After Miles dropped him off, Marwick’s been feeling all kinds of out of sorts.
He’s got no girlfriend and a terrible awful person for a father.
And he didn’t even get to properly beat him up.
Not fair.
Luckily, he’s got a wonderful roommate who always cooks with alcohol and she’s too busy canoodling with her girlfriend to notice that he’s raiding her “cooking ingredients”.
After the first consumed bottle, things start looking up. By the time he starts the second, things are much, much rosier.
Knock, knock. Knock, knock!
BANG, BANG, BANG!!!!
– Open the door, loser, I know you’re in there!
Finally figuring out that the door’s unlocked, Piper storms in, furious and fully planning to do some beating up of her own.
– Where is he?
Marwick: Who?
Piper: Cedric, who else? I just want to talk.
Marwick: Then talk.
Piper: Not to you, to him! Although…
She takes in the picture in front of her. It looks like a post-breakup scene from a bad romance flick.
Piper: Boy, you’re really getting wasted here. Don’t tell me you told Sandy what happened last night and she dumped you.
Marwick, slurring: Phht, didn’t need to. She sill dumed me. All ‘cause of him.
Joining him on the floor, she asks:
– So, what happened? And can you explain that in human language, please?
Through various slurs and hiccups, he manages to convey what happened to her, even as he’s slowly getting drunker and drunker.
Piper: Damn… I think I need a drink myself after hearing this.
Marwick: Join in! The more the mewwier.
Foregoing the glass, she grabs one of the bottles and takes a hearty gulp from it. The vodka burns her throat, but the warmth that follows afterwards makes the tension evaporate from her shoulder blades.
She’s been feeling out of sorts too. First, because of Sheree’s episode. She spent years being jealous of her cousin, but she never realized how bad things could get for her. And now that they’re finally friends, seeing her in such a terrible state and being unable to really help made her feel useless.
Then, the whole waking up with Marw thing. It made her realize that she needed to step up her act. Sleeping with an ex was never a good idea, and doing so while hammered was even worse.
Finding out that Cedric was the culprit of her cousin’s misery proved to be a sort of relief. Finally, someone she could blame for all the problems around! And the jerk wasn’t even here.
Taking another swing, she knows she could drink the entire thing as well.
But she shouldn’t. That would only make more problems.
With determination, she puts the bottle down. She needs to start drinking less. Tonight is a good enough time to make that change.
Piper: You should stop drinking, man. You’re going to give yourself alcohol poisoning. Besides, you’re not even eating anything. Say, when was the last time you ate?
Marwick: Hmm, yesterday.
Piper: Are you insane? You’re going to end up in the hospital if you continue.
Marwick: Nah. I like it here. With the bottles.
Piper: I’m serious. Your stomach is full of only alcohol right now. And you’ve been drinking heavily last night. I’m worried.
Marwick: Really? That’s nice. You’re nice.
Climbing on all fours, he crosses the space between them and kisses her. Reflexively, she finds herself responding.
What can she say? He’s always been good at kissing. And at other things. If they could get along back then, they wouldn’t have broken up.
But no, this is wrong. This is the opposite of what she’s trying to do right now.
Piper: Wait, Marw, wait, ok? Stop.
Pushing him away, and then placing his arm around her, she brings him up and starts leading him away from the bottles and towards the kitchen.
Marwick: Why? Itwasnice…
Piper: Yeah, exactly. You’re drunk as a skunk and, well, you’re still wearing your club clothes from last night.
Marwick: So?
Piper: How about this controversial idea? We’re going to go put some crackers into you, then you’re going to take a shower, and then you will go to sleep.
Marwick: With you?
Piper: Alone, Romeo, alone. I still need to make sure everything’s fine at home. Your newest roommate sure made a mess of things for people.
After work, Cedric decided that after a stressful day like this, he needs a drink or two. And what better place for that than The Grind?
Cedric: Keep ‘em coming. I’ll pay ahead.
🍹🍸x 3+
Some time later:
Cedric: Fuck yeah! Keep ‘em coming, bartender! Oh!!! I love this song!!! And every time we touch, I get this feeeliiing!!! 🎶🎶🎶
A bit later and 🍸x 8
Cedric: Hey, this is nice… oh yeah, I’m feeling hot…
Bartender: Oh boy, another one.
Cedric: Let’s heat it up!!!
– Yeah! Time to party!!!
Paulo’s been having a stressful week of his own and was also planning to chillax at the local dance club. But as the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men go awry, or can at least be rudely interrupted by certain sights.
One of such sights is the sight of his bestie’s nephew dancing in nothing but some very bright undies in full view of an entire club of people, who are already busy filming on their smartphones.
Cedric: Should we heat this up some more? Ay?
Paulo: Holy Molly. I did not sign up for this. If someone doesn’t stop him, he’ll never live this down.
Rushing towards the bar before Cedric can “heat it up” even more, he grabs the young man and pulls him off of his self-made podium.
Cedric: No!!! I wanna dance!
Paulo: Oh, no, Cinderella, the ball’s over. Come on away from here before that “pumpkin” starts coming back up.
Actually, that is a concern, he really doesn’t want the guy to hurl all over his clothes, he’s had plenty of that in his younger days.
But this is Bernardo’s nephew and his friend currently has enough on his plate, what with getting shot and all.
Oomph, Cedric sure is heavy for a skinny guy. He’ll have to ask Steve to teach him some strength building exercises, they sure would’ve come in handy right now.
Half-leading, half-dragging the guy, Paulo manages to get Cedric out of the club and into the first cab available.
Driver: Where to?
Paulo: That motel in the hills. And you might want to make it fast, before all the alcohol he consumed ends up all over your upholstery.
He really doesn’t know if Cedric drank that much or if he’s just a weak drinker, but by the time they reach the motel, he has to carry the guy to the bed, as he has passed out halfway through the ride.
Finally, with the guy all tucked in, Paulo breathes a sigh of relief.
He was not expecting to get saddled with this tonight, but maybe it’s a good thing he did.
A couple of days ago, Steven, the guy he thought might be “the one” dropped something on him: he had a child, a small daughter, who was coming to stay with him, permanently. The girl’s mother, who Steven had a very brief fling with shortly after high school, was currently indisposed to care for a child in a suitable manner, due to some risque life circumstances.
Before that, the only thing that bothered Paulo about his relationship was the fact that Steve was over a decade younger than him. As a gay man, the possibility of accidental children was always non-existent, which he always saw as a positive thing. He was pretty happy living a child-free lifestyle, which he knew some of his friends envied.
But now, looking at Cedric, barely and adult and already making such a mess of his life, he wonders. Before he found out about the girl, he was planning to propose. What’s stopping him from doing so now?
In any case, he’s sure he and Steve can do a better job of giving that little girl a stable, nurturing environment than Danielle did with both of her children.
It’s already dawn by the time he finishes handling Cedric. Time to call his progenitor.
Danielle picks up on the 5th ring and her voice is thick, like he just woke her up.
Paulo: Danielle? It’s me, Paulo. Remember me? Bernardo’s friend from the club?
Danielle: Oh… yeah… what’s up?
Paulo: Look, you need to grab some men’s clothes and come to the motel as soon as you can. Cedric’s here and he’s drunker than a monkey’s uncle.
Danielle: What? How did that happen? Where was Bernardo looking?
Paulo: Danielle!!! For fuck’s sake, it’s not Bernardo’s job to look after your grown up children, not with getting shot and all. Step your act up already and get over here. He’s only got a pair of undies on and unless you want him to parade all over the city like that on top of being royally hungover, you need to bring him some actual clothes. And while you’re at it, maybe some Alka-Seltzers as well. He’ll need them, trust me.
Danielle: Ok, coming, coming. Wait, did you say Bernardo got shot? Oh my god!!!
Paulo: Hey, relax, he’s alright. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but he’s probably currently knackered out because of the hospital anesthesia.
Danielle: Oh… I see. Well, just wait for me a bit, I’ll be there in a few minutes.
Sims Stories of Violincat 