MidCentury Sims

“Peggy, wait! Please wait!” Jerry said, rushing out after her.

Peggy turned on Jerry, her eyes blazing, “Why should I wait for you? Clearly you’ve been hiding things from me. Who was that? Why would she say those things? I’m not sure I even know you, Jerry!”

“It’s not what you think!” Jerry said, his head in his hand. “You’ve got to believe me, it’s not what you think at all.”

Peggy crossed her arms, unmoved by his pleading.

“Valeria and I, yes, we have a history,” Jerry said. “It’s complicated. But we grew up together. Our mothers are friends. It was always just assumed that Valeria and I would, well, you know, get married one day. It was always talked about as a given, from the time we were babies. I won’t hide anything from you, we dated for a while. But it didn’t work out. You see what she’s like! Jealous, mean-spirited – I had no idea she had those aspects to her until we began dating. I guess I brought out the worst in her, maybe she brought out the worst in me. That was why I moved to Bridgeport with my uncle for a while. I needed to get my head right. She wasn’t the only reason, but she was part of it. I broke up with her before I left. I guess she didn’t take it well. Trust me, there’s nothing left between us but bad blood and unhappiness, at least on my part. I’m not so sure about her. But believe me, it is over between us. Over,” Jerry plead.

Peggy sat in the lobby, tears welling in her eyes. Was it true? Was Jerry a two-timing, no good jerk? She couldn’t believe it. He had been so caring, so loving to her during their time together. But on the other hand, he had never even mentioned this “Valeria” and she sure knew him.

“Excuse me?!” said Peggy, getting up from her seat. “What exactly are you implying? I don’t even know you!”

“Oh, you think you’re special. That Jerry treats you well, takes you out to dinner, kisses you lovingly and means it? Well are you in for a rude awakening! It’s all a façade, all of it. Just you wait and see.!” Valeria retorted.

“I think you’re just a troublemaker and liar!” cried Peggy.

“Oh yeah? Well ask your precious boytoy if it’s true. Ask him!” Valeria smoldered.

Peggy turned to Jerry, “Well?”

Jerry looked back at her, his face a mask of guilt.

As the two of them sat, enjoying their oh-so-exotic egg rolls, Peggy saw Jerry’s face crumple into concern and maybe a little fear.

“What is it?” asked Peggy.

“Ummm…” Jerry said as a woman in red approached the table.

“Hello, Jerry,” the woman said, her eyes flickering to Peggy with a smirk. “It’s been a while.”

“Uh, yeah. Hi, Valeria. This is my girl, Peggy,” Jerry said, stuttering slightly.

“Nice to meet you,” Valeria said with a dismissive sniff in Peggy’s general direction. She turned her attention fully back to Jerry, perching on the edge of their table, “So, I had heard you were back in town. I’m surprised you didn’t call me.”

“Well, um, it wasn’t really, um…” Jerry trailed off.

 simblraaaaaagghhhh replied to your photoset: The Tiki Taki Lounge had become one of Peggy’s and...

I love this place! Did you build it yourself?!

For Peggy, life seemed to fall into a familiar, constant rhythm. Wake up, go to work, come home, eat supper, socialize with Dotty, study work materials, go to bed. To mix things up, she would go out with Jerry when she could. Summer began to turn to fall. Peggy began to feel antsy; why did nothing interesting ever seem to happen?

See? I'm such a liar. Still making palettes like it's going out of style.

This set is based on yet another paint company's mid-century scheme. This one is from Dunn-Edwards (a new one to me.) This set is supposed to have more of a Southwest feel. I can maybe see it in the first two rows, not so much in the last one. Still, it's pretty.

The tempos became slower as the pianist began to wind down for the night.

“Last song of the night,” the musician said, launching into a romantic sonata.

I know I said I was going to lay off the palettes for a while. Well, I guess I lied. New set! 

These are based on historical paint colors by U.K. company Little Greene. They seem a bit brighter, more intense than mid-century colors from U.S. companies. I have to say, I can't decide whether "Buckler" or "Riley" is my favorite from this grouping.

Chet kept his word and called Dotty later that week, asking her out on a date to the Tiki Taki Lounge. He also offered to make it a double date with Peggy and Jerry if that would make things more comfortable. Dotty said she would ask them, and when they agreed that it would be a fun idea, a double date it was.

The Tiki Taki Lounge was an extravagant club decorated to feel like an exotic South Pacific island. The highlight of the lounge was its pool and piano “island.” The clear notes of the pianist floated throughout the club, urging the guests to dance.

“Shall we dance?” asked Jerry, grabbing Peggy’s hand.

Peggy grinned, “I think we shall!”

Dotty and Chet followed.

“Do you dance?” Chet asked.

“I love to dance!” said Dotty.

“As do I,” said Chet. “Should we cut a rug?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Dotty. It had been too long since she last had done so.

“Hey Jerry, wouldn’t it be fun to go on the swings? I haven’t done that for such a long time!” Peggy said.

“Okay, Peg,” said Jerry. He knew that Peggy was trying to give Dotty and their new acquaintance Chet some time together. The two walked hand-in-hand to the playground portion of the park.

“So, Chet, what do you do?” asked Dotty. She had never been much of a conversationalist.

“Well, I teach at the school. Mathematics, mostly and a bit of science,” Chet replied.

“Oh, I should have guessed. You do have a professorial air about you,” Dotty said. “Do you enjoy teaching?”

“I do, truly,” Chet said. “I love seeing young minds develop and flourish. I don’t think any other career could be more fulfilling than that. What do you do?”

“I’m a secretary. I went to secretarial school for two years, so it’s a great placement for me,” Dotty said.

“Oh, are you new here, then?” Chet asked. “You said ‘placement’ so I assumed…”

“Yes, actually,” said Dotty. “Well, it’s been a couple of months, but I consider that new. I certainly didn’t grow up here, at least.”

“I see, well, by that measure I suppose I’m ‘new’ as well. Not as short a time as a couple of months, but I’ve only been here since last summer. It’s a pretty great town, I think,” said Chet.

“I agree,” said Dotty. “It’s a little difficult to meet people though. I’m not the best at talking to new people. I mean, I have Peggy and Jerry, and my boss is very sociable, but it’s still hard.”

“I’m the same way!” said Chet. “Beyond my coworkers, I really don’t know that many people. Maybe you and I could go out sometime?” he asked uncertainly.

“That might be nice. It sounds like we both could use a bit of expanding for our social circles,” said Dotty.