ficwhatfic | The Price Legacy - Generation One

Marci Price hoped moving to Oasis Springs would change her life for the better, but that might not be the case.

Marci: "Damn, girl."

Marci: "Check you out."

Marci: "Can't blame a douchebag like Lothario for wanting a piece of this. I'd scoop myself up into my own arms if I could."

Marci: "Something's up with my face, though. Hmmm...oh, my lipstick is a little smudged. I'll just rub it off like so..."

Marci: "Ah, there we go. Now, where's my phone?"

Marci snapped a quick selfie with her phone. The lighting was weird, but it would do. She updated her profile on the dating app.

NAME: Marci Price
AGE: Young Adult
OCCUPATION: Dishwasher, aspiring chef
SEEKING: Young men and women of all ages

"Congratulations! If you're reading this, then you clearly have excellent taste. If you're still not convinced, let me give you a few reasons to text me."

"I love to cook. While I received no formal training, I consider myself proficient in the kitchen."

Marci: "Ow, shit! Blood everywhere. And I'm out of bandaids..."

"Right now I'm only a dishwasher, but I know a promotion is just around the corner for me."

Marci: "No no no no - !"

Marci: "Crap, I broke another dish..."

"I'm a little clumsy, but I work hard and play even harder."

"I also love music! I don't have a talent for writing songs, and I'm useless with instruments, but I love dancing and karaoke."

"It's my ideal way to spend a Friday night."

Alone.

On most nights.

"So, if you're flexible and looking for a freak in the streets and the sheets..."

"Or if you want to stargaze on a chilly night, huddling together for warmth..."

"Then take a chance on me, won't you?"

***

Marci was surprised to learn Cayde Gordon came up as a possible match in the app.

They used to be coworkers before he moved onto a different restaurant. He too was an aspiring chef. Unlike her, he was laser-focused on his job and kept to himself. He was a melancholic loner. She hadn't expected him to be receptive to her advances, but he quickly proved her wrong.

Cayde quickly opened up to her. He was thoughtful, handsome, confident. She didn't even mind that his ideal evening was pizza for dinner and listening to the sports game on her radio - neither of which she enjoyed, but she was surprised at what she was willing to tolerate for his sake.

Lately, Marci was surprising herself. At first, she wasn't looking for anything serious, but the more time she spent with Cayde, the more she desired a partner waiting for her at home. Someone to keep her company, to silence the negative voices in her head and distract her from temptation, to keep her loneliness at bay.

It was too soon to tell if Cayde could be that person, but she hoped he was. They were having a good time together.

Unfortunately, their relationship ended as quickly as it began.

One evening, they stopped by the food stand to get some drinks. Marci ordered her usual, a root beer, and a cherry cola for Cayde. She did her usual with Lothario: cracked a joke about his stupid apron and his stupid hair. They bantered back and forth for a while until he finally passed the drinks over and told her to beat it. She was still laughing and grinning when she approached Cayde, who looked less than pleased.

Marci: "Babe, what's wrong? Why the long look on your face?"

Cayde: "What's wrong? Don't pretend you don't know!"

Marci: "I...I'm sorry, but I'm really lost here. Did I get the wrong drink? I can get you something else."

Cayde: "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Go on, then. Wouldn't want to keep your boy there waiting."

Marci: "Wait, you... you think something's going on with me and...Lothario?! Is that a joke? I can't stand the guy!"

Cayde: "Full offense, Marce, if that's how you flirt with someone you can't stand, I'd hate to see what you do with guys that you actually like."

Marci: "I wasn't flirting with him, Cayde! We mess with each other! Why are you getting so butthurt about this?"

Cayde: "Because you do this all the time! Any time we go out, you ditch me for other guys! Like Saturday, at the club! You left me to chat up some douche at the bar! Do you ever think about what that does to me? How humiliating it feels for my girlfriend to act like a slut?"

Marci: "Look, Cayde, I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable or angry, but that doesn't give you the right to call me names like that! I can't help that people talk to me! Why did you wait to bring this up - don't you think this is embarrassing for me, what you're doing?"

Cayde: "I'm just calling it as I see it. Maybe all the other guys you sleep with are cool with this, but I'm not just any guy. I'm your boyfriend, and my woman isn't gonna make a fool out of me, not on my watch."

Marci: "You know what, Cayde? You're right. It won't happen again on your watch..."

Marci: "...because we're through!"

Marci: "I don't remember agreeing to be your girlfriend or your bitch! You can't keep me on a leash. I can talk and flirt with whoever I want when I want, and if you're too insecure to deal with that, then you can beat it!"

Cayde: "You're crazy, you know that?! Don't ever text me again! We're finished!"

Marci: "I already said we're through, didn't I? Now get out of my face before I pound it into the ground."

Marci waited until she was home before she finally broke down.

Truth be told, she knew she deserved this.

She didn't deserve to be happy. She did far too many terrible things. She was just simply too dirty, too broken. Cayde saw that. He was a dick, but he knew a lost cause when he saw it. Most people did.

Wouldn't it have been easier if she didn't care what people thought about her? If she was pure evil, beyond redemption, without the desire for friends and companionship...everything would be so much easier. She could coast through life without shame. She wouldn't care this much. His rejection wouldn't have hurt.

[Your account has been deleted.]

***

The next day, Marci sat alone on the bench and drank her iced coffee.

That morning, she blocked Cayde's number. If he thought about retracting what he called her, and the cruel things he said, she wouldn't give him the chance.

She couldn't bring herself to care anymore. All she wanted to do was finish her coffee before her shift that night.

She was staring at the ground when someone's shadow came into view. She looked up and glared.

Don: "Is your cup empty? I'll throw it out if you--"

Marci: "What the hell do you want?"

Don: "Don't read too much into this. Part of my job. I'm cleaning up the garbage in the area."

Marci: "Sure, you are. While you're at it, deposit yourself into the trash bin too."

Don: "Listen, let's just bury the hatchet, okay? I'm sorry about what I said the other day--"

Marci: "Really? I'm not."

Don: "I'm trying to extend an olive branch here. The least you could do is hear me out."

Marci: "Oh, it's the least I could do? I don't owe you shit, dude. I came out here to get away from people like you."

Don: "And what kind of person am I?"

Marci: "Egotistical, selfish, doesn't give a shit about anyone else's feelings. I've dealt with people like you my whole life. You're not special. And now you think I owe you an apology because I called you out on your shit? Get bent."

Don: "You know, I might be everything that you say I am, but at least I don't scare people."

Marci: "Oh, you're scared of me, Donnie?"

Don: "I'm not, but everyone else is. Why do you think the Calientes only visited you once? Why no one passes your lot if they can help it? And judging by how last night went, your love life is nonexistent. What does that tell you?"

Marci: "You...saw that?"

Don: "I mean, I literally work right there. Hard to ignore."

Marci: "Fine. You made your point. I am a bitch. Sorry, okay? Just go."

This was humiliating. He wasn't walking away. In fact, he trying to get closer, like he was checking to see if she was crying. She refused to cry in front of him, of all people, and she didn't. She tilted her head to the side, facing away from him as much as possible.

Marci: "What, you want to gloat or something? I said I was sorry."

And now he was sitting next to her. Great. Like her week couldn't end on a more humiliating note. The least he could do was take off that stupid apron if they were going to be seen in public together.

Don: "Honestly? I didn't think you'd get this upset."

Marci: "Of course I'm upset! I have feelings too, you jerk! Bad enough that Caleb aired out our shit in public where I couldn't escape. I don't need your opinion about it."

Don: "You're right, I went too far. You were upset and I wasn't taking a hint. And I lied: I didn't come here to pick up garbage. I came to see if you were all right."

Marci: "You...didn't hear the whole argument, did you?"

Don: "Only that he was freaking out about you talking to another guy. You don't have to tell me what that was about, but you could. I've been told that I'm a good listener."

Marci isn't sure why she did it, or why she trusted him at that moment. Don could've just been working one over on her, as their first encounter. Then she realized, if anyone was going to understand what happened to her last night, it would be the notorious player, Don Lothario. And she had no one else to talk to...and nothing to lose.

She told him everything.

And it actually helped.

Don: "If you ask me, you dodged a bullet - a big one. A guy who blows up like that over us? Imagine what he would've done if you actually liked me as a person."

Marci: "I tried telling him that, but he didn't buy it! Or he knew, but he didn't care. I think he was just looking for an excuse to scream at me. I wish I saw it coming, but I had no clue he was that jealous."

Don: "Look, it happens! We're bound to encounter a couple of crazies along the way. You can't beat yourself up because they can't handle you."

Did she mind Don lumping them together like they were equals? Maybe a little. Maybe not at all. The more she thought about it, she didn't really care that he practically slept with the entire town. Not like she was much better in comparison - well when high school was taken into consideration.

Marci: "You know, this was inevitable anyway. Cayde wanted one partner, one relationship, for the rest of his life...and I don't. Rather, I don't know if I'm built for that. Commitment itself is fine, but I never saw myself with just one person, you know? I'm nowhere near as...active as I used to be, but can't limit myself like that. Besides, I can't help that I attract people to me."

Don: "And yet, when I knocked on your door just to say hello..."

Marci: "Don't give me that again! You had a whole story cooked up! And the worse line I ever heard! You were so transparent!"

Don: "All right, maybe my execution was poor, but still, I took a hint, didn't I? My point is, we're not so different. I don't like being tied down, either."

Marci: "What about you and Katrina Caliente? What's the story there?"

Don: "It's...complicated."

Marci: "Sure sounds like it. She's way older than you, right? More importantly, how much work did she have done on that body?"

Don: "You got Kat all wrong. She's a good person once you get to know her! She got me off the streets when I really needed help when it would've been easier to move onto someone else."

Marci: "I get that, but does she know about...you? There's no way she hasn't heard the stories."

Don: "She's aware. She isn't happy with it, though. I think she's waiting me out, to see if I'll, I don't know...grow out of it? Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I told her I'm willing to try. I care about her, you know?"

Marci: "That's noble, if it's true."

Don: "It is. I'm trying."

Eventually, they moved past their relationship woes and started talking about their career goals. Or lack thereof, for some people.

Marci: "Right now I'm just hustling and focusing on getting out of that shitty shack of mine. What about you? You're not gonna stay at this food stand forever, right?"

Don: "It's not a bad gig. I take home what we don't sell for the day, and it's not like I'm hurting for money right now."

Marci: "Sure, but what about the long term, or if things don't work out with Katrina? Then what?"

Don: "Athletics - no, bodybuilding!"

Marci: "With those pecs? You got a long way to go."

Don: "You're messing with me! Have you seen these guns? Go on, touch them!"

Marci: "All right, I take that back! You have some muscle. And I can see you enjoying a career like that - if you don't kill yourself with the dumbbells."

Don: "Your faith in me is so touching. I can't believe Marci Price almost said something nice. Look, I'm tearing up."

Marci: "Pfft, you wish."

Without warning, he draped an arm around her shoulder. It wasn't a move. It wasn't romantic. It was friendly, instinctual.

Don: "See, don't you feel better now that we finally talked things out?"

Marci: "You know what...yeah, I do. You're not the douchebag that I was building you up to be, Don."

Don: "And you're not as crazy or cruel as I expected, Marci. So, wanna start over? We could be friends."

Marci: "Sure. I'll be your friend. As your friend, can I tell you something?"

Don: "Go for it."

Marci: "If we're going to be seen in public together, you've got to take off that damn apron. I have a reputation to uphold here."

They talked for another hour; Don's shift actually ended awhile ago. They talked about nothing in particular. He caught her up to speed on the latest gossip in Oasis Springs, she argued with him about his favorite music. Somewhere along the way, they grabbed a late lunch from the stand. Together they ate on the bench and settled into a comfortable silence while they people-watched.

Eventually, he noticed the time.

Don: "Shit, when did the sun go down? I better head back to Kat's place before she wonders what happened."

Marci: "Good idea. Hey, before you go, you got a coin on you?"

Don: "What are you wishing for?"

Marci: "I'd tell you, Donnie..."

Marci: "But it's a secret."

Don: "Please stop calling me 'Donnie'."

***

Marci couldn't believe she agreed to this.

She was going to hang out with Don Lothario. Willingly. Again.

Don insisted on dragging her out for a night on the town, to be her wingman, and get her back in the saddle so to speak. At the very least, he promised a nice outing with good beer and tolerable bar food.

Several weeks ago, she never would've expected this turn of events. And now she was standing awkwardly in the boulevard, under the hot summer sun, waiting on his tardy ass to show up.

She debated on going home until she saw someone running towards her.

Don: "Sorry I'm late! I couldn't find my phone and - why are you looking at me like that?"

Marci: "I swear, I almost didn't recognize you without that dumb uniform! You almost look normal."

Don: "Well, get a load of you. You're actually wearing a dress..."

Don: "... and heels? Fuck me sideways, are you dressing up for me?"

Marci: "Ugh, no. This is my work uniform."

Don: "As a dishwasher? Won't your clothes get soaked? Then again, that might be the point."

Marci: "No, I tend the bar now. The skirt just gets me more tips - and I see the gears turning in your head! Don't make me hit you."

Marci: "Let's get going, this sun is killing me."

Don: "Hold on, let's get a picture together."

Marci: "Must we? I feel really awkward in this dress."

Don: "Oh stop. You look pretty, I look normal - we've got to memorialize this day."

It still felt surreal, posing for a picture with the guy.

She was quick to write him off, but he was quick to forgive and forget the second that she let her guard down.

Even so, she couldn't help smiling for the camera as wide as she could.

Maybe her wish was coming true.

Maybe her lonely days were coming to an end.

***

1. Just wanted to note that Caleb is a Maxis curated character, not my own! I was purely looking for a sim who matched Marci's punk/emo aesthetic, and he was as close as I could get without having to make one of my own. (He was wearing the Noctis outfit, for crying out loud.)

2. This was the second "flashback" edition that I did. I got much better with taking screenshots between then and now. Mainly because I turned to pose mods, and because I worked harder on my angles.