Hi guys! I am so shocked by how many of you were actually reading this story. Thank you so much for your continued support. And for those of you who asked, I took down the story when i got around chapter 12-13. I'll be posting a chapter every day since they're already written. I'm just revising some of them. Thank you all again for continuing to read this story.
disclaimer: I do not own glee.
It was sunny and breezy when Rachel stepped off her father's private plane. It had been one of the most comfortable plane rides she had ever taken. Usually she would fly commercial but this time her father made sure to send his private jet to pick her up. It made her feel special.
As she sat her foot down on the pavement, she looked back up at the plane and smiled when she saw her and her father's signature gold star painted on the back end of the plane. It was her father who had instigated her fascination with gold stars. She was five years old when it began. Her father had just taken over her granddaddy's company after he passed away and suddenly there were gold stars everywhere. The company which had once been called Berry&Berry Enterprises had suddenly changed its name to GoldStar Enterprises. When little Rachel asked her daddy why he liked gold stars so much, he answered by saying, "You, your mommy and me, we're all stars. These gold stars are a metaphor for us being stars and metaphors are important." Rachel never forgot her father's words.
The company logo was everywhere—on buildings, on billboards, in newspapers. Everywhere she went it was there and it always reminded her of how big of a star she was going to be. She was going to shine just as bright as her mom and dad. She was going to be famous and influential. She wanted to inspire people with her voice and acting abilities. She wanted to be the biggest star of all.
Rachel smiled brightly at the star before turning away. Her heart stopped when she saw her dad standing a few yards away. She held her hand up to her heart. It had only been a couple of months since she last saw him but it felt a lot longer than that. He stood there watching her with a big smile on his face. He looked so handsome with his black suit, hair perfectly coiffed and clean shaven face. Her daddy definitely knew how to take care of himself.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come and give your papa a big hug?" he grinned.
Almost instantly Rachel broke out into a sprint and ran into her daddy's arms. He staggered back a little but managed to get a hold of the tiny diva and hug her fiercely. He missed her so much. He really couldn't believe how mature she looked. She actually had curves now and breasts. He could feel them against his stomach as he hugged her. When in the hell did she get those? He didn't know if she had just barely gotten them or if he really hadn't noticed the last time he saw her. He just hoped Shelby didn't let her get a boob job. Hiram didn't want his daughter to be one of those girls.
He pulled back so he could get a better look at his little girl. Her silky brown hair was now long and past her shoulders, her big brown eyes were more beautiful than ever, and her smile was just radiant. His cheeks were hurting from how much he was smiling. His little girl had grown up to be a stunning young woman.
"I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart." He took Rachel into his arms again. She smiled against his chest. She was glad to be there too. Not in Ohio, specifically, but with her dad.
"I missed you very much," her father spoke. She looked up at him. He was so tall. It made her feel small but also safe. It was the kind of security she really never experienced. She was seventeen and still no boyfriend. The only hugs she knew were Blaine's and her mothers and they were both relatively small.
"I missed you too, daddy. I'm actually glad to be here with you. I honestly never thought I would ever come to Lima and stay with you," she chuckled nervously.
"Hey, Lima's not that bad," her father defended. He was being playful with her. It was the one thing she loved about her dad. Things never got awkward between them.
"I know, but I lived in New York all my life and you have to admit daddy, things just aren't the same here as they are there," she snickered.
"That is true," he agreed, "but Lima's grown a lot since the last time you stayed with me. It has a mall now and shopping centers. There are even several restaurants that have vegan menus. Now I call that improvement."
Rachel laughed, "Oh yeah, large improvement daddy. Let me know when Lima gets a Time Square."
Her father gave her a nudge and she rammed her hip into his leg. They were being playful again. She missed this. Her and her mother had their playful moments but it was never the same as her dad. He liked to be playful but never really got rough. Her mother on the other hand, got a little rough sometimes during their pillow fights. The last fight they had led to a concussion. Never again would she participate in another pillow fight. Not even if Barbra herself participated.
Hiram escorted his daughter to the SUV while two men behind them carried Rachel's luggage. She didn't know if she would be buying more clothes when she got here so she decided to bring more than half of what she had in her closet. She felt bad for the men carrying her suitcases because they were pretty heavy. She had six suitcases in total. She hoped they would all fit in her dad's car.
"Did you bring your entire closet or what? Rick and Steve seemed to be struggling back there," her father joked.
Rachel pouted. "Well I didn't know how much clothes I was going to bring so I brought what I thought I was going to need."
Hiram chuckled and held the brunette to his side tightly. "Don't worry, Sweetheart. We'll definitely visit some of the shops in Columbus if you need help filling up your closet at home."
XxX
After some lunch and a light conversation, Rachel and her father were finally on their way home. When they reached the city limits of Lima, Rachel noticed that the small town had indeed expanded over the last several years. As they drove through the city, Rachel noticed that many of the buildings had been rebuilt. Downtown Lima had gotten a complete makeover and all the streets had been newly paved. Not to mention the streets signs and lights looked brand new.
"Daddy?" Rachel called.
Hiram turned to his daughter. She was looking out the window with curiosity. "Yeah pumpkin?"
"Did you buy all of these buildings?" she questioned.
"How did you know?" he smirked. Rachel smiled. She knew her father more than he realized.
"Well it screams 'renovated' and I know your taste in design. You definitely hired your guys to fix up those buildings. Did you also build the mall too?" she joked.
Her father stayed quiet. Rachel's eyes widened dramatically. "No! You're kidding! You wouldn't buy a mall! Is that even possible?" she shrieked.
Her father began to laugh. "Of course it's possible. It's real estate. All I had to do was buy the land and build it. There's a lot of paperwork that goes into it, but if you know business then it's easy."
Rachel was shocked. She didn't know about business or real estate so she didn't know if it was possible to own a mall. She always believed malls were owned by the city's local government. This was somewhat exciting news. Her father owned a mall!
"Daddy that is so cool! Does that mean I can shop for free?" she asked sweetly.
Hiram let out a chuckle. "No sweetie, it's not that simple. I own the mall, but I don't own the businesses that occupy it. I rent out the space and I gain profit from their business, although, I do get offered free food at the food court when I stop by."
"So you're like a land lord?" Rachel asked. He nodded. She understood completely now.
"I never knew business and real estate could be so interesting," she commented. All she really cared about was Broadway and show business, not actual business.
"I'm glad my job intrigue's you, honey," her dad grinned. "Maybe I'll take you to work with me one day. We've never had 'take-your-child-to-work day' before."
"I'd love that," Rachel smiled.
Once they began to drive past these big homes, Rachel knew they were near their destination. These houses were mansions. They were all pretty big and most of the neighborhoods were gated.
"Are we almost there? It seems like you would live around here?" Rachel said in awe of the giant homes.
"No, this is Lima Heights. I used to live here, but not anymore. I sold my house to this nice family. They actually have a daughter your age―pretty girl. I live much farther out. I wanted my new house to be private, no neighbors. My old neighbors were very nosy, always trying to catch me doing something scandalous. I didn't like that," he scoffed.
Rachel nodded. She loved her privacy. In New York, she didn't have neighbors because her mother owned the entire top floor of their building. She only knew their doorman, Eric. She never had to worry about nosy neighbors, only sneaky reporters.
After ten more minutes of driving, Rachel finally got a tiny glimpse of the house she would be staying at for the next two months. Her jaw was practically in her lap. The home was enormous! Not just the house itself, but the land surrounding it. There was a very tall fence surrounding the property and it seemed to go on for miles. It must have been the privacy her father needed. A ten foot fence would totally keep neighbors—if there were any―out of his property.
"Wow, daddy your home is beautiful," Rachel said in awe as they drove up to the entrance. There was a tall black steel gate with her signature star on it and a big 'B' in the middle. It made Rachel smile.
"It's your home too, honey. I really hope you like it. I had it designed with you in mind. Just wait til we actually get up close. It's half a mile to get up to the house. I made it so if there were ever any intruder's it'd take them a while to get to the house. By the time they get there the security dogs would be released."
Rachel gasped. She thought that only happened in movies. She didn't think her dad would actually have guard dogs.
"You must be kidding. You don't actually have trained guard dogs, do you?" she asked, afraid of his response.
"I do," he said with a straight face. "The crime rate in Lima isn't very high, but I still take precaution. When I'm not home, the laser security system is activated and covers the entire perimeter of the house, alongside the steel fence. If any of the lasers gets triggered, it releases the dogs," her dad explained. She was still a bit stunned by the entire thing.
"So if I try to jump the fence right now, your dogs will come out to get me?" Rachel inquired with curiosity.
"You, jump a fence? I'd like to see that," Hiram snorted.
"It's hypothetical, daddy," Rachel deadpanned. Her father still thought it was funny.
"Well in that case, if you hypothetically jumped ten feet high and over the fence, you would trigger the lasers that run on top of the fence. The lasers are at least two feet in height starting from the top of the fence. So yes, you would be chased around by Marley, Kitty, Brody, and Sugar. They're Giant Schnauzers."
Rachel looked at her father with bewilderment. "Kitty? You named your guard dog Kitty?"
"Yeah," he chuckled, "I thought you'd appreciate the irony of it."
Rachel smiled. "It's cute. Do I get to meet them or are they too vicious for me to even come close?" Rachel didn't have much experience with dogs. She always saw them and would go up to pet them when she'd go running in Central Park, but she never really had a pet of her own.
He shook his head. "No, you can meet them. They are actually very friendly. They're just trained to go after intruders or anybody they feel threatened by. You'll love them."
Rachel nodded. There were going to be a lot of things she was going to have to get used to. But it was going to be a great experience.
Her dad put his window down and reached out to the security panel. If she knew her father well, then it was a very advanced system.
She leaned forward so she could see what he was doing. She saw him press a green lit button.
"State your name please?" a woman's voice spoke from the panel. Hiram was about to speak but stopped and turned to Rachel.
"Why don't you do the honors, baby girl? Just state your full name," Hiram encouraged.
Rachel was excited, even though she didn't know how saying her name could be so thrilling.
"Rachel Barbra Berry," she said cheerfully. She heard a beep and immediately the gate opened.
"Welcome home, Miss Berry," the woman's voice spoke warmly. Rachel's face lit up. She couldn't believe she was actually being welcomed by the security panel. Hiram's heart swelled when he noticed how thrilled his daughter was. He had programmed her voice DNA into the system so she had access to the entire grounds.
"Daddy that was incredible! I have never seen such advance technology before except in the movies. When did you get that? And how did you program it so it recognized my voice?" Rachel asked as they drove up the long and winding driveway.
"I had it programed when the house was built. I recorded one of our conversations and had your voice DNA put into the system. Mine and your mother's is also programed," he explained.
Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. "You programmed mom's voice, too?" She was a little surprised since her mother and father weren't together. They were only married for about a year and then then decided to split up when Rachel was only six months. Her father lived in New York until she was five year's old and that's when her granddaddy passed away and her father moved to Lima. She didn't think her parents were that close, but lately they had been proving her wrong.
"Uh huh," he nodded. "We're still a family sweetie. Your mom will always be welcomed here. There's more than enough room."
Rachel was overwhelmed. Everything was turning out to be perfect. Her daddy was just as amazing as she remembered him to be and now she was going to live in an enormous mansion with lots of space to explore. She could definitely see herself taking walks around the grounds and finding nice quiet spots to read or listen to music and sing along. It was perfect, but it also sounded too good to be true.
Next chapter should come soon! Review pls! :D
