3.41 The rain continues

At some point, I put all those crazy lustful thoughts away and concentrated on getting to a place of emotional mindfulness. I needed to be on top of my game for my first official class in San Sequoia, and dwelling on how to fulfill my fantasies was not getting me there. When I felt ready, I went to the rec center to set up and wait for sims to show up. To my surprise, I had a full class! Chi Chi was there, of course, and I was glad to see Celeste. I recognized one neighbor from yesterday, and there were two sims I didn’t know. Rude girl showed up too and picked a mat right up front. I mean, it made sense because she had no idea what her presence at the spa meant to me, and I had to use a lot of energy to maintain my composure. It wasn’t her fault, but she just hurt me so much.

The class went very well. Like, better than any class I’d hosted. One guy even tipped me! I never had so many advanced sims in one class before. Honestly, it was quite exhilarating. Only two had to do the alternate poses, and Chi Chi was one of them. She was very athletic but never tried yoga until she met me. I loved how open she was to trying new athletic feats. It also could be she just wanted to be around me, but that was a thought for another day.

At the end of class, I noticed I had a missed text from Mama from a few hours ago. It said Tofu had died! I was stunned and stared at the phone for a while. My breaths increased, and I felt like I might cry. But I couldn’t fall apart around all those strangers. I missed Tofu, but my mind went to Mama and how she was alone in the house now. I should have been there to comfort her and make sure she was alright. Instead, I was relaxing in the hot spring, wondering how to have woohoo with Yasmine without getting into a relationship with her.

My demeanor must have been more distressed than I thought because when I looked up, Chi Chi was hurrying toward me with concern written all over her face.

“You just lead a successful class. Why do you look so sad?”

In the grand scheme of things, it was really a trivial thing. Tofu was old. Dogs die. I was sure she had better things to do than fuss over me.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Last time I checked, nothing doesn’t make droopy faces like this. Now tell me what happened.”

Was that her mom voice? She wasn’t going to let me get away, and I kinda appreciated it.

“I just found out our dog died. My mom’s dog.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. Oh, I don’t know what I’d do if Butter died. Probably fall out on the floor, ha! Is there anything I can do for you?”

She reached out and rubbed my arms comfortingly, and it stunned me. No one had ever done anything like that for me before. True, I had little going on in my life that warranted comfort, but I always seemed to be the one comforting everyone else. I mean, it was fine. That was just how I was. No one ever checked on me. Not really. But in that moment, I realized I too needed care. I wanted someone to care for me. It seemed so natural for Chi Chi. Almost…dutiful. Maybe she and I were alike in that way. I think that was the first I saw her, not just as the hot girl I don’t know how to be around, but as a friend.