Chapter Thirty-Four (Part Two)

Melody decided she needed some alone time after the shareholders' meeting to recharge her batteries. She took a jog down to Hunter's Park, to the pond where she and her father had spent their last quiet moments together. Tossing a few loose pebbles into the water, she watched the ripples spread outward and disappear. She thought a lot about Stephen, about what he'd told her before he died...
They had spent all day at Hunter's Park, just the pair of them -- no distractions, no one approaching them, no babies crying, no yelling and nagging, nothing. They'd cast their own lines, hardly looking at each other but feeling each other's presence just the same. "You know, Melody, I don't want to tell your mother this -- I don't want to worry her -- but I've been having heart issues for some time."
"Father!" shouted Melody in disbelief.
"My doctor says that if I avoid stress and follow a healthy regimen I should prolong my life." Stephen then changed the subject. "Listen, sweetheart, about the toy shop -- I know you don't really like toys and toymaking, and I know you've never set foot in the shop. That fact disappoints me, but it's the choice you've made. I still think you'd be a great toymaker, the way you like to take apart things. I had just bought your new computer and I passed by your room and there you were, with a screwdriver in your hands, taking it apart. I had to laugh, I couldn't help myself. It wouldn't be so funny if that Alienware hadn't been special-ordered and it didn't cost 4000 simoleans."
"I've always liked to try to figure out how things worked."
"While I was on the phone with Alienware, I had to explain to them that I'd bought the computer for my daughter and that her curiosity had caused her to take it apart. I know about your fascination with machines. You've been that way since you were little. That's why I wasn't surprised when you asked for the robot crafter."
"I'd seen one and read up on what could be done with them. I decided I wanted to learn how to do that."
Stephen gazed fondly at his daughter. "I know about the situation with the jack-in-the-box and about what happened when our store Inner Child opened. Melody, dear, there's more to making a toy than a piece of wood and a hammer. I'm pretty sure that if you tried it, you'd enjoy it. It even involves painting, and I know you like to do that." Stephen took a deep breath. "I want you to promise me something. In the event of my death, I'd like you to keep Tinker Toys in the Tinker family."
Snapping back to the present time, Melody realized that she had never truly had time to grieve Stephen's passing. No matter what the DNA test results would ultimately reveal, she felt a connection to him. Right then and there, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. The fact that he was now dead had altered the fortunes and priorities of her whole family -- herself included. Her kid sister, Harmony, would never know her father -- the kind, loving, generous man she knew.

The next morning, Melody awoke to the smells of Wanda's fresh-brewed coffee and omelettes. "Hey, sweetheart," Wanda smiled, looking up at her daughter. "I see you've been rummaging through Stephen's things again."
"Yeah, this was one of his shirts. Kinda reminds me of him."
"You know," Wanda said while flipping the omelettes over, "he'd be so proud of you, the way you took over that meeting room yesterday."
"You were there?" Melody asked, somewhat surprised by this revelation. "I thought you'd gone to pick up Harmony."
"Harmony stayed after school for ballet classes, so I stuck around the meeting room."
After a brief pause, Melody stopped Wanda for a second. "Mom -- " she began in a hushed, halting voice, with the sepia-toned Polaroid of a young man with glasses, dreadlocks, and glasses, "who is this?"
Wanda nearly burnt her omelettes. "What? Where did you find that?"
"In the box with daddy's stuff."
"Oh, that's sweet little Billy -- my beloved little brother."
Melody's eyes bulged in disbelief. "Mom! You never told me you had a brother! And he kinda looks like me!" "There's a lot of things I haven't told you, dear. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to know."
"I think I'm old enough to know now."
Wanda managed a chuckle. "Yeah, you sure are, I guess. If you're old enough to positively take over a boardroom with Malcolm Landgraab in it, then you're old enough to hear about your uncle Billy."
After serving breakfast, Wanda proceeded to tell Melody everything about her younger brother, William Zarubin. Of the two of them, William, or 'Billy' was unquestionably their parents' favorite -- and no wonder. He was their shining light, the overachiever, the golden boy. He made straight A's without trying. "Meanwhile, I -- I just struggled," Wanda revealed, "I did everything I could do to try to outdo him, but nothing I did helped. In fact, everything I did made things worse."
Like his niece would do many years later, William -- he hated being called Billy, even though Wanda insisted on it -- got into Academie Le Tour early due to his excellent grades.
"What happened to him?" Melody asked, her curiosity growing with every word Wanda uttered.
"After graduation from ALT Billy got a job as a chemist at Sim City General. His bosses were pushing for a deadline for an antidote to a specific poison, and he rushed it through, testing it on himself -- " Wanda struggled to fight through tears.
"So Uncle Billy was a scientist?"
Wanda took a deep breath. "Yes, he was. The lab was shut down, there was a huge investigation and the whole project was scrapped."
Melody shook her head. Wanda wiped her tears long enough to recognize that the wheels were churning in her oldest daughter's mind. "Do you know what poison they were trying to make an antidote for?"
"Melody!" This was why Wanda worried. This was the source of her sleepless nights, nearly every night, since her daughter left for college. And this was why she was afraid to let her go. She didn't know when the next time she saw her oldest daughter would be her last.

The Tinkers' late-model grey sedan pulled onto the curb beside Aldrich Dorm. "Melody," Wanda called to the tall, lithe girl, "could you give me a hand?"
"Sure, mom," Melody replied obediently as she walked toward the trunk of the car.
Wanda cut an authoritative presence as she carried boxes toward the entrance of the dormitory. She was playing the part of the wealthy widow and playing it well. Other dormies leaned forth to see what was happening. "Is that Melody's mother?" they whispered to each other. "Funny, but they look nothing alike."
Wanda shot them a glance, and their whispering immediately stopped.

Melody kept a low profile -- or at least as low a profile as she could -- as she returned to the campus grind and the routine she so loved. She was back to waking up at the crack of dawn to jog, going to classes, then the library, then the lab, then the observatory. She was glad to know that the reporters who had camped around the dormitory had moved on to some other story, so she could return to something resembling normal student activities. She glided within her air-tight inner circle, trying to maintain the privacy she cherished.
"Stop playing him like a marionette!" warned Jessica, pointing her finger as Melody entered the secret society house.
"What are you talking about?" asked Melody, wondering what she did to get accosted in this manner.
Jessica shook her head. "You know darn well what I'm talking about. There's only so much he can take, and keeping him dangling there isn't helping matters at all." Jessica stood as close as she dared, their noses almost touching and feeling Melody's hot breath on her chin.
"How the heck do you know how Chester feels?" Melody asked in an accusatory tone, feeling the bile rise from her throat.
"I want to know," Jessica said slowly, emphasizing every word that came from her mouth, "do you love him or not?"
"It's none of your business how I feel about him."
"Actually, Melody, you're wrong. It is my business because he's my boyfriend. And because I've seen him look at you in a way he'll never look at me."
Melody was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"He follows you around like a little puppy dog, he takes your orders, bends over backwards, is available at your every beck and call, and does he complain? No! Whenever we're talking, it's always Mel this and Mel that. Do you know how hurtful that is? Especially coming out of the mouth of the man you love? Or do you even care?" Jessica heaved a heavy, deep sigh. "There's no way I can compare to the great and glorious Melody Tinker. I don't have a billion and a half IQ, but what I do have is love and lots of it. I love Chester with all my heart and soul, but I know that he doesn't love me back. There's a piece of him that I cannot take for myself, and that's the piece that loves you."
Tears started flowing down Jessica's face as her voice failed her. Wiping her hand angrily across her wet, flushed cheeks, she turned and ran out of the room, away from the ice princess herself.
Melody was left alone in the darkened room, forced to ponder Jessica's words. She buried her head in her hands, and if one came close, they could hear a couple of loose sobs. What was happening here? Her whole perfect world was crumbling around her ears. A young woman who prided herself on knowing things suddenly didn't know anything at all.

Chapter Thirty-Four (Part One)

At the Goth residence, Dina did the only thing she could do. She dialed Malcolm.
"Malcolm," Dina cried, her voice quavering as she spoke, "Malcolm, I need your help."
Malcolm heaved a deep sigh. "What's happening?"
"My husband passed away tonight."
"I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as I am. His bratty daughter showed up tonight and tossed me and my son out onto the street. She kept railing on and on about how my son isn't a Goth baby --"
"He's not, he's a Landgraab."
"That's not the point! The point is, he was born in this house, he was born as a Goth, and therefore should be entitled to at least a piece of the estate."
"Look, Dina," Malcolm said, turning off his radio, "I'm on my way over there as soon as I can."

A half hour later, Malcolm drove from Bluewater Village over to the Goth mansion in Pleasantview. Dina emerged from the house in the fur coat Checo Ramirez had bought her and met Malcolm outside, planting a passionate kiss on his lips. "I am so glad to see you," she finally whispered, wiping her tears long enough to sound sincere.
After leading Malcolm into the house, Dina got him a glass of Mortimer's perfectly aged wine while she disappeared upstairs. When she returned, her young son, Manuel, with lungs the size of a furnace bellows and a voice that could crack glass, screamed for his favorite toy -- a tattered teddy bear that had belonged to Alexander.
Malcolm looked up in disbelief as Dina, saying nothing and holding a bottle, handed the toddler over to him. "So," he said, looking at the glowing bottle, "what do you want me do then?"
"Feed him," came the curt reply.
"What? With THAT stuff? I don't think so."
"It's fine, he's had no problems with it at all."
"It's glowing green, do you have any idea where that's been?"
"SO? It's not hurting him."
Malcolm shook his head and gazed down at the now, extremely quiet boy, snuggled contentedly in his arms. He stroked the fine blond hair and smiled gently. His heart soared when Manuel beamed a big toothy grin right back.
"We're going to get you some REAL food young man," Malcolm crooned, "Not this potentially radioactive crap she's been feeding you."

"Mom!" Harmony squealed, "look at this letter they passed around in school. I wanna sign up for ballet!"
"Ballet, really?" Wanda smiled as she took the note and read through it. "How nice for you."
Meanwhile, Melody rolled her eyes in obvious disapproval. My god, can she be any more annoying? she thought.
"I'm going to take Harmony to sign up, be back soon-ish," Wanda said as she kissed Melody on her forehead. "Be right back."
Melody walked out to the mailbox to get the mail, and one envelope caught her eye. It was addressed to "the Tinker family" in calligraphy, and sealed with a gold seal with the letters "MLIV."
With hands trembling from rage, Melody carefully pulled the seal open to reveal a beautifully filigreed invitation to the forthcoming nuptials of Mr. Malcolm Charles Landgraab IV and Mrs. Dina Rosalia Goth, nee Caliente.
Melody seethed. After all he'd done to the family, the nerve of him to let drop that he was marrying! She also did a double take when she saw the name Dina Goth. Her husband's grave was not yet cold and already she'd moved on. She'd also known that Dina had also been responsible for the breakup of the Ramirez marriage. In her mind, they were two of a kind. They deserved each other.

The first meeting of the shareholders of Tinker Toys since Stephen's death was held in one of the back employee rooms at Inner Child Toys and Gifts. Wanda had never been to one of these board meetings -- Stephen usually went -- but she decided to come today in support of her daughter. She held Melody's hand tight as they walked in together. "The last time I held your hand, you were starting your first day of school," reminisced Wanda. "You were so shy, you held on to my leg as it was time for me to let you go."
Melody simply smiled serenely, although her nerves were literally rattling her teeth in her skull. She felt a gentle squeeze and looked at her mother, who smiled warmly. "You go get 'em," she whispered, before letting go and giving her daughter a gentle, guiding push. 'I have faith in you,' she continued, "Show 'em what you're made of."
The night before, Wanda had blown-dry Melody's naturally curly hair and roller-set it to look professional. Melody was looking particularly sharp, wearing a black pantsuit with a satiny maroon top, accented with a heart-shaped necklace that belonged to her grandmother.
The grizzled gentlemen sitting around the table waiting for Melody's arrival were astonished to see her. Melody herself could not believe she was in the position she was in. Here she was facing her father's shareholders for the first time. The realization gave her a rush of both dread and excitement.
But then she happened upon -- him. Malcolm Landgraab himself. What was HE doing here? He didn't own any part of Tinker Toys -- did he? Besides, he had his finger in every pie in town, quite literally. Melody knew he had bilked the Jacquets out of their own family bakery. She also knew -- from Chester -- that he had stolen the Giekes' electronics store from underneath them and was working on the former Ramirez furniture store as well.
By this time, though, Melody was seething. But Malcolm was undaunted. "There she is," he said with his slick-sounding voice, his words slipping like oil off his tongue as he walked towards her, pretending to 'present' her to the men. "Your president and CEO. Would you really want a sexual deviant representing you, dear shareholders?"
Melody hoisted her shoulders up and strode boldly to the center of the boardroom, where she felt several pairs of eyes scrutinizing everything about her. Turning sharply towards Malcolm, she pulled herself up to her full magnificent height and stared him straight in the face.
Their eyes locked, and had it not been for the bad atmosphere between them, you could have sworn that the air in that room crackled with sexual tension.
This was the first time Malcolm had laid eyes on Melody in all her glory, and it took all his power not to grab her and draw her gasping into his arms, right there and then. Such was the force between them.
He'd never laid eyes on such a magnetic person such as Melody Tinker. She had that 'don't look, don't touch' quality about her and it drove him wild. Malcolm had been hypnotized in a way he'd never been hypnotized before -- not even by Dina.
As a sign of bravado and sheer recklessness, Melody, tired of Malcolm's ridiculous heckling, stood up and glared at him. This time he'd pushed too far and he knew it. "I could take you on myself," she shouted, slamming her fist on the table, "if you didn't spend all your time holed up in your office in your mansion, counting your money!"
He grinned malevolently, watching every muscle twitch in her face. "Sell me your part of Tinker Toys and I'll leave you and your family alone."
"Never!" spat back Melody, expecting this move, "not even if you and I were the last two Sims on earth. Besides, I have something here that may be of interest to our shareholders."
Malcolm went slightly pale. His grin vanished. "You're bluffing," he whispered, sitting down hard. Melody just smiled knowingly and reached into her briefcase.
She brought out a sheaf of papers, and distributed them all around. Malcolm picked one up and leapt to his feet. "How did you get hold of this?" he spluttered, his hands shaking badly and his composure rattled briefly.
"The same way you got information about my father's company,' she replied, a hint of victory in her voice, 'and all the other companies you've managed to acquire -- legally and/or illegally."
A balding gentleman peered through his spectacles at the sheet of paper in front of him. Perusing it carefully, he sat forward and folded his hands on the table. "Is this true, Mr Landgraab?" he asked, his dulcet tenor voice rumbling in the eerie silence of the board room.
For once, Malcolm was at a complete loss for words, and remained seated, glancing nervously around the room.
"Gentlemen," the old man continued, "it appears that Landgraab Enterprises is on the verge of collapse."
Melody continued. "The massive amounts of money and resources Landgraab Enterprises has committed to acquiring Tinker Toys, J'Adore Bakery, the Electronics Superstore, and other businesses in and around Sim City has depleted its capital to the point where its very solvency remains in question."
"Also," she continued, "it appears that his fledgling nightclub, Club Dante, has posted the biggest losses of all."
She turned back towards Malcolm and riveted him to the spot with a withering glare.
"Does that sound like a conglomerate you'd trust to take over a successful company like Tinker Toys? A company my grandfather, Ron Tinker, built from the ground up?"
She paused, taking a sip of water before continuing. "The figures from the last three fiscal terms show revenue declining at an alarming rate each year. In the last fiscal term, which ended about two weeks ago, Landgraab Enterprises' losses amounted to about one billion simoleans. In addition, the costs of his own extravagant wedding --"
Finally, Malcolm had had enough. "Stop!" he screamed. "Don't you dare bring my wedding into this! That expense did not come from company coffers."
"Oh really, Malcolm?" asked Melody. "You are such a simpleton. What about your wedding plans? You paid the caterer, the limousine driver, the travel agency? What about that? Or are you going to say that wasn't your expenditure either? Because the records show that clearly --"
"Tell me how you got hold of my financial records."
Melody grinned. "They ain't top secret, you know. They're readily available through the SCSE -- Sim City Stock Exchange. All I had to do was go to their website."
Then she wrapped her presentation with a final statement. "So, dear shareholders, I move to reject Malcolm Landgraab's takeover bid of Tinker Toys, on the grounds of Landgraab Enterprises' financial insolvency. All in favor signify by 'I.'"
One by one, the shareholders rose their hands. Melody pumped both fists in silent victory. Tinker Toys was hers. Finally hers.