“…and I believe that the welfare of our pets matter. We owe it to them to ensure they get the best care possible. Don’t you agree?” I always get a bit of a rush when giving my sales pitch. Not only because I believe in the cause but because I genuinely enjoy connecting with others on a level like this where we both have something in common. The Castles loved animals as much as they were rich and eccentric.

“Do you have a seven?” Mrs Castle asked as she shuffled around the cards in her hands.

“Go fish.” I replied. She dipped into the pack and gave a celebratory smile as she managed to pick up the seven she wanted. “So as I was saying…”

“Any fives my love?” Mr Castle asked his wife as it was his turn.

“No my darling, go fish.”

“Drat.” He grunted, picking up a card from the deck. “I don’t quite enjoy this game. I always end up with much too many cards.”

“Same here Mr Castle.” I agreed. “I always lose whenever I play with my sisters.”

“Now, now.” He shook his head in disapproval. “What is this Mr Castle nonsense? I’ve told you many a times to call me Glenn.”

“And I’ve told you to call me Bridgette.”

“Oh, okay, sure…Glenn, Bridgette.” I corrected myself earning a nod of approval from the both of them. They were an interesting couple to say the least but they were very sweet. A lot friendlier than some of the people I had to meet with lately. Maybe even a little too friendly.

“So, do you have a fella, Olive?” Mr Castle asked with an exaggerated wink and way too much enthusiasm while he waited for my answer.

I shook my head. “No.”

“No? Lovely young thing such as yourself? The boys should be flocking to your door on a daily basis!”

“Oh come now Glenn. This is not the old days. Perhaps Olive prefers the company of other lovely young women instead.” Bridgette offered.

“No, no. That’s not it.” I softly chuckled. “I’m not seeing anyone at the moment.”

“We must fix that!” Bridgette declared. Glenn was in agreement with her. “Yes, we must.”

“Any kings?” I asked but they kept on rambling off names of men they knew. I just wanted to sink further down into my seat.

“What’s your type, Olive dear?” She asked. “Do you like the tall, dark and handsome type? Or perhaps a more rugged outdoor man? Or a gentle, sweet-faced artist?”

“No…actually I don’t want…”

She gasped. “Oh, Glenn, my darling, I know the perfect man for Olive!”

“Who do you have in mind, my love?”

“Do you remember that nice young man we met the other day at the Schneiders’ garden party?”

“Why, yes!” Glenn nodded. “I liked him quite a lot. A good sturdy young man. Strong work ethic!”

“We should give him Olive’s number!” Bridgette announced.

“Actually, I’d much rather a donation towards The Sloane Foundation than a date, if you don’t mind.”

I tried my best not to sound snippy. Dating was a touchy subject for me. In the weeks that followed breaking up with Colt, practically everyone I knew wanted to set me up on a date. It was getting really annoying. I had no interest in any unsolicited setups, especially not from strangers.

They both exchanged looks with each other and that’s when I knew I had crossed a line. Dammit! I snapped at two of the biggest potential donors in town and they probably thought I was a huge bitch. Abike would be pissed since approaching them was her idea. I knew I should have made her come with me. All I could do now was apologise and hope I’d get the chance to recover from my mistake. “I’m sorry about that, I…”

“You should have received the cheque already.” Glenn shrugged. “I sent it yesterday morning myself.”

I blinked. I blinked again. “What?”

“The postal service is not quite as reliable as it used to be. That must be why she didn’t receive it as yet.” His wife suggested.

“Hmm…perhaps I should have made my accountant wire the money to you instead. Will fifty thousand simoleons be enough? We usually donate that same amount to other charities.”

“Oh for heaven’s sake Glenn!” Bridgette gently chided him. “You should have given her more.”

He pondered for a few seconds and then said, “Then I will write you another fifty thousand simoleons!”

I was confused. When I reached out to them for a meeting three days ago they said they had never heard of my charity before. This was my very first time meeting them. I turned up the charm and came prepared to win them over. Hell, I was playing this dumb game with them just so they would like me enough to agree to donate to the foundation. Fifty thousand simoleons? That was the largest amount we had received yet in one go, and they sounded so casual like they were only offering me fifty bucks. And were even more casual about giving me more.

“Olive dear, it’s not good to leave your mouth open like that. You’ll let the flies in.”

“I’m sorry, I…I’m just a little confused.”

“About what, dear?” She asked.

“This is our first meeting and you guys already donated. I guess I don’t understand why you would do that before meeting me. Not that I’m complaining or anything. This has just never happened.”

“When you called on the phone you sounded so earnest and intelligent that we knew we were going to say yes to whatever it was you were promoting.” Bridgette answered.

“Really? Just like that?” I asked.

“I’m a good judge of character. My intuition never leads me astray.”

“Can’t argue with her.” Glenn chuckled. “When she’s right, she’s right. A lesson I learned after forty-seven beautiful years of marriage is to never doubt my wife’s intuition.”

“Wow.” I couldn’t believe it. We hit our first benchmark months in advance all because of this one donation! “Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing really. Any kings, my love?”

“Go fish, my darling.”

The game continued as usual all the while I sat there thinking these two were my new favourite people.

And like any eccentric old couple, they had cats. Though not as many as I assumed they would have. The way their neighbours complained about them you would think they had dozens.

They liked to dress them up as if they were people. I’m more of a dog person but they were pretty cute. Windsor wore a top hat and an orange sweater. He was a Bengal cat who I saw scratch at least two pieces of furniture since I had been there and the Castles barely batted an eye. Duchess was a green-eyed Scottish Fold in pink and she didn’t look so well. She was probably the one responsible for the mess on the floor that I was trying my best not to notice.

“Is Duchess okay?” I asked.

Bridgette frowned, “She’s perennially ill, I’m afraid. Though that doesn’t stop her from getting into mischief with Windsor.”

“It’s a big part of why we wanted to donate to your cause. An animal hospital is greatly needed in this town. Why should we have to send our butler all the way to Brindleton Bay for Duchess’ monthly checkups with her doctor?”

The poor thing looked terrible. I remember how awful I felt when Shiloh was sick for a day. I could only imagine what it must be like to have a pet who was sick all the time.

It made me even more determined to make sure all of the foundation’s plans were a success.

And I was a lot closer to that thanks to them – those super cute weirdos.

Later that afternoon, I was hanging around the house when I found Sean in the living room with Poppy and Everett. I completely forgot that Pop told me he was coming by so they could decide the invitations and floral arrangements for the wedding.

I didn’t want to be in the way and wedding planning didn’t interest me so I left them alone.

Of course, Sean came to find me as soon as their meeting was over.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey Sean. How’s the wedding planning coming along?”

“Good, good. So…I hear you’re looking for a fella?”

“What?”

“Uh-huh, I hear you’re looking for a handsome fella to be your paramour…or something like that.”

I started laughing when I realised what he was saying and why he was saying it. “It was YOU! You’re the guy the Castles were talking about?”

“Mrs Castle slipped me a note and told me she met a lovely young lady that would be perfect for me. I told her I had a girlfriend but she didn’t want to take no for an answer.”

Funny how he easily told her about his girlfriend but waited until we were rounding third base before he told me.

“I recognised the number on it right away.” He continued.

“Well, I’m kinda glad it was you and not some random dude with expectations.”

“Who says I don’t have expectations?”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I was promised a lovely girl who will be willing to go for coffee with me.”

I chuckled. “Here’s what, grab a cup of the pot I just made and come watch me go over some paperwork.”

“So…you want me to watch you do your work? That doesn’t sound like a fun coffee date to me?”

“That’s the only coffee date you’re gonna get out of me, buddy.”

“Hmm…I’ll take it. But you should know, I like my coffee with brown sugar and lots of cream. None of that almond milk bullshit.”

“Fine, whatever!”

**********

Special thanks to Jes2G for submitting the Castles. These two are so much fun to play with. We will definitely see more of them in the future!

 

Also, I’d like to add that I am no longer going to maintain the Wednesday and Saturday chapter posting schedule. I started a schedule in an attempt to be consistent when it came to releasing chapters. I also hoped it would help me be more organised and motivated by creating a deadline of a sort. However, I’ve realised over the last few months that keeping a schedule kinda sucks the fun out of writing for me.

Instead of writing when I feel inspired I end up writing because I know I have to put something out in a few days. I end up rushing the process and then I’m not 100% happy with the finished product. Not to mention when I get busy with real life priorities I feel an enormous amount of pressure if I don’t finish a chapter in time for my posting days. I started this legacy as a fun side project that combines my two favourite hobbies – Simming and writing – and I don’t want to feel forced or obligated to do either one. 

This is not an announcement of a break. This is me saying I’m cancelling the schedule. I will continue to post chapters regularly but it won’t be on a predefined basis. I will still try to put out one chapter (maybe two) a week but I make no promises. I hope you all understand.

Thank you for reading and for your support. We’ve got a long ways to go with Olive’s story and it’s about to get really interesting from here on out. 😉

–Eddie