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[spladoum]

A/N: Although this story is technically the second part of "None Too Clever," it's not necessary that you read it first.



“Oh, sweetie.” Emilié threw her arms around me and hugged me hard, which I wasn’t quite built for. No complaints from me, though. “It’s so good to see you, Nolan.”

“You too.” I debated kissing her, but we settled for touching noses instead. I just called off a very emotional relationship to be with her, and she’s newly divorced. Neither one of us needs to bring the drama just yet. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

“I am.” She smiled shyly and drew me into another hug.

It’s kind of bizarre to realize that the former campus floozy can be very timid when her heart’s actually in it. But it’s nice to see her growing emotionally. And—call me shallow if you must—it’s a nice ego boost for a terminally shy guy like myself to have a beautiful, confident woman on my arm who attracts the attention of the whole freakin’ room. Even nicer to watch her turn would-be Cassanovas down flat. This leopard changed her spots quite nicely.

***

The day came when I asked Emilié to move in. And she hesitated. When I asked her why, she blushed.

“Well, you see. Um.” She coughed and shuffled. “There’s someone who’s been coming around lately … his name is Jimmy …”

She told me about him while I sat there stunned. She had fallen in love with him, practically at first sight. “I’m sorry … I would have told you before, but well … it just sort of … happened. Honestly, I can’t imagine being apart from him.”

“And … what does this mean?”

“Well, maybe you’ll understand if you met him—he drops by every now and then, but I think I have a picture of him—” And she went over to the end table and started fumbling through a set of photographs while I fumed on the couch. I couldn’t believe it. I did not break up with a perfectly good woman just to be jerked around all over again!

“Here we are!” She gave me a Polaroid.

I was speechless. Really, what could I say?

While we were on her couch, Jimmy came over. And instantly, I knew that as much as I hated Jimmy, he hated me even more. He hissed at me when I moved too close to Emilié, chewed my shoes when I stepped outside—he even took offense to the roses I had given her.

She thought he was the most adorable thing ever. As for me, I could hardly find the words to express my level of irritation when I came home from work one day and found his lousy furniture in my den! But complaining about him just made Emilié unhappy, so I kept it to myself, at least while she was around. “He’s sweet, Nolan! Give him a chance.”

So I gave him a chance, enough of a chance to see him attempting to make a permanent impression on a pure maple bench. He took off when he saw me glaring at him, hissing the whole way. Cat laughter.

This means war ...

[Saoz]

Poor Nolan. Even when he wins he loses. So much for happily ever after. :lol:

I take it the curtains around the t.v. is one of Emilié's decorating decisions?

[CharlotteKelly]

**snort** OMG it's a blinking cat - and a fat one to boot! I thought Jimmy was a guy until the pictures finally finished loading.

[PRDGirls]

:rofl: Nolan finally gets the girl and now he's got to deal with that cat! Can't wait to see who wins!

[HazyFlowers]

I thought it was a sim, too!

He's a cat... haha. Good luck, Nolan.

[peony_pony]

:rah: Go Jimmy!

[silverpole]

Whoa...
Jimmy may be the biggest cat I've ever seen... Including my real-life one :lol:

Have fun Nolan. Everyone knows that cats outrank guys

[Tenderhrt]

The cat had me going I really thought it was a guy. Too funny.

[spladoum]

Mrrrow!

“What the hell?” I mumbled, still half-asleep.

Mrrrow!

“Is that that damn cat?”

Emilié woke up instantly. “Nolan, he needs something.”

“He needs to get out of here!” I pitched one of the pillows towards the noise and heard a satisfying whump, followed by a hiss and the sound of a fat cat scrambling to the other side of the room. I laughed, at least until she kicked me. “Don’t throw things at him!

“My house, my rules. And one rule is ‘don’t wake me up at 6:30 a.m. if you don’t want a pillow in the face.’”

“You’re so mean.” She got up, leaving me to an empty bed. Jimmy followed her to the kitchen, switching his tail sassily as he went.

“So the cat takes priority over me?” I shouted.

“He can’t feed himself!”

“Oh yes he can! Do you realize that ... that thing weighs 20 pounds? He seems to feed himself pretty damn good!”

She leaned back towards the doorway to give me a dirty look. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous.”

“Of course I’m jealous! When have I ever gotten bring my furniture into someone else’s house, live there rent-free and not pay any bills, and have some other guy’s woman treat me like a king?”

“I dunno,” she said with a cute smirk. “You probably could have, but you were too busy geeking out on-line ...”

At that point, I chased her with a pillow. But actually, I was perfectly serious. What guy wants to acknowledge that he’s subordinate to the cat?



Once Jimmy settled down for a nap, Emilié came into the library and threw her arms around my neck. “You’re so cute when you pretend to be angry.”

“Don’t suck up to me now, woman.”

She kissed me. “You were talking about something in bed last night when I was half-asleep. What was it?”

“ ... oh! I was asking if you wanted a job.”

“Where? Doing what?”

“Managing a very hot, very popular retail store.”

“No way.” She plopped into my lap. ”Your store? I’d think that they’d want you to keep hold of you ... you’ve been such a good manager.”

“Actually, since I’ve been such a good manager, they want me to run the district full-time. And my mean bosses don’t think that any of my current employees are competent enough to step up into general managing. I told them that I knew of a young lady who was a strong salesperson and had an excellent accounting background, and that she had been previously employed by the company.” I tipped my head up and kissed the underside of her chin. “They’re very interested in interviewing you.”

“No conflict of interest.”

“None whatsoever. Shall I write them?”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She pulled the chair away from the desk and sat in my lap, and our kisses grew longer and slower until I grunted.

“Whazzat?”

“Bed. Now.”

“Typical man,” she giggled.

But sure enough, I got beat out again. I came into my bedroom to find Jimmy testing out his claws on a lambskin couch. Emilié caught me around the waist before I could move. “I’ll get it repaired, baby. And in the meantime, why don’t you try to make friends with him, instead of kicking him around?”

In between cursing and spluttering, I asked her if she really intended to buy custom leather to re-cover the cushions. She shrugged. “I’ll talk to Dad.”

“You do that.” Lustful mood sufficiently wrecked, I went outside and walked around the yard a bit, trying to cool off. She had some objections to what she caught me painting later on that day, but I reminded her that she the one who hadn’t bought him a scratching post first. We went back and forth over it for a while, but Emilié did in fact have the couch repaired. And after she saw the bill, she bought a scratching post to avoid further drama with the furniture ... §28.34 is a lot cheaper than §730.12.

[waverly]

Holy cow! That is one friggin' fat cat! Poor Nolan. I feel so bad for the guy, but I am totally cracking up at the same time. Happy to see you continued the story. :rah:

[fabrizioammollo]

Well Nolan human outlive cats usually, so be patient!