Gone Girl

Don, II

Don

Don took a seat at the Goths' lavish dinner table between Nina and Mary-Sue Pleasant, who he was nearly shoulder to shoulder with. To compensate for the two extra guests, Mortimer put a leaf on the table, but it was still a tight squeeze. Bella sent her son Alexander up to his room because of the lack of space, but the youngster didn't seem to mind.

The Pleasants arrived ten minutes late, bickering incessantly about one thing or another. It only came to a stop after Bella pulled the two to the side, whispering. Daniel was silent after that, but Mary-Sue made an effort to chat with Don and the others. He wasn't paying attention, though. He was too busy hanging on every word Mrs. Goth said.

Don was completely spellbound by Bella Goth. There was something about confident way she spoke, the way her hips swayed when she walked, and the way she smirked after a clever witticism that made Don fall for her instantly. This is wrong, he thought, Mrs. Goth is married! But, even after realizing this, Don couldn't keep his eyes off her.

He didn't completely forget about his "date" Nina, though. While she didn't say much, she was interesting to talk to when she did find something to say. She happened to know a lot about personal finance and sports, which interested Don. She even gave him some advice on saving money, which he was severely lacking. Don figured that he would be okay with Nina being too shy to get in bed with him. She seemed like she'd make a good friend. Her sister, on the other hand...

Dina looked like she was destined to be a trophy wife, especially sitting next to the sharply-dressed Michael Bachelor. She was blonde, pretty, and... well, that's all Don could see. Maybe she was good at chess or knew calculus or something, but at first glance, she just seemed like an airhead.

Mrs. Goth's daughter wasn't too bad to look at, either. She was the spitting image of Bella, but shy in a cute way whereas Bella confidently made her presence known. Don felt like he knew her from somewhere, maybe Sim State?

"So, Cassandra, Where did you go to college?" Don asked.

Cassandra smiled and Don thought he could see a blush creeping on her face. "SSU. We had a Philosophy class together freshman year, remember?"

Don remembered her, after some thought. She sat three or four seats to his left in the lecture hall. He spoke to her in passing and thought she was pretty in a girlish way, but he was too heavily involved with some girl whose name he couldn't remember at the time to talk to her. What a missed opportunity, Don thought.

"When are you starting your residency at the hospital, Don?" Bella asked. She sat at the head of the table in a chair with a taller back than the rest.

"Well," Don said, slightly uncomfortable under Bella's intense brown gaze, "The plan is for me to become a resident in about two years."

Bella nodded, thoughtful.

"Have you ever been on the Dean's List?" asked Darren Dreamer, sitting on the opposite end of the table and next to Cassandra. "I think I might've seen it there last semester."

Don nodded. He'd been on the Dean's List only once—the last semester of his senior year, and only by a stroke of luck. After failing a final exam in something trivial—Music Appreciation, maybe—his professor let him retake the test alone in the professors' break room. Don used this as an opportunity to cheat using every resource he could get his hands on. He'd only raised his grade to a B-, but it was enough to get to the Dean's list.

"I was never on the Dean's List," Dina said, almost pouting, "all the courses at Tech were so hard! I wonder if it's the same at SSU." Nina mumbled something Don couldn't hear. La Fiesta Tech was no Academie Le Tour; when looking up colleges, LFT ranked as the second easiest college to get into with an 89% acceptance rate. Maybe Dina didn't know calculus after all.

"Daniel, your sister went to Tech, right?" Daniel only nodded. "She said it was the easier than high school." She shot a look to Bella, who returned the sly smirk. Don looked to Nina for a reaction, and she slowly shook her head. Mortimer, sitting to Bella's right, ate a forkful of the roast.

"Cassandra, I believe this is your best work," he said, trying to break the tension between the women at the table.

"I think so, too," Darren said, lightly touching Cassandra's hand, "delicious."

Cassandra drew away and smiled. "Thanks, dad."

After dinner, the party retreated to the living room.