Jobs – Vicarious Living

Sunglasses

“Oh, what have I done? What have I done to myself, and…and to Michael, and…Oh I can’t believe I never saw it!” Zahra is sitting at her large desk in the hobby room, tears dripping on the papers in front of her. She cries and cries, and for once forgets what those tears will do to her eyes… The morning started so calm and organised, just like any morning. She just went to get the post, and her life, or at least the day, changed.

Sitting at her dark oak desk, Zahra goes through the morning post. As the Mortina household is rather large, they always have a lot of post. Having many friends means that a lot of the post consists of invites, letters, notes and postcards. Zahra is the one that is doing the Writing Hobby at the moment, so it’s her job to organise the post each morning. This morning is no exception, so Zahra had gone to the post box, thinking like her artistic mind does every morning, “Why can’t the post box be moved? It’s not aesthetical at all! At least if we could give it a colour…” Whist flicking through the stack of mail she spotted two SiMobile Government envelopes, one for her and one for Michael. There was another interesting envelope addressed to them all, and right at the bottom she found an envelop that had the Knight insignia on it… Zahra walked a little faster into the house. An envelope from the Knight Family?

She slides onto her chair with her usual graceful moves, something she tries to maintain, even though her traits are stacking up. She smooths her hand over the polished wood, taking in the smell of her wonderful desk. A desk that has been in the Mortina Dynasty for generations. She loves this desk, and she loves her hobby. At first she just chose the writing hobby to be near Michael. She smiles whilst sorting the post by names. She adores Michael, and he plays the piano exceptionally well, having many useful skills that he says he uses… As soon as she found out that Michael was going to do the piano hobby, Zahra had picked the writing one! After all, the desk is right next to the piano. Her smile grows bigger, as she remembers how both of the used to spend time on their hobbies… She would be writing a poem, or edit an article for a cousin; behind her, Michael would be practising. Even simple scales he somehow managed to make special. Once she had asked him why he managed to do that, and he had grinned at her, and whispered, “Because of you, my darling! Whenever I play, I can feel your presence just behind me. So I play with love, which is any Sim’s secret weapon…!”

She put the two SiMobile Government envelopes to one side, then the invites in the middle, and the rest she sorts by name. “Now, let’s see,” Zahra sighs, and picks up the two stacks, holding a stack in each hand. “What shall I open first, the government ones or the ones that are clearly invites…!” Zahra hesitates, smiling still. “It’s a case of swallow the nasty medicine and have a sweet after, or line your mouth with honey first so the horrid taste doesn’t get noticed… What shall I do?” In the end Zahra decides that she will need some honey first. She has been a bit down the last few days, seeing her sweet daughters Bethany and Keziah all grown up, looking very alike, has made her realise how fast Simlife can change! So Zahra picks up the first special envelope, and excitedly opens it She was right, it is an invite! Aria and Garrett are throwing a party, to celebrate their wedding! Zahra beams at the envelope, as if somehow passing on to the happy couple how pleased she is for them. Garrett is a little older, and was starting to wonder if he would be left on the SiMobile shelf…

Now for the envelope from the Knight Family. Zahra feels a little thrill opening this one. She still can’t believe she married Michael Knight! She fell for him the first time she saw him, but every night after meeting Michael she would secretly cry herself to sleep. She worried about that, as it could ruin her complexion, but somehow she couldn’t stop the tears. She was so very afraid that Michael would get the dreaded Llama Flu, that it almost made her ill, thinking about it! One day, Michael noticed that she was worried and upset, and he had asked her about it. Being a Knight, he soon had her pouring out her heart and she had actually cried! Zahra had been mortified, but Michael had taken it all in his stride, of course. He had assured her that he would do all he could to stay healthy. He also pointed out how rare the Pink Blob Strain was, and that most families seemed to get hit with the Weebles Strain, the vaccination in the local hospital obviously not being very effective. He has assured Zahra that things would be alright, and that he loved her, and would never do anything to grieve her. She had calmed down after a while, and somehow managed to enjoy the wedding. She didn’t sleep a wink the night before Michael moved in, and felt quite weak and sick in the morning. That day Michael had moved in, and had been fine! Zahra had cried tears of relief in the golden bathroom, and since then had been absolutely fine.

“I’m not really the worrying type,” she muses, looking at the envelope, thinking back at those early days. “Mind you, we were very young, just promoted and all that, which puts a lot of strain on anybody. I hope Michael has forgotten how I wept and wailed… Bit embarrassing that; I hope the girls won’t do that to their future spouses…!” That makes her look down at the envelope again. She pulls out the letter, another party invite! The whole family is invited to a Red, White and Blue Pool Party. She sits back, smiling. Pool parties and the Knights? Perfect combination!

She grins, thinking about some of the stories Michael has told her. “There are a lot of stories that I won’t be able to tell you, the information is classified,” he had explained. She had shivered a little with excitement and pride. She was proud of her sweet, kind Michael, who had been on some secret missions, as she imagined. Michael told her that a lot of the work was very low key, and not spectacular at all. Well, Zahra had figured that some of the activities they engaged in had been spectacular in that case. Hence the shiver, and her heart swelling with pride. Now they had a pool party, and Zahra sat their, wondering who would wear speedos, and who would wear towels. After all, not everybody had taken part in the Hot Tub Event… She sighs with happiness, a long, drawn out sigh. In her head she starts working her way through her wardrobe. Red, white and blue…that shouldn’t be too impossible! Should she start looking for an outfit now…she remembers the other two envelopes, the Government ones, and hesitates. Should she ignore them, and sort out her dress first? Duty calls though, and she knows Michael would approve. He is a real stickler for duty, she grimaces.

So Zahra sits down again at her desk, and opens the envelope addressed to her Zahra Mortina. She pulls the letter out…and feels herself going cold. The letter drops onto the wooden desk, and Zahra stares ahead, not seeing anything, not feeling anything. She is frozen up; unable to move and unable to think, apart from the one thought: what have I done! After a long time the shock starts to wear off, and Zahra returns to herself. She looks down at the letter, and the tears begin to form in her beautiful eyes. There is no way she can stop the flood of tears, and they splatter on the Government letter, and they drip on the party invites, making the ink run. Zahra doesn’t notice and doesn’t care either. She is sobbing, her face buried in her beautifully shaped hands. “I’m sorry,” she sobs, “I’m so sorry, so, so sorry! Please give us more time, please Lord, give us more time! I have been so foolish, please give us some time together!”

That is how Michael finds her when he comes home after working in the hospital all morning. He quickly walks up to his precious wife, who is always to calm and composed. Now she is sitting at her desk, a sniffing, snotty mess! He worries at first that somebody in the family has been struck down with Llama Flu, but no, as a doctor he would have heard! He hugs her, and Zahra cries on his shoulder. Eventually he manages to get her to calm down, and she says, her voice all shaken and raw, “Our last trait has arrived! I know we accepted the Trait application, but now it has arrived! Michael, I don’t want to retire yet! We have just been living like…like simple, straightforward…well, bog-standard Sims! We have worked hard at our hobbies, we work hard at our jobs, we had children, who are now all grown up…now we have our last trait, so in a short while we will retire…and…” tears overwhelm Zahra again, and she finishes her sentence in a wail, “We haven’t lived!”

Michael sits back a little. In his heart, he agrees. He has felt so all along, but didn’t want to upset his wife. She seems so cool and calm, but he saw the mess she got herself in when they got married and he was about to move in… She had worked herself up in such a state, that he didn’t want to rock her world again. He had been quite bored though; missing the excitement and thrill, as well as the job satisfaction after…well, after their missions. He loved his wife, and he really enjoyed playing the piano, but he still wished for more. He learned to be content though, and he adored his two pretty daughters, roughhousing with them when they were little, cheering them up once they grew older. He feels a sense of loss as well, thinking about the last trait. Now all they have to look forward to is the letter to offer them retirement.

He hugs Zahra tighter, and soon she grows a little calmer. “Don’t apologise, my love, don’t. I knew we ought to make better use of our time here in SiMobile, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to upset you, but it’s not too late yet, my sweet. We can start today, and we don’t have to worry about the retirement notice. For one thing, even in the retirement home they’re probably desperate to have some help. You do know that Miriam and Lucille were plotting something? Those two together…well, there will be some rescue missions there too, I would think…!” This cheers Zahra up, and she grins suddenly at the mention of her mum’s name.

She relaxes at little, eyes dreamy, and giggles suddenly, sounding a bit like Miriam there all of a sudden. “Yes,” she giggles, “yes, those two together… I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it by myself…! She shows him the invite to his family home, and Michael is thrilled. “You know, I think you ought to go,” she says, smiling at him, love pouring from her eyes, rather than tears, “After all, it’s your family, and I think we both ought to have some good times before it’s too late!” Her smile wobbles then, and Michael holds her tighter. “I know it would mean losing your suit, but that’s alright by me,” she says, and he looks at her, pride shining in his kind eyes. Zahra loves fashion, and insist on people dressing properly, so for her to tell him to ditch his special suit, and wear red, white and blue…! He looks at her, and realises how much he loves her.

They stay close together for a while, and then Michael tries to persuade Zahra to go too. “You could do with some fun as well,” he says, looking into her eyes, “it would do you good! Wear that lovely blue dress you had the other day, and just go for it!” She smiles then, a little watery, but definitely a smile. Until Zahra looks in the mirror and exclaims that she can’t possibly go to the House of Knights with red eyes, sore from crying! Michael chuckles, “Darling, it’s a pool party, just wear those new sunglasses we just won! You know what my family will be like, they’ll all be wearing speedos and sunglasses.” He can see the doubt in Zahra’s pretty face, and says, more persuasively, “Sweetie, they’ll be way too polite to ask you, you do realise that? And the other Knights, well you don’t think they’ll worry about it, do you?” He grins at her, and Michael is relieved when he sees her face relaxing, her eyes drifting, clearly going through wardrobe choices…he recognises the signs…

Zahra sighs, yes she would love to go, she just needs a bit of light hearted fun. A pool party at the House of Knights sounds exactly like it… As long as sunglasses will really do the trick… She checks in the mirror, and yes, the red sunglasses will do the trick. Zahra is excited by now, and all dressed and ready. She loves parties, and tends to be the one attending the more formal ones, as Tessa is still a little bit shy. She spots Michael walking past, and gasps! He walks in, the biggest grin Zahra has ever seen on his face. He is still wearing the hat, coins flying everywhere, but now has a bright red shirt… “Goodness, that shirt is…so red!” she giggles, and she can feel a terrible attack of the Giggles coming on, “it does suit you though,” she gasps, and soon both are hanging in each other’s arms, unable to stand up unaided, totally overcome with giggles, and Zahra manages to grunt, “Like it says, ‘Two are better than one (…)For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up.’ I’m glad I have you, and I’m so excited about the party. It will be special, I just know it! I feel better already, and more alive than I have been all this time, even having the girls… Thank you, dearest, for pulling me up!”

Cousins

Tabitha is standing in the large bedroom, trying to decide where to pack her personal belongings. How strange to be standing here, she thinks, looking at the blue bedspread, the large white wardrobe, this just feels strange. Only a short while ago she was counted as a child, sleeping in the nursery, the children’s’ room. Now she is an adult, counted as an adult, and given an adult’s position. She looks at the double bed again, and something shivers inside her. She gets nervous, looking at that bed…

She resolutely turns her back on the bed, and starts to put her clothes into the wardrobe. She is humming to herself, she is so excited about it all. She really thought the Promoting would never happen, and she is quite sure that if it had been up to Aunt Guinevere, it probably never would have happened. She feels guilty straightaway, even looks over her shoulder, as if anyone in the room could read her thoughts! They were a bit unfair, she admits, after all, Aunt Guinevere is perfectly at peace with the whole thing now. The grey actually becomes her, and the autumnal colours of her outfit suit her.

Soon Tabitha is installed, as she calls it. She looks round once more, checking things, looking at things, but not so much at the bed. She knows she is being silly, but she is feeling a little wobbly mass in her stomach when she thinks of her betrothed, the man promised to her in marriage, her beloved Richard. Well, beloved, she doesn’t really know him, but his name does make her heart speed up a notch! Whenever she gets ne of his regular letters, her heart does overtime! She is very, very excited about the whole arrangement.

Tabitha knows it will be a little while though, first they need to receive their shared party invite, then at the party they need to actually meet up and connect. Then there is the long and complex courtship, after which follows the proposal Event. That is something she is really looking forward to it just sounds so romantic! It makes her feel special just thinking about Richard Knight, proposing to her, Tabitha. She knows he is a very kind, charming young man, very considerate, which makes her look forward to the proposal even more!

After that, there is the very long and rather tedious wedding ceremony. Tedious, because you are limited in what you can wear, and what you can say and do. All that is regulated and ordained by Sims Mobile Government , who clearly don’t take a girl’s feelings into consideration! Tabitha is standing in front of the tall mirror now, twirling this way and that. “Will this dress suit Madam?” she askes, in a very affectatious voice. “I’m afraid we only have white this week, and blue tux for the young man,” continues the posh voice. Tabitha stops and sighs, feeling a bit down all of a sudden.

“What if they really gave us awful clothes, and we’d be stuck with them for the entire ceremony!” she groans out loud. A brusque voice answers her question from behind her back.

“Well, then you’d just have to get married with your eyes shut, I suppose.” Chris, her cousin, is standing behind her, his usual scowl firmly in place. “Who cares about the wedding ceremony or dress code or flowers? It’s the deed that matters, just a tick box exercise, dearest cousin!” he sneers, and stalks off again.

Tabitha slumps down on the bed with a sigh of relief. Chris unnerves her, the way he suddenly pops up, and always pokes his nose into things, answering rhetorical questions with his dour outlook on life. They should get him a job as undertaker, she mutters, her scowl matching his, and maybe even outscowling him! Really, the way he suddenly appears, it’s going to drive me mad! What if he comes in…her thoughts trail off, Tabitha bites her lip, and runs her hand absentmindedly over the bedspread.

Then she shakes her head, and laughs at her own worries. “Even Chris wouldn’t do that! He will probably hover nearby, but even Chris won’t be in this room on my wedding night!” She is worried about that night, nervous, excited!

Tabitha walks out of the room, passes Chris who is still nearby, of course, and gets the post in. Both of them have a letter from the Job Office, so she hands Chris his letter, and opens hers. She applied for Photographer, preferably the ASOS one, and really hopes she’ll get it. It will be so interesting and, she smiles secretly, also very convenient with Dr Knight just across the Square…

She quickly scan the letter…mmm…accepted…mmm…start on receipt of letter…oh. Not the ASOS Photographer after all, well, that is disappointing! At least she will still be a photographer. Tabitha is over the slight twitch of disappointment before the letter is back in the envelope. She can’t wait to begin her career! It will be so exciting, and the Luxury Event is almost finished, so very soon she will be able to just concentrate on her career. Brilliant!

She meets Chris, again, on her way to get ready for work. He looks just a little less grumpy, which means that he must have gotten the position he wanted as well! She asks him, not wanting to be cold towards him all the time. “Did you get your position? You applied for the office job, didn’t you? Working Downtown is quite cool, and I suppose it will make it convenient for you and Victoria to share transport!”

He grunts a bit and answers quite civil for a change, “Yes, I got the position. Of course, they could always change it I suppose. Also, that office is quite dark, and I’m sure they have lighting that can cause migraines, so I might have to apply somewhere else anyway. It said in the letter that Harry Something is still the overall manager, and he is absolutely ancient. I can’t stand most elderly co-workers, they just nag you all day, and he’ll probably pick on me because of my eyebrows.”

Tabitha just stops herself from rolling her eyes. Seriously, her cousin is worse than Eeyore, honestly, a manager picking on you just because you have slightly bushy eyebrows? As they have only just received shared responsibility of the house she decides to be extra nice to him. “I’m sure he won’t even notice your eyebrows, so you’ll be fine on that score,” she says as lightly and as upbeat as possible in front of a sourpuss like Chris.

He looks worried straight away, “What do you mean, he won’t notice my eyebrows? Why ever would he not notice them? I dislike the way you wind me up whenever you can. I makes me feel very undermined and insecure!”

This time Tabitha does roll her eyes and sigh. “That isn’t what I meant, Chris. I meant that your eyebrows are absolutely fine, and I am quite sure that the manager will not pick on you on account of your eyebrows…or for any other reason,” she adds hurriedly, seeing Chris’ frown deepening with each word. “Anyway, I have to go, my first shift starts, and I want to be on time.”

That brings the conversation to a very hurried end, as Chris most definitely doesn’t want to be late! Tabitha wonders what life with her cousin will be like, hoping they both will get married very soon. At least that will give them separate lives, and she won’t feel like Chris is watching her every move…

Lancelot and Guinevere, his sister!

Lancelot looks round the house that is now his own home. He grew up in it, of course, but that is totally different from being the one to keep the Mortina line going. That is, if he finds a wife. And soon! He is the representative of the seventh generation, no way is he going to be the last!

Time in Sims Mobile moves fast, and it isn’t easy to find a wife that will get permission to move in. To make matters even more complex, his sister Guinevere has shared responsibility. He groans when he thinks her name. Whatever were his parents thinking, giving them all Arthurian names, apart from his eldest sister, Genevieve, which sounds as if it should be Arthurian anyway! Having a sister called Guinevere, and an older brother named Arthur made for some very awful jokes when he was younger, and smaller, and physically weaker. And as for his little sister Morganna, well, his parents obviously didn’t read the King Arthur stories very carefully…!

He is actually a very handsome young man, with the Mortina auburn hair, a small beard, broad shoulders, and straight back. He has dreamy eyes which look just a wee sad, but that just adds to his charm. He is neatly dressed, and catches your eyes with his good looks and aura of friendliness.

Guinevere also has the trades mark auburn hair, in a ponytail, green eyes smiling away at the world. She is tall, like her brother, but much slighter, which make her legs seem endless. Guinevere loves to dress in different styles and colours, and fortunately Sims Mobile has provided them with several options, although some at great costs! She just got the key to the family home as well, and found herself a job soon after. “I’m the new DJ,” she grins at Lancelot, “together with some old guy who has been there for centuries it seems!”

“All staff in this town seems to have forgotten to fill in their retirement papers,” grumbles Lancelot, “I hope it’s not going to be like that all our lives? I would love to meet someone, you know, go to the restaurant for a meal with someone younger than 86!”

They share a look, and Lancelot rolls his eyes. It’s no secret that he has absolutely no patience for older people. In fact, it was his grumbling, and covert comments that made his grandparents move into the retirement home before they actually were made to! Guinevere felt bad about that…

“I know what you mean, but working with someone old is different than living with them, you know, especially your own family.” She looks at Lancelot’s proud face, and sighs, yes, he is handsome and he knows it. She loves him though, although somewhere deep down she can feel annoyance bubbling away. She loves her grandparents, and now she will miss out on Family Events with them.

“Don’t try to send me into a guilt trip, just because Gran and Grandpa moved out! You know they preferred their own apartment, and anyway, our house was getting ridiculously crowded.” He sulks, something he has down to a fine art, it seems.

“Don’t sulk too long, you’ll get wrinkles in the wrong place, and my children will evict you,” says Guinevere pointedly, knowing that his will make his mad.

She is right, it works, the sulk is replaced by a fierce scowl. They both know how hard it can be to find a spouse, and they are absolutely determined that their spouse will be on the Family record, which means that they have to have a moving in permit. They know about the previous generations who were so desperate that they got married without a permit in sight. They are aware of how much trouble and heartache that caused, so just like their grandparents Gabriella and Zachery, and their parents Joash and Christie, Guinevere and Lancelot are both determined to do things the right way.

“I have already got a party invite, dear sister, so don’t you worry about children and evictions, etcetera,” he says with only a little bit of a nasty smile. He may be proud, and he may not like the fact that they have to share the house, and probably endure more King Arthur jokes, but he is really very fond of his sister Guinevere. Lancelot is also very kind, and having his grandparents actually move out was quite a shock to him. He does love them, he just never realised that they were taking his ageist jokes seriously. It has taught him to be more guarded in his words, as he truly hates grieving people.

Lancelot also found a job, as the ASOS photographer. He really enjoys it, in spite of the horror stories his Gran told him. There seems to be a fault with the equipment box, which can be very nasty if you are looking for suitable props. It hasn’t happened to him yet, but he is dreading it, as he hates being in awkward positions, especially as his co-worker is rather ancient as well. He has tried to cut down on snide comments about missing papers, and pension funds gone missing, as he knows she will pay him back the moment he lands face first on the prop box!

Both Lancelot and Guinevere work hard, something they learned from their parents. Christie was a successful doctor, who is at the brink of retirement as well, having jut received her last Trait. She has spent a lot of time with her medical senior nurse, so Lancelot hopes that when his mum retires, the nurse will too. “The new nurse will hopefully be young, and sweet and pretty, although by that time tomorrow’s party might have paid off!”

What will happen at the party? How long will all these seniors carry on working? Surely some place must be able to get younger staff? Questions aplenty, finding answers is another matter! Thankfully there is the EA forum…!