The Perfect Sim: Elena Velasquez // Painter Extraordinaire
Elena woke up the next day, rubbing her eyes. She recalled the night before, and instinctively grabbed for her leg, letting out a relieved sigh when she felt the warmth against her fingertips. She stood up, stretching her arms out and yawning - a loud, annoying yawn, that made her self-conscious.
She walked hastily to the bathroom, jerking down her panties and sitting on the toilet, letting her body relax as another loud yawn escaped her mouth. She rubbed her eyes and as the trickle died down, she blindly grabbed the toilet paper beside her, groaning as her stomach rumbled, almost as if to say, feed me.
She groaned and wiped, flushed the toilet, and went to turn on a light. Nothing. The only light in the bathroom was the candle flickering, which was running quite low.
“Oh, no... no, no, NO!” She ran to the kitchen, attempting to turn on the light over and over again, flicking it back and forth. “This can’t be happening... oh please, no...”
She ran to her phone which she had left on her bedside table, and unlocked it quickly, gasping at the notifications she saw.
The Landgraab Power Company has shut off the power to your house. You have 24 hours to pay your bills before your water is shut off. Once you pay your bills, service will be restored.
Elena sighed and sat down into her wicker chair, massaging her temples repeatedly. How in the Gods’ name was she going to get the money to pay her bills? There had to be some extra funds she could pull from, somewhere.
She pulled her phone out again, looking through her financial apps and yelling in frustration. “ §77?! How did I lose so much?!” She let out a shaky breath.
She didn’t even know how she was going to fix this. A notification popped up on her phone, furthermore causing her anxiety to rise.
With a snort of frustration, she unlocked the phone. An event scheduled for today was staring her in the face.
❗ ART GALLERY OPENING WITH DEMETER ❗
Elena pulled on some clothes, shaking her head. She swore to herself before walking out of the door and joining Demeter in the cab, that no matter what, she would keep this to herself. Even though her friends were rich, she wasn’t the type to beg for money. She wasn’t her mother.
After Demeter and Elena arrived at the art gallery, Demeter locked eyes with someone that Elena presumed she knew. She didn’t want to interfere, she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts at this time, at least. So, she headed over to the exhibits, and started looking at them.
These are beautiful, she mused. I wonder how long it took the artist to create this.
She felt entranced by the paintings, and walked towards the next exhibit, staring incredulously at it. It was beautiful.
Elena overheard a few people talking in hushed tones near another painting.
“I heard that the painter of this piece just started out as an artist. Evidently the gallery bought it for §332... Not worth that if you ask me.”
Elena could tell by her demeanor that she was definitely the snobby type, but she brushed it off after hearing the price that the gallery bought it for. If she made even two paintings of that quality, she wouldn’t have to worry about bills for at least a month.
She had to get an easel and start practicing. She ran over to Demeter, not even worrying that she was interrupting, and breathed, “I have to get home, I’ll talk to you soon.”
And with that, Elena ran off towards the nearest cab, hailing it down and heading back to Sulani.
The Perfect Sim: Elena Velasquez // Friend of The World
The next day, Elena woke up and realized that there was a slight chill in her house. After checking, she realized that today, it was the first day of Fall. She sighed and realized that soon, it would probably be too cold for her to swim. Which, unfortunately was one of her favorite things to do. She sighed and sat up on her bed, rubbing the sleep out of the corners of her eyes. Standing up, she walked into her bathroom, took a quick bath and got dressed. After putting on some perfume, she remembered out of the blue that Demeter was coming over today.
She gasped and headed towards her kitchen, cleaning off the counters and grabbing a coconut she had soaked in water for three days and putting it in the freshly turned soil outside. She wanted Demeter to see she was making some type of an effort towards being friendly towards nature. She already was - but she wanted Demeter to see, almost as if she sought her approval.
Finally, she heard a knock on the door, and rushed to greet Demeter. By the time she had, Demeter was already walking towards the fish trap that Elena had set to catch some fresh fish. She looked... despondent. Elena walked towards her, asking her what was wrong - why did she look so absolutely heartbroken?
Demeter went into an explanation about her daughter - Persephone. She told her that about two years ago, her daughter Persephone had been kidnapped from their tiny cottage by her brother, Hades. She explained further, and told Elena all about how Persephone had been forced to wed him - under her other brother Zeus’ command - after she had been tricked into eating 6 pomegranate seeds, which kept a being in the underworld. Thus, during spring and summer, Persephone was allowed to visit her mother, but during the last 6 months of the year, she had to stay in the underworld with her new husband.
Demeter revealed that while her daughter was with Hades, she felt completely weakened and devitalized, and thus, neglected her duties as Goddess of the Harvest, which was why the plants had begun to change colors and flowers started dying.
Elena listened in dismay, unable to find the words to comfort Demeter properly. She didn’t really think there was a way that she could comfort her. How was she supposed to help a mother who was unable to see her child?
Elena didn’t know what to say, so she just gave Demeter a comforting hug and smiled softly. “I’m sorry. I don’t really know what to say, but, if you ever need a friend, I’m here. Here’s a key to the house if you ever just want to visit. I know being all alone in that cottage can be hurtful.”
Demeter smiled and took the key, looking at it as if it were something brand new to her. “Thank you, Elena. This means quite a lot to me.”
“You’ll see her again soon, I promise.” Elena reassured her.
The rest of the day was spent swimming, laughing, and looking at the sunsetting over the shore. After Demeter left, Elena went inside, and looked at the pictures that she and Demeter had taken that day.
She had another friend. Maybe, just maybe, this was what being loved felt like.
