the love shack

March 2081 - Maxwell Shaw is 34, Valerie is 39, Angelo is 10, Devon is 4. Last update, March 2080.

*** disclaimer: Your author and the residents of Lakeside Heights would like to express that the views and actions of Maxwell Shaw do not represent the views of the town in its entirety, and he shall be held responsible for his own shadiness. This post may not be suitable for the young, impressionable, or easily offended. Thank you, and enjoy! ;) ***

*** disclaimer #2: This is kind of long ***

Maybe this all starts with Bella Bradshaw. Maybe it's the flush in her cheeks and the way she shakes out her hair as she steps from that photo booth smelling of sweat and pure sex. Maxwell loves his wife - he and Valerie have a very special kind of connection, one that could never be replaced. But Bella Bradshaw is different. She is pure attraction and hormones. She is lust and flesh and so perfectly ripe he could just bite right into her.

She gives Maxwell an idea, and you can bet it isn't a wholesome one.

Maxwell says, "Did you guys just do it in the photo booth?"

Cameron says, "Yeah, sure." Bella doesn't say anything, but just looks at him, the way Bella always looks, which is like fire.

Lucky's Card Bar is doing quite well, and it isn't for its photo booths. Maxwell did something right for a change. He kept things small and simple, and business is booming for it.

Valerie cuts her hair layered around her face to hide her new-found wrinkles, but it doesn't change the fact that she's about to turn forty. And it doesn't change the fact that she's alone most evenings while Maxwell goes to "work." She's too old to hang out with the party crowd, and she doesn't really fit in with all the young families in Lake City, who just happen to all be cops and politicians (don't forget what her husband does for a living!).

So in the nights, after the kids are in bed, and after Maxwell goes off to do whatever it is that Maxwell does, Valerie watches a lot of Lifetime movies.

And poor Devon, in this tiny little closet of a bedroom. They weren't supposed to be here so long.

Despite their tiny box of a house, with its tiny box of a yard, they're all enjoying the spring thaw. Devon is four this year, and Valerie drops her off at preschool in the afternoons. She's a very energetic girl and likes jumping rope.

And for precisely one hour before the kids get home from school, after Maxwell crawls out of bed from a long night of adventures, he sweeps Valerie up into his arms for a quiet dance in the kitchen. Swept away, which is what Maxwell does, sporadic bursts of devotion.

And off he goes again. She won't pretend it's enough, because it's not, but it's what she has, and she doesn't know any different.

Though Maxwell is getting better at this criminal thing, and nets an extra $10,000 for helping crack a bank vault. Maybe he isn't the absolute worst criminal alive. But that isn't the only money he's making. Valerie really has no idea what else he's up to lately.

Angelo is ten this year, and boldly declares that he will not be an artist when he grows up! Forgive a mother for trying to broaden his horizons! He is becoming quite testy in his preteen years! She just wants him to grow up to do something a little more honorable than what his father does. Even Maxwell wants that for his son - Max is counting on Angelo to become a world-class musician or sports star.

But Angelo is just coming up on that age where nothing his mother does is right. He even talks to Devon about it. "She's not our friend, she's our mom!" he says. Devon is too young to know the difference.

He seems so repelled by anything she says lately - asking him about school is out of the question! Valerie mourns the loss of her little boy. She thought she would have more time.

Though no one can hold a torch to his daddy. And if absence makes the heart grow fonder, then Maxwell's absense around the house has made Angelo adore him even more. Angelo hears a car pull up to the house at dawn, and he just knows his daddy has come home. He races down the stairs and outside, still in his pajamas. He welcomes his father home with the first beams of rising sunlight on his face as if he were an idealized childhood god. Or maybe this is just how all ten year-old boys feel about their fathers?

Maxwell's home hours are few and far between. If he's home in the evenings, it's usually long after the kids are sleeping. But some nights he actually makes it home for a late dinner with Valerie.

He invites James home with him one evening. James is something of an apprentice now. He graduated last year with a degree in economics. He also learned quite a bit about how the system works while dating the Governor's daughter, not that that was why he dated Mariah, but at least he's taking some knowledge away from the situation. But he's lonely and heartbroken and has no family in the area, and Maxwell suggests maybe Valerie could make him something homey to eat. You know these post-college kids and their canned soup.

James talks a little bit about his breakup with Mariah, but he says he's just a peaceful kind of guy, just doing what he does best, and he doesn't want to start any wars or anything.

Of course, Maxwell disagrees, being the staunch anti-government enthusiast he is. But he's arrogant about it, and he's too brash. And Valerie knows that's what always gets him into trouble. The bumbling fool her husband can be sometimes, he's bound to screw things up.

James just finishes his dinner, politely and quietly. And he thanks Valerie for the lovely meal before he goes.

Valerie says to Maxwell, "That James is a smart kid, if you don't watch out he'll be your boss some day."

Maxwell just laughs it off. He says, "Don't worry about it, Babe, I've got plans."

Valerie always likes his big plans. If nothing else, her husband has always been full of ideas. And she just listens to him talk, and talk and talk, just happy to have him home for a moment.

But Maxwell is up to something, as he always is. He isn't telling Valerie about his latest club endeavor, because it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing she'd approve of, and even he knows it. He told her it was a cocktail bar - a very discreet cocktail bar, on the south side, with a members-only entrance inside the faux front bar. He's called it After Midnight, but locals have already nicknamed it "The Love Shack" because that is precisely what it is - a place for people to hook up, leave their inhibitions at the door, what happens at the love shack stays at the love shack.

Maxwell couldn't shake his club bunny, so he hired her. She's actually a rather sweet girl, if not a little neurotic and clingy. Her name is Ana, and she wants to be an ecological guru when she grows up. But for now, she'll pay her rent and tuition bills by bartending in one of Maxwell's sleazy bars. Though Maxwell is thinking that tank top isn't going to work out...

Perhaps she's starting to have second thoughts once she finds out what the uniform is.

But the way Maxwell sees it, he's just bringing lonely people together...

Helping steaming hot couples get even steamier...

Setting up people who are single, or at least legally separated. He could almost consider himself a do-gooder.

Almost. It's not like he isn't getting anything out of the deal. There are beautiful women everywhere!

There are naked women everywhere! Somehow he should be less shocked by this, but it's always a bit surprising. Maybe he needs his own office or something.

But it's not just the women. He's meeting people, and making connections. People are saying good things about him, putting words in with his bosses, saying, sure they can get him a little more money in his paycheck! Maxwell is becoming quite a popular guy in Lake City. Maybe even the most popular guy in Lake City. Big important things are happening here, after hours and behind tinted windows. This just might be his best idea yet!

Then why does Bella Bradshaw look so down? Maxwell says, "Where did Cameron go?"

"Oh. Working," Bella says.

But it's opening weekend, and Maxwell is in the mood to celebrate. And a girl that pretty shouldn't look so sad. So he insists they share a toast. Anything to get her to smile.

Sometimes you already know something isn't a good idea, even as you're doing it - like when Maxwell suggests they move this conversation upstairs to the hottub.

Or like when Bella says, "I didn't bring a bathing suit," and Maxwell says, "That's okay, most people don't."

They kissed, if you want to know the truth. They started...

and then, as if watching themselves from outside the scene, they stopped.

"I can't do it," Maxwell says. "I mean, I can DO it. I've done it twice already today. But I mean, with you. I can't do it. He's my friend. Maybe my only real friend."

"Does he ever talk about me?" Bella says.

"Sure," Maxwell says. "All the time."

"I mean, does he ever talk about marriage?"

Maxwell laughs. "Well don't get ahead of yourself, kiddo."

"Maybe I'm not," she says. Max doesn't know what she means by that, but she doesn't explain it, and they get dressed and go back downstairs.

"You don't need to tell him anything," Bella says.

"There wasn't anything to tell," Maxwell says. "And besides, I think he'd kick my ass."

"Cameron can't kick anyone's ass."

"Alright then."

And so Bella gets up and goes home, where Cameron will return to her in just a few hours. And Maxwell closes up shop.

She would have made ten, you know, a nice round number. It's not a terrible lot, but it's more than most accomplish. He thought it would be such a big deal, a milestone or something. But what then, fifteen, twenty? It's thrilling for a moment, but it goes away. And he would be left with the guilt that he'd been with his only true friend's girl. And of course, he thinks about his wife. Maxwell thinks he owes something to Valerie. Something big. It's guilt maybe. Guilt and Maxwell walk hand-in-hand most of the time.

When he gets home that night, so late it's almost morning, he pulls Valerie out of bed and he squeezes her, like he'd maybe never squeeze her again. And he says, "Get dressed. Get the kids dressed. I have a surprise."

It's morning by the time they get there. "Okay, open your eyes," he says. "I would have wrapped a bow around it, but it was too big."

"You got a loan?" she says.

"No, Babe," he says. "It's all ours, every single piece. We don't owe a thing."

He kept telling her he had a plan. It's in Stoneview Court, just like she always wanted, right near the pond, and she thinks it's divine. She hugs him, and she knows better that to ask where the money came from - chances are, she probably doesn't want to know.

He might not be the best husband in the world. He might not even be a good husband at all. But he does love to see her happy, and despite everything, most of the time, she is.

***

notes: talk about surprises! They wouldn't do it! We've talked about gameplay vs. storytelling before, and this is a perfect example of how I could predict one ending for a story, and the gameplay gives me a completely different one. A better one. I totally thought they would do it. Neither of them have any problem sleeping around, neither are set to "spouse only" but they kept rejecting it. She wouldn't and he wouldn't. They wouldn't do it with each other! How very surprising. He had the "Woohoo 10 Sims" want locked, and she had the "Public Woohoo 3 Sims" want locked. And that would have fulfilled both of them, but they wouldn't do it. I guess the lines must be drawn somewhere. Cameron is lucky, they must both really care about him.

And The Love Shack, lol, a club devoted entirely to public woohoo. Only Maxwell could run something like this!

First floor, bar, lounge, bathrooms, dance floor, photo booth // Second floor, sauna, couches, hot tub, showers, and two bedrooms, both with a voyeur's window. A little dirty... No, a lot dirty, lol! I do have it ACR zoned as a brothel, so things get a little crazy in there!

Now all I need is for somebody to make me a decoration of a pile of condoms to put on the end tables. Safety first, people, safety first!

*** outtakes ***

It's been a long time since Sheldon tried to seduce a woman. I don't think she wants to hear about how much he hates his soon-to-be ex-wife!

Valerie, I think she might be a little young for that talk still...