Chapter Two

Cher grinned as she looked at the information on the internship. She definitely felt confident in her skills. Although she had learned to be kinder and consider how to approach a situation, she could still see a fashion catastrophe when there was one nearby. Although she wouldn't voice all her thoughts because she attempted to be a good person and not make others worry about their lack of fashion style, she sometimes guiltily accepted those thoughts. That what Josh expected from her though. She just didn't want to let him down by being one of those girls who would blab about those internal thoughts.

She would have to prove to him that she was a strong and capable woman and she was. She knew that there were people out there who only saw her as a dumb blonde but she loved being a blonde, she wanted to be bubbly and trendy and care about style but she wasn't dumb. She knew dumb and she knew that she was intelligent but lacked focus on things that still didn't interest her.

With a soft smile she looked at her paperwork before focusing on how she looked in the mirror. She had her hair pulled back and was wearing a cute dress with fashionable pink coat. She also had designer heels on and was even wearing a purse which she had designed for herself. She looked inside, checking to make sure she had everything which she might need.

Hopefully Josh would be supportive about this. She didn't think that he had any right being upset about her going after her dreams, it was a far distance away and she didn't want to control him. She wanted him to look at her with pride, not jealousy or possession.

Cher smiled as she twirled whilst looking in the mirror and heard a knock on the door. She grinned and rushed over to the door to see Josh there. Even with just jeans and a nice sweater he was gorgeous. He kissed her cheek in a very fashionable and classic manner and Cher grinned. She gently and playfully hit him with her purse as he smelled her perfume.

"You smell beautiful, new perfume?" he asked her and Cher raised an eyebrow.

"What if I said that I wasn't wearing anything at all?" she joked and Josh rolled his eyes. This was the part of him that Cher really liked. Despite the fact that Josh was once her stepbrother, it had only been for a short time and their family tree didn't overlap at all biologically. Therefore, Josh was like the ex-brother who she was allowed to date.

"I would have to say that that was BS," Josh winked and Cher smiled, blushing a little. "But if you want to pretend that it's natural then we can do that. How about we get to dinner though? I'm treating," he told her and Cher bit her top lip. Josh raised an eyebrow because he knew she would be concerned about her lip gloss especially this early on into the date. Did this mean that she was expecting for them to have a hard conversation?

"Josh, let's just…let's split the bill," Cher said uncomfortably and he paused.

"I thought you said that it wasn't weird, that the marriage between my mother and your father was -" Cher put a finger to Josh's lips before he started to panic more. She watched him, her face softened and she saw how much he loved her.

She shook her head and as she lifted her finger, she kissed him before pulling back and smiled guiltily. "I've been picked to go to the internship in Italy. I will be away for some time but I'm ex-"

"That's great!" Josh said as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and laughing. "Cher, that's amazing, that's fabulous, babe."

Cher laughed and tilted her head to the side, a teasing twinkle in her eyes. "You really think so?"

"Of course, I think so but this means that you'll definitely have to let me treat you. You're going to do so well. I can't wait to see you go out there and conquer the world and hey, maybe that'll take some of the pressure off of me. I can just live with you being the main breadwinner," he teased and Cher lightly batted at him.

"I still want to live in luxury," she teased back and he nodded.

"I'm still so proud of you," he told her and Cher smiled feeling like she was finally being supported in something that would make her life worth living. She closed her eyes and felt the comfort in his warm arms. The way that he and her dad protected her always made her feel comfortable in their arms. She was a strong and independent woman who didn't need to rely on others but she was still glad that she had so much love.

"So, is your father taking you to the airport when you leave?" Josh asked and Cher nodded. "You think he'll mind me accompanying you as well."

"I'm sure that Daddy would be happy for you to come," she said and Josh laughed before kissing her again. Cher squeaked. All she wanted was to be supported and spoiled and cared for. She didn't want to hurt the men she loved but she did want to go and live her own life. She had chosen well. Josh was supportive of her, that was what a very good boyfriend did.

ClChClCh

"Are you sure that you have everything?" Cher's father asked as the three of them stood in the airport near the departure gates. The young blonde woman smiled as she stood in a skirt, leggings, and a blouse. She had wanted to dress up to take some photographs immediately of her in the city but Josh had told her that the flight would be quite a journey and she should be comfortable. Her father had wanted for her to do whatever needed to be done so that people wouldn't stare at her when she was unaccompanied. There had been discussion about someone going with Cher until she had settled in but the man she would be working with was sending a secretary to meet her and she wanted to make the best impression.

"I have everything," Cher nodded before coming closer to her father, "Are you sure that you have everything? I know that whe-"

"Cher, I'm fine," her father laughed back and Cher tilted her head to the side.

"Are you sure, because it's not too much trouble if -"

"Cher, I'm fine."

Cher paused, she opened her mouth to say something else but her father seemed so certain on the fact that nothing bad would happen. She didn't want to rub them the wrong way by worrying too much about her father. She cared for him deeply and she had always been able to take care of him in the place of her mother. That was something which had nearly prevented her from applying for the internship, she hadn't wanted for something to happen to her father when she couldn't be there to take care of him.

"Cher, I've got it under control," Josh said before he saw her nervous expression. He paused before getting down on his knees as Cher's eyes widened and her father seemed to be looking from side to side rather uncomfortably.

"Josh," Mel said with a cough and Josh pulled out a jewelry box from his bag, "Uh, what, what are you doing there," he said but his calm nature was now starting to sound angrier and firmer. He didn't like what he was seeing and he wasn't quite certain what he was seeing. This wasn't how he had expected to see his daughter leaving for an internship, she was a young woman in his eyes.

"I wanted to give you this," Josh said as he stood up and Cher looked at him in shock, her head rushing to figure out what was going on. Both of the Horowitzes though were very glad that what Josh had pulled out of his bag was not an engagement ring. A proposal would be nice at the proper time but despite how this would be the chance for a grand gesture, it wasn't the proper time.

"There are different gems in different cultures that are supposed to bring you luck and safety," Josh explained as he handed her the jewelry box. Cher smiled as she took in her hands and then looked at the silver chain that had two gems on it and in the middle was a chain of letters, 'C-H-E-R'. She smiled happily as she lifted it.

"It's gorgeous, Josh," she said and Mel took a step forward. He nodded as he saw the gift which Josh had presented her with but with all honesty, he was just happy that it wasn't an engagement ring. He felt enough discomfort right now with just Cher going overseas for an internship, to add onto that a wedding would be a bit too much.

"Nice choice," Mel said and Cher lifted her hair and turned around, handing the box back to Josh.

"Would you?" she asked and he grinned. He put the necklace on and made sure that it was on securely but not too tight. She turned to him and grinned. "How does it look?" she asked him and Josh smiled again, his face reflected how much happiness he felt as he looked at her and was able to call her his girlfriend instead of just the woman who had once been his step sister.

"Beautiful," Josh smiled. He let his hand cup her cheek and his thumb was about to tuck some of her hair behind her ear but Mel coughed and he pulled back out of respect. Cher went over to her father a final time.

"I'll talk to you soon, Daddy," she said and he hugged her.

"Go do us proud," he told her before kissing her again and Josh embraced her one more time.

"Remember you can call us at any time but we believe in you. I'm so excited to come visit you in a few months," he said and Cher nodded. She kissed him quickly before going off on her own with hopes to reclaim a portion of the world for herself.

End of Chapter Two

Thank you for reading

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Also thank you to so many people who waited for this one to update, I truly appreciate it

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One

Anne, FutureFamousAuthor108, Guest (x2), Kaname671