Cousins
Tabitha is standing in the large bedroom, trying to decide where to pack her personal belongings. How strange to be standing here, she thinks, looking at the blue bedspread, the large white wardrobe, this just feels strange. Only a short while ago she was counted as a child, sleeping in the nursery, the children’s’ room. Now she is an adult, counted as an adult, and given an adult’s position. She looks at the double bed again, and something shivers inside her. She gets nervous, looking at that bed…
She resolutely turns her back on the bed, and starts to put her clothes into the wardrobe. She is humming to herself, she is so excited about it all. She really thought the Promoting would never happen, and she is quite sure that if it had been up to Aunt Guinevere, it probably never would have happened. She feels guilty straightaway, even looks over her shoulder, as if anyone in the room could read her thoughts! They were a bit unfair, she admits, after all, Aunt Guinevere is perfectly at peace with the whole thing now. The grey actually becomes her, and the autumnal colours of her outfit suit her.
Soon Tabitha is installed, as she calls it. She looks round once more, checking things, looking at things, but not so much at the bed. She knows she is being silly, but she is feeling a little wobbly mass in her stomach when she thinks of her betrothed, the man promised to her in marriage, her beloved Richard. Well, beloved, she doesn’t really know him, but his name does make her heart speed up a notch! Whenever she gets ne of his regular letters, her heart does overtime! She is very, very excited about the whole arrangement.
Tabitha knows it will be a little while though, first they need to receive their shared party invite, then at the party they need to actually meet up and connect. Then there is the long and complex courtship, after which follows the proposal Event. That is something she is really looking forward to it just sounds so romantic! It makes her feel special just thinking about Richard Knight, proposing to her, Tabitha. She knows he is a very kind, charming young man, very considerate, which makes her look forward to the proposal even more!
After that, there is the very long and rather tedious wedding ceremony. Tedious, because you are limited in what you can wear, and what you can say and do. All that is regulated and ordained by Sims Mobile Government , who clearly don’t take a girl’s feelings into consideration! Tabitha is standing in front of the tall mirror now, twirling this way and that. “Will this dress suit Madam?” she askes, in a very affectatious voice. “I’m afraid we only have white this week, and blue tux for the young man,” continues the posh voice. Tabitha stops and sighs, feeling a bit down all of a sudden.
“What if they really gave us awful clothes, and we’d be stuck with them for the entire ceremony!” she groans out loud. A brusque voice answers her question from behind her back.
“Well, then you’d just have to get married with your eyes shut, I suppose.” Chris, her cousin, is standing behind her, his usual scowl firmly in place. “Who cares about the wedding ceremony or dress code or flowers? It’s the deed that matters, just a tick box exercise, dearest cousin!” he sneers, and stalks off again.
Tabitha slumps down on the bed with a sigh of relief. Chris unnerves her, the way he suddenly pops up, and always pokes his nose into things, answering rhetorical questions with his dour outlook on life. They should get him a job as undertaker, she mutters, her scowl matching his, and maybe even outscowling him! Really, the way he suddenly appears, it’s going to drive me mad! What if he comes in…her thoughts trail off, Tabitha bites her lip, and runs her hand absentmindedly over the bedspread.
Then she shakes her head, and laughs at her own worries. “Even Chris wouldn’t do that! He will probably hover nearby, but even Chris won’t be in this room on my wedding night!” She is worried about that night, nervous, excited!
Tabitha walks out of the room, passes Chris who is still nearby, of course, and gets the post in. Both of them have a letter from the Job Office, so she hands Chris his letter, and opens hers. She applied for Photographer, preferably the ASOS one, and really hopes she’ll get it. It will be so interesting and, she smiles secretly, also very convenient with Dr Knight just across the Square…
She quickly scan the letter…mmm…accepted…mmm…start on receipt of letter…oh. Not the ASOS Photographer after all, well, that is disappointing! At least she will still be a photographer. Tabitha is over the slight twitch of disappointment before the letter is back in the envelope. She can’t wait to begin her career! It will be so exciting, and the Luxury Event is almost finished, so very soon she will be able to just concentrate on her career. Brilliant!
She meets Chris, again, on her way to get ready for work. He looks just a little less grumpy, which means that he must have gotten the position he wanted as well! She asks him, not wanting to be cold towards him all the time. “Did you get your position? You applied for the office job, didn’t you? Working Downtown is quite cool, and I suppose it will make it convenient for you and Victoria to share transport!”
He grunts a bit and answers quite civil for a change, “Yes, I got the position. Of course, they could always change it I suppose. Also, that office is quite dark, and I’m sure they have lighting that can cause migraines, so I might have to apply somewhere else anyway. It said in the letter that Harry Something is still the overall manager, and he is absolutely ancient. I can’t stand most elderly co-workers, they just nag you all day, and he’ll probably pick on me because of my eyebrows.”
Tabitha just stops herself from rolling her eyes. Seriously, her cousin is worse than Eeyore, honestly, a manager picking on you just because you have slightly bushy eyebrows? As they have only just received shared responsibility of the house she decides to be extra nice to him. “I’m sure he won’t even notice your eyebrows, so you’ll be fine on that score,” she says as lightly and as upbeat as possible in front of a sourpuss like Chris.
He looks worried straight away, “What do you mean, he won’t notice my eyebrows? Why ever would he not notice them? I dislike the way you wind me up whenever you can. I makes me feel very undermined and insecure!”
This time Tabitha does roll her eyes and sigh. “That isn’t what I meant, Chris. I meant that your eyebrows are absolutely fine, and I am quite sure that the manager will not pick on you on account of your eyebrows…or for any other reason,” she adds hurriedly, seeing Chris’ frown deepening with each word. “Anyway, I have to go, my first shift starts, and I want to be on time.”
That brings the conversation to a very hurried end, as Chris most definitely doesn’t want to be late! Tabitha wonders what life with her cousin will be like, hoping they both will get married very soon. At least that will give them separate lives, and she won’t feel like Chris is watching her every move…