Lovers' Lane
Ford and Kia seemed to meet up and chat a lot over the next few days, although it was all on a strictly friendly level.
And then it was his birthday again.
Amazingly, Ford didn't have a midlife crisis. I think he's the first since Alvis not to have one. Maybe he was contented with his life at the moment: he'd just started a new job in politics (although hadn't been to work yet, because of Kia's non-graduation and the weekend) and his dynasty requirements were going pretty well.
A day or two later, with his new career progressing nicely, he took the chance to get a little more romantic with Kia and tell her how attractive he found her.
With perfect
ly bad timing, his father walked in on them.
Thanks, Morgan. Don't you remember VW doing exactly the same thing to you?
.
And, just like that, the would-be lovebirds had naughty reputations. What, just from saying someone's attractive? Come on, EA!
I didn't expect reputations to go downhill so fast but I'm still kicking myself. Well, not so much for Ford – his high-school days were quite a long time ago and I'd almost forgotten about his romantic interest from prom. He'd tried to invite her over and ask to 'just be friends' a couple of times but she'd had pathing issues and had driven off again without even setting foot on the lot. I really should have remembered Igor, though
.
So Ford and Kia stopped almost-flirting and invited over their respective unfinished businesses. Kia successfully broke up with Igor but whatever-her-name-was got stuck again as soon as she'd got out of the taxi. Fortunately, social networking came to the rescue: Ford used the relationship transmogrifier app to change them from romantic interests to friends.
Too tired to do anything else that evening, Ford collapsed in front of the telly next to his mother. Opal was tired, too.
Very, very tired.
"Mum, are you OK? Mum!"
Grim appeared and the family gathered to mourn.
Opal was content to go. She'd seen her son grow into full adulthood, with a potential spouse almost locked in. She'd have liked to have seen her grandchild but knew that was impossible at this stage in the dynasty. So she shook Grim's hand.
"I really could do with a good, long rest."
It was a terrible time to start throwing parties but Ford had reached the point in the political career when fundraisers were needed. All of the invitees to his first were close friends or family. They should understand.
Of course, the only family members not already part of the household were his robotic half-siblings. Kia reacted particularly badly to the sight of these potential in-laws.
But then, Carmen wasn't too impressed with her human half-brother, either.
(No idea why Ford was also freaking out there.)
Finally, everyone settled down and the SimBots got into the party spirit (or reading, in Carmen's case. She appears to be very near-sighted. Maybe her optic sensors need an overhaul.)
I thought the Simbots were playing tag but then noticed the electrical discharges around Carmen's neck and torso. How had she managed to short out at a party? Had someone thrown a drink?
Fortunately, her creator was around to fix her.
Hang on, where
was Morgan?
Oh dear!
Pretty sure that was all Kia's fault.
I sent Morgan off to fix his robotic daughter and found that Kia was already apologising.
"I'm sorry, Ford. I just like flirting."
"You know that you're the one I love."
And she kissed him.
Less than a day later, Morgan became a level 8 jock and qualified for an extra trait. I toyed with the idea of making him grumpy, because he probably ought to be, but settled on unflirty to head off further trouble. Which worked – at least, until I narrowly stopped Kia from inviting Austin out to look at the stars a few days later. At that point, I spotted that she had enough lifetime happiness points for a personality change and she became friendly instead of flirty.
It seemed a good time to give Ford and Kia's relationship a nudge. He invited her out to the bistro for a romantic meal.
The sun had just set as they finished eating, so they walked across the terrace to admire the view across the town.
Kia knew which view she preferred.
It was a clear night, perfect for stargazing.
"See there, the bright star on Orion's shoulder? That's Betelgeuse."
Then they gazed into each other's eyes instead.
And what was Ford thinking there?
Exactly the same thing that Kia was
.
They drove back home and found their way into the heir's suite.
"Ooh, there are stars in here too."
"Kia, are you OK with this?"
"I certainly am!"
