"Home sweet home" said Suzy as she stepped out of the car. "The honeymoon was wonderful but I do like coming home and seeing that it's still there...it hasn't burned down"
"Well, that's one way of looking at it." replied her husband, Neil. "Ever the optimist..."
"Shall we just go inside, get a coffee and just flop?" said Suzy.
"I've got another idea..." said Neil.
"A better one?" asked Suzy.
"Not necessarily. Just something traditional, that's all."
"Sounds interesting....hey! What are you doing? Put me down! Hey!" she exclaimed.
"Stop kicking! I'm trying to carry you over the threshold and I've got 3 tricky steps to negotiate...I do not want one of your Go-Go boots in my face, thank you"
Suzy stopped kicking. "Ooh, how very romantic and traditional" she cooed.
Neil walked up the stairs, carrying Suzy, his muscles straining as he took each step. Then he arrived at the front door. "Ah..." he said, putting her down.
"What? That's it?" said Suzy, disappointed.
"I forgot to take the keys out of my pocket first. Hang on..." he said, reaching for the house keys, inserting them in the lock and opening the door. Then he picked her up again and carried her into the hall.
"After that long drive, I'm starving!" said Neil, rubbing his stomach.
"Same here. I'll cook us some bacon and eggs...my first home cooked meal since I became your wife" she replied.
"So are you going to become a housewife now and renounce the world of high fashion?" said Neil, with a smile.
"Fat chance! You're making dinner later" she replied, slapping him with a dish cloth.
The telephone rang. Suzy went over to it and picked it up.
"Hi, Suzy! Abigail here". Abigail was her boss at 'Hey Wow'. "How was the honeymoon?"
"It was wonderful, Abigail. We saw so many..."
"That's great, Suz. Listen; normally I wouldn't bother you like this but there's an art exhibition down at Municipal Muses and the reporter I assigned has just cried off with some kind of illness. It might be malaria. Anyway, I'm desperate to cover this event and you're the only staffer I have who isn't tied up on something. Could you be a sweetie and cover it? It's only nearby to you and it should only be for a couple of hours. Maybe four..."
Suzy sighed. "Sure, Abigail. I'll be there." Her boss rang off and Suzy looked apologetically at Neil.
"Go...I understand. We'll hang out as newlyweds later" he said.
Suzy made her way to the museum and already she could see it was a lot busier than usual with a lot of stylishly dressed people queuing up outside to get in. Already, photographers were taking snaps of the patrons in the hope that one or more of them would be some kind of celebrity.
She showed her press pass at the entrance and walked straight on inside where the patrons were more spread out over the two floors, the cultivated gardens and piano bar area. No sooner had she gone inside than someone recognised her.
"Say, aren't you Suzy Kent from 'Hey, Wow!'?" said a striking looking young woman, head to toe dressed in black and wearing the shortest dress she had ever seen.
"I am." Suzy replied, a little apprehensively.
"Oh I just LOVE your work" the woman said, flamboyantly. "My name's Lilith Pleasant by the way"
"Are you an artist?" asked Suzy.
"I'm a MUSE, darling!" Lilith replied.
"Who's muse?"
"Oh I haven't decided on that yet" came Lilith's reply and she let out a short, haughty laugh.
"Is there anything here that's impressed you so far?" asked Suzy, her notepad at the ready to write things down.
"Oh the classical stuff is SO boring but I do like some of the modern art here. Such confidence! Such boldness! The vividness!..." she said, wafting a hand in the direction of one painting which consisted of a light grey background with the word "DULL" written on it in dark grey.
"I....see..." replied Suzy, unconvinced but remaining diplomatic. However, one other lady wasn't so tactful.
"Ugh...that is NOT art!" she huffed. She was a lady of Indian descent, Suzy figured, and her face seemed vaguely familiar but she couldn't put a name to it. She had on a crimson dress that combined western fashion with an Asian twist and wore her hair up, in a beehive style.
"Oh and I suppose you're an expert in art, are you?" Lilith responded, looking down her nose at the woman.
"I am a painter...my name is Jesminder Bheeda"
"Never heard of you. And do you have anything hanging here today?" replied Lilith.
"Well, not as such..." said Jesminder, slightly embarrassed.
"Didn't think so" said Lilith, cutting her down.
"I might not be well known as an artist but I know what is good art and what is...well...garbage!" said Jesminder, raising her voice and pointing an accusatory finger at one painting. "I mean, what is THAT? It's just some brightly coloured squares on a white background with various black lines going through them."
"That is a style called 'Neo-Plasticism'" said Lilith, indignantly.
"Ooh! I've heard of that!" exclaimed Suzy. "My husband..." she said, beaming at the word "...told me about it."
Jesminder, however, completely ignored Suzy. "As for that..." she said, pointing at the painting with DULL on it "...that is the worst bilge I have ever seen in any gallery!"
At this point a woman with long red hair stood up with barely supressed rage on her face. "That painting is MINE!" she growled.
Things then deteriorated even more but Suzy was able to take a photograph of the ensuing punch up. Immediately after that she raced home to type up her report and get it couriered to the offices of 'Hey, Wow!' before any of the newspapers could beat her to it.
