The black, velvet curtain began descending and Sherry blew kisses to her "wonderful audience" and thanked her accompaniment, The Sunbeams, for a terrific job. The Sunbeams were a semi-competent trio who traveled with Sherry wherever she played and, thanks to Victor's sound business principles, earned the minimum rate of pay. They were Rex, on guitar; Joel, on drums, and Phil, fender bass. Thanking them at the close of the act always drew out the applause, which was a good tactic, but they might as well have been The Moonbeams or any other kind of beams because they didn't matter.

Sherry Trent was the whole show.

The stagehands quickly moved the risers out of the way in preparation for the next act and Victor led his slightly perspiring daughter out the stagedoor and into the coffee shop of the Lucky Nuggett for a snack before retiring for the night. Sherry greeted the small group of fans who had assembled outside the door, signed a few autographs, and then she and her father settled into a booth and ordered the dietetic special which consisted of a hamburger patty and cottage cheese and hardboiled eggs and other high-protein foods calculated to keep an up-and-coming star from getting overweight.

"Good audience," she said to her father as she sipped her nonfat milk. Victor drank Sanka.

"Yes," he agreed, "for a week-night they were nice and responsive. The closing number was a little too fast, though. I'll have to speak to Rex about that tomorrow. Aside from that, every thing went fine." Sherry seemed tired. When their food arrived, they ate in silence. Then Victor paid the check and they went to Sherry's dressing room where she changed into street clothes and went upstairs to Victor's room.