Chapter 3.2 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.4

Generation Three: Red

Appearance: Red hair, scandalous clothing style
Traits: Romantic, Hot-headed, Art Lover
Aspiration: Serial Romantic
Occupation: Art Critic
House Goal: 30,000 worth

Settling In… But Not Down

Travelling back and forth to San Myshuno for work tasks is time-consuming, but it’s been fun. It also allows me time to meet lots of new people. And by people.. I mean men, of course. Which.. is fine by me. I have no intention of settling down anytime soon.

Hawea and I went on a late night date to one of the city’s Karaoke Bars, but neither of us was interested in the singing. I vaguely remember some skinny, creepy looking fellow smirking at us while he sang, but neither Hawea nor I was really worried about it.

After a very successful date, I headed home and Hawea headed to his city office for a long night of charity work ahead of him. Slowly, my house was becoming my haven. I especially loved being right on the beach, because keeping one’s scales hydrated is a constant struggle. Especially when you keep having to head back to the city for work.

Speaking of work: I’ve been happy because lately, they’ve been asking for me to increase my skill in the art department, so I bought myself a real easel and some inexpensive paint. The results were.. well, less than stellar, but it gave me a chance at getting some spare funds.

I didn’t have a ton of time for men with work asking for so much in the way of learning, but I did manage to stay social.

I made friends with the leader of the local pod of dolphins, and he comes back to visit me and tell me of his friends’ antics in the paradise of the local oceans. He was always praising my mother’s work, because her conservation efforts had spread goodness far and wide. I was proud of my mother, but sometimes I felt like I should work harder to do something that would leave my mark on the world like she had. It definitely left me feeling a bit inadequate, but I simply couldn’t figure out what, exactly, an art critic could do that would actually make a difference.

On yet another trip to the city’s Art Center, I saw a pretty face I hadn’t met. Yet. Turns out his name was Caleb. He was a mixologist, apparently, and (since the bar didn’t have any customers at the moment) very happy to spend some time chatting with me.

And by chatting – of course I mean flirting. Because that’s what I do! Having spent most of the week working, I definitely felt the need to spend some time with a handsome man on my arm, so after an enjoyable evening talking to Caleb, I invited him back to Sulani for a date at the local bar. He said he’d never even been to Sulani, which – of course – was pretty much sacrilege to me, so I insisted he come meet some of the locals.

I surprised him with a first kiss… and we had a great evening, but he declined staying the night over at my house. This was a bit surprising.. but that was okay. Maybe he wasn’t digging me as much as I liked him. I headed back into the bar to use the computer to check in on work, and was surprised to see a very familiar – and unhappy – face.

It was my dad. He asked me if we could chat, and I cringed. I wondered if he’d heard about my rotating dates and was about to scold me for it.. but apparently that wasn’t the problem at all. He had seen me with Caleb. I couldn’t see why that particular sim was a problem.. until he took me to a quiet table at the bar and explained that Caleb wasn’t exactly your normal “sim”. Rumors and gossip surrounded him, but the general gist of it was that he was a creature of the night. A vampire. Who lived alone with his sister, and rarely ever got out of the house. Definitely a bit on the strange side.. and Dad was clearly warning me off of him. I thought a moment about it, but with as many eligible men as I’d found around the city and Sulani – I ultimately decided that Caleb could make his way through the darkness on his own. Vampires and Mermaids weren’t exactly very compatible, anyway. You know: the whole sun and salt thing .. just doesn’t work well for Vampires.

I was thoroughly exhausted by the time I got home – and the sun was already up. I stumbled back to my home from the water, and vowed to sleep for the rest of the day.

By that evening, I was fully rested, and ready for some more time on the water. I met a curly-haired local that caught my eye on the beach, and spent some time getting to know him. His name was Rua, and “some time” turned into the rest of the weekend.

Neither one of us seemed to be worried about the time or the rest of the world, however. Rua tried not to complain about the lack of .. well.. facilities at my house, but he eventually decided to make do with the bush outside the front door. The cooler of granola, cereal, and yogurt was another point of contention, apparently, though. He couldn’t seem to understand that just keeping a roof over my head was a struggle some weeks, and I wasn’t about to explain why I hadn’t splurged on an actual kitchen or bathroom yet.

By the time he left, I wasn’t horribly upset by the weekend ending… and my new computer and desk had finally arrived. I was fully connected to work and the world now, and my trips to check my email at the local bar were a thing on the past. Work was over-joyed, and quickly found a ton of new projects for me to critique and topics to expand my knowledge on.

Which.. meant some trips to the city, of course. I found Graffiti alley, and learned about painting from a can.. but I wasn’t sure it was something I was really into.

More time in the city did mean more time to meet men, however, and Koji caught my eye pretty early on. I was avoiding the Art Center bar at night, of course, because I didn’t really want to explain to Caleb that I wasn’t supposed to date him anymore because my DAD had told me not to. Koji, on the other hand, was easy on the eyes, and easy to flirt with. He did come to Sulani and spent the night, but after seeing my “house”, he left quickly in the morning. I wondered if I’d ever see him again.

Another conquest of mine, Rohan, didn’t seem to be nearly so worried about the state of my home. His last name was hilarious – Elderberry – and he sometimes made strange gestures with his hands while muttering to himself… but I wasn’t really all that worried about it. It wasn’t like I was planning on marrying the guy!

Now that I had the computer, I had started keeping my journal there, and I hid my childhood journal in the only hiding place I had – my bed. Keeping up with work and the parade of guys in my life was so much easier now that I had my own computer, so I was glad I had saved up long enough to get a good laptop instead of just grabbing any old computer that would work. Even though it meant I was still living in a one room hut with no plumbing or kitchen. That would come. Eventually. I think?

Bloopers:

That tall, creepy man??

You guessed it.. Hawea and Kali were serenaded by Vlad himself. LOL!!!

Chapter 3.2 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 3.4