Summer 2012 - Thayer

Fawn (37), Gareth (37)

Whenever Gareth was in town, Fawn enjoyed hearing about his time on the road and in the studio and all of the venues his band played in different cities.

Of course, he and his bandmate, Trevor Yates often talked of their hometowns and Trevor had seemed interested in seeing Fawn's Art Gallery.

While traveling between gigs, Gareth and Trevor surprised Fawn by dropping in at the art galley before heading on to the next stop on their tour.

The guys seemed to have a fun time talking about their views on artistic expression.

Since the gallery wasn't doing very well financially just from charging entry, Fawn began putting some of her pieces up for sale.

Which meant the added expense of maintaining an employee.  Time would tell if the change would be profitable.

Fawn was excited to have the honor of displaying the works of a budding young artist from another hood, Veronika Kent of Apple Valley.

She was sure to mention that she went to college with Veronika's father.  He was a few years older than her, but she remembered him from the dorms.  She was excited to discuss painting techniques and sources of inspiration with Veronika.  She was always happy to meet another art aficionado.

Veronika's family, her aunt and uncles and cousins had come along to support her.

Fawn was pleased to see Veronika's uncle's brother, James, had come along too.

In addition to showing her work, Veronika was also excited to check out some of New Eden's historical art pieces. Many of them had been created by Fawn's grandparents who were among the original founders of Eden.

After exploring the gallery, she headed back downstairs to answer any questions visitors might have about her work.

When things quieted down in the gallery, Fawn and Veronika chatted about her work and her plans for the future.  Veronika couldn't help noticing the way James was looking at Fawn and wondered if the two of them might have a future together.  Fawn played the suggestion off and insisted that they were just friends.

Yet, when she kissed him goodbye at the end of the show, she thought maybe there might be a spark between them.

The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if there could be something between her and James.  She hadn't been blind to the way he looked at her sometimes and she had definitely noticed the chemistry between them when she helped him redesign his living room, of course she had been with Winston at the time.  James actually seemed like the type of guy she wouldn't mind falling in love with.

Winston still dropped by the gallery on a regular basis.  She couldn't deny that she still found him incredibly attractive.

They were still friends.  They talked about art, but it just seemed like any chance of rekindling their romance had faded away.

And Jimmy, who she saw everyday, was another man she was definitely attracted to, but it had never been anything more than just physical with him.  She had the feeling he was more into someone else.

So she wondered, why not give things with James a shot?  All it took was a little hint his way and he was eagerly asking her out on a date.

They went to Trevor's, a restaurant that had actually been started by a half-brother of Fawn's back in Eden.  They headed upstairs to the bar first and tried the karaoke machine.  Musical talent must run in the family, because Fawn's singing voice was impressive.  James, on the other hand, could barely carry a tune, but it didn't matter.  It was all for fun.

Afterwards James excused himself to stop by the restroom while Fawn took a seat at the bar.  Of all the sims to run into, Winston and his new flame, Lara, were there.  He seemed to sense her presence before he even saw her.

When he started to head over to say hello, Fawn quickly looked for an excuse to be somewhere else.  And they went down to the restaurant to see if their table was ready yet.

Fortunately it was.

"Do you two know each other?" Fawn asked, when she noticed Heather staring at James.

"Yes.  We're friends."

Heather winked at them.  "On a date?  Have fun."

In a small town like New Eden, it's difficult to go out and have any kind of privacy.  You always ran into someone you knew.  Fawn tried not to think about who may or may not be watching them and focused on her date with James.

She was having a great time.  The food was fantastic,

the company was great, and the atmosphere was totally romantic.

After dinner, they took a second turn on the karaoke machine.  Their small audience seem to approve.

Robin seemed to think that Fawn and James made a cute couple, while Gregory only had eyes for his wife.

Fawn thought it was nice to see a couple that had been married for a long time, out together and still so affectionate and in love.  She wasn't sure if she was suited for that type of life, but it was sweet to see.

James, being a gentleman, accompanied Fawn home and said goodnight to her at her door.

It had been a great night and Fawn was really begin to feel like this relationship could grow into something more.

Meanwhile, Gareth was spending some quiet time at home, in his studio apartment, enjoying the time to himself to play around on the bass and just relax.

Sofia was out of town.  Trying to launch her own solo music career, she was starting to live the type of lifestyle he was, home for short periods of time between touring and working in the studio.  Since he didn't have her new number, he wasn't able to reach her.  So he started thinking about who else in the hood he could take some time to get to know better.  He really wanted to build some new friendships.

He decided that instead of trying to get to know some of the new sims in the hood, he should try to restore an old relationship, with Heather.  She was the mother of his child and what had happened between them was so long in the past.  It was long past time to put hurt feelings aside and be on good terms again. 

It was important if he was ever going to have a relationship with their son and that was something they all needed.

Things had gotten much better between them, but that brought up new challenges. They found it difficult to find the right boundaries for what they wanted their relationship to be.

It was better for them, and better for Lance if they were somewhat close again, but not too close.  They had to make sure not to get too close.

 

(This was long, but I couldn't decide on a good way to split it up.  Thanks to Apple Valley for sending me the McMillians and Veronika for a visit.  Setting up the art show was fun.  Trevor's visit was a random surprise.  He's in my simbin from an earlier Aerial Bionic show and decided to come home from work with Gareth one day.  I actually just moved him into the simbin from the nightclub lot where I'd left him as a placeholder, because I didn't want him randomly showing up around the hood.  I guess he decided he wanted to show up anyway.  A bit of trivia - the sim in the purple sweatsuit is the original Suzanna Carr (McMillian).  She's still floating around my hood.  I may give her a new identity someday if she starts to form relationships with any other of my active sims.  She actually looks different than Apple Valley's version of Suzanna who is dressed in red and pink, so I didn't try to use her as the visiting Suzanna McMillian. Before the date, in his lot, James had rolled the want to go on a date with Fawn and Fawn rolled the want, on her lot, to fall in love with James.  Towards the end of the date he had the want to get engaged to Fawn (and the other wants were all about skill points).  It rolled away, but that's pretty big progress for him, since he hasn't expressed many wants towards anyone.  I may have to max out his skills and get him to the top of his career before he gets serious about settling down.  At one point, more towards the end of the round, Gareth wanted to talk to Sofia, but I forgot I moved her out of  whatever lot she was living on and she didn't have a phone.  Before that he wanted to be friends with Heather, Hope, and Alexis.  Heather seemed the most logical choice.) 

Fall 2011 - Crabtree

Fall 2011 - Winston (34)

This non-communication with Fawn had gone on for too long.  After seeing her at the summer festival and having a short, but pleasant conversation with her, Winston really wanted to talk with Fawn.

So much time had past since their falling out last winter.  He really needed to know what had gone wrong between them.

"Why don't you come over?  I'll make dinner and we can talk."

"I don't know . . ." she hesitated.

"If dinner seems too serious, too much like a date, how about brunch?  We should talk, in person."

"I'll think about it."

Since it sounded like Fawn was not accepting his invitations, Winston decided to focus on work.  He had been getting to know Joy London, a recent college grad looking for work as an actress.

They started a serious of interviews.  He liked to get to know where all of his clients' strengths were.  Joy seemed smart and fit.

She was funny and charismatic.  When he said goodbye following their first meeting, he had a good feeling about her potential.

He invited her over to his house a few days later to see if she had any musical talent.  He was impressed with what he heard.

Fawn had ended their phone call with the impression that she would not be coming over, so Winston was surprised to see her pass by his house just as Joy was leaving and his next client, Keith was arriving.

They greeted each other like old friends

very, dear old friends

and there was no doubt that the electricity and chemistry was still there.

Fawn could still play the piano like a pro

and he still couldn't cook beyond simple sandwiches and still always had his mind on his work.

She was still one of the most effortlessly sexy sims he'd known.

They started with small talk.  She shared how things were going at the art gallery

and asked how managing her brother's band was going.  Just as they were about to get to a serious conversation, Keith interrupted.  A woman had called Winston's office phone, anxious to speak with him.

It was terrible timing.  Lara, the woman he had met on vacation wanted to chat.  He tried to end the conversation as quickly and politely as possible, but he hadn't said goodbye yet when Fawn entered the room.

He tried to play off the phone call with a joke.  Fawn was no amused.  In fact, she was so put off with his bad taste, that she left immediately.  He knew then that what they had really was over.

The next day, Lara dropped by unexpectedly.  She was concerned with how he had ended their phone call so abruptly and decided to come over to talk with him in person.

They greeted each other like new lovers.

She took his hand and led him to his office sofa.  He had been intimate with Fawn many times, but never felt the way he was feeling with Lara in this moment.  He wondered if Lara was his future now that his relationship with Fawn seemed to be a thing of the past.

If it truly was the end for them, he knew he would always have a soft spot for her in his memories.  No one played the piano like Fawn.