An Unwelcome Arrival

"So when were you going to tell me?" Moe's voice cut through the peaceful morning silence like a knife.

"Tell you what, dear?" Jane was hardly paying any attention to her grumpier-than-usual husband, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a newspaper. At the moment, her son was being far grumpier than Moe, and feeding him without it getting all over her work clothes was a far more pressing matter.

"That Chase Cruz accepted a job at YOUR school, that's what!" His volume roce a few decibals, eliciting a cry from Sophie, who was plaintively throwing her breakfast across the kitchen. Jane's eyes widened in surprise, and he could immediately tell that she hadn't known about Chase's job at all. Deceit of any kind was difficult for Jane to mask- not that she didn't attempt from time to time.

"How long has he even been in town?" Moe ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The situation was quickly spinning out of his control, and though he regretted his words, he had no idea how to backpeddle. "I mean, how the hell did he find us? If that creep followed us here to mess with us..."

"Calm down, Moe," Jane reassured her husband. "It was probably just about the job offer. I mean, everyone back home knew we were moving; it wouldn't have been that difficult to find out where we were. But we were over a long time ago... I doubt he'd have come here just to get even. It'll be fine, dear."

"I doubt it," he grumbled, pushing his chair away from the table and standing up abruptly. "You're sure you don't know anything about this?"

"Moe, I just started my own job there, and I certainly didn't hear anything about him being hired. I have to go to work... Can we talk about this when I get back?" Exasperation crept into Jane's voice as she kissed the twins goodbye and grabbed her keys.

"Fine," he grumbled, spooning some more baby food into Sophie's bowl. He didn't even look back as Jane slipped out the front door and waved goodbye. It was rather unusual for him to be so angry, but the mere mention of Chase Cruz tended to send him into a boiling rage.

---

When Jane Evans walked through the doors of the Wanderer's Watering Hole, she was dismayed to find it almost completely empty. True, it was still early, but as the only bar in town, she'd been hoping it would be a bit more busy. That was the trouble with being new in town, she reflected; no one to drink with.

As it happened, there were only two other sims in the bar that day: a washed up celebrity named Jasmine Noon, and an off-duty police officer, Chase Cruz.

His many attempts to hit on Jasmine were falling remarkably flat; a not so remarkable situation, given his reputation as having absolutely no game. Still, his moves were good enough to attract one Jane Evans that fateful Saturday evening.

She was instantly attracted to his ruggedly handsome looks and brooding swagger, but there was more beneath that perfect head of hair than she'd dared suspect. But Jane was easily impressed and a hopeless romantic, a fatal combination that often led her to suppose herself more in love than she really was, and despite Chase's awkward flirting and wandering attention, she was hooked. 

And so, she'd thought, was he. 

But as days became weeks, it was clear that Jane's friendly ways and Chase's jealous nature were leading down a dangerous road that neither of them could avoid. Her friendship with a young doctor named Moe Pesce often led Chase to criticize Jane's open and unguarded nature, and though she assured him that there was nothing between the two of them, her boyfriend was often suspicious. 

"You're childish, Jane," he sneered. "One of these days, it's going to get the better of you, and someone like Moe is going to trample all over you. Just wait, you'll see." 

"The only person I see trampling all over me is you!" she retorted, her anger bubbling up within her like a volcano. "Moe is just my friend, and right now he's a damn better friend to me than you ever were! I've had enough of your finger pointing and accusations, Chase. You're nothing but a vile, contemptible, petty jackass!"

The look on Chase's face turned her blood cold. She'd known he had a hot temper, but this... this was an expression she'd never seen on him before. It was pure, unadulterated anger- he'd finally been pushed too far.  

For a few minutes, all he did was stare at her wordlessly. "Chase...?" She backed away slowly, suddenly sure that he was going to hit her, right then and there. But that wasn't like him at all. He was a cop. He'd always been a bit of a hothead, but he'd never been the kind of man to hit a woman, right? 

Wrong. 

With a single resounding crack, he reached out and slapped her square across the face. "Don't ever talk to me like that again," he warned her, his palm stinging from the impact. She backed away, staring him in the eye with a sad, disappointed expression. 

"Don't worry, I won't," she assured him. "Because we're through. Done. You're never coming near me again, Chase Cruz." 

That was all of the courage that she'd been able to muster. As her defenses finally broke down and she began crying, she fled Chase's house, vowing never to see or speak to him ever again.

---

He remembered it like it was yesterday, but it had been quite some time ago. Over a year, by now. Jane had knocked on his door, her mascara running down both cheeks and her eyes looking like a raccoon, and it'd taken him only five minutes to grab his coat and run over to Chase's house. True, it had only been a slap; but Moe had been raised never to hit girls, and in his mind Chase was nothing but an abusive scumbag.

When he'd shown up at the hospital the next day with bruises all over his arms and a black eye, his boss had put him on suspension. Beating up a police officer is serious business, he'd said. Get your shit together or don't bother showing up to work tomorrow. Doctors were supposed to heal, not injure. After all, he'd taken an oath to cause no harm.

That was the day that Moe Pesce quit being a doctor.

The hours before Jane arrived home from work seemed to last ten times longer than they ever had before, and Moe was impatient for his wife to get home. He felt awful about the way he'd spoken to her earlier that morning, and although she assured him that she didn't blame him for being upset, he still felt guilty.

"Maybe I should talk to someone," he suggested, reaching for his cell phone. "Can't we put a restraining order on him or something?"

"For a slap?" Jane laughed. "Moe, it was nothing, and it was a long time ago. We won't have to see him if we don't want to." Her words were reassuring, but her voice had a slightly false tone, as if she didn't quite believe what she was saying.

But it was enough to convince Moe. He put his phone down and smiled ruefully at his wife. "I just wish he'd never shown up here. We were off to such a great start. And now..."

"Nothing's changed," she insisted. He nodded slowly as they picked up the twins and headed upstairs to the nursery.

"Good night, dear," she murmured to Ethan, planting a small kiss on his forehead before tucking him in. Moe watched his wife and son from the doorway, wondering how long it would be before Chase Cruz managed to ruin their idyllic new life. If he hadn't already.

Posted in: chapter 1, story