1.11 Just a Slip of the Tongue

Sage woke up in a good mood. She hummed as she prepared her breakfast, smiling. Her colleagues would undoubtedly have found this terrifying.

A bit of guitar practice before work…

Her thoughts kept drifting back to Billy. The passionate way he spoke of art, his disdain for the kitschy sculptures currently occupying the local art gallery, his cute hat…

Sage blushed at the last one. She didn’t know him too well, so she should refrain from letting passion sweep her away. She must stay composed.

Still, she couldn’t help but smile as she made her way to work. Her smile widened as she thought about all the things she was going to do on stage today.  There were a few new songs she wanted to try.

Work went well. Sage didn’t feel like being alone tonight, not with being in such a good mood. She dialed Billy’s number.

“Billy!” she greeted him enthusiastically, “Are you free tonight? I thought we could have some dinner.”

“Uhhh,” Billy hesitated, “Actually, I’m kind of busy right now. Maybe later?”

“Oh, I see. Yes, later…” Dejected, Sage hung up. She mentally kicked herself. This is why there are rules for such things! He probably thought she was too aggressive now. She would be lucky if he ever called her again after throwing herself at him like that.

Now all she could do was wait.

***

She didn't have to wait long. 

“I’m sorry about last night,” Billy apologized. Sage waited for him to elaborate, but he only smiled at her.

“Well, it’s understandable. We’re both busy people, after all,” Sage said nonchalantly.

A moment of silence passed between them before Billy pointed to the Cannery. “Want to go inside?”

Sage frowned as she glanced away from Billy. Apple bobbing was far from her first choice of group activities, especially for a date! It wasn’t just unsanitary- who knows how many mouths had touched those apples- but it was also quite messy. She would prefer not to get her sweater or her hair wet. But Billy had looked excited…

Ma Bagley joined them at the last minute. If Sage had kept up with town gossip, she would have known that she was bobbing for apples with the local “empress of evil”. But Sage rarely left the house except for work, so the only thing she thought when she saw the older woman was, Is she really going to get those furs wet? Must be fake.

Sage quickly found herself outmatched. Billy and Ma Bagley hooked apple after apple while she tried to find a way to fish one out without her face touching the water.

Well after Billy’s fifth apple, Sage finally got her first. She spat it out on the floor as quickly as possible. Blech.

She narrowly avoided getting splashed by Billy.

Apple bobbing is a far more ruthless sport than she anticipated.

“I guess this isn’t really your thing,” Billy laughed afterwards. He won with 11 apples while Ma Bagley had gotten nine. Sage managed to get 3.

Sage’s face screwed up with irritation. “No, it isn’t.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “Are you mad because your apple bobbing sucks? It’s nothing to be upset about.”

Sage stared at him for a long moment. Did he just…insult me?

Billy winced a little. She was making that face that people always made around him. He must’ve said something to offend her. Why are people so damn sensitive?

“Uh, sorry. Anyways, want to take a photo together?”

Sage brushed off his previous rudeness. “Okay.”

And so they went to take a picture together. Billy quickly returned to his normal self, all smiles. Sage figured his earlier social faux pas was just a slip of the tongue, but something about it still bothered her…

They decided to grab dinner before heading home. Billy assured her that he would get something delicious for the both of them, and came back out with two hot-dogs.

“I hope you don’t mind splitting the bill… I can’t believe I only brought 10 simoleons with me!” he apologized, his face turning red from embarrassment. He had sworn the rest of his money was in his pockets… it was either misplaced somewhere in his room, or it had fallen out somewhere along the way. He would have to look for it when he got home.

Sage prickled slightly, but managed to smile back. “No, no problem…” What kind of man doesn’t pay for his dates? And then buys hotdogs for a romantic dinner?

Their conversation quickly turned towards art. Sage listened politely as Billy told her about an upcoming collection of his paintings he was working on.

“If all goes well, 10 of my paintings will be displayed in the art gallery in a few weeks,” he summarized.

She smiled. “That’s great Billy.”

“Yeah. Maybe we can go see it together sometime?” he asked hopefully.

Sage chewed and considered it. A date to the art gallery sounded quite pleasant, and she hadn’t been there before.

“As long as there isn’t any apple bobbing,” she joked. 

“Oh, of course not!” he said quickly, seemingly relieved that she had accepted. After a beat he asked, “Do you even know anything about art?”

Sage bristled at his tone. “Not a lot,” she admitted, “But I could learn…”

Billy frowned, but quickly smiled again. “It seems like there’s a lot I could teach you.”

She smiled tightly at him as mustard from his hotdog smeared across his lips. He didn’t even pause to wipe it off.

He’s a bit…rough around the edges, she thought as she scanned him with her eyes, but I also don’t know him very well… maybe I’m being too harsh.

After their dinner, Sage hadn’t felt like going home just yet, so she offered to let Billy hear her play. He tapped his foot to the rhythm as she strummed on her guitar.

“You play pretty nicely. You must practice a lot,” Billy complimented.

“I do,” she smiled softly. A discordant note sounded. Damn, lost my focus… she repositioned her fingers.

“Are you sure?” he laughed lightly. Sage was too preoccupied with the song to notice his barb. Playing usually took up all of her concentration.

Eventually they parted ways for the night. Billy had given her a chaste kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye.

All in all, it was an ok date. 

AN: *disclaimer* I actually don’t think women or men are constrained to “roles” when dating, so if the man OR the woman wants to initiate a date or other romantic activity, and the other party is receptive, then more power to them. Unfortunately for Sage, Billy was actually on a date with another woman who he then broke up with according to SP several hours later. That woman was Shirley Lin, the sister of Sage’s boss. I was going to make a big deal out of it, but ehh. Shirley is a total recluse, and their “relationship” lasted a few sim days.