Hugh and Kenya Anderson are happily in their retirement years. Their eldest, Lydia, is married off and Rosa is now ‘head of the house’. Can Rosa keep things together or will the issue with Francis and Emma send her off the deep end?
It had been awhile since the awkward visit to Francis and Emma at University. Emma was now safely in Aperture, a long way off from Boreal Summit University, but Rosa couldn’t shake the feeling she had. Francis had been a bit standoffish and Emma… she just seemed so frightened. Rosa yawned, sleep not coming easily as her mind wandered into territories she’d prefer it didn’t. She climbed out of bed and prepared herself for the day.
Emma had called late last night saying she wanted to meet Rosa at lunch in Aperture. If she was going to make it, she needed to get going.
She found Emma at the darkest corner of the bar, a drink set out before her. It wasn’t even noon yet and Rosa had never really known Emma to be the sort to drink. She scooted into the bar stool next to her.
“A little early for that, isn’t it?”
Emma sighed, tossing a stray hair from her eyes, “unfortunately, no. We need to talk, Rosa.”
“What, no ‘how have you been’ or ‘sorry for avoiding you’? All right, what is it?”
The tension was so thick that the space between them acted as a barrier. Emma said nothing, gathering her thoughts, trying to figure out how best to go about it. Rosa watched her, but said nothing. She simply waited, her anxiety growing with every passing second.
“It’s about Francis,” Emma began.
“Of course,” Rosa said, trying to sound cool, but failing miserably.
“We slept together,” she said suddenly, in a rush of words.
Rosa blinked, not completely surprised but unable to hide in denial any longer. Her fingers twisted into small fists as her anger grew. She hopped out of her bar stool, Emma following her. She was speaking, but Rosa wasn’t listening.
“What is wrong with you?! First, you try to destroy my sister’s engagement… now you sleep with the only guy I’ve ever even remotely liked?” Rosa raged, drawing the attention of the other patrons but not caring. She made a frustrated sound, hands cutting through the air. “Do you have some sort of sick vendetta against my family or something?!”
“This has nothing to do with that!” Emma shot back, trying to remain calm. “It was only once and I haven’t seen him since. I felt bad, really bad… so bad that I had to tell you! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“No, it doesn’t, because it’s you. This is what you do. You destroy things.”
“That is way out of line, Rosa,” Emma stiffened, becoming angry. That one hit a bit too close to home. “I didn’t pursue him! I like him, sure, but I kept my distance… it happened because it was mutual, not one-sided. Why are you just blaming me? Why don’t you talk to him!”
Rosa crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Emma, “I’m supposed to believe that you did nothing? I’ve seen you work, Emma. I’m not stupid!”
“Whatever, Rosa. Believe what you want,” she hissed, throwing her arms up in frustration. “The fact of the matter is I had enough consideration to actually tell you. Francis hasn’t said a word, has he? Go figure.” She walked away, washing her hands of the situation. She’d done her part.
“Augh! You’re such a tramp!”
As if on cue, Francis called her the next day. He must have heard through the ‘grapevine’ about Emma and Rosa’s little confrontation. Of course, it was quite the talk of the town, having taken place in a completely public area with many people watching. She sighed, picking up the phone, not really wanting to talk. She still felt hungover from her previous night spent hiding in a bottle of very dark, murky liquid.
“You should have told me,” she said into the receiver, not bothering to listen for a response. She hung up the phone and walked away.
Hugh’s concern for his youngest was growing. She’d spent the better part of the weekend drinking and staying out late. It had never been like Rosa to be so careless. She was brash, yes, and rebellious, too, but she rarely did something so stupid it made him want to treat her like a five-year-old. She wandered down to breakfast in a complete daze.
“Spending your days partying and drinking is not going to help your problems go away,” Hugh lectured, ignoring her throaty groan. “What is it with you two girls? Always running away. You need to confront them.”
“Ugh, dad, stop talking,” Rosa mumbled, staring down at her pancakes. “My head hurts too much.”
Kenya sighed, “we’re worried about you, Rosa. This isn’t like you at all.”
“Whatever, I need to go… do stuff,” she grumbled, getting up from the table and heading towards the bathroom. Her stomach hadn’t quite been ready for pancakes.
Rosa followed her parents advice, begrudgingly, and stayed in instead of going out. Unfortunately, her sobriety only brought back angry thoughts. She needed to vent her rage. She walked outside and kicked the soccer ball around until she heard someone approach. She was surprised to hear Francis’ voice.
“Avoiding me, Rosa? I do know where you live,” he said, stopping short of her as she kicked another ball forcefully into the net.
“Maybe I have a good reason, maybe I was worried that if I saw you, I’d want to punch your big nose in.”
“Ouch,” he replied, feigning offense. “That’s not very nice–you know my nose is a family heirloom.”
“Can’t you be serious for once?” Rosa growled, turning to face him. “I’m not really in the mood for your little ‘charm’, okay? I seriously want to punch you. Your face is in jeopardy.”
“I think I can handle myself, but if you’d like, I’ll try and keep a bit of distance. There, how about that? You’d need arms made of rubber to reach me now,” he said, taking a step back and gesturing with his hands. “Now we can talk, right?”
She sighed, shaking her head, “I don’t want to talk. I already know everything I need to–you suck.”
“That’s great, Rosa. I’m glad you’ve figured everything out. I, however, doubt your ability to see the four corners of every square, so I’m just going to go ahead and talk anyway. I understand why you’re upset, but in all reality, we were never an item. We never made any promises when I left for University. I was under the impression that we were friends and everything was okay between us like that.”
“This hasn’t changed my mind any, you still suck,” she frowned. She didn’t fight when he took her hand, her sadness overwhelming her anger. “Why Emma?”
“Why anyone? And who is to say it means anything big, anyway? You know me, Rosa. I don’t make big decisions on a whim, it takes me a lifetime. There’s no need to burn bridges, not when everything is still so… up in the air.”
She closed her eyes, “you’re going to follow your father’s example, then?”
He shrugged, letting her hand fall to her side, “we can’t change who we are, Rosa. Even if I wanted to be that guy that could say I was totally going to get married and have a billion kids… I couldn’t. Then I would be my dad.”
“Are you going to see Emma?” She asked, watching his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Rosa,” he said, ignoring her question. He turned and left without another word, Rosa not moving to stop him.
Her talk with Francis had helped her more than Rosa had initially thought. She had been sad at first, moping and loafing around the house. It had been a foolish notion, to expect someone like Francis to share her dreams and hopes. She had been stupid to put him there, in that place in her mind where he obviously didn’t belong. She didn’t want that relationship, one with lies and cheating.
Hugh still worried for her, but she continually assured him that she was better now and doing okay. Lydia called a lot. Sometimes, she would even visit, but she was pretty busy over there and so was Gregory.
Rosa gathered her plate from the table and took it into the kitchen, not happy, but content. It was enough, it was better than the alternative. Her mother called after her:
“Lydia says hi!”
“Hi, Lydia,” she replied, a small smile creeping onto her lips.
Kenya had sent Rosa out on an errand, but Rosa had wandered off and ended up at the cafe. It was a breezy winter day, the sky clear enough so that it was actually warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. She walked to the patio, intent on some coffee. She as surprised to run into Fujin. She hadn’t seen him during all of this mess, wanting to keep her issues private and to herself. Besides, she realized how stupid it was to fall for a guy like Francis. She didn’t need him rubbing it in.
“Wow, you’re outside,” Fujin said, looking her over. “Looks like it’s been awhile.”
“That’s mean, Fujin. You don’t know what I’ve been through. You can make it up to me with coffee.”
“So, you look less brooding than usual. Did I miss something?” Fujin asked after they took a seat with their coffees in hand.
“It isn’t important, just some silly soap opera stuff. You’d probably slap me for telling you about it,” she said, taking a long sip. The coffee felt good going down her throat, the warmth spreading throughout her body. “I can’t say I’ve come out of it any smarter. I’m still thinking about it.”
Fujin shrugged, “you never really were that quick to pick up on things, anyway. It’ll take some time.”
She gave him a look and he laughed. “You should be careful what you say, I could totally beat you up.”
“You talk about your relationship troubles? All the women I know want to beat me up. I never did anything to Grace Saunders except exist and yet, she tortured me throughout school… I’m still watching over my shoulder!”
“Ha! I had forgotten about that,” Rosa said, leaning in. “I saw her the other day, you better watch out, her arms are pretty beefy.”
He shook his head, closing his eyes, “don’t I know it. I’m the one she toned them on!”
“I would’ve helped you out, but I’m not stupid enough to go after a Saunders. That’s just pure suicide.”
“Yeah, geeze. I saw Gordon once and I’ll be thankful if I never see him again. Scary.”
Rosa smiled, leaning back in her chair, “thanks, Fujin.”
“Hey, what’s the use of misfortune if it can’t cheer someone up?”
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Note from Mao: In regards to the top image, SimPE is still messed up and I’m too lazy to re-install it right now, so I just did a placeholder image of Rosa, LOL! It’ll work for now.
This is a big old crazy mind-screw of a situation here. Rosa and Fujin flirt, but it never amounts to anything. Rosa rolls wants for Francis, Francis rolls wants for her, but then when he’s done, goes right back to Emma. Emma rolls friendship wants for Rosa that conflict with her wants for Francis. It’s crazy, it is. These sims are driving me up the wall.
Also, Grace Saunders is now stalking poor Fujin. I keep seeing her at lots where he pops up. LOL!
