1.4 Leisure Day

Sage devoured her breakfast with relish. It was her first day off so she spent more time than usual cooking, producing high-quality food. Of course, if her boss had let her, she would have been at the theatre in a heartbeat, but Ms. Lin had insisted all workers needed time off. Not one to question procedure, Sage dutifully stayed at home.

If she only had her guitar, or any instrument really, she could be spending her day off productively. But unfortunately she had to sell her expensive instruments to afford the trip here right after high school like she wanted. It was worth it in the end, of course, but she yearned for a guitar in her hands…

Her melancholic reverie was cut short by her cellphone ringing.

“Mr. Grisby, good morning,” she greeted her co-worker on the other end, “Did something happen at work?”

“What? No. And I told you, you can just call me Walter.” Before Sage could protest and once again remind him of the importance of workplace etiquette, he sighed and continued speaking, “There’s a festival for Leisure day,” Sage unconsciously crinkled her nose in disgust at the mention of the most useless holiday of the year, “And I was wondering if you’d like to come with me?”

“Mr. Grisby,  I don’t feel that would be very professional,” Sage began to decline the offer.

He groaned at the other end of the phone, “Then think of this as a professional courteousy! I’ll be very offended if you don’t want to go…”

Sage hesitated. It would make sense than in a town as small as this that the professional environment would be more relaxed since most of these people had known each other since at least high school. Therefore the rules of mixing professional and personal must be very different than what she’s used to.

“What time is this festival?”

At 11 AM sharp she arrived at the Cannery to meet up with Mr.Grisby.

“Hey Sage- sorry, Ms. Silverly,” he corrected himself, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. Just because she might’ve been from some big fancy city (or wherever, Sage refused to talk about her past or personal life) didn’t mean she can treat everyone like they were beneath her.

Sage’s eyes hardened, but she didn’t say anything. Being rude was worse enough on its own, but she didn’t want to exacerbate the tension.

“We’re not at work…so I suppose you can just call me Sage,” she allowed grudgingly.

Walter’s eyes brightened just a bit. “And you can call me Walter.”

With that out of the way, Mr.Gris-Walter insisted that they take a photo together.

“To commemorate your first festival in Riverview,” he explained with a smile, “People here do this all the time.”

Well, if it was a tradition, who was she to say no?

A little while later Walter changed out of his work outfit, saying the ratty t-shirt was starting to bother him. Sage shrugged.

“Hey, want to try the eating contest?” he called over his shoulder.

Sage made a face, “Um…no thank you. I don’t want to get anything on my sweater. But you can go…Walter.”

Walter didn’t want to leave Sage all by herself in an unfamiliar place, so he suggested rollerskating instead.

He’ll admit, seeing Ms. High-and-mighty so out of her element had its own appeal…

Sage rolled behind him diligently, copying his movements. She swore that she would eventually master balance on these little wheels, and the best practice would be learning from someone who can already do it.

The grim look in her eyes freaked Walter out a bit. It was just rollerskating, for crying out loud! No need to take it so seriously!

Although it did seem that she was loosening up a bit…

Or maybe not that much…

For a split second Sage overthought her balance. In a panicked effort to “correct” herself, she put too much weight behind her, causing her entire body to follow suit. Lucille Spinster tried to reach for the flailing young woman but only succeeded in knocking herself over.

“I am so, so sorry,” Sage said with genuine horror, “Are you alright?”

Lucille waved off her concerns, “I’m fine. But I think I’ll sit down for a while…”

For the rest of her time in the rink, Sage made sure to stay far away from the other skaters and paid close attention to her movements. If she could control herself, then she wouldn’t cause any more problems.

A phone call eventually pulled her away from the rink.

“Hello?”

“What? No! Don’t connect that call! In fact, block all calls coming from that number!” she said hotly. Before the operator could respond, Sage hung up.

“Hey, Walter, I’m not feeling very well, so I’m going to head home,” she said regretfully.

“Are you sure? Do you need me to drive you to the doctor or something?” Walter offered.

Sage shook her head. “No, but thanks anyways. I had a lot of fun today!”

He pulled her into a hug. “So did I! I hope you feel better soon!”

Surprised, she stiffly returned his friendly embrace. “Thank you.”

As soon as she got home she checked her mail. Her heart hammered as she sifted through the various envelopes.

So she doesn’t know this address… good.

Feeling more at ease, she decided to make dinner. Maybe with her new stove, the results would be more edible.

Ok, apparently not…

That’s better!

Yum.

She looked around her small living room, imagining the furniture she would replace.

Yes, this is her home. Or to be more accurate, will be her home.

AN: I actually had Sage invite Walter out to the Leisure Day festival, even though Leisure day is on Sundays in my game. There weren’t a lot of group activities there that I felt a prim and proper sim like Sage would appreciate, but at least she got out of the house.