Sunday 20 July 2014

Aurora

Round 35: November 2041 (Spring)

Connor Novak and Lila Sitko are 28. 
(Zane is 30, Camilla and Sophie are 28 and Elspeth is 27)

Narrated by Lila Sitko

Since he retired (or semi-retired, really) at the beginning of the year, Connor’s dad James is no longer my boss  and I’m really missing him at work.

The new boss is Blake and to be perfectly blunt, I think he’s a sexist ass. 

He is so incredibly dismissive towards me. He held a meeting recently to brainstorm ideas to make our company more environmentally friendly.

Jack and Zane’s ideas were apparently workable. Mine were somehow all too expensive or too unrealistic for us to take on board. 

I’m really passionate about my job but Blake is making it nowhere near as enjoyable for me as it once was.

I’ve talked to some of my co-workers about it. Zane thinks he’s probably one of those types where everyone has to “prove” themselves before they get any respect.

It’s interesting how none of the guys in the office have had to do that. Just the women.

If I have to work twice as hard to get any recognition from Blake, then that’s what I’ll do. I don’t like it - at all - but I’m more interested in advancing at work than worrying about him. 

I’ve been bringing work home with me almost every night lately. It’s not what I really want to be doing in my down time but if that’s what I have to do, then I’ll do it. 

At least Connor never nags me about overworking myself, like some people would. He takes a similar attitude towards his own job, so he gets it. 

If he was allowed to take work home with him, he probably would. It’s all confidential though, so his work stays at work.

Even though he never works from home, we still end up with piles of books and papers all over the place that are apparently very important and that I’m not allowed to touch.

Not that I pay any attention to that. I put everything away anyway. I can’t stand having mess around!

Connor never says anything to me. I just hear him tutting and murmuring to himself as he pulls everything back out again.

It’s a constant thing for us but it’s one of the very few things we disagree on, so I’d say we’re doing okay.

We both tend to be workaholics but we’ve got better about relaxing a little since we moved in together. 

We have just found that we really need to relax a bit more now. Owning your own home is harder than renting.

Any work that needs to be done, we have to do or pay someone else to do. We’re both frugal - some would say cheap! - so we end up doing it ourselves whenever we can. 

Fortunately, our weekends have been more relaxing of late than they were when we first moved in. We’ve done all the painting, had the carpets replaced, put together all of the furniture…now we actually have time to enjoy ourselves!

My friends are all either at the same stage or moving towards it. Camilla has been settled for her entire adult life, Sophie is engaged and once she moves out, Elspeth and Josh will be settled down by default.

Elspeth and Josh considered getting another roomie very briefly but ultimately decided they were ready for it just to be the two of them.

Sophie and Oliver got engaged in July and are finally getting around to thinking about setting a date. I couldn’t stand not setting one immediately but Sophie really likes to take her time.

In true Sophie style, they’re looking at getting married in the autumn. Not next year but the year after that. 

We’re all going to be bridesmaids, along with Sophie’s sister Emma. She’s wearing her mother's wedding dress but Camilla will help her with the bridesmaids' dresses. 

Sophie is very laid back, so the whole process isn’t likely to be too stressful for any of us. I’m looking forward to it. 

Choosing the members of the bridal party is about as far as Sophie has got with her wedding planning thus far, so I guess it’s a good thing she has so much time ahead of her. 

I really think I’m ready to take that next step with Connor, after all this wedding talk, and have been dropping some hints in his direction.

Or not quite hints. More like bombs. I’m not the hinting type and Connor is completely oblivious to hints anyway, like when I make him check out the wedding cakes at the local bakery. 

I do want to talk about it though and start moving in that direction. I’m a little frustrated that Connor is so lukewarm about the whole thing.

Before we started dating, I really never pictured myself ending up with Connor but we just work. Marriage is just the next obvious step to me and I don't see much point in waiting. 

Connor does talk about getting married, so I know it’s not something he’s opposed to. But he talks about it like something we might do in the distant future, whereas I’d rather be making immediate plans.

He flinches every time I say that though and I’m not really sure what I can do about it. 

I know it’s technically “just a piece of paper” but it’s important to me that we get that piece of paper. 

I think he’ll eventually come around to the idea but I don’t know when. I can wait but I’m getting a little impatient. 

Notes:
  • Title is from Aurora by Foo Fighters.
  • I'm sorry this is coming so late. I really wanted to stick to my one update a week thing but I guess I've failed on that front. Oh well. If I get 52 updates or more this year, I'm still calling it a win. ;)
  • Lila has an engagement want and Connor does not. :( I think he actually did have one in Sullivan 1.0 though. Normally in this situation, I wouldn't be opposed to just getting them engaged anyway but I've had a lot of engagements already this round and there are possibly more to come, so I'm happy to sit on this one and see if Connor rolls the want of his own accord between now and the next time I play them (I always make visiting sims selectable, for convenience but also to check wants). 
  • Blake is just a random sim I brought in to act out a very loose interpretation of a chance card Lila failed. For a long time, it was the only thing I could think to write about for these two! 

22 comments:

  1. Lila seems pretty ambitious, work and the personal side of things. I laughed at how she would make Connor check out the wedding cakes, lol! She isn't subtle that's for sure. I guess once she settles on what she wants she's ready to make it happen.

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    1. Lila has the Driven trait, so yes, she's very ambitious and determined to make things work for her. She'll deal with Blake just fine, I think. ;)

      I don't know if Lila would see much value in subtlety! She does prefer to get things out in the open. So even though Connor's not ready to get engaged yet, he is more than aware that that's where Lila wants this to head.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. Lila really wants to prove herself at work. I think that's awesome! Hopefully Blake will be able to see what a dedicated worker she is and start valuing her opinions.

    I would love to see Lila and Connor get engaged/married! I feel like unlike Sophie, they would get married right away. Hopefully he rolls the engagement want!

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    1. Lila's just going to make it so that Blake can't possibly ignore her any longer. If she takes enough initiative and works hard enough, she can do it. Just sucks that she has to work harder than the guys to get noticed!

      I would like to see Lila and Connor get married too and I do think it will happen eventually. I think they'd get married fairly quickly afterwards as well - within the year, for sure. But I have at least four more weddings to get through before I even think about that - Lucy and Edward (coming up really soon!), Amar and Adrienne, Sam and Julia and of course, Sophie and Oliver.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. I wonder how patient she will be. I like, but also don't like, how you wrote her new boss. True to life, but sad because it's true to life :/

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    1. I don't think of Lila as the very patient type! I think she'll be pushing for this, if it doesn't happen soon.

      Yeah, Lila's boss is horrible. :( Not something I have personal experience fortunately, as I work in a female-dominated industry but I know it happens elsewhere.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I really like these 2 together, they really make it work. They seem to complete each other.
    I love it that Lila is constantly cleaning up after Connor, and that he just takes the things back, without them fighting over it.

    I'm sorry Lila has such trouble with her boss. It's sad that her colllegues don't see it that way. It's a good thing she and Connor think the same about work, so she can take it home with her without him nagging about it.
    I do hope her boss changes his mind, and sees Lila's potential.

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    1. Heh, I imagine Connor knows there's not much point in arguing about it. Neither of them have any intention of changing their ways, no matter how much it bothers the other, so they'll just live with it and put things back whichever way they think is "right"!

      It's not affecting Lila's colleagues like it's affecting her, so it's not something they've picked up on. :\ Lila will just stick her head down and do her job as best she can though, as she always does. :) Hopefully, her boss will notice soon enough.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. I like the way you worked the chance card into the story, I try to do that, too. Lila and Conner are cute together, I liked the way she keeps cleaning up his books and he just pulls them out again :) Will be interesting to see if he rolls an engagement want any time soon.

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    1. I theoretically try to work chance cards into the story! LOL, a lot of the time, they end up cropping up when it's very inconvenient and I end up ignoring them. Oops! If I could think of ways to interpret them loosely more often, like I did with this, I'd probably use them more.

      The amount of mess in the house is going to be the hill both of them are willing to die on, so I can see that going on for a good while. ;) Connor and Lila are both pretty stubborn.

      I am now almost positive Connor had a marriage want in the old hood and I kind of resent having to wait again for another one to roll in this hood, so if I feel like it, I'll just go ahead with it. We'll see.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. What a great couple these too are. Connor seems like a such an easy going guy. They seem to balance each other out really well.

    I hope to see Lila getting the credit she deserves at work soon. All of the extra work she's taking on should show her boss just how dedicated she is and that she has just as much to contribute as anyone else.

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    1. Ha, I'd actually describe Connor as the opposite of easy-going, though not quite so much in this update. :) He and Lila are good at balancing each other out though. A definite positive to their relationship.

      That's my hope for Lila too. She's definitely not one to shy away from hard work, so I think if anyone can do it, she can.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. LOL @ dropping bombs. I hope she gets her ring. These two are adorable together!

    What a horrible (but interesting) situation with the nasty boss. I wonder how long he'll last. Maybe she can gang up with some of the other girls and report him. Do your Sims have an HR department? lol!

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    1. Yeah, I am definitely hoping for an engagement with Lila and Connor. Well, I could obviously make it happen any time I want, so more accurately, I'm hoping he rolls the want! I really love them as a couple.

      I don't yet know where I'll go with this situation with Lila's boss. I kind of made it up on the fly, based on that chance card, and didn't think it through, lol! It might depend on how quickly she can progress through the in-game career and I'll just go off that. Maybe she can take over Blake's job!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. Eek her new boss sucks, I like that you used a chance card to stem his creation. I have zero experience with it, all my jobs, female friends/family jobs have been primarily in the female profession, which I am just now realizing! If Blake were to be anyone's boss though, Lila is the perfect candidate; I believe she can wholly handle him and his sexism behavior. He will rue the day that he thought he could put Lila in a corner. ;)

    I adore the idea of Connor tutting and muttering as he resorts his books to his liking, which is clearly a messy sort of organization process. I can relate to this completely, I've come over to the Lila side, after years with my husband, so maybe Connor will eventually too, just to not have to hear it anymore! haha.

    And wow you really do have a ton of weddings coming up! Looking forward to all of them; I could totally see Lila getting engaged and married nearly immediately, possibly even before Sophie if it were to roll up on a check in! That would be rather humorous and totally fitting too for the contrast between these two friends.

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    1. Yeah, it's a fun little scenario for me and not something I've really done before. I don't have any experience in male-dominated industries as well. I've always worked almost exclusively with women. I definitely think Lila can handle Blake though and she's pretty confident she can too.

      It does usually seem to be the messier partner that has to compromise a little bit, though I don't see Connor doing that! He's just as stubborn as Lila, if not more so. His way is the right way, lol.

      Lila would get engaged and then start planning immediately and get everything done as quickly as possible, just because she's the efficient type. She doesn't have terribly much in common with someone like Sophie!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  9. I really enjoy Lila. If my academic choices had been made differently, I'd definitely be a dedicated career woman, too! Her glibness in describing her new boss was hilarious. Poor girl. I definitely know that feeling! Gotta love being a woman in a male-dominated field.

    Boo to Connor for not having the want, lol! I would love to see these guys get married (and eventually have babies.) I hope he comes around sooner rather than later, or Lila is likely to be the one doing the proposing, ha!

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    1. I love Lila too - definitely a favourite of mine to play. I'm in a female-dominated field myself and reading about other women working in different kinds of fields makes me glad for that. I don't know if I could deal with it as well as Lila.

      Ha, I think Lila totally would propose, if she had to. But I think these two are the types to have a sensible discussion about it, followed by a mutual decision to get engaged, rather an actual proposal, lol.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  10. Lila is certainly ready to move on to the wife and mother stage, isn't she? LOL I love how sassy she is, and hope her new boss will grow up. I love seeing women dominate in their fields over men; I see Lila definitely gets it from her mom.

    Poor clueless Connor. I see Lila just getting tired of waiting and dropping the bomb, and Connor going along with it, because why not? He'd just make this so much easier if he would roll the want.

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    1. Oooh, I don't know that she's ready for motherhood quite yet but she's definitely ready for marriage! I think she's quite looking forward to dominating her field as well. I actually just went back and read her first update after college, so I could write this household profile, and she was talking about wanting to be in charge even then. She has lofty ambitions and Blake will have to deal or get out of the way. :)

      Connor's complete obliviousness when it comes to romance was something else that cropped up in that update too, lol. But yes, I don't think he's opposed to marrying Lila at all but it's not something that's in the forefront of his mind at the moment. He's probably wondering what the big rush is. ;)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  11. Poor Lila. What a terrible work situation. I am glad she isn't giving up. Her hints to Connor are pretty hilarious. I can see why he would be hesitant--they haven't been living together that long, right? He probably wants to make sure they remain compatible. I would love to hear about it from his point of view.

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    1. Lila is a woman who knows what she wants! I'd say at this point, Connor is quite aware of what she wants too. We will probably hear from him next time around. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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