Chain Reaction 3.1.40: Café

     I see Rochelle off and on for the next several months--as a girlfriend of sorts. It's very casual. Mostly woohoo. I keep seeing Hugh as well whenever our schedules can match up.
     Also, my modeling takes off. I make my first cover!

     Yeah, they put words right across my chest and I'm not alone, but I'm on a cover. I frame it and put it in my bathroom. Before, I'd just done small things like posing with camping equipment and a toothpaste ad.

     Dad asks me to bring by a picture Hugh took of me from our first photoshoot. It's one where I was wearing a sweater vest and tie. It reminded me of a school portrait. I guess that's why Dad wanted one to put in his office. After giving it to him and listening to yet another lecture about getting a bodyguard since they still haven't found Drake, I go downstairs to the café.

     Darrin! My heart does flip-flops at the sight of him. How long has it been? I was still engaged to Ivy the last time we spoke. And now I have an overwhelming need to tell him we broke up. Why haven't I called him? I conveniently forget that I promised myself I wouldn't.
     He's laughing at whatever the guy in front of him said. I interrupt before he can keep talking to him. "Hi, Darrin."
     He starts then nervously looks over at me. "Uh, hi." The other dude gets his coffee and tells Darrin he'll see him later. I order a coffee myself, and Darrin and I get ours within seconds of one another.
     "Mind sitting with me?" I ask, but inside, I'm begging.
     "Um, sure." He doesn't look happy with the prospect.
     Is he mad at me? Maybe he's just on his guard. Whatever it is, his masks are firmly in place.
     A year. I haven't seen him in over a year. Something like that.

     I glance up at Dad's office. "So how have you been?" This is so awkward! It doesn't have to be this awkward! I mean, we're much better than we were the last time we sat and had coffee together.
     Darrin stares straight ahead. "Fine." Then he picks his cup up and downs its contents in one swallow. "You?" He stares into the cup like he's miffed it's empty.
     "I've been better." Why did I answer like that? I'm doing great! Right?
     "How's... Ivy?"
     So he hasn't been keeping tabs on me anymore. That realization makes me feel sad. "No idea. She lost the baby, lost her mind, and left me."
     He finally glances at me. "The baby? Oh, Mike. I'm so sorry."
     "Thanks."

     I hide my face in my mug.
     Darrin smiles now--just a little. "Although I'm sorry to say that I'm not sorry about Ivy. Not that I have any right to tell you how to live your life, but she was crazy."
     I put my mug back on the table. "Yeah. I think you're right about that." In trying to research my issues, I've decided that Ivy had co-dependent (or whatever they call it) tendencies. I never would've been able to measure up to her desire for perfection. Perfect lives don't exist.

     "So, um," my stomach twists up, "are you seeing anyone lately?" Why must I torture myself?
     Darrin's happy smile that Ivy is gone disappears. "Uh, yeah. Sorta. Occasionally. My parents still haven't given up the cupid act. And then there's this one guy I keep ending up with."
     "Oh." I pretend to be distracted by moving my mug around on the tabletop. I'll cry later.
     "It's just some as*hole from work." He sighs exasperatedly. "I hate the motherf--ker."

     "You hate him, yet you're seeing him?" We really look at each other for the first time since we sat down.
     "Don't ask me to make sense of it! Nothing makes sense anymore, so I figured what the hell."
     "But... from work?" How COULD you?

      He knows exactly what I mean. Work was a touchy subject with us because he didn't want to come out that he's bi. His eyes look apologetic. And he looks gorgeous. And I think I miss the sonofab*tch.
     "I know," he says. "And the irony is he was the number one person I worried would antagonize me." He snorts. "Turns out he's gay."
     "Oh," I say because I have no idea what else to say, and we get quiet again for a moment or two. Both of us are done with our drinks, yet we still sit here.
     "So, uh, your turn. Are you seeing anyone?"

     "Yeah. Sort of. We, uh, met at the club." I gesture to it with a movement of my head since it's nearby. I don't tell him she was originally my third shrink. I also don't tell him how we don't have a committed relationship and know it's just for woohoo.
      I swallow. I can't plumbing hide it. I miss him. He drives me crazy, but right now, I don't care.
      "So... what's he or she like?"
      "She's hot. And a psychiatrist." Am I trying to hurt him? Because I'm hurting. He hates psychiatrists.
      His eyes look at the table. "Have you been with another guy?"
      "Oh. Yeah. I forgot. I've been doing some modeling, and I sometimes sleep with the photographer." Plum, am I a slut? "He's nice, and it was a heat of the moment kind of thing the first time." F--k, I am a slut.
      "You're a model now? What happened to the techie stuff?"
      I shrug, pain ripping through my every fiber. He really HASN'T been keeping tabs on me. "I was doing nothing but get more depressed. Uncle Alex got me started. He's becoming like a second dad to me." I pause. "I was on the cover of SimQ magazine last month. Nothing huge, but Hugh insists that means I've 'made it,' whatever that is."
     I can't tell if he's talking to me or to himself. "So that plus the SimTube channel, you're becoming quite the celebrity." Quick pause. "Mike, I gotta go. It was nice talking with you, but I have places I need to be." He says the last bit very quickly. He wants to escape.
     "Sure, sure. It's fine. See you around." I now realize he must not have even been watching my videos lately because I'd talk about the products I modeled for (for bonus pay).
     He pushes his chair in. "Yeah. See ya."
     I stare at the table, heartbroken. Why did I do that? I sounded like a prick bragging about his life. I heard he was seeing someone and couldn't stand it. I pout and look at the chair where he sat. Sighing, I pull out my phone.

Hey. How are you? 

     I texted Rochelle.

Not too bad. I'm free right now if you want to get together. 

     She's good.

That sounds fantastic. 

     Within moments of her arriving, we've shed our clothing and gone straight to my bedroom.

     "It's good to see you again."

     "Mhm," I reply, but I'm more focused on her neck. But not for long. I know exactly what I want, and I don't want to waste any more time.

     She comes, but I'm nowhere near done. I want something tighter.

     So I turn her over.

     She gasps.

     "Are you okay?"

     Her voice sounds strained. "Yes. Go for it."

     I don't wait for further instruction and get to work on her ass. Oh, it's so good. I think she was just too wet for me earlier, making this just right. 

     More than just right. Mind blowing. I grab her shoulders and go hard. Then, finally, I find blessed relief.

     She's panting.

     I just f--ked a gorgeous woman. An eleven. And I feel empty.

     No, don't think about Darrin. Darrin is a crazy as*hole who stalked you and used you! 

     But I miss him.

Alaric

Hey. Could you meet me at the park near Kyra's house?

     It's Kate. Wow. It's Kate! Kate texted me! My hands shaking, I send a reply.

Sure. Be there in 15.

     She gives me a more specific location when I get to the park, and I find her sitting alone on a bench.

      All at once I like the seclusion yet I don't because I worry about how long she may have sat here alone. She's too beautiful to be sitting alone in a secluded spot in the middle of the night. "So how's it going?" I ask to break up the silence, deliberately keeping my worries to myself.

     "I need to talk to you about something." Her eyes watch me in a serious manner.

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A/N: Special thanks to Maladi for her lovely dudes that I used as some of my models. Check her out on the Sims 4 Gallery.

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