Hey guys! So since no one has really commented on the Daughter of Revenge, I figured I'd start another fanfic... This is for all those TMI fans out there!
Clary woke up to the sound of heavy traffic outside the penthouse window. She saw the lights shining below her, far down on the busy streets of New York. A sharp knock echoed through her dark, plush room. A head poked in, allowing a single streamer of light to hit her right in the eyes.
"Clarissa?" her father's voice entered the room loudly. Valentine Morgenstern was a tall, muscular man with silver hair that was tidily piled on top of his head. "It's time to wake up. Your mother and I have a surprise for you."
Clary sat up, rubbing at her eyes. Her red hair was nothing more than a large poof on her head, and her pale skin seemed translucent in the city lights.
"Dad, why? I really just want to sleep," she yawned. But regardless, she got up and opened up her rather large, walk-in closet. The room was filled with rainbow colors of assorted silken shirts and jeans. The shoes were stowed in storage cubes down at the end of the alley-like closet. Clary picked out a pair of white jeans and a green sweater top that buttoned up the back.
Valentine exited her room and Clary heard his heavy steps hitting the staircase. She changed out of her pajamas before going and picking out a pair of matching green Converse. She slipped them on and entered the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and managed to untangle her unruly mess that was her hair. She pulled it back with a low pony tail and walked down the steep staircase that led downstairs into the kitchen. Her step-mother, Jane, sat there in a black pencil skirt and violet blouse while reading the morning news.
"Oh, darling, the stock has gone down by two percent," she told Valentine who was in the kitchen, making a pot of coffee. He pulled out three mugs for his wife, daughter, and himself.
"Ah, that's a shame. I predict by tomorrow that it will increase about..." he paused, "four percent I'm thinking." Clary rolled her eyes as he spoke. He was always right. He had an uncanny ability to guess how his company's financing would turn out. Clary, on the other hand, had no clue about stock or the Morgenstern Industries revenue. She liked her simpler side, where she was with her real mother and Luke. When she could go by the bakery near Luke's bookstore and pick up some sweets for them all to share with black coffee and talk about their plans for the day or the latest gossip subject.
"Clarissa," Jane purred from the table, "how did you sleep?"
Clary nodded. "Alright, I guess. I had that dream again."
Jane looked up. Valentine started to pour the coffee as he talked. "The one about the angels, correct?"
"Yes, dad."
He inhaled a deep breath before grabbing two of the mugs and handing them to Clary and Jane. They both sipped the coffee, and it took all Clary had not to wrinkle her nose in disgust. You'd think that he'd know how I like my coffee, she thought bitterly. Valentine always put in those artificial sweeteners that Clary despised. He always put just a touch of spice to "put a little pep" in it, as he always said. Today it was pumpkin spice, even though it was March and Fall was a long ways away.
"They're just dreams, Clarissa. There's nothing else to it." And with that, the conversation was over.
The table sat quiet for a moment before Clary spoke up again. "So, what's this surprise about?"
Valentine looked at Clary before responding, "Oh, tonight there's a party, and they've invited my whole family, including you, your mother, and Luke." Despite her father's calm demeanor, she could sense his hate packed into Luke's name.
Clary smiled, because she knew that's what he wanted her to do. "That sounds fun. So who all's going?"
Valentine rattled off a long list of names with Jane interrupting a few times to correct a mistake he had made. "And lastly, Heronlight Company will be there as well."
Clary mentally rolled her eyes. Heronlight was a joint company, run by two couples. Their names were Herondale and Lightwood, and Clary thought that it had probably been a nasty cat fight between the wives about who's name went first. But anyway, Heronlight was a military company that supplied weapons and combat supplies despite its peaceful seeming name.
"Yeah, so can I have some money to go buy a dress? I'm guessing this is a formal event?" Clary asked, eager to be able to go to Starbucks and get an actual coffee the way she wanted.
Valentine nodded, pulling out his leather wallet. He handed Clary five hundred dollar bills, and then a twenty dollar bill for food. "It is a very formal event."
Jane sighed and kissed him on the cheek. "Better head to the office, darling."
Valentine nodded and stood up. The group walked out to the elevator, where they separated so Clary could go to the ground floor and her parents could go ahead to the underground parking garage.
Clary stepped into the glass elevator and looked out over the city where the sun was just starting to peek over the skyscrapers. She sighed, thinking It's a beautiful day. She stepped onto the street and headed south to the nearest Starbucks, where there was a fancy little boutique upstairs. It'd have to do. Just as she turned the last corner to the stores, a blonde teenager ran right into her.
"I'm so sorry," he told her calmly, helping her up. "I didn't see you there." He smiled at her, making her knees wobble a tiny bit. "Am I so gorgeous that even the most lovely of ladies cannot maintain a conversation? Alec!" he called over his shoulder. "Look at her. Isn't she beautiful?"
Another teenager with black hair and startling blue eyes laughed. "She looks like someone who should have her phone number written on a bathroom stall," he joked.
Clary, finally coming back to her senses, pulled herself away from the two laughing boys. "Aren't you two gentlemen?" she spit back and pushed her way between them. She heard a voice yelling behind her, "I wasn't kidding!"
"Can I get a regular black coffee?" Clary asked the lady behind the counter. She had made it to Starbucks, replaying the whole encounter with the boys in her head. The line had been long, so she had plenty of time to think about it. The lady nodded and rang her up. Clary collected her change and coffee before heading up to the loft where the shop was.
She drank her coffee and observed the fancy dresses that the store had to offer. Too frilly, too long, too everything! she thought grumpily as she searched the racks. She saw a purple dress sitting on the end of the sale rack right as she gave up hope. Might as well look, she told herself bitterly.
She reached for it and pulled it off the rack. It was a flowing dress with wire on the bottom that held the chiffon like material in swirls. It had a pinched in waist that Clary adored and a embroidered neckline with silver accents. The dress wasn't too long, with a slight train that wasn't diva-like, but more of a dramatic look. She couldn't resist herself from taking it into the dressing room and trying it on. It fit perfectly and looked amazing. She couldn't describe how it looked or how she felt in it, but she knew that this was the dress that she would be wearing tonight. She turned to look at the back and noticed it had a low scoop back around the halfway mark of her back.
"You look totally gorgeous, redhead," a girl with ebony hair told Clary. "I so wish I could have tried that dress on. Where was it?"
"It was sitting on the sales rack, so it was the only one left."
At the word sales, the girl's nose wrinkled. "Never mind then. I never touch anything from the sale rack. I mean, why else would you be rich?"
Clary was shocked that this girl knew who she was. "You know who I am?"
The girl shook her head no. "I was talking about myself." She held out a slender hand and offered another explanation, "My name is Isabelle Lightwood, daughter of the Lightwoods of Heronlight Company. Maybe you've heard of me?"
Clary came to recognize the girl. She had met the Lightwoods before, but never had she seen Isabelle around this shop. "Oh yeah. My name is Clary Morgenstern of Morgenstern Industries. At least today it is."
Isabelle's face contorted into a confused expression. "What do you mean by that?"
"My parents are divorced and my mom remarried, so she has a different last name. I'm Clary Morgenstern to my dad and step mom, but Clary Fairchild to my mom and step dad. I just have different last names everyday. Officially though, I'm Clary Morgenstern."
"Oh." Isabelle started inspecting Clary's dress. "That dress would look even more amazing with a sweeping up do and some smokey silver eye shadow. Perhaps some silver crystal heels, possibly even some light colored pumps."
Clary was officially impressed with the girl's fashion sense. Being a tomboy, Clary was grateful for her mother's fashion advice. Now, she had Isabelle to help with a formal outfit.
"Thanks. I'm not really into fashion, so I really do appreciate it."
"It's no problem, it's just instinct," Isabelle responded as she stepped up and began to play with her hair, twisting it up into the up sweep she must have been mentioning earlier. Clary looked at her reflection and saw Isabelle's elegant twist, which made her seem a few inches taller along with extending her neck to make her seem even more ladylike and elegant. Which was so not Clary.
"Oh, wow," Clary gaped at herself. "I look great."
Isabelle nodded. "And you're modest too. I like you, redhead. I hope to see you around tonight at the party!" She picked up her dark jacket and exited the shop. Clary stared after her, then changed and paid for the dress. Wrapping it across her arms in its plastic cover, Clary headed home, anxious to see what the night would bring.