn't want to go and she didn't put a fight up about it. When Jake showed up at her door step and knocked he was more than shocked at what he saw.

Sherry stood there with a lacy red bra and a pair of lacy red panties with opaque white stockings hooked to little straps, which were then attached to her underwear. Her heels were high and made her almost equal to his height. Jake's jaw went slack at the sight of her with pink lipstick and bed head hair.

"Wow, Sherry you look…" He didn't get a chance to finish. Sherry pulled him into the apartment and instantly their mouths were locked. His hands skated to her backside where he gripped her firmly and crushed her to his groin. She moaned at the contact and smiled beneath his feverish lips. "You look unbelievable." His eyes raked down her body once more, her flat stomach was shining slightly, she had put on some type of sparkling lotion, and while it confused him he had to admit it made her look stunning nonetheless.

"Thank you," she grinned and pulled him towards the living room, he watched her backside sway with her hips and was shocked when she threw him down to the couch. He licked his lips slightly as she put her hands on her hips and stared down at him. "I got you a gift."

"You're enough." He muttered and tried to pull her down to him but she backed out of his reach and reached under the Christmas tree teasingly. He glared at her as she leaned over, giving him the most glorious view he ever had the pleasure of being witness to. "Here it is," she stood and turned teasingly, handing it to him with an air of nonchalance that made him smirk.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, struggling to take his eyes off her. Sherry noticed and let out a smile.

"You have to open it and see."

Jake ripped at the present and smiled at the gift that waited for him inside of it. "This is great Sherry," he smirked as he pulled his gloves off and held up the new pair. "This is literally exactly what I needed."

"I know," She smiled gently and sat beside him, trying to ignore his eyes and the way they raked down her thighs, just his stare made her feel like there was a fire burning in her system.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make Christmas more special."

"I never gave a shit about Christmas Sherry, it's fine."

"We do have to go see Chris and everyone on New Years, they want to see us."

"I don't know-

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" She said, standing and walking away from him with a great sway of her hips. Jake growled with frustration.

"Where are you going?"

"The bedroom," she said huskily and saw from the corner of her eye – Jake peeling his Jacket off and following hurriedly after her. "I guess there are something more powerful than words."

…

That night as Sherry lay beside Jake, whose sleeping figure was below her head, she couldn't help but think of her love for the young man. She didn't know what it was, but it was an all consuming fire that started in her chest just at the thought of him. He was what many other girls wanted, and he was hers.

There suddenly came a soft knocking on her door. Sherry sighed and pulled herself out of Jake's embrace and quickly pulled on her robe. The hideous green thing made her look overly plump but she didn't really care.

Sherry shuffled over to the living room and saw her two cats licking each other by the couch, a laugh escaped her and she approached the door – escaping the glare the cats shot in her direction.

"Who is it?!" She called smartly.

She heard an awkward cough and then, "It's me… Jeff, can you please open the door Sherry?"

Sherry body stiffened and she glared at the doorknob. Fire, unlike the fire she felt for Jake, raced through her and she pulled the door open and shut it closed behind her. Jeff stood before her in a black suit and an awkward look on his face. His strong eyes were avoiding hers and she felt that she would probably slap him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" She hissed.

"Sherry, I had to see you." His tone was sad; she stopped her anger momentarily as his eyes met hers. "I'm so, sorry my love."

She ignored the nickname, "What are you talking about?"

"For everything," he whispered softly. His eyes lowered away from hers, "I've had some time to think about my behavior and I just … I can't believe I ever dared to behave like that with you. Sherry I am so ashamed of myself. Words can't describe how horrible I feel. I'm so sorry." His scent of cinnamon wafted at her and she breathed in calmly.

"Jeff, I forgive you. But it's six in the morning…" Her voice was hoarse, "and I need to get some sleep. I have to check in with HQ about the mission so I need to get some rest." And his presence was nerve wracking.

Jeff stared at her with confusion for a moment, she raised a brow. "You don't know?" He asked her with interest.

"Know what?"

"Oh, Sherry," his sigh unnerved her more, "I'm so sorry-

"What are you talking about-

"I overheard them talking about you today… at HQ. They don't want you for the mission. I tried to persuade them otherwise after what I heard, I swear – but it was just impossible. They just didn't feel you were focused enough and they've started guessing that you're not as interested in your work as you were before. They think your focus is lacking - especially with what happened last time… when you were caught and almost died… Oh no, Sherry, please don't cry-

Quickly she sniffed back, "I'm not going to cry." She croaked. "Are you lying to me Jeff? Is this some plan to get me to fall into your arms like a damsel in distress and then-?

"No, Sherry no I swear!"

"Then why wouldn't they choose me?" Her eyes were burning, but she blinked at the feeling. Jeff stared at her with a sad gaze and in her chest she could feel a horrible tightening. Sherry sighed heavily. "It's okay, I mean. They don't have to choose me, I always knew this was a possibility. I'll just do something else, no big deal." But it was a big deal. She could feel the gnawing in her chest at the thought that they didn't think her good enough. She just wanted to make them proud, to make Jake proud… and Leon. How had they not seen all the effort and the time that she put into this job?

Jeff eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. Sherry winced. "Are you kidding me?"

"Jeff-

"You are the best person for that job and they didn't choose you and you're just saying 'its no big deal!'" He was seething, she could sense the anger radiating off of him, in turn hers starting building to.

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right. They passed you over for someone not as qualified, and not as involved in being the best at what you do, they care for nothing but themselves and they will never – ever understand half of the things you've sacrificed for this job. They know nothing!"

Sherry nodded.

Jeff stepped closer, and she didn't move back. She didn't fear him, and when he reached up and took her trembling hand in hers all she felt was calm. "We'll fight this together; you and I will make sure that they don't get away with this."

"But what are we going to do?" Her voice shook, "They have all the power Jeff. If-

"Leave it to me, alright?" His eyes flashed angrily, "you're the best person for this job – you'd think they're smart enough to see that."

Sherry nodded, "I worked very hard to get up here. I deserve this."

"Damn right you do."

Sherry trembled softly at the thought of Jake inside. If he woke up and saw Jeff here, holding her hand – surely he would erupt into extreme anger. Sherry pulled her hand out of Jeff's – ignoring the look he gave her and then smiling. "Thank you Jeff… I'm happy we can go back to … being friends."

"Of course, I don't want to lose you." He smiled back. She grinned and moved towards the door hastily.

"I have to get some sleep, so… I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Of course, goodnight Sherry."

"Goodnight Jeff."

When Sherry reached the bedroom she found that Jake was still asleep. His body was tossed messily across the mattress and she peeled of the robe quickly before jumping into the bed and wrapping her arms around his frame. Jake naturally, almost hungrily, pressed himself closer to the petite warmth beside him.

"Everything okay?" He groaned out softly beside her, "you seemed a bit tired…"

"Everything is fine." Sherry whispered back.

…

In the morning Sherry found herself getting dressed almost mechanically. All she could think about was what Jeff had told her, all she could think about was how they had ignored her obvious work and effort, they disregarded everything about her and decided that she was not worth it – just like that.

"I'm going to go see my mom, she told me she has to talk to me about something," Jake told Sherry as she put on her jacket.

"Alright, so will I see you later on tonight or are you just going to spend the night there?"

"I'll see how the weather is," he looked towards the pouring snow outside and shrugged, "I'll see you soon, that's all."

"I'll miss you," Sherry murmured, "when you get to her place text me, so that I know you got there safely, alright?"

"No problem."

"See you soon," Sherry pecked Jake on the lips and made her exit.

All the way to work Sherry envisioned how she would talk to her boss. She couldn't do it as angrily as she wanted to because the job was all she had. Sadness wouldn't look good, and nonchalance would be a horrible lie. She sighed heavily and pulled into a parking spot.

The elevator ride up to the meeting room was one of tension and nervousness. She stepped out, ignoring the fact that as she did she bumped into someone. That didn't even register before he as she spied the door that held her doom.

Easily she slid into the room, ignoring the stare her boss gave her. The woman sat there alone with papers before her and a pen tapping wildly on the desk. When Sherry entered it stilled and she sat back abruptly.

"Good morning, Officer Birkin."

"Good morning," Sherry replied with a slight smile. The room was shockingly white with only back chairs and a black screen against the wall behind her boss, whose hair was tied so tightly this morning that it seemed to be pulling at the corner of her eyes.

The woman stared at Sherry for a while. Then shrugged, "what can I help you with?"

"I know that I wasn't chosen for this mission." Sherry blunt tone made her feel stronger than ever. "I don't understand why but I would just like to know if there was something I could have done to prevent it from happening. I've been a loyal employee of this company, I've messed up a few times but I've always been able to correct my mistakes. I am efficient and I take my job seriously and yet I am disregarded when it comes to the most important mission this place has ever seen!"

The woman before her sat patiently, twirling her thumbs above her folded hands. Her lips pressed firmly together and her eyes tight and slightly wary. "Who informed you of this?"

"I cannot disclose his name."

"Well you have already given it away then." The woman's voice was cold now, "Dr. Jeff was the one that came here warning us of your importance to this operation, and not specifically this operation but all operations. He told is that we should not risk your life."

Sherry blushed, "That was kind of him."

"Yes, it was. Then he told us about how because of what happened before you should not be considered for this mission. That you were not indispensable like everyone else. He holds you in very high regard and while that doesn't bother me what he said did. I worried that he might be right, but nonetheless I knew that I had to choose someone."

Sherry's heart sank into her stomach. He had said that? Why would he do that to me? After everything I did for him and said to him he lied to my face and just… wow. The embarrassment made Sherry want to run from the room. Her throat felt tight and her lips quivered. Sweat broke out on her palms and for an instant she swore she went deaf. But no, she could still hear. She could hear the stinging of betrayal from Jeff's side. But as she reeled from what she had just hard she realized, somewhere, that this was to be expected.

Of course he would.

"I never did anything... why would-

"I figured there was some unfinished romance between the two of you and that was why he reacted the way he did."

"But... But I don't understand." Her voice was one squeak now, "He told me-

"Ignore what he told you. I did choose you, Sherry." The woman smiled as Sherry's eyes widened, "a doctor… a doctor who is infatuated with one of my officers, gets little say in matters that do not involve him or his well being. So yes, you got the mission. But despite my efforts to shake his words from t head I do realize that there is a certain degree of… danger – that it holds for you. So, with that said, the mission is yours on one condition."

"What that condition?" Sherry felt breathless.

"Jake Muller," the woman coughed awkwardly, "he has to be the one to go with you."

"Shit." Sherry whispered as her heart sank even further.

Short but necessary. Now I have more excitement for the next chapters, I mean this one was hard to write - it took me so long because I didn't know if I wanted to do a Christmas theme but I realize that that was nearly impossible for me to do, a chapter without some sort of tension? No way.

So review my readers! I love you all and love reading the things you leave for me, they brighten my day so much.