Jennie’s verdict on Stein was pure Jennie:
“He sounds gross. C’mon, Cassidy, you gotta love yourself more than this.”
“I do, Jennie. Relax. Besides, there’s something else I have to tell you. Someone else I have to tell you about, I mean.”
“As long as it’s not another failure Sim OD-ing in the bistro’s bathroom.”
“It isn’t.”
“Fuckin’ musicians,” Jennie added.
Between losing the Flirty trait I’d had so briefly, and being ditched on my date with Stein, the last thing on my mind as I entered the elixir store was romance.
Rather, I was hoping to find something sustainable and eco-friendly to use to control pests in the garden. I’d been feeling an urge towards conservation lately. I was even rethinking my morning baths–I loved them, but didn’t they use a lot of water? Wouldn’t a shower be less wasteful?
Ruminating on these concerns had me so lost in thought, I almost didn’t see Gunnar until I had nearly tripped over him.
“Hello, Cassidy,” he said, smiling down at me.
Sparks! Sparks again. So the library–it hadn’t been a fluke, it wasn’t just the Flirty trait–oh, mercy, what was I going to do?
“Are you all right, Cassidy? Is something wrong?”
“No! Nothing’s wrong, Gunnar. Sorry. It’s–it’s good to see you.”
“You have been well? I heard you were feeling a little under the weather.”
“Just a cold. It’s gone now. How’ve you been?”
“Well, thank you.” He grinned. “And even better now.”
“Oh, really?” I could feel my face turning red.
“I hadn’t figured you for an alchemist, Cassidy.”
“I’m not one, really,” I admitted. “I was hoping to find something for the garden, some kind of pest control that wasn’t so toxic, maybe. Some herbs or something. I have tomato bugs I want to get rid of.”
Jesus! I cursed to myself. Did I really just tell Gunnar Hannes, the man who’s been haunting my dreams, the closest thing I’ve had to a crush in ages, that I have tomato bugs? Fucking tomato bugs?! Really, if this is the level I’m operating on, no wonder Stein bailed when he had the chance.
But Gunnar was looking at me more intently than ever, and still smiling. In fact, it seemed as though his whole (gorgeous) face had lit up.
“That’s great to hear!” he said. “Not great that you are plagued by pests, obviously, but great that you share my concern for our planet. We must take better care of the land if we are to have it to sustain future generations.”
“Oh, Gunnar,” I said, rapturously, “I couldn’t agree more.”
And at the time, that was actually true.
Falling into deep conversation with Gunnar after that was a piece of cake. We must have talked for hours.
“Cassidy,” Jennie said. “Cassidy, I’m almost afraid to ask, but how the fuck did you get from tomato bugs to making out?”
“It’s hard to explain,” I admitted.
“Try me. But with less of the eco-details, all right? I gotta get back to work soon.”
“I don’t really know myself, Jennie. One minute we were talking; the next… all of a sudden the air got heavy between us, and we locked eyes for a little too long, and it felt like we couldn’t do anything else but connect. Do you know that feeling?”
“You mean like when it kind of feels like you’re already connected, and the harder thing to do would be to pull apart?”
“Yes!” I said excitedly. “It was just like that. Like a pair of magnets, kind of. It felt… inevitable.”
“Huh,” Jennie said. “That’s wild. All I’ve ever felt in the elixir shop is the urge to grab a broom and a dustrag.”
“But I guess the grime is easier to overlook,” she added, “now that you’re no longer Neat.”
“That reminds me,” I said, “you’re using only nontoxic cleansers at the house, right? Some of the chemical compounds in–”
“Cassidy? Finish the story about you and Gunnar or I’m hanging up. Right now.”
“There’s not much else to tell, except, I got so giddy at one point, I actually leapt into his arms.”
“Oh, Cass, no.”
“Yup.”
“I can’t stand when people do that. It’s tacky.”
“And normally I’d agree, Jennie. Agree completely. I don’t know what got into me. But–well, now you know the terrible truth: Your bestie’s a homewrecker.”
“Were they living together, him and his girlfriend?” asked Jennie, practical as ever. “It can’t be called homewrecking if they don’t share a home, right?”
“I don’t think they were,” I said. “Thanks, Jennie, that’s a good point. At least, it makes me feel less horrible.”
“You’re not horrible, Cassidy. Would I stick around if you were? But listen, I gotta go. Wednesday’s the day we bleach down the lab.”
“Oh Jennie, not bleach! If you knew all the ways that chlorine–”
But Jennie had ended the call.
My Sims 3 Challenges 