She had picked the most beautiful wedding venue, an old castle far up in the mountains outside of town, called the Rookery.
They had modernized the inside enough that it made a cute honeymoon suite for the new couple, and outside was a beautiful wedding arch. The back yard featured the perfect wedding reception spot, with buffet tables, a bar, and a dance floor.
The ceremony was simple, yet beautiful, and me and my mom both cried like babies through the whole thing.
As they kissed, the whole group of us couldn't help but start clapping! This was a sweet moment, to see my sister finally with the one she's always wanted to be with. I'll admit I had a moment where I realized that usually the older sister gets married first. But that was ok, I was perfectly happy being married to my career right now, and I didn't feel the need to be in a hurry. I quickly turned my thoughts back to my sister, I was so happy for her!
Just as they were announcing to meet them out back for the cutting of the cake, someone came running past me, almost knocking me over.
"Oh, so sorry!"
That's all he said as he kept running by, trying to catch up to Hope and Taylor who had already turned the corner to head back to the reception area. What a jerk! Who shows up to a wedding ceremony that late?
Anyways, Hope and Taylor cut the cake, signifying the commencement of the reception party, and we all helped ourselves to the cake and buffet.
All the guests were trying to find their way to Hope and Taylor to give them their well wishes, so mom, myself, and my cousin Marie decided to sit at another table to give them some room to chat with their guests.
As Mom and Marie were going on about how wonderful the cake was, I couldn't help noticing that Mr. Late guy was sitting with my sister and Taylor, having a very animated conversation. I didn't know who he was, but they sure did all seem to be great pals!
Apparently it didn't bother them that he had come so late. I also couldn't help but notice that Mr. Late was very cute. I didn't realize I was staring until mom called my name. "Patience? Hello? I was asking you if you knew the name of the cake maker?"
"Oh.. yes, sorry. I believe it was Taylor's mother. She's a great cook!"
"Wow, she knows her stuff! This cake is amazing!"
After everyone finished their food, Hope and Taylor started to get up to head to the dance floor, and I figured if I went over and nonchalantly picked up their plates for them, I'd overhear a snippit of something to give me a clue as to who this Mr. Late guy was.
"Oh, sis, let me get those plates for you, go on and have fun!"
"Thanks sis, oh, and thanks for coming Phillip! We were glad you could make it. Tell your father we said thanks so much for the wedding gift!"
"I''ll definitely relay the message. The cake was wonderful, by the way."
As I reached for the plates to throw in the trash, I heard from behind me.."Oh, are you Hope's sister?"
I turned to face him. "Yes, I am."
"Hi, my name is Phillip, I don't believe we've met."
"Nice to meet you Phillip, I'm Patience. We haven't' met, unless you call nearly running me over to get here a 'meeting'." I know it was a bit brash, but I didn't know him, and didn't know if I should be letting him off the hook that easy. I made sure to give him a bright smile so he wouldn't think I was being too mean. He smiled. One of those soul melting ones, that make you feel a bit uncomfortable that a complete stranger can have that effect on you. One of those smiles.
"I'm really really sorry about that. I had promised my Dad I would make an appearance here at Hope's wedding, and drop of his wedding gift. My flight back here was late and, well, I didn't want to miss the wedding, I'd never hear the end of it from my father."
I loved the sound of his voice. It sounded different. I mean, he was definitely from here, but it sounded like he had some sort of accent. I couldn't make it out though.
"Ah, I see, and how does your father know Hope?"
"He's her boss at the science facility."
"Ahhhh I see." Ok, it was starting to make sense now. I vaguely remembered Hope telling me her boss was sick. Now this was making sense. "Your voice, you don't sound like you are from around here, or are you?"
He laughed. "Oh, I'm from here, alright. My dad and I moved here when I was a child right after my mom died, and we've been here ever since. But, I travel a lot, so I'm sure the places I've visited have had some influence on my dialect."
"Oh, I see. That makes sense. I don't remember you from school. Did you go to the Community School here in Sunset Valley?"
"Yes, I did. I graduated just ahead of Hope."
"Oh, I see.""So, do you forgive me?"
"Huh?""For running into you, and nearly knocking you over earlier. I truly am sorry."
He gave me a look that to this day I'll never forget. I caught my last breath in my throat for a minute, let my heart calm back down, and then answered, "Of course I forgive you."
The rest of the night, Phillip and I chatted. We talked about everything, I told him about my job at the Bistro, and how much I loved it, he told me about all the cool places he's visited, like Egypt, China, and France. He told me what it was like growing up with a scientist father, whose inventions had given him quite a fortune, which funded most of Phillip's travels. His father wanted to make up for the fact that he didn't have a mother, and let the world be his other parent. He started traveling with his father shortly after they moved to SV, and as soon as he was old enough, he traveled on his own. I guess that would explain why I had never seen him around town.
Suddenly in mid-sentence, Phillip said, "OH! I completely forgot tonight is the meteor shower!" Look!"
I looked up but apparently not fast enough. Although it was a beautiful clear night, I saw nothing moving, just beautiful stars twinkling in their places.
He gave a quick glance to his watch, "Oh, it's just starting! This should be a good one. Would you like to watch it with me?"
"Sure! I don't think I've ever seen a shooting star."
"Well then, get comfortable, Miss Patience, it will be a spectacular show!"
He and I both sat right where we had been standing and we were enough out of other people's way, no one seemed to notice. That's when it happened! I saw my first shooting star!
"Oh wow! I saw one! That was amazing!"
He smiled and said, "There's nothing like it."
I reached back to lean on my hands so I could get a better view of the sky, and when I did, my hand accidentally landed directly on his. I was so embarrassed. "Ooops!" I said, and tried to pull my hand off.
But he gently placed his thumb over my fingers and held them there. "No, it's ok. This is nice."
He did it again, that smile. It put me at ease immediately, and I bravely leaned back as he leaned in close to me, and we sat there, heads upturned and shoulders touching. It looked like tonight was all sorts of firsts for me.
After we oooh'd and ahhh'd over the first few metoers, we fell back into conversation, this time about weddings, love, relationships and the like.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy for my sister, and I believe in marriage and love and all that, but my true passion is cooking, and although I get lonely from time to time, and wouldn't mind having someone to share life with, I guess I'm just too busy to stop and do anything about it."
"I feel the same way about my traveling. I really love adventuring off to unknown parts of the world, and so far, no girl has been able to handle the fact that I like to wander so much."
"Oh really? So you've had relationships before?""Yes. Just a few. And they never worked out. It seems as soon as we got serious, my traveling became a big problem, and well, the relationship would be over."
"So, you don't have a girl in every country, waiting on you to come visit and go out and have a good time?" I teased.
He chuckled . "Uh, No. Definitely not. Although I'm not committed to a relationship, I'm not the non-committal kind of guy. Although, I don't know, maybe I should be. Maybe that's all I really need. Is someone who can understand my life, and be someone to have fun with when I'm around. Lord knows my roommate seems to be happy enough with that lifestyle. I'm pretty sure he entertains a new girl every week."
"Ah, you have a roommate?"
"Yes, my old buddy from school, Slade, he and I have been roommates since graduating high school. He travels with me some, and sometimes does his own thing too. But he's definitely the master romancer. He has NO problem having a girl or two or three in every city."
"Hm. Interesting. I suppose he's not here, is he?" I winked at him.
"No. I purposefully didn't tell him I was going to a wedding, because I knew he'd be here hitting on anything with a skirt on, and I didn't want to have to apologize to the groom."
"He's that bad huh? He'd hit on the bride!"
"Ah, I guess he's not THAT bad, he's a good guy deep down. I might be exaggerating a little. I know I probably wouldn't have stood a chance of getting to spend the evening chatting with you, that's for sure."
"Oh really? Why is that?"He leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "You're the most captivating one here. There's no way he'd not notice you."
He made me blush, and I giggled, in spite of myself. "Nah, I'm pretty sure I met the right roommate tonight."
I glanced over my shoulder and realized there was noone else left in the reception area except for the bar tender, and a couple of other random people.
"Oh no, I didn't realize how late it was! I'm supposed to be shutting down the party and cleaning up!"
We both stood up, and a big yawn escaped my lips.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to take you away from your sister of the bride duties. You suppose she'll be mad?"
"Ah, no, not Hope. I'm pretty sure she has other things on her mind tonight anyways." I smirked."Well, would you like me to help you clean up?"
"Oh no, that's ok, all I have to do is pay the bar tender and clean the buffet up. You mentioned having to leave early tomorrow for something, right?"
"Yep, Al Simhara, bright and early tomorrow. I suppose I should get home and get packed."
"Well, Phillip, tonight has been.... really wonderful.""I highly agree. I haven't had this much fun watching the stars and getting to know someone well, ever, really."
"I'm very glad you came today. I hope you have a great trip to Egypt.""Thanks."
We stood there, both a little hesitant to be the first to walk off. I didn't want this night to end! Thankfully, he broke the silence.
"Patience?"
"Yes, Phillip?""I know I just told you about how much I travel, and how hard it is for me to you know, date and the like, but I'd really like to see you again when I get back into town."
"I'd love to spend time with you again. And don't worry. I'm perfectly happy spending time together with no strings attached.""Perfect."
We exchanged numbers, and then he hugged me goodbye. There was no mistaking this hug for a "friendly" hug. There was some electricity involved for sure.
I watched him as he walked around the corner of the castle to leave, then took care of my duties. After all the lights were out and everything was put back in it's place I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other to make it to the street to catch a cab. I was completely exhausted, but this night was totally worth it!
And the next day, it was back to the daily grind. Our pastry chef was getting ready to transfer to a restaurant in Barnacle Bay, and I just knew that they would move me up in their place. I just needed to keep work going well for a few more days, and that promotion would be mine! Thoughts of Phillip came to my mind often, but I kept my eyes on my goal. Whenever I caught myself getting carried away daydreaming about what daring thing Phillip might be doing in Egypt at that moment, I would remind myself that he was very clear that a serious relationship was probably out of the picture. His passion was travel, and mine was cooking, and getting too attached to him would probably not be good. I picked up a new hobby to keep my mind clear, playing the guitar! It was the perfect thing to unwind with after work.
My birthday had been approaching, and I decided I definitely was ready to make a big change. I wanted to move out! Hope and Taylor had decided they wanted to stay in the Song house, and that was great. But I felt like it was time to be a little more adventurous. I had a good paying job and I knew I could support myself. I just needed to figure out a good place to live.
It just so happened that a great opportunity to move out came my way the next day. Now that Hope was married, Mom decided it was time to divide up the inheritance that Dad had left behind for all of us. All she asked is that she could keep living in this house, which of course we all agreed to. After all sitting down and discussing what we all wanted we decided that Hope would get the house, the boys would get all the family business investments, and I took the lump sum of money. I knew I wanted to use the money to buy my own place, and as luck would have it, the perfect house was available and was ready for me to move into! They asked me if I wanted to buy the house furnished or unfurnished, and I decided to get it furnished, since I didn't really have much furniture other than a bed and dresser.
Soon, the real estate agent called and said the house was ready for me to move in!
I was so excited to see my new house! As I ran up to the door to take a look inside, I couldn't get over how familiar this house looked to me. Then it dawned on me that I had a doll house that I played with as a child that looked exactly like this house!
The first room I decided to check out? Of course, the kitchen! And guess what? My favorite color!
The first thing I did was start to cook myself a meal. I LOVED the view outside of the kitchen sink windows, a beautiful view of the ocean! Perfect!
Suddenly, my phone started ringing it, and when I answered it, I was thrilled to hear a familiar voice.
"Hello Patience! How are you?"
"Phillip! What a nice surprise! I'm happy to hear from you! How is Egypt?"
"Well, Egypt was great, but I had to come back early. I've been back in town a few days actually."
"Oh, really?""Yes, my father passed away. It was kind of sudden, as he was only slightly ill, but I guess there were complications, and.." his voice trailed off.
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Phillip. My deepest sympathies. Is there anything I can do?"
"No, that's ok. We've already had his memorial service. I am going to go visit his grave tomorrow though, I haven't seen it since he was placed there."
"Wow, that's got to be so hard. I know it was when I lost my father."
"Yes, well it helps that my Dad and I were on good terms, so there's no regrets there. Oh, hey, I actually called to see if you wanted to do something tomorrow, after I visit the cemetary."
"Oh. Sure! I'd love too! Are you sure you are up for it?""Of course I am. I could definitely use some cheering up. I figured hanging out with you would be perfect."
"Sounds perfect to me! Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?""Yep, tomorrow!"
"Ok. Bye!"
EEEE!!! I was so excited! My first official date with Phillip! Actually, it was my first date ever! I'm sad at the circumstances that brought him back to Sunset Valley so soon, but I was really glad that he really did call me back and wanted to see me! I wonder if he had thought about me as much as I thought about him?
*buckey's notes*- Yep, that's right, she finally has a love interest! And, it took a free day to get it! Technically, her free day started the evening of the wedding (when she started talking to Phillip) and ended the next 24 hours later, which was in the middle of their date that will be coming in the next chapter. I kinda wrote it as if more time had passed between the wedding night and their first date, but it's all in one day. Oh, and I had her move out too. I decided to let Hope and Taylor live in the old Song house, and I really have been wanting to play with that Doll House that came with Generations ever since I got it, so I had Patience move into it. It's really cute, might be my favorite house so far! Oh, and Phillip is a Sim I made, along with his roommate, Slade. They were both made with Patience in mind. And the wedding venue, "The Rookery" was actually a house that also came with Generations. I just spruced it up a bit. I'm certainly not a decorator/builder, so it could be better, but ya know, it worked. Anyways, thanks for reading!
