As much as Dawn wanted to practice her cheering with her schoolmates as a good workout after classes, the others were more busy interrogating her. Her teammates on the cheer squad pestering her about her upcoming visit to a famous fashion designer.
"Can we come?" Leona as her childhood friend wanted to come. Even if Dawn never used her mothers name and fortune for herself this might be the first time she profited from it.
"You're so lucky!" May also a bit jealous about the open invitation her friend received.
"It's just a family visit. Nothing more." Dawn kept reminding them. It was only the fourth time she said it so far and it was really getting annoying.
"Keep telling yourself that. The moment you meet her your knees will go weak and you'd get her coffee the way she likes as an assistant." Ursula giving her own opinion of the girls visit. Dawn might have been raised by a former model but there was no way she would keep her cool around Lila despite her claims.
"How are you going dressed?" Another girl on the team asked Dawn. She had just about enough of them.
"I told you guys it's a family visit. I'll dress normal for it. Now can you stop asking and start practicing!?"
The day of Dawn's visit was here and she spared no expense trying to look her best. Even if it was just a friendly visit she pulled out her finest outfit. Wearing a light pink skirt with a black top and a light pink jacket covering her shoulders. Just before she entered the building she checked her hair one last time on a foldup mirror in her purse. Seeing a yellow hairclip not in perfect position she fidgeted with it till it was perfectly synchronized with her other.
"Just a family visit I said. Nothing special I said. Me and my big mouth."
Taking a deep breath she entered the building. The receptionist area was pretty empty with it being a Saturday. With no line to wait in she spoke to the receptionist.
"Excuse me miss?" The woman busy on her computer looked at the girl on the other side of her desk.
"Name?"
"Berlitz. First name Dawn."
"Johanna's girl. Go right through. Here's your pass. You need it to unlock the top floor in the elevator. The boss will be waiting for you there. Enjoy your visit." The woman behind the counter smiled and wished her a pleasant day.
"Why do I need a pass for the top floor?"
"The boss uses the top floor as her personal living quarters. No one working here has ever seen it."
With the short instructions given she made her way to the elevator and pressed the button swiping the card in a card reader right next to the floor selection. Still with nothing to do but wait for the door to open she pulled out her mirror and checked her hair one last time.
Just to be sure.
The elevator doors opened and Dawn was greeted by the most stunning interior she's ever seen. Every piece of furniture from the seats to the tables was of the highest quality and manufactured by the finest craftsman. White was the dominating color with vanilla colored sofa's matching perfectly with the rest of the room.
There was a floor above her which looked over the floor Dawn was on. An older woman with light purple hair and red eyes studied the girl while the blue haired girl looked out over the city trough the wide open windows.
"Dawn! Such a pleasure to finally meet you after all these years!" The girl looked around and even on her day off the designer was dressed neatly. Dawn could see from her style it and the look it was her mothers friend.
"Hello miss. Nice to meet you."
"Lila is fine. We're family in a way. I didn't want to interrupt you while you were admiring my home."
The designer went on to talk about her choice of setting and furniture.
"Most people bring their work home. I bring home to work. If there's a traffic jam or I'm doing overtime on a design I'd have to finish I don't go home afterwards. What do you think of it?"
"It's amazing! But lacking in privacy with the open windows."
"Different to what you grew up in. Johanna and I always were opposites when it came to that. It's home away from home. And it beats any hotel this town has to offer. And the windows are see through glass. I can watch outside but others not the other way around."
Hearing Lila act completely natural and bring up any business Dawn knew it was just a family visit. Feeling way more comfortable around her now she was a bit more open now.
"I'm sorry I couldn't bring a male model. All my friends are busy at this point."
"That's okay. Boys aren't exactly into fashion as we are. Guess I'll just have to wait till my regular guy gets better. I like your outfit. You put a lot of effort into it."
"Thank you!" Dawn happy that a designer approved of her style that she put a lot of work in.
"Act normal, don't get carried away. Stupid Ursula!"
"Well since you're here I'd like to offer you an internship. Your mother told me you loved fashion and want to be a designer. I can give you some tips and advice if you want to spend your spare time here."
Dawn couldn't believe that she just got offered up an internship without being known with her work. Why on earth would someone like her offer something like this. Was it because she didn't contact her in years or just because her mother knows the designer so well she fixed this for her.
"I'm not accepting it. I don't want an easy time because of my mom's connections."
The designer thought Dawn would leap at the change to do so. Knowing from her best friend the girl loved sketching outfits for herself. And here was a opportunity to impress one like herself and get a foot in the business she declined.
"Johanna must have not told her yet. I wonder why?"
Not to mention the biggest and most important reason why Dawn should spend much more time here. She would've thought Johanna would've told their family secret by now. Dawn was at the right age for it. Johanna was about her same age when she started out doing it.
"Are you sure? There are a lot of benefits working for me." Throwing out the offer again trying to see if Dawn stuck by her word.
"I appreciate it, I really do. But I can't accept it."
With the young girl still not accepting the offer Lila was deep in thought about Dawn's mother.
"Johanna what are you doing? You know you can't run from it. I thought you raised her better than this."
"Then let's keep it as family friendly as intended." She definitely had to call her friend after Dawn would leave the building. She just had to know why Dawn didn't know the big secret yet.
"Tell me all about yourself. What have you and your mother been up too? Can I offer you refreshments?"
The two got to talking and they hit it off pretty well. Lila realizing that on some things the young teenager was almost the same as her modeling friend. Telling each other about their private life, school work, some fun experiences Lila had with Dawn's mother and other stories of interest.
"Can I ask you for a small favor? Come with me for a moment." Lila guided Dawn to a curtain on the upper balcony.
"I want you to try this on." Moving the curtain away Lila showed Dawn what she wanted her to fit.
Standing on a pedestal was a mannequin with the most beautiful dress Dawn ever laid eyes on. It was a blue dress that was perfectly ployed and she was certain the color matched perfectly with her hair. Lila reading her response knew Dawn was in love with it.
"You want me to fit this!?"
"Your mother wore it so many years ago and it was the first design I ever made for her. I want to see how you look in it."
"Mom never told me she wore dresses like that! I mean...I know she was a model with you but all the pictures I know never had her dressed in that."
"Clearly that's not the only thing she didn't tell you about."
Dawn changed into the dress and stepped out behind the curtain.
"You look so much like her. Like looking at an old picture." Since her mother was a former model, Dawn took it as a compliment. Seeing herself in the full body mirror Lila had on standby she admired the look of it. While Dawn showed herself happy with the look it didn't for Lila.
"Still some parts missing. Stay still and close your eyes. Just a modification here…A little bit of this there… And…we're done!"
Dawn opened her eyes and the designer added something that looked like a necklace.
"It's beautiful! It's certainly going to be a huge hit when you release it." Lila found it time to tell her the surprise.
"I'm not going to release it. I made it for you." Dawn's pearl blue widened like never before.
"Seriously!?"
"See it as a gift from an aunt. And what aunt doesn't spoil her grandchildren with gifts?" Winking to the young girl she was serious about it.
"Thank you so much!" Dawn grateful for the gift she thanked Lila as much as she could.
"At least the stress of shopping for a prom dress is something I don't have to go through."
The sun started to set and Dawn needed to go home. Knowing what Ash has being going through she'd rather be home before dark.
"Bye Lila! It was really nice meeting you!" Having her brand new dress neatly folded in a bag Dawn was preparing to leave for home.
"Likewise Dawn. If you ever change your mind about that internship here's my card." Lila gave Dawn her business card. Even if Dawn said that she didn't wanted to get a head start because of her mother she still was prepared to visit her 'aunt' a bit more in the future.
"You never know."
As soon that Dawn left her office home Lila picked up her phone. She needed a word with Johanna about how little the girl actually knows about their real state of affairs.
"Berlitz, Johanna here." Lila hearing her friends voice immediately asked her why Dawn didn't know yet.
"Why didn't you tell her yet?"
"Tell what?"
"Don't play me for a fool. I know exactly what. Wasn't that the whole reason you told her to come here to begin with?"
"You wanted her size right?" Johanna send her daughter for exactly what Lila wanted. Why she was so mad didn't make sense. Lila got what she wanted.
"I did. And you know what for. At least you haven't spoiled her rotten. She'd make a bad figure for it."
"Those parental books really worked."
"You care a bit too much."
"What parent shouldn't?" Lila had enough of their friendly conversation. Time to get to the real matter of things.
"You can't keep it hidden forever from her, you know that."
"I just don't want her to get hurt. No parent wants to burden their child with something like this."
"What about yours? They did give it to you eventually. You can't escape from it. It's as much a part of your life as Dawn is."
"I get where you're coming from and I know I can never put myself in your shoes since I don't have any children. But she has the right to know. Dawn is a bright and clever girl. She's perfect as far as I'm concerned and I promise to get her updated on things and prepare her as best I can."
Hearing Johanna not say anything on the other side of the line Lila continued.
"We agreed on this years ago. The only reason I didn't tell the truth is because you're her mother."
"You won't endanger my daughter." Johanna threatened over the phone. Lila slapped it away standing by her point.
"Sooner or later the danger will come to her. How well she's prepared for it is up to you. As one friend to another tell her before it's too late. And it's up to her to decide what to do with that information and if she wants to follow through with it. You had that choice, why not her?"
Hearing the doorbell ring Johanna said she had to take it.
"I've got to go. Someone's calling at my door. We'll continue this conversation later."
"Don't hang up! We're not done…BEEP…BEEP…BEEP" Hearing the line go dead Lila slammed her phone. Making a promise to herself that if Dawn didn't know the Berlitz family secret next time she visited she'd tell her herself.
Johana meanwhile went to open the door. Seeing a well dressed man in black she felt a bit uncomfortable seeing him. There was something about him that just felt wrong and something inside her screamed to slam the door. Before she asked what he wanted he already answered.
"Just a little mother daughter time to study is all we need from you. Hold still."
Johanna felt something jabbed in her neck from behind and quickly started to lose consciousness. Trying to break free the only thing she saw was the man and black arms holding her from behind. Being dragged into the house she struggled further now drifting away in sleep. Her only worry was Dawn and that they would be gone before she returned home. If they took her too who knows what they'd do to her.
"Lila was right, I should've told…" Falling away completely she couldn't finish the thought.
"Just go to sleep pretty lady. You'll wake up soon enough." The man grimaced and with his hands the which were covered by black gloves went upstairs. Opening the door to another room he found the area which he was here for, but not what who he came for too.
"The daughter isn't here!" With the daughter nowhere in the house he and the black cladded figures loaded Johanna's body into a van. The black figures to fast for the regular human eye got away with the former model while the man slowly made his way to the van.
"No matter. The mother is enough. She'll know where it might be. If she has what we're looking for the daughter will come herself." Going with the thought of a bit more patience the city will soon be their own personal playground.
World building almost complete. Things are really going to pick up now. Wonder what Lila and Johanna talked about.
Oh how nice it is to be the only one who knows. Ash and Riley have their work cut out for them. And for the eagle eyed readers I might have given some clues here and there in this chapter. See if you can decipher them.
Sorry this one isn't going as fast as I want it to be. I always make a buffer for future chapters and since GS ball unlocked is my main I didn't had much time to do this one. I'll try and pick up the pace thanks to the ending of this but no promises.
See you around.