Round 1: Frio 1–Dereliction of Duty

Me: Hello, Jared. It looks like you’re learning a new recipe.

Jared: Yes, Fruit Parfait.

Me; Good. You’re in the Culinary track, so you need to improve your cooking skill for promotions. And you could really use a promotion right now.

Jared: You’re telling me. Connor moved out, so it’s just me and Ayesha left to pay the mortgage.

Me: *snorts* Figures.

Jared: What’s that supposed to mean?

Judy: It means you should be more concerned about paying child support to poor Claire who you knocked up and abandoned.

Judy: Pool girl. I heard she’s running around town, collecting bugs to help with her bills.

Not only do you abandon her to have her baby, you go and marry another woman on practically the same day. What kind of man does that?

Jared: Are you going to let her talk to me like that?

Me: I can’t say I disagree with anything she’s said so far.

Jared: Look, man, you need to put a muzzle on that wife of yours. Where does she get off talking to me like that? She doesn’t know me. Your wife needs to come out of the Victorian Age. These days, just because you get a girl pregnant doesn’t mean you have to marry her.

Jack: Frio, you’ve got about ten seconds to walk away before my foot finds it way up your as-

Me: As I was saying, Jared, I still haven’t heard the Bunches say anything I disagree with yet.

Jared: Why are you letting everyone be mean to me?

Me: Jared, I’m going to give it to you straight. When it comes to you, I’m not a fan. In fact, I’m gonna just go now. I’ll see what your wife is up to. Later, man.

Me: Hey, Ayesha. I see you’re working on the Perfect Mind part of your lifetime wish.

Ayesha: Yeah, I’ve been keeping a low profile until things blow over with Jared and Claire, but it’s been lonely. I need to get out of this house, so I’m going to visit my old roommates.

Madison: Ayesha, I’m so glad you came over. I’ve got some prime gossip to dish.

Madison: Illiana has been messing around with Pablo Martinez behind Dustin’s back.

Madison: Meanwhile, Chuck Colbert is messing around with Pablo’s ex-wife Jennifer behind the back of Pablo’s other ex-wife Fiona.

Madison: And I heard the real reason Hank dumped Kristine is because he’s totally smitten with Jamie.

Ayesha: Jamie? You mean Jamie Frio, as in my brother-in-law’s wife?

Madison: *blushing* Oops. I forgot y’all were related.

Ayesha: I think I’d rather talk to Tori right now.

Ayesha: Tori, you know you have my support for Mayor, but be careful around Vita Alto. She fights dirty.

Tori: Thanks for the warning, but it’s not necessary. I know what Vita is capable of. Say, Ayesha, could you do me a big favor?

Ayesha: Anything, Tori.

Tori: I know you and Nick are in the same line of work. I need you to keep your eyes and ears on him. I have the feeling he’s pulling strings to help Vita get where she is.

Ayesha: I’d do anything for you but that. I don’t want to get on the wrong side of the Altos.

Tori: At least think about it.

Ayesha: Look, a bunch of us are getting together at Marley’s before work tonight. If I see anything suspicious, I’ll give you a call.

Tori: Thanks.

Ayesha: Thanks for inviting me, Marley.

Marley: Of course, Ayesha. Obviously, in our line of work, there are trust issues. I thought if I could get the gang together outside of the warehouse, I could help build those trust bridges. I’m so pleased that everyone came.

Marley: Xander walked in just before you did.

Marley: Nick is here. (I’m really surprised he showed up.)

Marley: And your boss, Claire, is upstairs showing off her guitar skills. I didn’t know she was such a Virtuoso.

Ayesha: Did you say Claire was here?

Me: Oh, snap. I forgot you worked for your husband’s baby mama.

Ayesha: Wow, Claire, your playing was wonderful.

Claire: Ayesha, there’s no need to kiss up to me.

Ayesha: I’m not kissing up. Look, Claire, our situation sucks.

Me: I would say more for her than for you.

Ayesha: The point is, I don’t care what you may have heard from the gossip mongers around town.

Me: You mean like your good friend Madison?

Ayesha: I had nothing to do with you and Jared breaking up. We got together after your relationship ended. I love Jared, and I’m going to be in his life. That means I’m going to be in Emily’s life, too. But you are her mother, and I respect that. I would never do anything to hurt her, and I would never do anything to prevent Jared from being a part of her life.

Me: *singing* Why can’t we be friends? Why can’t we be friends?

Claire: Ayesha, does your conscience feel better now? Is your ego thoroughly stroked now that you’ve taken the high road?

Ayesha: Claire, what the-?

Claire: Spare me, Ayesha. And do yourself a favor. Stop feeling guilty that Jared doesn’t spend time with his daughter, because he sure as heck doesn’t feel guilty.

Ayesha: I’m sorry.

Claire: Don’t be. You’ve done me the biggest favor. Thanks to you, I won’t waste one more minute hoping Jared will come back to me. Thanks to you, Emily and I can move on and find someone who really wants to be with us. I just hope for your sake that Jared has changed. Good luck to you, Ayesha. I’ll see you around the office.

Jared: *muttering to self* What am I doing here?

Me: A noble gesture, but you’re wasting your time. Claire is at work.

Jared: Look, I’m not a bad guy.

Me: You expect me to believe that? I know your traits, remember?

Jared: I panicked, okay? Claire told me she was pregnant, and I freaked. She was looking at me with all that hope and expectation. I didn’t know what to do besides run.

Me: I’d have a little more sympathy for you if you didn’t up and marry Ayesha.

Jared: Ayesha is different. Claire expected me to be her hero. Ayesha is smart enough to know that I’m no hero, and she loves me anyway.

Me: You bought a crib?

 

Jared: I know you think I’m an a-hole, but I really do care about my daughter. I just need time.

Me: Okay, I’ll give you time, Jared. But don’t wait forever. Before you know it, Emily won’t need that crib anymore. See you next round.

Other SP Updates:

Oooh, Tamara’s got a man. They might be serious because Shelby moved in with her.

I enabled romance with Service Sims, so Talia is getting serious with the repair guy. I predict wedding bells soon.

I thought Zachariah was seeing Talia’s roommate, Noemi.

Ian Bowler is one of the eleven original Sunset Valley townies. I’m not sure how, but they got deleted from my hood, so I harvested them from a fresh copy of Sunset Valley. I used Twallan’s Master Controller mod to Edit them in CAS. From the CAS screen, I saved them to the Sim bin. Then I created two households (one for the guys and one for the girls) and saved them to my Family Bin. Then I came back to this hood, and moved them in via the Edit Town option.

I know I said I wasn’t going to show stories that only involved townies, but I’m getting attached to them. Since Markus and Lori are both townies, they won’t become playable (unless they move in with a playable family), but they could have a child someday who might marry a playable Sim.