3D – Journey Vignettes Pt. 3

Between working hard, working out, and spending time with his ladies, Jonathan still found plenty of time to dream about his restaurant. Some days he went to the lot to walk around and visualize where things would go. Other days he went and simply dreamed about it. Sometimes he felt like he could feel his grandma smiling down on him and hoped that he would make her proud. He knew she would be proud no matter what he did, but he didn’t want to let her down.

One day, when he was out dreaming at the restaurant’s site, he decided to pay a visit to an old friend. He heard through the grapevine that his buddy from culinary school was also opening a restaurant in Magnolia Promenade. They hadn’t talked in a while, but he still considered her to be one of his good friends. Because of what she went through while she was in school, he just knew that she would be a nervous wreck and wanted to encourage her. He had his wife and family for support, but Lee had no one. He made a mental note to check up on her every now and then.

After many long days and nights, it was finally finished! He could hardly believe it.

Welcome to Viviana’s!

Jonathan was beyond pleased.

In Pruett-like fashion, he had to christen it with a family get together! He invited all the Pruetts to come by and check it out. He also invited his new staff to come and enjoy before this place became their daily grind. He also wanted to introduce them to Skyla.

Jonathan and family arrived early, of course, and he gave them a private tour of the place. Before everyone else was set to arrive, Skyla took some time to congratulate him and say how proud of him she was.

I couldn’t help throwing this one in. Skyla is so dang beautiful!

Everyone began to trickle in and all met and greeted each other at the host’s station. Jonathan was hoping that Emerson would bring his son, Graham, so Aubrey would have another child to talk to, but apparently he and Katlin were sick and stayed home. That didn’t affect Aubrey though. She loved being around older people and simply admired her father. She got the insider trait and imagined herself being surrounded by friends and admirers as she watched her father speak to everyone.

Maya and Juliana hadn’t gotten together since her birthday, and this was the first time Maya saw Juliana’s new look.

“Hey, girl! You look almost as good as me,” she teased.

“Ha! Do I smell fear of a little competition?”

“Never.”

As everyone was meeting and greeting, Juliette grew suspicious of Jonathan’s staff, but she kept it to herself…for a little while.

It was getting crowded at the door, and Jonathan moved the party to the main dining room to make it more comfortable. He introduced his employees to his wife.

“Skyla! Come meet my wonderful staff!”

“Hello, ladies,” she said.

Jonathan began the introductions. “This is Tiana Munch! She’s our chef,” he said referring to the red head next to Skyla.

“Howdy do,” Tiana said.

“And this is Savannah Tucker. She is our server, and she just got married!”

“Oh how nice,” Skyla said. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Savannah said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Jonathan continued. “And last, but certainly not least, this is Aylin Rodgers, our lovely hostess!”

“It’s a pleasure,” Aylin said.

“It’s great to meet all of you,” Skyla said. She felt like she should have said more, but the meeting was a bit awkward for her. Not because of the ladies, but just being in a place of importance again. Clearly she did not relish in her husband’s downfall and would not wish to repeat the past if time were to rewind. However, laying low and living like everyone else was a welcomed changed from being “Mrs. Pruett.” True, she was still Mrs. Pruett, but the spotlight that came with that title had dimmed. She could feel it getting brighter.

Jonathan called his daughters over and introduced them to the staff. Again, Aubrey was ecstatic. Seeing Jonathan standing in the middle of a circle talking to people, she thought he was the most important man in the world. She wanted to be just like him.

Juliette had been watching from the sidelines and saw an opportunity to interrupt. “Hello, little brother,” she said as she inspected the ladies. “You have quite the staff.”

Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Ladies, this is my oldest sister, Juliette. Juliette, this is Aylin, the hostess with the mostest, Tiana, chef extraordinaire, and Savannah, the awesome server.”

Juliette ignored the introductions. “Skyla…did you know your husband would be hiring such beautiful women?” She successfully made everyone uncomfortable.

Jonathan didn’t appreciate what she was implying. “Get outta here with that nonsense, Juliette.”

“I’m quite sure they were hired because of their skills and experience, Juliette,” Skyla said.

“Mmm hmmm. Let’s hope so,” Juliette said. “I’ll be watching you, little guy.”

Derek came over to rescue Jonathan. “Where’s my invitation to the beautiful ladies party? You’re holding out on me, cuz!”

“Ha! Ummm, somehow I don’t think OJenn would appreciate me doing that. I’m mad at you by the way. You get married and have a kid and don’t tell anyone? What’s up? If Skyla and Jenn weren’t such good friends we would never know!”

“Hey, I remember when you were in the love zone and were ghost all the time…”

“Touche! So what’s your daughter’s name anyway? And when can we meet her?”

“Her name is Madelyn, and we’ll have to get together sometime. Our house is so cramped now with Jenn’s other daughter and Chasity’s daughter there. I really want to move out so we can have our own space, but I don’t think I should leave Chasity alone right now, you know? She’s still not working, and,” Derek looked around to see who might be listening and leaned forward to whisper to Jonathan, “don’t tell her I said this, but I think she’s pregnant again!”

“Oh geez,” Jonathan said. “Is she still with the same guy?”

“Nope. I don’t think she’s technically with anyone right now. She’s being stupid and careless!”

“Poor thing.” Jonathan never considered that losing Sky High Cafe would affect her so much. He figured that she would just find another job and move on with her life. However, perhaps the timing was off. It had taken her a while to get over her parents’ deaths, and she was still grieving quite heavily when Jonathan hired her. Getting a job was helping her to stay busy and keep her mind off it, but she lost it before she got to a good place. She must have gone deeper into her depression and found some guys who were more than willing to help her feel better.

While these two cousins were gossiping about Chasity, Juliette was still giving the stink eye to Jonathan’s employees.

“Oh knock it off, Juliette,” Janessa said.

The party rocked on, and everyone was enjoying Viviana’s quite well. Jonathan hired a bartender and a caterer so Tiana wouldn’t have to work during the party, but the caterer never showed. However, everyone seemed to be content with their juices. Aubrey didn’t complain about being hungry until the party was near over.

Jonathan made his rounds, thanking everyone for coming and making sure they had a good time. He didn’t think of it this way, but it was good practice for when Viviana’s was up and running as that will be what he’ll spend his days doing. Weeks ago when he began thinking about starting a restaurant, he thought that he may miss cooking and being complimented on his food. But, the more he thought about it, his favorite part about running the cafe was the people. He loved interacting with the patrons—especially the regulars. He loved creating a space that was inviting. Having learned from his past mistakes, he promised that if he ever opened another restaurant, he wouldn’t try to be all things to all people and hire a proper staff. He realized that was one area where he went wrong. He wore too many hats and had too much on his plate. Even if he didn’t have the problems at home, it would only would have been a matter of time before something dropped. This time, he took cues from his own place of employment and was going to be a proper restauntuer who manages the business.

Tiana was cowering near the bathrooms with a concerned look on her face.

“Everything ok? Jonathan asked.

“I’m just a ball of nerves,” she said.

“Why?”

“Well…you know… This is my first real restaurant job, and you’re Jonathan Pruett! I feel pressured to be awesome.”

He was quite familiar with that feeling. He took her by the shoulders and said, “Hey…forget the Pruett part, ok? I’m Jonathan, and I’m just a guy who’s starting something new who happens to be your boss. I’m nervous too! So, let’s be nervous together! If we succeed, we succeed together. If we fail, we’ll go out with a bang and have some incredible memories to look back on together. I’m not expecting awesome. I expect your best, and I know that will include some mistakes. I’m going to make them too. I’m in the same boat, ok?”

That was the pep talk she needed. “Thanks for saying that Mr.—uh, Jonathan. I’ll give the good ol college try!”

It was getting late, and the partygoers began to leave. As a gift to himself and his family on their last night of freedom—freedom from responsibility over Viviana’s that is—Jonathan left the mess and hired a maid service to clean up in the morning. The Pruetts went home and had dinner. Jonathan went to bed first and then Maya. Aubrey was wired and didn’t show any signs of sleepiness. Skyla let her stay up a little bit past her bedtime.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, sweetness?”

“Can I work at daddy’s restaurant when I get older?”

“I’m sure he would love that!”

Want to know more about Jonathan’s friend Lee? Check out her story here written by the phenomenal Virtualee! It is HILARIOUS!! We’ll be collaborating and sending our Sims back and forth from time to time, so I encourage you to check her story out as well. You won’t regret it!