19. Rivers

Tried to keep you close to me
But life got in between
Tried to square not being there
But think that I should have been.

🎶

***

“Hey, Jes, pass me the salt, will you?” Arun asked, turning his gaze to Jesminder. She looked back at him, smiling as she handed him the salt. He smiled back.

She then turned to look at the space around her – her new home. With Arun. It had taken a while – and to be entirely honest, Jesminder wasn’t even really convinced that they would ever get back together – but miracles still happened; and he had forgiven her.

There had been a few conditions. When Arun told her he wanted to move away from the city, Jesminder’s first reaction was an automatic “NO.” She had lived in San Myshuno all her life; the last thing she wanted was to leave.

But then she put a bit more thought to it; she thought about the space they would have (they’d finally have space for that dog she has always wanted). Thought about the space her children would have. Thought about the fresh air they would breathe in. The scenery. They’d finally have an actual landscape. Their trees would no longer be skyscrapers, but actual trees.

And then she saw the house Arun had been looking at, and she fell in love with it immediately. And so here they were, some odd years after everything had first got ruined, living the dream life. Like an actual family. They had the whole package, including the white picket fence and the dog.

So, to sum up: life was good.

For Guthrie, it wasn’t, really. Here she was, in a house that didn’t feel like home, with people that no longer felt like family. In a place that was as far removed from the home she grew up in as possible. She hated the trees. Hated the nature around her. God, how she missed those skyscrapers…. the hustle and bustle of San Myshuno. All those angry people pushing her out of their way as they hurried to work in the morning. She felt alone without them.

She hated Brindleton. Hated it with a passion.

And so she actively tried to NOT be there as often as possible. She’d spend her days with her friends, hanging out with them, laughing with them, taking pictures with them.

She spent them rolling her eyes at her mother, who was getting more and more frustrated with her.,

“God, Guthrie, why won’t you just listen to me?! I’m at my wit’s end with you, here. The next time I catch you breaking your grounding, you… you better listen to me.”

It’s all Jesminder could come up with. At this point, she truly didn’t know what to do about Guthrie. She had no idea.

She spent them lashing out at her father, who had the nerve to reprimand her for breaking her mother’s grounding.

“You know what, dad. You chose that you couldn’t be bothered to raise me, so you have no right meddling with my upbringing right now. The last person I’d ever listen to, is you. Don’t even fucking try. That’s right, I’m swearing now, too. What are you gonna do about it?”

Asstwat.

She spent them taking best friend Max to her favorite spot ever: the San Myshuno bridge. It was the place she’d always go to, when she wanted a moment to herself. But when her loneliness overtook her, she decided to share it with Max instead.

Then, after she rashly disclosed her feelings to him and he rejected her, she just spent most of her time alone, roaming what would always be her city.

She would rather be alone in San Myshuno, than amongst people who didn’t like her in a place she hated, at any rate.

It’s not like she needed anyone, anyway. She had mastered the art of entertaining one’s self.

Some days she spent hitting on men… mostly just for the hell of it.

It wasn’t like anything ever came off it, anyway. Guthrie wasn’t dumb: she knew that if anything, they only ever intended to use her. Especially the douche-y types she seemed to fall for.

And, finally, sometimes, she’d allow herself to get lost in thought. As much as she hated to be that kind of person, she did get lonely sometimes. There were moments where she really wished she could just be someone else, with another life. With two parents who lived together and who loved each other and who, most of all, loved her. Who did not choose their partners over their children. With siblings who actually cared to spend some time with her, too, instead of just spending it with each other. With friends whom she could go to in times like these, when she didn’t feel so great. Maybe even with a guy who actually really liked her.

Sometimes, she wished she could just be anyone else, anywhere else… and not be a black sheep.

A/N: All credit for the stunning blonde-haired girl in Guthrie’s pictures goes to the amazing @Sha2520032003 on the Sims Forums!