Lemming 2.1: Paint Nose

A/N:

I've decided to officially decide to have Jenny be the 2nd gen heir of the family. I might hop over to Justin for kicks and giggles, but it'll be mostly Jenny at least for a while. I'd thought about waiting for Mickey, but I missed playing with Monique, and Jenny is so very much like her that I can have some of the same kind of fun with Jenny as I did her mom. Well, kinda. Her mom's LTW (or whatever it's called) was to have a bunch of relationships or something like that. That, and Monique has the "commitment issues" trait that Jenny does not.

On with the show!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Hugo asks me to meet him at the local bar, and when I get here, imagine my surprise to find Dad of all people as the bartender! I guess the game sees him as a useable townie now, and he does have a high mixology skill.

     He makes a very good bartender and has everyone laughing within minutes.
     "I almost didn't recognize you," a baritone voice says in my ear, "but then I saw your beautiful face."
     I turn my head and see Hugo smiling at me. At least...it has to be Hugo. I guess I'm not the only one who did a little changing.

     We get up and change seats since sims 4 sims do that a lot while carrying on a conversation near chairs. "You grew a mustache...and a beard thing," I say brilliantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my twin brother Justin come in and have a seat at the bar. He's in his lame party clothes. The clothes are lame, not the party.
     Hugo laughs quietly and smiles. "I thought I'd try it out. Do you like it?"
     "Actually, I do. You just look all grown up."
     "Is that a bad thing?" he asks, his eyebrows going up.
     "No!" I say quickly. "I said I liked it, didn't I?"
     Why do things feel awkward? Hugo and I have known each other our whole lives, but right now, I almost feel like I'm on a blind date.
      Like he can sense my thoughts, he smiles that smile of his and says, "It's still me, Jenny. Just like I'm trying to remind myself you're still you. Don't get me wrong, your hair is beautiful, but I'd gotten used to the really short hair."
     "I don't know. I wanted something a little more normal."
     "Normal is overrated," he says and winks. I laugh.

     "So, you want me to switch back?" I ask.
     "No. I really like it. Like you told me, you look grown up." He grins.
     "You're saying I look old?" I tease.

     Ever romantic, he blows me a kiss before saying, "Of course not."

    We hang out at the bar for a while, and he dances while we chat. My brother comes in and dances too, looking totally stupid. That's Emmett's dad behind the two of them. I'll never forget how when I first went over to introduce myself how I spent more time talking to Mr. Crews than his son.

     When Dad leaves, Gavin comes and takes over for him. He and Justin act goofy on the other side of the bar.

     "Are you liking your new place?" Hugo asks.
     I nod. "It's really nice. I'm glad Dad and Katherine are helping me with the rent since my art career hasn't really taken off yet."
    "It will," he says with certainty. "I can't imagine 'paint nose' being anything but an artist." He means the teasing nickname he gave me when we were children and I'd gotten paint on my nose during art class. No one told me about it all day long, and I remember how hurt I was by the nickname. However, Hugo told me when we were teens that he thought I looked adorable with the paint on my nose, and he didn't know what else to do but tease me.

     "Well, don't you say the sweetest things?" I ask playfully.
     "I try." He pauses before he goes on, "For instance, I have to say that I'll bet you don't have a clue what the back of that sweater does to me. And I love watching your hips move in those jeans."
     "Should I turn and walk away so you can see the back of my sweater and watch my hips move as I walk?" I giggle.
     "No, because then I wouldn't get to look into your amazing, expressive eyes," he answers. "I feel like another universe exists in those eyes, a place where I could happily live the rest of my life because you would be everywhere."
     Wow, I think mutely and watch Hugo's smile spread that he made me speechless.
     "What are you doing tomorrow evening?" he asks, and I realize it's gotten late.
     "I don't know. Hanging out at home, I guess." I get an idea. "Wanna come and see my new place?"
     He grins again. "I thought you'd never ask."

     The next morning, I stand on my back porch and watch the neighborhood gardener water the neighborhood garden out back. The redundancy strikes me as entertaining, and I feel I must paint it. So, I get to work.

      Is there too much green? What if that's too much green? It looks like what I'm seeing, and there's a lot of green there. Maybe it's not too green. I hear footsteps on my back porch stairs. Then, a voice accompanies them.
     "Hello. You must be my new neighbor."
     I know that voice.
     It can't be!

     "H-hiiii, Emmett," I say oddly as I slowly turn around.
     "Wait a sec," he suddenly says.

     "Jenny?" he asks in obvious surprise.
     I nod and look at the floor as I try to tuck my hair behind my ear. Of course, it doesn't move. "Yeah, it's me." I scratch my nose before looking back at him.

     "Well, this is amazing!" he happily exclaims. "And here I worried I'd have to try and meet someone new, but that's obviously not the case." He lets out a relieved breath.
     "Yeah, um, okay," I say because I don't know what else to say.
     "You painted that? Or, are painting that?" he asks, and I open my eyes to see him pointing to my silly painting.
     "Uh, yeah. I like to paint." My nose itches. "I'm working at trying to make a career of it."
     "It's really good! And look! The guy is right over there! It's almost like a photograph," he exclaims, and I turn and see that he's right. The gardener is again at about the spot I memorized.

    "You like it? I thought it was ironic that he was the community gardener at the community garden," I tell him.
    "Isn't that what he's supposed to do?" he asks.
    He's just...staring at me! After so long of the two of us avoiding each other, he's staring at me really hard, right at my face. I guess we can't really avoid each other now. Not really. I guess he thinks we may as well get along since we're neighbors.
     "Yeah, but I'm on my back porch painting something behind the back porch that's a gardener in the garden. It's redundant if you think about it," I say. He looks almost exactly the same as he did as a teen. He even still has the cute glasses.
     "Uh, I guess so," he says diplomatically. He doesn't get it. That's okay. He's probably left-brained like my brother.
     "So...what keeps you busy nowadays?" I ask conversationally.

     "Oh, yeah. I'm in the tech guru career path. I work with your brother! He's great: really smart but always finds time to crack a good joke," he answers me, smiling brightly.
     I laugh some. "He's memorized all of Dad's good ones."
     "Well, if his job fails him, he could make an excellent comedian, I guess following in your Dad's footsteps," he comments nicely.
     "Oh, he can't really write his own material. He isn't that creative when it comes to stuff like that," I say, not trying to sound like I'm cutting my brother down. It's just a fact.
     "Really? Because his execution is flawless." He pauses and then continues, "I guess you got the lion's share of the creativity gene, huh?"
     I smile and scratch my nose again. "I guess, but I didn't get a bit of the computer savvy-ness that he has."
    "Oh? Well, if you ever run into any problems, I would be glad to help. You know...since I'm next door and all." He smiles.
    "I don't...have a computer," I say sheepishly, "just my phone."

    He blinks, and his eyes get wide for a second before he replies, "Oh. Okay."
    "But, thanks for the offer anyway," I say.
    "No problem at all." He stares at me again. "Um, Jenny?"
    "Yeah?"
    "You, uh, have paint on your nose." He lifts his hand to almost touch my face. "Right there."
    "Oh my goodness," I say quickly and start trying to wipe it off. Sure enough, green paint shows up on my fingers. Well, more green paint. They already had some on them, which is probably how the paint ended up on my nose in the first place.
     "Sorry. I...just thought you might want to know."

     "Well, I need to get going," he says and turns. "I'll tell your brother you said hi. See you later, Jenny."
     "Okay," I reply simply and feel my face get hot.

     I decide to text Hugo:

I met my new neighbor. You'll never guess who it is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gavin and Jocelyn had a kid:

meet Finley

So, yeah, Jenny and Emmett live in a "duplex" that I built. Obviously, it's not an actual apartment thing like in sims 2 and 3, but I'm making it work for my plans. I'd share it on the community gallery, but it's not creative enough for me to plaster my name on it. It's basically a bunch of pre-made rooms slapped together. I'm thinking about redoing it, so maybe I'll share it then.