Gen. 2 Chap. 5: Broken hearts and new beginnings.

Hadley

I headed out of the theatre with a spring in my step - it had been a great concert. I stopped in my tracks though, at the horrible scene in front of me. Someone's time had come, and the Grim Reaper had come to take them away.

My heart lurched as I recognised the ghost. It was Jamie Jolina, an acquaintance of mine who I'd met on my very first day in Sunset Valley. Jamie couldn't have been that much older than me. It made me realise that I might not have that much time left, either.

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Viola

One night after work, I started to pay attention to what was going on around me again. Since I’d found out my dad was cheating on my mom, I became more withdrawn and not as social as I used to be. I was really only comfortable with my guitar in hand. 

I’d stay out all night playing at the bistro or outside the theatre. 

My parents didn’t care if I was brought home by the police, because, surprise surprise, they were never home. 

So. Back to that night after work. I walked out of the spa and saw Sean standing out the front. 

He looked - well, not good. He was staring out into the distance and blinking back tears. I went over to him.

‘Sean?’

He met my eyes. I’d never seen him look so sad. ‘Hey stranger. I was hoping to catch you here.’

I didn’t know what to say to him. ‘Well - I’m here,’ I said with a shrug.

Sean just looked at me. ‘Oh Viola. You -’ He lowered his head and covered his face in his hands. With a start I realised he was crying. 

‘Sean! What’s wrong, tell me what’s wrong.’

Sean gave a humorless laugh. ‘I don’t think you’d understand.’

‘Try me, Sean. I’m not a little girl anymore.’

He sighed. ‘My girlfriend died.’

I blinked, trying to comprehend what he’d just said. ‘I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.’

‘Well you wouldn’t, would you, seeing as you haven’t talked to me in God knows how long.’  He didn’t sound angry, just sad and bitter.

‘I’m sorry Sean. I - I don’t know what else to say.’

I felt his fingers on my chin, lifting it up slightly so I was looking up at him. ‘It’s okay, Viola.’

We went back to his place.

‘That’s dad’s girlfriend, Cecilia Goth.’ Sean whispered in my ear as we entered the house. ‘She lives with us, but she and dad have been fighting for a few days now. I think they’re gonna break up.’

We went into the living room as Patrick and Cecilia went into the backyard.

‘Speaking of breakups,’ I said. ‘I think my mom and dad might break up.’

Sean looked surprised. ‘What?’

‘I caught my dad cheating on my mom.’

We didn’t really want to talk much more about our problems, and I didn’t really know what to do when Sean started to cry again, so I got out my guitar. Always a good idea.

Dad must have been home, strangely, because he called the cops on me. 

I was only next door, for God’s sake! We had a huge argument.

The next day was horrible. I slept in and missed most of the day of school, so I decided not to bother going. Besides, it was my last day of school anyway. I went out onto the deck to work on my current painting, and soon after mom joined me, to work out on the treadmill.

‘How come you’re not at school, Viola?’ she asked absent mindedly as she programmed her workout.

‘I only just woke up. I’ve missed all my morning classes, so I figured it wouldn’t be worth it to go. It’s the last day, all our exams are over.’

‘Oh, okay honey. I guess that’s alright. Did Velvet go?’

‘Yeah.’

We went back to our activities then, but not for long, because Dad came outside after that, and all hell broke loose.

‘Can I have a word, Kate?’ he said mildly.

‘Sure,’ replied mom. I heard her pressing buttons on the treadmill, stopping it.

‘I’ve decided I want a divorce.’ 

My hand froze on the easel. 

Apparently, my presence had yet again gone unnoticed by my dad. Or maybe he just didn’t care.

‘W-what? Where’s this coming from?’ Mom sounded completely shocked. She hadn’t known about dad and Emma. A wave of shame coursed through me. I should have told her.

‘We’ve has a great marriage, Kate, but I think - I think I’m done. I never imagined I’d have a family, have kids, and it’s been wonderful - but I’m ready for something new.’

‘I once thought that too Hadley, I never imagined myself married - but then I - I fell in love with you.’

I turned around. 

My dad had the saddest expression on his face, like he was hopelessly lost and confused.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been in love, Kate. If there’s something else out there, I want to find it.’

*****

I went over to Sean’s after I finished work that night. 

I was pleased to see he had a smile on his face when he let me in, however I paused when I saw the scene in front of me.

‘Is my mom flirting with your dad?’ I asked in a low voice.

Sean nodded. ‘They’ve been at it a while.’

(Meanwhile, across the street, Hadley is asking Emma break up with Cycl0n3 and be his girlfriend. She agrees.)

(Back to Viola)

‘What about Cecilia?’ I asked, noticing she was here too.

‘Oh, they broke up after you left last night. She’s just staying here until she finds a new place to live. What about your dad?’

‘He broke up with her today.’

‘Ahhh. That sucks, Viola.’

‘Tell me about it.’

The atomsphere in the room was a tad awkward, to say the least, so I went into the back garden to get some air. 

I made myself a drink and sat at the bench, thinking. 

My family was falling apart, but it all seemed kind of irrelevant now. Velvet and I had finished school and we were turning eighteen tomorrow. We were moving out into our own place, that had had been planned way before all this drama started. It would be a fresh start, a new life. I was ready to leave my childhood behind.

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Author's Notes:

I know I said they'd age up this chapter, but I thought it ended better here. They'll age up first thing next chapter, I swear! You've seen the pictures, anyway.

I was going to do a whole separate Hadley chapter, but I found it wasn't necessary, the Jamie scene and the breakup dialogue and the cutscene to the beach conveyed what I wanted to. I didn't want him to come across as a total ass, though he is, really. He just doesn't see it that way, and I hope I managed to convey that.

The breakup scene was planned, but I did it with wishes - e.g. Viola wanted to paint, Kate wanted to work out, so that's how I got Viola to witness the breakup so I didn't have to switch point of views. She got a massive negative moodlet from witnessing it... oops.

As I said in Sean's bio, Jamie Jolina was the girlfriend who died. I didn't have him tell Viola that because the whole situation was was just weird, and I figured he probably didn't want to go round telling people he'd been dating an old lady anyway. Sorry the writing is crap with the Sean bits, I'm finding him really difficult to write. Hopefully once I get him in the house, give him a makeover, and play him a bit I'll be right.

Finally, Viola is taking part in an insane asylum challenge by Julie, which I suggest you check out as I have a feeling it's going to be hilarious!

http://clonechallenge.blogspot.com/

Until next time,

xx Courtney

EDIT: I have taken the housemate vote down because I'm pretty sure everyone has voted and I want to start playing!


Sean and Tony won with 4 votes each. Yes! I was hoping Sean would win for the sole purpose of giving him a makeover.


Tristan got 2 votes and Emerson and Topher got 1 vote each.


Oh! Also, Viola and Velvet are now on the exchange. 
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4637700


Viola has been downloaded 135 times?! And the CC free version has been downloaded 19 times? Maybe she was featured on the home page or something, I don't know. I'll put up Sean and Tony soon. Let me know if you want any of my other sims you see in the story uploaded.