Stephanie Sweeney is introduced in Favor For a Favor, as a past object of John Smith's desire. For most of his mid-twenties, John wanted nothing more than to be with her, but she never quite felt the same way. It took him getting permanently assigned to a Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron in Yuma, Arizona for him to finally let her go.
Born ten months to the day after John Smith, Stephanie was a year behind him in school. While he joined the Marines right after graduation, she got a softball scholarship to the University of North Carolina. They didn't actually meet until after she had earned a Bachelor Degree in journalism.
Stephanie never met her biological father, but she kept his last name. Her mother, Janice, married Tom Willis, a corporal in the Marine Corps, when Stephanie was two years old. Tom's MOS in the Marines meant that he would only ever work on EA-6B Prowler aircraft, and the only Prowlers in the Marine Corps were at Cherry Point, meaning he would have to spend his entire career there.
Growing up as a military brat, Stephanie learned to maintain only a small circle of friends, as most of her friends were constantly moving when their parents changed duty stations. When she was twelve, Tom got orders to recruiting duty in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the process of trying to fit in and make friends, Stephanie picked up a bit of the local accent, enabling her to almost perfectly mimic a Canadian accent.
The Willises moved back to the Cherry Point area after Tom finished his tour of recruiting duty, just before Stephanie turned sixteen. It was during her senior year of high school that she first crossed paths with John Smith. He was a newly-promoted PFC in the Marines, and she was working at a fast-food joint off-base. Their eyes met briefly, and John couldn't help but smile, causing Stephanie to blush, but neither thought they would ever meet again.
It would be four more years before they saw each other again. John was bound for Iwakuni, Japan, and Stephanie earned her softball scholarship. It was during her junior year of college that John met Tom for the first time. They were both deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of the initial invasion of Iraq. Tom was a newly-promoted Master Sergeant, and John was a Corporal in charge of two other Marines. Though their interactions were limited, John thought Tom was an asshole. To Tom, John was just another young NCO who needed guidance and supervision to perform to his potential.
After Saudi Arabia, John went back to Japan for a rotation with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), where he spent most of Stephanie's senior year of college. After he had spent more than half of a two-year period deployed, John's squadron assigned him to a desk job to take him out of the rotation for a few months. It was during that time that he met Stephanie for the first time. He was smitten by her personality, but she was too focused on trying to land a job in her field of study to give any time to a relationship. Figuring that patience was the key to winning her hand, John stepped back and gave Stephanie her space.
For almost five years, John avoided relationships so that he would be single when Stephanie decided she was ready for him. The moment never came, and John got orders to Yuma. He eventually tied her off, but she was always in the back of his mind. In Favor For a Favor, Jeff Davis only has to mention her name and threaten her well-being to get John to work for him.
Strong-willed and quick-witted, Stephanie never has to play the part of the damsel in distress. She sees her own worth, without having to try to impress anybody. Her only weakness is her habit of falling for the wrong guys, which John hopes to help her overcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment