Chapter 2-The Wolf Next Door

Katherine stood there and couldn't believe her luck as Murphy's Law strikes her yet once again.   The Know-it-all from the bar and the loud and inconsiderate neighbor turned out to be one in the same. This shouldn't have surprised her as she should have figured out a neighbor this rude would have to be him.

Katherine: You?  You live here!  You're the obnoxious neighbor that plays the music that loud at night? How could my luck get any worse?

Jeremy:  You think you have bad luck?  I have worse.  I rented this house because I sensed a wolf next door and it turned out to be the whiny oh woe is me girl.  Are you the only other wolf in this whole town?

Katherine: I was happy being the lone wolf here until you came around.

Jeremy:  I was beginning to think I was going to have to pass the curse along in order to form a pack until I sensed another wolf here.  I guess beggars can't be choosers.  You wouldn't be my first choice but you'll do. I'll see you on the next full moon.

Katherine:  Hold on there a minute!  I never agreed to be in a pack with you, in fact you never even asked me if I wanted to.  You just assumed I would.

Jeremy:  Well we are the only two wolves around.  Who else would be in my pack?

Katherine: Oh so now not only do you assume I will join your pack, you made yourself the leader also.  Listen I'm not running with you at any time....

The expression on Katherine's face turned serious as she noticed that the post man had just arrived so it was time for her daily nervous breakdown.  Her heart stopped as she prepared to read what always turned out to be rejection letters.  Today she would have an audience for this daily ritual, damn that stupid Murphy's Law.

Jeremy:  Something wrong Kathy?

Katherine: Will you excuse me for a minute.  I'm waiting for something important to be delivered in the mail.

 She goes to pick up the mail and she reads the letter that came with the package.

Dear Ms. Wood:

We are happy to inform you that Silken Devotion Publishing has decided to give "Romance on the Horizon" the chance it deserves.  A contract for your approval is enclosed with this letter as well as a printed copy of your book.  Please review the terms and if acceptable, return it to us within 7 days.

Welcome to Silken Devotion Publishing and we look forward to reviewing your future submissions.

Sincerely,

Myron T. Phillips

Finally someone wanted to publish her book and Silken Devotion Publishing was looking forward to her second book.  She thought her luck was about to change until she read the letter again and realized that Silken Devotion only published romance novels.  It looked like she failed again but if this was the only way she could get the message out then so be it.  She began to smile which she had not done in a long time.

Jeremy:  Looks like its good news, this is the first time I ever seen a smile on your face.

Katherine: It is good news, my book is being published and I was offered a contract.

Jeremy:  Well Congratulations Kathy!  You need to go celebrate; you should call some friends and go out.

Katherine:  I'm a lone wolf; I don't have any friends here.

Jeremy:  I'm not doing anything, why don't you let me buy you a drink?

This man did indeed annoy her but right at this moment she was so happy even he couldn't ruin her mood.  She  did want to celebrate and wanted to share this moment with someone but she didn't know anyone else here in Meadow Glen.  He may have not been her first choice but he will do. As he said beggars can't be choosers.  Against her better judgment she heard herself saying these words.

Katherine:  Why thank you.  I think I will take you up on that offer.

They went to the Red Flame Bar and Grill and Katherine did have to admit it was pretty nice to have some company.  Spending time with Jeremy wasn't as bad as she thought and to her surprise he seemed quite friendly today.

Jeremy: So Kathy...

Katherine:  My name is Katherine.

Jeremy:  Getting your book published is quite an accomplishment.  Do you mind if I ask what kind of book is it.

Katherine:  It's a romance novel.  Most of the story you already know.

Jeremy: I do?

Katherine:  It’s the story you heard me tell a million times in the bars.  I actually turned that into a novel.

Jeremy:  Oh that story!  Well I think that turning it into a novel was a stroke of genius.  I can't wait to read it.  How soon will it be in paperback?

Katherine: Paperback?

Jeremy:  I'm not serious.  I'll be reading as soon as it’s released.  I always support my pack mates.

Katherine:  You still think I am going to be in your pack?

Jeremy: Why not?

Katherine:  Maybe because you haven't asked me, you just assumed.

Jeremy:  Do you really plan to run alone?  Live your whole life as a lone wolf with no one or nobody.

Katherine:  Maybe I like my life that way.

Jeremy:  If you really wanted to be alone, than why did you accept my invitation?  You could have come here by yourself.

Katherine: A momentary lapse in judgment, one that will never happen again.

Jeremy:  I guess it figures that someone as whiny as you would want to spend time alone gives you more to whine about.  No wonder your knickers are always in a knot.

Katherine:  Whiny?  Knickers in a knot?  Well I have never.....

Jeremy:  Maybe you should so you won't be so frustrated and uptight all the time.

There it was the straw that broke the camel's back.  Katherine had enough after that last remark.  Katherine had never met a person more rude in her life and that last statement was totally uncalled for.  She stood up and slapped him across the face before she steamed out of the bar.  At this point her first and only priority was finding a new place to live as soon as she was able.

The next morning Katherine signed the contract and delivered it to the offices of Silken Devotion Publishing.  The contract called for her to write 10 romance novels so she had 9 more to go.  

They did ask her to make the bedrooms scenes just a little bit steamier but not too erotic. This was a problem as she was still a virgin and wasn't quite sure how to write this. Again she started to worry, the only man she ever had any feeling for was Spencer and of course she never even kissed him. 

As she was looking out the window......

 she had to fan herself as she was beginning to understand.

Katherine: Ohhhh Myyyy!

To be continued.....

Author's Note:

Katherine must do the following for the challenge:

•           Join the writer career 
• ·        Write a romance book
• ·        Create a best seller
• ·        Date one person through the young adult stage
• ·        Marry as an adult (Must be the same person dated as a young adult)
• ·        Have one kid as an adult  (must happen after marriage) 
• ·        Write at least 10 romance stories
• ·        Have a date night every week
• ·        Stay with spouse until death do us part.

Katherine so far has written 3 out of the 10 romance novels and she is on level 6 of the writer career. Jeremy career and ltw is athlete and he is on level 6, according to Going Solo Rules his should not count but I am only doing 10 generations here so I will not repeat his career or ltw regardless if he achieves it or not.  I changed the amount of children always to 1 for each generation to follow Going Solo Rules.  Jeremy is the only sim she has ever dated as even in the main story she was never romantically involved with anyone including Spencer and they go on dates on his days off from work so I never miss.

Bonus shots:

They are actually very sweet together, here is a shot of them attending a costume party.  They choose spun into their own costumes.

Chapter 1-Meadow Glen

Meadow Glen would seem like a beautiful place to live for almost anyone.  It had a big city area with plenty of bright lights, but when you crossed over the bridge there was beautiful mountain ranges, green meadows and farm lands.  This place had the best of both worlds and truly was a paradise. Well it would be a paradise for almost anyone but not Katherine Wood.

 To Katherine this place was an exile or a prison as she was sent to Meadow Glen for her own protection.  She made the mistake of making a deal with Denny, her mob boss cousin and now she truly regrets it.  She had no idea that Denny would try to kill Starr and if luck was not on Starr's side he would have succeeded. If her Grandparents didn't have a job for her to do here, she would have stayed in Aurora Skies.  If Denny carried out his threat on her she would have deserved it.

The mission her Grandparents had for her was similar to their own and her first job was to follow in Grandma Holly's footsteps.  She needed to become an author and publish at least 10 books to educate the people in this universe to save the earth.  She desperately wanted a chance to make amends for all of the damage that she caused the family and she could not think of a better way than to devote her life to their mission.  Grandma Holly did leave her some big shoes to fill and she was not sure she would ever be able to.

 If she was going to stay here she needed to find a permanent residence as she couldn't afford to keep paying for a hotel.  This was a new world to her and the amount of currency she had was limited so she had to budget her spending.  Living in the city was more glamorous but expensive.  She was never a flashy person to begin with she started looking in the country instead.  She found a cozy little house for rent perfect for just one person. The house had one bedroom, a kitchen/living room combo a small office.  The rent was reasonable and the area seemed to be very quiet, which she would need if she planned to write all those books. 

She needed to find herself an income and thankfully a full moon was on the horizon. She wasn't a member of any pack over here so she had no choice but to go hunting on her own.  Luckily she learned enough from her father to handle the job and she found a few gems along with some precious metals including some gold.  She made enough to feed herself for the month and purchase an old computer.  The next order of business was to start writing some books and submit them to publishing companies.  Hopefully one of them would like her work and actually publish it.

She started to write her first book based upon the material she studied from Holly's books.  She was given this opportunity to redeem herself and she wanted to make sure she did not screw it up. There was no option for failure here as she knew the fate of all the universes depended on it, but she was not a writer and at university she majored in business administration.  How in the world could she of all people ever pull this off?

She finished the book and submitted it to several publishing companies but it was rejected by all, as was her second and third books.  Every time she received a letter her hopes faded and faded until she hadn't the will to continue.  She was given a job and was not able to do it, a failure and a disappointment to her family again.  She was not even in her own universe and she missed her father desperately.   The reality of the fact that she would never see him or her mother again set in.  

 She started to watch the television all night while eating ice cream out of the carton. She went through several cartons of ice cream a week as she could only find comfort in food but that was until she found out were the local bars were, which she frequented often.  The nectar seemed to make her forget her troubles and she usually found a bartender willing to listen to her sad story.  This was a temporary comfort, but these days she took her comforts where she could find them.

One night as she was spilling her guts about how Starr treated her and how Spencer rejected her; the bartender was not the only one who was listening.  Jeremy Norwood who was also new in town and was trying to find himself a pack was sitting right next to her. He had seen her there before and already over heard this story more times than he cared to.  He could tell from looking at her that she led a privileged life and didn't know how lucky she actually was.  To him it looked like any problems she had was caused by herself and no one else.  As she got to the part when she found her cousin in bed with her crush yet again, he had no problem telling her so.

Jeremy:  Well why didn't you move out?

Katherine:  Excuse me but I was not talking to you.

Jeremy: Maybe you weren't but I heard you tell this story to anyone who would listen, so sweetheart tell me why didn't you move out?

Katherine: My name is not sweetheart it's Katherine and none of this is any of your business.

Jeremy:  You are right it’s not my business, Kathy, but it seems to be the business of anyone who works behind the bar in this place.  I guess you are lifelong friends with all the bartenders here?  

Katherine:  My name is Katherine, not Kathy.  They work here you don't.

Jeremy:  For the past 6 weeks you have been coming in here with the same story and no one wants to tell you the truth for fear of offending a customer.  I, on the other hand do not work here and I do not have any problem telling you that all your problems are you own fault.  You could have moved away from those two and there would have been no problems at all.

Katherine:  I didn't have the money to pay for an apartment, so I had no choice but to stay.

Jeremy:  Did you ever hear of part time jobs?  Plenty of us had no other choice but to work while in school.  You also had another choice of making other friends, you should have met someone who would have returned your feelings instead of pining over someone who didn't.  You had plenty of choices, you just made the wrong ones.

Katherine:  You don't know anything about me and I haven't a clue who you are and why are you saying this.

Jeremy:  My name is Jeremy Norwood and if you don't want people to know about your business maybe you should keep your big mouth shut from now on.

Katherine:  Well Jeremy mind your own damn business from now on and it’s been displeasure to make your acquaintance.

Jeremy:  Sure will Kathy as I am sure you will avoid me from now on and I won't have to listen to your tale of woe anymore.  I will give you some advice, if you don't like your life change it.  You are in control of your own universe so stop crying and do something about it.

Katherine went home that night angry as all hell.  Just who did this guy think he was and where did he get off speaking to her in such a manner?  As angry as she was at him she hated to admit he did have a point.  If she would have handled Starr and Spencer differently and moved on when she should have, she might not be in this situation today.  They moved on with their lives while her thirst for revenge almost killed Starr and completely ruined her life.  This was the moment she decided to try again and she sat down to write another book.  

Copying her Grandmother's style was not working for her so instead she decided to write a romance novel and the young heroine who was studying to be an environmental engineer was caught in a love triangle between her cousin and the man they both loved.  In the end neither girl got the boy as he moved on and married someone else as did the cousin.  The young heroine moved away to start her life elsewhere on her own and in the last chapter she met a handsome young man in a bar who changed her life without even knowing it.  Her message to save the environment might have been subliminal but it was there.   She needed to get the book in print to establish herself as an author and if a book on facts couldn't work, maybe this would.

She again submitted the book to a number of publishing houses hoping that this time it would be different and someone would publish the book.  While waiting for an answer and decided the best thing to do is start working on another one.  Whether or not it was published she made a promise to her grandparents that she would publish at least 10 books and if she failed it would not be from lack of trying.  

She sat at the computer and she tried to concentrate but her new neighbor always had the television or stereo playing loud at all hours of the day or night.  It was getting rather annoying and she needed to ask this person to have a little more consideration and lower the volume a little.  She walked up to the house and knocked on the door.  Immediately her sixth sense kicked in and she knew that her new neighbor was a wolf like herself, but she couldn't believe her eyes when he opened the door.

Jeremy:  Why hello Kathy.  What brings you to my humble abode?  

To be continued......

Author's Note- I would like to thank Jazen for Jeremy Norwood.  If you would like to read her awesome stories, here is a link to her blog.

I am following two challenges here that I have put together, from Going Solo there will be unique ltw for all generations and no ltw or careers will be repeated and the children will carry one trait from the mother and one from the father. 

The second challenge is the I’m a Lover challenge and Katherine will need to do the following in this generation:

·        Join the writer career

·        Write a romance book

·        Create a best seller

·        Date one person through the young adult stage

·        Marry as an adult (Must be the same person dated as a young adult)

·        Have two kids as an adult  (must happen after marriage)

·        Write at least 10 romance stories

·        Have a date night every week

·        Stay with spouse until death do us part.

So far she has joined the writer career and she has written a romance novel.