"So, let me get this straight." Hera said, in her usual abrasive fashion. "You said no to his friend staying there, but then you caved anyway, because he came up with some gossipy nonsense about you."
Juliet stared nonplussed at her friend. "Well, when you put it that way..."
"What other way is there?" Hera raised one eyebrow.
Gwen rolled her eyes as she smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle on her bright magenta dress. "Hera, only you would see everything as either black or white, there are shades of grey you know."
Hera shrugged. "And colors too, I suppose you'll tell me. Juliet needs to stand up for herself, and not be bullied around by those males." Her lip curled on the last word.
Juliet sighed, and took another sip of her tea. Hera meant well, she knew, but Hera was the type to do what she wished, and to hell with what anyone else thought. She also had a new "boy toy" every week, and didn't have the highest of respect for the male species in general.
Juliet had never had the luxury of doing exactly as she pleased, the fear of disappointing those she loved, and those who loved her in return, in particular her grandfather, was just too great of a risk. "They didn't bully me." She said defensively. Hera snorted, but Juliet ignored her friend. "They didn't. There was just something about Puck..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't know why she had felt such affinity for the man, there was just something in his eyes...but how could she describe that to her friends?
"Maybe you should just sleep with him and get it over with."
Juliet choked on her tea. "Hera! What a perfectly awful thing to say! I'm married." Juliet thought her husband was quite attractive too, not that she would ever let him know it. The man was already far too vain in her opinion.
"So? I'm married too, it doesn't stop me. In fact, if you don't want him, maybe I'll take him, I'm so done with Donald anyway."
"Romeo is not an object Hera." Cherry said quietly. Cherry was the shyest of them, and didn't usually speak very much. She was a great listener though, and one of Juliet's most cherished friends. "He's a person, and you can't just..."
"Oh please, spare me the speech Cherry." Hera said derisively. "I've heard it all before from you, Miss Perfect. We can't all live the fairy tale."
"I didn't, I mean..." Cherry clumsily grabbed her cup of tea and hastily took a drink.
"There's nothing wrong with the fairytale Hera." Juliet came to Cherry's defense. "I think it's rather romantic how she and Nate Matthews have been sweethearts since middle school, and their wedding was just divine." Juliet might have been just a touch envious of her friend Cherry. In another life, she would have preferred to have had what her friend had. A man that was wholeheartedly in love with her and totally devoted to her.
"You just say that Jules because you're a hopeless romantic like Cherry, not nearly as practical about love as either Gwen or I. I didn't marry your Uncle Kent because I fell madly in love with him, or because he was hot. I married him because he's so old he could keel over at any moment, and he has money, piles of it. I will never be poor again."
Juliet shook her head. She still wasn't sure how she felt about one of her best friends marrying her Uncle Kent. It made things awkward at times, like when Hera discussed her numerous affairs or his... death. Where should her loyalties lie? With her Uncle? Or with the good friend she'd had since middle school? At best, she couldn't look her Uncle in the eye. "I wish you wouldn't say such things."
"Kent is fine with it, he has his trophy wife, and I have my money, and my lovers. We're happy."
"Really, I am not nearly as jaded about love as you are Hera." Gwen said, as she picked her teacup up. "Someday I want to find a husband like Cherry has, and raise a passel of babies. Right now I'm concentrating on my career though, and I don't have time for dating."
"Say what you will Gwen, but I've heard the rumors around town. You've been seen with both Rock Tyler and Don Juan..."
Gwen laughed. "I said I didn't have time for dating, not that I didn't have time to get laid once in a while. Rock and Don are hot, available, and not interested in a relationship. Perfect for a little stress release."
Juliet groaned. "Really you two? Don't you want more than just sex?"
"Whatever for?" Hera asked. "Matters of the heart are...messy. It's much better to just take what you want, the men all do it, why can't we?"
"Not all of them." Cherry spoke up. "My Nate..."
"Is a paragon of virtue, yes, I know, you've said it a time or two." Hera said sarcastically. "So, there's one exception, to how many??"
"Well, there's Romeo too." Juliet said, hesitantly. Her friends all quieted around her. "What? What do you know that I don't?" Juliet felt her heart drop beneath her chest, but she ignored the slight pounding. Romeo had agreed to give her time, before, well, before. He wouldn't have an affair on her, would he? Vain he might be, but he hadn't struck her as someone who would be unfaithful.
"There are rumors."
"What rumors Gwennie? If there is something I should know, then just tell me."
Gwen sighed. "There are rumors that Roslyn is sniffing around him again. The mayor hired her to be his secretary, and word is that she and Romeo are working closely together, Romeo is the mayor's latest protege." She shrugged slightly. "He was going to marry her, was quite madly in love with her if the gossip is to be believed, had even gone so far as to buy her an engagement ring, one that she still wears, just on her other hand now. He broke things off with her though, to marry you."
"Roslyn?" Juliet spoke the name, but she couldn't put a face to it. She had never paid much attention to Romeo before their marriage, let alone to anyone he might have been friends with, or romantically involved with. "Who is she?"
"The blond behind me." Gwen whispered.
Juliet craned her neck to see who this Roslyn was. "Don't be so obvious!" Gwen hissed. "You're the wife, she's just the mistress."
"They are just rumors Juliet." Cherry said softly. "There is no proof, just lots of sly innuendos from those who don't like Romeo, and dislike him even more now that he has married you and joined the Cappulet family."
Hera added some more tea to her cup. "There's no smoke without a fire, I always say."
Juliet tried not to stare at the seemingly perfect, graceful, creature who apparently held the heart of her husband, but, she failed. How could she ever compete with someone like her? Did she even want to?
Why had Romeo written her that note if he was still in love with someone else?
Juliet tapped her nails on the keyboard. Ever since having tea with her friends a few days ago, she had been feeling frumpy and...dull. She studied the webpage in front of her, it said free shipping on orders over fifty dollars. Shipping must cost at least, twenty dollars or something shouldn't it? So if she subtracted that twenty, it meant the shoes she really wanted really only cost eighty dollars.
A bargain for sure! The sale was ending in an hour, and then those same shoes would cost her over two hundred dollars...so with that in mind...she was actually saving over a hundred and twenty dollars!
How could she say no to that? She was saving money! She clicked the add item to cart button and smiled. Then a thought occurred to her. Those shoes were fantastic, but she really didn't have an outfit that would show them off properly...
She clicked the continue shopping button. She just had to have an outfit to go with her new shoes. Thankfully she had a credit card for such emergencies as this, one that Romeo didn't know about. He was no fun anyway, and always tried to curb her spending habits. She knew the value of money, despite what he said...
Pure Poison. That was the name of her perfume, the exotic blend of white flowers and sandalwood, the scent of her. He knew it well, he was the one who had picked it out for her, back when they were still lovers; they had joked about how it had been the only thing he had wanted her to wear. She knew what that fragrance did to his head, so why was she wearing it? Was it for him? Or did she just like the perfume? He briefly closed his eyes and sighed deeply. It shouldn't matter, he was married now, and not to her.
"Romeo?"
Her voice was soft and silky, and it immediately conjured up images in his mind. Images that he had no rights to anymore. He was a married man. He had to keep reminding himself of that, because he didn't feel like one. It was time to focus on his job, not on her. He eyed her warily. "What did you do to your computer?"
Her sea blue eyes sparkled at him. "I made a little oopsy." She lifted her shoulders in an embarrassed fashion. "Please tell me you can help me? You are so amazing when it comes to computers..."
"I don't know about amazing." He mumbled under his breath.
"I really appreciate your help Romeo." Roslyn said, a slight smile on her lips. "I don't know what I would ever do without you."
"No problem Ros." Romeo said easily, his eyes on the screen in front of him. "I'll see what I can do, but you should be more careful on what email files you click on in the future though," he cautioned her, "that's how you download viruses, like this one, and sometimes I can't fix it and it'll have to go to tech."
Roslyn shuddered delicately. "You're my hero Romeo, saving me from looking like a fool in front of everyone."
Romeo shrugged. "Really Ros, it's not that big of a deal." She moved closer to him, and he silently groaned as her silky hair brushed against his cheek. He remembered grabbing fistfuls of her beautiful hair while in the throes of...he shook the thought off. "Ros.." He looked up into her eyes, big mistake...
The sound of cursing, hollering, and name calling reached Puck's ears while he was still a considerable way from the house. He slowed down, and cautiously approached the front door, but the yelling only intensified, so he hesitated. To go in, or not to go in? He wasn't sure, but before he could make up his mind, Romeo stomped out of the house, slamming the front door behind him.
"Hey buddy..." Puck said carefully, trying to gauge his friend's mood, "are you going somewhere?"
"That woman is impossible!" Romeo snarled, as he gripped his car keys in his left hand. "She spent over a thousand dollars on clothes!! Clothes! Do you know how long it takes me to make that much money?" He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "It's like she has no concept of money, and doesn't care to learn!"
"Did she give you a reason why?"
Romeo sighed wearily. "Not really. She just started talking nonsense about me having an affair with Ros, which is totally untrue..."
Puck eyed his friend. "Is it?"
"Don't you start with me too!" Romeo said angrily. "I have not cheated on Juliet, despite my wife's cold nature and..."
"You might want to remove that color of lipstick from your neck before coming home if you want your wife to believe you." Puck said quietly.
Romeo stuttered to a stop, and wiped at his neck, and then cursed profusely. He put his head down. "It's not what it seems." He mumbled.
Puck shook his head. "It's not me you have to convince my friend." Something had gone horribly awry, but Puck didn't know exactly how it went awry. His letter campaign had seemed like such a great idea too. There was nothing for it, if he wanted to help his friends out, he would have to take drastic measures. He would have to talk to his father, Oberon.
Notes: So---bit of a roll reveal---I rolled Perfect careers, which, honestly, can be perfectly boring for a Gen 1 roll, lol It's like grindstone playing, and not much to take pictures of---skill leveling is soooo boring to watch, lol Which is why I'll end up taking lots of posed pictures---gotta have a story of some kind~
I had fun with the Tea Party, I wish I could have got all the sims into the pictures though, I spent so much time dressing them all up--only to realize later the venue I picked wouldn't really allow me to show very many of them! I was so bummed! I had to show Roslyn though, and with her is Hanley Avendale. Hanley got picked because she happened to be the closest in proximity to Ros, lol
Fun fact, Hanley married Renard Marquel, but he decided to take Hanley's last name. They have two boys, Gerry (teen) and Shaun (toddler).
