The Andretti Legacy
Chapter 79
Chapter 79 "Ian?" Isis quietly shuts the back door as she passes through it. It's a beautiful day, and Ian is glued to his telescope. "The Mayor wants to speak with you about the theater. They apparently need your signature on a few things to make renaming it in your honor all official." "Did he say what time he wanted to see me?" Ian asks quietly. "I'm looking through the windows of that airplane right now."
"Honey, I'm sure those people don't want you spying on them." Isis chuckles.
"Aw, they'll never know. They can't even see me." Ian laughs and looks at his watch, then back into the telescope.
"He didn't say a time, but I'd imagine he'd like to see you now. He seemed like everything is on hold until you sign those papers." She shrugs her shoulders, and then heads back inside to get a cold drink.
***
A few days later, Jaxson heads towards the theater. His dad promised him a job if he were interested until he could get some experience together to get the job he really wants. Jaxson thought on it a few days, but figured that he might as well take the free job. What harm could come from it?
He makes his way up the red carpet confidently...or, as confidently as a quiet shy type could.
"Jaxson!?" He hears someone shout his name. He stops and turns toward the voice.
"Ohmygosh!" The girl squeals. "Is that really you?!" She throws her hands back. "Frankly, I'm quite shocked I still remember your name!" Jaxson laughs uneasily as the girl continues to excite herself. She notices his expression and cheesy laugh, and stops smiling. "It's me...Jen! Remember?!" "Oh!" Jaxons gasps. "Jen...yeah! ...I remember." He smiles a big smile trying to hide his terror. He looks down at the ground. "What are you doing at the theater by yourself?" He quickly thinks of something to say
"I'd like to ask you the same thing." She giggles.
"Me?" His voice squeaks. "Uh...my dad, see...he...well, I'm trying to get a job." Jaxson scratches the back of his neck nervously. He doesn't like to tell people that he's an Andretti. Ever since the theater was renamed in Ian's honor, the town has been awed by any and all things Andretti. Being an introverted type of personality, Jaxson doesn't like to inform people of his family ties.
"Theater. Your dad. A job...you wouldn't be an Andretti, would you?" She looks at him with a sly eye.
"Jaxson Andretti...at your service." He sighs heavily and Jen lets out an extremely excited scream.
"Ohmygosh!" She laughs happily. "I never would have guessed! I mean, like when I first met you...I knew your clothes were high dollar...my mom even called you out on that, but wow...I would have never imagined you were somebody famous!"
"I don't like to draw attention to myself...nor do I like other's to do it either." Jaxson mumbles quietly as a few people begin staring at the scene Jen is creating.
"Oh...I can take a hint." Jen straightens up quickly noticing the people watching. "I'm just...wow. Speechless. What do you say we go down to the beach...? Your dad can get you a job later." She giggles and grabs his hand and pulls him down the sidewalk.
***
A few hours had passed and the two teenagers had talked about how their lives had progressed and how they hoped they would progress in the future.
"I would come out here every night...just sit here and look out across the ocean. The fish...the waves...the lighthouse...it was all so relaxing. No matter kind of storm came battering down on that lighthouse, it was always standing strong, never falling...it keeps going around and around. I felt like that was me...no matter what life threw at me, I'd keep on going. I'd keeping on knowing that a brighter day would follow at some point. I was like you, Jaxson...I never had friends. My mother worked very hard for everything we had, and she made time to play with me. I knew the minute you shook my hand that you weren't from my side of town. All the kids on my side of town laughed at me and made fun of my house and my mother...even though their parents worked just as hard and they lived in the same crummy houses. I hated it...I hated every bit of it, and this spot...this spot right here is where I spent most of my time." Jen looks out across the water while Jaxson listens quietly. "I want to ask you something...and I want an honest answer..."
"Uh...okay." Jaxson smiles nervously.
"...why didn't you ever come back?" She avoids looking at him as she expects the worst possible answer. Jaxson swallows hard, and turns to face her.
"...I don't really have a good answer, Jen. I could say that I was scared. I could say that I had no social skills whatsoever...I still lack those." He smiles softly. "I could say that it was too far a walk. I could even say that I didn't know how to get back to your house." He stares down at the sand. "But, none of them would be right. I don't know what the right answer to your question would be...but, I will say that I looked for you at school every day for months and months. I never saw you again."
"...my mother...she knew how badly the other children made fun of me, and she felt like I couldn't handle public school. One of our neighbors homeschooled me. I looked for you everyday, too. I was just so excited that...well, that I might have a friend. For the first time, you know." Jen laughs to herself.
"Isn't it strange...how neither one of us had any friends growing up, and we relied on the other to make the second move...but, it never happened. And now, here we are...being friends." Jaxson looks at her and smiles.
"Friends..." Jen smiles happily. "That's such a foreign word to me. You, too, I'll bet."
"I wonder...if I had changed my mind about going to the theater...you think we'd still found each other again?" Jaxson looks at her and a strange emotion stirs inside of him.
"...I believe in fate, not mere coincidences." She smiles back at him and then quickly looks away as her stomach flutters making her queasy.
"Now...may not be the time to say this, but...I'm going to do it anyway. I've always been on the inappropriate side of the personality line anyway." She giggles. "I hope that you and I will see each other again...I also hope that you aren't scared of me...like you once were." She reaches forward and embraces him. He stiffly brings his arms up and wraps them around her feeling very light headed and wobbly. "Don't break my heart again, Jaxson." She whispers in his ear.
***
A few days later, Ian celebrates his senior birthday. It's a huge hit, and people from all over town shower him with gifts, congratulations, and pleas to have one last show before his retirement. He promises them that there will be at least one show before he fully leaves the entertainment business.
The party lasts nearly 10 hours, and eventually everyone leaves. Jaxson looks down at his watch and realizes it's far too late to call Jen. She's probably already in bed by now. He was supposed to call when the party was over, and he feels like she's thinking he forgot to call. Hopefully, she will understand that the party lasted all night and into the next morning.
A few week's had passed, and Ian was beginning to feel his age. He aches all the time, he is always cold, he doesn't sleep well. It's only a matter of time, and that certainly worries him. He can't bear the thought of losing Isis or even Jaxson, but he may not have a choice.
"...I've been thinking, Isis." Ian pipes up one evening as they're preparing for bed. "I want to...well, I want to hand my deed for the theater down to Jaxson. But, I am afraid that because he is not interested in such things...I'm afraid that he would just sell it or not take care of it." Ian's hear sinks, knowing that death is approaching is such a horrible illness on the body.
"Honey, I think that coming from you...his father, I think he would take care of it to the best of his abilities, and I can't imagine him selling it. It would really be all that he would have." Isis voice quivers at the thought of her being a widow. Ian pulls Isis closer to him, and holds her dearly.
"You must also remember that he doesn't like attention. He may sell it just so that he has no ties to it other than his last name." Ian says with a soft sigh.
"You have a point, but I bet you're wrong. Why don't you ask him? Just have a man to man about it." Isis smiles sweetly up at him, and he kisses her forehead.
***
"Is everything okay, Jaxson?" Jen looks up at him with much concern as she lays her fork down and looks across the table at him. "You haven't said much of anything tonight."
"...I'm sorry." He apologizes as he takes another bite.
"My dad...he, well...last night he and I went out fishing. I was so excited to get to spend time with him. We haven't done that in a long time, you know?" Jaxson stares down into his bowl of Minestrone. "But...it wasn't anything like I thought it'd be."
"How so?" She stares into his bowl of soup as well wondering what he was fixated on.
"...he is going to sign the deed to the theater over to me." Jaxson mutters with a broken heart.
"Oh...Jaxson." She looks away from him quickly feeling her heart breaking, too. "I don't really know what to say." She slowly picks up her fork and stares into her plate.
"You don't have to say anything, Jen. You really don't." He looks over at her, wondering what kind of thoughts are racing through her head right now.
"I'm here if you need me...always, Jaxson. Always." She replies quietly, just over the large crowd.
***
Back at home, Isis and Ian are having a discussion on the same topic.
"Isis, what do you want me to do!?" Ian mumbles and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow...and I just want everything to be in order when that time comes."
"...I know, and I just wish that you didn't dwell on it all the time. I'm just as old as you, and who knows...I could go first, but I just want to spend quality time together...I don't want to set up plans for after we die all the time." She stares back at him, her heart breaking with every word.
"...Isis." Ian takes a step forward and takes her hands in his. "...it's going to come when we least expect it, and when it does...I want you to know that I love you very much. You've been nothing but exceptional for me, and you are what has made my life whole. I don't know where I'd be had I not met you at my sister's that night." Ian lets out a small sigh.
"Ditto..." Isis looks up at him with a small, broken-hearted smile.
***
A few months have passed, and both Ian and Isis are truly beginning to feel the pains of old age. Not only physical, but emotional as well. Ivy's funeral just about set Ian over the edge. Losing his parents years ago was hard, but losing his big sister was the hardest death to accept. Isis took the blow hard, but not nearly as hard as Ian. Isis was on the verge of giving up trying to help him, as it seemed he would never recover.
Jaxson finishes cleaning up his meal from his midnight snack. He's been having trouble sleeping lately, and he's not sure if it's because he feels like Jen has been getting more distant. He really, really likes Jen, but as they are growing up, he doesn't think she has a mutual likeness for him. As though it were some sort of sign, the phone started ringing. He noticed it was Jen calling, so he quickly answered.
"Meet me at the beach in about 30 minutes." She tells him, and quickly hangs up on him. Jaxson remains with the phone to his ear; she didn't sound worried or anything, but she was definitely in a hurry. He hurries to the bathroom, and slicks his stray hairs down. He brushes his teeth and straightens his clothes. His heart is racing and for some reason, he feels very nervous. What does Jen want? What if she's setting him up for his first real heartbreak? What if she's not? The thoughts scared the color from his face. He took one last look in the mirror, before finally heading out.
Other Stories
TSR started August 1999 as the very first The Sims fansite. Today it’s the largest The Sims community in the world. We offer more custom content than any other site and it's all for free!
Add a Comment
Please report any offensive comments so we can remove them. Use of bad language, unsuitable links or flaming may result in deletion of your account.
7 Comment(s) so far