1.8 Over-Eager

Day-off blues.

Again, Sage stayed home out of respect for the rules of the workplace, but she itched to go back. Even preparing the perfect meal, a very attention-intensive and time consuming task, couldn’t keep her mind off of work the entire morning.

At least now, with her own guitar, she could practice at home.

She carefully strummed out a melody, paying attention to the notes produced. Her technique has always been precise and she hits every single note at the exact second it is needed and no longer. She could do this for hours, and has. Back in high school she spent many weekends holed up in her room, practicing instead of going out and foolishly parading herself around town at all hours of the night like her classmates. She shuddered to think about it; did they really think they looked so cool?

Her reminiscing was cut short by an unexpected phone call.

“Mr. Ivanov! Does Ms. Lin need me to come in?” she said, the eagerness practically dripping through the receiver.

“Uh…no,” he replied, put-off by her excitement, “I just wanted to ask your opinion on something…”

They discuss stage arrangements and lighting levels for nearly an hour. Mr. Ivanov’s band wanted to make a performance- for what Sage isn’t very sure- and everything technical has to be run by Sage first.

“You know Sa-Ms. Silverly, I can see why they hired you,” he said after all the details were ironed out, “You take care of everything.”

Sage beamed at the praise, “Just a part of my job, Mr. Ivanov. If you have any further concerns, please call again.”

More alert after their discussion, Sage began to notice deficiencies in her home. A thin but distinct layer of grime covered the kitchen counters, dust was on the floor, the bathroom probably stank. She set to cleaning everything right away.

While the bathroom did not, in fact, stink, there was definitely something wrong with the toilet. Given that it’s Sunday and people such as herself couldn’t work on Sundays, Sage didn’t bother with calling the plumber and completed the unpleasant task of unclogging the toilet herself. As the grimy water splashed onto the floor, Sage fantasized about burning this sleeping gown and taking a long, hot shower.

Well, she got a long, lukewarm soak in the tub, so that has to count for something.

Sage channeled all of her tension into her guitar playing. Her fingers expertly plucked the strings at carefully timed intervals, and the desired sounds flowed from the guitar. She continued until her fingers began to ache and reluctantly put her guitar away. Whenever she got to be onstage, she would be ready.

***

"Good morning, Mr. Lessen. What can I do for you today?” Sage greeted politely after answering her phone. Jon Lessen was one of the more well-known musicians in Riverview, and one might even say a local rock-star. Sage didn’t speak to him very often, given that most of his performances took place out-of-town or were handled exclusively by his manager. Perhaps a part of his current tour would be taking place in his hometown? Sage could only speculate on why he might be calling her. Still, if someone this far up the chain wanted to speak with her, her talents must be becoming well-recognized.

“C’mon, just call me Jon!” he said good-naturedly. Before she could respond, he continued, “Or just call me… then we can arrange a little intimate get-together, you know what I’m sayin’?”

Sage’s jaw dropped. Was this man propositioning her!? His sheer audacity rendered her completely speechless for several seconds, allowing him to keep talking.

“Ever since you first walked into the studio, I couldn’t get your silver eyes out of my mind! It’s not often a girl sticks around in my head for long…”

“Mr. Lessen!” she exclaimed, flustered, “This is beyond unprofessional!”

Before the “conversation” could continue any further, Sage hung up. Bitter and angry disappointment flashed through her; she wanted to be known for her hard work and talent, not her body!

What nerve!

She was still fuming when she got into the car for work. To think that…that…womanizing scoundrel thought she would be interested in the likes of him! It completely astonished her how thick-headed some men could be. And she thought the boys back home were bad! At least they tried to seem polite!

She arrived at work a bit calmer. She couldn’t let this…unfortunate incident interfere with her job. She would extend the usual professional courtesies towards him should the need arise, but she would need to request a work phone and block Mr. Lessen’s number from her personal phone. She should have done it earlier, really, but when she first arrived a work phone was not offered, thus she assumed using her personal cell phone wouldn’t be an issue. Clearly, that was not the case.

By the end of her shift, she had turned in her request for a work phone and received very, very good news.

She had been promoted! She was now the official head of stage hands and her salary had been increased accordingly. Now she earned 30 simoleons an hour, which amounted to 180 a day, giving her 900 simoleons a week to work with. Now she could replace that awful bathtub!

“Yes, take that you plaster abomination!”

Trigger Broke stared at his now official boss. He’d heard rumors she was a little loopy, but her straight-laced behavior at work convinced him she was just extremely professional…

Now he was pretty sure she was cuckoo.

Completely unaware of her subordinate’s opinion on her mental state, Sage hurried home. With this promotion came, once again, assigned reading. She already knew most of this manual from working hands-on with the stage equipment, but she leafed through the book nonetheless, not wanting to disappoint Ms. Lin.

Even with knowing 80% of the material, it still takes Sage well past midnight to finish reading the manual. She crossed her legs primly.

Hello everyone, I’m your new supervisor, Ms. Silverly. I look forward to working with you.

Her eyelids drooped lower and lower as she mentally repeated her introduction. What was the point of memorizing something unless you could do it in your sleep?

AN: Sage keeps getting calls from random guys asking her out on dates. It was too funny not to mention, especially since a lot of those guys are (according to SP popups) happily married. Jon Lessen was single at this point in my game, but after taking a peek at his traits, I knew Sage would hate him. He’s not actually a womanizer, (on the contrary, he’s a hopeless romantic) but he keeps getting in and out of relationships in-game and I think he even once had an affair. Maybe he just can’t find the right woman?