Post by snmphotography on Jun 5, 2007 20:45:54 GMT -5
5-26-07 As Soledad entered the Indianapolis International Airport she was greeted with hometown camera crews, national camera crews, and her family. As they walked through the hallways of the airport, she was asked how it felt to be home again.
"Back home again in Indiana," she replied. "It's nice. It'll be fun. You always come to Indiana for some down time, to chill out. As Republican as the state is, it has a very laid back feel."
She was asked if she was going to be with Apolo and Ian who were also in Indianapolis for the Indy 500.
"Of course! Those are my buddies. They get to meet my mama!!"
The Hoosier accent had kicked in to full gear now and she had to laugh at herself thinking about Apolo and Ian's reactions to it later on.
An hour later, Apolo got off of his flight and answered questions for the press as he walked through the same halls. He was polite, but very eager to get in a quick nap and shower before meeting up at Sol's mom's house for a cookout and swimming. He remembered the fourth week of DWTS when he and Sol were waiting to have their make up done. He found her in the greenroom, talking to her mom on the phone. He picked up a slight southern accent (despite Indiana being a northern state) in some of her words. Especially when she said "mama." She was off the phone a couple minutes later and he sat down to talk and get to know her some more. He didn't mention the accent.
"Your mom?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied, looking at the cell phone in her hand. "My mama."
"Anything exciting?"
"Sort of. Yeah. I just bought her this big house out in the suburban-country-crossover of Avon. She was saying how much it cost to have the grass cut and how she was just going to get my brother's lazy butt over there to do it from now on."
Apolo laughed; her accent was still lingering on her words. She cleared her throat and suddenly it was gone. Perhaps she'd noticed it as well.
"That's nice that you bought her a house." Apolo said.
"Isn't that what you're suppose to do when you have a lot of money?" she laughed. "I blew my advancement check on parties, clothes, my pets, just like everything I wanted and saw, I bought. So I figured with this one, since it's my third album, I ought to do her a favor. I paid to renovate the old house which much completely knocking it down and starting over. Just a two bedroom house in its place, but it sold quickly. I told her to keep the money from the sell, and I just told her to go find a house she loved and tell me how much to make the check for."
"Real estate's so nice. It's one of my many hobbies."
"You buy real estate?"
"Yeah. I love it. Flipping houses and stuff."
"Yeah, I dig that, too. Watching other people do the work."
They both laughed.
"I've been known to get in there and help out, though. I like everything except nail guns and saws. I'm amazing with a power drill, though."
"I bet you are,"
Looking back on their conversation, Apolo had seen the sweet, Mid-Western girl who was both a city and a country girl. He found out that her mom had been born and raised in Terre Haute, her dad in Indianapolis. So she had equal amounts of time in both. She told him how she learned to sew, act, sing, play piano and guitar, and do needle point at her grandparents' house in the country. They lived next to a huge estate with green rolling hills and a herd of buffalo that would eat out of your hand if they were in the mood. It was relatively untouched by modern society where her grandparents' lived and she use to go to The Old Mill Dam to wade in the water and walk train tracks.
She was a city girl, though. At the first sight of bugs she tended to bolt in the other direction and she wasn't a fan of crawling into dark nooks and crannies to explore. As she described it, she was playing in the mud with her best clothes on trying not to get them dirty. It was never successful, but she did it every time anyway.
At around 5, Ian and Apolo showed up to the big house. When they rang the doorbell, Sol answered it wearing a vintage apron they later found out came from an antique store made out of a barn in rural Plainfield, Indiana (a place called Gilley's) and her long dark hair was pulled up into a Lucille Ball-style scarf.
"Hey guys!" she said, giving them each a hug.
They were the only three alumni from their season of DWTS in Indy, so the party was small, but it was still fun.
Inside, Sol's mom and brother were lounging around the living room. Her brother stood in the sliding doorway that lead out to a deck where the grill was firing up. beyond the deck there was a pool. Past the pool, some yard. Cutting the yard off, a corn field. Next door, a couple of horses looked over the fence with lazy wondering. An old cat was lying comfortably on a cat apartment hammock, and a younger cat was watching the two strangers intently from around a corner.
Ian and Apolo felt immediately at home, so when other people began showing up, it wasn't too overwhelming. Soon the house was swarming with people and everyone was bragging about Sol. When one of the uncles walked in with a big box of drinks and mixers, the crowd turned toward him with enthusiasm.
"See?" Sol joked. "I'm not the only alcoholic here."
The day stretched on, a clear blue sky faded into random shades of red, orange, pink and finally into tranquil purple and deep dark blues. Ian, Apolo and Sol sat in the pool one a gigantic floating bed they fit onto easily and stared up at the sky. The next day would be a hectic one and they wanted to just sit still as long as possible.
"Today was awesome, Sol." Apolo said finally. "Your family is hilarious."
"I love them," she replied with a giant warm smile. From inside they could hear her youngest vat mewing in high pitches hoping they'd pay her some attention.
Fireflies began their nightly search for love before morning along their inevitable demise. Sol watched them and thought 24 hour lifespans were entirely too short and she couldn't help the pang of pity sitting in her heart for them.
"Big day tomorrow." Ian said.
"Yeah," Apolo and Sol agreed in unison. Ian sighed and said, "I'm hitting the bed. It's calling to me."
"Old man." Sol joked as he eased himself off the floating device without tipping the other two off. They'd been sitting on the device off and on all day and by this hour they'd mastered the exit strategies. Ian kissed her cheek and said, "Good night, friend."
"Sleep well,"
Apolo and Ian said their well wishes and Ian waded through the pool to the stairs.
When he was inside, Apolo and Sol refused to move out of fear of tipping over. So they stayed shoulder-to-shoulder and gazed up. It had been a long time since Apolo had an opportunity to just sit and relax. The next day would indeed be busy, but he wasn't thinking of it. He was lingering on the moment, in the (almost) country of Indiana. The house was in the perfect spot, he thought. Twenty minutes away from any kind of big city hub-bub, and twenty minutes from the true country. A perfect medium.
He felt some tipping and thought he was going to fall over, but he realized that Sol was simply turning onto her side to face him, her head resting on a bent arm and a sleepy, half drunk smile on her face.
"What?" Apolo asked softly.
"Did you have fun today? Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, I did."
"I think it's awesome your dad was able to make it." she replied. Yuki was currently sleeping in one of the guest rooms. In total there were two rooms in the basement, one in the loft, and three on the second floor. Yuki was occupying a third floor room, as was Ian and Sol's mom was in her master suite on the third floor. Apolo's room was in the basement with Sol's brother. Sol was in the loft. She had sound-proofed the room so she could play music and not disturb her mother since her sessions tended to be hours-long. She had also set up an art corner where she developed her own film, sculpted and painted.
Apolo and Sol continued about random topics and got into "getting to know you better" questions. Apolo found out that before she'd become really well-known she dated a variety of musicians in NYC ranging from local talent to Jared Leto, she had a couple of gallery showings for her artwork, she'd been arrested a few times for animal rights activism and protests, and she'd gone to Mexico to support Andrés Manuel López Obrador alongside her friend Gael Garcia Bernal (a well-known Mexican actor who was making a name for himself in American films and dating Natalie Portman).
Sol found out about Apolo's love of real estate and what he wants to be after the 2010 Olympics. She got a good idea about the plan he was eager to set into motion, as far as his personal life. She saw how frustrated he got when work got in the way of being able to find someone to be with. And the immediate guilt of the small betrayal to his chosen life. He saw skating as a great opportunity, but other sacrifices never seem as big as giving up ones personal life and chances of getting to know people who could maybe one day be "the one".
Sol didn't believe in "the one" or "soul mates" or marriage. She was one of those souls who thought if she was doing well with someone, then she wasn't going to test or question it, just focus on keeping it balanced and surprising. She didn't want to sign a piece of paper except for maybe one exception: tax breaks.
When they finally went to bed, Sol and Apolo both felt they knew much more about each other. Apolo laid down in the bed after a warm shower and sighed as he stretched out, resting his hand on the smooth, cold pillow. He smiled to himself and was soon drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
"Back home again in Indiana," she replied. "It's nice. It'll be fun. You always come to Indiana for some down time, to chill out. As Republican as the state is, it has a very laid back feel."
She was asked if she was going to be with Apolo and Ian who were also in Indianapolis for the Indy 500.
"Of course! Those are my buddies. They get to meet my mama!!"
The Hoosier accent had kicked in to full gear now and she had to laugh at herself thinking about Apolo and Ian's reactions to it later on.
An hour later, Apolo got off of his flight and answered questions for the press as he walked through the same halls. He was polite, but very eager to get in a quick nap and shower before meeting up at Sol's mom's house for a cookout and swimming. He remembered the fourth week of DWTS when he and Sol were waiting to have their make up done. He found her in the greenroom, talking to her mom on the phone. He picked up a slight southern accent (despite Indiana being a northern state) in some of her words. Especially when she said "mama." She was off the phone a couple minutes later and he sat down to talk and get to know her some more. He didn't mention the accent.
"Your mom?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied, looking at the cell phone in her hand. "My mama."
"Anything exciting?"
"Sort of. Yeah. I just bought her this big house out in the suburban-country-crossover of Avon. She was saying how much it cost to have the grass cut and how she was just going to get my brother's lazy butt over there to do it from now on."
Apolo laughed; her accent was still lingering on her words. She cleared her throat and suddenly it was gone. Perhaps she'd noticed it as well.
"That's nice that you bought her a house." Apolo said.
"Isn't that what you're suppose to do when you have a lot of money?" she laughed. "I blew my advancement check on parties, clothes, my pets, just like everything I wanted and saw, I bought. So I figured with this one, since it's my third album, I ought to do her a favor. I paid to renovate the old house which much completely knocking it down and starting over. Just a two bedroom house in its place, but it sold quickly. I told her to keep the money from the sell, and I just told her to go find a house she loved and tell me how much to make the check for."
"Real estate's so nice. It's one of my many hobbies."
"You buy real estate?"
"Yeah. I love it. Flipping houses and stuff."
"Yeah, I dig that, too. Watching other people do the work."
They both laughed.
"I've been known to get in there and help out, though. I like everything except nail guns and saws. I'm amazing with a power drill, though."
"I bet you are,"
Looking back on their conversation, Apolo had seen the sweet, Mid-Western girl who was both a city and a country girl. He found out that her mom had been born and raised in Terre Haute, her dad in Indianapolis. So she had equal amounts of time in both. She told him how she learned to sew, act, sing, play piano and guitar, and do needle point at her grandparents' house in the country. They lived next to a huge estate with green rolling hills and a herd of buffalo that would eat out of your hand if they were in the mood. It was relatively untouched by modern society where her grandparents' lived and she use to go to The Old Mill Dam to wade in the water and walk train tracks.
She was a city girl, though. At the first sight of bugs she tended to bolt in the other direction and she wasn't a fan of crawling into dark nooks and crannies to explore. As she described it, she was playing in the mud with her best clothes on trying not to get them dirty. It was never successful, but she did it every time anyway.
At around 5, Ian and Apolo showed up to the big house. When they rang the doorbell, Sol answered it wearing a vintage apron they later found out came from an antique store made out of a barn in rural Plainfield, Indiana (a place called Gilley's) and her long dark hair was pulled up into a Lucille Ball-style scarf.
"Hey guys!" she said, giving them each a hug.
They were the only three alumni from their season of DWTS in Indy, so the party was small, but it was still fun.
Inside, Sol's mom and brother were lounging around the living room. Her brother stood in the sliding doorway that lead out to a deck where the grill was firing up. beyond the deck there was a pool. Past the pool, some yard. Cutting the yard off, a corn field. Next door, a couple of horses looked over the fence with lazy wondering. An old cat was lying comfortably on a cat apartment hammock, and a younger cat was watching the two strangers intently from around a corner.
Ian and Apolo felt immediately at home, so when other people began showing up, it wasn't too overwhelming. Soon the house was swarming with people and everyone was bragging about Sol. When one of the uncles walked in with a big box of drinks and mixers, the crowd turned toward him with enthusiasm.
"See?" Sol joked. "I'm not the only alcoholic here."
The day stretched on, a clear blue sky faded into random shades of red, orange, pink and finally into tranquil purple and deep dark blues. Ian, Apolo and Sol sat in the pool one a gigantic floating bed they fit onto easily and stared up at the sky. The next day would be a hectic one and they wanted to just sit still as long as possible.
"Today was awesome, Sol." Apolo said finally. "Your family is hilarious."
"I love them," she replied with a giant warm smile. From inside they could hear her youngest vat mewing in high pitches hoping they'd pay her some attention.
Fireflies began their nightly search for love before morning along their inevitable demise. Sol watched them and thought 24 hour lifespans were entirely too short and she couldn't help the pang of pity sitting in her heart for them.
"Big day tomorrow." Ian said.
"Yeah," Apolo and Sol agreed in unison. Ian sighed and said, "I'm hitting the bed. It's calling to me."
"Old man." Sol joked as he eased himself off the floating device without tipping the other two off. They'd been sitting on the device off and on all day and by this hour they'd mastered the exit strategies. Ian kissed her cheek and said, "Good night, friend."
"Sleep well,"
Apolo and Ian said their well wishes and Ian waded through the pool to the stairs.
When he was inside, Apolo and Sol refused to move out of fear of tipping over. So they stayed shoulder-to-shoulder and gazed up. It had been a long time since Apolo had an opportunity to just sit and relax. The next day would indeed be busy, but he wasn't thinking of it. He was lingering on the moment, in the (almost) country of Indiana. The house was in the perfect spot, he thought. Twenty minutes away from any kind of big city hub-bub, and twenty minutes from the true country. A perfect medium.
He felt some tipping and thought he was going to fall over, but he realized that Sol was simply turning onto her side to face him, her head resting on a bent arm and a sleepy, half drunk smile on her face.
"What?" Apolo asked softly.
"Did you have fun today? Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, I did."
"I think it's awesome your dad was able to make it." she replied. Yuki was currently sleeping in one of the guest rooms. In total there were two rooms in the basement, one in the loft, and three on the second floor. Yuki was occupying a third floor room, as was Ian and Sol's mom was in her master suite on the third floor. Apolo's room was in the basement with Sol's brother. Sol was in the loft. She had sound-proofed the room so she could play music and not disturb her mother since her sessions tended to be hours-long. She had also set up an art corner where she developed her own film, sculpted and painted.
Apolo and Sol continued about random topics and got into "getting to know you better" questions. Apolo found out that before she'd become really well-known she dated a variety of musicians in NYC ranging from local talent to Jared Leto, she had a couple of gallery showings for her artwork, she'd been arrested a few times for animal rights activism and protests, and she'd gone to Mexico to support Andrés Manuel López Obrador alongside her friend Gael Garcia Bernal (a well-known Mexican actor who was making a name for himself in American films and dating Natalie Portman).
Sol found out about Apolo's love of real estate and what he wants to be after the 2010 Olympics. She got a good idea about the plan he was eager to set into motion, as far as his personal life. She saw how frustrated he got when work got in the way of being able to find someone to be with. And the immediate guilt of the small betrayal to his chosen life. He saw skating as a great opportunity, but other sacrifices never seem as big as giving up ones personal life and chances of getting to know people who could maybe one day be "the one".
Sol didn't believe in "the one" or "soul mates" or marriage. She was one of those souls who thought if she was doing well with someone, then she wasn't going to test or question it, just focus on keeping it balanced and surprising. She didn't want to sign a piece of paper except for maybe one exception: tax breaks.
When they finally went to bed, Sol and Apolo both felt they knew much more about each other. Apolo laid down in the bed after a warm shower and sighed as he stretched out, resting his hand on the smooth, cold pillow. He smiled to himself and was soon drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
I love how she regains her drawl when she goes home... I feel like she regains more than just her drawl though. I like that you had them go to another setting to get to know each other...like they had to escape from the fast-paced life. I especially like the part where Apolo thinks about giving up his personal life, etc. Really good stuff!