3.36 Keep it casual

Between going to the spa and wanting to make breakfast for Dad sometimes, my body had gotten used to being awake before 8:30. That wasn’t terribly early, but it was earlier than I was used to. But that morning I slept until about 9:30 and found Dad downstairs, sitting at the table in his robe, eating a slice of leftover pie I didn’t know we had.

“Did you retire?” I asked facetiously.

“Nope. Just felt like staying home.”

A queasy feeling sat in the pit of my stomach. Despite knowing he wasn’t that old, it still made me nervous. Was this what it was like to have aging parents? Constantly worrying about them whenever something out of the ordinary happened? I didn’t like it.

“You feeling okay?”

“I feel great.”

“Ahh. Just using up all that vacation time, huh?”

He continued eating his pie.

“So…” I started. “I saw your gift.“

“And?”

“I only have one question.”

“Alright.”

“How do I date multiple women without becoming that guy?”

He looked a little surprised. Was that not the question he expected? Or was it a great question?

He thought about it as he finished chewing.

“You just have to be honest,” he said. “Honesty isn’t very popular, but it definitely keeps everyone in check.”

I nodded slowly, hoping there was more where that came from. I understood what he said, but I needed it to be crystal.

“Make sure they all know it’s a casual dating situation and that you’re in other casual situations. Women sometimes make assumptions, and that’s how they hurt when you reveal your views on things.”

I was already painfully aware of that one, even if I didn’t do it on purpose.

“It’s not exclusive until you say it is.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

We finished our breakfasts and went our separate ways.

As I was on my way out the door to head to the spa, Chi Chi was on the porch preparing to knock and almost knocked me off my feet again. I really hoped one day I’d get used to how fine she was because I didn’t want to be stunned every time I saw her.

“Chi Chi! Hi…ummm…what’s up?”

“Oh! Ha! Hello. I guess you were leaving, huh?”

“Yeah. Got a class at the spa… Umm…I can spare a minute or two, though. You wanna come in?”

“Sure! Thanks.”

She sat at the dining table, and I was oh so grateful. I needed to be focused for my class, and sitting next to her on the couch so close I could smell her shampoo and feel her body next to mine… I didn’t need that.

“So…what’s going on?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah! I’m great! I just wanted to apologize for my daughter. We don’t get many visitors, and—Well, she’s gifted, creatively, and the kids at school don’t always understand her so she doesn’t have many friends. But I’m so proud of how kind she is to the other kids even when they’re not kind to her—Sorry! I didn’t come over here to gush about my mini me. I made her tell me what she said to you. Hope you weren’t offended or anything.”

I’d never heard so many words come out of someone in a matter of seconds. Honestly, it was quite impressive. I couldn’t even think that fast.

“Of course not. Like I said, she was just being a kid. She didn’t say anything inappropriate.”

“Phew! Okay good! I’d hate if she ruined a chance for us to hang out again…without her. Whaddaya say?”

Ohhhhh maaaan. What do I do??? As much as I would love to spend an evening with the hottest girl I’d ever seen, I wanted to be smart about this. I wasn’t sure about how casually I could do this dating thing. I understood it didn’t have to be serious, but I also wanted to go about it with the future in mind. Kinda like doing reconnaissance for a secret mission. With that in mind, I was hesitant about dating Chi Chi. What if things escalated and we went exclusive? Then I was looking at not only developing a life with her but also her child. That wasn’t how I wanted my life to look. But… I said I’d give casual dating a shot. And, who knows? She too could be looking for some casual situation. There was only one way for me to find out…

I agreed to a date with Chi Chi at some undetermined time in the near future. Turns out I didn’t need to sit near her to be distracted, heh. Between knowing we’d get together soon and being anxious about seeing Sophia again the next day, I was much too occupied to be useful. But somehow, someone in my class left raving about how much they enjoyed themselves. Only three sims came, but one guy had been to another one of my classes. It meant so much to have a repeat client. That meant he found value in what I was doing. That’s all I really wanted. True, I needed to make money, but I didn’t really care about that part much. I just wanted to make a difference. Was it bad I didn’t care about the money? Shouldn’t I want more for myself than mooching off my parents? That was a thought for a different day—a different week even, heh.

If I spotted another cute girl, I’d scream. No cap. I spotted her as I was leaving. Her bright orange outfit caught my eye. She was hovering in the hallway, looking around, and smelling like she’d had a really great workout, heh.

“Hi! I’m Luca. Are you looking for something?”

“Yeah. Where are the showers?”

“Oh. They’re in the basement. Would you like me to show you?”

“No. It can’t be too hard.”

She walked away, leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I was just trying to be nice, not holla. She didn’t have to be so rude about it.