Why not? - English

11-08 Who let the Cat out?

After I came back to the lounge after a fresh shower, I was very surprised by the reaction of my colleagues when everyone ran away. I had soaped myself twice and had also cleaned my uniform beforehand with a special cleaner from the closet. But such sewage smells were obviously quite persistent. What surprised me most was that it hurt me that Penny had run away from me. I knew it was just the smell and the other three had run away too, but I looked after her with sadness.

Hopefully she wouldn't always keep her distance from me now because the sight of me made her think of that smell?

After work, I immediately decided to do something against it and ran a bath. I searched all over my closet and finally decided on a very strong smelling relaxing bath that would definitely eliminate the smell. I got into the tub and leaned back. I hadn't taken a bath in ages. Most of the time things always had to be done quickly, so the shower was often the only option. But this was really more than pleasant. I should definitely do this more often.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the silence in the house. Radar was chewing a bone on the bathroom carpet in front of the tub. He certainly couldn't understand that I was doing this voluntarily. I, on the other hand, couldn't understand why he didn't like bathing.

I grumbled disgruntledly when my phone rang muffled somewhere and with a sigh I sat up and fished for my pants, which I had simply dropped on the floor. After all, I lived alone. Who should I have to take into account? Unfortunately.

But my mood suddenly changed to the best when I read Penny's name on the display.

"Hey, did you forget something or would you like breakfast again?" I teased her immediately, because it was extremely unusual for Penny to call me after work in the evening. We wrote one or two messages to each other, but we rarely talked on the phone. Maybe I could hope and she liked it enough with me that she wanted to come back?

"Sam, it's evening or is that one of those bad sayings you hear all the time in bars?" she replied to me and I clearly heard the skepticism in her voice. Had I gone too far?

"You go to bars?" I asked, still completely confused by the idea that Penny was hanging out in bars in the evenings.

"Now and then." I heard that teasing tone in her voice and I knew she was teasing me because she must have heard my surprise very clearly. Only now was I able to put 1 and 1 together and know what she meant by the saying in the bar about my invitation to breakfast.

"I didn't mean to hit on you. I...well..." I stammered, embarrassed. The last thing I wanted was for Penny to think I was a jerk.

"It's okay, Sam. I'm just calling because I met Moose on the way home. We started talking and, among other things, I told him about the sewage cat. After a seemingly endless anecdote about an encounter with a skunk, he finally told me the miracle cure that supposedly helps against all bad smells," she then told me and I could vividly imagine Moose telling another one of his crazy stories in which his life was always in danger - yes, completely certainly also when encountering the skunk.

"And that would be?" I asked her with a smile.

"A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap."

“What on earth is hydrogen peroxide and where am I supposed to get it?” I asked, surprised as that meant nothing to me. But it sounded like it was dangerous. Was it flammable? Should I be worried that Moose knew something like that? Certainly not. At least we didn't have any skunks here.

"It's bleach. However, Moose said it had the side effect of making him blonde until his hair grew back."

"Well, thank you. Then I'd rather stay in the tub for another 2 hours," I just mumbled. The last thing I wanted to do was emulate our radiant Ben. Although...would Penny like that?