Klara's here!

"Oh hey, Klara. Long time no see. Wanna come in?"

"Sure. I gave Amber the milk this morning, I hope this was fine."

"Yeah of course, Amber is a great friend of mine. Sorry I couldn't be there this morning."

"No worries James, but I am curious, is everything okay with your family?" Suddenly the app notified me: Klara -7SP Thinking back, only my mom, Helen, and Donna had SPs this low to start out with. My mom is my mom, of course, while Amber and Donna already liked me. Helen complimented me a lot but also seemed to judge my character well. Maybe that made her less afraid?

"Oh yeah, uh sure. You know my job problems already, so I'll skip that. But basically, my brother and father went on a family trip together and got into a huge feud because my father was cheating on my mom and my brother, who was cheated on recently, was very mad at him. They're both in a hospital right now and awaiting trial for severe bodily injury where they went on vacation."

"Oh no, that's really awful."

"That's sadly not even half of it, Klara. My father owns GRC and he made me a caretaker of the company while he's unavailable, and I already had to find out that he did far more stuff. I bet he'll be tried here too, once he can return."

"Good, that guy deserves the jail time." A brief pause. "Sorry James, I know he was your father and everything, but he wasn't a great guy." Klara +1SP (-6SP)

"That reminds me... Amber told me you warned her about him? Could you tell me what he did here exactly?"

"I dunno... it's supposed to be a warning from lady to lady", she said with a rather nervous wink.

"Klara, please. I'm going to run this company and I need to be prepared for all the shit my father did, never told me about, that I have to fix now."

"F-Fine" Klara +4SP (-2SP) "I don't know the full story either, but the previous person that lived here rang at my door one night, hiding from him. That was last month, she moved out as quick as possible. She feared for the worst, so I let her stay for the night, seemed like he left after that. That woman told me he tried to make sexual advances on her and threatened her with eviction if she didn't comply."

My head sunk in shame. "Oh god." After a minute or two, it was hard to tell with everything I was thinking about, I asked Klara another question: "Klara, could you do me a favor? The police are already investigating him for other sexual crimes he likely committed. Can I give them your contacts as a witness?"

Surprisingly, she hesitated. "I don't know. I don't trust the coppers. Always trying to get my farm shut down back when my parents still ran it. Also, when did these things ever turn out well? He's gonna get a good lawyer, get free anyway, and then harm everyone who opposed him."

"Klara, I genuinely don't think so. There's a mountain of evidence already, and I promise you that I will protect you from him. And honestly, I become full owner after five years anyway. He might get that jail sentence abroad or be deterred enough by the threat of legal action here to leave me alone with the company." I didn't really know how I'd protect her, honestly, but I needed her to tell Officer Miller about this.

"Sure, I'll do it." Klara +9SP (+7SP) Wow, she must really hate cops.

"Thanks for the milk, by the way. Fresh and local does taste the best, after all."

"Thanks James, I'm glad you enjoy it. I milked it just yesterday." After a bit, she asked: "Say James, have you ever milked a cow?"

"No, I haven't. I grew up as a city boy. Grew up here, just closer to the city center, and then moved to another city for college. I like the city sometimes. There's something great about being able to be among so many other people. You can find friends easily, or you can just enjoy your own life without being judged by everyone, because there's always a weirder guy than you."

"Hm, are you sure I can't convince you of the rural life a bit?", she winked and crouched a little, giving me a good angle for me to briefly look at her large breasts, before I quickly look away again. "If you want, why not come over next Saturday and milk the cows yourself for your next milk delivery?"

"Sure, why not, that sounds like a fun thing to do. If I may ask, what do you like about living here?"

"You know, I think it's great how you know everyone. Sure, you never get a social break, but this kinda forces us to become good friends, to accept one another. In the city, you see an overwhelming mass of strangers, here you see a handful of friends."

"I guess that makes sense, yeah. Do you have any friends outside of here?"

"Not really. I never went to college or any other place I could make too many new friends."

"Why did you never go to college, if I may ask?"

"I... I couldn't."

"You couldn't? Klara, you don't seem like someone failing the entrance exams."

"I didn't, of course, I... Sigh. About a year ago now, both my parents were already quite old and the flu season was nasty. People forget how many people die of the flu every year, and well, the flu took them. I had to run the farm, since they obviously had too little money to send me anywhere." Klara +3SP (+10SP)

"Do you like your current life?"

"Honestly James, I'm having mixed emotions. I like what I'm doing, I just feel so alone. I was an only child, and not having gone to a college or any school outside of this suburb, I don't have a lot of friends. I want to have someone like Amber, a good friend that I can visit every now and then, catch up on old times, that sort of stuff. And yeah, I can't exactly take a break from the farm either sometimes. The cows or the chicken... They have it so easy." Klara +4SP (+14SP)

"Well Klara, if you, want we can be friends. I don't think I can manage your farm for an entire day, but you're welcome to stop by some other time just to chat. I'm at a new workplace too, so I haven't made all that many friends either. Maybe us two loners can spend some time together."

She chuckled, great. I hoped calling her a loner wouldn't be so mean as to distract from the fact that it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. "Sure James, I'd love to."

At this moment, mom returned. "Hello James. Wait, who's this?"

"Ah, hi mom, this is Klara, our neighbor. Or as close to a neighbor as we can have, this far out. She brought the milk. Klara, the police are currently investigating everything regarding my father, so I let my mom stay here for a while." The two women awkwardly nodded and shook hands. "Oh Klara, could you tell my mom what you told me, too? I think she deserves to know." She wasn't very happy about this, but obliged.

The two women were chatting, when I could hear a truck stop at the house. Sunday delivery? Em was quick.