Chapter Two - Getting Unlucky

The week was passing quietly. Tamsin had spent her mornings dabbling, trying to come up with interesting new eco-friendy widgets. The evenings were filled with nerves. She hoped more and more to get a call from Perseus Griffin, the cute man she had met in the Inventorium. There was something about him that had taken her fancy. They had only talked a while, but he had seemed so carefree. He seemed not to mind what people thought of him. He seemed willing to take risks. She liked that. "A free spirit", she'd said to herself for the millionth time. This morning was no different from the previous ones. She tried to lose herself in the act of invention.

She had noticed the mailman, whose name she hadn't caught yet, was giving her sidelong glances each morning. She was fairly certain he fancied her. He wasn't awful looking, and he had ear piercings that sung to her of, maybe, a bohemian attitude. "Either that, or he's gay." Tamsin decided to make a move.

She put on a seductive grin, sidled up to him, and murmured:

"Was your dad a retard?

...because you're special."

She liked a man with a nasty sense of humour. The mailman was not, apparently, one of these men. "That is, hands down, the stupidest and most offensive pick up line I've ever heard", he said dryly, "Besides, I have a girlfriend. Her name is Kimi. I'd never look at another woman." He said it more to convince himself, than to Tamsin.

She apologised. Not sincerely, but she did. He wasn't anything on Perseus, anyway, she told herself. Perseus, she was sure, would Woohoo with her somewhere crazy at the mere suggestion. He wouldn't tie her down. He'd be spontaneous and uninhibited. He filled her fantasies more and more. Still, the mailman's rejection stung. Adding insult to injury, the only thing he'd brought her was a stack of bills.

Realising that she was starting to smell, had no shower installed, and was running out of money, Tamsin ventured into town. Her first stop was to consign all her inventions, barring her very first one, to the local consignment store. Then she moved on to the gym, pleased to learn they had free membership for residents, as well as a gold coin donation snack fridge.

At the gym she got a call, finally, from Perseus. He wanted to drop by and visit. She showered in a mad rush in the gym, then took a cab back to her would-be house. Perseus was already there. Her heart was pounding a bit. She was embarrassed to have such a big crush on somebody she did not really know. Mid-conversation, oblivious to her drooling over him, Perseus started rambling about the amazing night he'd had with some woman named Pauline. Tamsin tried not to be the jealous type, but the shock was too sudden. She was relieved when Perseus left for his work.

Later that afternoon, Perseus called her from his work for another chat. She was immediately smitten again. "A free spirit", she whispered to herself, feeling more trapped by her crush than ever. She told him she was having some issues with finances, asked him for a loan. He turned it down, but pointed her towards a nearby quarry, "There's an amazing amount of scrap just lying around for a cute inventor like yourself to use!"

Following Perseus's directions was easy, the quarry was, in fact, nearly right beside her house. It hadn't been marked on any of the maps she'd seen so far. There, against a clay bank, was a rusty, rusty old ride-on drill. It was such a contraption! No inventor could resist it! Before she knew it she was onboard, fiddling with the controls.

The machine gave a howl and rattled violently into life. All Tamsin could do was cling on as the drill began to drill...

...and it drilled...

...and it drilled...

...and it drilled long into the night, as Tamsin clung to it with a sour expression, waiting for the fuel to run out.

++++

Challenge Notes

Tamsin managed to raise herself to level 4 in inventing, and level 2 in handiness, so she's beginning to make a little money. The drill gave her a gigantic space rock worth $3000, so that will provide her with a shower and some other essentials. She's also now self-employed as an inventor. I was annoyed to see that story prog had thrown Perseus together with Pauline Wan, but oh well. Tamsin lacks scruples when it comes to relationships anyway. :P