1.6 – What a Night for Dancing (Nate)

You’re my million dollar baby
My pretty sexy lady, oh
Oh, what a night for dancing
Oh, what a night for romancing

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I reflected on Rose’s words, on my thoughts from the last couple of days…I reflected on the idea of bringing Claire back from the Netherworld. In the shower, I felt my thoughts weighing me down. It was overwhelming, Now that Robin was a child, I had to think about him. I had to think of how to explain why he had no mommy. Maybe moving on, finding a mother for my children would be the best thing to do. Claire would have to wait for me, or move on too.

I was ready. Ready to mingle, ready to date…ready to move on. With my last sob, my last thought about missing Claire, I felt liberated and free.

When I arrived at The Borealis, I saw one of the women from the other day. Kiera, I think her name was. It was odd, in my life I’ve never really seen a Sim dig through the garbage…let alone a woman. I decided to approach her, I don’t know what possessed me to do so, maybe it was pity…or maybe there was something about her.

She was easy to talk to. Now that I was finished mourning, I could try the material I had been working on with confidence. Cracking a joke and making someone laugh felt so good. I felt like myself. Kiera was a breath of fresh air. Even though I thought my joke fell flat, she laughed. Her smile definitely lights up the room.

I decided to be brave, I was feeling confident after all. I made a move, I hoped I wouldn’t scare her away. With my arm around her shoulder, I took it as a good sign.

“I really like you Kiera. Thank you.”

“For what?” I didn’t know how to word it, so I just put It bluntly.

“For showing me it is possible to move on. It’s crazy, but you are really easy to talk to and I’ve only really met you today…just a few hours ago.”

“Oh…Nate I’m sorry. I’m not really a commitment person. I’m extremely flattered…” I pulled my arm off of her, I tried to not look upset. “I’m going to go before this gets extremely awkward.” With those words, she left. And I felt like an idiot for assuming she’d feel the same way. She’s young, extremely smart…why would she like an old man with very limited days?

After the slight burn of rejection, I went up to the bar to drown my sorrows. I waved for the bartender to send a drink my way.

“Lemme buy you that drink.” I hadn’t paid attention to anyone near me, not until she spoke. “You look like you could use it.”

“Thanks.” Was all I could mumble. I could easily pay for it, but it was nice and I wasn’t going to object. She told me her name, but I couldn’t remember it. Drink, after drink. I was feeling a little dazed, confident…maybe even a little flirty.

I gave her a rose, made a flirty joke. I complimented her appearance, and she didn’t reject any of it. She must’ve been feeling flirty. After being rejected by Kiera, I thought that maybe I wasn’t ready for a real relationship…not until I’m sure. That won’t stop me from playing the field a little.

So the nameless girl and I danced.

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I left without a word. I didn’t ask for her number last night. Which was fine with me, I only intended for it to be one night. Did I feel bad, yeah. I felt like a reckless teenager…did I use protection last night?! Oh llamas.

I sulked up to the steps, caught coming in late.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MISTER?! NO PHONE CALL?! YOUR SON WAS ASKING FOR YOU!” Oh holy gnome. Rose was mad…furious even. “You better have a GOOD reason for making us worry! We thought you left, maybe you died. We wouldn’t have known! UGH, You are WORSE than a teenager!” I just let her rant and cool off before I gave her a sly look.

“I was out last night. I’m done mourning your mother, so I did what you asked…I went to The Borealis, flirted…and got lucky. I was with a lady I met all night. Happy?”

“Ugh…tmi. Sorry I asked. Jeez. Just uh–go inside, take a shower or something and then I gotta talk to you about something. K?” I took a shower, and thought of what Rose had to tell me. Oh, oh…I hope I’m not going to be a grandpa.

“What did you want to talk about Rosie?” I admit, I was scared. Her face wasn’t giving anything away. I’m sure my voice gave away the nervousness.

“Lighten up. I’m not knocked up. There’s a new neighbor. Older lady, single, and she says she knows you. Soooo, I may, or may not have told her that you’ll go see her when you get a chance.” My interest was piqued. Who could this lady be.

“Next door? That house has been empty for a while.” She nodded. “I guess I could go see her now. Thanks for telling me sweetie. I’ll be back soon.”

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I was invited in, and I instantly smirked. “Brie Bui. What brings you back to Oasis Springs? Last I knew, you were engaged to whats-his-name, and moving to Shang Simla to teach.”

Her smile brought back so many memories, good memories of high school. She was still as beautiful as she was during prom. “Yeah, me and Trevor did get married. We divorced after we found out I couldn’t carry a baby to term. We could’ve adopted, but he wanted his own children. What about you? Your daughter is beautiful.”

“Thank you. She’s really special. I have a son, but he was at school…I think. To be honest, I haven’t been that great of a parent ever since Robin was born…my wife, she passed away very shortly after he was born.”

“I’m so sorry Nate. Hey! You’re still a funny guy, right? Let’s talk about something good.”

“I like to think I’m a funny guy, I do have a job as a comedian, and it’s going well. But it’s mostly Rose’s paintings that pay the bills…”

We talked for hours, about anything and everything we could think of that happened in our lives since graduation. She taught in Shang Simla, teaching literature and counseling young girls about their future. I thought she was a wonderful person in high school, but after high school she just blossomed like I knew she could.

I felt the spark we had all those years ago ignite. Before I left, I kissed her hands and winked. It felt so natural and I hoped I would see her soon.

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As soon as I got inside, Johnny wanted to talk. He was scowling, I knew exactly what he was going to say. “We are not going to tell her. I am not going to talk about it either. It’s not fai-“

“It is fair to tell her. She knows it’s about her. She told me she deserves to know. If you don’t tell her, I will…Nate, I love her. I plan on asking her to marry me. If she says yes, I’m telling her. I won’t feel right marrying her with secrets. She almost didn’t accept being my girlfriend because of it.” His scowl softened.

“She has all right to know about Claire. I’m sorry Nate, but if you want to get in the way of her long-term happiness, you need to let go of this and let me tell her.” I thought for a minute. What was really stopping me from telling her? She was a young adult, she’s smarter than she lets on. It would come out eventually. It hit me, I was keeping this from her for me. If she didn’t know, I could pretend it didn’t happen. That was selfish of me, she does deserve to know.

“Fine. Do what you want. Just put it gently.”

“I will, don’t worry.” I had to see Rose. She was growing up so fast, her life was moving on.

“Hey Rosie, wow. That’s a beautiful painting.” She looked very solemn. I knew of something that would cheer her up. “I’m thinking about asking Brie out on a date. Thank you, again, for telling me. It was nice to reconnect with her.” She cracked a small smile.

“I could tell she was smitten with you. Just the way she talked about you. You must’ve been quite the lady killer in high school.” I scoffed to hide my embarrassment. “If you’re thinking about asking her out, get out of my room and go do it.” So I did.

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Overall, the date was a resounding success. We talked, laughed, talked some more…we got close, as close as we were when we were kids. We flirted, kissed and danced. We went back to her place and danced a different dance. I think I have moved on, but looking to the past and I was excited for the future for the first time since Claire’s death.