The Only Right Thing - Part 2




Samantha Bradshaw is 25Helen Deppiesse is 34; Leo Deppiesse is 26Serdar Green is 75Rose Green is 35Cory Green is 48

July 2025

Rose had been a fool, that much was clear.


Only fools believe in fairytales, and she'd built her whole marriage out of one.  Wasn't that the way she'd seen them - as a fairytale?  As one of those old stories where true love conquers everything and nothing else in the world matters, so long as they're together.  


She'd ignored all the statistics about how often second marriages fail, how often alcoholics relapse... it didn't apply to them anyway.  They were too special, they were meant to be... they'd overcome all that, because that was the way the fairytale went.


She'd ignored her father's misgivings... that was just another part of the familiar old story, the parental opposition, another barrier for their love to overcome.  And now, she couldn't even bring herself to tell her father what had happened, because she couldn't face admitting to him that he'd been right.


She'd even ignored her own instincts.  That was one thing Samantha had been right about - Rose knew Cory better than anyone.  She knew all his dark places, all the wounds that had never healed no matter how much he pretended they had.  She'd chosen to ignore them because they didn't fit the fairytale.  


Cory's first wife had lived in denial of his weaknesses, and helped him do the same, and the consequences had been devastating.  Rose had condemned Sharla for that, all the while doing exactly the same thing herself, just for the sake of believing in a fairytale.


Only fools believe in fairytales, and Rose wasn't sure she could believe in anything right now.


Except the fact that she missed him.


Except that hope that, maybe if you couldn't build a marriage out of a fairytale, maybe you could still build something, out of whatever was left when the fairytale fell apart.

---

The time had passed far too quickly.  As much as Samantha hated to admit it, she'd become attached to this place.  She didn't want to go.  Which made it all the harder to explain to them why she was leaving.

The truth was out of the question.  Not when it seemed that very few people knew what had actually happened between her and Cory.  She'd keep the secret, for his sake, but it wasn't easy to lie... especially not to the people who'd become so important to her, in the time she'd been here.

Not surprisingly, Helen and Leo had been shocked when she broke the news, the day after they arrived home from their honeymoon.


"It's time I moved out," she said.  "You guys need some privacy, and Lizzie's getting bigger... she can't sleep in the hall forever."


"Well, ok... but you could get another apartment... you don't have to leave town completely!"

"But it's time for me to go... I never planned to stay here permanamtly.  I mean, you never know where your life's going to lead, and I want to travel, see as much of the world as I can, while I've got the freedom to do it.  I've already been here longer than I intended, I was going to leave a few months ago, then you asked me to be your bridesmaid... "


That part, at least, was true, and the rest of it sounded plausible enough.  Helen and Leo had accepted it, anyway.

So had Kyle, when she'd given him her resignation.  Interestingly, he didn't seem aware of what had happened, either.  She had expected Rose to have told him, but apparently she hadn't.


He'd been genuine in wishing her well, even despite his disappointment at losing another employee.  In the two weeks she'd given him, he'd been unable to find anyone to take over her job.  She hated to leave him so understaffed, but she really had no choice.

Time had passed, far to quickly.


"Cory's going to be so sad that he missed you," Helen said.  "I tried to call him last night but they weren't home."

So, Helen didn't know either.


Samantha choose her words carefully when she replied. "I'm disappointed, too," she said.  "But I've left him a message with your father, and you know how to contact me."


"You'll keep in touch, won't you?" said Helen.
"Of course I will," Samantha said.  "I want to see how that beautiful little girl of yours grows up."


"And we want to hear about all the exciting places you'll seeing," Leo said.

"And just remember, if you ever get tired of travelling, you've got a home here," Helen added, hugging her tightly.


"I will," she said, although she doubted it would ever happen.  But she'd say anything right now, to make this easier on them all.

Serdar stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.  He'd forgiven her, of course.  What else could he do?  Even after she'd told him everything that had happened, even after the disruption she'd caused in all their lives, he felt no ill will towards her.

At least this time, he'd had the chance to say that.


"Safe journey, my friend," he said, holding her tightly.  Helen might keep in touch with her, Samantha might even come back someday, but he knew in his heart that he wouldn't see her again. "And don't worry about Cory and Rose," he whispered.  "They're stronger than this, they just need time to think it through."
"Thank you," said Samantha.  "For understanding... and for everything... "

Anything else they said was drowned out by the whistle of the approaching train.  There were more rushed hugs, then it was time.  


Samantha stared out of the window of the train, watching the station,and the familiar town, and her friends, fade in the distance.


As the train rounded the bend and the station disappeared from sight, she caught a final glimpse of them, starting across the platform, heading home.

----

Cory forced himself to pretend to watch tv until his niece left.  Finally.  With everyone out of the house now, he half-ran up the stairs to his room.


He had to be careful.  They'd never understand if they knew.


It wasn't like last time.  This time, he was in control.  He wasn't getting drunk, he was only drinking a little, only enough to take the edge off.  Only enough to get through today.


He went back downstairs and carefully washed and dried the glass.  He was acutely aware of the fact that this couldn't go on forever.  At some point he'd need to think beyond today, think about finding somewhere to live, some kind of job... some kind of future.

He had no idea how to even start, how to summon the energy it would all take, how to move in any direction without being terrified of where it might lead to...


One more glass.  Only enough to get through today.

When he was finished, and the glass was once again clean and back in the cupboard, he went out into the backyard.  Chris's family didn't smoke, and they didn't like the smell of tobacco on Cory's breath.  But it masked the smell of the alcohol, and that was the main thing.


He came back indoors calmer.  So, what now?  He was supposed to be there helping his brother pack up his house, and although Chris knew the real reason he'd left Richmond, he still expected him do his part in preparing for the move.  So far, he hadn't made much progress with that.


He was still considering the collection of boxes and bags and tape, when the doorbell rang.


Cory felt like someone had just pulled the ground right out from under his feet.

"I'm sorry," Samantha said.  "Maybe I shouldn't be here... but I needed to see you again."

----

It wasn't until after Samantha had left Richmond, that Rose could bring herself to call Cory.  Maybe it was because she wanted Samantha gone before there was any chance of him coming back... or maybe it was because she'd never completely believed that she would leave at all... Rose didn't really know.

Whatever the reason, she waited until she was gone.  Then, she waited a few more days after that... every day, twice, thee times, maybe more... every day, picking up the phone, starting to dial... then hanging it up again.

She had the house to herself today.  Sam was out with her boyfriend, the younger two were with their grandparents.  Today, finally, she wouldn't hang up.


It seemed like a lifetime before Chris answered.  Rose had anticipated this moment for a long time, but she wasn't prepared at all for his response, when she asked to speak to Cory.


"What do you mean, he's not there?" she asked.
"He left... what... three or four days ago?  He should have been back in Richmond well before now."
"Well, he isn't!" said Rose, trying to force the rising panic out of her voice.  "How could you just let him go?"


"I didn't have much choice," said Chris.  "No one was even home when he went.  We got back and he'd just left a note and gone.  It said he missed you guys, he wanted to go home...  and even if he had told me, he's an adult, Rose...and he wasn't much help here anyway, just moping around all day... "


"You've got no idea at all where he went?"
"No.  Like I told you, all the note said was that he was going home."

Then, she understood.


"...if you want to know how that's going to feel, talk to your father-in-law.  He's been there, and he's spent his whole life regretting it."

Letting the phone slip from her hand, Rose grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

---

So, Samantha's gone from Richmond, although she hasn't quite left the story yet... one more update, then it really is goodbye... 

I really do imagine her keeping in touch with Helen, and probably with Serdar, too.  Just an email every few weeks, keeping each other know up to date what's going on, or something.  This is kind of important to my story, as Samantha is going to make a return visit to Richmond at some stage.  Not saying that anyone has to mention that they're still in contact, but it would be good if no one wrote anything to contradict it.

Thanks to his Samantha-dominated wants panel, Cory's aspiration level really bottomed out. Normally, I'd play a sim according to their wants, especially when their wants are this strong... but in Cory's case I think that, based on his history, no matter how much he wants Samantha he'd rather destroy himself than violate his marriage any further.  Which is basically what's happening, in terms of his aspiration level.

From here on, I've based this on what happened in-game, and on the outcome of Cory's aspiration failure random roll.  I made one change to my criteria - I decided that should it roll that way, I didn't want to write/play another straight suicide attempt - not so soon after Kyle.  Cory had once equated alcoholism with a slow form of suicide, so when he was unlucky enough to roll a five, we went with that.  It seems like a realistic enough direction for the story to take.  Cory already knew he was on the edge, right back when he visited his mother's grave... I really don't think he'd be strong enough to be pushed this hard as he is now, and not turn back to drinking.

Comments

  1. Wow, what a post. So much information. I want to know what Samantha said to Cory, where did Cory go and what is Rose going to do.

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  2. I ditto Starr's comments. What an intense post. I'm going to have to go back and read all of your story since I just stumbled across your blog. But this seems really really interesting and I want to know what's going on!

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  3. Thanks for reading!

    Apple, all I'm saying at this point is, To be Continued... :)

    Mandie, welcome! The best way to catch up on this story, is to follow the Green tags, or the Bradshaw or SBP tags, since Samantha has been a part of most of it anyway. The story really does depend a lot on the background at the moment.

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  4. What an update! So intense and heart-wrenching. You have such a great writing style. I'm with AV, where did Corey go and what did Samantha say? Poor Rose too. I'm so eager to see what happens in the follow-up.

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  5. serinsims, thanks. I'm working on the next update that will answer most questions... it's a hard one to write, too!

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  6. WOW..

    I hate when I have to play catch up. I feel that I miss out on such great stuff.

    Wow (again). Samantha does have a why with getting into stuff. And poor Cory, lets hope he gets his drinking under control before he takes a serious relapse.

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  7. oasisvalley, I've found there's also a good side in playing catch-up, in that I don't have to wait so long to find out what happens next :)

    Yeah, Samantha does have a way of getting herself into trouble... she's tried to get out of it this time in the best way she could, but she's still leaving quite a mess.

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  8. What a dramatic post! I can't believe Samantha is leaving Richmond, as that's how this blog came to be. I'll be interested to hear everyone else's stories now that she's gone.

    Great update! :)

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  9. coolkat2, thanks! It is sad to see Samantha go when, as you say, she got the story started here. Glad to know that you're sticking around now that she's left!

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