CHAPTER 184: Looking For A Muse

Suzy finished buttoning up her blouse, adjusted her belt buckle and slipped her shoes on before turning around to see the silver champagne bucket perched atop the shelving unit in her bedroom.  The bucket, which contained an empty champagne bottle that had a romantic card tied to it was especially noticeable because inside the neck of the bottle was a single red rose...a fresh rose.

"Oh Neil, you old romantic...you put that there" she thought.  One of the nice things about living in their new house were the floral bushes in the garden.  Neil must have got up early in the morning before she arose, taken a flower and put it in the bottle.  

She picked up the flower from the bottle and gave it a sniff.  Yes, it was freshly cut.  The romantic gesture was appreciated and she ventured out to the kitchen to see her loving husband, seated at the bar eating his breakfast.  She sidled up and sat next to him, a big smile on her face.

"I appreciate the rose" she said.

Neil wafted a hand at her.  "I got up very early this morning and noticed the rose bush outside was in bloom so I wanted to take a cutting for an art project I'm working on...but I thought you might like it as well.  Your observational skills are, as always, peerless" he said.

"We must make time to go on a date soon; we haven't been out as a couple for a romantic evening since we've moved here" she said.

"I agree; I will make it a priority" he replied, putting down his bowl after finishing breakfast.

"Actually, can we not make it today, though...got a lot on with work at the moment" she said, grimacing apologetically.

"And we wonder why we don't go on dates anymore..." he mused.  "Anyway, must shower.  See you in a bit" he said, getting up to go.

"Not before I give you this in return for the rose..." she said, standing up as well and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"In lieu of a date night, I'll accept that kiss" he responded before heading to the bathroom.

Suzy was alone in the lounge and let out a satisfied sigh.  Yes, there was a lot to do work wise but also investigation wise as well.  She had recently found out that the mysterious book of knowledge, which she possessed only one page of, belonged to Advik...the previous owner of the house.  Maybe the book was still hidden here?  Before they moved in, it was heavily redecorated and nothing unusual turned up but the floorboards were original; they'd only been French polished and not replaced, so that old creepy mystery cliche of a hiding place under the floor could be the location where the book was to be found?  Suzy tested her theory by examining the living room floor closely.

But there were no tell-tale squeaky floorboards to be found.  No loose panelling, no discoloured planks betraying a secret hideaway.  No, just solid, unmoving and boring floorboards.  Suzy's initial hopes were dashed but then she shifted away from examining the floor to examining the walls.  Tapping them to see if there were any hollow cavities she drew a blank here as well.  At one point she knocked on the wall only to hear a knocking sound coming back.  Strange...she tapped again and once more there was a knocking sound but coming from another source, a different wall.  She turned her head to look towards where the sound was coming from and saw that her friend, Bakko, was at the door and it was he who was knocking on it.

"I'm becoming too wrapped up in this mystery!" mused Suzy to herself as she went to greet Bakko.

"Bakko, what a lovely surprise, how are you?" she said warmly to her visitor.

"Suzy, my girl, good to see you too.  Sorry to be bursting in on you and Neil so early in the morning but I had a long trek from downtown to here and I ain't been around this part of town before." 

"Oh my gosh!  I didn't give you my address before we moved out!  I feel so bad; we're well behind on letting everyone know.  Anyway come on in"

Suzy ushered Bakko into the house and invited him to take a seat while she made coffee.

"We've been so busy unpacking and getting the house sorted...plus there's my work and Neil's now a full time artist so that means we have hardly had any time to play host to our friends.  There you go..." she said, handing him a cup of coffee and sitting next to him on the couch.

"I'm digging the place, Suz, really am.  Lacks a bit of colour for my tastes; it's very two tone black and white here."

"You know me; I love the black and white Mod style" said Suzy.

Bakko stopped looking around the place and his face dropped from a smile to an expression of seriousness.  

"Suzy...the reason I'm here this morning is that last night I found out something bad, something that involves you" he said, gravely.  Suzy's expression now changed to one of shock and surprise.

"What is it?" she asked.

"OK, here's the lowdown:  Last night I'm doing this gig downtown at the Planet Honey Pop bar and I'm setting up the microphones and speakers and all that.  Anyway, I go over to the sound mixing desk to check everything's plugged in and working when my mic starts picking up this conversation between this guy and a girl on the other side of the bar.  Normally I wouldn't pry but then I hear them mention your name so I put on the cans..."

"Cans?"

"Yeah, headphones.  Anyway, I put them on so I can hear what these cats are talking about without alerting them and sure enough, they are talking about you and not in a good way.  I got the impression they wanted to do you some harm."

Suzy was aghast but she'd received plenty of threats in recent months for her work.  "OK..." she said, with trepidation.  "...what kind of harm were they talking about?"

"The dude says you need to be kept quiet and the chick who was with him asked if he wanted her to 'silence you permanently' or else 'absorb you'...whatever that means."

"How did the man respond?" asked Suzy.

"He says no violence yet, but keep it as an option.  Suzy, you gotta go to the police with this!  I'll come with you." 

Suzy nodded.  "Yes, in good time but did you manage to get their names?" she said.

"Yeah...she called him Luke."

"Luke...Luke?  Hmm, why does that sound familiar in this case?  And the girl?"

"He called her Leanne"

"Leanne!  Of course!  Wait there just a moment!" said Suzy, leaping off the couch and running to her handbag to fetch something.  She returned and sat down next to him, showing him the photofit picture of Leanne McGregor.

"Did the woman look like this?" she asked.

"No...completely different.  This chick I saw last night was skinny, pale and with short red hair.  Her face was completely different."

Like with the secret place under the floorboards theory, her trying to connect the dots by tying it down to Leanne McGregor had fallen flat.  Unless Leanne had disguised herself, who knows?

"What did the man look like?" Suzy asked.

"Average height, slicked back red hair and a tiny pointed beard.  Cruel eyes, though." replied Bakko.

"That sounds a lot like the guy who accosted me in the street last night!" said Suzy.  "I had this weirdo, claiming to be a fan, tell me to stick to fashion journalism and give up on the investigating stuff.  Now it all makes sense, well, kind of.  He was warning me off before something bad happens."

"Suz!  Why haven't you gone to the police with all this stuff?" exclaimed Bakko.

"I have...and I'm working with Action on this case." she replied.

"I'm worried about these guys...I'll keep my ear to the ground in future.  I've seen the man around town a few times.  If I see him again, I'll give you a call." said Bakko.

"What's this?  Which guy?" asked Neil as he entered the lounge.  "Hello Bakko, I overheard some of this...what's going on?"

Suzy and Bakko brought Neil up to speed on the latest information and she was relieved that he didn't get angry or annoyed but she could clearly see the concern on his face as he took all the new information in.  She wondered if he would intervene and stop Suzy from working on the mystery in order to keep her safe.

Then they're gazes met and Neil nodded reassuringly to her.  "Well..." he said at last.  I agree; we have to pass on the new information to the police, preferably Action as he has been on this case as long as Suzy has.  Bakko, thanks for bringing this to our attention and if you hear or see anything else of those two..."

"I'll get in touch right away!" replied Bakko.

Bakko got up to go about his day's business whilst Suzy and Neil showed him to the door, thanking him once again for his care and diligence towards them.  Once he had left Suzy turned to Neil; hoping he  would speak his mind about this affair.

"We're going to have to give Action a call...these people mean you harm.  If Leanne McGregor is back in town..." said Neil.

"But the woman Bakko saw doesn't look at all like the one I encountered." said Suzy.

"Maybe a disguise, maybe Leanne is a codename and there's more than one...heck, I don't know.  But if we're going to get to the bottom of this..."

"So this is still 'we', is it?" asked Suzy.

"Of course it's we; us two.  I'm your sidekick, remember?" said Neil, dismissing her doubts with a wave of his hand.  "Now we've got a new lead; find out who Luke and the new Leanne are"

Suzy took a deep breath.  "Actually, I have another idea..." she said.  "I think we should try to find this book Advik had.  The answers to all our questions lies in it."

Neil shook his head.  "I looked all over the house this week and I didn't find anything"

"Neither did I...I even checked the floorboards and walls to see if there were any secret hiding places and drew a blank" said Suzy.

"You've been watching too many mystery movies.  OK, so if the book isn't here then maybe the opposition have it?" said Neil.

This time it was Suzy's turn to shake her head.  "I don't think so; if they had they wouldn't be pursuing me so much.  They might think we have it.  But one thing's for certain...we're in a race to get it.  Now where would he hide it?"

"Somewhere that wouldn't be easy to find but at the same time somewhere familiar to him where he could get it when he needed it" mused Neil.

"I checked the library system" said Suzy "and nothing.  So somewhere else...how about the gallery?" 

"Remember they don't like us down there; refused us permission to view the catalogues."

"No, I don't mean the Casbah, I mean Municipal Muses right here" said Suzy.  "After all, it's local and it's where we first discovered his painting."

Neil grabbed the car keys and the two of them headed off to their Volvo P1800 to head into downtown Willow Creek.  Suzy's heart skipped a beat at the excitement of all this and the way Neil just went into action without being asked.  

Neil was a man on a mission, Suzy thought, just by the way he was driving. 

"Suz, we must assume these opponents of yours mean what they say and that you're not safe so we have to act fast and stay one step ahead of them." he said.

"I've had a sinking feeling that's the case." she replied.  Suzy looked over her shoulder at the road behind them.  "I don't think we're being followed, so that's good"

"These are the kind of precautions I think we should take from now on" he said, grimly.

The way Neil was driving they made it from their house to the museum in mere minutes.  As they parked up, the pair of them were still checking to see if they were being followed but even if they were they had little way of recognising who was doing it unless they looked very suspicious.  Suzy thought about the man, Luke, who had slicked back red hair and this other Leanne who was a skinny redhead with pale skin.  There wasn't anyone who looked like this Luke but they spotted a pale woman with short red hair...only it turned out to be someone Suzy had met once before and whose name was definitely not Leanne.

"Where to start?" asked Suzy.

"I'll check outside...look for nooks and crannies where he might have stashed the book" Neil replied.

"Meanwhile I'll check inside.  Do my loose floorboards and knocking on the walls trick."

"Just don't get us thrown out of here, that's all!  Oh and..."

"...I know, check for suspicious characters spying on us."

"Good; you're focussed."  They split up to cover more ground and Neil was looking for anything out of place in the museum's pleasant flower garden area.  As a painter who specialised in landscapes he had a good eye for what looked natural and developed over long periods of time and what looked influenced or altered by man.  That's what he was looking for here:  Ground or stonework that showed signs of recent disturbance.  He was looking at a display of pot plants on a wooden trestle table, looking for hiding spots Advik might have used when a young woman, dressed entirely in black and with heavy make up.  She had a strong smell about her as well:  Incense and musk in copious amounts which meant that when she was standing next to him, the fragrance was overpowering...he had to turn to look towards her and eyeing her up and down he noticed she was wearing the shortest dress he had ever seen...it barely covered her behind.  Not even Suzy was that daring with her wardrobe.

"I know you from somewhere" she said in a sultry voice.  

Neil gulped.  "If we've met before I think I should have remembered" he replied, awkwardly.

"Oh you will have..." she said, looking at him from head to foot and liking what she saw.  "A face across a crowded room, perhaps?  You're an artist, aren't you?"

"Yes indeed I am, yes siree" he said, trying to sound relaxed around this very forward woman who was overloading all his senses at once.

"I thought so!  I've seen you in the magazines...it's...Noel Humphries, isn't it?"

"Neil"

"Ah, Humphrey Neil, that's it"

"No, it's Neil Humphries"

"Of course you are, silly me" and she reached out to touch his forearm and get closer to him.  He instinctively flinched.  "Oh don't be scared of me, Neil, I feel like I've known you for such a long time."

"There you have me at a disadvantage, Madam." he said, his voice croaking under the stress.

"I'm Pleasant..." she said.

"I'm sure you are" he replied.

"Lilith Pleasant and I'm what you would call an Artist's Muse.  Do you have a muse, Neil?  Someone who inspires you to new passions and desires?  Someone who stirs in you feelings, emotions and....power...to create masterworks beyond your wildest imagination?" the way the words tripped off her tongue made her speech sound highly sexual.

"Gulp...erm...actually I do.  My wife..." he said, backing away from her.

"Wife!  Oh no...it's always the same; you find an artist, you make your way into becoming their muse and then they either have a wife or up and die on you." she said, her demeanour changing from seductive to angry in a flash.

It was at that opportune moment that Suzy emerged from the museum and came to join Neil in the garden.  She instantly recognised the woman he was talking with; Lilith Pleasant, a very volatile person on the art and social scene.  The place was starting to get busy as well and it would be difficult to go around snooping with such a crowd.

"Hello Lilith, Neil." said Suzy.

"Ah, this is my wife who I was talking about" said Neil, hoping that would put Lilith off from encroaching on his space.

"You're a lucky woman, Suzy" said Lilith, once again looking Neil up and down in approval.

"I certainly am.  Neil, did you discover anything out here?" asked Suzy.

"No...and you?" he replied.

"Nothing out of the ordinary" Suzy said with a sigh.

"Looking for something specific?" asked Lilith, who was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"A book..." said Neil and he looked around the grounds once more for any clues.  Then an idea struck him.  "Lilith...you know all the artists on the scene?" he asked.

"I do.  If not personally then by reputation." Lilith replied with some pride in her voice.

Suzy immediately picked up on Neil's question and quickly followed it up.  "Did you know Advik Archaya?"

Lilith let out a deep, heavy laden sigh.  "Oh poor, poor Advik.  It was just like him to wander off into the wilderness, never to be seen again." she said.  Looking around her she wasn't pleased with all the people crowding her out of the area.  "Let's talk somewhere a bit less hectic....later boys!" she said, giving the men hanging around in the garden a dismissive look.

The contrast between the garden and inside the museum was stark.  Outside was filled with bright sunshine and the people hanging around were drawn the peaceful, idyllic setting of the garden with its fragrant, flowery smell.  Inside was dim, quiet with the vague whaff of dust and lint in the air.  The trio found a quiet spot to sit and discuss Advik.

"We're very interested in finding out more about him...did you know him well?" asked Neil.

"Well enough" Lilith said.  She tilted her head slightly to one side and smiled, as if recalling a fond memory.  "The artist community isn't very big in Sim City which is why it's surprising we've never met before, Neil." she continued, patting him gently on his knee.

"Ahem!" said Suzy, not happy with Lilith's move.  "Did you know him before or after his mental breakdown?"

Lilith quickly removed her hand off Neil's leg and looked towards Suzy.  "A little of both.  I like a bit of crazy in a man...or woman...but try as hard as I could to help him, he was too far gone in the end.  Plus that scheming bitch he was seeing didn't help matters!"

Neil and Suzy looked at one another when Lilith said that.  They both knew who she meant.  "Was that woman called Leanne, by any chance?" asked Suzy.

"Yes.  She was such a control freak!  Cut Advik off from his friends, banned me from seeing him!  And his behaviour only got worse.  I reckon she was out for his money; he had done well in the financial sector before becoming a painter so he wasn't short of a few Simoleans."

"Did Advik mention a special book to you?" asked Neil.

"A book?  No, not really." she shrugged.

"When was the last time your saw him?" asked Suzy.

"I called in at his house in late February this year just to see how he was doing and I found him in the park opposite his house digging up holes in it.  I asked him what he was doing and he just shouted at me to go away...well the tone in his voice was scary, I can tell you, and he was carrying this very heavy shovel, the kind you dig graves with and I did not want to be the person who ended up in the hole so I left!"

Again, Neil and Suzy exchanged knowing looks.  "Well, Advik might have left us something to turn up after all" said Neil.

Neil and Suzy stood up and thanked Lilith for the information.  Lilith gave Neil one more favourable look and said "If you're looking for a muse anytime, just give us a call" whilst giving him a suggestive look.

"He isn't, bye" interjected Suzy and grabbing Neil by the arm and leading him away.  

As they walked back to the car Neil said "You can let go of my arm now; I'm not going to run back there...she is definitely not my type!"

"Do you think she would let that stop her from devouring you?" replied Suzy.  They got in the car and drove speedily back home to see if they could find what Advik had buried in the nearby park.

Once they parked up, they looked across the road and into the park.  "Dang it!" exclaimed Suzy.  "In my rush to keep Lilith well away from you I'd forgotten to ask her where she saw him digging!  Now we've got that large area to go looking in!"

"Hmm" said Neil, thoughtfully.  Well...if Lilith was standing outside of the house and turned to see Advik in the park then he would have been in that gap between those two houses opposite.  So let's go in that direction and see if we can spot anything out of place" 

They headed for the gap, staying within view of their house.  Neil was searching the ground area for signs of disturbance in the soil but Suzy found herself looking upwards.

"Do you know, this is the first time we've been in this park area since we moved in?" she said.

"Really?  Now you're noticing that?  We're supposed to be looking for a spot where he might have buried that book."

"Oops, sorry" she replied.

"Hey...there's a patch of dirt just here with no grass growing from it...looks like the kind of thing we're looking for."

"Hmm, a good place to start.  OK, let's get digging..." she said, kneeling on the ground by the patch of disturbed soil.

"You'll ruin your outfit...let me get a shovel and a trowel first" said Neil, trying to reign in a very excited Suzy.  Her heart was starting to beat faster at the prospect of finding the book that had literally changed her life as a reporter.  Just one page was enough to spark a flame, a thirst for knowledge of what was really going on in this city.  From that one page she had stumbled upon the criminal dealings of the Landgraab family and a sinister, unknown cabal that was prepared to kill to get what it wants...whatever that was.  And as for the hidden glade...well, that was something that played its part in the bigger mystery.  Possibly the book could reveal the truth about that.

Neil returned with the digging implements and they went to work.  They dug about a foot down when they hit something solid that was soft enough to rule out being a rock or a tree root.  Neil took the trowel, knelt down and dug away the specks of dirt to reveal an oilskin package, tied up in string.

"Could it be...!" exclaimed Suzy.

"It's the right size for a book...hang on, I'm going to lift it out of this hole.  Here we go, what do you think?" said Neil, brushing the dirt off of the package.  

"I think this is it!  Oh, Neil, we did it!  We found it!" she said with a look of joy and relief on her face.

"Steady on, tiger.  Let's not open up the package here...let's get inside.  You carry it, I'll carry the tools."

They rushed back to the house and while Neil put the gardening tools away Suzy took a pair of scissors and cut the string.  Then she tore away the oilskin cover and looked at the set of books contained within.  They had plain covers and bindings and it was only by opening the top book and looking at the title page that gave a clue to its contents.

THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SIM CITY by Patrick Cornelius.  An investigation into the organisations and agents that secretly control the city.

Suzy gasped and took a pace backwards from the book, now lying on the kitchen counter. "Oh my gosh, Neil.  This is is.  This really is it!"

Neil picked up the book and flipped through the pages..."A history of the Landgraab family from 1810 to the present day...A history of the Feng family from 1937 to the present day...Suzy, you're right:  It's all in here!  Can you fetch those torn pages from your desk?  Let's see where they fit in this book."

Suzy rushed off to the study and found the two pages she had found in the library and then she rushed back to give them to Neil.  He noted they were pages 71-74 and flipping through the first book he found a gap between pages 70 and 75.  "Well, that confirms it" he said, putting the pile of books back on the counter.  Suzy was shaking; this was going to be the result of months of investigation and finally what she'd been looking for was now in her possession. 

"Neil...I'm now scared to read them..." she said, her voice sounding shaky.

"I'll read them if you like" he replied.

"No...I must.  It's just that..."

"Reading them sent Advik around the bend." Neil said, sombrely.  "He lived alone, had no one and probably was a highly strung person judging by what people have told me about him.  You've got me.  Anything too scary, too horrific...you must tell me.  I'll be here to give you support."

"Thanks.  We should also let Action and Jeremy know as well; they're involved in this" she said.

"Good idea" he replied.  "OK, remember security now...I'm going to stash them in the lockable draw in the study desk."

There was a knock at the door.  Suzy's heart jumped wondering who was calling.  She approached the door with some trepidation but there was a sense of relief that it was Abigail, her publisher over at 'Hey, Wow'.

"Abigail...now this is a surprise.  Is everything alright?" asked Suzy.

"Actually I was just passing and remembering that this is where you now live, I thought I'd say hello and see how you are settling in." said her boss.

"Oh we're settling in very nicely" said Suzy.  "I'm glad you stopped by, Abigail.  I think I might have a bombshell of a story in the works."

Abigail raised an eyebrow in curiosity.  "A new one or a continuation of your existing investigation in Malcolm Landgraab?" she said.

"Oh it's bigger than that!  It involves the Landgraabs but it's so, so much more.  I need to do a lot of research but I have the materials and...Abigail...I promise you this will be a massive story!"

"Suzy, I can see you're very enthusiastic about this story but is 'Hey, Wow' a suitable vehicle for it?"

Suzy's smile vanished from her face.  "I know it's not the usual thing you publish in it but it does have a lot of relevance for people living here!" she said, making her case.

"No, you don't understand...I mean, if it's as good and sensational as you claim then maybe a different publication in the Whittaker House line would be a better match.  Is it a crime story?"

"Yes...and...erm...no, not entirely, but there's criminal activity in this story" Suzy replied.

"Is it more political then?" asked Abigail.

"Again, yes and no.  This story involves the Landgraabs, the Fengs and the people who tried to kill Alan Cuffe."

Abigail's eyes widened and her mouth opened in astonishment.  "That big, eh?  I'm going to go with this being a criminal story and so you write it and if it's good enough...and doesn't get us sued into oblivion...then I think printing it in 'That Crime Magazine' would be the right place.  Suzy...don't let me down on this!"

CHAPTER 183: FIRE!

 

"OH MY GOSH, WHAT'S GOING ON?  TRAVIS!" cried out Summer when she started to smell smoke from inside Garden Essence.  The smell, and black smoke was coming from the back porch and seeping into the house.  As she went to investigate things were worse than she thought:  There were actual flames that she could see through the window and she flung open the back door to see what was going on.

"It's OK, babe!  I've got this!"  Travis was struggling to get a fire extinguisher going whilst the BBQ was aflame.  

"Are you sure?  Travis, we'd better call the fire department!" exclaimed Summer.  By this stage the noise of the fire and shouting had woken up Liberty and she stepped outside to see what was going on as well.

"Oh my gosh!  How did that start?" said a shocked Liberty.

"I don't know but I'm worried about how close those flames are to the house!  Travis!  Get that fire extinguisher working...NOW!" yelled Summer.

Eventually Travis got the extinguisher working and he sprayed the BBQ until the fire was out and what was left was a charred hulk with soot everywhere.  No one said anything for what seemed to be an age.  Summer looked at Liberty, who looked at her back and then they both looked at the blackened floor and walls as the last whisps of smoke rose into the air and the clouds of CO2 swirled around the ground.  Travis had stepped back, still tightly grasping the extinguisher just in case there were any dangerous embers that could start blazing again.

"I told you I'd sort it" he said, breaking the silence.

"How...did it start?" asked Liberty, with trepidation in her voice.

"How do you think?" said Summer.  "We agreed we'd have a ban on breakfast BBQs, Travis!"

"Did I agree to that?  My memory's a bit hazy on that point." he replied, trying to deflect away any culpability.

"Travis!  Look what you've done!  I'm going to call the fire department!" said an angry and frightened Summer.

"Wait!  Summer!  No need!" said Travis but to no avail, she ran back inside whilst Liberty checked the fence outside to see if there'd been any fire damage to it.

Summer was clearly panicked.  She went to make the call to the fire department but her hand was shaking so much she couldn't pick up the receiver and dial the number.  Liberty tried to calm her down by offering her some breakfast and a coffee but even then Summer couldn't stop going over the incident with the BBQ over and over again.

Once Travis had finished clearing the soot from the floor and hauled the burned out grill next to the garbage can he came back inside to get a broadside from Summer as well.

"We had a deal, an arrangement!" she said, loudly and fiercely.

"I thought it was just a suggestion" he said, calm as you like.

"No!  We agreed to have a ban on breakfast BBQs.  For one thing, the expense, and another it's anti-social to pump smoke out all over the neighbourhood at 7 in the morning and now it turns out it presents a fire risk...especially in the hands of someone who doesn't know what he's doing!"

"I just added a bit more fuel and accelerant...I blame a faulty brand." he continued, trying to calm things down.

"Travis you barely know how to cook...I think from now on I handle all the cooking duties in this house and...." 

"here it comes..." he said, with a sinking feeling.

"...let's not replace the BBQ" she added with finality.

"What?  No way!  It's a Scott family tradition to grill!" he protested.

"Your family, in their home, are perfectly entitled to grill and maybe you should get some hints and tips in future from them.  But here, that tradition isn't observed." 

Travis got up from the table and muttered some curses beneath his breath.  He had to get ready to go to work and was seething at Summer's high handed attitude.  Once he had left, Liberty re-emerged from her bedroom.

"How did he take the news that we're not going to replace his grill?" Liberty asked.

"Badly.  He'll be fine...he'll get back to work and that'll distract him plus he won't be tempted to BBQ everything in this house that isn't nailed down anymore.  Say, weren't you wearing that outfit last night when you went out with Gary?"

"Maybe" answered a sheepish Liberty.  "I may have stayed out all night..." she added.

"Why you sly little minx!" said Summer, smiling.  "That's the sound I heard early this morning; you sneaking back in to the house."

"Guilty as charged!" said Liberty.  "We had a great night at the Blue Velvet but you'll never guess who I saw down there"

"Who?" asked an excited Summer, who loved a bit of a gossip.

"Julia...and she looked really different:  Mod clothes, more make up and she wore her hair down and brushed straight.  I'm so used to seeing her in pigtails."

"Was there a guy involved?" asked Summer.

"More than one...I saw her talking to three different men!" said Liberty.

"Three!" Summer was shocked that her friend, who was normally so rigidly conservative, would talk with three different men and wear fashionable clothes.

"I wonder what's changed her outlook...anyway, I must have a shower and get changed otherwise everyone will start gossiping about me as well!" said Liberty, getting up and heading to the bathroom.

Summer was still too worked up to relax at all.  There was something about fire; all consuming, destructive, taking on a life of its own that it was almost a living being...it needed oxygen and fuel to exist...that frightened her.  She'd never liked it ever since she was a little girl; a 4th July incident that went wrong where a firework exploded prematurely and showered her with hot sparks and debris and she got burned.  That memory came back so strongly that when Liberty emerged, fresh and with a new set of clothes, she found Summer having a panic attack.

"Summer!  Calm down!  It's OK, there's no fire anymore!" said Liberty, grabbing Summer's shoulders and trying to shake her into normality.

"I...I...know...it's just...we came so close" gasped Summer.

"It was bad but we had it under control.  OK?  Travis put the fire out before it caught on to the house.  Listen, how about we go out somewhere?  Take your mind off what happened?"

"Alright...must...get...away" said Summer, in between taking deep breaths.

"Let's go somewhere we've never been before?  I mean, make a day of it:  Anywhere within the city, how about that?"

"I can't think of where..." said Summer, still frantic and worked up.

"OK, here's a map of the city...I close my eyes...eeny-meany-miny-mo....and....here!" Liberty shut her eyes and waved her index finger over the map before stabbing it down in a random location.

"Windenburg..." said Summer.  What's in Windenburg?" 

"My finger landed just near the Von Haunt estate.  I've never been there, have you?" Liberty replied.

"No.  OK, let's go...I just want to get away right now"

"It's more impressive than I imagined" said Liberty, once they'd arrived at the estate.

"I suppose so" said Summer.  "It's a large place...I mean, how big are these gardens?"

"Immense.  I did a bit of reading on the way over here.  There's a maze, a herbal garden, fountains and a croquet lawn" 

"I still can't get over how Travis nearly burned the house down!" 

"Summer, give it a rest..."

"OK, sorry, let's go inside" said Summer, with a sigh.

The friends walked up the marble stairs and in to the mansion where they were both awestruck by the opulence and grandeur of the place.  The plush red velvet carpets, the intricate woodwork in the columns and staircases and, above all, the grand paintings that evoked a bygone age.  Such a place might be normal in the old, established landscape of Europe but here, in America, places such as the Von Haunt estate were rare.

Summer walked over to a plaque and read a bit about the history of the house. 

"Welcome to the historic Von Haunt Estate! From the hedge maze to the lovingly restored mansion, there’s something for all the family to explore. Please note, Management accepts no responsibility for any so called ‘paranormal encounters’ you may experience on site."

There was also some mention of the property being rebuilt and restored to its pre-1898 state.  "Very interesting" Summer said to herself, although she thought the site trustees were overdoing the "supernatural" angle to attract the tourists.

"Hey, Libs, what have you found?" said Summer, walking into an elaborate dining room where Liberty was standing.  "Oh, wow!  Get a load of this room!" she gasped in wonderment.

Liberty was looking at the portrait of a Victorian gentleman.  He was striking a strong, dominant, masculine pose.  He looked mature but not old or middle aged:  Maybe in his 30s, perhaps.  

"Hey, he's a bit of a fox" remarked Summer.  "Who is he?"

"He certainly is!  There's a plaque here, I'll read it." Liberty replied.

"It says...the late Lord Shallott was a troubled artist, who would often burn his paintings...It is said he accidentally...do you know, what, Summer?  The rest is pretty boring.  His name is Lord Shallott and he was boring.  Not worth reading about." said Liberty, suddenly becoming defensive.

"Let me read that..."

"No, Summer, it's just a waste of time"

"I'm curious now...hey...stop standing in my way"

"Let's go and look at something else!"

"Liberty, stand aside, I want to read that plaque!"  Summer had to give Liberty a little push so she could read what it said.

"Remember, Sum, this all happened a long time ago!" said a desperate Liberty, trying to take the sting out of what Summer would discover when she read the plaque.

It’s said he accidentally started the deadly blaze of 1898 by hurling an oversized water colour into the fireplace.

"Oh great...we've come to a place where there was a fire! 'Let's get away from it all' you said, 'let's forget about the fire' and we end up here of all places!  This Shallot guy is just like Travis!"

"He isn't really..." said Liberty, meekly.

"This guy burns paintings, Travis burns meat!" said Summer.  "It's literally men playing with fire!"

"OK, how about we get out of here?  Go somewhere local where there's no connection with homes burning down?" said Liberty, trying once again to calm her pyrophobic friend down.

"Alright...this place is giving me the creeps anyway...say, is it me or is it much colder than outside in here?" said Summer.

"Hmm, you're right.  Anyway, I spotted a little tavern nearby, on the way here.  We could go there for a nice lunch and a drink.  It's done in a traditional, olde worlde English style."

"English!" exclaimed Summer.  "The English are always setting things on fire!  What with their bonfires and coal and all that!"

"Summer...I swear no one in that tavern is going to set the place on fire.  Let's just go there and if it does somehow manage to immolate then we'll skedaddle out of there...deal?"

Summer pursed her lips and looked at Liberty suspiciously before nodding in agreement.

It wasn't far from the estate to the tavern named "The Shrieking Llama".  "Shrieking Llama, doesn't sound very English to me" commented Summer.

Inside, however, was a different story.  It looked, for all intensive purposes, just like a traditional English pub...although neither woman had ever been to the United Kingdom.  

They sat at the bar and ordered a meat and bread platter to share between the two of them, washed down with two glasses of white wine.  Summer felt much better to have had something to eat and drink, be in the calming surroundings of a sedate pub where there were only a handful of customers present.  Feeling relaxed, she wanted to talk about anything other than what had happened this morning...even if that involved having a convoluted talk about work.

"So, Libs, did I hear right in the news that there's going to be another space launch soon?" she said.

"Yeah...I was meaning to tell you guys about it.  I'll have to head off to the Cape again early next week as the launch is on the 18th." said Liberty with a sigh.  She knew that this next mission, Gemini X, was very important for NASA.  Gemini VIII and IX both had problems that meant the missions had to be shortened, they didn't accomplish nearly half of what they'd set out to do and...worryingly...the lives of the astronauts had been in serious danger at critical moments.

"Wow, I didn't know it was that soon.  Do you want us to look after Gary for you while you're gone?" said Summer.  The last time Liberty went to Florida for Gemini IX Summer and Travis hung out a lot with Liberty's boyfriend, Gary, and ended up having a great time with him.  Summer was convinced Gary was the one for Liberty...she wasn't so sure about her and Travis these days, given his reckless attitude to life sometimes.

"If you would, thanks.  I shouldn't be gone that long; it's a 3 day mission and most of my work is done in pre-flight.  But this is a really important mission; we have to achieve a successful docking, EVA and most of the mission objectives this time." said Liberty, taking another big gulp of her wine after considering the many aspects of her work.

"Are we going to make it to the moon before 1970?" asked Summer...it was the question most lay people asked about the space programme.

Liberty nodded confidently.  "Oh yes.  Barring any major problems we'll have Project Gemini all done with by the end of the year and we'll have the first manned Apollo flight in February.  We're on course for a moon landing in early 1968."

"Wow, that soon!  To me it seems like we're putting astronauts into space every week at this rate!  Soon I'll even be opening a restaurant on Mars the way things are going." laughed Summer.

"Mars by 1980, Summer.  Some engineers are already working on some designs for a spacecraft to go there."

Summer had finished her meal and was looking around the tavern when she spied something on the far side.

"Hey, Libs...there's a foosball table over there.  Wanna game?" she said.

"I've never played...is it the one with all the little men on rods and you spin them around?" asked Liberty.

"Yeah, that's the one, let's have a game.  I'll teach you how it works."

Summer took a small ball from one end of the table and dropped it in the middle.

"OK, Liberty, you control the handles on your side, and I control the ones on mine.  You kick the ball with your players, trying to get it into my goal over here.  You have to protect your goal as well.  You can slide the players side to side and twirl them to 'kick' the ball."

"OK, I think I understand...so the ball is near one of my guys, I just aim it a little and.....SPIN!...Look at that, a goal to me!" said a triumphant Liberty.

"So it is..." said a deflated Summer.  "Are you sure you've never played before?"

"Never" said Liberty, picking up the ball and dropping it back on to the table.

The final score was 8-2 to Liberty and Summer was thinking it was a mistake to have challenged her housemate to a game after all.  Usually around the house Liberty was a klutz; always dropping things or tripping over her own feet but at foosball she was fast and accurate.  

"Another game or do you want to move on?" asked Liberty.

"Can we go home now?  I like this place, we must come back again some time.  Although I'm going to need to practice my game a lot more" said Summer.

They caught the bus back to Willow Creek and spent some time lounging on the front porch.  Recently they had bought a pair of swinging, plastic egg chairs which affixed to the roof of the porch and allowed them to swing and spin whilst sitting down...like a 360° swing chair.

"Travis will be home from work soon" Summer mused.

"I wonder how he'll be?  Sad about his BBQ or will he have forgotten about it by now?" Liberty replied.

"He might be really mad at me for how I was with him this morning" said Summer, with a sad look on her face.  Liberty nodded and felt she had to say something to cheer up her friend.

"You were quite right; he was reckless so don't blame yourself for being harsh to him" Liberty said, eventually.

"I know but I absolutely hate confrontation, Libs!  I don't like being harsh!" said Summer, forlornly.

Liberty comforted Summer and tried to best to reassure her but it was true that Summer was always positive and bouncy and how she'd been today was unlike her.  The fire did more damage, emotionally, than she had realised.

Travis arrived home and saw the girls sitting on the swing chairs.  He waved at them from the road and ran enthusiastically over to them.  Summer saw his big, friendly, goofy face and his excited run and her heart leaped.  Getting off the swing chair, she ran to him and they met in an embrace on the lawn.

"Summer, you look great!" he said.

"Do I?  I thought I must look a wreck after this morning's panic" she replied.

"You don't...look, about that.  I'm really, really sorry and you were right about me and BBQs...especially first thing in the morning.  I was a fool and I didn't consider your feelings when I scared you." he said, sheepishly.

"Thanks, Trav.  It's just I have a hang up about fires and things burning, that's all." she replied.

"I didn't understand that until I was at work and I thought back on today's incident.  I think...and this is hard for me to say...we shouldn't replace the grill.  There!  I've said it now!"

"That's very magnanimous of you, Trav" said Summer.

Liberty joined the couple and he repeated his declaration to her as well.

"I think we can all sleep a lot easier tonight knowing that" was Liberty's comment.  With the weight of the issue of the troublesome BBQ dealt with, the friends discussed what should replace it?  A craft working table, punch bag, weight lifting machine and even an easel were all mentioned even though none of them could paint and woodworking was a skill never learned.

Travis noticed that walking down the street was a familiar face he hadn't seen for a few weeks:  Suzy.  He pointed her out to Summer, as they were best friends, and initially Summer wanted to run over and greet her, ask how the new house was and whether she'd like to stay and hang out but Suzy was accosted by a man in the street none of them recognised.

"Excuse me...you are Suzy Kent, reporter, confirm" the man said to her.

"Actually it's Suzy Humphries now." said Suzy, defensively.  She thought this guy looked familiar, somehow, but couldn't put a name to a face or work out where she'd seen him before.  "Is there anything I can help you with?" she continued with caution.

"I have read a number of your articles in 'Hey, Wow' magazine.  I am impressed by your writing and sense of style." he said, rather stiffly and formally.

"Thanks.  It's always nice to meet a fan.  Do you read my column for style tips for yourself or for a girlfriend or wife?"

"I do not have a mate..." he said, firmly.

"Don't mean to pry!" she said, taking a step back away from him.

"The intention of my conversation with you is to encourage you with your style and fashion writing as that is your strong point.  Your investigative journalism, by contrast, does not interest me and is not as well written as your fashion articles." he continued.

"O.....K...." she said, still on the defensive.  She wasn't like any fan she'd met before:  For starters, this guy looked way older than her usual readership and also he was a lot more uptight and formal as well.

Summer noticed that Suzy was looking a bit put out by this guy and so she acted on her initiative and ran over to greet her friend, putting herself between him and her.

"Suzy!  How good to see you!  How's the new house?" said Summer, enthusiastically.  Suzy felt so relieved 'the cavalry' had arrived to end this strange conversation she was having.  The man, looking nervous, decided it was his turn to back away.

"This conversation is terminated" he mumbled before running off down the road.  Suzy watched him fade into the distance and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That guy bothering you?" asked Summer.

"A bit.  He didn't say anything nasty or threatening but I really didn't like his tone.  But thanks for coming to my rescue." said Suzy.

"I thought a timely intervention was needed." said Summer.  "So...how's the new house?  How's Neil?"

"Both great.  Hey, I love those swinging egg chairs!" said Suzy, noticing the new addition to the BFF house.  "Very with it!  I must get some for our new place!"

"Will you stay for coffee...we can catch up!" asked Summer.

"I can't today, but some time soon!  You're looking great, Summer, and I love those chairs...and a big thanks for chasing that guy off."

"No worries...don't be a stranger!  Call on us anytime!  One of us is bound to be in, day or night!" said Summer.

As Suzy walked off Summer sighed.  What a lot of ups and downs today and it had taken a lot out of her.  As the afternoon sun set and evening came on she decided to go to bed early.  Liberty as well; she had to start packing her suitcase for her trip to Florida.  It was Travis who decided to stay up late, tidy up the remaining soot and debris from the fire and have a listen to some records.  His solitary peace was disturbed by a sharp knocking on the front door.

"OK, OK, it's late, stay cool!" he said, getting up from the couch and going to see who it was at this hour.  The answer was Bakko Jang, friend to everyone in the neighbourhood.

"Bakko, what's up man?  You look stressed out" said Travis.

"Suzy!  I have important news for her!  I didn't know she moved out of her old place" replied Bakko who had a look of panic in his face.

"No, she moved out about 3 weeks ago.  I'll get her new address and phone number for you...she'd like to hear from you but what's this news you have for her?"

"It's real important...I've seen some strange stuff, Travis my man, strange stuff..."

CHAPTER 182: House Call

 

It was Julia's first day at work since her promotion.  No longer the bottom ranked most junior of interns, she now had risen up the ranks.  The last 6 months of hard work had finally paid off for her.  However, with more seniority came more responsibilities and with that, an increased workload.  With her increase in wages she was able to purchase some custom made protective glasses that she could wear instead of contact lenses...which always ran the risk of getting lost; sometimes inside a patient undergoing surgery.

Dr Murakami, the head surgeon, was at the front desk and she looked stressed.  

"Ah, Dr Epstein...it's all hands to the pumps today as the saying goes:  Most of the nursing staff are down, sick.  Food poisoning after Nurse Newell's birthday party last night.  I'm afraid we're going to be backed up with cases today; every bed is occupied right now and we need to clear as many of the low level cases as possible.  Here; here's your first patient." she said, handing Julia a case file.

Julia took a look at the contents:  "Roy Reece, age 65, complaining of abdominal pains.  Roy Reece?  That name seems familiar" she muttered to herself.

She walked off towards Bed One, reading the notes all the way.  Fortunately for her, she knew the hospital layout intimately and didn't accidentally collide with anything as she was walking and reading.  Inside the room was an elderly man with a long, full beard and prominent chin who was looking miserable.

"Mr Reece...I'm Doctor Epstein and I'll be handling your case today.  How are we feeling right now?"

"In pain...annoyed...breathing hurts right now...and I just want to get out of here" was his surly reply.

"I understand and hopefully we will get to the bottom of what's troubling you so we can cure you and send you home.  Now I have a feeling we've met before..."

"Hmm, yes, there's something familiar about you too.  Maybe you've seen me at one of my gigs." he said.

"Are you a musician?" asked Julia.

"Yes.  Jazz.  I'm the leader of Roy Reece And His Ragtime Rascals"

"Oh yes, now I remember.  We met briefly in the music room at the Casbah Gallery." said Julia, recalling that not only had she met Mr Reece, he had been quite rude to her and had her chucked out of the gallery's music room.  But she thought it prudent not to mention the incident to him.

"Yes, we practice there every Saturday morning without fail" he said, curtly.  Maybe he had remembered their previous encounter.

Julia began to perform some basic examination of Mr Reece by taking his temperature, checking his blood pressure, heartbeat and gently examining his abdomen to see if there were any abnormalities or pain there.  All the while they were having a conversation about Jazz.

"Do you like jazz, Dr Epstein?" he asked.

"Most certainly!" came her enthusiastic reply.  "In fact I play piano myself and I'm always switching between playing classical or jazz."

"So you play as well?  Good, so who are your favourite pianists?" 

"Jazz wise?  I'd say Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson and Herbie Hancock"

"Harumph!" said Reece, grumpily.  "Not Trad Jazz then!"

"I don't know much about Trad, Mr Reece"

"Trad is the ONLY form of Jazz that should be permitted!  Brubeck can't hold a candle to Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller!"

"Well, that's a matter of opinion...now, let's get a swab from your mouth and get it analysed.  Hold still, Mr Reece..."

"AUUGHAAAHHAAAHHHH"

"Thank you Mr Reece; I will send this for analysis and will check on you again in about 3 hours from now..."

"Three hours!"

"See you then, bye"

Julia took the swab to the lab and on her way back to the wards she was intercepted by Dr Murakami.

"Dr Epstein, I have an unusual request to ask of you" she said.  Julia was intrigued and raised a quizzical eyebrow at her boss.

"There's been an outbreak of stomach problems at some kind of society do downtown...suspected food poisoning.  Now normally they'd all come by ambulance and with all our beds occupied it would make more sense to triage at the location instead of here." said Dr Murakami.  "I want you to go"

"But don't we have staff shortages?" said Julia.

"I've got that covered; we have a couple of locum doctors on call and they'll help out.  I need a more senior member of the team down there, assessing what's going on and if you can treat them there without having to admit them here that would be greatly appreciated...if you catch my meaning."

Julia thought she did; pull this off and promotion again couldn't be far away.  She grabbed a traditional black doctor's bag and medical kit, grabbed the notes for the case and hitched a ride in an ambulance downtown to the Arts Quarter, where the call came from.

She was buzzed in to the apartment and immediately the stench of vomit hit her nostrils.  In the kitchen, a woman was hunched over a sink, retching.  She saw Julia enter in her scrubs and guessed she was the doctor sent to help them.  Picking herself up, the woman wiped her mouth and turned to greet Julia.

"Oh thank goodness you've come, Doctor" said the woman.  "Three of us are down with this stomach bug or whatever it is."

"Well let's see if I can help you.  My name's Dr Epstein and you are?"

"Fleig, Patricia Fleig."  There was a moment of recognition between the two women that, based on their surnames, both were Jewish.  "I'm afraid we all overdid it with a seafood platter..."

"Was there much in the way of shellfish on it?" Julia asked.

"Yes, I'm not very observant when it comes to Kosher..." said Fleig, embarrassed.

"I'm here to cure you, not to report you to the Rabbi" said Julia, smiling.

Julia checked out her symptoms and performed an examination before concluding that it was probably food poisoning Patricia was suffering from.

She examined another patient who had crawled out into the hallway to throw up into a large pot plant.  Julia had seen this kind of food poisoning before; eating shellfish, if improperly cooked or left out to get warm, could lead to it.

"May I ask what was this function you had here was about?" asked Julia, as a way of keeping the patient focussed instead of passing out.

"Oh...I'm embarrassed to say..." said the woman, whose name was Lauren Storey.  "...it's like this.  We're a...erm...lunchtime singles club"

"A what?" asked Julia, innocently.

"It's a club that meets once a week on Thursday lunchtime.  We're all professional people who are...well...you know...single..." said the woman, almost embarrassed to tell Julia all this.  "and we meet up to strike up, erm, friendships."

Julia nodded.  "With a view to courtship?" she asked.

"Courtship.  Yes...it's all very clean and above board.  You see, all of us are over 30 and finding a good man...or woman...is difficult these days with all the work and life pressures there are.  Not like the old days where you'd date a boy at High School in your local town and then marry them later!" said Lauren, now relieved to have admitted what this club was about.

"My grandparents marriage was arranged by a matchmaker so I can relate in a way" said Julia.

"I suppose it's easier for the younger generation like yourself with all the discotheques and 'happenings' as they call them." said Lauren.  "But those of us who didn't have that kind of scene and who hate bars have missed the bus" she said with a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"I don't go in for all that either." said Julia.  "I'm not into the sort of things my contemporaries enjoy.  So, I gather there's one more patient for me to see.  Who is it?"

"Jude...he insists he's fine but he's just as bad as the rest of us" said Lauren, gingerly getting to her feet and leading Julia back into the apartment.

"I'll be the judge of that!" said Julia, determinedly.  She often got annoyed at male patients trying to put on an air of false bravado by talking down their illnesses.

Lauren walked ahead of Julia and led her back into the apartment and to a bedroom.  "Jude, the doctor is here to see you" she called out.

A man's voice responded "I don't need to see a doctor, I'm fine!" he said, opening the door and stepping out from the room.  However, when he saw Julia his attitude changed.  "Well, maybe I should have a check up" he added.

Julia was struck by this Jude's appearance.  Tall, slim but well built with immaculate hair, a strong jaw and cheekbones and the smart casual orange blazer and turtleneck worn with crisp pants and pale Cuban heeled boots...even she was taken aback at how handsome this man was.

"Ah, hello" said a now nervous Julia.  "I'm Doctor Julia Epstein" she said, getting her first name in there as well.  "Have you been suffering the same symptoms as these ladies as well or are there any others you can tell me?"

"I have had some stomach problems but I think I'm over the worst..." he said, smoothly in a voice that seemed to match his looks.  Julia took careful note of all this, and what he was saying.

"Ooooooh, there it goes again!" he said, clutching his stomach suddenly.

"I don't think you're as well as you would like to imagine" said Julia.  "Now, let me feel around the area where there's pain."

"It's right there" he said, pointing to his lower left abdomen.

Julia put her hands on that part of his body and felt around the warm skin, asking him to let her know if he felt any acute pain when she pressed against him.

"Not quite" he said.  "A bit lower"

"Like here?"

"No, lower still" he said.  Julia's hands now were below his waistline and just above his pelvis.  Any lower and...

"There...not quite THAT low, mind you" he said, grimacing.

"I see...yes, food poisoning." she said, standing up and instructing Jude that he could put his sweater and blazer back on.  Fortunately I have some medicine that I've prescribed to your friends here..."

He handed him the bottle and he took it.  Again, his hands were warm and the skin smooth.  Maybe Julia held on to that bottle a fraction too long in order to extend that moment.  Nevertheless, Jude took it from her gently.

"I'll make sure I take the full course, thank you, Doctor Epstein" he said.

"Right, well I'll just fill out some paperwork and I'm done here.  I hope you all get well soon..." she said, sitting down on a bed and taking out her official documentation and a pen.  To her not-unwelcome surprise, Jude sat next to her.

"Thank you once again for coming out." he said.  "Just one thing though; how long before my symptoms start to go away...it's just that I've got a lot on with work right now?"

"Oh 1 to 2 days.  Hopefully you'll see an improvement in your health tomorrow and the next day.  What is it you do, Mr...?"

"Oh, McKenna but please call me Jude.  I'm a stockbroker" he said.

Julia smiled to herself.  A professional man of means...mother would approve. She thought.

"I would take the rest of the day off, Mr McKenna, I mean...Jude...and to be on the safe side, tomorrow as well."

"Who am I to argue with my doctor?" he said with a smile.

Julia smiled back but didn't know what to say next.  She just wasn't smooth enough in these situations and was inexperienced in flirtatious banter.

"I hope we run into each other again, Doctor" he said.  Then he looked at the floor, took a deep breath and looked up at Julia.  "May I be presumptuous and give you my business card?" he said, reaching inside his blazer.

"Oh...well...I mean, you are my patient so...." she grimaced.

"I'm so sorry, ethics and all that." he replied, sheepishly.

"No.  Don't apologise.  However, you are now officially discharged from my care so....let me see...what are the rules again?  I can take your card...in case I have any stocks and shares advice I might need." she said, struggling for the right words to say.

"Of course.  As one professional to another" Jude replied.  "And as a medical professional...if I have any reoccurrence of my stomach problems or my symptoms don't improve where can I contact you?"

"Oh yes...here's my card with my hospital phone number and also..." she said, carefully pointing out a second number on her card.  "My messaging service if you can't reach me at the hospital."

Jude smiled.  "Thank you.  So we both know we can reach each other if either of us need some...professional...advice" he said looking into her eyes.  Julia gulped and nodded.

She made her goodbyes and headed back to the hospital for a late lunch.  Sitting in the cafeteria she thought about meeting Jude McKenna and how she was drawn to him.  Normally she was so career focussed and hated all that kind of lovey dovey romance nonsense, going so far as to join an organisation that was against smut and permissiveness but with Jude it was different as it was different with Vincent before he had to go away.  These were strong, professional men, adults not rampaging hormonal overgrown boys like Rez Valdez or others like him who were only interested in her body and sex.  No, a gentleman who was solvent and mature was fine in Julia's book.  Plus she was now doing well in her career; she was trusted and respected and now she could look ahead and see the possibility of including a man in her life, as long as it was the right kind of man and not just anyone for the sake of it.  On top of that, Jude seemed to like her as well and he was clearly looking for a woman of more substance hence his membership of a singles club where he would meet a more refined kind of woman, by the looks of things.  Julia was a more mature head on a young body, she thought.

But it was back to the day job and following up on those tests of Mr Reece's she had done earlier.  She headed back to the lab to pick up his test results, read them and went to his room.

"Hello Mr Reece.  I've got your test results here" she said, entering the room.

"You seem unnaturally merry, Doctor Epstein" he grumbled.  "I hope you have some good news for me"

"Well it's been a good day for me but I don't want to make you feel any worse by being too merry.  As for your results, well it's good and bad news.  The bad news is you have gallstones, Mr Reece, but the good news is that it is treatable without the need for surgery."

"That's the first bit of good news I've heard since I arrived here" he grumbled.

"Well I'll write you a prescription and the pharmacy will send you the medicine you need.  Hopefully that will help and I hope to see the Ragtime Rascals, full line up, soon.  Goodbye, Mr Reece."

One case dealt with, it was time to look in on another patient; a little boy called Jimmy Gibbs.  He had a nasty rash and fever that was bothering him.  However, there was another problem to deal with...a woman was in Jimmy's room and it wasn't a relation.  Her name was Miss Charlotte Sneed and was a patient with a separate medical condition.

"Miss Sneed...you have to leave this room immediately!" said a stern Julia.

"It's so stuffy in here!  The kid's suffering!  I'm trying to open a window!" came the reply from an agitated and manic looking Miss Sneed.

"Miss...I have to ask you to leave this room!  I need to take this boy's temperature and...what medication did you just take?"

"What?  All of it!" replied Miss Sneed.  "All of it plus my regular, daily medication"

"Oh no...you're tripping out.  I'll get a nurse to escort you back to your room."

"This room...so hot...even the paint on the walls is starting to melt..." said Sneed, in a daze.

Eventually a couple of nurses showed up and guided the spaced out Miss Sneed back to her bed, made notes about her medication being too strong and confiscating the pills she had concealed in her handbag.  For Julia, she ended her shift with some rare praise for all her hard work from none other than her hyper-critical boss, Dr Murakami.

She was exhausted and went straight home, not even changing out of her scrubs for her regular clothing.  She grabbed a light dinner and flopped on her bed.

She couldn't rest for long as she had to perform a set down at the Blue Velvet club this evening.  She was exhausted but at the same time hanging around the house on her own this evening didn't seem like much fun so playing piano for a few hours should boost her spirits, she felt.

Getting up to get changed for the club she thought about what she would wear.  Normally she didn't care about wearing the latest styles or dressing to impress but the manager of the club, who booked her to play once a week, asked if she could 'jazz up' her outfits instead of looking like someone just off the street?

But what to wear?  Her kilt like skirt was too everyday but her fancy frocks were better suited to weddings.  Her blue dress was at the dry cleaners but a couple of weeks ago she had been out with Barbara and Suzy and she bought an outfit on their advice.  Maybe it was time to give it a go?

Julia was unsure.  It was a black and white top and skirt with matching accessories, an idea inspired by Suzy's mod black and white look.  The top was snug fitting and made of a stretch material but it had long sleeves and a high neck.  The skirt was short and fitted her hips more snugly and had a prominent belt and buckle but doubts about its brevity would be countered if she wore thick tights.

She put the outfit on and thought it looked smart enough.  A bit more 'with it' than she normally wore but...well...why not make the odd concession to fashion once in a while?  She thought.  Plus...this outfit would be suitable for a date...no!  She thought again, hold that thought before it gets out of control!

She touched up her make-up, adding a bit more than she normally wore and then paused before considering her hair.  Maybe jazz that up as well?  She undid her long plaits and brushed her hair straight.  The overall effect was startling to her:  A different outfit, a bit more make up and brushing her hair straight and she looked almost unrecognisable to herself!

She noticed she'd left Jude's business card on her desk and considered calling him but thought that was highly inappropriate and forward.  The man was recovering from an illness, after all, but to let him know she was playing piano at the Blue Velvet tonight and if he were to swing by they could meet for a chat?  No, let the poor man rest!  She thought.

It was off to the Blue Velvet and she had her set list planned.  When she entered the night club already things were in full swing and there was a buzzing vibe to the place.  One or two of the male patrons noticed her enter and their heads were turned:  Who was this cute chick in the club tonight?  A new pianist, perhaps?  

She sat by the piano and played a scale to see if it was in tune:  Fortunately it was.  Then she began her set with a favourite Bacharach/David composition.

During the song she was approached by someone she knew...Kerry Fry.  Kerry stood next to the piano and watched her play without saying anything but nodding along to the rhythm of the song.  When she stopped playing she turned towards him.

"Impressive" he said.

"Thank you, I've been wanting to play that one here for some time" she replied.

"I didn't mean the song, I meant you.  I dig the new gear." he said, looking at her up and down.

"I'm not sure anyone would notice" 

"I did...listen...can I get you a drink?" he asked.

"Erm...not now.  I'm still doing the first part of my set.  I get a break in a little bit, you can get me one then."

Kerry winked at her and took a seat nearby to watch her play.

She continued to play and after 20 minutes it was time for a short break.  Her first priority was going to the bathroom, which was located upstairs at the club, and when she came back down she had found she had made some new fans.

"Bravo!  Well done!  I thought you played beautifully just now" said a young man who had an air of confidence and swagger about him.

"Thank you" Julia replied, politely.

"Please, can I get you a drink?  Will you sit with me a moment?" the man asked, smiling.  Julia liked his smile; it radiated charm and warmth.  "My name's J and I don't think I've seen you here before"

Julia took a seat next to J.  "I play here once a week." she said.

"Wait!  You're the one who accompanies Joelene!  Ah, you look so different with your hair like that."

"Do you know Joelene?" asked Julia.

"Yes; she and I are Kitten Club members...well, I am, she left to pursue her music career." replied J.

Julia bristled.  She did not like the Kitten Club and what they got up to.  She was impressed by J's charm and manners but knew that, deep down, he was only after one thing with women.  

"Well thank you for the compliments and have a great rest of the evening but I want to catch up with a friend over there before I resume my set.  Goodbye, J."

"Wait!  What about the drink?" he called out as Julia stood up.

"Thank you for the offer, but now" she said, politely.  The less contact she had with the Kitten Club, particularly the male membership, the better.  Still, no reason to spoil his evening by confronting him over it.  That's something Edna Sneedley might try, but not her.

Julia tried looking around for Kerry but couldn't see him as the bar became ever more crowded.  In the end she ordered a drink for herself and walked back towards the piano when she saw him there at a table in the company of another woman.

Kerry noticed that the expression on his date's face had turned sour and he looked behind him to see Julia standing there, holding a drink.

"Oh, sorry!  I did promise to buy you a drink!" he said, slapping his forehead.  He turned to the woman sat with him and said "My manners are all over the place this evening...may I introduce Julia to you?  She's an old friend of the family and plays piano here....Julia this is my...erm...friend..."

"I have to get ready for my next set" said Julia, coolly.

She walked away from his table, deflated that he was being flaky and didn't even mention he had a date.  At one time it looked like the two of them might go out on a date, and they had been "match made" by their respective parents, but Kerry often backed away, called things off at the last moment or else went quiet for weeks.  Julia had grown tired of his flakiness and here he was, at it again...compliments, promises to "meet up", but nothing following that.

She had about 5 minutes to spare and a drink and a pretzel to finish before she had to perform again.  All the seats were occupied except for one near the piano itself, which had one solitary man sitting at it but a spare seat next to him.

"Excuse me, is this seat free?" Julia asked the man sitting there.

"You would have to negotiate a transaction with the owners of this establishment and I believe they would want to charge you money for it." said the man in a monotone voice.

"I mean, is it occupied or will it be occupied by someone you're expecting?" said Julia, trying to be precise with a man who seemed to depend on precision in his speech.  His manner reminded her of someone she met in an art gallery months ago.  He was someone who spoke oddly as well.

"No.  It is unclaimed at this precise juncture.  You may sit there." he replied.  Julia sat down and finished her food and drink but she was still looking across the bar at Kerry and his date.  She didn't know why she took an interest or indeed cared who he was with.  But, in the recesses of her mind, there was a subconscious pang of jealousy buried deep within her.

"Sandor 21?" 

"What?" Julia was shaken from her daydream and saw the stranger was talking to her again.

"You are Sandor 21, confirm" he repeated.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said Julia, starting to get annoyed.

"Is this not your new form?  I have not been briefed about your new appearance" 

"Oh, I bought this outfit last weekend.  This is the first time I've worn it." she replied.

"Sandor 21"

"No, J.C. Penney"

"I do not understand the reference." he replied.  "However, I have nothing to report this evening."

"O....K..." said Julia, backing away.  This guy was weird!  "I have a set to perform, please excuse me" and with that she stood up and quickly made her way back to the piano.

The second part of the show went well and she made some money from her appearance fee plus tips that were placed in a very large brandy goblet by patrons.  She didn't stick around to socialise afterwards...she was done with men for this evening!