As the day of her wedding inched ever closer, Suzy Kent found herself becoming more and more pre-occupied with thoughts about the day itself, every little detail in its planning and imagining what it would all look like; from her walking down the aisle to how Neil would look in his formal suit. She could actually see herself loving every moment of it...a far cry from the hip, happening, party girl who moved into the neighbourhood all those months ago. That Suzy would never have considered getting married back then.
She was now overcome with very warm, very romantic feelings towards her fiancé, Neil. With those bright blue eyes, that unruly lock of blonde hair on his forehead and his increasingly toned and lithe body she couldn't help but feel like the luckiest girl in Sim City to have landed this talented, kind and brave man who had matinee idol looks. She approached him and stroked his face, lovingly.
"Hmmm, what have I done to deserve that?" Neil asked, smiling.
"Just being yourself you wonderful, wonderful man" she said, softly with a gentle purr to her voice.
"Is this what I can expect once we're married?" he replied.
"This....and much, much more" she said, leaning in for a kiss.
They embraced and kissed lovingly and when they eventually parted lips she went to make some coffee for the both of them.
"So, will you be meeting up with the guys to celebrate your last week of freedom?" she asked him.
"Yes. It's just a low key thing...me, Andre and Jeremy" he said, nonchalantly. He was having a small bachelor send off as he didn't know that many guys in Sim City so his best friend and Best Man, Andre and his neighbour, friend and colleague in Suzy's adventures, Jeremy, were the only other two guests.
"Well, have fun and I hope they'll send you home intact and not handcuffed to some remote telegraph pole" she said.
"It'll be fine! Can you imagine Jeremy agreeing to that...or having strippers?" he joked.
"Well, just be careful...that's all I'm saying" said Suzy, sounding a note of caution. She felt a slight uneasiness about this...she couldn't place her finger on why she felt it; Jeremy and Andre were decent guys but....something didn't feel right.
Suzy headed off to work and Neil headed over to Oasis Springs where the other guys would be gathering: The Rattlesnake Juice Bar in Oasis Springs. He arrived to find Jeremy sitting outside the bar so he went to sit next to him.
"Hi, Jeremy. You OK?" he asked.
"Yeah...well, busy, you know. You're lucky I'm free today" said Jeremy, flatly.
"The new job, eh? How's that going?" Neil asked.
"Wonderful..." said Jeremy, suddenly bursting into life. "Geoffrey Landgraab is very friendly and Nancy is like...a...m...m...m...mother to me". Jeremy seemed to have difficulty saying the word "mother", which Neil found odd. In fact, the way he was praising the Landgraabs; a couple the residents of Foundry Cove came to view with deep suspicion, seemed off. Something wasn't right with his friend but before he could find out more, Andre had arrived.
"Hey guys...shall we go inside and toast our great, soon to be wedded, buddy?" said Andre in good cheer.
"A send off toast..." said Jeremy.
"OK, let's go..." said Neil and all three of them entered the bar.
"Cheers, old friend" said Andre "You're a lucky, lucky guy"
"Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that" said Jeremy.
"You're joking, right? Suzy is a catch!" replied Andre, surprised at Jeremy's quip. "She's gorgeous, smart and super, super sexy..."
"She's also a troublemaker, a bossy boots..." muttered Jeremy. "I mean, Neil, no offence but do you need to be settling down so soon? Hmmm? I mean, what's wrong with biding your time or considering your options?"
"OK, joke's over Jeremy..." said Neil.
"No, I'm serious. How long have you known Suzy? Not long and do you know her, really? Do you know enough about her? Hey, don't look now but I think that woman at the end of the bar is giving you the eye. Barkeep! Three more beers over here!"
There was, indeed, a woman looking in the direction of the three men. She had short blonde hair, wore heavy eye makeup and was wearing a long multi-coloured dress that showed a lot of exposed arm...and cleavage.
"See what I mean? And I think it's you she's interested in" continued Jeremy.
"Maybe it's me..." said Andre. "She's not bad looking..."
"You're welcome to try your luck with her, Andre" said Neil but Jeremy's whole tone was bugging him. "Look, has something happened between you and Suzy? Have you two fallen out?" he asked, cutting straight to the point.
Jeremy sat there saying nothing. He looked at his beer quizzically and tilted his head as if contemplating something. Then his mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out so he shut it again.
Neil took a deep breath. "Look, I love Suzy and want to spend the rest of my life with her. Raise a family and share in her adventures and, hopefully, she'll share in mine."
Jeremy snorted in a derisory manner. "Yeah, right, like she'll do that" he said, sarcastically.
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Neil, getting annoyed.
"Haven't you noticed? Everything's about her; her adventures, her troubles, her snooping around and poking her nose where it doesn't belong" said Jeremy.
Neil suddenly stood up to confront Jeremy. Andre reacted, quick as a flash to try to diffuse the situation. "Guys, guys...calm it down! Jeremy, next week Neil's getting married and Suzy's a great gal. He's a lucky guy and we should be supporting him."
"I've said my piece" said Jeremy. He finished his beer, stood up and walked out of the bar. "Good luck, Neil...you're going to need it" he said in parting.
Neil sat back down. "What's got into him today?"
"Unfortunately I don't know him well enough to say but I from the few times I've met him before he seemed like a nice guy. Maybe something in his life's bugging him?"
"Maybe...something's not right, that's for sure" said Neil.
Jeremy walked to the subway station to make his way home but as he turned a corner and the Rattlesnake Juice Bar was out of sight he stopped and grabbed the sides of his head. What am I doing? None of that seemed right but....but....Suzy Kent is my enemy. Suzy...Kent...is...my...enemy....but why? WHY? He thought. Little made sense so he plodded his way back home.
Meanwhile at the bar, Andre was pondering a bigger question. "Should I offer to buy her a drink?" he asked Neil.
"You have my blessing" Neil replied. "She is still looking in our direction..."
It was a completely different scene over at the offices of 'Hey, Wow!' magazine. Suzy was deep in the magazine archives looking for background material for her next article. Instead of taking individual documents or lugging heavy boxes of papers to her desk she found it easier to take her typewriter down to the archive room.
It was very quiet down here. Up at her desk there was always a buzz around the open plan office as ideas for articles were tossed around, models and photographers came and went and sometimes an occasional celebrity would visit. Suzy found she could get a lot of work down down here.
However there was one interruption and that was from her editor, Abigail. "Someone told me I could find you down here. Is this your new office?" she said.
Suzy let out a little laugh. "No, I came down here to do some research and it was just easier to bring the typewriter down. Do you wish to see me about something, Abigail?"
"Well, we were going to have a little celebration upstairs but you're conspicuous by your absence" Abigail replied.
"Celebration, what for?" Suzy asked.
"I've got a little wedding present for you....a promotion. From tomorrow I want you to take over the Style Editorship. The whole fashion and style department is yours. I thought you'd might like to celebrate that"
"Wow...the editor position? That's great!"
"You'll answer directly to me and you'll be expected to attend editorial meetings but the job's yours if you want it"
"I do! Thank you Abigail! I'll come right up and join the party"
"Let's pop the champagne corks then" said Abigail.
It was a slightly tipsy Suzy Kent who came home that night. Neil had finished his own "celebration" with Andre, who had managed to buy that lady a drink and even get her phone number. He had then did a shift at the shop and came home slightly ahead of Suzy.
"Hey, lover, I got me a promotion!" she said, skipping lightly towards him.
"Congratulations! Let's celebrate!" he said.
"Ooh, I'd better not right now! I've already had a leeeeetle too much to drink today and my head's spinning" she replied. "Anyway, how was your little get together? I see you made it back in one piece...I knew Jeremy wouldn't let anything bad happen to you."
"Yeah, about Jeremy...have you two had an argument?" asked Neil. Suzy looked at him quizzically.
"No? Why do you ask?" she replied.
Neil recounted to her everything that Jeremy had said back at the bar and the hostile tone he took whenever her name was mentioned. Suzy was taken aback: Her friend, the first person she ever met in Foundry Cove, an ally...could he really hate her or was Neil saying this because he was jealous of him? Suzy had sometimes suspected her fiancé was plagued by feelings of being a "second choice". With just over a week to go to the big day, she really didn't need any personal drama.
