Chapter 23c: Not Your Ordinary Tour

Not Your Ordinary Tour

Everyone cooled down? Good, because things are going to heat back up.

Why?

Because what Shelby wants, Shelby tries her hardest to get. What does Shelby want? Wealth and Status, something the Holldums aren't overly concerned about.

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So needless to say, certain family members have taken a bit of umbrage at the methods Shelby's been using. Cleveland didn't believe them when they told him about it, but he's beginning to see the light now.

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"Oh hi punkin. I didn't know you were home tonight."

"How could you not know I was home? I'm your husband."

"Well, when you asked me to greet the headmaster for you, I thought it was because you were heading out for work."

"I asked you to greet the headmaster because I needed to shower off. I'd been working out all afternoon!"

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"I finally get downstairs to dinner and find my wife and the headmaster are mysteriously missing, only to discover them in flagrante delicto on the back deck. Now I understand why everyone looked so uncomfortable when they directed me out here."

"Who ratted us out? It was Kasson, wasn't it? Ooo he's in such trouble."

"I don't think my brother has anything to fear. Things may be quite different for you."


I don't care if you are in that blissful post-woohoo state Headmaster Gibson, I'd hightail it out of there if I were you.

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Cleveland, do I need to have the 'violence against women' talk with you too? *wince* Er... too late

"Just what did you think you were doing, luring the representative from SSSS into the hot tub?"

"Headmaster Gibson and I are old friends."

"And that makes it okay for you to play 'finding Nemo' in the jacuzzi with him instead of giving him a proper tour?"

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"Well, it guaranteed Treynor a place at their school. He certainly wouldn't have gotten in otherwise."

"What?!"

"It was the same way with Omaha. You think she got in because Headmaster Gibson was impressed with your father's cooking and the house? At least your mother had the decency to wear clothes for once, rather than ambling about in her underwear. Your brother, on the other hand... When is he going to move out?"

"What!! You did this for Omaha too?"

"Excuse me, I need to see Matthew off."

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I'd just keep on trucking there Matthew. If you're lucky Cleveland won't catch up with you before you're out the door and on your way back to SSSS. Oh, and wipe that smile off your face.

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Shelby seems quite proud of herself there, doesn't she? Woohooing the hired help and getting her son into private school. Admittedly, it's not the best score, but considering the tour was cut short *snicker* Nice schmooze score though.

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::They were right. Everyone kept warning me about Shelby, but I didn't listen to them. I never believed she would do anything to get what and where she wanted. She's done this before... what else has she done?::

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"So who else have you had over to 'influence' while I've been working nights? Your boss? Your boss' boss? The postman? The exterminator? Was it worth whatever perks you gained?"

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"Do you think it's easy being a business woman in this dog eat sim world? The glass ceiling still exists, contrary to what they tell you. And it seems like I'm the only person at all concerned about income and money in this house. Your parents run around in their underwear all day. You slink off to some suspicious job in the middle of the night. Your brother is a clueless bubbleblower addict and that alien freak your senile father calls a son is not only a cheesehead but is also obsessed with my daughter. Who happens to be on the fast track to becoming a floozy, no doubt due to the lack of motivation and discipline in this house. And don't even get me started on this whole 'vampire' thing you think you have. The fangs were kind of kinky on our wedding night, but now they're just old."

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"Don't you dare refer to our darling daughter as a floozy. I hate to think how she'd have grown up if she just had you to influence her. She's a sweet girl with her heart in the right place, something I question about her mother."

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"And you think I've deluded myself into believing I'm a vampire?! We've been married for how long and you still haven't realized the truth? You think this is some act? Oh, I'd bite you just for that, but I don't think I could handle your self-centered presence hanging round for the rest of eternity. I'm not even sure I can handle it for five minutes more."

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And Omaha and Treynor watch on, totally not expecting the inevitable that was careening headlong into their midst.

"That's it's Shelby. You've been unhappy here since the start, and have been trying to make the rest of us unhappy with you. Maybe it's time for you to make a new start somewhere else."

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"Oh gods no. Cleveland, sweetie, punkin, ya cain't mean it. Hun, no."

Hmm, sounds like in the heat of the moment Shelby's lost that sophisticated accent she worked so hard to cultivate.

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"Yes, I do mean it. You've always been cranky and nothing ever seems good enough for you. I thought at first it was because you were a stranger in a new house but you've never changed. You've only gotten worse. This is my home. It is my parent's home. It is my brother's home. It is my sister's home and it is my children's home. I will not stand by anymore while you disrupt our lives and upset our home."

Okay, is it wrong of me to find the 'angry vampire look' sexhay?

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Watching the horror and emotions play out on poor Shelby's face, it's enough to make you feel sorry for her. I forgot how pretty she is, until I zoomed in for these pitiful shots.

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"No no Clevey-punkin. Please no."

"I'm sorry we're not the social climbing, trendy jet-setters whose life you seem to crave. We're simple Strangetown folk and we like it that way. Since you don't seem to like it, please just pick yourself up and go. Now."

Um Cleveland, the door is the other way.

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"But this is my home now too. I cain't just up and leave."

"Perhaps you should of thought that before you started sleeping your way to the top."

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"Cain't we try again? Give it jes one more chance?"

"I'm sorry Shelby. It's really time for you to go."

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*sniff* *sniff*

"I'll have your things packed up and shipped to your office."

"No, I'll call and let ya know when I've found me a place. That's okay, ain't it?"

"Sure, that's fine."

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And as the realization sinks in, Shelby Holldum-now-back-to-Zaidi breaks down in tears. At this point I finally understood something that had been confusing me when I browsed Kasson, Salina, Cirrus, and Euphemia's memories. Some of them had red break up memories (bad) and others had green (good). We can see here that Shelby has the bad breakup doodad and Cleveland has the good one. Obviously the 'breaker-up' gets the good memory and the 'break-upee' gets the bad memory.

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Truthfully, there were several times during the whole breakup segment that I almost exited without saving. Shelby looked so heartbroken and torn up through the whole thing, and I felt so bad about it.

Don't worry though Shelby. I'm sure the divorce lawyers BoolProp and Motherlode will get you a very good settlement and visitation rights with Treynor and Omaha. And look on the bright side. I can hook you up with a man you're attracted to; you and Cleveland weren't really too hot on each other attraction-wise.

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So poor Shelby heads out in the cold dark of Strangetown to make a new life for herself. Cleveland didn't even have the decency to call her a taxi; she just ambled off in the direction of the Strangetown Urban Complex all by her lonesome.

But how did the rest of the Holldum family handle the break up? Jump to the next chapter and find out.

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