Posh parties
Guinevere is looking at the invites, turning the cards round and round, thinking. Should she go? Wear something special? What about some makeup? Will the others be there, she has been desperate to meet Audrey Hepburn and the other girls, and as for Alex…well, should she go? On the other hand, the invite is there, with their names on it!
Parties are a great part of life in Sims Mobile. For such a small town, their parties are phenomenal. Guinevere has been to parties before, of course, but that just felt different. These two parties feel much more ‘by special invitation only’, even if they aren’t. Meeting Alex is always a bit exciting, you never know with him…and then a party at Audrey’s place, well, how about it?
Guinevere really feels a bit stuck. She can’t really discuss it with Sebastian, even though their marriage is on a much better footing since the Roman outing. Sebastian hates parties, and kind man that he is, still struggles with small talk. He has absolutely impeccable bedside manners, is kind and thoughtful when it comes to staff and patients, but at a party he feels like a fish out of water. Guinevere giggles, then feels guilty, but she had a quick vision of Sebastian gasping and flapping around Audrey’s posh lounge…
In the end Guinevere decides to go. “I do love parties, I never know what to wear, everyone else seems to have such wonderful, posh frocks, but I’m sure to find some glad rags, and I’m just going to really enjoy myself!” she says a little vehemently to Genevieve when she asks about the invitation cards. Genevieve had popped in, and saw the cards on the Peacock kitchen table, and asked about them. She smiles at her little sister.
“Of course you must go! Just beware of Alex…” she says with a very mischievous smile. Guinevere spins round immediately, “Why? What have you heard? Tell me!”
“Well…” drawls Genevieve, “well, I heard that he had set himself a goal, that’s all! Oh, and take your swimsuit, they have a gorgeous hot tub in their garden!”
Guinevere arrives at the party, and can’t believe her eyes, she doesn’t know where to look first! The house is huge, and amazingly decorated. Some items are clearly in a totally different league than their own furniture. Everything in the house is sought out carefully, it seems. Yes, there is the hot tub, with Alex hovering nearby. She recognises Ginamarie, and suddenly feels relieved to see a face she knows! This place is enormous, and so very beautiful! She recognises some of the Luxury Event items, and would have loved to just wander round, drinking it all in. Manners matter though, she says sternly to herself, so she goes to meet the host and other guests.
Before Guinevere knows it, she is sitting in the hot tub. With Alex! As soon as he smiles at her over his snazzy sunglasses she realises his goal for the party: get everyone into the hot tub with him! She laughs, and splashes water at him. “Honestly Alex, you’re a card! If I’d know that was your goal…” He just laughs and dodges the drops. “You wouldn’t have joined me? That would have spoiled my party!” He smiles at her, and she has to smile back. She realises that really, he is actually very sweet. He can be such a charmer, though! She is quite determined to stay away from that hot tub for the rest of the party.
She gets changed in one of the charming bathrooms, and rejoins the party. To her utter delight Audrey, Julie and Ginamarie are standing together. Guinevere walks over to the little group, and Ginamarie introduces her. Fancy meeting Audrey here, I’m so glad I came, thinks Guinevere, as both she and Audrey join Alex and another bloke at the hookah. Blowing bubbles at each other, sitting on beautiful purple cushions, seeing all these famous people, wow, this is one cool party!
Guinevere feels more relaxed than she has done for a long time. She was very worried about her Roman dress, but a few people said something kind already. Audrey especially has been so kind and thoughtful, that Guinevere secretly thinks of her as a friend! Fancy telling people at home, “Oh yes, I was at this party with my friend Audrey Hepburn!” How fortunate I am, she sighs. The more relaxed she feels, the more she can feel joy bubbling up inside. Joye the vivre, she thinks, I’m full of joy at the moment. Soon Guinevere is sharing some of her music ideas with the other three ladies who lap it all up.
“I felt I was dreaming,” she explain to Genevieve later, “there was little me, dancing with Audrey, and some other definite divas…I could have floated away on one of those bubbles, you won’t believe how happy I felt!”
Guinevere smiles when she says this, an interesting incident playing though her mind. It was this new girl in town, Sierra. “She has a reputation already. Nobody wants her near their boyfriend, she gets and gives the cold shoulder everywhere. Se is quite tough, you know. I saw her being unkind and rude at the party, and people weren’t quite sure what to do. She makes a lot of the girls cry, you see. So in the end I thought, well, why not? I’m not scared off by people like that, we get them at the Club all the time. So I went over to Sierra, and actually wasn’t very nice to her. The thing that shocked me was that she backed down straight away, and turned away a bit sad. Of course, next thing you know, she was in the hot tub with Alex. There was some sort of incident with that, I’m not quite sure.
Well, we were all talking about Sierra, and how to watch out for her and her cattiness. Then I needed the bathroom, so I went indoors, and guess what? I found Sierra! By herself, in a bathroom, looking at the mirror, crying! Can you believe it? That tough as nails Sierra, crying! Of course, she straightened up as soon as she heard me, and pretended she was just touching up her makeup. I felt bad then. After all, everyone is on their guard with her, people all treat her abruptly, banter brusquely or whatever. So the next time I saw her, I went up to her, and just asked her genuinely how her day had been. And you know, we actually had a really nice chat, I was so amazed! I didn’t really tell the others, as I didn’t want them to feel I was trying to be different or something!”
Sadly, life calls, and Guinevere has to says goodbye to her new friends and acquaintances, to go to work for a very quick shift. Sebastian isn’t very happy, as she knew he would be. “Two parties in one day? Really? What about the garden extension, who is going to pay for that? You know it’s only about two days before the current one is done, and then we really need to do the next! It will cost something like 18,000 Simoleans, you know!”
Yes, Guinevere knows, and yes, she does want the garden extended, the Granny Annexe moved round to get more privacy. On the other hand, what sort of a girl says no to a party at Audrey Hepburn’s house if they can help it? Parties fall through for all sorts of reasons, the Sims Mobile Government keeps close tabs on things, and if the party gets too big they stop anyone else attending. Sometimes they arbitrarily close down a party midway.
“That is really the worse thing to happen,” Guinevere explained to her new friends, “when you’re having a great time, chatting and giving out stickers, and suddenly you get a notice, closing the party down. They say it’s no longer valid, and off you go! All the party decorations come down, everything. Mind you, you still get the money and what not, but it’s awful!”
That afternoon, Guinevere sets off for Audrey’s house. She knows Ginamarie will be there, and Alex…she has to smile to herself, at least there is no hot tub. I wonder if he has a goal for somebody else’s party as well? She has no idea what to expect, except that it is bound to be classy, judging by the way Audrey and the others dress…
When she arrives, she is so stunned, she actually just stands on the doorstep and stares. “Wow,” she whispers when she can’t hold her breath any longer without passing out. “Wow, this place…oh my…wow, I don’t even know what to say? It’s incredible, it’s so perfectly suited to you guys…” Guinevere knows that she must look like some country bumpkin, staring open mouthed around her, gasping for breath. The house truly is amazing, everything black and white, extremely tasteful, the effect mind blowing.
Guinevere has a great time, talking to so many different people and trying different food and just being herself. Guinevere finds that that is the things she appreciates most on this day, that people accept her for who she is. “They seemed genuinely glad to see me, they made me feel welcome and appreciated. You don’t know how important that is, and how much I needed that!” She and Sebastian are snuggled up on the sofa in the Annexe, reviewing this amazing day. Sebastian smiles, and gives his lovely wife a squeeze.
“I’m sure it did you good,” he says, “and I know you actually managed to work as well. I’m sorry I mentioned it, it’s just that I would love to see the Annexe all done before we both retire! You do look lovely today, though, not at all like a retire’s wife!”
Yes, retirement looms round the corner for them all. Lancelot and Adrianna have both had their papers as well. They would hate to go, though, especially as Jephta is just a child. How long can they hold off, and how long should they hold off, if at all…?
