Friday, October 22, 2010

Chapter 27 Next Morning







There’s a chill in the air when I wake up in the morning. I shiver and pull the blankets up.

It’s still dark out. Hardly time to wake up, yet I can smell the warmth from the kitchen. Something is cooking. In my chilly half sleep, memories rise to the surface. That smell reminds me of something. It sits just out of recall, somewhere close to the front of my mind, but resisting my tugs to come closer so I can think about it.


I lay there for a while mentally playing cat and mouse before I really think about it. Someone’s cooking. I can smell the strong scent of the bacon coming from the kitchen. The door is hardly insulated.

I'm late. Quickly, I get up and change into some clothes. The cold morning air making goosebumps rise on my legs and arms. My stomach sinks to the ground. The sky is still so dark, but Henri is indeed up and moving around in the kitchen.

I step out of my room and right away my eyes fall on Henri at the stove cooking.

The word “whoops” comes to mind. It's still dark outside though. Normally by the time breakfast is done the sky is starting to lighten up.

Henri glances back at me with something I'd take for guilt on a normal person. That's when I see the girl standing next to him.

“We woke you,” he says simply. The girl looks ridiculously small standing next to him; she can hardly be older than twelve or thirteen. Still, even though I have to be bigger and taller than her, she seems to look down her nose at me as she stands very close to Henri. I can almost see him pulling away, tensing ever so slightly on the side she stands on. He doesn’t look very comfortable, though I realize it could just be projecting my own thoughts.


I don’t step into the kitchen. “Uh, I'm not late, am I?”

“No. We're leaving early.”

The girl still glares at me even as she inches closer to Henri protectively. There is an awkward quiet as Henri goes back to cooking after gently pushing her back with a forearm high on her chest. Surprisingly, she doesn’t look abashed about it. She grins up at him, her eyes sparkling.

Henri plops the last couple of pancakes onto a plate already sitting there on the counter with bacon. The girl takes her plate and sits down at the table like she’s right at home with a look down her nose at me as she walks past.

Henri steps around the counter and hands me my plate. “Paula, meet Theresa.”

Theresa sits with her back to me in the spot Jimmy normally sits in-- the one next to Henri’s chair. She hardly glances back at me before waving her small hand in the air half in greeting and half as a possible dismissal.

Henri seems wary and uncomfortable. Possibly because he has two teenage girls to deal with this morning or possibly because she seems unable to keep a truly respectable distance from him. When we sit down, she’s somehow closer to him than Jimmy’s ever been. Every so often, she glares up at me and I get a creepy feeling that she knows exactly what I'm thinking.

“So where are you going?” I ask, not because I really want to know but because the silence and her glares are disconcerting.


Theresa shakes her head. “I don’t even officially know yet. He’s not going to tell you.”

“Theresa,” Henri says in warning. It seems he has had more experience being a father than I've credited him for. He did that perfectly. “I should be back tonight as normal,” he says to me.


Theresa, having been scolded, glares at me and gives me another slightly creepy feeling that almost makes me move closer to Henri myself.

Once breakfast is over, Henri and Theresa get up to go. Henri seems to make an effort to stand between Theresa and me. Once they get to the door, Henri almost has to push her out with a low grumble about someone who's expecting them. I can almost see her grin, her cheeks slightly rising under her eyes before Henri does manage to push her out. I hear him scold her again when they’re out in the hall and then thankfully they're both gone and that cloud of creepiness is gone with them.



Next Chapter -->


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New profile featuring Theresa. :D

16 comments:

  1. Oh good, *exhales*. God, for a second I thought he was... you know, eeew! (Probably because you mentioned that in-game, he'd found himself a girlfriend, lol!)

    But having read her profile, it looks like she's trouble! Oh boy, I hope he doesn't go there! Please, Henri, no! lol!

    This is a very interesting development indeed! What strange and terrible tension between her and Paula. I wonder if we'll find out where they were going? And I'm still wondering what the other guys were up to? Oh, I need more!!! :)

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  2. The second picture?! What is going on there?! When you said someone was cooking, I thought for sure she'd come out to find someone charred on the floor. I think I've been watching too much Eureka lately, LOL. But seriously--does she have a memory of something like that?

    UGh ugh ugh, I do not like that kid. She's such a little brat! I wonder if she's acting that way to throw Paula off, because her profile would lead us to believe her behavior would be a bit different. If she hates being treated like a kid, she shouldn't act like one! What a strange interaction. Why was she there? Where is Henry taking her? Why take *her*?

    So many questions! Awesome. :)

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  3. Hmm... wonder where they're off to. Theresa must be quite powerful indeed if she's only thirteen and Henri needs her for some secret mission in the early hours.

    How strange that she seems to have taken such an immediate disliking to Paula. Wants to monopolize Henri's attention, perhaps? I wouldn't be surprised if she did have some sort of school-girl crush on him (although I would hope he didn't reciprocate it).

    Can't wait to see what's about to go down here :)

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  4. Laura, lol! EEEEWWWW. Yeah, that would traumatize her.

    This is definitely another brick in the story. I think I can promise we'll get to it eventually, but not soon at this rate, lol.


    Rachel, hehe, Huh, oddly, that was my subconscious at work there. I didn't connect the phrase with the picture. Awesome!

    Theresa is a hard girl to pin down. She is both mature beyond her years and a regular kid. She also has issues from what I can tell.

    Like I told Laura, this is just another brick. All important and good questions!


    Van, I think you're definitely onto something. She did take an immediate disliking to Paula, and it probably has to do with a touch of jealousy. It probably is also what's behind her childish behavior here.

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  5. Oh, were these all taken with the lighting mod? I noticed a difference from the first picture!

    My very first thought was that Henri had found yet another child! But no...Theresa definitely doesn't act like his daughter. Oh, man...she is bad news!

    But realising that she's not his daughter just makes me wonder who she is, what she has to do with Henri and where they're going!

    Does Theresa know Paula is Henri's daughter? He didn't tell Paula exactly who Theresa was, aside from her name, so I can imagine he might not bother filling Theresa in on the details either. But then, if she's a telepath, would that mean she might be able to tell without Henri explicitly telling her?

    Oh, I'm going to be desperately awaiting the next installment so I can find out more!

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  6. Great chapter! The second picture was completely awesome - I had to go back and look at it a couple of times!

    What's Theresa's relationship to Henry?

    My first thought is that she's his daughter - a talented one. But is jealous of Paula because of Henry. Henry definitely is the lynchpin to that jealousy.

    She's a creepy little so-and-so. I hope she's not going to hurt Paula.

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  7. Yep, with the lighting mod in. It only tweaks the outdoor light, but it still makes a huge difference. Though I will say I took a wall down in Paula's bedroom to make it darker. In the living room there's the normal light, and that makes the rest of the room actual black.

    lol, yeah she is bad news. You've asked all the good questions. She's definitely an interesting study.

    I would guess that Theresa does indeed know Paula is Henri's daughter. So if she's jealous, it's not because she thinks Paula is actual competition for her.

    Things are definitely moving now. Only a few more updates...


    Kiri, thank you! I used a trick to get the room completely black which I mentioned to Carla here.

    Theresa has no family relation to Henri. But you're right that Henri is the key to the jealousy. Oh man, that kinda reminds me that I was going to post up something else as an extra. *goes to put it in the babble thread*

    She is creepy, lol. For being such a pretty sim.

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  8. Oh....just had a thought, reading all these comments! Maybe she's so jealous of Paula because of what she can read in Henri's mind? Maybe he worries about Paula a lot, or maybe he even likes Paula a lot and it makes Theresa jealous? Because he might care more for Paula than he does for Theresa....

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  9. Well, she's just a little ball of trouble, isn't she? Henri doesn't seem amused by her antics but she seems to take that almost as an invitation.

    Interesting that Paula noted Theresa sat in Jimmy's chair. Does that mean Theresa has eaten there before and knows exactly where Henri is going to sit? Is she trying to send Paula a message or am I reading way too much into that?

    And is the creepy feeling Paula is experiencing just a gut reaction, or something that Theresa is projecting?

    All my other questions have already been asked! Serves me right for getting to this late :D

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  10. How very interesting, that second picture seems to hint at something from Paula's past (at least that's how I'm interpreting it, I could be wrong)

    Great chapter mate :)

    (For some reason I have this urge to smack that Theresa around, I dunno why...)

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  11. Someone is definitely cooking in the second picture. *zap*
    Henri can cook? I thought he took Paula in to be chief cook and bottle washer?
    Henri admonishes Theresa like a parent. Is it his daughter, I wonder. No, maybe not after reading her profile.
    Cloud of creepiness indeed.
    You manage to just deepen the questions, love it.

    Oh, didn't read Crime Story yet? *sob* dying to know what you think~

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  12. Rachel... ooooh! That's actually something I never thought of, and that might have some merit. Huh!


    Illandrya, an accurate review of the situation. Henri is not amused, but that doesn't seem to dissuade her.

    Good questions. Well, I'd definitely call Henri a creature of habit, so feel free to read into that all you want. ;)

    That's also a good question. Maybe Paula is honing her skills a bit by being able to detect who's a threat?


    Poida, thank you. I'll let you interpret all you want from that picture.

    And good luck smacking that kid around, lol.


    Drew, haha, well Henri lives alone, so like any bachelor, I'm sure he's learned to cook a few dishes. But he makes her useful while she's there. She has to earn her stay of course, and it's not like she has anything else to do.

    Theresa is most likely not his daughter. Not the way she behaves!

    Oh yes, I read Crime Story and meant to comment this weekend, but I got side tracked reading Van's Kingdom of Naroni. All her fault. I also haven't gotten to reading Sullivan or the latest Lakeside Heights update, so I'm actually a step ahead with Crime Story! Comment coming soon.

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  13. I should read the comments and the profile but I'm getting here so late and I decided, if I did, my opinion would change.

    This world gives nothing to no one. If Henri needs a woman for whatever reason, age is not an issue. Why would it be? I am probably wrong. I honestly hope I'm not.

    The opening and that stunning shot: someone electrified electocuted something and you pushed it out there and WHAT IS THAT?

    I love your work. All I can say.

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  14. SB, I'm glad you didn't change your opinion. You always see things differently from others, and I always appreciate it.

    This is definitely a subject for me to explore when I get to it. Would he or wouldn't he? In the world they live in, age really means nothing, and the girl herself hardly considers herself a girl.

    Aw, thank you so much for all your support.

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  15. Theresa's reaction to Paula is more than a little creepy. She does know that Paula is his daughter right? It seems obvious that she wants something from Henri in the way of affection but I don't think it is the fatherly kind. Would that give her some kind of status or power if she was his? Did she spend the night there because i wouldn't necessarily put it past Henri if he wanted her. She is pretty for such a snarly girl.

    That second shot means something but I don't know if that is from the past or someone outside the building. Also wondering if it has anything at all to do with their mission and who was that in that shot?!!!

    Sorry I am behind...

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  16. I see Theresa as being a complicated and messed up girl. All good questions, but I don't think she has motives for why she behaves the way she does. I mean, Paula and Henri are hardly close, so even if she wants attention from Henri, Paula's hardly in the way.

    I think Theresa would be a fun character, so I'm hoping to explore her some more in other stories.

    Oh, that one shot... it's not something going on outside that building, I will say that.

    Also, you know it's fine by me. Life comes first!

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