A Measure of Broken Hearts

What is better, really? Breaking your friend's heart by sharing with them a heartbreaking reality, or keeping it a secret, realizing that telling would make worse an already strained marriage? Meredith found herself debating over this the rest of the day, pacing around the house and wringing her hands anxiously. There's a reason she didn't do this friend thing, much... Things like this stressed her poor, neurotic mind out almost more than it could take.

She had (potentially) leaky faucets and a (potentially) unsafe stove to worry about, and any touch of dirt on counter, bed, or bath drove her poor mind bonkers -- did she really want to deal with telling her best... well, only... friend that her husband was cheating on her?

Finally coming to resolution, Meredith left Travis and Bradley home with the babysitter, and headed off to the Dow's homestead, hoping to catch Trista without running into her husband.

Unfortunately, once she arrived, she realized that Trista was still at work. Hearing the doorbell, Trista's son Eirik answered the door... Thank goodness Wayne was busy making hotdogs. Meredith was not going to deal with him personally. Not again, at least.

Unfortunately, Eirik was not pleased to see Meredith again -- not after the spectacle she made at the Stadium earlier that day. "Please, Eirik, just tell me when your mother gets off work? I promise, I'll leave you and your father alone as soon as I know when I can catch her."

Although he wasn't happy about it, Eirik let her know that Trista would probably be heading home around 11 -- it was late, but since the kids were at home safe with the sitter, Meredith figured she could spare an hour to wait for her friend, so she could catch her before heading home.



Luckily, Meredith had a book with her, so she caught up on some reading while she waited; but finally, Trista walked out of the theater... Obviously very tired. Unfortunately, now, Meredith didn't have much choice. It was now, or never.



When Trista saw Meredith approaching, she greeted her friend with a stiff hug. After a moment of chit-chat, Trista dragged Meredith towards the Water Hole across the way. "Haven't seen you in ages, Mere," she yawned. "Let's grab a drink and catch up. Why were you waiting out here for me, anyways?" As soon as they were inside, though, Meredith felt uneasy. "Actually... Why don't you come back to my place? There's something important I need to talk to you about."



Well, that instantly shocked Trista, but she agreed. So, they hopped into Meredith's car, and drove over to the Kane house on Dogwood Lane. But, Meredith couldn't wait any longer. The very thought was eating her whole. "Trista--" she said whilst driving, grabbing the steering wheel of the car tightly as she gritted out her words. "I... I ran into your husband at the Stadium today," she stuttered, barely audible. In fact, Trista asked Meredith to repeat herself, since she was so quiet.



Meredith waited until they got into the house to do so, though. "Trista," she finally managed. "I caught your husband getting frisky with Kiki Diaz, right in front of the Stadium."

"UGH!" Trista exclaimed, holding her head in her hands. "He's at it again?!"



A bit surprised, Meredith replied with a brief, "Again?"

"Yes," Trista exhaled stiffly. "In between jail time and all the bad influence he's having on our kids, and some other thugs in town, he's somehow found time to wind several women around his fingers... If you know what I mean. But he told me he dropped that months ago... We've been trying so hard to make this work... For the kids, you know..."

All Meredith could do was pat her friend on the shoulder. "I don't mean to intrude," Trista sighed. "But is it alright if I spend the night tonight? I'll drop a phone call home real quick so they know where I am, I just... I don't want to fight tonight. I finally got some good news today, got promoted to Lyricist... I'd rather that be the highlight of my day."

Of course, Meredith didn't object. She showed Trista to the guest bedroom -- and ran into Jebidiah, intently working, on her way back to bed.



Jebidiah didn't even stop to notice her, and she figured that he was so engaged in his... work... that she probably wasn't going to get much chat out of him, anyways. Probably for the best... His mind was still rolling over what had happened earlier that day... In the graveyard...

The next morning, Meredith got up early to make breakfast for once Trista woke up. Trista didn't have time for a meal, though -- she caught Meredith first thing after waking up to tell her she was leaving.



"I really need to get home to my kids," she said with a yawn, obviously still tired. "I probably shouldn'tve left them home alone with Wayne. Thank you for letting me stay over, though, Mere... I wish I had more time to spare, but between the kids and the job--"

"Don't worry on it," Meredith responded assuredly. "Just take care of yourself and your family, I'll come see you again as soon as I can."

---

While Meredith said her farewells to Trista, got Travis ready for school, and got ready to take herself and Bradley down to the Library, Jebidiah got ready to go out, himself... But this morning, for once, he wasn't going to the gym. Giving Meredith a brief kiss before taking off, he disappeared into his jeep, and down the road, out of sight...




"So I can count you out, then? You haven't said a thing to anyone outside the Company?" Jebidiah asked, keeping his voice down to be mindful of anyone that may be nearby, listening in. He decided it would be less conspicious, talking in public.

This time, it was with Tameka -- the fifth wheel that decided to not even show up at the Academy as she was told.

Tameka promptly crossed her eyes, made a funny face, and exclaimed: "Six fried fish on the market market? Eggroll, chop suey?! Not a chance! Bllllllububububbbbdddddddtthhh!"

To himself, Jebidiah groaned. 'Who am I kidding?' he thought to himself. 'Tameka's crazier than half the county loony bin, she could tell the cops everything, down to the color underwear I'm wearing the day of the job, and they still wouldn't believe a word of it.' Breathing a bit of a sigh of relief -- although still only a small rock off the pile of bricks on his chest -- he decided that this was one less person he needed to worry about. Tameka was a Decoy... nothing more, nothing less... She probably didn't even understand why they were taking the jewel in the first place.

Feeling that much better, he promptly did the only thing he even thought of doing -- the most Inappropriate thing possible...



... But he thought she would reject it. Alas, his usual practical joke had the tables turned on him, and instead of shoving him away like 99.9% of the women in Riverview, Tameka reciprocated his stupid, stupid kiss.



Immediately, Jebidiah withdrew, and tried to set the record straight. "Look -- that was just a joke -- I mean, I was just -- you realize that was -- I don't have any feelings for you Tameka, that was..."

Well, Tameka was instantly heartbroken. Married? Who cares! She's insane, what's it matter?!


The fellow criminal was outraged, and promptly insulted Jebidiah, and stomped away... Sobbing and throwing tantrums shortly after.

"Oh, Jebidiah," he lamented to himself. "Why are you so stupid?!"

---

Addendums:

Why ARE you so stupid, Jebidiah?! When he pulled this little stunt, I was so pissed at him. With Cody, it was all her fault -- I mixed a Flirty sim with an Inappropriate sim, bad things were bound to happen and I pretty much expected it, but... Tameka? Are you serious?! I promptly broke off the 'Romantic Interest' bit, but... Blargh. Sometimes I want to shove him into a Sarcophogus and turn him into a Mummy!

I swear, Jebidiah has no idea how to use any of his other Inappropriate 'special' interactions. If it's a chick, he tries to kiss them. I almost have to turn autonomy off just so he doesn't romance the entire neighborhood. It certainly is entertaining, and I really do enjoy having a Sim that can be this much of a challenge, but he has no one to blame but himself if things go sour with Meredith...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

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Some Updates!

Got a couple notes I wanted to cram into a post real quick before I start working on the next storyline post:

First - 

It was brought to my attention that my houses were not installing correctly! Alas! I am not entirely sure what the problem was, but after getting down'n'dirty and stripping every single CC and Store item in the lots, they seem to be working properly now. Which was the culprit... I'm not sure. Both houses had items from the European 'Eco' pack that may have been causing finicky issues, but it could have been some CC paintings that were corrupted pre-DelphyDash cleanup, or just the mere existence of CC/Store items made things go boom. (If anyone knows for sure, let me know, it will help if I upload anything in the future.)

In any case: new version of both the Kane House (here!) and Oak Groves (here!) have been re-uploaded and should work properly, now. I tested them in my own game, and they seem to work fine. Click the here!s to download them there!s.

An interesting note: I discovered, while testing this, that Sim-done paintings do not download with lots, yet Sim-done photographs do. Intriguing. If this is not the case when you download them, let me know... I'm curious.

Second - 

I updated my 'About' page a little bit. Nothing major, basically just lists what mods I run, and some stupid random stuff about how I play the game. And it now is Comment-friendly. Shazam!

I also did a bunch of updating on my Family Tree, but I won't be uploading the new version until the story actually catches up to that point. I'll make a note when that's been updated. I like Family Echo as a family tree generator, it's got great interactive-ity... ityity. Apparently Twallan's SP now supports exporting family trees to work with the Family Echo website, but I haven't tried it out. I'd rather do it by hand.

Third - 

I shant make a big deal out of it, but those of you that sent me gifts from the Store? You rock my world. Totally the last thing I expected, but I seriously appreciate it. Someday when I've got more than 5 bucks to my name, I intend to repay the favor. :) Many *hugs*!

Fourth - 

"I am Meredith, hear me roar!" ... Not.

And that's how much I love my Sims. ;) I'll get around to inking/coloring it sometime soon, but for now... That's a super, super rough sketch I did of my (probably) favorite Sim. I also haven't drawn in... Holy cow, since September. Bout time. Thought I'd share!

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Your Cheatin' Heart

News travels fast in such a small town like Riverview, so it was to no one's surprise when the rumor mill was churning wildly over the recent burglaries at the brick house on Dogwood Lane. Meredith tried desperately to explain to all the other housewives on the block that it was just an unlucky coincidence, that no one had anything to worry about... but even Meredith herself was not entirely convinced.

Holly McFarland, the town gossip, had another perspective entirely. "Well, I don't know what was taken, but if you ask me, something fishy's going on at that house. I like the Kanes all and well, but to be robbed twice in one week? When they live across the street from a cop? Not only that, but on in broad daylight, while they were home? Someone's got it in for them, and I bet it's got something to do with what that husband o'hers makes down at the old warehouse."

There was surely some truth to what the old journalist contrived, but even the nosy woman hadn't any evidence to back her claims... But that didn't mean she wasn't looking for any.

Trying to escape her house for some much needed distractions, Meredith fought the stir-crazies by taking Travis to a ball game at the stadium, leaving Bradley in the hands of their capable babysitter. But when Meredith arrived, she saw a rather suspicious sight.

Isn't that her friend Trista's husband, Wayne? And who happens to be around his shoulders but Kiki Diaz, the former Town Bike -- looking a bit gray, these days.

"What the plumbbob do you think you're doing?!" Meredith angrily accused Wayne. "Did you forget you have a wife, a family?!"

Naturally, things did not stand well between them after that. Though Meredith had never thought well of him in the first place -- Wayne Dow happens to be the town thug, and spends most of his time in jail -- she at once began to realize why she hadn't seen her friend Trista in so long... Her husband was probably driving the poor woman insane.

After Wayne tried to explain to his son, Eirik, that he shouldn't tell his mom what happened, Meredith became outraged and grabbed her son to head home. On their way to the car, Meredith ran into Chandra, who tried to find out what the matter was, but Meredith blew her off, just changing the subject to Chandra's delightful cooking before angrily stomping away to the car and driving away.

Meredith counted herself incredibly lucky -- Jebidiah and herself had a wonderful marriage... He would never do anything like that to her.

---

Meanwhile, Jebidiah had just finished showering after a grueling day of martial arts lessons... And he was greeted by a rather interesting surprise after walking out the bathroom door: one of his partners in crime, Cody Chisholm.

"Why the heck did you take off when we were supposed to have our meeting about the jewel?" Jebidiah asked her.

"After Tana and Mimi broke out in a fight," she replied with a rather exasperated yawn and a devilish smile. "I realized we wouldn't be getting anywhere. I figured we'd... catch up another time."

Dallas's last words still stuck out in Jeb's mind like a sore thumb. Jeb was sure the leak wasn't Cody, but he knew he couldn't be positive until he did a little more digging around. "Control those women," Dallas had said. "Whatever it takes." Without hardly thinking on the matter, Jebidiah spouted, "Let's go for a ride."

He finally stopped when they reached the graveyard. Hardly anyone came here, even during the day, so he knew it was unlikely that they would be disturbed. "Listen, we've obviously got a problem in the Company right now. The leak... The suspicious burglaries I've been getting... I need to know that I can trust you."

"If you're the leak... And it's a matter of money..." Jeb tried to say.

"Don't accuse me of something I didn't do -- and I'm not Mimi or Tana, I don't want to fight," she adamantly responded. "But there is something you can do for me, to ensure my loyalty, to the Company... To you..." She reached out a finger to stroke his cheek. Cody was a magnificent Con Artist for the Company, and it wasn't just because she had a talent with lies... But even though the strongest of men could fall to her feminine charms, Jeb knew who she was, and didn't fall for it so easy.

"What about your children? Your husband?" He accused her, waving his finger wildly.

Unfortunately, this upset Cody more than anything, and she began to walk away, and even start to cry.

Jeb quickly caught up to her though, and grabbed her by the arms. "Look, I--" he started, but she cut him off. "You don't understand, I may be married, but my husband... And my family..." She continued to cry. Aw, fiddlesticks. What was Jebidiah to do? Leave a key player of their plan upset, and possibly vengeful towards him? Things could only get worse.

He gave it a moments thought; Dallas ordered him to control his team, by whatever means necessary... Even if it meant seducing them. Maybe it was Cody seducing him, but... Did it really make a difference? 'Aw heck, I'm no good at this sort of phooie,' he thought to himself... But he couldn't wait any longer. After a long breath, he scooped Cody up in his arms...

And realized, it wasn't so bad.

... Or was it? 

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Not Such an Idle Threat...

The little 'chat' by the warehouse had Jebidiah's mind spinning in circles.

What Dallas asked Jebidiah to do was -- for pun's sake -- absolutely criminal. The way that heists are portrayed in the movies, as training montages that take mere minutes, was a running joke in the actual thief's business. Sure, there were jobs you could simply break a Sim's window, climb in, grab a valuable or two, and run off... but every Sim knows that once those pesky burglar alarms are installed, life for a criminal becomes an entirely different matter. Those cops have crazy fast reaction times!

And then, when you looked at the setup that the Strummer's had had installed for their prize jewel... Well, you just need time to prepare for a gig like that. And each member of the 'Strummer Home Project' had a specific task that they needed to execute perfectly... They needed practice, and now, they were rushed. They had a week to get it done... A week before the Leader would bestow his wrath on them.

Now, Jebidiah had no choice. As he looked at his eldest son, he remembered Dallas's threat: "Accidents happen all the time... You wouldn't want anything to happen to your son, would you?" He wasn't sure whether to take the man seriously or not, but no one crossed Mr. Shallow's path... No one. There was probably a good reason for that. What have I gotten myself into? he thought.

However, those thoughts were not allowed to taint Travis' birthday. He would be becoming a child, certainly the most changing day of his life --  Jeb was not going to let his boss ruin it. The very fact that he was coming to the party at all was slightly nerve-wrecking. His wife, his mother, his friends... They'd all be there, there in the same room with the most infamous kingpin in all the state of Simington. If only Meredith had known, maybe she would have neglected to invite him. No, don't joke about that, Jebidiah, he thought to himself again. The last thing I'd want to do is tell Meredith.

Everyone seemed to show up for the party at once. Farah and Simon headed to the patio to relax and talk about old times; Tana, Chandra, and Trista settled into the living room; Meredith got the kids settled and the food laid out... But when Dallas showed up, there was someone that recognized him... Someone that no one expected.

Yes -- Chandra knew who Dallas was. Had Jebidiah forgotten so soon that Skip, the retired Leader of the Crows, was her father? That she had seen behind the scenes of the criminal industry as a small girl, that she had watched the battle for power between Skip and Dallas firsthand? At least, being a Loser, she was more afraid of Dallas than anything...

See? What a big pansy.

As everyone began to dance -- what else do Sims do at parties?! -- Meredith went into the kitchen to prepare the cake and get Travis ready to blow out the candles. Dallas, however, had other ideas... It was time to meet the Lady of his Master Thief; he promptly introduced himself, and of course, was impressed with how lovely she was. Hey -- I think she's pretty cute!

And as Trista 'got down' with Simon, Chandra and Jebidiah tried to have a decent discussion over the noise of the music. It was mainly just about how much they both hated crowds, though -- Chandra was understanding, as usual, and did her best to comfort the agitated father... Even though she didn't know the real reason he was so agitated.

Simon and Dallas were able to pull Meredith away from being a busy host for a moment, as well, in order for some decent chitchat.

But finally, it was time for everyone to stop doing what they were doing -- but not everyone, you know how hard Sims are to get to pay attention to stuff like this! -- because Meredith was taking Travis to the cake. After several minutes of blowing kazoos, cheering, clapping, and laughing, Meredith finally helped Travis blow out the candles. Jebidiah was very proud... But no longer was he secretly wishing for Travis to become Evil, like him... No, that wish had not popped up in some time now. Perhaps recent events had caused a change in the father...

As everyone finished their cake, and Travis got into some cool duds for his new Athletic trait, Dallas tapped Jebidiah's shoulder, and prodded him to speak with him in private.

They walked outside and into the glasshouse that Meredith used as a painting studio. After shutting the door and making sure they weren't followed, Jebidiah began to talk.

"I did everything I could about the laptop," Jeb said with a cringe on his cheek. "I had a small device installed that will trigger the hard disk to fry when certain protocols are tripped... And I activated it remotely. But there's no way to know for certain if the laptop's actually been destroyed. For all I know, whoever took it knew where to look, and disabled it before I got a chance to blow it."

Dallas was not pleased to hear this.

"You mean to tell me," Dallas growled with a stern finger pointed at Jebidiah's chest. "That there's a chance that they know everything?"

"Not everything!" Jebidiah tried to explain. "I deleted almost everything Skip gave me as soon as it was transferred to the Company mainframe. The security codes and breaker points weren't on there... But there were dates. Some discussions between Project members about the plan... It's enough for the police to nail us, but not enough for someone else to pull off the job if they wanted."

"And that's supposed to make it better?" Dallas was on the point of rage.

"Please, Shallow, just let me take care of this. You know it took the top computer expert in the Company over a week to hack into a firewall I designed, that's more than enough time for us to get the job done. You gave me a week. We'll get you the jewel before anyone knows anything..." Jebidiah had gotten to the point of pleading. "And Tana hasn't heard a word about it at the department, so it's unlikely they have it."

"Just get it done, Kane," Dallas offered as his last words. "You'd better get it done."

---

As the party drew to a close, everyone gave their last hugs and congratulations before heading home. Chandra stayed to help tuck in Bradley...

And Travis headed up to his newly decorated room, ready to fall asleep at a moment's notice.

Chandra headed off home, and Jebidiah -- although still uneasy from his conversation with Dallas -- settled into bed with Meredith and tried to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, he couldn't. Tossing and turning, the wee hours came and went and still, sleep did not come. He had been glad to have this day off, especially on Travis' birthday, but without the exhaustion of work, he was almost sure he'd never fall asleep... Especially not with what was on his mind.

But around 2am, he heard a familiar sound... One that outraged him no less than the previous time he'd heard it.

He rushed down the stairs, but it still wasn't in time -- the burglar quickly began to take what she came for, cackling quietly as she did so.

But Jebidiah wouldn't let them get away this time! She hadn't gotten all that she came for, and completely surprised and caught unawares, they collided at the bottom of the stairs -- and there, they duked it out, while Meredith quickly called the police.

And this time, the police arrived in just the nick of time. And apparently, he really liked the music they had playing. I don't blame him. My Custom Music station rocks.

As he put the burglar in the back of his squad car, he returned to do a once over around the house. He stopped to chat with Meredith about movie tickets -- hopefully not asking her on a date -- before returning the stolen items to Jebidiah, and taking the thief to the station.

But when Jebidiah saw what the burglar had taken...

This was not a crime of desparation for money, or even for crime. Why in Pleasantview would someone steal pictures of his children?! He was so angry -- furious -- that he punched the air in distress. Either this was a joke, or a threat... And he wagered it was the latter.

Was Dallas trying to toy with him, and remind him of what he could do? Was someone trying to dissuade him from the job with threats of their own? Why would anyone, save a Desperate Sim, steal pictures of the ones he loves?

The next day, realizing that he could no longer trust the criminal minds to not break into his home, he had a security system installed. It was minor -- certainly not the setup like the Strummers, which he really was tempted to employ -- but it would do the trick against these petty thefts. He didn't have much of any other choice but to trust the cops... He at least relied on Tana, if anyone.

Now, it was no longer a game... This wasn't the fun times of bank robbery, the instant gratification of safe cracking, or the thrill of driving the getaway car. This was now a time of desperation, when his own Leader was threatening the lives of his children, so that he could get the prize he wanted... Where he'd have to dip to increasingly desperate measures to protect the woman and children he loves, even if those measures may hurt them, too.

All over a pretty, pink rock.

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In Broad Daylight

The next day, Meredith got up early, careful not to wake Jebidiah after his long night of... well, whatever it was he does. She was still disappointed about what she had learned, but as time passed -- the way it does in Sim-time -- she began to become more accepting of his lifestyle choice. Though she had not taken it to heart as his mother had, since there was no way she could be proud of what he did (no matter how good he was at it), there was still a shred of hope that things would continue to remain how they were, and his criminality would stay a skeleton in the closet... Hidden away, forgotten.

The idea of telling Tana still weighed on her mind, but Meredith cautiously decided that telling her sister, crooked cop or not, was not a good idea. She would be obligated to tell the rest of the department, and Meredith did not want to lose her husband. Finally, she decided, there was no one to tell but her shadow. It was a hard secret to keep, but... Well, we do stupid things for the ones we love.

Meredith was up so early to take Travis across the street for a playdate with June; Tana had to work that afternoon, but Howard had the day off and didn't mind playing host to the two red-headed Kanes for the day.

Travis and June had quickly become buddies: just lookit how cute they are...

After Tana left for work, Meredith settled down to watch some of the cooking channel with Howard, and began to talk about the Larson's new home.

Howard Larson, Tana's husband, is... Well, probably not the most interesting chap on the block. He's certainly nice enough, and Meredith never heard much of any complaint out of her sister. But in reality, Tana really never spoke up much about Howard. Jebidiah loves to jest about how boring his brother-in-law is, but while on the outside Howard does not appear to be that interesting, Meredith always caught hints that maybe her sister's marriage was more rocky than her own. Perhaps it was Tana's 'dark side', or Howard's aspiration to break the heart of every woman in town... Both closely guarded secrets, but evident enough to anyone that looks close enough.

But maybe, Meredith thought, Tana simply didn't care.

Or maybe Howard had put aside his dreams in order to sustain their family. It had just gotten a bit larger, too; Tana had recently given birth to a second baby girl (whom they named July), and Howard was at least a nice enough chap to stick around despite his Commitment Issues, even if there was speculation that his heart wasn't in it anymore.

Meredith did feel a bit awkward around him, so she spent the rest of the morning swimming in their pool (amazing! they have a pool!) and played babysitter for July, since Howard was too busy watching the last half of Iron SimChef.

Tana ended up coming home early, just after noon, and the two sisters spent some time catching up -- since they really hadn't the day before. Meredith became a little bit too easy with some gossip she'd heard, though, and it worried Tana slightly... Where was Meredith hearing these things? Had Jebidiah been lying, and actually said something to his wife? Tana was having a hard time making sense of it, but in the back of her mind, she was constantly worrying about the safety of the Strummer Home Project, and whether or not they'd actually be able to acquire the jewel.

Tana's worries were not in vain -- but she'd soon learn that they were perhaps 'misplaced'.

As Meredith changed out of her swimwear and began to get Travis ready to go home, across the street, Jebidiah was just waking up. It wasn't his clock alarm that woke him, though... It was the recognizable jiggle of the front doorknob, and footsteps he didn't recognize as his wife's.

Creeping down the stairs and turning the corner, he saw a sight he never thought he'd see.

He quickly lept into action, jumping the burglar just as Meredith was crossing the street. The fight was brief; Jebidiah quickly beat the striped criminal, and knocked him to his behind.

But Jebidiah wasn't quick enough -- just as he thought he'd won, the burglar grabbed his loot bag and bolted out the door, almost knocking Meredith and Travis off their feet, before jumping in his clunker of a car, and taking off down the street. Meredith rushed into the house as quick as she could... completely and utterly confused. Wait -- if Jebidiah was a criminal himself, why were they being robbed... And why in broad daylight?!

As Jebidiah watched the car pull away, he scratched his head, wondering the exact same thing. But, after several moments, he realized what was gone -- his laptop. Suddenly, a rock sunk in his stomach. Though he was careful to safeguard all the information on his computer, and being a hacker himself, he knew how difficult his protections would be to break, but... All their plans had been hoisted, and potentially, in the hands of an enemy. But who?

 Meredith made the only call she could think to make -- the police -- but Jebidiah had no hope in the cops. For all he knew, they were the ones that had hired someone to steal it in the first place... And even if they weren't, the idea of the police getting their hands on that laptop was a nightmare. He had his own call to make... And it certainly wasn't the cops. After throwing on some proper clothes, he made a short call on his cell, and disappeared out the door, without a word to Meredith. For once, she didn't consider following... For once, she didn't want to know where he was going.

Across town, Jebidiah waited against the warehouse distribution building, careful not to catch the glance of any cars passing by. It was broad daylight, but he didn't care -- this was too important to wait.

Finally, a fancy car pulled up, and before skidding behind the building, a white haired man approached Jebidiah: Dallas Shallow.

The very Leader himself. As often as Jebidiah saw him, he couldn't help but get a chill up his spine to see the man in the sun, in public, next to him. Jeb may be the Master Thief, but Dallas was the Master of Thieves -- the Emperor of Evil. No one ever suspected the elderly man, an openly gay Sim (married to Simon Shallow, Jeb's 'uncle') of a rather flirty disposition, to have anything to do with the Crime Syndicate... But he wasn't just involved with it. He was the Crime Syndicate... And even Jebidiah never thought to question the man's malice, greed, and determination.

Or his impeccable sense of fashion.

Jeb was nervous that Mr. Shallow would not take kindly to being called out in public, in daylight, but the man knew that his best criminal asset would not have phoned if it was not important.

"It's about the jewel, isn't it?" Dallas calmly asked, but with a slight tinge of disapproval in his voice. "What's gone wrong?"

"My laptop's just been stolen... In broad daylight, right on an active street. I tried to stop him, but he got away before I could get the computer back." Jebidiah was unhappy, but the Leader was even less so.

"All the criminals in this town are under my control, now. There's not one of them that hasn't sworn alleigence to the Company... Not a bloody single one. And hardly anyone in the Company knows about this plan..." Dallas spoke thoughtfully, careful not to make eye contact with his associate.

"I know. I didn't recognize the man, though," Jeb replied. "He definitely wasn't one of ours. He was probably paid to do it, but by whom..."

Jeb trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Dallas quickly questioned him about what happened at the 'meeting'. "Well, what did you figure out about the leak?"

"Absolutely nothing," Jeb said with gritted teeth. "But everyone's tense because of it. Tana and Mimi are at each other's throats, and broke out into a brawl in front of the whole academy... Cody's becoming impatient, and Tameka didn't even bother to show. I'm starting to feel like I can't trust any of those bloody women... And I'm starting to think that this job ain't such a good idea."

That certainly was not what Dallas wanted to hear. "Whatever happens, we are not giving up this job. Either we get it, or someone else gets a clue and takes it for themselves. If anything, it means we need to start working faster. You get this done, and soon."

But Jebidiah pleaded with his boss. "We have a leak, and now an enemy potentially has our plans, and you want to expedite the job? We may as well put ourselves out on a silver platter, with that kind of margin for error..."

"The faster this gets done, the less chance they hack your code and figure out the plan. The sooner, and the less likely the leak can foil our plans. You had weeks to prepare? Well, now I'm giving you days. I want this done within the week... You make sure that the safety triggers on that computer prevent them -- whoever 'them' is -- from finding anything out.'

"And," Dallas added. "You find a way to control those women on your team. By whatever means necessary... I don't care if you have to put a smack on their face or woo them into your bed. You either find or stop that leak, before it destroys my Company."

"But sir--"

"Don't forget who you're talking to, Jebidiah... Don't forget what I'm capable of. I do recall that my husband and I were invited to your son's birthday party... You know, accidents happen all the time. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your son, would you?"

Jebidiah was incredibly reluctant, but even the darkness in his heart could not shroud the love he had for his family. With an angry curl on his lip, he raised his hand to his forehead, and gave his zealous, greedy Leader a proper salute.

"Whatever you ask... It will be done."

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Ambitions Release!

If you happen to be reading this miserable excuse for a story, you probably noticed that I haven't updated in a few weeks... And the reason is, of course, Ambitions -- it's hard to write when you're too busy playing! In the interest of keeping any readers I may have (ha, ha), I thought I'd drop a line to say that I haven't forgotten about this little tale.

In fact, I've been keeping my Sims quite busy with the new content, and it's helping me piece together what will happen after this storyline is "wrapped up", persay. I'm having quite a bit of fun, and I have to give Ambitions a big thumbs up (because my thumbs are, of course, so important), but I'm not all smiles and giggles about this EP.

It is a great expansion, and EA has really lived up to a lot of expectations with some of the additions. People have always lamented about not being able to follow their Sims to work, and having tedious things like laundry to do -- I never did personally, because I was fully aware how much micro-managing that would entail. Well, the community got their wish, and... Of course... I see a lot of complaints about how micro-managey it is. "I can't work two professions at once!" "I have to have someone stay home all day to do all the housework now with laundry!" Yeah... Did you really not see that coming?

I personally don't mind (and really, you only have to do laundry once and the benefits NEVER END, which I will get into in a moment), so I just roll my eyes... But there are some things that show that EA didn't exactly pay attention to some of the details when making this EP. It's not sloppy, just... not completely examined. I've noticed multiple errors in the PI cases, some weird outdoor daylight issues in Twinbrook, digital photo frames disappearing after a game restart, the 'endless running' bug, consignment sales not counting towards your self-employment promotions... Things like that.

Then there's the reports I hear of problems with the designer professions having a terrible time getting good reviews (sounds like they maybe made it too difficult in the beginning or something), the ghost hunter profession not accurately counting ghosts caught, issues with firefighter coworkers... And then with laundry, you can do it once a blue moon and still receive the benefits -- a whopping +32 moodlet that lasts for 16 hours... Seriously?! I can't say I'm surprised -- I'm really not -- but that doesn't mean I'm not a tad bit disappointed. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised that the game came out so hitch-free, than have my sub-standard expectations met... And that the game doesn't surprise me with a lack of errors and miscalculations makes me a bit sad.

The content itself, though, is fantastic -- Twinbrook is beyond awesome as a town, the new careers add so much flavor (I've only played the PI career so far, and being the one I had the least expectations for, I'm incredibly amused by the cases, and it adds some neat direction for future storylines), and I'm positively tickled by the Inventor skill. I haven't even done hardly anything with it, and I'm already excited by how funny some of the improved widgets are.

I'm taking this EP very, very slow, for now... I rushed through everything in World Adventures so fast that I really regret having nothing left there to replay, and I don't want that experience again. I've probably done only 15 cases on my PI, and my Inventor is only at like... Skill level 6. Laugh all you want, but even now, there are a couple of Base Game careers I haven't done yet (Sport or Science), and I'm glad -- the game does not bore me. You won't hear me griping about how this EP cost $40... If it lasts me until the next one in six months (at the least), it's just a bit more than $6 a month. That's cheap entertainment!

Anyways, enough blabbing to a non-existent audience. Time to work on another post to say what Jebidiah and his gang have been up to...

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