On the way home we talked about the venues we visited yesterday and the chapels today. We couldn't decide which to pick. There were pluses and minuses for all of them and every time we thought we’d come to an agreement one of us would say something in another’s favour. So we have decided to sleep on it. Maybe you can help which would you choose?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WEEK EIGHT cont...
Day Two
(Juanita)
Today was a lazy day, Frank and I spent the morning in bed, sleeping I hasten
to add. But, when we did surface we got
straight to our chores. I tidied up the
garden and Frank continued on the stereo.
Being a handy Sim has really made a difference. He has made quite a few Simoleons fixing
things for Sims all over the neighbourhood.
We are getting married in a few days so every little helps, which
reminds me I asked you all to help me choose my wedding venue. Well the votes are in and counted. It's been a long time since you were here a lot has happened I hardly know where to start. It probably feels like a couple of years to you since you were here last. Anyway the winner is...
The Sophisticated
Little Chapel.
To tell you the truth it
was my favourite too. So the day was
drawing to a close, I decided it was time for bed. Frank was still working on the stereo so I
went on ahead. I vaguely remember
hearing the rain start as I began to drift off.
I’d just about
reached that place; you know the one, not quite in dreamland but not fully
awake either, when this stench like burning hair hit my nostrils. It was so strong it jerked me back and fully
awake. I opened my eyes and sat up with
a start, to see Frank about to get into bed covered in soot, with his hair
standing on end. I rushed to him to find
out what had happened.
“I think I short-circuited something” he said.
“Are you alright” I asked.
“Yes, that’ll teach me to do electrical repairs in the
rain. A bolt of lightning hit my
screwdriver and sent a big shock through me.
I can still feel it tingling.”
“Wow! That must really hurt, and look at you Frank,
you’re sizzling.”
“Oh, I’ll be alright.
It’s mainly soot not really burns, and my hair is statically charged,
but apart from that no real harm done.”
“Well you go have a shower before you come into
bed.” Frank went off to the shower and was
none the worst for his close encounter.
Day Three
When I woke Frank had already left for work. I wanted to go shopping for my wedding dress,
but I don’t really have any close friends, well girls anyway. So I called Shaun but he was busy, I called
Terrel, I hadn't spoken to him for awhile, and we had a nice chat, however, he
too was busy. Personally I think they
were both running away from the idea of going shopping. Men don’t like shopping at the best of times
let alone with an ex barely on speaking terms, silly idea really. So I decided to just go by myself. There will be shop assistants to help me,
won’t there? But then they probably
won’t be objective... as they want the sale, then again they won’t want me to
leave and go somewhere else either, and that’ll be an incentive for them
to keep me happy. I must remember that,
if I feel I'm being railroaded. With these
thoughts running through my head I head out.
I visit The
Tattoo and Beauty Parlour.
It’s as good a place as any to start and I figured
there’d be plenty of Sims to give advice and help me choose. The assistant walks up to me straight away
and asks if she can help me.
“Yes I’d like something formal, I'm...” I don’t get to finish my sentence. She leaps for joy, claps her hands and gets a
gleam in her eye. Then she whisks me off
to a little room.
“Stand up here dear so I can get a good look at you” she
says, pointing to a small podium in front of the mirrors. I do as I'm told. She stands there looking at me and
tutting. “Oh this will never do” she
says pointing, at my butt, I think, “Turn around” she snaps.
I turn glancing at
my butt in the mirror. It’s not that
bad...is it? I think to myself.
“Oh we will have to change everything” she says, walking
over to the rack of clothes. “Let’s
start with these.” she says, handing me some clothes from it. They are definitely not what I had in
mind. “But I'm getting married...” I say
and start to protest. “Yes, yes dear we
will get to that..., I need to get a feel for what you look like in clothes
more...” she pauses to think of the right words. “...suited to your figure” she finishes. She waves her hand in the general direction
of the changing room, in a gesture which makes me feel I'm being
dismissed. I dutifully comply. I re-emerge wearing the most hideous outfit
imaginable.
I mount the podium
again and took a look in the mirror.
“Yes, that’s much better” squawks the assistant “do you see dear, how
this flatters your particular..., assets?”
I look at myself in the mirror and without saying a word I leave the
podium, return to the changing room, dress in my own clothes and leave,
throwing the clothes at her on my way out.
As I leave I realise I’d been holding my breath. I breathe out and take in a big gulp of the
fresh air that suddenly hit my nose. Well
really, who does she think she is? What
was I thinking, a tattoo place? c’mon now, really? I guess I was thrown by the ‘beauty parlour’
bit of the name. Well I won’t make that
mistake again. Now where to go next...
Oh I know there’s a little boutique just opened up. It’s really new, should've thought of that
first I guess, but it is really new so I didn’t. I head over to it and on first site I'm
impressed.
This is more like it.
As I enter I can feel the atmosphere, it is more relaxed with a sweet
calm energy flowing through the place. There's soft music playing in the background which complements it.
I
take a moment to breath it in, before going to the gentleman behind the
desk. I'm surprised its a gentleman,
behind the desk I mean, but he is a far cry from the snooty woman I just
encountered.
“Good
morning, I’m Damon, Welcome to Karl's boutique, how can we help you today?”
I
explain what I'm looking for and he directs me upstairs. “Feel free to browse around” he said “and I’ll send someone along to assist you when you've had a few minutes.” I thanked him and headed upstairs.
Now I really am impressed, upstairs is a large
open plan layout with two similar podiums with mirrors as in the tattoo place.
I get onto the
podium and twisting and turning I get a good look at myself, including my butt.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with my...
assets, as she put it, I think it looks mighty fine. I then wander around the racks looking at the
various dresses. They all look lovely, how do I choose. I must have been looking a little lost,because I'm suddenly aware of a lady standing looking at me.
"Hi I am Naomi, I didn't want to interupt, can I be of some assistance?" Naomi is a
pleasant lady, after introducing herself, she talks to me about what I'm
looking for.
I explain that I'm getting married and give her a rough idea as to what I want my dress to look like. She listens to me intently, while studying my figure and making suggestions.
The whole experience is a far cry from the horrible woman in the tattoo place.
She then brings out 3 dresses for me to try.
They all have different aspects of what I was thinking and she has captured the essence of what I wanted. This is a lady that knows her stuff and how to wait on Sims. She made me feel as if nothing was too much trouble.
Each time she looks at the dress from all angles, to assess
the fit, style and cut on me. I am
enjoying this now and prance around pretending to be a model on a runway. Naomi indulges me and goes along with the
pretence. She comments on each dress and
tells me honestly whether or not it is right for me.
I quite liked this one but Naomi was not impressed. “It’s not quite ceremony material” she said with
and expression of horror on her face. "Maybe for the reception, are you going to change later on?"
"No, I'd like to stay in my dress for the duration of the day. After all you only get married once, I hope, so I want to make the most out of it."
"Quite right madam, What about the last one, try that on and if you don't like it or want to look at some more we can do that too."
I try on the final dress and fall in love with it
immediately.
“Vwala!” she says in a mock French accent and I clap my hands. The excitment was too much.
The dress is exquisite, and fits
all my curves and assets perfectly.
Naomi doesn't hover, she stands off to one side while I
twist and turn in the mirror to get a good look from all angles.
Finally deciding I look hot. and after giving myself a seal of approval, Naomi says “Would you like to add some accessories?”
“Oh yes please” I reply.
She quickly pulls my hair up and accessorised it with some flowers from
the dresser. She adds a necklace from
one of the boxes on display. The whole
look is quite appealing.
Then leaves me alone to enjoy my dress. I gaze at myself in the mirror not quite believing it's me.
I step down and take a walk around to see how it feels.
It’s perfect as I glide across the
floor.
I stop at another mirror as I catch a glimpse of
myself.
Not bad I think, not bad at all, yes this will do very
nicely. I change back into my clothes
and take the dress, shoes and accessories to the desk to pay.
“Did you find everything you needed” Asked Damon.
“Yes I did, thank you so much, oh and your assistant Naomi she is worth her weight in gold, she was so helpful I couln't have done it without her. She left before I could thank her for everything. Would you pass on my thanks and appreciation please.”
"I certainly will madam, I'm glad you enjoyed your visit with us today, please come again and bring your friends."
"I will this place is amazing."
"Now, is there anything else we can do for you, anything at all?"
"No thank you, I'm good, all set for my wedding on Saturday, you have a good day bye."
"Saturday! well you have a good day and enjoy Saturday, goodbye madam."
On the drive home I clutched my purchases and
smiled to myself, I had picked out the perfect wedding dress all by myself...
well with a little help from Naomi.
Days four and five
Three days to the wedding
and there was still so much to do.
I spent the time on
the phone mostly,
but, I did manage a little gardening
and of course there is
always work.
Day
six
The
day before the wedding.
Frank came home from work early. I
was lying on the bed reading a book.
He seemed distracted, looking out
the window, but told me to get ready we were going out for dinner. He’s so thoughtful like that, it was so sweet
when he would just decided to surprise me with little gestures like this.
But today seemed different, it was as if he
had something on his mind that he wanted to tell me but didn't want to hurt my
feelings. I guess he thought dinner
would soften the blow. My mind went into
overdrive thinking about what it could possibly be. Did he have a bad day at work, has he been
fired? Surely he wasn’t postponing the
wedding, or worse cancelling it completely.
I couldn't stand it nothing could soften the blow if it was that, and I’d
rather be at home with my disappointment if it was that. I’d not be able to control myself in
public. No I had to find out what was
wrong.
“Is everything ok Frank?” I asked.
“ Yes.” he replied not looking at me.
Then probably sensing my anxiety added “I just thought you might like to
go out for a quiet dinner. We don’t have
anyone to invite for a formal rehearsal dinner so it’ll just be you and me.” He looked at me now anticipating a dissipation
of my apprehension and for the most part I was relieved the wedding seemed to still
be on. I decided to play along with him,
20 questions wasn’t going to work now and the sooner we got to dinner the
sooner I’d know what was bothering him.
We went to the bistro and ate outside, it was a nice, warm evening and the
sun was still shinning. We began to eat
but neither of us said a word. I waited
for Frank to start a conversation, but I could see him struggling with how.
I kept watching him and waiting.
I couldn't stand it any longer,
Throwing my hands up in the air I broke the silence. “Ok… that’s it are you
going to tell me what’s wrong?” Frank peered up at me without moving his head,
he just moved his eyes enough to look into mine. I could see him trying to read me, but said
nothing. I carried on eating.
When he had finished and the waiter
had cleared his plate, he made a similar gesture with his hands although not with
quite as much drama as I had.
“Look…” he began “you know I’d never intentionally do anything to hurt you
or upset our plans…” I tuned out for a second.
This is not good I thought, he is cancelling the wedding. Then I heard Frank say “Honey… you understand
don’t you?” What had I missed? I recovered quickly.
“No, I don’t understand Frank, explain it to me again?” This time I was paying attention.
“It’s because of the promotion, remember.
Now that I'm doing work which involves some investigations I have to
attend certain courses, one of which is photography. The first course is in France and this
weekend.”
“But we are getting married this weekend, tomorrow Frank.”
“I know, I know baby and if I could do it any other way you know I would. We will still get married tomorrow, but then
I have to leave first thing on Sunday.”
Frank paused and looked at me, waiting for a response I guess. I said nothing, I couldn't, the tears were
beginning to well up in my eyes. If I
opened my mouth to speak I’d be reduced to a blubbering mess.
“Juanita…, do you want the good news now?”
“The good news…” I trailed off not trusting myself to say anything
else. What could possibly be good in all
of this?
“Yes” said Frank “When I started to explain I said there’s good news and
there's bad news which do you want first?
When you didn't reply I figured I’d start with the bad. Have you been listening to me Juanita?” I hadn’t recovered smoothly enough then. I missed all of that. When I didn't reply Frank continued…
apparently with the good news.
“Ok! So the good news is that they agreed to my proposal.”
“Proposal?” I asked.
“Yes I told them I wasn't going to spend my honeymoon in France by
myself. I said that if my wife was ok
with me spending some time on this course then we would both come. If not…” Frank didn't get a chance to finish
what he was saying. I leapt up from the
table and jumped into his arms. He saw
me coming and only barely had time to stand up and catch me, otherwise I think
we would have both ended up on the floor tangled in the table, chairs, umbrella
and all. I hugged his neck and the tears that had been
teetering on the brink of my eyes now flowed uncontrollably down my
cheeks. They were tears of joy now.
“So I’ll take that as a yes then” said Frank “you don’t mind that I’ll be missing
on our honeymoon for a couple of days…”
“We’re going to France for our honeymoon?” I said incredulously.
“Really? That’s all you got from that?” asked Frank.
“France!!” I whispered in his ear.
“Yes France” echoed Frank and it’s on the department, a wedding present if
you like.”
“I love you Frank Williams” was all I could manage. Frank paid the bill and took me home. This was the most romantic pre-wedding night,
well I think so, I have nothing to compare it to, but better than any old
rehearsal dinner.
That night when I went to bed I
was the happiest I've ever been since coming to Union Cove and the happy thoughts were helping me to drift off to sleep, when suddenly a thought snapped me back.
