Coral and Herb were not getting on well at all.
Coral phoned her daughter, Mary Sue Pleasant, as usual on a Wednesday night. It was their little ritual. But when Mary Sue picked up the phone, Coral found she couldn't talk.
"Mama, what is wrong?" asked Mary Sue. Although she was adopted, she loved her mother very much and to see her so upset was extremely unusual.
Coral blew her nose hard.
She took a deep breath.
"It started in town... We went to the card shack, as we usually do on a Friday night. Well, there was this woman in a red dress. Herb saw her and couldn't stop talking about her."
"Was she? I mean, was she so beautiful?"
"I thought she was quite plain really. But you know your father, anything in a skirt is of interest... He went on about her all night. On Saturday he decided we would go again. We NEVER go twice in a week to play cards there. But this week we did... he said something wierd, he said his new shoes were too tight."
"Shoes? Mama are you sure that is what he said?"
"Yes. I don't get it either. It's not as if they sell shoes there. But of course, there she was again by the chess board... just hovering to catch unwary men. After so many years of watching his flirting with other women, I had had enough and we had a blistering row."
"Mama, this is strange. Let me come with you on Friday next, in fact I'll talk Dan into coming too, let's make it a family party."
Arriving at the Shack, Mary Sue immediately caught sight of the woman in a red dress. Tall, long dark hair, but not classically pretty at all. She was indeed hanging around by the chess board, but Mary Sue thought she was watching the board more than the players; though she certainly did not seem averse to chatting with them.
Coral was already very edgy and when the woman started to chat to Herb, she had had enough. "You - I have had enough of your flirting." She ignored the woman and slapped Herb. Surprised, Herb stood his ground and then scowled at her, and slapped back. Soon there was a full scale fight going on...
The woman in red was watching the fight, and Coral, completely enraged by this point, then turned on her. "What do you want with him, you slut!"
"Nobody calls me a slut and lives!" said the woman... She won.
Coral picked herself up painfully from the floor. Mary Sue was quite embarrassed by this point. But by this time Coral herself was past caring and on the verge of a breakdown.
So she told Herb he had to stop this flirting, though it was the habit of a lifetime. Or he was out. "I am not your pension plan. And I don't see why I should have to put up with this any more. Our daughter is long grown up with teenagers of her own. I want some ME time for once."
"Statistics show that 3 in every 4 Sims marriages end in break-ups." Who was this woman who spouted statistics?
Well, when they got home again, Herb did some thinking and decided to take matters into his own hands. He had always despised those men who he thought of as "henpecked" and "under the thumb" of their wives. And to be fair, he and Coral had not been seeing eye to eye for a long time. Since they had retired, it felt as if she had done nothing but snipe at him. "When are you going to get a part time job, when are you going to do the gardening?" So he got on the computer and looked for a small flat. He had been thinking for some time, he liked the city, preferring it to the small-town feel of the suburbs they had lived in so long, and he thought he could probably afford an apartment with a nice double room, and maybe, just maybe some sweet young thing in a red dress might be willing to share it with him! Herb day-dreamed for a while - then called the estate agent.
Coral was totally amazed. She hadn't expected him to move out. She had assumed that he would be penitent for a few days and then return to being awkward and obnoxious, and not really changed, as he had done so many times over the years. But there he was, getting into a taxi!
In a blind panic, she called her daughter, who came over with Daniel and Cassandra, and they took her out to play cards and talk. Daniel was not very sympathetic. "You didn't look after him very well. He's just a man, with a man's urges and needs. I don't know what you expected. You had let yourself slide - that pink suit is the first decent outfit you bought yourself for years."
Coral had always respected her son in law. But now she was starting to see that he was cut from the very same cloth as her husband.
"Whatever did you fight with him for?"
Mary Sue and Coral karaoked.
By the end of the evening she felt a lot better. And she had a plan.
The next day, she did a little more shopping, got her hair cut and tinted, and went looking for a new job. She got quite a decent job as an Ambassador's Intern.
Herb visited quite a bit. She felt he didn't know what to do with himself, and felt quite sorry for him, but she was feeling more comfortable as a single, working woman than she had in many years of marriage.
"How are you liking living in the city?" he asked.
"Well enough. I have a nice little flat that I keep clean. I don't have to clear up after other people. I can watch what I choose. I can invite friends round that I like."
"Pretty much the same with me. I've got a good enough apartment, and a roomie who pays the bills."
They parted as friends.
Angela and Lillith had fought like cat and dog for years. Angela was popular and seemed happy, Lillith appeared morose but, as Angela said, with her dressing like a Goth, who could really tell? Finally waving the twins off to College, before they could start yet another argument, Mary Sue hugged Daniel. "It's better this way. And that Broke boy had been hanging around Angela too much lately. There's no way HE will ever make it to college."
Peace and quiet at last! thought Daniel. And now HE would be able to get the TV remote controller all to himself!
Mary-Sue had a day's vacation owing, so she took the day off and went to town. She went for a full makeover and some heavy shopping. She had decided to change back to the traditional Chinese looks of her youth and treated herself with a bonus from work, to some beautiful kimonos. Not pure silk of course, but the fabric hung very nicely around her still-firm shape. She hugged her amazed husband.
"You look - beautiful!" he gasped.
She smiled. "Thank you! After what happened between Mama and Father, I was thinking again about our marriage and I really want to make it work, Daniel. I don't want to lose you."
Daniel, delighted by the changes in his wife, beamed happily at her. She took a deep breath. This was the part he might not like...
"So, I plan to sack the maid, and ask for a different one... and maybe I will go part-time so I can spend more time at home with you. Your retirement is coming up, and life is only so long..."
Dan looked at his lovely wife, resplendent in her new hairstyle and a gorgeous kimono, and thought - "well for Kaylynn I can always go see her in her own house... not such a bad idea, and nowhere near so dangerous. And now, with the girls off to Uni and if we have fewer rows here, life will be a little pleasanter for Pleasant."
"Darling, get comfortable," she smiled down at him. Dan completely forgot
about Kaylynn as he relaxed on their bed.
Kaylynn was sacked from her job as a maid after Mary Sue complained of her flirting, which was strictly unfair as it had mostly been Daniel's flirting. She didn't mind as right about that time the job she had been hoping for came up: she joined the police force. She was actually a very bright, skilled young woman.
She already had her own tiny house in Verona. On a maid's salary she hadn't been able to do much with it. But with some hard work and a little promotion, very soon she had her dream job as a desk sergeant.
She had a few boyfriends, but didn't regret leaving behind her flirtatious customers, In particular Dan Pleasant, who was a type she had met all too often. "Wants lots of fun and no commitment."
Don Lothario visited occasionally.
One morning before her shift started, she saw a dark man outside her house, with long dreadlocks. His name was Peyton Raymond... and she fell, deeply, hopelessly in love, completely smitten.
He was the One for her, she knew it beyond any question... He was delighted and rapidly reciprocated her feelings.
A few months later she was promoted to the Vice Squad, and could afford to get married. She got herself a maid and spent many hours chatting with her about the problems of their work.
"They expect you to stay till the moon is up..."
"I know, I know. Take my advice and find a better job. I did."
She was already carrying Peyton's babies, and when she was very heavily pregnant they had a quiet wedding at home.
Then she made breakfast.
"I know you really like that game but shouldn't you be getting some rest? You are rather pregnant now..."
"Nesting instinct..."
It was such a long labour that he fell asleep.
Her twins were called Penelope and Peterkin.