Let's rewind the cassette tape of history here and find out what prompted peppy fashion reporter Suzy Kent to kick her own garbage can over.
It began half an hour previously, when Suzy phoned new acquaintance Winston.
"Hello? Is that Winston?" she asked when he picked up.
"Hello?....Hello?" the line was terrible.
"Hello Winston...it's Suzy, Suzy Kent"
"Don't pass auditprg....lack good bits....meanwhile link" came the crackly response.
"What? Say again, Winston? What link?"
"....*crackle*....using bee curd....*crackle*"
"Winston...I can't make you out clearly. Do...you...want...to...meet...for...coffee?"
"That is my nughmre....cue the prgly...*crackle*....I know where you can flodhgohgfnr" and then the line went dead.
Suzy glared at the receiver "the darn Phone Company! I don't know anyone who likes the Phone Company!" She slammed the receiver back down on the phone...hard...and went outside to rage and kick the bin over.
She calmed herself down by playing on her guitar...her musical skills were still "developing".
There was a knock at the door; it was Summer Holiday inviting Suzy to go get a coffee and a Danish. Suzy, having worked out her frustrations with the Phone Company, agreed.
"Give me the latest gossip" said Suzy, once they arrived in Windenburg
"I was hoping you had some...things are really slow right now. Liberty's working late on some rocket thing and Travis is...well...he's usually out with the 'guys' and forgetting I exist"
Inside the cafe, there was some kind of book club meeting going on. One of the group sidled up to Suzy's table and started up a conversation.
"Excuse me but what is a physically attractive human female doing in an establishment of this kind?" he said.
"Erm....drinking coffee with a friend" replied Suzy.
"Very good. It is important to establish friendly interactions with others" said the man. "By the way, my name is Davis Goode."
"Goode by name and good by nature?" joked Suzy.
The man pondered the response. "Hmmm, my surname is spelled with an e so the comparison does not bear much scrutiny. I see you are dressed in the manner of what is popularly known as a 'Dolly Bird'...I too am interested in current fashion. I work for the magazine Smogue Inc"
"Oh, that's a co-incidence" replied Suzy. "I too work for a fashion magazine...Hey, Wow!"
The man suddenly looked serious and stood up. "That is an enemy publication...I must leave immediately" and with that he suddenly walked out of the cafe.
Summer returned from ordering food at the counter. "Who was that guy?" she asked. "A rival, apparently" replied Suzy.
The two chatted some more but then Summer had to leave for work. Suzy found a flier in the cafe for the Romance Festival so she decided to go and see what fate had in store....
...what it actually had was a bunch of middle aged couple looking to rekindle the fire in their relationships plus a surfeit of women compared with single men...which numbered only 1 and that was the guy who worked at the oriental food counter. Suzy was soon bored of the festival but, on a whim, enquired of the relationship guru what her love fate was.
"You will meet a tall, dark stranger with individualistic facial hair" said the guru.
"That's it?" said Suzy, fed up and in need of a drink. She walked into the nearest bar and....bumped into a tall, dark(ish) man with huge sideburns.
"Er hi..." he said, seeing Suzy standing there by the open microphone. "Do you sing?"
"A little..." said Suzy, not relating her caterwauling experience at the Blue Velvet. "And you?"
"Oh no...I think if I sang, Switzerland would mobilise" he joked. "My name's Burr...Burr DeBenning"
"Interesting name" she replied.
"I'm Suzy" she replied.
"Nice to meet you...." suddenly, there was a beeping sound from his pocket. "Dang, it's my pager...the latest thing, but it does mean we'll have to continue this some other time, Suzy".
And with that, the tall dark(ish) stranger with individualistic sideburns was off into the night.
