Yumi woke up in her hotel room from the sound of her agent knocking on her door. Groaning loudly, she turned to her clock and saw her agent had no reason to wake her up, it still being four hours until the engagement. Sitting up she looked down at herself in nothing but a tank top and a pair of panties, so grabbed a set of shorts and decided a bra was too cumbersome.

Looking through the peephole to make sure who it was, Yumi slid the chain off the door then pulled it open.

"What the hell Monica?" Yumi asked.

"Yumi without makeup, not much different," Monica said and gestured to be let in.

"Fantastic, what?"

"Have you checked the fan page yet?" Monica asked and Yumi looked at her, as if this was the first time she heard of it.

"What?"

"Where's your laptop?" Monica asked as she saw it on the desk. Leaning over the seat tucked under the desk she opened the laptop and began typing. A moment later she asked Yumi to have a look.

Some fans of Daisy's Diary had created a fan website that Yumi had never heard of. The top article on it at the moment had a feature picture which showed her having drinks with Ulrich.

'Author Yumi Ishiyama has drinks with a tall dark and handsome, but ultimately unknown man. Rumors are already circulating. Old boyfriend, old friend, tinder date? Your guess is as good as ours.' Yumi scrolled down and saw some of the comments.

DxS4life: 'Hot enough to be a male escort.'

Bored_&_inlove: 'Hard to imagine the author of Dorky Daisy can get guys like that.'

Dorky_Daisy: 'Look at her face, there's history.'

Sven10: 'Theory, old boyfriend! Wants to get back with her now that she's famous.'

Pushing_Daisy's: 'There goes her whole relatable thing.'

'Comment was marked as spam and deleted by moderator.'

"All of my fans are stalkers. Great," Yumi said and sat on her bed.

"Who is he?" Monica asked.

"A friend I went to Kadic with, nothing more," Yumi said. Monica knowing that was a half truth.

"I take one look at your face in those pictures…"

"Pictures?"

Yumi stood up and clicked on the first one only to discover it was the cover of an album. Some of her fans either had very expensive lenses or got ridiculously close them.

"You're playing with your hair, you're biting your lip, you're all smiles and giggles, and you look like a fifteen year old girl on a date with the team captain. Who is he really?"

"My friend from boarding school," Yumi said and Monica flashed her a look, "that I had a crush on for years, and I dated near the end of high school."

"Ex boyfriend," Monica said with a grin, "Why was that so hard to say?"

"He's Sven," Yumi said and laughed, "He's who I based Sven off of."

Monica opened her mouth in shock but didn't make a noise. She looked away and paced, trying to think of a way to spin this into great press.

"Wow, Sven returns. What's his name, I'm not putting it out there, I just want to know the history so we can respond and stop the fans from going too conspiracy on us."

"Ulrich. He was my first boyfriend...and a few other firsts," Yumi said and Monica laughed.

"Please tell me he was that hot in high school."

"Pretty close," Yumi said and Monica giggled.

"Way to go girl. What happened?"

"I wasn't ready for a relationship," Yumi said, Monica scowling at her, "I was very insecure when I was younger. I would have tore his head off if he looked at another girl, and that's not fair to him. I would have been a psychotic girlfriend, and he deserved better than a bitch. So we broke up after only a few weeks."

"You put out that fast?"

"We had been hot for each other for three years before we dated. He was also my sparring partner for martial arts. Every time we rolled on the mats I had to wring out my panties. I'm surprised we had our date first."

"I think we should respond, before the rumors get crazier. The craziest fans will still be crazy, you can't fix that," Monica said and Yumi shrugged.

"Fine."

'In response to everyone asking me who that man was at the cafe yesterday, I have two things to say. First I would ask if the community would please respect my privacy and not post my location and personal life on the internet. Not everyone has the best in mind for me like you guys. Second, the man is an old friend of mine from boarding school who lives in Berlin and we agreed to get drinks while I was in town. I will not comment further on the relationship, just that we're old friends. Thank you. - Yumi.'

"I will not comment further?" Monica said to Yumi just as the next book signing was about to start, "Holy shit, could you say 'we used to fuck and I don't want to talk about it' any louder?"

"I thought it sounded good," Yumi said as the introduction was almost done.

"I thought it sounded like you really should let me proofread your social media," Monica said and Yumi laughed, a moment later her stepping out.

Yumi said a few things then read the first chapter to a group of tween girls. The occasional flash would illuminate the room and then it went into the question and answer portion. The normal questions about her own insecurities when she was younger were asked, as well as her inspirations and if Daisy and Sven get together.

"Who was that man in Berlin?" A girl asked, the entire room murmuring. Yumi chuckled.

"A friend I went to Kadic Academy with. I have friends everywhere so when I'm close we meet up."

"Is he Sven, or at least who he's based off of?" Another girl asked, the room murmuring again, but this time more excited. Yumi paused and thought about whether or not she should just let it out. Turning to Monica she saw her shaking her head.

"Sven is based off a combination of people I went to school with. So to say he isn't, I'd technically be lying. All of my characters are real people...yes." Yumi said, pointing at the next raised hand.

"Who is Daisy based off of? You're a gorgeous woman who as you have said, was fairly popular in high school. That's not exactly Daisy."

"I know it's hard to imagine, but I was insecure in high school. My home life was hectic, I was popular, but I was uncomfortable with the attention. That's why I only have a few real friends. The man from Berlin is one of them."

"Did you and him ever go out?" Another fan asked.

"Could we please keep the questions relevant to the book…" Monica said from behind Yumi who wondered when she got so close. Monica placed her hand over the microphone and put her lips to Yumi's ear and said, "This is rabbit hole with no end. Keep going and you'll have them asking where and in what position."

Yumi deflected by giving a half answer and signed the books before leaving to the hotel. When the day was over and she had a moment to breathe, Yumi sat at the bar in her hotel and ordered a drink she sipped while scrolling through her phone. Arriving at her contacts she slowly scrolled through and saw the names pass by.

'Aelita Belpois'

'Jeremie Belpois'

Pausing she opened her pictures and saw one they took when they had their second baby. Yumi was holding Aleta while Aelita was nursing Alan. Yumi smiled, scrolling through her pictures, seeing one with Ulrich who fell asleep with the newborn on his chest. Another where Ulrich was playing with Aleta when she was four.

Flipping to Ulrich she saw pictures of them when they visited in college on Christmas.

Aelita had just had their first and Odd flew in from Italy. Ulrich had just started dating a new girl, and Yumi knew she still wasn't ready because it still bothered her. William arrived late, but he showed up and they all took a group photo with Aelita holding Aleta.

Going back to Aelita's number, Yumi hovered for a minute before hitting call. Placing it to her ear she listened to it ring three times before an answer.

"Hello?" A girl asked, Yumi giggling, assuming Aleta had answered.

"Hey, is your mom around?"

"Who is this?"

"It's your aunt Yumi."

"Yumi!" Aleta screamed, making Yumi laugh, "Are you coming too? Uncle Ulrich is coming."

"Umm...sorry sweetie, I can't," Yumi said, frowning and looking at her drink, "I'll try to visit again soon. Can I talk to your mom?"

"Okay...mom," Aleta said, a moment later a new voice appeared.

"What did I say about answering my phone...hello?"

"Am I really bad at answering my email, or are you really seven months pregnant right now?"

"Good to hear from you. I'm popping pretty soon," Aelita said with a smile on her face, "What's up."

"Just sitting in a bar alone looking through old photo albums," Yumi said and Aelita laughed, "What?"

"I don't remember bars," Aelita said and Yumi took a sip loudly to annoy her, "Please don't do that."

"We used to visit each other every few months or so. Now I find out you're pregnant by proxy. What the hell happened?"

"You're traveling all the time now, and we're all busy."

"We were busy then too."

"It's a different kind of busy. I only had Aleta and Alan at that point. Jared and Ginny were still a few years out. Ulrich wasn't in med school, Odd hadn't commissioned yet, and William hadn't been promoted or married. We were busy because we were hungover...you guys were at least."

"I really want to be there for you guys. I miss Aleta and the other rascals."

"I miss aunt Yumi teaching her how to curse."

"I let shit slip once and you still hold that against me years later. You're just surprised it wasn't Odd who did it."

"Odd taught her hell, damn, and bitch, he's not being forgiven anytime soon either."

They both laughed and Aelita finished getting her breath and looked at a picture on her wall.

"Can you tell me it isn't Ulrich at least?"

"What?"

"The reason you can't come. You and him haven't visited at the same time sine Alan was born."

"That has nothing to do with it," Yumi said and Aelita paused for nearly ten seconds.

"I have to go, but do me a favor and at least call more."

"I'll try, bye."