Kechi

The number of sims in my save that find Jai repulsive needs to be studied 🥴 ....also, no queue tomorrow, I'll be flying home on an early flight and don't really want to think about anything else. But will be rocking and rolling for Wednesday, so stay tuned 👀

The only thing that could make this better would be if my son was here too. I love my nieces, but I miss my son 🥲

Should she stay or go? Warring thoughts of "go after her, Feather," and "you come on too strong, Feather. This is why you have no friends" battled in her head until she took a deep breath. She couldn't leave things like this. She had to go after her she resolved, but a moment too late.

Feather's resolved faltered as her heart fell into her stomach. The Pirate Princess....hated her? As Cordie hurried past her further and further away, she felt stuck between chasing her down or doing as she said and leaving her be. The thrum of needing to fix this still pulling at her.

"But you just have to let me help you!" Feather pleaded. Cordie bit down on finger as she pray to everything that might be out there that Feather would not chase. She'd have to make sure she didn't. "Please, just leave me be! I lied before. It was something you did. Now I have to go!"

"Cordelia? Go ahead, tell me what you need. Anything. I'll go get for you. Even if it's something hard to find." Feather's bottom lip tremble. It was official. The billboard girl was a saint. A heavenly goddess of unmatched beauty. Cordie pushed past her. "It's fine! Please don't follow me!"

"No it's—" There it was. That feeling again. She was running out of time, and she'd rather not evacuate the contents of her entire body in front of Matthew's stunningly beautiful girlfriend whose also super nice and friendly and concerned for her. She was almost too perfect.

The acrid bitterness slid back down, but for how long? Not word vomit at all. 𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰 "I—I'm sorry, but I should probably go now." Cordie choked out, hand still to her mouth. "No, wait! You can't! Is it something I said or did? I can fix it, I promise!" Feather's emotions were on a roller coaster.

"Are you...OK?" Feather eyed her queerly as Cordelia's face started to pale. "I'm fine. I just—" Cordelia's stomach lurched again. 𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰 she thought. Was word vomit about to explode out of her mouth like it had before? Her stomach roiled as she swallowed it back.

The storm swept up and everything started to spin. Or really, it just felt that way as Cordelia's stomach started to bubble and quake. She swallowed a groan and caught herself a moment too late as she covered her mouth to muffle any other noises that threatened to involuntarily escape.

"I'll think of something better, I promise!" Cordie couldn't make herself stop talking. It was like a storm was brewing inside of her she couldn't calm. "No, actually, please don't! I really think I must have communicated something wrong." Feather started to panic.

"I...think you might be confused." Feather started to wonder if she phrased something wrong. "No, I understand things completely. You and Matthew seem great together. Like celebrity portmanteau worthy. We could call you Feathew or Matter?" The words kept erupting out of her like dislodged bile.

"I get it now," Cordelia responded. "And it's OK. You didn't have to lie before about you and Matthew." "What?" Feather's brows knitted together in confusion. "It's OK. You don't have anything to worry about with me. Like I said before, Matthew and I are pretty clearly not as close as I thought."

Unless...this was all a ruse. It was possible she'd lied about her and Matthew's relationship. They 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 dating. And because the billboard girl thought Cordelia and Matthew were close...yes. It all made sense now. This girl feels threatened, so why not ask a question to see if she should be worried.

The question completely flummoxed Cordelia. The hurt in her head had started to ebb, but now...her brain signals must surely still be scrambled because what did she mean? In what reality would Matthew ever ask her out? Why would the billboard girl ask her a question like that at all?

"Sorry, Matty mentioned that you did. He mentioned a lot of things about you, but that's not the point. I was just curious. When your boyfriend asked you out, if Matty had, I don't know, asked you before your boyfriend had a chance, what would you have told him?"

As Feather hemmed considering what she could or couldn't say, she figured a redirect was probably a smarter move right now. "Can I ask you something?" The sudden turn toward asking her a question threw Cordie off balance. "Umm, I guess? Sure." "You have a boyfriend, right?" "What?"

"Oh...just..." 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 She had said too much. Matty would hate her if she told the Pirate Princess that he's head over heels down as bad as they come for her. But she didn't want to start their friendship on lies. What was safe to say? "Well...he told me that—"

"We're probably just acquaintances actually." Cordie shrank a bit. "No, that's not true! Matty thinks a lot of you." "How could you possibly know that? You hardly know me." "Because Matty told me about you." Feather blurted out. "Told you about 𝘮𝘦? Told you what?"

"Worry?" Cordie lifted a brow. "Well, yeah. It just seems like you care about Matty a lot, so—" "No. No, it's—it's not like that! Matthew and I, we're just..." Cordie hesitated before the word "friends" left her lips. Months ago maybe she wouldn't have hesitated, but now, she wondered.

"And Matty's friendship is more than enough for me. He's a really great guy and I don't have any friends, so the fact that he'd want to be my friend—it means a lot to me. I'd like to be your friend too, which is why I'm telling you all this. So you don't have to worry about me and Matty."

"Matty and I, we're not like that," Feather hesitated. "...but I can't lie. While working on the commercial together all those months, I think I may have accidentally fell for him a little. He doesn't like me like that, which is absolutely fine because relationships don't tend to work out for me."

"No, we're not!" Feather was quick to reassure her. But in the moment after, Feather thought about it. She was finally making some headway with Cordelia, and she really wanted the two of them to be friends. But there's no way they could be if she wasn't completely honest with her.

"Yeah, I do know that." Cordie gave a weak smile that couldn't hope to be as radiant as Feather's. "But still, the two of you must be really close. Matthew doesn't wear down easily. From the way you two were upstairs, are you...I mean it's none of my business if you are, I just thought—"

"𝘓𝘦𝘵 is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence of yours. It's more like I can be annoyingly persistent, and Matty is particularly easy to wear down. But you knew that too, didn't you?" Feather gave a warm smile in return and it manged to crack Cordie's defenses just a little.

If she was being honest, Cordelia knew exactly what Feather meant. She had told him as much many times before. Yet none of those times yielded a relent to a shortening of his address. "He must really like you if he lets you call him that." Feather immediately noticed Cordelia's voice had softened.

Matty was not Matthew's name, and who exactly was she to think she could just break his long standing rule of refusing any and all nicknames? "Oh, I know, it's just Matty is just easier to say. Matthew is just so long and formal. On the surface it might suit him, but deep down, not really, right?"

For the moment Cordie's muffled voice was not as much of a concern as her icy glare—leveled at Feather. Cordelia Andrea Fletcher was never the type to get irrationally angry, but there was just something about Feather that rubbed her the wrong way. That and the way she said "Matty."

Jai ignored the slight as he let Liana pull him back into the recesses of the office. If there were going to wait this out, they'd have to also search the office for some good hiding places for cover. All the while, Jai kept an ear out to ensure he still heard Cordie's muffled voice out there.

"And if she does start yelling out or I stop hearing her, you'll let me go out there? No questions asked?" "Sure, whatever, in all your messy seppuku glory." "Alright then." "Alright?" "I'll wait it out for now. You have a deal, I guess." "So he does have a brain." Liana smirked.

"If she were in trouble, don't you think she'd cry out or scream or anything to alert someone to her distress?" "Not necessarily. What if she's incapacitated?" "Then we'd stop hearing her altogether. So here's the deal, so long as she's not screaming or doesn't go radio silent, we stay put."

"You just don't get it. Haven't you ever been in love?" "Eww." Liana said under her breath as she did her best to hide a full body cringe. "OK, let's put that aside for now. I'll make you a deal. Does your girlfriend sound like she's in trouble right now?" "No, but—"

"I get why you're doing this, but do you get why I want to go out there? I know it seems like I'm not considering myself at all, but I would do anything for my girlfriend. Even sacrifice my own freedom if that's what it took." "How sweet." Liana said dryly. "But you're being stupid."

While no longer wrapped around him, Liana did manage to hold onto Jai's hand. "What are you doing?" Jai started to protest, when Liana cut him off. "I'm just ensuring you do the right thing." She pulled at him. "Back away from the door, J. We're waiting this out."

Liana's body was completely pressed up against his. He figured she'd eventually let go, but... "Umm, do you think that maybe you could put a little distance between us?" "Huh?" "You're really, uh...close." Jai cleared his throat. "Oh....good grief." Liana let a sigh as she detached.

"Not to mention I really don't think your girlfriend would be happy to see you get hauled off to jail for breaking and entering just so you can white knight for her. So take a deep breath and just really think about this." An idea Jai really would like to consider if not for one distracting thing.

"Yes, I know, your girlfriend, weak and defenseless or whatever, but you're not considering yourself at all." "What is there to consider?" "Do you not have an ounce of self-preservation in you? Putting aside that you took on this risk, that doesn't mean you have to fall on your own sword over it."

"Wh—what are you doing?" Jai stammered as his brain slowly started to register that this girl—not his girlfriend—had her arms around him. "Stopping you from making a horrible mistake, obviously." Liana scoffed. "It's not a mistake." Jai sighed. "I already told you—

Suri trying on @ice-creamforbreakfast.com newest collection, and obviously looking ridiculously good in everything because she’s Suri 😂♥ Honestly obsessed with the celestial details on these 😭✨

Jai took a step forward and began to reach for the door knob when he felt a weight wrap around his torso. A weight comprised of slender, tawny arms, and a perfect manicure. "You idiot." He heard Liana breathe into his back. "Stop trying to be a hero and just wait already!"

"Just promise you'll wait till it's dead silent out there before leaving." Then he paused really considering how his choices had majorly messed things up for the both of them. "I'm sorry, for everything. I'm not rich, but I'll find a way to make this up to you, ruining your night and all."

"You don't have to come with me." Jai voice lightened. "We're only in here because I couldn't let it go and just had to try and dig up something on Matthew, so I'll bite the bullet if the other person is someone who could get us in trouble. You stay here, and I'll lead them away so you can escape."

"I don't have a choice. Liana, she's my girlfriend, and if she's here alone—" "You don't know that. She could be here with a friend or something." "Even if she is, it doesn't matter. Cordie can be naive and the Landgraabs and their friends prey on that kind of innocence. I need to protect her."

"Hold on, just wait a minute!" Liana tried to appeal to reason. "Let's say that is your girlfriend out there. You said there was another voice you don't recognize and that could belong to anybody. Somebody who could get you in big trouble for being in here. You wanna risk that?"

Jai straightened, then took a step back from the door. "I'm going out there." He said calmly as if it was the only solution. "Are you cracked? You can't go out there." "I have to. Cordelia's out there for some reason. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. She's not safe here on her own."

"But what could she be doing here at a Landgraab party?" The question vexed Jai as he considered the implications of it. "Maybe you're wrong? It is hard to hear anything out there from in here." "No," Jai was adamant, "I'd know her voice anywhere, it's definitely her out there."

He strained harder to place what he was hearing and....he was sure of it. "J?" Liana urged some response to her question. "I know that voice." Jai finally said. "What voice?" "Out there. There's two people talking, but one of them—it's definitely my girlfriend."

"OK...but we could at least hide. There are a half dozen places I can think of that we could wait this out in so we can leave free and clear after whoever is out there leaves." But Jai wasn't listening to Liana. He was listening intently to the distinctly female voice he could almost make out.