Winter 2001 - Huffington

Winter 2001 - Simdays 107-109

Heather Huffington (32), Lance Huffington (4)

It was a slow transition, but Heather was beginning to adjust to the role of single mother.  She was still unemployed and not eager to start a career, but she knew money was a necessity and she would have to find some way to support herself and her young son.

She started thinking about what she could do to earn money, about what she liked and about what she was good at.  When she was in college she liked doing makeovers on her sorority sisters and classmates.  Now that New Eden had signed the business deal, she could open a home salon.  She could work from home, making the residents of New Eden more beautiful and still be home with her son.  It was perfect.

She quickly set about remodeling the vacant space next to her apartment into a salon and opened for business.

Her first customer was Sierra Thaytowski.  Their interaction didn't go very well, but Heather could see the potential in the girl. She was a natural beauty, but with a little make up she would be absolutely stunning.

Her business seemed to attract a lot of younger customers.  One of the first sims she was able to makeover was little Kendra First.  Heather was really proud of the results of her first professional makeover.

Working in the salon was more exhausting than Heather thought it would be.

She decided she needed some help, so she hired Sierra to help out with the cash register.  She wondered if maybe she should have had her babysit Lance instead.

Sierra was not as good at sales as Heather had hoped.

So she had to step in and show her how it's done.

The salon business wasn't doing so well.  Heather wasn't skilled on the salon chair, so she had to offer makeovers for free while she was getting established.  She made a little bit from cosmetics and toiletry sales, but managing the sales, cash register and salon chair, while running back and forth to her apartment to check on Lance and try to take care of her own needs was just too much.  She was tired, and hungry all the time and customers were starting to complain about the cleanliness of her house.  It was all too much.  Heather wasn't having as much fun with this as she thought.  In fact, she wasn't having any fun at all.

To top it off, she missed Lance's birthday.  She tried to arrange a little party for him, but no one would come.  Neil was out of town filming and Gareth wasn't taking her calls.  She was too tired to stay up a minute longer and she passed out on the bed while Lance was playing with his toys.

Lance celebrated his transition from toddlerhood all alone.  It wasn't a pleasant memory for him.

It felt like everything in Heather's life was going wrong.  She knew she had to do better and had to make life better for Lance first and foremost.

She decided she was going to have to close the salon.  It just wasn't working out.  She called Sierra into work and told her in person that she was out of a job.

Sierra hadn't been working out as an employee anyway.  Even if she had stayed open she probably would have fired Sierra for poor work performance.

Sierra was devastated to lose her very first job.

Closing the business was a huge burden off Heather's shoulders.  She felt free to enjoy her life and enjoy spending time with her son again.

Neil, who hadn't been by the house since Heather had opened the salon, stopped by with his daughter Maia to say hello.

Heather had never met Neil's daughter before, but she recognized her as the girl who had been nagging her about her dirty counters.  She wasn't exactly pleased to see her again.

But as they started talking, Maia explained. 

Maia: "I wasn't trying to be mean, but I could see you were really struggling with your business and I thought maybe I could offer some advice to help you out.  I'm sorry if I came off as rude."

Heather: "It's alright.  Don't worry about it.  I was having a hard time doing everything I needed to and the last thing I needed to hear was a complaint, even if it was meant as a suggestion."

Maia: " I think you had a really good idea.  Maybe you should have executed it differently.  Hired more employees."

Heather: "I had trouble finding anyone qualified . . . I don't know.  I don't think business ownership is for me, maybe.  I'll have to try something else."

Maia: "I can see you being successful in business one day.  Maybe you should try something else, like flower arranging.  I don't think you should worry, Heather.  I think you're going to have a really bright future ahead of you."

As Heather and Maia bonded outdoors.  Neil and Lance played together inside.  It was kind of strange to Heather that an adult man would be closer friends with her son than he was with her.  She was used to being the girl that all the men wanted and when she became a single mom, she thought the hard part would be finding a man who liked her son, not finding a man who liked her.  Now that she and Neil's daughter were starting to become friends, Heather wondered if she should make an effort to get to know Neil better.