I had more trouble adjusting back to the present than I’d had adjusting to the future, which I found surprising. After all, the future had required plenty of adjustments from me.
Yet once the euphoria of having over 10,000 Simoleans in the bank wore off, I felt listless and uninspired. What did I used to do with myself all day? What got me out of bed in the morning? What kept me going throughout the day? What did I most look forward to at night?
“Paulo,” I said one morning at breakfast, “what do you do when you aren’t working?”
He swallowed a mouthful of waffles and said, “I mean, what does anyone do when they aren’t working?”
“I don’t know! That’s why I’m asking,” I said.
Paulo cocked an eyebrow at me. “Honey, you’re the one with all the experience in not working. You really should be the expert here.”
“Don’t call me ‘honey’.”
Paulo shrugged. He finished his waffles and headed over to the sink to clean up. I didn’t know how to resuscitate the conversation, and I was somewhat sorry I had started one with him in the first place. No wonder roommates had such a bad reputation.
“Did you see there’s a new consignment store in town?” he called after me as I headed for the living room. “It seems like you’ve been selling a lot of things lately, so you might want to check it out.”
He was really being insufferable. Then I remembered that he had the day off today, and that decided me: No way was I going to stick around the house for more of The Wit and Wisdom of Paulo Fucking Frio.
“Where,” I asked him, “did they open this new consignment store?”
“Zoë!”
Oh, no, I thought. Not one of them.
Not one of the Landgraab clones.
“Hi, Zoë!”
And worst of all, it was Christa–the most genetically wretched of those abominations. I could hardly stand to look at her.
“Hello, Christa. How are you doing today?”
“Suuuuuper great! I’m going to the Summer Festival tomorrow!”
“That will be nice,” I said, as brightly as I could manage. You had to talk to her like a child, or risk a meltdown. It was said that she was a genius, like her mother. But at the risk of seeming boastful, I’m a genius–literally–and so far, Christa and I had never been on the same wavelength.
“Are you jealous of me, Zoë? Because I’m going to the Summer Festival tomorrow?”
“Oh no, Christa, I’m very happy for you. I’m sure you’ll have a–” (here I actually winced) “–a super-great time.”
“You mean at the Summer Festival?”
Good Christ.
“Yes, Christa, at the Summer Festival. Listen, I’m sorry to–”
“Oh, good! We’re talking about the same thing! I was afraid for a second you might be jealous of me, Zoë, because you’re poor now!”
Everyone in the store turned around at that.
And I had thought Paulo was insufferable?
I needed damage control. If a Landgraab clone had heard that Zoë Astrikós was poor, then everyone in Lunar Lakes had heard it. Therefore, it was too late to do much about it. But maybe I could at least redirect Christa on the subject.
“Christa,” I said, “can I tell you a secret?”
Her face fell. “I’m not supposed to keep secrets.”
I feigned surprise. “You aren’t? Oh, but that’s silly, Christa. You’re a big girl now! I know you can be trusted to keep this secret.”
“Do you really think I’m a big girl?” I was squicked by the way she beamed at me, but I had to keep going.
“You certainly are, darling. Now listen carefully:”
“People are saying I’m poor, Christa, because they’re jealous of what good–what super-great friends we are. It isn’t actually true, though. I’m not poor. They’re just making it up, because they’re jealous.”
Would you believe it? The poor creature actually lit up again.
“I knew it,” she whispered. “I knew people were jealous of me.”
I didn’t stay long at the consignment store after that. I went to the Summer Festival–take that, Christa!–and played shootouts until my rage finally died down.
But I liked the vibe of the store, and I knew I would eventually need other places to–I mean, it wouldn’t hurt for Astrikós Enterprises, Ltd. to forge relationships with new vendors. I thought I would probably go back soon. Well, once the talk had died down, anyway.
Forging relationships with new vendors. Yes, this was key. Besides, it would give me something to do during the day, now that I wasn’t working.
My Sims 3 Challenges 
Jesus, Paulo, put some shorts on!
I’m saying!