Baby You’re A Shitshow

Laurel let out a small laugh, nodding in agreement. “Murphy’s Law strikes again,” she said with a knowing grin. “It always seems to pick the worst possible moment, doesn’t it?” She glanced at the stalled car before looking back at Celine, her expression warm. “But hey, at least you’re not stuck in the middle of a heatwave or a snowstorm. Small wins, right?” She took Celine’s offered hand without hesitation, giving it a firm but friendly shake. “Laurel,” she introduced herself with an easy smile. “And, well, I’m just glad I was passing by when I did. No one should be stuck on the side of the road alone.” She glanced around before adding playfully.

Celine nodded, knowing that Murphy's Law had gotten her plenty of times before. I mean, even the reason she was here was a big spectacular failure of everything going wrong. "You're right, though I'd be a bit concerned if it was a snowstorm. I mean when is the last time this town even got real snow?" Growing up in Indiana, Celine was used to real winters, whereas in Louisiana if they got a dusting the whole city went to into apocalypse mode. "Nice to meet you Laurel. Well, I appreciate it so thank you so much for stopping."

Laurel offered a small, understanding smile, shifting her weight slightly as she listened. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Phones always seem to fail at the worst possible times.” She let out a light chuckle, shaking her head. As Celine accepted the offer for help, Laurel reached for her own phone, nodding. “No problem at all. I’ll give them a call.” While dialing, she glanced back at Celine’s car, then returned her attention to her. “Twenty minutes isn’t too bad,” Laurel mused, tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear as she waited for the call to go through. “At least it’s not scorching out. But still—being stuck on the side of the road is never fun.” She shot Celine a reassuring look.

Celine found herself starting to warm to this woman who had stopped to save her, and who was staying to help her out to make sure she didn't remain stranded on the side of the road. She found herself starting to smile in return. "It's like that one thing, Murphey's Law I think? If something could go wrong, it will go wrong and at the wrong time." Celine gave a small chuckle, knowing she was living just that with the phone not working while being broken down on the side of the road. "No, it's not too bad. And the weather isn't too hot or too cold, I guess I did luck out in that regard." She agreed. Still, how much longer would she have been left out here if this nice woman hadn't stopped to help her. "I'm Celine by the way." She held out her hand to the other woman.

"Ah, have some hope. Some things seem worse than they are." She assured the brunette, giving her a wink. Of course, Teagan wasn't making any promises about her ability to fix the car, but a lot of things could be patched to at least get someone a few miles back to town. "Coming right up." Pulling open the back of her truck, Teagan grabbed a bottle of water from the stash she kept just in case, handing it to Celine. "Do you have a favorite trail?" While the blonde wasn't an avid hiker herself, she knew most of the trails. @celineediz

Celine was glad that Teagan was the one who stopped beside her on the road to help out. Right now she really needed some jolt of optimism in her life and hearing Teagan's words brought a small smile to her lips. "Usually I'm not so doom and gloom." She said with a small laugh. "It just seemed like all these things went wrong at once." Not to mention that her car kept falling apart and she couldn't afford a new one. Celine took the water and took a deep drink before letting out a small, satisfied sigh. "There's one around here that leads out to a waterfall and I love that one, though it is a challenging one to do and I could never do it alone. I'd be too afraid to do it by myself."

Laurel knew all too well how unreliable service could be out on this stretch of road. She glanced at her own phone, relieved to see a couple of bars still holding steady. "Yeah, it's spotty out here," she said, shifting her weight slightly as she eyed Celine's car. It definitely looked like it had seen better days. She offered a small, reassuring smile. "I have service, I can try to call someone. " Laurel quickly pulled out her phone, her fingers moving with practiced ease. As she waited for the call to connect, she glanced back at Celine. "How long have you been stuck out here?" she asked, genuinely curious. The wind tugged at her hair, and she instinctively reached up to push it back, mirroring Celine’s earlier motion.

Somehow there were still dead spots left, though Celine felt like that was hard in this day and age unless you really were in the middle of nowhere. But somehow she had managed to stumble upon one of the dead zones. "Just my luck, right? Why wouldn't my phone also stop working?" She groaned. As the other offered to call, Celine smiled and was grateful that at least one thing was going right. "Please, and thank you so much." She waited, her gaze going back to her car before she was pulled back to her mystery savior. "Not too long, maybe like twenty minutes?" At least it wasn't a hundred plus degree day during the height of summer.

who? @celineediz where? the shops at twin lakes

Celine hated that she had this super specific rug she was looking for. After searching the internet for days to find nothing that fit exactly what she was looking for for the apartment with her roommate, she finally decided to head out to the stores around New Bellevoux and hope to stumble upon the vision in her head. She used to have good luck with the stores when she worked before as an interior designer. There always was some kind of hidden gem in local businesses and getting a touch and feel for the items always helped too. As she was getting distracted by a really cute cactus vase, she heard a voice beside her. "I've never been a fan of covering every inch of something with gems." She laughed softly. Celine looked at the gaudy tissue box holder and knew there was some faux leopard and pink bathroom calling for it somewhere.

"You know more than me probably." Celine chuckled and turned to look at Teagan. "That'd be great! I don't think I'll be driving it anytime soon." But Celine was not looking forward to what it would cost to have the car towed and then for the repairs that would come after. She wanted to groan as she started going down that mental spiral, it was going to cost her so much and she couldn't afford a new car. "Some water sounds good." She grinned, happy that at least Teagan was making things a little brighter.

Laurel had been debating whether or not to stop—approaching a stranger on the side of the road wasn’t something she normally did, but something about the situation made her pull over. Maybe it was the cautious way the woman carried herself, the way she clearly wasn’t naive about accepting help, or perhaps it was just the fact that Laurel had been in situations like this before, stranded and unsure of what to do. Stepping closer, but keeping a respectful distance, Laurel offered a small, reassuring smile. “Yeah, that’s definitely not looking good,” she agreed, eyeing the steam rising from under the hood. She wasn’t a mechanic, but she knew enough to say with confidence that driving the car any further probably wasn’t a great idea. “I’d say a tow truck is your best bet.” She shifted her stance slightly, glancing at the road. “Do you already have someone you can call? If not, I know a decent place nearby—I can give you the number.” She reached for her phone, but paused, not wanting to overstep. “Or if you’d rather, I can wait with you until someone gets here. Just so you’re not stuck out here alone.”

Celine knew all the risks that were on both sides. She listened to enough true crime podcasts, to know that there were dangers with being approached but also being the one to slow down and help a stranger. The world wasn't a safe place. But she was still grateful when someone did slow down to help. The last thing Celine wanted was to be stuck here or to get hit by a car or worse. "It's not, but it's also not the first time it's happened." Celine sighed. This thing was on the last leg and she was so tired of it breaking down like this. Really she knew she needed a new car, but she couldn't afford one right now. "That'd be great. I didn't really have a tow truck in mind. I used one last time, but I only used them that once so I'm open to recommendations." Celine smiled and tucked some hair being blown by the wind. She pulled out her phone to open up the phone app, but paused with a frown. "Shoot, I have no service."

Laurel adjusted her grip on the steering wheel as she eased her car to the side of the road, slowing near the woman standing next to the billowing mess of a car engine. She'd noticed the woman’s frustrated stance from a distance, the defeated way her shoulders slumped as she waved. After dropping Miriam off at the Montessori school, Laurel felt a small pang of guilt. It was the first time in years they’d be apart for more than a few hours. But the drive, though long, felt worth it. The school’s focus on fostering independence and teaching in French—a language Miriam was already comfortable with—was exactly what she’d wanted for her daughter.

Celine had to admit she was a little nervous about anyone she didn't know slowing down to try and help her on the side of the road. It should be a case of a good neighbor helping out, but Celine knew the world was a very dangerous place and she couldn't be too careful. But she was feeling a little better about a woman approaching her, and a woman being so cautious abut it. "I think I might." Celine admitted and pushed some hair back from her face. "I don't know much about cars, but I know this isn't looking good." She eyed the smoke or steam or whatever it was coming out of the engine area under the hood. "I think I need to call a tow truck or something? I don't know if it's a good idea to drive it to a garage."

Teagan pulled her truck a little further off the road, but kept the roof lights on, so other traffic knew to give them some space. When she was off the road, Teagan hopped out of the truck, letting out a small chuckle at the steam that was coming from under the hood of Celine's car. "It's just steam, not smoke." She confirmed, which was the better of the two options. "Give it a minute to cool off and I'll have a look." Teagan wasn't a mechanic, but she knew her way around the workings of a car, and there was no harm in having a look. "What are you doing out here? On your way somewhere?" Teagan was more than happy to give the other a ride if she was in a hurry. @celineediz

Celine was so relieved to see Teagan when she pulled up. Nothing was scarier as a woman than being stranded on the side of the road and she honestly had thought about turning away help from men if they rose any red flags for any reason. So seeing Teagan was a huge relief for her. "Do you know anything about cars?" Celine asked as she clarified it was just steam and not smoke. For as many times as this car broke down, Celine actually knew very little about cars. "I was coming back from a hike with a friend." Celine explained and hated that she hadn't taken her friend up on carpooling together today.

As Ellie was on her way home from her shift, she pulled onto the freeway to take a short cut when she saw someone in distress. Usually she'd slow down and just ask if they needed help but this time she pulled over. Seeing a single female alone, her detective and motherly instincts took over. Getting out, she had concerned look on her face as she took in the steam rising from the engine. "Looks like she's on her last legs, huh?" Ellie said, glancing at the car and then back at Celine. She gave a reassuring smile, trying to lighten the situation. "Maybe I can at least get you to a safer spot or help you figure out if it's fixable, or get you a ride to the mechanic?"

The sight of a woman slowing down to help her was a welcomed one, and Celine greeted her with a friendly smile. "I'm not sure what I'm needing, really. I might need a mechanic who could help me get it started again, but I might need a tow truck just to take the stupid thing away." Celine sighed and pushed some of her hair back that the wind had blown. "I didn't mean that, you are stupid." She murmured to the car. Really she needed it to be able to be fixed so she could keep holding on to hope that one day she'll be able to find a car she could afford. There had been this one she was looking at on CarMax, but while the payments were good, it wasn't much newer than her current car and she was afraid she'd have a bunch of issues again soon.

The sounds of traffic speeding by were next to her as she popped the hood to inspect what she could. For as many times as her car had broken down, Celine was no car repair woman. She knew nothing about cars most of the time, and it seemed like every time something went wrong it was a new kind of wrong. What was she going to do this time? She couldn't afford a new car or another expensive repair bill. Her little savings for a new car were going to be depleted with this repair.

Teagan shrugged off her heavy jacket as she got into her truck, the game warden having spent the last hour checking fishing licenses of those casting lines off the dock. A few warnings given out for things here and there, but nothing terrible. Pulling back onto the road, she was making her way back into town when she noticed another car pulled over, the hood up. Slowing down, Teagan pulled over the vehicle, flicking on the roof lights so anyone passing knew she'd stopped. Rolling down the window, the blonde leaned over. "You need a hand?" Though when the brunette turned her way, Teagan recognized her from the bar, the night they'd spent flirting. "Celine?" @celineediz

Celine had lost count of all the times her car had broken down like this or in any other number of ways. She knew that she was barely holding this thing together, but it wasn't like she could afford a new car. Money was kind of tight right now and any money she was able to save for a new car usually went right out again for some new repair. "Teagan!" Celine looked up as the voice came from the car and she blinked in surprised before smiling at a friendly face, and someone she knew. "Hey. My car broke down again, but this seems like a lot of steam this time. Or smoke. I just need it to stop and maybe it will be okay." Celine tried to be optimistic, she needed to because the alternative was worse.