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Welcome to the third part of "The Fate Of Pleasantview" named "A New Start". Reading parts one and two is recomended if you haven't done that before.
**PREVIOUSLY**
Bella Goth has disapeared without leaving a trace after the carrying out of a genius plan elaborated by Dina Caliente and Don Lothario to get hold of the Goth fortune. Lothario, full of remorse breaks down during the operation and is left with no memory of the plan, but Caliente gets rid of Bella for good. Darleen Dreamer dies of a tragic sickness, Skip Broke drowns in the family pool under suspicious circumstances. Our story starts where Maxis set the game. What will happen to Pleasantview now?
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The Broke family had greatly suffered these past few monthes. The loss of a father had left Dustin in shock but he had no time to express his sorrow, as his mother went through this horrible crisis, he knew he had to be strong and take care of his little brother Beau, who seemed too young to understand the situation.
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Brandi quit her job as a fast food drive in clerk and lay around the house all day doing nothing, crying for her lost husband, depressed.
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But the worst of suprises came when she found out she was pregnant. Brandi didn't know if she was ready to raise a third child, especially without a husband. Over the years the condo only seemed to be getting smaller and smaller and Brandi knew that it wasn't a proper enviornment for a child to grow in.
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Up to now, Dustin had led his life without worries. He was a tough young man which gave him a certain masculin charm that girls at school admired. But for Dustin, love had to have a big simoleon drawn across the heart and Angela Pleasant, one of Pleasantview's high society girls responded best to that criteria. In addition to being beautiful, smart, popular and fun, Angela's father was a famous former sports player and this family smelled of money. Of course, Daniel Pleasant couldn't stand seeing Dustin, a good for nothing, take his precious daughter away from him and both men couldn't get along.
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But ever since Skip's death, Dustin's life had changed. He knew he had to take care of the family now but instead of taking a noble job and climb up the professional ladder like most do, he chose the path for quick money and wrong doing. Brandi didn't know this and Dustin told her he worked in a small buisiness downtown. She was too depressed to make sure, and she believed her son without a problem.
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But she could see her youngest son, Beau was growing fast and decided she couldn't cry over her late husband forever. She needed to be here for her children and on Beau's birthday she decided to restart living again. But she needed Dustin's help and told him so. He agreed to keep earning money for the household, while Brandi stayed home to raise his younger brothers. What she didn't know was that Dustin was using crime to get to his means and that night, crime was to strike again in Pleasantview...
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Jessica Ebadi was part of the same gang as Dustin and had been sent that night to the Caliente household to steal some rumored goods. She walked across the damp lawn in the cool midnight air knowing this would be an easy job: the Caliente sisters had no house protection and the gang had already sent members a few years ago when the sisters lived with Micheal Bachelor on Sim lane.
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Nina heard a noise in the livingroom downstairs and wondered what her sister could be doing up so late. But as she slowly opened her bedroom door she had just enough time to see a figure going on the roof balcony. She was unable to recognise her sister's usual elegant and slim shape, seeing this large-shouldered and heavy step person. After checking that Dina was safe in sound in her bed, Nina quietly rushed to the phone in the kitchen and called the emergency police number telling the woman on the recieveing end there was an intruder in her home.
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Nina ran to find safety in Dina's room but without waking the later. Simply being by her side and seeing her safe made Nina feel better. But waking her would only create more panic and whispers the burglar was bound to hear. For ten long minutes, Nina listened to the sounds of the intruder working on the roof, wondering what was happening. For ten long minutes, Nina waited silently for the police officer, Ramin Centowski to show up.
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Officer Centowski arrived just in time to catch the burglar, who was rushing downstairs. Jessica Ebadi was trained in martial arts and knew how to put up a fight. For fifteen minutes she and the policeman crashed in the staircase, trying to defeat each other. Nina just hoped Ramin would be strong enough to hold against a high security escaped prisoner.
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Thankfully he was, and the movmented night ended with Jessica being handcuffed and imprisoned. The Caliente sisters hugged each other, grateful to both be safe and sound. The robber had stripped and tried to take the roof's hot tub. Officer Centowski announced that he would be forced to keep the pieces that were left of it as evidence and that their insurance would pay back seventy percent of the stolen goods.
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To cheer herself up, Dina went out and bought a brand new car that attracted the eye of more than one passer-by. As time passed after the robbery, Dina kept bringing new posessions home everyday. Dina had always handled the family finances and Nina usually never cared about it, but for once she was troubled, unsure of how her sister was able to pay for all these new objects and feared she wasn't looking at reality correctly.
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The last button was probably pushed the day Nina found their garbage can kicked on the street. Nina was tired of living in such conditions and needed to always being forced to follow Dina in her actions. Crime seemed to overflow from this town and even if a kicked garbage can wasn't the worst she had lived, Nina missed the city.
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Nina was decided on telling her sister what she thought of their current linving situation, but Dina wasn't around. The truth was Nina hardley ever knew where her sister was. Lately, she would disappear for long hours and come home late without warning Nina what she was doing. That day, Nina waited for five hours before Dina came home. This only made her anger ever so worse.
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Nina asked her sister where she'd been, what she'd done, why she was comming home late. This only annoyed Dina who complained about being tired but she saw that Nina wasn't ready to let go. Nina finaly exploded:
"I never know where you are! It's like you don't care about me and I just have to accept your decisions all the time! Why did we even have to move to Pleasantview? Our apartment in SimCity was ten times bigger and one million times less expensive than this snooty suburb!"
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But Dina wasn't ready to admit to Nina the real reason she had moved here four years ago. So, she yelled at her sister in the same way telling her that she was irresponsible and that it was thanks to her that she had a roof. She knew that Nina would have a hard time answering to those arguments who were after all true.
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Dina took advantage of her sister's silence to storm upstairs and make a strong point. Nina watched her ascending the stairs and slam her bedroom door. She knew her sister and could tell that this wasn't her normal attitude. Dina was up to something... but Nina couldn't know what...
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However, she didn't have time to care for that night, Nina had made plans with her friends, Don Lothario and Joe Carr. Joe was merely an aquaintance that Nina had been trying to seduce for a few weeks. But Don and she went far back. Dina had met him first and introduced them. Ever since they had moved back to Pleasantview and that they were neighbors, Don had been the only thing that kept Nina running in what she could only see as a boring country town.
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In fact, Don litteraly made her run as they had been following a "Go Active" program together for three years now. Nina had joked about how she would love to be an athlete and Don took it seriously and had come to her home one day and had showed her a broshure. He told her she should get training while she was still young. It was true that Nina wanted to be an athlete but it was more a dream than an actual ambition. But Don had pushed her into it and Nina was happy to have such a friend.
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That night as they went dancing at the Hub, one of their favorite clubs, Don was careful not to show any signs of his romance for Nina as Mortimer Goth was dancing just a few feet away. This man was none other than the father of Don's fiancee, Cassandra Goth, and he wasn't to know about his relationship with Nina.
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For it was true that Don and Nina could get a little more physical than the monthly guide of the program asked them to be and Nina was proud to be one of the rare women to have entered the legendary Lothario jacuzzi, and just the honor of having been there was one of her best trophees.
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But Don had other women in his life and it was quite odd how Don's bed was often made before Kaylynn the maid arrived in the morning... and undone once she left. How sad to think that Don considered Kaylynn just as the next woman when she was actually falling in love with him.
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So, the question that all Pleasant woman asked was: why had Don Lothario chosen Cassandra Goth to be his wife? The legendary lover had chosen a woman who completely lacked style and beauty, and Don could have certainly done better. Don's cheasy answer to this question was that what was inside was more important than looks, while sporting $500 clothes and a hairstyle that could only require more than half an hour of preperation in the morning and a tube of gel every week.
The truth was that Don was a young medical scientist and was looking for any opportunity to be able to start his own research lab. By marrying Cassandra, Don had access to Mortimer: keeper of the family funds and great scientist himself. Since Don didn't believe in marriage, he thought this union would be the best conract he ever signed... in the professional world.
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But Cassandra was far from stupid, and she too enjoyed going out with friends and behind the unstylish facade, lay a beautiful girl yet unrevealed. Of course, Cassandra's ideal of a fun outing wasn't near to Don's and in fact, it was such a suprise to see that their circles ever crossed.
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Cassandra liked quiet places where she could relax after a day of work with her friends. The local coffee house was always fun to go to and at least once a week, Cassandra would try out a new restaurant with her best friend Darren. They had met shortly after Darren's wife, Darleen, had passed away from a dreadful cancer. Both of them had something in common having lost a close relative and had bonded quickly.
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Cassandra too was a hard studying scientist and tried her best to show her father that she could follow him too in the science career track. She would use any free time to brush up on her skills and could often be found in the family living room before dawn reading an old and heavy book that would teach her yet more.
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Alexander also seemed to have a great futur planned for him. He would bring home straight A's to Mortimer's great delight. Both his children had been or still were geniuses in school and he couldn't be more proud. The only thing that worried Mortimer was Alexander's lack of friends. He could remember when Cassie was young, she would spend hours in her room with her friend Mary-Sue talking and sharing thoughts ect. But Alex seemed to show no interest in his peers and his father tried to push him towards other children as much as he could.
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Over the last weeks Mortimer had been busy planning some works for the front yard. He reorganized the gate layout and had some concrete placed. This project ended up being a driveway for his brand new car. Another idea by Dina, Cassandra thought. She knew how much influence Dina had on her father, however this time, Cassandra was wrong and this purchase was all of her father. Indeed, Mortimer had some big news.
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That night he sat his children down at the table to tell them all about it.
"Okay, I know you both think that I just did some kind of unnecessary expense in buying this car, however it is going to be of great use for me, for I have decided to reopen the lab, after these four years of retirement. Cassandra, if you want you can join me as a project leader, I know you have the required capacities."
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"Really? Oh Daddy! You really mean it?"
"Of course!" Mortimer laughed as his daughter threw herself in his arm of joy. "It may take just a few monthes to get everything in place but as soon as that's over you'll be part of the team!"
Cassandra couldn't believe how fortunate she was to have a father who worked in the same area of interest as she did. Even though she hated thinking it, Cassandra knew she was the heiress of this lab once Mortimer would retire for good...
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The next day, an enthusiastic Goth family celebrated Alexander's thirteenth birthday. A former school mate, Chloe Gonzaga had agreed to come to the event and Mortimer had been very relieved to see that his son's social skill weren't completely non-existent. Alexander stood modestly in front of the chocolate and vanilla cake for a minute, making the wish to become as wise as his sister and father and later join the Goth labs.
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New clothes, new glasses, Alexander was proud to grow into a young man. Seeing himself older, Alexander felt better. He had always looked at elder sims around him wanting to ressemble them. He had always had a strange shame of being small and felt as if other sims, even his peers, would think of him as "less than". Today he was no longer ashamed of himself and was ready to face the real world out there.
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What Alex loved most about turning into a teenager was the ability to drive. SimCity regulations allowed sims to drive from the age of thirteen. The city was prosper and was able to put important funds in road security, making accidents very rare even with such young drivers. Now Alexander was able to show off in a fancy and comfortable car every Wednesday and Friday, days Cassandra didn't work, and therefor didn't need the car to get to work.
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The neighbors, the Pleasants, were happy to see their household grow in memebers. After Herb's recent medical issues the doctor had advised the Oldie couple to not live alone anymore, Coral not being able to care for him properly at such age. So, Mary-Sue was glad to give her parents a roof and care.
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But not everyone rejoyced of the newcomers, and Daniel would have been much happier to be alone in the house during his days off from work to be able to flirt with the maid, Kaylynn, in peace.
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Lilith too was upset to see her grandparents move in because her room being the more spacious, she was forced to share it with the Oldie couple. She tried to convince her mother that she needed her privacy but Mary-Sue answered that her rebel attitude didn't give her any rights for privacy and this was for her own good. Lilith had no power over her mother and was forced to accept the Oldies as an obstacle in her life.
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However, Daniel wasn't prepared to see them be an obsacle in his and he needed to have his sexual pleasure. Even if that meant having it while his in-laws were enjoying their morning swim in the pool.
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But that day, Mary-Sue had commitited a mistake at work and was fired from the politcal party. Devestated, she came home hoping to find comfort in Daniel's arms, unfortunately for her, someone was already there...
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Mary-Sue was ready to kill Daniel for such a betrayal. She was already in a horrible mood from what had happened at work and this was the last straw. Kaylynn didn't know what to do and watched helplessly as Mary-Sue pushed Daniel brutally against the wall. Fortunately Mary-Sue's screams were loud enough to alert her parents outside and her neighbor and friend, Cassandra Goth, who came over rushing from the house next door.
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Cassandra calmed her friend who told her everything, from her being fired to Daniel and the maid. She didn't know what to tell Mary-Sue having no personal experience in any of those domains. Of course! Cassandra had always been best at everything and never even been threatened of losing her job. As for adultery, Cassandra was in the dark of all the women Don Lothario met every day and believed her fiance to be as faithful as a dog to his master.
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Kaylynn was sent home and the whole mess was cleared up before Lilith and Angela were home; they would never know. Daniel decied to test his new punching bag in the back yard and as the school bus stopped in front the peaceful-looking home, Angela ran to tell her father some good news.
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Angela had recieved her report card and was proud to show her father the paper on which the grades column was filled with nothing alse than A+'s. Daniel tried to congratulate his daughter the best he could but the mornings events had left him feeling sad and he couldn't show Angela the proper compliments she was looking for. Daniel blamed the exercise saying he was exaughsted from punching the bag and was able to get away without telling his daughter of his affair.
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"And I suppose you're not comming to announce good grades" Daniel said with a smirk seeing his other daughter, Lilith come towards him.
"God, no" Lilith laughed, only making her father more annoyed "What's that?" she asked nodding at the punching bag behind her father.
Daniel briefly explained that the Llamas had given him a punching bag as a thank you for training them for their recent succesful match.
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"Can I have a go on it?"
"You want to train on the punching bag?" Daniel asked in a tone that suggested Lilith wasn't going to get what she wanted.
"Oh come on! For once that I'm interested in something that you like!"
"You have ten minutes to get into your gym clothes" Daniel replied.
"Oh! Thank you!" Lilith said with a smile Daniel hadn't seen in many years.
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As amazing as it was, the father and daughter who usually fought over everything actually enjoyed an afternoon of training together. Daniel had always known that his daughter wasn't as feminine and girly as Angela but he never imagined she was this tough...
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But Daniel hadn't seen Lilith's full might just yet. As Coral called to announce that dinner would be ready in ten minutes, they went back inside. Daniel went in the bathroom to freshen up. Lilith was ready to do the same but since the phone was ringing, she decided to pick up. Her suprise was big as she heard the maid's voice on the other end. But this was just minor compared to what was comming for Lilith. She didn't understand why the maid was apologizing about what had happened with her dad that morning but Lilith didn't like it when she wasn't told about something others considered she should know. So she humored the maid who ended up by mentioning Daniel's cheating on Mary-Sue with her. Lilith didn't even take the time to hang the phone up and left the phone hanging off the wall.
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She grabbed a glass on the set table and went in the hallway where her mother, father, sister and grandfather were chatting.
"YOU CHEATED ON MOM?!?" Lilith boomed, making everyone freeze.
"How did you.."
".. find out? Kaylynn just called!" Lilith mimicked the maids voice "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry about what happened with your father. You know we never meant for it to happen. I know how you must feel: MY FATHER CHEATED ON MY MOTHER TOO!"
"Oh gosh, you disgust me!" She continued, and with that she threw the water in the glass she was holding at her father. Meanwhile, Mary-Sue scolded about how stupid the maid was and Angela sobbed quietly unable to hold the burning tears back.
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Dinner was tense that night at the Pleasant household. Talking about something other than the marital affair was not an option anyone seemed to have and no one wanted to mention it either... Herb tried to break the silence by asking if the family was enjoying his burgers but he only a obtained small "yes" from Angela between two tears.
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Angela may have cried much, the reality of this betrayal only hit her the next day, as she woke early and was suprised to find her father asleep on the den couch. All these years she'd been alive her parents had always slept in the same bed and to see them apart this way just teared her heart apart.
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However, the Pleasant couple couldn't allow themselves to be seen fighting, their public image was far more important than expressing their feelings on the front lawn and Mary-Sue was forced to give Daniel a happy-wife-kiss for the neighbors to think they were still ideal. A kiss in which there was no passion and anyone paying attention would have almost seen the tension passing in between the lips.
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Lilith was even more distant from her family than she used to be. Before, her rebel attitude was just for her a way to show that she thought her parents and their way of thinking was just hypocrisy. But now she actualy felt betrayed and couldn't stand their sight. To let her feelings out she started working out intesivly always punching the bag harder until her fingers bled, kicking it with more force until she could no longer walk. Lilth started missing out on meals and her parents knew they couldn't fight with her.
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Herb also noticed the young girl was missing from her bed late at night as he went on his "midnight bathroom break". He decided not to tell her parents for now as long as she came back and continued to get up every morning at a decent hour but Herb wondered, if she stopped doing so, wouldn't it already be too late?
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Since the new fashion in Pleasantview seemed to be owning a car, when Daniel was promoted to coach of the Llamas, he intended on showing everyone by buying a brand new sports car. But he knew that earthly possesions, no matter how many he could buy, couldn't fill his lack of love. Meanwhile, Mary-Sue was able to find work in the politcal career again, determined to not let her recent setback be a drag.
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One night that week, she had a dinner with Cassandra, her family and friends, to discuss the comming wedding. Darren Dreamer had chosen the restaurant, Bernard's Botanical Dinning, as he and Cassie's weekly try out.
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The evening was wonderful: the ambience in the restaurant was great, being completely surrounded by nature, the food was excellent and everyone had ideas on the finishing touches of Sunday's comming ceremony; everyone except Darren,who stayed silent all meal long.
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Darren went home gloomy that night. He still couldn't believe that Cassandra was getting married to another man. The truth was that Darren would have wanted to be more than friends with Cassandra, but when he met her she was already with Don. He hadn't expected that relationship to last and had been waiting for it to end to be able to swoop in. But four years had passed and she seemed to love him more every day. Had he known, Darren would have told her he fancied her back then, but the more he waited the more it seemed inappropriate and now he was at a point where it was just out of line.
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"Hey Dad" Dirk said appearing from his room. "How was your evening?"
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"Well, it was pretty much lame... How was yours?"
"I burned my Mac & Cheese" Dirk told his father laughing at the fact that he couldn't make such a simple meal. "Back to yours, why was it lame?
"It's just depressing seeing this wedding happen."
"Come on Dad. You've known she was going to marry him for a year now."
"Yeah, but it still hits you in the face when you're on the planning side of it but not going to be at the alter at the end of it.."
Darren's relationship with his son wasn't the typical father / son one. The pair were more like buddies and shared everything together. It was true, there were only eighteen years that seperated them in age and they were almost in the same genration. However, the age difference between Darren and Cassandra was much more significant for love: twelve years, and if Cassandra wasn't so mature, it would have seemed more likely that Dirk dated her before his father.
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Like Lilith Pleasant let her emotions out by working out as much as she could, Darren let his out by painting, a tip his doctor had given him after his late wife's death. He had rediscovered an old passion for art he had burried in becomming a boring business man. The next moring, Darren was spilling paint on the canvas ferociously but the painting to come was still peaceful and quiet and let no sign of agressivity show. That was possibly one of Darren's talents.
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That evening, Darren had made dinner plans with a headmaster from a prestigious private school with hopes of entering Dirk's name on the lists. Darren played the single father card and astutely mentioned Darleen's death in the conversation to gain a bit of sympathy for Dirk.
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He had begged Cassandra to help him cook, knowing that his poor cooking skill wouldn't satisfy the headmaster. She had gladly accepted to make some pork chops. So as Darren took his time to tell the honor guest what he wanted to hear, Cassandra made the boys a fancy dinner.
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As they all sat around the table, Dirk presented himself to the headmaster telling him about himself. A speach Darren and he had worked on all afternoon long to make perfect. Cassandra had a hard time holding in her laughs as Dirk entered into a critisism of today's average teenager and showing he was above that average when all he'd just really done was describe his usual self.
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Cassandra even agreed to stay late and clean up everything while Darren finished his dance. She wanted to make this easy for her friend for after all, Dirk really did deserve to be in that school, he was such a smart boy.
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As the evening ended the headmaster was happy to announce that he's seen all he wanted to see and that Dirk would be a great part of his establishment. Dirk was so pleased he had a hard time sleeping that night.
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After the headmaster left and everything was cleared up, Darren and Cassie stayed chatting about their victory upstairs for a small while. But to Darren's annoyment, Cassandra managed to change the conversation subject to her wedding which was just in a couple of days. Darren wasn't able to hold himself, it was late and he'd had a glass of wine over dinner.
"I still can't believe you're marrying that man" he said in a haughty tone.
"What's wrong with Don?" Cassandra asked, obviously hurt.
"He doesn't deserve you. He won't treat you as well as I would have!"
"Darren what are you talking about?"
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"I'm saying that I love you!" Darren cried unafraid "And that I've been an idiot to wait so long to tell you. I should have told you years ago while I still had the time! But it's not too late! You can still stop from marrying him and we'll be happy together!"
"Oh my god, Darren!"
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Cassandra wasn't able to believe what she was hearing. Darren was a wonderful friend and he certainly was attractive but she was with Don and had been for years and she truley did love him. But now Darren was approaching his hand and caressing her cheek. He seemed so soft, so gentle, unlike Don's agressive ways where he would be close to pouncing on her.
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Darren pulled her in close, she didn't resist. He kissed her and in that kiss was the satisfaction of years of waiting, years of imagining what it would be like yet he never thought it could be this good. Darren wished that moment could have lasted forever but too soon he felt Cassie pulling herself away.
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"I'm sorry Darren, I can't." That was all she said. And with that she left. Darren dared not follow her he knew she wouldn't let him closer tonight. Cassandra went home in tears that night and didn't know how she would handle the situation. She didn't know if she could marry Don now, knowing Darren had loved her all this time. Her mind was just too troubled.
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Darren went bed that night somehow feeling defeat again. All this time he'd loved Cassandra but he just hoped he had acted on time and that tonight's events wouldn't have happened only to hurt him more. Darren Dreamer's might have been drifting off to an uneasy sleep, but his troubles were less tohan ones of a familiar face who early the next morning was entering Pleasantview again, after years of being missing,...
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CONTINUED IN PART 4...
Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Since I'm on holiday at the moment of uploading this, you can look foward to part 4 comming soon. You can check my blog for updates and more information about the "The Fate Of Pleasantview". Remeber to sign my guestbook on you way out!
Have you already signed my Guestbook? Since you can only sign guestbooks once, if you would like to leave me another message, don't hestitate to write me at this address. Your comments keep me going so please send your comments: alexi035@hotmail.fr
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