Down & Out in Del Sol – Ch 2: Celebrity Autograph

Mariel woke up just after 3 am to the sound of drip, drip, drip. She opened one eye and saw droplets of water running off the tarp that was covering the playground equipment. It was raining and she was feeling rather wet herself and realized she was sleeping in a puddle. Well, so much for getting any more sleep. She sloshed through the rain and headed off to the public restroom and tried to dry herself off with the hand dryer. It didn’t work too well. She was drenched.

Mariel couldn’t remember if she had packed an umbrella in her suitcase, but she thought she had. Luckily, she had placed her suitcases under the big tree on the lot, so they were relatively dry. She decided to head over to her lot and try to carefully rummage through her suitcase to find that umbrella. As she rounded the corner, she saw someone walking towards her. Oh my gosh! Is that…is that…yes, yes, it was! It was Judith Ward! Mariel couldn’t believe it! Judith Ward was a Global Celebrity and a LEGEND in the acting community. Judith Ward was like, uber famous. Mariel almost felt like she should bow down before her as she approached, but she tried to introduce herself instead.

“Hi…ummmm…Ms. Ward…I’m Mariel….hi…it’s so great to meet you…” she mumbled. Mariel was in a kind of a daze as she stared at Judith.

And then Mariel did it again, “May I have your autograph?” Mariel winced as those words came out of her mouth. She fully expected Judith to dismiss her, but to her surprise, Judith pulled out her signature Mystery Masterpiece Montblanc pen and signed her name in a flourish.

“Are you an actress, my dear?” Judith purred the question to Mariel.

Mariel blinked and realized that Judith had asked her a question. “Um…yes…well sort of….I have an audition this afternoon…”

“Well, then, might I suggest you take a shower. Image is everything you know. Ta Ta.” And with that Judith turned and walked down the road.

Mariel stared after her with her mouth open. Judith Ward had actually spoken to Mariel AND had given her an autograph! Mariel raised her arm to wave goodbye and got a whiff of herself. Even though Judith had commented about Mariel’s hygiene in a rather snide manner, Mariel couldn’t argue that Judith was right about her smelling bad. Oh my gosh, Mariel did need a shower! She stunk!

After heading across the street and looking for an umbrella in her luggage, Mariel realized that she hadn’t packed one. And, it was still raining. She was wet, hungry, tired and she smelled bad. And she had her audition at noon today! What was she going to do?

With no sign that the rain was going to let up, Mariel knew that no-one would be coming to the park today to bar-b-q, so no free food there. And she certainly couldn’t sleep on the bench in the rain. And what about a shower? Hmmm…maybe she could go to Vanessa’s and ask her if she could use her shower. I mean, how would it look if she showed up stinking up the place for her audition? And Mariel was so tired. Perhaps she could take a quick nap on Vanessa’s couch. That was it, she would go to Vanessa’s. Mariel quickly grabbed some clothes from her suitcase and stuffed them in a small tote bag and ran across the street. Mariel knocked on the door and waited. Darn, Vanessa’s not home.

As Mariel slumped down on the front porch and tried to figure out what to do, she saw a rather handsome sim walking down the street. Mariel stood up and squinted her eyes to get a better look.

Her eyes widened. It can’t be! But, yes, yes, it was! It was Thorne Bailey! Walking down HER street, in HER neighborhood. Thorne Bailey was a Proper Celebrity and he was a talented musician. She practically leaped off the porch and ran towards him.

“Are you….are you…oh my gosh…you are…Thorne Bailey! Your song “Don’t Go Breaking My Dishwasher…well, uh…that’s my jam!”

“Will you….um….” Mariel was so tongue-tied she couldn’t even speak.

“Sign an autograph for you? Of course!” Thorne replied in his smooth, sexy voice. Muriel thought she let out a little scream, her heart was racing, and she thought she might faint. She saw Vanessa walking towards them and gestured wildly towards Thorne. “Vanessa, look…look, it’s Thorne Bailey!

Vanessa walked by and smiled at Thorne and said, “Hi Thorne” like they were best friends. Vanessa knew Thorne Bailey? Vanessa did a little wave at Mariel and shouted, “On my way to a gig…see you later.”

Mariel watched Vanessa head down the street and realized that Thorne was still standing beside her. He was actually still standing there looking at her! Oh wow! Next thing she knew she and Thorne were taking a selfie together.

Thorne even posed for a picture for her. Oh my gosh, he was handsome. And then with a nod of his head, he continued walking down the street. Mariel just stared at his retreating figure. She just couldn’t believe it! Judith and Thorne walking in her neighborhood! And she got their autographs! This was the best day ever.

And she probably would have still been standing there if she hadn’t gotten a whiff of herself. That brought her back to reality. Oh my gosh! The audition! She thought maybe if she walked back to the bus station, she could get cleaned up in the restroom and at least change into her dry clothes. So, she headed in that direction.

As she walked along she admired the sights. She hadn’t noticed too much when she first got to Del Sol as she was so excited about getting to her lot.

A sim on the sidewalk stopped her and waved a flyer at her. “Hey, you, wanna be a simstagram star?” she shouted.

Mariel turned to her, “Me?”

The promoter continued, “Yah, you! Pectoral Fitness is having a contest and giving away some gym memberships and all you have to do is promote the gym on simstagram. You know, work out, take some selfies, that sort of thing. You in?”

Muriel thought for a moment, “Well, I don’t know…I was on my way…”

The promoter continued like she didn’t even hear her, “You get a free week trial just for posting pics, and you get a chance to win a free year’s membership. The gym has all the latest state of the art equipment, a pool, and the restrooms were designed by some famed architect. You should see the showers!…”

“The showers?” Muriel asked.

“Yep, the most beautiful showers I have ever seen…” the promoter droned on.

Oh my gosh, Mariel needed a shower. How lucky was this? Mariel looked at the promoter and without hesitation said: “Ok, I’m in.” Mariel had to sign some papers agreeing to post some photos on simstagram using certain hashtags, but then she got a card for her free week’s membership. Yes, showers!

Mariel stared up at Pectoral Fitness. It was a huge, two storey building. Clutching the membership card in her hand, she headed towards the entrance.

Mariel saw that she didn’t have much time, so she made her way to the locker room right away. Mariel carefully hung up her clothes to dry and jumped in the shower. She never thought that a shower would feel so good!

After her shower and a quick nap on a bench near the lockers, she brushed her teeth and practiced some lines in the mirror. When it was time to go, she quickly changed into her audition clothes. She packed her other clothes in the tote bag, and sucked on some lemons that she had harvested to try to stave off her hunger. And then she was off….

After 4 hours she returned home. She couldn’t believe it! She had passed her audition!

Her gig was at 7 pm tomorrow, so she had plenty of time to get ready. It was still raining and Mariel was wearing her good clothes. Maybe she could hang out with Vanessa at her house. Plus, she wanted to share the good news with Vanessa that she had passed her audition. Mariel ran across the street and knocked on Vanessa’s door. No answer. She knocked again. Still no answer.

Vanessa’s words rang in Mariel’s ears…“If you need anything, I live right across the street.” Sure, sure. The problem was, Vanessa was never home!

Well, now what? There was no dry place around here, and she was really, really tired. She needed to sleep. Mariel thought of the gym. Well, that was an idea. It was dry and it was open 24 hours a day. So Mariel figured she would have to head back to the gym. At least she could nap on the couch, use the shower and toilet and try to dry out her clothes.

When she got to the gym, she thought she would look around. She was just too tired to climb the stairs to the second floor, so she decided to just explore the main level. She snapped a nice shot of the pool area and shared it on simstagram.

Don’t Be Afraid to Jump In! Pectoral Fitness, hot spot for celebrities and their bikinis. #PectoralFitness #contest #celebrity #pool #bikini #jumpin

That should do it! Mariel found her way to the familiar locker bench, and as she drifted off to sleep, she dreamed she was in a music video with Thorne Bailey….and Thorne was singing to her…“Don’t Go Breaking My Dishwasher”…

* * * * *

Author’s Notes:

I could hardly believe that it was “raining” celebrities in Mariel’s neighborhood. Plus, she got two autographs even though she had a lovely green fog surrounding her.

Mariel was in a real dilemma before her audition. It was raining and Vanessa wasn’t home. Mariel was hungry and no-one was bar-b-q’ing at the park, so no free food. Luckily she could harvest the lemons, her only source of food. She was tired and couldn’t sleep on a bench in the rain, because the rain woke her up. She stank and I couldn’t afford a shower for her. This is what happens when you play the extreme version with Seasons in the mix. So my solution for her was to go to the gym, but how…gyms in real life would have a membership. She couldn’t just walk in. So, to solve the solution, I googled and found out that in real life, gyms do pay people (or influencers), to promote their gyms and contests on instagram and Youtube. Gyms give them free merchandise to do so. And so that is how that part of the story came about.

Mariel’s hunger and sleep needs are in the red, so hope she fares better tomorrow before her first acting job.

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