Wait

The same afternoon as the previous entry:


"I must say that I'm surprised to see you here Sofia."



Sofia sat on the bench next to Cherry Smith. It was close to five in the evening; the sun would be setting soon. There was a tingle in her belly that reminded her of when she was a little girl waiting on the front porch for the newspaper to be delivered just so she could talk with the teen delivering it.

"I decided that I needed some time away. To think."

Cherry stood. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like. It's only $200 a day I ask. Meals will be cooked by me, and I can clean your room when you're out if you'd like. Let me show you the room."

There was a seething undercurrent to Cherry's chipper attitude that Sofia had been able to feel all the way in her own home just up the street a few miles. Sofia didn't know much about Cherry but that she had been a townie who had taken advantage of a situation (much like Sofia had often done herself). In the end, Cherry was the step mother of the city Mayor and yet she lived here on the edge of town running a "bed and breakfast" out of her home.



Cherry smiled at Sofia as she waved proudly to the rest of the room. It was decorated simply, much like a hotel room but with a homey feel to it. Sofia could easily spend the rest of the day relaxing and waiting.

"Well, thank you. I would appreciate privacy if you wouldn't mind."

Cherry nodded, though Sofia was sure that the woman was inwardly fuming at Sofia's power over her. "Well, we'll both be upstairs. See me if you need anything. There are some left overs from dinner in the fridge if you get hungry."

************

Sofia spent the rest of the evening in her room. Upstairs she could hear the tromping of Cherry's little brat, Jason, as he ran back and forth. Surprisingly, at eight the noise stopped.

"I'll arrive once all the lights are out and everyone is asleep," his note had said.

Was eight their bedtime? It would make sense for someone like Cherry to let her child do whatever it pleases and then force it to sleep at a certain hour.



Sofia smoothed her silky red night gown then sat on the edge of the freshly made bed. She would wait. She did not want to turn out her light too early, just in case he was out there watching now. So she would wait and make him wait as well. If he were feeling as anxious as she, then he could continue to feel so until she turned off her own light to signal him in.

Read more!

Friday Evening

Jason and Ama sat in the police station waiting for their parents to pick them up. Jason was happy that he got to sit behind the desk, though he wasn't allowed to touch anything. Ama and Hobart sat on the other side of the desk. Ama had her arms crossed, and she had pulled her chair so that it would face away from Hobart.





Hobart said, "Ama, c'mon. You can't get mad at me. My dads asked after your parents called. You know I can't lie to my dads."

Ama refused to look at his pleading eyes. "Hmph!"

Jason sat quietly. When his mother saw him, he knew he would be in big trouble.

They hadn't thought that their mothers might contact each other! Ms. Smith, Jason's mom, had called Ama's mom at her work. It was all over after that. Ama's father was the local police chief.



"Oh, my baby!" The high pitched sound of Jason's mother's voice brought him back from his thoughts to the present. She kissed him all over his face so that he had to wipe his sleeve across his entire face to get off the feeling of her lips (and any lipstick).



Ama's mother and father were there right after Jason's mother. From what Jason could see over his mother's shoulder, Ama's mom was very unhappy. Jason heard her saying, "Young lady, you are SO grounded! From here on out, after school you are going with me to work. Not another word!"

Ama's father could be heard saying to Hobart and his dad, "Thanks, man. I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have responsible Hobart here."

Jason's mother was still fussing over him in a way that upset him. "Mom, I am NOT a baby."

"You are my baby. And you'll always be my baby. Now come along. Let's get you home. Do you want some hot cocoa? You must be cold."

Jason followed dejectedly after his mother. Ama's fierce gaze caught his eye, just for a second, before her mother started lecturing her again. For that second, Jason didn't feel like a little kid. He had been a brave adventurer ready to catch a murderer. He'd certainly been braver than Hobart, who had told on them to the grown ups. Jason liked the thought that he was braver than the older and taller Hobart. At least Hobart couldn't call him a baby now.

**********

In a few days:



Alberta has a friend who tells her a few things about Gabe.

Read more!

Cherry Smith

"Wow, Mom!" Jason walked up the stairs onto the porch. "It's perfect. And it's already got furniture and everything."

"Here that, Thomas? Even has furniture. Aren't you glad we decided to keep walking when the others stopped in town?" Cherry did not make an effort to disguise the smugness in her voice. This would show Richard, Jr., the self proclaimed Mayor and Thomas' son from his previous wife. Richard had not been much help to them as they were coming up the bluff and into town. Instead, he slipped into his previous role as Mayor (a Mayor who had inherited the job, Cherry might add) and proceeded to help everyone BUT them.

"Thomas?" Cherry turned around towards her silent husband. He'd been quiet as they had walked down the road that lead out of the city, but she'd also been quiet as she fumed over the treatment she had endured from her son's half brother.



Thomas stood at the bottom of the stairs, clearly having trouble breathing. He started walking up the stairs, but a shadowy form seemed to follow him. Before she could do anything, Thomas fell to the ground clutching at his heart before he'd even had a chance to look in the window.

"Thomas! NO!" Cherry screamed.

Read more!

Growing families

These events take place before Tierra De Legado.



Bonnie Centowski gave birth to a lovely baby girl named Amália.


Daniel Mellon became a plant sim. O_O His partner didn't appear too happy about it, but that didn't stop the wedding.

Everyone that was important to Daniel was there. It was definitely the happiest day of his life.

Soon after the wedding, Daniel felt a tickle all over. His nose began to twitch, and ACHOO! He sneezed out an adorable little plant sim that he and his partner called Ivy Mellon. (I know, original, huh? XD)


Next door to Daniel, things at the Mellon Farm have been going really well business wise. Phillip has a great head for business! He suggested his family sell live stock and it's products. So they have renamed The Fish House to The Farmer's Market, and now they sell meat, milk, eggs and fertilizer.
Phillip treated his sister out to a meal at Water's Gourmet Diner.

The cute part was that while they were there, they ran into other sims like their brother Daniel.

I also took note of this:


Cherrie Smith and Jeannie Stratton out to a lunch date together. Jeanie was married into the family first and it turned out she was good buds with the sim who had been stalking my sims for a while. That's when I first became aware of the plight of my NPCs. Now I keep a close eye on them. (See the second paragraph of this post to see what is up with my NPCs.)




Also, I just love this kitchen. Buggybooz added more parts to it since the last time I played. So I had more to play with. It looks so lovely in game.

Read more!

Cherry opens a business

These events take place before Tierra De Legado.


See this page for Cherry's story-- The Life of an NPC and, you know, the part below that has her name in it.

Basically, Cherry Smith is an NPC, and in my neighborhood to explain away NPCs and why they live forever I have made them into a sub group of sims that don't play by the rules of normal sims. NPCs can live forever and fill in the jobs no one else wants to do. The only reprieve for those NPCs is to get married or to move in with one of the sims I am playing.

Some NPCs are completely oblivious to this. (Poor Marylena Hamilton comes to mind.) But some are acutely aware of the static darkness that surrounds their lives. That would be where Cherry comes in.


So last night I had Cherry open an experimental business for me. It's a massage parlor, but it also has a bar in the lobby so you can have a drink while you wait. Plus it has a kitchen, so Cherry can serve food to her customers while they wait for an available table.

The massage part of the businesses was a success. I downloaded a hack from Sim Wardrobe to facilitate my business. Apparently, Maxis messed up the coding so that it was impossible to assign employees to the massage table.

I sold some massages last night at $500 a pop! Originally, I had wanted to set this up as a venue, but I think I'm going to do away with that aspect until later maybe. The employees who are assigned to the tables come out to select customers who are thinking about buying a ticket.

So definately it will take a little experimentation. What if Cherry gets to run the brothel first?

Read more!