2.4 Tell me who you are

Being an official journalist for a couple of months now, Britney’s days were filled with writing and researching. There was not much room for anything besides that, but this was what she wanted to do, anyway. The first thing she did in the morning, right after she got up, was to check her mails. Often, her boss had sent her a request overnight, and she always wanted to be prepared when she entered work, instead of being surprised by a potential story she hadn’t thought about before. She sometimes even answered his mails in the middle of the night, having spent hours and hours researching. This job was her life, and she didn’t need anything else.

To improve her writing skills, she still grabbed a book every now and then. There was always something she could learn and use to make her own writing even more unique. And unique writing, shown off in a great article, was what her boss wanted to see more than anything. 

Anna’s life had been less structured ever since she had quit her job at the science center. Most of her children had moved out by now, living their own lives, and she was sitting at home, reading a book and gardening. This was not what she wanted to do. This was not living. When she got a party invitation from Beth, she immediately accepted and rushed over there to see her daughter again. It had been a while since Beth had moved out, and rumors had been spread about her quickly. Anna wanted to know which ones were true.

She was, in fact, engaged to the much older Cornell Riffin, who she apparently had met only days after she moved into her own place. When he was sure of the young girl’s affection, he asked her to move in with him, and now they were sharing a house. Anna was worried about this relationship, since Cornell was not much younger than herself. But Beth was grown-up now. This invitation seemed to have been a peace-offering, and Anna never wanted to lose her daughter again. So she kept quiet.

Britney still had no time for love or anything close to that. She was on the hunt for a good story, and mingled with the population of Appaloosa Plains for some gossip.

One guy she met seemed particularly interested in her job, and asked her a number of questions, which she answered happily. It was always a pleasure to tell somebody how great journalism was.

The conversation slowly drifted to more personal questions, but Britney was still willing to answer them. He seemed a very nice guy, and maybe he would spill some information once she got to know him better. When he asked for her phone number, she scribbled it on her notepad and gave it to him.

Only a few days later, she received a call from her boss, Karim Paape, who wanted to come over for a chat. She accepted right away, wondering what he could possibly want from her.

He didn’t want to come into the house, instead they stayed on the lawn and talked for what seemed like ages. Even though they spent a lot of time together at work, there was still a lot to chat about. Britney learned that, unlike her, Karim didn’t work as a journalist because he loved everything connected to it, but because he wanted to get to know as many people as possible. Reaching max influence with all social groups present in Appaloosa Plains was what he really wanted to achieve.

Later, he actually followed her inside and listened to some of Anna’s songs she had written throughout the last days. He confessed that he usually was not into acoustic music, since he loved going to or hosting parties and heard other music there, but her songs warmed his heart nevertheless. When he left to head home hours later, he gave both Anna and Britney a hug, although those hugs weren’t exactly identical. 

It wasn’t long before their good relationship was put to the test. The pink-haired guy Britney had been talking not too long ago was a journalist himself, working for an adversarial newspaper. His job had been to examine at least one of the journalists from Britney’s newspaper, and to expose that newspaper’s weaknesses. Since Britney had answered every question willingly, he had been able to write a fantastic article that got her newspaper into trouble. She was blamed by the management, and suspended from work for a while. Her behavior was considered irresponsible and incautious. In her despair, she called Karim that night, asking him to come over.

Of course, he had heard about what happened, but instead of being mad, he consoled Britney. It had been a stupid mistake to open up to a stranger, but it still could have happened to everybody. And it wasn’t like Britney had given that man safe combinations, just a few pieces of information. 

When he let go of her after a long hug, she looked into his eyes. There was something sparkling in there. He didn’t move, and so they stood there face to face for a few seconds. This felt so natural. Maybe Britney didn’t need to open up to a stranger ever again, maybe the person to open up to was right in front of her. There was only one way to find out.

Karim was more than surprised by Britney’s approach, and for a second she was worried this had been the wrong decision.

But then he kissed her back, and all the sorrows and bad thoughts from the last few days just seemed to disappear. As if she had been wishing for this to happen forever, she couldn’t imagine spending one single day without him anymore. Only one kiss, only a few moments turned everything completely around, and she felt that being spontaneous was right this time. This man wouldn’t let her down, for sure. And when she asked him to move in, he smiled at her and agreed. Sometimes two souls just clicked, and this seemed to be what was going on here. 

And so Karim Paape moved into the Vocis’ residence and straight into Britney's heart.

Author's notes:  I admit that I wanted that pink guy's genes sooooo bad, but it wasn't supposed to be.^^ Karim is quite a cutie, and even though I might have altered his looks a little on the mirror - like the hair colour, which was a very dark brown before -, I already liked him the first time I saw him in the game.

2.3 She's in control

Another catastrophe was upon the recently shriveled family. Benjamin had lived a happy life with his wife Anna, after it had taken them a very long time to get together. He had been one of the first sims she met when she came to Appaloosa Plains, and even though they seemed to be very different, Anna had been drawn to his strength and manliness immediately. When she was involved with Jo, she often met with Benjamin, hooking up behind the bushes of the house where nobody could see them. He never left her life and waited patiently until she was free again.

His life had taken a strong turn, but he had never been happier. Anna and her kids were lovely, and it didn’t matter to him that all of these were technically another man’s children. He loved all of them, just as much as he loved his own children who had stayed with their mother when he left them to be with the love of his life.

When death appeared on the doorstep to take him away from his beloved ones, no one was ready, but at least everybody was around. In the actual moment of his transformation Kokette had been the only one to be there, but everybody else sensed something was wrong outside, and so they came running. Seeing Benjamin’s ghost broke a lot of hearts, but it shattered Anna’s to a million pieces.

Benjamin accepted his fate. He was old, and recently he’d had troubles getting through a day without pain. In addition, he would not be gone completely. His ghost would always watch over Anna and her kids, something he had not anticipated when he started his adult life so many years ago. It had always been his wish to be with many different women, at least 10, and then leave them before they could break this heart. But that was before he met Anna, and as soon as he did, this lifetime wish of his was no longer relevant. Other things mattered more.

It was hard for everybody to deal with this catastrophe, but the children tried to cheer their mother up whenever possible.

But even though this probably was the most fatal thing to happen at the moment, it was not the only thing on Britney’s mind. Lately, she had seen her boyfriend with a lot of other girls, including her own sisters, and it had not always looked like a conversation between friends. She had refused to give in to his advances, and maybe this had been a wrong decision. He wanted more of her than she was willing to give, and it looked like he was going to get it somewhere else now. Barbra of all people seemed to be the new center of attention; they spent an enormous time laughing and giggling together.

This behavior hurt, but Britney decided not to let herself go right now. By focusing on her classes in school, she managed to avoid most contact with him. It almost killed her at first, but she got better with time.

Besides, she was going to leave all of this behind her now, anyway. High school finally got to an end, and soon she was about to enter the real world. The wish she made to herself was a secret, and she would never ever tell anybody.

And just like that Britney became a determined woman, ready to conquer the world.

There was no time to lose, so she immediately sat down on her computer, which had already helped her to gain first writing skills, and applied to the local newspaper. Weeks ago, she had talked to some of the people working her, and they assured her there would be an open position, as long as she applied on time. She would be the best journalist they had ever seen over there.

Graduation, which was celebrated a few days later, brought the results of her final exams: she had passed every test summa cum laude, and finished high school a valedictorian, and without a boyfriend who could make her feel bad. This life was all about her, and she was going to savor every moment of it.

While Britney started her life in the business world, Anna decided to end hers. She had been a scientist for a very long time, while she had been with both Jo and Benjamin, whose loss still made her heart ache every single day, and now it was time to lean back and watch her children live. This was the biggest reward she could imagine. If only her husband had been there to celebrate with her. He had been the only one she had told all her secrets to, and not having him around meant keeping quiet sometimes. She had never confided to Jo that it had been, in fact, his best friend Chuck who had threatened her on the day of them moving in together. He had blown his cigar’s smoke right into her face, and had told her that she would not have a single day of joy and contentment if she did not leave Jo there and then. She had been scared, and she had cried a lot, but she had not given in. Jo had made her much stronger than she had ever hoped to be, but she did not dare to weaken him by revealing what kind of person his best friend really was. She had kept it a secret.

Her entire past had been a secret to everybody, too, until she fell in love with Benjamin. He was the only one who knew, and the only one she would ever speak to. Nevertheless, she realized that her children, and her grandchildren, deserved to know where they were coming from, so she had decided to write a journal, keeping track of her life in a written form, that was to be passed on to each generation. Every girl and boy who took on the task of carrying on this family would be able to read and learn from it, and then add their own story, as well. This way, nothing and no one would ever be forgotten.

Soon after Anna’s retirement, Beth ended high school, too. She could not wait to finally leave the house and the sisters she had never really gotten along with. Unforgotten were those days of laughing at her, mocking her and her uniqueness, and they were also unforgiven. It was time for her to leave and figure out what made her happy.

The household got smaller and smaller, but Britney was not too sad about this. She loved her family, but with her job came new responsibilities she had to take care of. Once her mother was no longer there, she would have to take care of her younger siblings, unless they had moved out. She did not want to live for others, she craved for a life that was just about her and her passions.

Her bosses noticed her commitment to the job early, and rewarded her with a promotion rather quickly, which brought her to the attention of her colleagues. They had made the fatal mistake of underestimating her, and now had to realize that she could be better then all of them. Surely, this would not result in regular tea parties and friendly get-togethers. Success always meant troubles, but Britney – being her mother’s daughter – was ready to face them all.

2.2 Slave for you

The very next day, something significant happened. Birdy, the oldest of the five siblings, was aging up into a young adult. Since she wanted to have an amazing last day before starting a job in the local hospital she had applied to during her last school year, she decided to celebrate on the summer festival, which happened to close the day after. Most of the town was present when Birdy became a young adult.

She had gotten tired of her long hair, because it always got in the way, so she decided to cut it and wear it straight. The clear cut gave her a determined look, which was exactly what she needed. 

The next morning, she got up super early and checked her work mails. There was, in fact, already one, from her girlfriend Sandra. She wished her the best of luck and told her she could achieve anything she wanted. 

Birdy had to think about Sandra’s words all day, and couldn’t even concentrate on work properly. Not that it was particularly on her first day, but she had been looking forward to it for years. And now that the big day was here, she could think about nothing but her girlfriend. They hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks now, and she missed her terribly. So she spontaneously called her up as soon as she got home, and invited her over. 

It was as if they had never been apart. Yet, wistfulness filled Birdy’s heart and mind. In a few hours, Sandra would leave again, and who knew when they had the time to meet again. Both were adults now, both had a job and not much free time. Something had to change if they wanted to make it together.

Then she had an idea.

Sandra was more than happy to accept Birdy’s proposal. She loved her girlfriend more than anything in the world, and the thought of being with her forever made her happier than she had ever hoped to be.

Why wait – they got married in the backyard there and then. 

The two girls didn’t want to stay in this house together, instead they planned to look around the neighborhood for a little place, big enough for the two of them. And maybe a third person, someday. 

Sandra knew of one house that was free, and they decided to check it out immediately. Little did they know that this would be the house they would be spending most of their life in. 

There was hardly any time for the family to digest the news – especially Anna was crushed about seeing her oldest daughter leave –, because Billy’s birthday into adulthood was already up. He hadn’t been much younger than Birdy, and had finished high school the same year as his sister.

Looking in the mirror, he nodded approvingly. This was what a future star looked like. Britney had already promised to keep an eye on him, and to publish small articles whenever possible. With the help of his soon-to-be journalist sister, it should be a piece of cake to become famous.

A star needed his own four walls, of course, so he moved out of his home as soon as possible. He would stay with Birdy and Sandra for a few weeks, since it sounded cooler to live in a shared house with two girls than staying with his parents and younger siblings. 

Britney continued expressing her thoughts in abstract pictures. They often had faces on it – human or not – that showed how she was feeling. After all, art was useless if there was no mental access for the people who looked at it. You had to know what the artist was trying to say.

Writing was different. Words were more distinct than colors and strokes of a brush, and they helped dealing with feelings and thoughts in a whole other way.

Feelings like the ones about her relationship with Hanfried. Even though he didn’t seem to be particularly interested in her character, but her body instead, she couldn’t help but feel attracted to him. He could be funny and make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. She felt like she would be completely on her own as soon as she sent him away, not having anybody who showed her that she was not worthless. 

What she didn’t know what that she was exchangeable to him. Britney was pretty, but there were plenty of other fish in the sea, or shapely girls on the beach next to the sea. Her mother, her sisters, lots of girls in his classes who were queuing up to go out with him… the list was long, and he was growing tired of her. She had to offer a lot more to him than just a shy kiss every now and then if she wanted to keep him interested.