enchantmentsisters / Stories / Behind Closed Doors - Chapter 1
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Welcome to the first chapter of Behind Closed Doors. If you have not yet read the prologue, I would suggest reading it. It will help you get to know the residents of Oasis Valley.

******

Author's note: This chapter will focus on only a few of the families. I do not want the chapters to get out of hand in length so I have decided to keep them limited to about 35 slides. All of the families will be featured in the series, just maybe not this chapter. The first few chapters will focus heavily on Cathleen Moore since that is where our story begins.

Welcome to the first chapter of Behind Closed Doors. If you have not yet read the prologue, I would suggest reading it. It will help you get to know the residents of Oasis Valley.

******

Author's note: This chapter will focus on only a few of the families. I do not want the chapters to get out of hand in length so I have decided to keep them limited to about 35 slides. All of the families will be featured in the series, just maybe not this chapter. The first few chapters will focus heavily on Cathleen Moore since that is where our story begins. Thus far:
~ Cathleen Moore recently moved to Oasis Valley to get away from the feuding families of Veronaville. Little does she know what she's stepping into.
~ William Covington is falling for the beautiful Cathleen Moore but is hesitant to let himself get too close.
~ The other families of Oasis Valley are each dealing with their own unique problems. You can find out more on each of them in the prologue.

Let's get on with the story... ~ Sightings Around Strangetown ~
*Buzz Grunt Abducted By Aliens*
(Strangetown) The Strange Gazzette caught up with Buzz today as he was out to get his groceries. His appearance certainly has changed since his teenage days when he wished to grow up and join the military like his father. Now, he sports sweatpants and a t-shirt. The Gazzette could certainly tell that the young Mr. Grunt had certainly put on some weight since we last saw him. When asked about his increasing waistline, Buzz replied with "A few months ago, I was abducted by aliens." Then he continued towards the check out counter. Buzz Grunt certainly is not like his father. Cathleen could not believe it. The sort of things that they considered as news around here. Anyone with any sense in their head would know that there are no such things as aliens. They would also know that alien abductions don't happen. Yet, The Strange Gazette finds it reasonable to print silly stories about these sorts of things all the time. What would it be next week - vampires? Cathleen found herself waiting around the house doing nothing a lot. She couldn't get her mind off of William and figured that he would call her. Their date had gone well until the very end and it seemed that if he liked her, then he would call her. She eventually decided that she needed to do something to get her mind off of the fact that William hadn't called, so she decided to practice painting again. She was no expert at it, but it did give her something to do. Cathleen had been in town close to a month now with no luck in the job hunt section. On this particular summer day, she picked up the newspaper to look at the want ads and found something that interested her - someone in the politics career track needed an intern. The pay was good, so Cathleen called up the person and was hired immediately. She spent the rest of the day excited about her new job. She also got up the nerve to travel the stairs to the roof. She wasn't sure why she hadn't been able to before - maybe she was afraid of what she would find up there. All she found was a harmless telescope left by the previous owner of the lot. She thought of the newspaper article concerning Buzz Grunt and decided that stargazing was not a plan for tonight. The next morning she woke up bright and early and headed to work. Her boss told her that the carpool would pick her up at 8 am. When she walked outside, she was disappointed to see an old beat up car picking her up. Hopefully the job would be better. To her disappointment, the job was so-so. When she got home, she decided to head out into Oasis Valley and see what sort of things she could find. She stumbled upon a quaint little bakery called Desert Desserts. She loved deserts and decided to check it out. When she got inside, she found that the little place was just perfect. There was every imaginable desert filling the place. She decided to splurge with her new paycheck and picked out one of everything she liked. When she got to the counter to check out, she found that the cashier was having a bad day. The register just wouldn't work quite like it was supposed to. After some patience on Cathleen's part, the cashier got it working and she was on her way. But not before the cashier stopped her. The cashier introduced herself as Mary Anne.
"You must be new around here. I haven't seen you around before." Mary Anne commented.
"I am." Cathleen told her. "I just moved into Oasis Valley about a month ago."
"I wish I had known. I would have shown you around." Mary Anne told her. "I normally am so on top of these things but ever since I opened this bakery, my mind seems to have gone."
"That's fine." Cathleen replied. "You could still show me around sometime soon if you would like."
"I might just have to do that." Mary Anne told her. They spent the next hour talking about various topics. They found that they had a lot in common. Much more than either one of them would have expected. They hit it off and Mary Anne told Cathleen that she'd give her a call sometime soon. It looked like Cathleen would be waiting on another phone call.

* * * * * * Things around the Ranger home weren't quite as peachy as normal. Rick had recently been laid off from his job and the entire family was having to help out with things. They were keeping the garden as fresh as possible with hopes of selling the tomatoes for some extra money. Rick was trying everything to keep Carla's mind off of their financial problems. He had recruited their close friends, Matthew and Mary Anne Rogers, to help as well. It was Matthew who suggested that they go to Deserted Lanes, the bowling alley that had just opened up in Oasis Valley. The two families showed up Friday night and the girls challenged the guys to a competition. The guys immediately accepted, boasting that they could beat their wives any day. The competition began. The guys started off strong but it wasn't long before the girls were warmed up. Then, they found themselves quickly catching up. In the end, it was the wives that won and Mary Anne did a victory dance in the middle of Deserted Lanes to celebrate. Carla couldn't help but laugh. The husbands continued to bowl while Carla and Mary Anne talked. Mary Anne told Carla all about the new friend she made earlier that day at the bakery. Carla suggested that they both show Cathleen around town and they worked out a day that would work for both of them. Mary Anne told her she would call Cathleen in a couple of days. Rick also invited the headmaster over. This would serve two purposes - getting Jo into private school and keeping Carla's mind distracted. Jo did get into private school but Carla only became more stressed when she saw the price of private school. She headed to the bathroom to relax with a bubble bath and thought about ways to remedy their situation. She came up with an idea. She found Rick pouring through the want ads in the kitchen the next morning. She sat still for a minute thinking about her plan. Finally, she decided to give it a go and interrupted Rick from his search. "I've been thinking..." Carla began. "About our financial situation."
"Yes?" Rick asked, curious to see where this was going.
"Well, we still have money in the bank right now that we could use. And Mary Anne has been quite successful with her little business venture." Carla continued.
"And?" Rick could see where this was going.
"What if we opened a produce market and sold your fruits and vegetables there?" Carla asked.
Rick hesitated. "I guess we could give it a try. The worst that could happen is we could fail and I'll be right back to browing the want ads. So, I guess let's go for it." Carla got on the computer right away and started searching the reality websites. It wasn't long before she found a nice little place. She purchased it online and went to get Rick. They headed off to see their new piece of land. One was as nervous as the other. They arrived at the site to find a small piece of land with a simple little building sitting on it. Carla started working on the inside and Rick started working on putting in gardens and trees for growing food. Within the week, they had the place ready to open for business. It is amazing what can be done in a short amount of time. The place was quickly filling up with customers. Many of them were local friends, such as Chip Zoler. But at this point, Carla would take any customers she could get. Rick spent the days working in the garden, while Carla dealt with the customers. He was much more suited for the gardening part of this business than the business part. Rebecca Zoler was a regular at the store within the first week. Carla asked her about it and Rebecca told her that she had to buy groceries weekly anyways. She might as well support a friend when she does. Carla could see that she had a lot of support from her friends and that they might just be what truly helps her get the business on the map in Oasis Valley. Mary Anne could see that Carla was struggling with all of the work that came with running the business. She suggested to Mary Anne that she get a few employees to help with the jobs. It would help things run smoother. Mary Anne was going to have to check into their budget before she hired anyone.

* * * * * * Cathleen had finally found a hobby that she could spend hours doing and enjoyed. She had found a bouquet making station for cheap at one of the local stores. She put it on her roof at home and was soon making lots of daisy bouquets. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with them, but it was keeping her occupied. She heard the phone ring and rushed downstairs to answer it, hoping that she would hear William's voice on the other end. To her dismay and surprise, it was Mary Anne. She was calling to ask Cathleen if she could do a tour of Oasis Valley next Friday with her and Carla. Cathleen accepted and realized that it was about time she started making friends in Oasis Valley.

* * * * * * Sorry that I have to keep these somewhat short. I just don't want the chapters to get to be too long because then they will take longer for people to read and there will be longer spans between each one being published.

I will not be able to work on this story next week because I will be dog sitting for some friends and away from my computer. If you let me know in your comment, I will let you know when Chapter 2 comes out - it will be at least a week or longer before I can get it finished and ready for publishing.

Thanks for reading and feedback is always welcome!

Behind Closed Doors - Chapter 1

Jun 20, 2008 by enchantmentsisters
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    22 Comment(s) posted so far

    On Jun 20, 2008 enchantmentsisters wrote:

    If anyone is interested in Quake (from the prologue), the Ranger's market, or Deserted Lanes, let me know. They are all created by me and I would be happy to upload them to TSR for anyone interested in having them. Thanks for reading!

    On Jun 21, 2008 arc1801 wrote:

    \:wub\: \:wub\: \:wub\:

    On Jun 21, 2008 sims2sweetie wrote:

    \;\) It's great.Please let me know when the next chapter will come out and also I would download one of your shops but I'm cheap and don't have open for business\:\( \;\)

    On Jun 21, 2008 Angela! wrote:

    Love it!!!\:wub\:

    On Jun 21, 2008 thekewlestnerd wrote:

    great story! i love hearing when new chapters are out! \:rah\:

    On Jun 21, 2008 amyells7 wrote:

    Great start! Please let me know when the next chapter comes out!\:D

    On Jun 21, 2008 maryash wrote:

    i love it!!

    On Jun 21, 2008 maryash2 wrote:

    great job!! \:rah\: \:rah\: \:rah\:

    On Jun 21, 2008 plyangel456 wrote:

    Great job! Please let me know when another chapter comes out! I can't wait to read it! -plyangel456- \:D

    On Jun 21, 2008 Irnouba wrote:

    great job, but you don't need to let me know when the chapters are out. thanks though!! \:wub\:

    On Jun 22, 2008 ,xPheobe. wrote:

    Great chapter..\:D

    On Jun 22, 2008 maryash wrote:

    great!!

    On Jun 22, 2008 bunniguru wrote:

    Ooh I enjoyed that!\:rah\:

    On Jun 22, 2008 taydepp wrote:

    Great story \:D \;\)

    On Jun 23, 2008 samcactus101 wrote:

    very cute story\:wub\:lemme know when the next chapter come out\;\) \:D

    On Jun 23, 2008 MissJay wrote:

    Love it as always! Please let me know when Chapter 2 comes out!

    On Jun 24, 2008 redwingsbeann wrote:

    \:wub\: \:ph34r\: \:wub\:

    On Jun 24, 2008 Lauren-Alicia wrote:

    so cool!! keep it goin!! \:rah\: \:rah\: \:rah\:

    On Jun 24, 2008 Murphy75 wrote:

    Great story! I can't wait for the next chapter\:rah\:

    On Jun 25, 2008 Fikcija wrote:

    Great story! 5 to you \:rah\:

    On Jul 18, 2008 stripedpenguins wrote:

    yeah i love it!!!

    On Mar 26, 2009 shehadgaun wrote:

    Lovew it and can't wait for the next chapter! It can't come quick enough! \:wub\:

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