Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Love and Fame in Hidden Springs (COMPLETED)
PalmArrow
Posts: 4,329 Member
This is a story about two young women who move to Hidden Springs in pursuit of their wishes: one of them is searching for true love, the other for fame.
(The story is actually my first gameplay with Seasons and Hidden Springs installed, so it's unscripted and the only thing I know for certain is that it will have a happy ending.)
Molly Bluejay is an heiress born in Sunset Valley in my legacy game. Her parents, Desmond and Deborah, play for the Llamas, and Desmond is also an adventurer.
As a young adult Molly became a private investigator and started writing novels based on her cases.
She was quite good at both, but the one thing she had no luck with was her love life.
There was, for example, Bill the bartender, who aged up to elder minutes before their date.
Then there was Scottie Beard, the cute food merchant ... who also aged up to elder two days after she met him.
Then there was the food merchant in Champs Les Sims whose toothpaste smelled so nice, but he was married (and adding Sims from destination worlds to your household can cause problems).
Finally Molly decided to move to a new town to try her luck there (and I decided to switch from playing by the legacy challenge rules to playing a lighthearted, chick-lit style story in which everything is allowed.)
She takes over 200,000 simoleons with her, so money isn't going to be an issue. She buys a lot with two wooden houses - one for her, one for her roommate.
As her roommate she chooses Nophret Kingsley, a young woman who has moved to Hidden Springs to pursue her dream of becoming a five-star celebrity.
Nophret is descended from Al Simhara; her family is believed to come from a bloodline of pharaohs.
Will Hidden Springs help Molly and Nophret fulfill their wishes?
(The story is actually my first gameplay with Seasons and Hidden Springs installed, so it's unscripted and the only thing I know for certain is that it will have a happy ending.)
Molly Bluejay is an heiress born in Sunset Valley in my legacy game. Her parents, Desmond and Deborah, play for the Llamas, and Desmond is also an adventurer.
As a young adult Molly became a private investigator and started writing novels based on her cases.
She was quite good at both, but the one thing she had no luck with was her love life.
There was, for example, Bill the bartender, who aged up to elder minutes before their date.
Then there was Scottie Beard, the cute food merchant ... who also aged up to elder two days after she met him.
Then there was the food merchant in Champs Les Sims whose toothpaste smelled so nice, but he was married (and adding Sims from destination worlds to your household can cause problems).
Finally Molly decided to move to a new town to try her luck there (and I decided to switch from playing by the legacy challenge rules to playing a lighthearted, chick-lit style story in which everything is allowed.)
She takes over 200,000 simoleons with her, so money isn't going to be an issue. She buys a lot with two wooden houses - one for her, one for her roommate.
As her roommate she chooses Nophret Kingsley, a young woman who has moved to Hidden Springs to pursue her dream of becoming a five-star celebrity.
Nophret is descended from Al Simhara; her family is believed to come from a bloodline of pharaohs.
Will Hidden Springs help Molly and Nophret fulfill their wishes?
Post edited by PalmArrow on
4
Comments
On their first afternoon out, Molly and Nophret meet local celebrities Sebastian and Renauld Vanderburg. Nophret quickly does her best to impress them both. Molly is not that interested.
Molly gets her first crime to solve in Hidden Springs. Little Gary Shue thinks Granny Shue is stealing his mouthwash. I was surprised by the amount of children living with Granny Shue! I was reminded of the Mother Goose rhyme "there was an old woman who lived in a shoe", which was probably the intention.
After questioning Granny Shue, Molly goes to the library to make an online dating profile, and sends a message to Nicholas, one of the guys the site suggested as a match for her.
According to the newspaper, three places in town are hotspots that night. Nophret takes a nap at the Redwood Lodge resort to save energy for the night.
The girls get ready for a night out. The three hotspots are a hangout, a vampire lounge and an exclusive lounge. They choose the vampire lounge, which is across the street from their house.
Not such a great hotspot! The only other guest is Christoff Colby, who is not a vampire (but his outfit fits in very well.) There is no pianist, so Molly takes over, and Nophret, who has the "good sense of humour" trait, jokes with Christoff.
The next morning it starts to rain, and since this is the first game I'm playing with Seasons, I just marvel at how beautiful the world looks in the rain.
When Molly wakes up, she checks the dating website for messages.
It turns out the guy she messaged said "no" in a very rude way, but just about everyone else is interested in her.
But the best message is the last one, by an elder called Rigoberto Dewey.
To make things even better, the morning paper says that Rigoberto just got married yesterday. You're a piece of work, Rigoberto!
She responds to two of the guys who contacted her: Liam and Carl. When she calls Liam, he refuses to meet her. Carl accepts her invitation to come over. He arrives in a police cruiser.
There is an immediate spark between them. However...
... when she asks if he has a partner, he says yes. He has a wife called Maya.
Molly asks him to leave, and spends the evening watching the weather channel with Nophret. Not very exciting, but much better than a date with a married man!
Nophret suggests that married people using online dating would be a good subject for a book.
Hmmm... sounds like a good idea!
The next day they go roller skating at the summer festival.
Lars's Discotheque is a hotspot that evening, and the girls take a cab there.
They meet Astrid and Eunice Pertridge, Hidden Springs' version of the wicked stepsisters from Cinderella. They seem friendly.
In fact, Nophret finds Eunice very attractive.
She goes home thinking about having met an attractive sim. (I wonder why that happened? They share no traits - in fact, Eunice is evil and Nophret is good. But Eunice's bio says she wants to marry a prince, and this goes well with my backstory for Nophret, that she is descended from ancient royalty. Eunice probably sensed that somehow!)
Molly catches an illness at the disco and spends the next day in bed.
Meanwhile, I spot two celebrities - Catarina Vanderburg and the Cinderella character, Ella Carlisle, who has become a one-star celebrity - at the Shoreline Lodge. I send Nophret there to try and meet them.
She tries talking to Ella first, and gets the "How dare you talk to me, I'm a celebrity!" response. She chooses to impress her first by talking about her wealth, then - seeing that Ella is wearing the cooking career uniform - about cooking.
Success! Ella suddenly says she's glad to meet someone who is a celebrity like herself. Yes, Nophret has become a one-star celebrity!
She has no luck in talking to Catarina Vanderburg, though, so she just goes into stalker mode for a moment and snaps a photo of her eating a snow cone.
I also know all about the struggles of them becoming elders. Same save file as the previously mentioned one. Everyone became an elder when she wanted to be with them.
Molly solves a case: Ian Nali has hired her to expose Renauld Vanderburg's cy.ber crimes. So that is how Vanderburg became so rich!
When talking to Ian, she gets both the "attractive company" moodlet and the "hunted" moodlet. Ian is the first vampire she has ever met!
While Molly is leaving, Ian stands there in the bushes, watching her with glowing eyes.
Nophret works on her writing skill by writing a Jimmy Sprocket novel (the game suggested it). She will have to build her skills higher to go on impressing celebrities!
The first day of autumn is sunny, and the girls play shuffleboard in their back garden. When I was choosing the lot for them, I didn't even notice the lovely waterfall view from the back!
Later, Molly asks Bruce Chesterfield, another guy she met via online dating, to meet her at Han's tavern.
They get along well, his traits seem good, and - yay! - he's single!
I just take him for a quick visit to CAS, because he had a permanent smile I found creepy. I also softened his cheeks a little, but I wanted to keep his quite distinctive looks. There!
Molly gives the camera a look, as if thinking "Finally! Someone I would actually like to meet again!"
In the evening, Nophret socialises with another 1-star celebrity, Hector Mendosa, at the pool.
Remembering that she might not have a chance to do that until spring, she decides to skinny-dip, much to Hector's delight.
But afterwards the game changes her straight from wearing nothing into outerwear. The cold weather has started!
The next morning brings heavy rain.
Thankfully, the girls don't need to go anywhere.
In the evening the rain stops, and they go to the autumn festival with Bruce. Molly wins in bobbing for apples.
She is so sleepy she rushes home afterwards, but Nophret stays for a while. The Spooky Shack has the figure of a mummy above the entrance. She takes this as a personal challenge. Her ancestors invented mummies - she's not going to be intimidated by them!
But she does come out of the Shack with an "Attacked by the mummy" moodlet. How embarrassing! Good thing it's late and there is no one here to see her.
The following morning is crisp and clear.
Molly solves a case of internet trolling. Her last client was a vampire - this one is a mermaid, Christoff Colby, the guy she and Nophret had met earlier in the vampire lounge. I wouldn't have noticed he was a mermaid if Molly hadn't the option to "ask about scales".
The newspaper says the theatre is one of the hotspots for the evening. And it really is - two one-star celebrities are sitting there on benches in the rain, and a paparazzo lady is watching them from a safe distance. (This is not the first time the theatre has been a hotspot, so I think I should build a small building around those benches! I'm concerned for the health of Hidden Springs celebrities.)
Nophret gets to know one of them, Ryan Anderson.
They get along well, so they go to see a movie together.
In the meantime, Molly works on a new novel, "Under False Pretenses", about married people pretending to be single online. She is naming no names, of course, but a certain policeman might find one of the characters familiar!
As Nophret and Ryan leave the theatre, the paparazzo lady starts scribbling notes and snapping photos.
Ryan leaves, but Nophret thinks "Well, if she wants an interesting story, I can give her one!"
She pretends to faint. Everyone is shocked. The paparazzo scribbles something and leaves.
Nophret goes home with a wide grin. She had tremendous fun doing this.
But the next morning she gets a bad moodlet even before she wakes up. She is disgraced! How unfair - she was being charitable and trying to help the paparazzo!
After having a vampire client and a mermaid client, Molly gets perhaps the most interesting client of all: Francisca Vanderburg, the runaway princess of Hidden Springs, who left her rich family to lead a modest life.
Since she discovered in a previous case that Renauld Vanderburg's fortune wasn't acquired in an entirely honest way, Molly understands her. And, on top of it all, Francisca is also a mermaid!
The day is foggy, which makes the autumn colours stand out even more.
Molly goes home a little conflicted. She likes Francisca and wants to help her, but the investigation would involve going through Ryan Anderson's garbage to find evidence that he's been kicking gnomes. (!) And Ryan Anderson is the one-star celebrity Nophret met at the theatre last night.
She doesn't want to make things awkward for Nophret, so she asks her if she would mind if she takes on the case.
Nophret stares at her. "You want to go through Ryan Anderson's garbage?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I do."
"That's brilliant! May I come with you?"
Ryan Anderson's house is on the hills and has a lovely view. But Molly didn't come here to admire the view.
"Keep watch, will you, Nophret? And if anyone passes by, try to distract them."
The guy walking down the road is Liam O'Rourke. Molly has met him via the dating site: he sent her a message, but then twice refused to meet her.
If he can recognise her now, he's probably glad he refused!
Why does this road have to be so full of people now, of all times?
Molly has to stop searching because she was caught in the act. Now Nophret is not the only one feeling embarrassed! But her search was not in vain: she found a pair of damaged shoes, evidence that Ryan Anderson has been kicking gnomes.
"We're both feeling bad right know, but eventually we'll laugh it off and write books about it!"
To unwind that evening, they decide to visit a hotspot, an exclusive lounge.
I expected they would have to bribe the bouncer (I set the entry requirement to "four star celebrities"), but she just stepped aside and let them in. Probably because they are rich?
There is no one there but the staff, but who needs people when there is a chocolate fountain and a hot tub?
Is synchronised chocolate-eating a sport? If not, it should be!
Life is looking better already, and tomorrow is Spooky Day, when they should have some fun!
Spooky Day comes, and the girls don't want to let the heavy rain stop them from spending it at the festival grounds. Nophret invites Ella "Cinderella" Carlisle along, and Molly invites Bruce.
Bruce waits in the rain while Molly is having her face painted. (Nophret and Ella are having a water balloon fight in the background. Sounds like the last thing you'd do in the rain, but they wanted to do it!)
"Why are you looking at me like that, Bruce?"
"That pumpkin on your cheek looks really cute."
Molly doesn't want to rush the relationship with Bruce, but she has a very good feeling about it.
By the way, when she registered on the online dating site, one of the messages was from a freshly married elder called Rigoberto, who spoke of himself in third person. "Rigoberto likes what he sees."
Well, Rigoberto is working as a food vendor! Molly will be sure to avoid his stall.
The rain starts again, and the group decides to dine at the bistro.
Just like the real Cinderella, Ella's transformation from the culinary career uniform to formal clothes is amazing. She totally looks like a Disney princess.
Bruce takes Molly to the bistro in his police cruiser - he is a policeman just like Carl, the married guy who wanted to date Molly. If Bruce and Carl are friends, this could be awkward!
Carl is still sending Molly gifts and love letters.
Molly and Bruce bump into Renauld Vanderburg at the entrance to the bistro. Renauld tries to accost her. "Who hired you to investigate my business, young lady?" But she pretends not to hear him.
After dinner Nophret suggests going to the discotheque, but the party is broken by Ella who - just like the real Cinderella - needs to be home on time.
It's cute as usual! I hope Molly finds love with Bruce. They look lovely together!
Have a Sim story site? Please submit your link to the Stories and Legacies Index!
Check out my Simlit at Sim Stories: Hijinks from the World of Sims 3!
My Simlit Discussion/Updates | The Fringe | Short Story Challenges
In addition to her fee, Molly gets a Mysterious Mr Gnome as a reward from Francisca.
More gloomy and rainy autumn weather.
Nophret works on her writing skill by writing a trashy novel, "Hidden Things in Hidden Springs", a fictionalised account of the lives of the rich and famous in Hidden Springs.
Because of her friendship with Nophret, Molly is now a 1-star celebrity as well.
One morning, they once again meet the king and prince of Hidden Springs, Renauld and Sebastian Vanderburg. Molly prefers to stay away - she has exposed Renauld as a cy.ber criminal in a previous case.
But Nophret jumps at the chance to try to impress a four-star celebrity. She succeeds! She can now socialise with Sebastain Vanderburg.
Sebastian also wants to speak to Molly, though. He has a case for her, and it's a gruesome one! He thinks his father keeps hitting his toes with a hard object while he's sleeping. Is there no end to Renauld Vanderburg's villainy?
Molly cautiously interviews Renauld. Hmm... it would seem that this particular crime is not one he's guilty of! She suspects that Sebastian might actually have a sleeping disorder.
Nophret asks Renauld to pose for a celebrity photo. He is happy to oblige.
In preparation for the winter, I add a small building with a sauna and hot tub to the back of Molly and Nophret's lot.
It's the last evening of autumn, and Nophret wants to throw a party to say goodbye to the season. She prepares shawarma, a dish from the country of her ancestors.
Unfortunately, her cooking skill is not that high yet and she burns the shawarma.
It doesn't matter: maybe some of the guests will bring their own food!
Molly is looking forward to the party too. The pumpkin-coloured sweater she is wearing is totally just a celebration of autumn - nothing to do with a certain someone who told her she looked cute with a pumpkin painted on her cheek...
The guests begin to arrive. Nophret made sure to invite an interesting assortment of people.
She invited not only Sebastian "Prince Charming" Vanderburg and Ella "Cinderella" Carlisle, but also the wicked stepsister, Eunice Pertridge. Nophret danced with Eunice once and found her attractive, so she may be a little biased when she believes Eunice is actually good deep inside.
To add a vampire into the mix, she also invited Ian Nali, the vampire with the glowing eyes who was one of Molly's clients.
Ian arrives with a plate of spaghetti with veggie sauce. Is he a vegetarian vampire? That makes him so much less sinister!
The guests start to mingle. Bruce and Molly are only interested in one another.
They start dancing a slow dance, even though the radio is tuned to the Beach Party station.
Nophret tries a bit of well-intentioned mischief. She tries to get Ella to dance with Eunice, hoping to bring the two stepsisters to a truce. Ella is clearly uncomfortable.
"No, I won't, and I won't hear another word about it," she says angrily. Nophret apologises, realising she has crossed the line. Later she chats with Eunice and realises she is indeed evil.
The star of the party, Sebastian Vanderburg, arrives late. In fact, Ella has to go home already, so they don't exchange a word.
One by one, the guests leave, saying the party was great. Ian's eyes are glowing in the dark again!
Bruce and Sebastian stay until late at night. Bruce chats with Molly...
... while Sebastian dances with Nophret. He seems interested in her, but she only wants to befriend him.
A Prince Charming is not her type, but he is Ella's type, and Nophret doesn't want to offend the sweet Ella again. In fact, she would like to help bring her and Sebastian together.
When the guests leave, the girls go to bed tired but happy. As the season changes into winter, in her sleep Molly gets the wish to skate on a frozen pond with Bruce.
I need to play in my Hidden Springs. Make sure Story Progression doesn't spoil Bruce.
It would be nice to a piece of Al Simhara here in Hidden Springs. No, not a sarcophagus - something more affordable and less sinister.
That evening, while Nophret chats with a green-skinned vampire in the theatre cafe...
... Molly starts talking to a teen in the street. He turns out to be Dennis Chesterfield, Bruce's son.
She learns from Dennis that their life isn't easy: they don't have much money, and they have to share a house with three other people. Dennis dreams of having a room of his own.
Molly says nothing, but she has an idea.
(By the way, when the game starts Bruce Chesterfield actually has two sons, Dennis and Scott, but in my game Scott Chesterfield died of starvation before my sims had a chance to met him. That's far too gruesome for my story, so I'm just pretending he never existed!)
That evening, the first snow of the year starts.
By dawn, Hidden Springs is covered with a veil of white...
... and the first light of the morning adds a double rainbow.
The girls stay in and work on their novels.
A strange package arrives with the morning post. Molly is surprised, but Nophret was expecting it!
This is the piece of Al Simhara she can carry around with her. A snake-charming basket is a cool party trick, and snakes can also be charmed into people's clothing, as the paparazzi of Hidden Springs may soon find out!
Nophret manages to impress another celebrity: Molly's former client Francisca Vanderburg, Hidden Springs' runaway princess and protector of gnomes.
The next morning Molly wakes up early with the wish to make a snow angel.
Done! Now there is something more serious she needs to take care of.
What she learned from Dennis set this plan into motion.
With the help of her lawyers in Sunset Valley, she buys a two-bedroom lakeside house in Hidden Springs and offers it as an anonymous benefactor to the Hidden Springs police to be awarded to a hard-working officer, preferably a single parent, as a Snowflake Day gift.
Bruce is the only one who fits this description, so it's not long before he and Dennis arrive in their new home.
Dennis immediately runs inside to choose a bedroom, and Bruce stays outside to build an igloo. He seems happy.
Molly and Nophret are enjoying the sauna I've added to their lot.
Because celebrity is a strange thing, by socialising with each other in the sauna and strengthening their friendship they both suddenly level up to two-star celebrities.
I add a fireplace and Snowflake Day tree to Molly's house.
There is also a strategically placed mistletoe, and everything is now ready for Molly to invite Bruce over.
Bruce arrives just as Nophret is leaving to spend the evening at the exclusive lounge.
Molly pretends to be just casually watching TV as Bruce comes in...
... but as they chat (and Bruce mentions getting a lovely house from a mysterious benefactor), they both slowly maneuver towards the mistletoe.
(Screenshot taken just after the kiss, because they were too quick for me!)
Molly also offers Bruce a massage, although she's not sure she's doing it properly. he likes it anyway.
Meanwhile at the lounge, Nophret and Sebastian Vanderburg are having a snowball fight in evening dress.
Molly and Bruce end the evening having officially moved from friends to romantic interests.
How cute! I do hope they can make it!
Ah, snakes, perfect Nophret! Exactly what those papparazzi need!
Have a Sim story site? Please submit your link to the Stories and Legacies Index!
Check out my Simlit at Sim Stories: Hijinks from the World of Sims 3!
My Simlit Discussion/Updates | The Fringe | Short Story Challenges
The next day, she meets her friend Ella, the Cinderella of Hidden Springs.
Nophret is planning to be Ella's fairy godmother.
Ella lives with a stepmother and stepsister who hate her, and Nophret and Molly have room enough for another roommate. So Nophret asks Ella if she would like to move in with them. She accepts with enthusiasm.
Ella arrives in her new home, decorated for tomorrow's holiday. She is finally going to spend a Snowflake Day with people she likes!
She feels like a child again, anticipating the holiday.
During the night, holiday lights are placed on their houses.
It's Snowflake Day, and all three girls are wearing knitted sweaters (I love how seventies this picture looks!)
Nophret is throwing a gift-giving party.
Sebastian "Prince Charming" Vanderburg is among the guests. I was hoping to have Ella flirt with him, but he headed straight for the sauna! I suppose he really needed to relax.
One by one, the guests open their gifts. I love how there are gifts waiting even for the party-crashers. Bruce Chesterfield's son Dennis is interested in the gifts, but Bruce is only interested in Molly.
In the end, everyone says the party has been awesome, and the successful hostess is now a three-star celebrity, one star closer to her lifetime wish.
***
The freshly-made three-star celebrity continues visiting hotspots and getting to know people. This is her idea of a charming introduction:
"Scarab beetles are THIS big in Al Simhara!"
It works, though.
In the meantime, Ella and Molly bond by making snowmen and having a jam session in the snow.
After the Snowflake Day party, Molly rolled the wish to woohoo with Bruce. So she invites him over on Saturday morning, but just at the moment their romance bar is high enough, he suddenly has to leave for work.
He comes back on his own after work, though, and stands at exactly the same spot in front of the house where they left off. He didn't lose the mood at all!
Nophret has gone out and Ella is working at the diner, so Molly and Bruce won't be disturbed. (I wish Sims could take off their shoes before getting into bed!)
Molly almost immediately rolls the wish to woohoo with Bruce again.
And it was obviously good for Bruce too, judging by his strut of pride.
Nophret comes in to say hello, sees what's going on and decides to just retreat discreetly into her own house.
Bruce stays with Molly overnight. The next day is the first day of spring, and the snowmen Molly and Ella made already look a little sad.
Ella breaks into a fit of giggles upon seeing Bruce walking around in his underwear in the morning. Living in close quarters is fun and cozy, but there isn't much privacy!
By noon the snowmen have dissolved into sad little heaps...
... and by the afternoon not a trace is left of them.
Nophret is going to the Little Corsican Bistro to fulfill her first celebrity sponsorship contract: the owners have invited her to dine there and mention it to three other Sims.
It's a rainy afternoon, but Bruce and Molly don't mind - they have a good idea how to spend it.
The girls visit the spring festival and search for eggs.
Nophret kisses the kissing booth attendant and gets a happy moodlet for the whole day.
Molly suddenly gets the unpleasant sensation that someone is watching her. It's Marcela Clarit, the paparazzo who disgraced Nophret some time ago!
Molly doesn't want Marcela's attention, so Nophret volunteers to distract her. In the meantime, Molly tries the Love-O-meter. It gives her a reading of "Naughty, but Nice".
Nophret takes out her snake-charming basket and starts playing the flute. Marcela is fascinated, and she snaps lots of photos.
The "charm into clothes" option doesn't come up, otherwise the paparazzo would have got a nasty surprise! Nophret goes for a friendlier route instead: she still has to convince one more Sim into dining at the Bistro for her celebrity opportunity, so she convinces Marcela.
"If a celebrity like Nophret Kingsley says I should dine there, I must try it!" the paparazzo is thinking.
But Nophret is thinking: "The joke is on you, Marcela: the food isn't actually that good!" (I've never seen her with such a wide grin before.)
The results of the egg hunt: two beautiful Faberge eggs...
... and a bunny gnome. I can't decide if he's cute or ugly, or both!
Molly's detective work demands her to search through Ryan Anderson's garbage again! The first time she did it, he was suspected of kicking gnomes. This time his girlfriend, Anna Menon, wants to know if he's planning to buy her a ring.
Strangely, Anna is standing beside her while she is searching through the rubbish. Why didn't you just do it yourself then, Anna?
Even more awkwardly, Ryan himself passes by while she is informing Anna of the results, but doesn't realise they are talking about him. The evidence from the rubbish bin shows that Ryan had bought some flowers for Anna, but got intimidated and threw them away.
"That's all I can tell you, Miss Menon - and now I will burn my notes on the case, as I always do."
(Anna is wearing her journalism career outfit. I love how they both look like film noir characters in this picture.)
Later that day, heavy rain starts. Ella, being a romantic soul, practices her guitar in the rain.
Nophret visits the Shoreline Cabin hangout to befriend another celebrity, Andrew Song.
Inside the hangout, Molly's client Anna is working on an article. She has a really, really unconventional method of typing!
Molly visits Bruce and Dennis in the house she secretly bought for them.
"How do you like your new home, Dennis?"
"I love it! We have a really big kitchen, and I love cooking. I want to become a chef someday!
This is the first time Bruce sees Molly in her private investigator outfit, and he loves how it looks on her.
So far, their relationship seems to be blissful.
***
The day before Love Day, sunrise bathes Hidden Springs in a golden glow.
Ella doesn't have to go to work at the diner today, so Nophret decides to embark on her fairy godmother mission and introduce her to Sebastian Vanderburg.
They get along well. Maybe they are really destined for each other!
The three of them go out together, but Nophret discreetly reads a book and lets the other two enjoy each other's company. There is no ballroom and no glass slippers, only Han's tavern and Marcela the curious paparazzo, but it might still be the beginning of a fairy tale!
Molly stays at home and invites Bruce over. They flirt for a while...
... but Molly is interrupted by a phone call from a client.
While she is on the phone, Bruce sits at her computer to play a game, but he notices a folder called "family photos". He is curious to see her family, so he hopes she won't mind if he takes a quick look.
There is a picture of Molly as a little girl with the inscription "In our vacation home, Al Simhara." A vacation home in Egypt? Her family must be as rich as the Vanderburgs!
Then there are some pictures of Molly as a toddler. Aww!
There's a photo of Molly's parents...
... and then one from further in the past. "My great-grandma and grandpa, Agnes Crumplebottom and George Bluejay".
Agnes Crumplebottom? Where had he recently heard that name?
Suddenly he remembers. When he was given his new house - as a reward for his good work in the police force, he was told - the documents mentioned it was paid for by the Agnes Crumplebottom Memorial Foundation.
Bruce is quick to make the connection, and it makes him feel very uneasy.
"Molly?"
Molly has never heard his voice sound so grave before.
"My new house... It was actually a gift from you, wasn't it?"
It would make no sense to deny it.
"Yes, it was. Please, please don't be offended by it!"
"I'm not offended, but... You let me talk to you proudly about my new house, how it was a reward for my work in the police force, and you knew all the time that I never got a reward for my work! It makes me feel so ridiculous in hindsight!"
"I'm sorry I said nothing, but, please, try to understand why! I had a huge crush on you at the time, but we weren't officially together yet..."
"...and up to now, whenever I liked someone, something would always go wrong! It was almost like a curse. I was afraid that it wouldn't work out with you, that I would mess up again... but if that happened, I wanted you to keep the house without feeling bad."
"But, in doing that, I have messed up again, haven't I?"
Bruce doesn't look angry - just very serious and quiet.
"I don't know. I understand that you wanted to help me, and that was sweet of you. But how would you feel if you discovered I'd been keeping something like this from you?"
Molly has no answer to this - she suspects she wouldn't feel happy either.
They say an awkward goodbye, and Molly goes to sleep early, before Nophret and Ella come home from their hotspot-touring. They will probably be cheerful and talkative, and she just wants to be alone.
During the night, the weather in Hidden Springs decides to get metaphorical. It's going to be a cold Love Day!
A little drama is always good. I hope they work out that.
I also like how you're helping Ella. Story Progression is great, but sometimes it doens't help.
Sometimes, I let it go. I can't help every poor soul in the neighborhood...
"Dennis... how would you feel if I wanted us to move back to our old house?"
"The one we shared with the Deweys? That was awful, Dad, I never had any privacy! I love our new house! Why would you want to move?"
"The thing is, I found out the house was a gift from Molly."
"But... what is wrong with that? You like Molly!"
"Things are not that simple when you are an adult, Dennis."
"No, I don't like Molly. I love Molly," he thinks to himself.
Love Day starts with a pink, frosty dawn.
Molly wakes up early and works on her latest detective novel, "Sleepwalking In The Snow." She feels the need to add a tragic love story to the mystery plot.
When Nophret and Ella wake up, they notice something is wrong with Molly. "We have to find a way to cheer her up!" Nophret says.
She talks Molly into having a girls' day out, and calls a taxi. "To the Salon, please!"
Molly is still lost in her thoughts.
She follows Nophret and Ella, who are running excitedly.
"One of us needs a little cheering up, so we would like a really fun makeover," Nophret tells the stylist.
The new outfit succeeds in finally making Molly smile.
Meanwhile, Bruce is in an otherwise empty Han's Tavern, learning to play the drums. He is trying not to remember that this is where he and Molly played darts on their first date.
The girls giggle with delight at their new look. Not even Marcela the paparazzo, who appeared behind them silently as a panther, can spoil their mood.
Molly and Ella don't want to rise any further on the celebrity scale, but Nophret does, and she happily poses for Marcela.
While the girls are waiting for a taxi to take them to the Spring Festival, Marcela is scribbling furiously in her notebook.
"At first I thought I saw three colourful teddy bears walking down the streets of Hidden Springs. But I was wrong: they were actually three well-known Hidden Springs socialités: Nophret Kingsley, Molly Bluejay and Ella Carlisle. Is this fashion fad cute or embarrassing on adult women? We want your input, dear reader!"
Freshly made over, the girls spend the day dancing and searching for eggs at the spring festival.
They have lots of fun.
But as the evening starts to fall, Molly can't help thinking about Bruce. Are they really going to spend Love Day without seeing each other? Should she call him? What if he doesn't want to speak to her?
At the same time in Han's Tavern, Bruce stops playing the drums. He's been trying to tell himself that skilling up in drums was exactly how he wanted to spend Love Day... but it's not exactly working.
The cold way in which he and Molly said goodbye to each other yesterday is weighing on him. He needs to make sure she's okay.
"Molly? Hi, it's me, Bruce. How are you?"
"Bruce! I'm at the spring festival. Would you like to join me?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes."
Bruce finds her waiting on the dance floor.
"Hi! I like the hat."
"Thanks!"
"Would you like to dance? We can talk tomorrow."
"I would love that!"
They spend the rest of the evening alone on the dance floor, dancing a slow dance.
(In the background, the kissing booth attendant is following Nophret to take a picture of her. She is getting recognised as a celebrity more and more often.)
Ella gets her face painted at the festival and, like warrior paint, it gives her courage.
Waiting for her Prince Charming had no result so far - so why not change her tactics and make the first move?
She invites Sebastian to meet her at the exclusive lounge, and changes into her fairy-tale-princess outfit.
They chat about the theatre at first...
... but then she asks him about his Zodiac sign, and somehow it progresses easily from there.
At the end of the evening, they are officially each other's romantic interest.
Meanwhile, Nophret meets Sebastian's mother, Catarina Vanderburg, at Ryan Anderson's house party.
That's fortunate, because Catarina is Hidden Springs' most unapproachable celebrity and she has refused to talk to Nophret once before. Now she has another chance.
It wasn't easy, and it may have taken a tiny bit of lying (that she has the artistic skill), but Nophret has now impressed Catarina Vanderburg and may socialise with her!
The next morning Nophret finds her picture in the paper. She is satisfied with the photo, but not so much with Marcela's writing.
"...colourful teddy bears? Embarrasing on adult women? Plum you, Marcela Clarit!"
Molly and Bruce meet for a short drink before Bruce's work at the police station, to have the talk they postponed yesterday.
"Bruce, I've been thinking about what you asked me - how would I feel if you'd been hiding such a big thing from me. I would feel betrayed. There's no question about that."
"But can I ask you to imagine if things were the other way round - if you learned that I was living in bad conditions, with a kid who suffered from it, and if you were rich enough to help me just by making a phone call, wouldn't you do it?"
"I've been thinking about that too, and the answer is - yes, I would. And I would probably do it secretly too, if we weren't even together at the time."
There are no hard feelings or misunderstandings left between them now, and they can both go to work (solving crimes, each in their own way) knowing that their relationship is safe.
... while Molly and Bruce feel closer than ever.
Saturday is the last day of Spring and it brings, for some strange reason, a fad for bizarre clothing among the teenagers of Hidden Springs!
Molly and Bruce visit the Spring Festival and try the Love-o-Meter together.
The love inspector is impressed with their love!
But they are not here just to have fun - they are also here to fight crime! Bruce is a little bit behind on his police reports, so he needs to question some townies. Molly helps him by conducting a stakeout.
Bruce questions a few townies, but they deny knowledge of any criminal activity.
Bruce continues his questioning in the library. He knows it's wrong to judge people based on their clothes, but he can't help thinking young Gary Shue is dressed suspiciously!
Molly is there to support Bruce, but Gary claims that he knows nothing about any criminal activity, and that he spent the day at a wedding.
Meanwhile, Ella meets Sebastian after her work at the diner. But there is something unusual about the face of that townie watching them. I zoom in on him and...
GAAH! You are seriously creeping me out, Charles Winterly.
A light spring rain starts, and most passers-by open their umbrellas and head for home, but Charles the creepy clown is still there, watching them. (He only went away after Ella went home.)
Molly is crowned Queen of the Dance for dancing at the Spring festival, and she gets a very nice award in the mail.
***
It's the first day of summer again! A year ago exactly , Molly and Nophret moved to Hidden Springs, Molly in search of true love and Nophret in search of fame. They have been doing pretty well - Molly's relationship with Bruce Chesterfield is now happy and stable, and Nophret is very close to becoming a four-star celebrity.
Molly goes mountain-climbing with Bruce and Dennis.
They reach the Redwood Peak viewing area and spend the morning playing shuffleboard.
Nophret goes to the gym: she got an offer to work out for four hours in exchange for celebrity points.
She gets more than half of her task done, but then she stops to make some phone calls. She wants to throw a party to welcome the summer at the Crystal Solarium Rejuvenating Waters pool.
Nophret is now famous enough to get this kind of reaction from townie Marley Williams. Running into her at the gym is the best thing that ever happened to him!
Nophret challenges her fan to a rock-climbing competition...
... although she regrets it when she loses. Well, at least Marley will have something to talk about with his friends!
She leaves the gym and goes to the pool to check if everything is in order for the party. All the decorations are sea- and summer-themed.
Many of the guests arrive ahead of time.
At the entrance to the pool, Marcela the paparazzo snaps a photo of Sebastian Vanderburg, who is revealed to be a merman. That's exactly the sensational story she's been looking for!
Nophret entertains her guests by charming her king cobra.
About the time the first guests begin to leave, the notification suddenly appears: Nophret has become a four-star celebrity!
Her former nemesis Marcela is now as star-struck as anyone else would be, asking for her autograph.
Nophret relaxes in the pool as the final guests leave, satisfied with her accomplishment.
The next morning's paper carries Marcela's latest scoop:
Congrats for the girls! Both of them achieved their goals!
Even Molly in my game is okay. I have a feeling her son Aidan won't be that lucky, though.