The end of George's college career was alot like the middle.
Hanging around in the hot tub with Sheila.
Talking about public woohoo, worrying about one's girlfriend's predilections
Eventually it was time for that final final.
Off into the dusk.
He got back from that final final at the same time that Gabriel got back from his own Sophomore or something final (which he'd attended in his underdrawers).
A congratulatory hug
George graduated Summa in Political Science I think it was.
After one last campus Dream Date with Sheila...
Still wondering what role she'll play in his future
...he got up and called the taxi.
No party for George.
He doesn't know all that many people; too busy studying.
"You've just graduated from SSU, George! Now what are you going to do?"
"I'm going bowling!"
Love his adult clothes. Very compatible with his Hall of Famer LTW, too. (Somehow it looks like he's about to grab Jen and kiss her goodbye, but really it's all just innocent waving.)
Back to the neighborhood.
The traditional shot.
All by itself at the end of the ridge road above Neighborhood One stands an old hovel, long abandoned and recently fixed up (a bit) by an upstart realty company.
All by itself.
That's the realtor's pickup; she's inside scrubbing some of the mold off the walls.
Admittedly, it has a great view.
At least on clear days.
Lookit all the plumb-bobs! The Neighborhood's been growing.
Just out of SSU, with no family or other connections beyond dorm-mates and people he met in his teenage cashiering years, and with minimal savings, George figured it'd be a frugal first house.
Just until the money starts rolling in.
George is Fortune.
The view was somewhat disappointing.
Darn lying Real Estate brochure! Turns out there ARE no clear days up here on the ridge...
And the interior left a bit to be desired.
"Hm, filthy refrigerator, plants growing out of the walls..."
(The latter because I accidentally put a tree too close to the house; I really like the effect, though!)
But it's just temporary, George is sure...
As it turned out, the ridge road isn't all that far from town, and George had more guests than he'd expected.
An afternoon party.
That's Sheila, of course, and I think Toby somebody from college, and Madeleine Phillips the neighborhood Diva talking about some great date.
The Welcome Wagon.
Guess who's a Knowledge Sim!
George particularly enjoyed Madeleine's company.
George had quite a high relationship with Madeleine for no reason that I'm aware of; maybe he just randomly came that way, or maybe she was a customer in his teen years.
A fond farewall.
Another of those scenic but innocent kisses that people with lightning-bolts for each other do on parting, that don't count as romantic despite how much fun they look.
One reason for all the socializing was that it took him several days to find a job that would advance him in his desired career (bowling coach, of course).
He did finally succeed.
Yet another party.
Townies, dormies, everybody! That's good old voluptuous Jane Stacks rocking out stage right.
And there was always Sheila.
He loved their dates, and she liked having an off-campus lover.
He tries not to think about what she might be doing back at her dorm.
More random snapshots from life.
George at play: The Crypt o' Night Club.
Carla (who the attentive reader may recall from Castor Nova's story) approves of George. George has not yet taken active advantage of the fact.
George at work: Assistant Coach of the Bowling Team.
Man, college graduates have it SO easy!
One day Madeleine Phillips stopped by.
"Can I hang around here for awhile, George? I need a nice quiet place to, um, meet someone."
"Sure, stay as long as you want!"
Woo! The Diva has a bit over 70,000 Simoleans to her name. The Hovel is (temporarily) rich. And Madeleine has her plumb-bob.
Madeleine went right to the phone.
Calling Mr. Big.
The Gods smiled on my plot here: in fact Mr. Big called her about ten seconds after she moved in, so I could get this image.
A little while later, a slickly-dressed character showed up, and began primping out by the curb.
"What a man!"
The attentive reader will also recall from
previous
episodes
that these two have a history, even as noncontrollables.
Madeleine's wealthy grouchy heart was all aflutter. She knew he was interested, that they were as compatible as could be (three bolts for each other, in fact!), but still; it was utterly unlike, say, buying a pair of shoes.
"Komei, darling, would you consider..."
"Consider...?"
"You know 107 Custer Boulevard?"
"Oh, yes, lovely place. I hear it's on the market."
"I put in an offer on it this morning --"
"Ooh, congratulations!"
"-- and I thought, it's awfully large, and maybe if you're as tired of the hotel as I am..."
"Why, it would be an honor, my dear!"
Komei brings in exactly as much as Madeleine did; the Hovel is now worth over 140K. But not for long...
Madeleine and Komei were grateful for George's hosting of their happy union, but they didn't plan to leave him all their lovely assets when they headed back Downtown together.
So we did a bit of object-shuffling.
One of the nicest things about Inventories is that you can transfer wealth around with them. So at 6K per statue, 22 statues just about does the trick. Onto the back lawn, and then into Madeleine and Komei's pockets. (The hot-tub was dropped off sometime earlier by Sheila after a Dream Date; as we've noted before she must have rich parents.)
Madeleine schedules the closing on the new house.
And George tells a questionable joke.
And the new couple were off.
"Glad you could stop by!"
They left George about 10,000 Simoleans worth of roundoff error; I wouldn't mind having obscenely wealthy friends like that myself.
On the way to the closing, Madeleine and Komei stopped in the park for a toast.
"To us and our good fortune."
This is the Downtown equivalent of the Bus Stop. They pulled all of those statues out of their pockets and sold them to a passing collector.
So this is love.
They started out with a heavy crush, and they've been working up to this all day. Aren't they cute?
The closing was uneventful (involving just half a dozen mouse clicks), and the couple immediately took possession.
107 Custer Boulevard
A nicely-designed standard Maxis Downtown lot. And they have lots of cash left to gussy it up.
Nice interior. Needs some wallpaper and carpets, a little art...
And they both have career-based LTWs, so they're going to need lots of them Thinking Caps.
"I think we're going to be very happy here."
Awwww!
Considerably more than that has happened, but that's enough posting for one night...