A Dark And Quiet Room

It’s cliché, I know, but we started with The Spill. She is so engrossed in what she is reading that she accidentally knocks over her smoothie, spilling it everywhere. Lester is on hand, though, and he grabs some napkins and mops up the green gooey mess. They get to talking, and it comes out that they are both into fitness and exercise. He invites her to join him at the fitness center next door for a workout. She already works out there, so it’s not much of an issue. She hems and haws and finally agrees. Lester was so excited that he started to leave the store without paying for the supplement that he was holding. When Candy pointed it out to him, he swore loudly, embarrassing himself in front of her. Then he quickly paid for the item and they left the store.

Things went well for the next couple of turns. Candy only embarrassed herself a little by becoming flustered, talking too much, and then tripping over an incline in the fitness center. But things fell flat when Lester asked Candy out to dinner. He took her down to a dive on the South Side where they served soul food. Big racks of ribs, steak sandwiches, things like that. (Stuff I’d like to be eating now, actually.) This was way out of her element. She fumbled through the entire meal and then was “saved” by her workplace calling her to come in to deal with a computer problem. But, even though the evening fell flat, they exchanged phone numbers and agreed to set something else up.

At this point, the couple had earned no Compatibilities, but they managed to keep two of the three points of Attraction that they had earned during the first date.

The Second Date, or Gardens and Gazing

During the first date, we had established that Candy had a landscaped garden at her house. We also knew that Lester was an amateur astronomer. So, the second date was the Hobby Swap. He would come to her house and see the garden. Then they would go out to dinner and do some stargazing after dark.

Lester found Candy’s house to be quite intimidating. It was big and pretty and expensive. What he was somewhat surprised to discover was that Candy was also somewhat intimidated. Her family is now quite wealthy, and she is expected to keep up appearances. Honestly, she prefers the small, cozy sitting room in the back.

It was at this point that the cigarette case slipped out of Lester’s pocket. Candy saw it and thought that it actually contained cigarettes. This was a Bad Thing, but they managed to smooth over it.

And then Lester saw the sunroom. It was filled with green plants and opened out onto a beautiful garden. He was enraptured.