Jaxyn's alarm clock woke her two days later with the loud 'beep' 'beep' 'beep' that marked every regular day of her life, but now for once it would mark one of the most unusual days. Turning over onto her stomach and burying her face in a soft pillow Jaxyn searched for the off button, pressing it several times for good measure.

It was going to be a long day.

"Oooooooookay," Jaxyn breathed, sitting up on her air mattress and looking around sleepily.

The grey walls of her bedroom were still decorated with the silver mirrors and frames and what-not that was fashionable but all the furniture was out, including her bed. Two days on an air mattress proved to not be as bad as what Jaxyn had expected, but the girl still managed to never fall asleep before one or two a.m.; not that she ever slept well on her regular bed.

With one last groan Jaxyn got up and quickly changed into the black pencil skirt and white blouse her mother had laid out, brushing her mid-length hair into a sleek black ponytail and quickly going over her milk white face with a thin layer of makeup. After brushing her teeth and putting on the black pumps she favored Jaxyn packed up the toiletry bag and stuffed it into her leather suitcase, zipping it up and lugging it down the stairs.

Miss Dubois was in the living room going over a check list. She was dressed in a black suit with matching heels and her black hair was also pulled into a ponytail, but being the business woman that she was Miss Dubois took great care in the placement of said ponytail, making sure it was near the nape of her neck and the hair tie wrapped in a thick strand of excess hair for a more sleek appearance. The only color she wore was the red matte lipstick, the rest of her makeup being a heavy layer of 'natural' tones.

Jaxyn put the suitcase down and looked at her mother silently, the beautiful features so similar to her own void of any expression.

"Right," Miss Dubois finally spoke. "Everything is in order. Are you ready?" She raised her eyebrows in question and Jaxyn nodded silently. "Very good. Let's go then. I mustn't be late for work."

The two of them took the elevator down nineteen floors and went out into the parking garage where the black mustang was waiting.

Yes, another long day, Jaxyn groaned inwardly.

It was not a long drive to the design studio but Jaxyn almost wished it were so that she could postpone staying there all day for just a moment longer. It was such a dreary building, tall and metal like all the others in that fair city, and Jaxyn found it hard to believe that everything going on inside had to do with making the world more beautiful. That's what Miss Dubois always said. "I design because the world is too dull to leave it alone," Jaxyn remembered her saying, but that sentence seemed almost hypocritical whenever the girl thought back to her grey room. In her eyes it was the epitome of dull. In fact, it was something even worse than dull. It was almost...almost...depressing.

"Hurry up, Jaxyn," Miss Dubois said, locking up the car and heading for the stairs. "I can't be late on my last day."

Yes you can, thought Jaxyn miserably. It was true though. Miss Dubois was the manager and would be very difficult to replace if someone decided on firing her. Being a few minutes late was no danger to her career.

When they came in through the rotating doors the receptionist greeted them cheerfully, giving Jaxyn's mother a stack of mail as she rushed by.

"Thank you, Bella. Come along now, Jaxyn."

Jaxyn jogged a couple steps to keep up with Miss Dubois and they took the elevator to the sixth floor where there were two long rows of cubicles all filled with people working at computers.

"Good morning, Miss Dubois!" everyone called as she walked by.

At the end of room Jaxyn followed her mother into the office. It was a very large room with a light brown carpet and a dark brown walls, modern art plastered everywhere. At one end behind a sort of glass screen was a large desk that had all sorts of organizers and such what filled to the brim with paper and fabric samples, paperwork, coloring pencils, markers, pens, regular pencils, and any other tool of the trade that a designer could possibly need. That was where Miss Dubois worked.

Off to the left side of the room there were two smaller desks facing each other with two computers, a smartly dressed man with glasses at one and cheery faced girl of twenty-two at the other, decked out in yellow.

"Good morning, Miss Dubois!" she sang out, immediately getting up from her chair with a folder.

"Good morning, Alice," Miss Dubois replied, rushing off to her desk with the assistant.

Jaxyn sighed quietly and made her way across the room to the couch by a large window and sat down, pulling out her sketchbook. Flipping through half the worn out pages she finally found where she had left off and set to work finishing off a city block she was drawing. It would take quite some time.

After several hours the office quieted down a bit and Jaxyn's stomach began to growl.

Oh, right, she remembered. I didn't eat breakfast. Frowning she looked up at the clock on the wall. It read twelve thirty.

Putting her sketchbook away Jaxyn walked over to glass window of her mother's part of the office, stopping when she saw Mr. Connor, the other assistant, leaning over what looked like a blueprint. They were very deep in a discussion and, because no one ever taught her better, Jaxyn leaned in closer to listen.

"...As you can see it's perfect," Mr. Connor said. "The family that lives there now has taken good care of the estate and there would be very little repair needed."

"Are they willing to sell?" Miss Dubois asked.

"Not when I last talked to them. But, after digging a little I found that they are quite far behind on their property taxes. It seems last summer Mr. Ackerman injured himself and wasn't able to work for a while so they got behind. With the current state of things they won't be able to afford the house and at the generous price you're offering it would be foolish not to sell."

Miss Dubois leaned back in her chair and fiddled with a pencil for what seemed like several minutes before coming to a conclusion. "Very well," she said. "Start with the exterior plans first."

Mr. Connor smiled and nodded emphatically, rolling up the blueprints and rushing past Jaxyn.

Looking up Miss Dubois saw her daughter waiting patiently and glanced at the clock and then at her watch. "Oh goodness!" she exclaimed. "You must be hungry. I'll order some lunch for you."

Jaxyn said nothing and went back to the couch as her mother dialed the nearest health food take out restaurant. She never really cared about what she ate so there wasn't much point in waiting around.

After lunch Jaxyn started another drawing, this time of the inside of a theater, and the hours flew by faster than she thought they would, the clock striking five o'clock just as the last seat was colored in.

"Well, that's it!" Miss Dubois sighed, putting down her pen. "Time to go, Jaxyn. We don't want to be late and make the movers wait around."

Jaxyn looked up from her finished drawing and quickly slipped it into her navy leather backpack, slinging the full bag over her shoulder and rushing over to the door. She was ready to leave.

"Have a nice vacation, Miss Dubois!" Alice waved.

"It won't all be vacation, Alice, but thank you. I will!"

After quickly saying goodbye to everyone Miss Dubois and Jaxyn rushed to the parking garage and made it out just in time to catch traffic.

Oh joy, Jaxyn frowned.

"There would have to be traffic," her mother said in an irritated voice, her manicured nails tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

There's always traffic.

Sighing Jaxyn looked out the window at the slowly passing city buildings and leaned her head against the glass, deciding traffic wasn't so bad when you knew you would not have to deal with it for the whole summer.

And she was right. Soon enough they were zipping down the freeway and out into the country, leaving behind the noisy, busy, shiny city.

About an hour later the mustang pulled up in front of the huge blue house and Jaxyn drowsily unbuckled herself, getting out of the car and grabbing her suitcase.

After spending the whole day cooped up in an office building, Jaxyn felt she could jump for joy at the site of that big old mansion and the beautiful property all to herself. Well, almost to herself anyway.

Suddenly, off to the right, Jaxyn spotted movement in the garden and a moment later an old man hobbled out of the bushes, cutters and spade in hand. Her mother had made no mention of a gardener, but then again, Miss Dubois never really mentioned anything unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Hello ma'am," the old man smiled, tipping his flat cap. "Good to see you made it safely."

His voice was scratchy and warn but for some reason it sounded as though he would burst into laughter at any minute. Jaxyn decided that she liked him.

"Yes, the traffic wasn't too bad," Miss Dubois said distractedly. "Is your son here? I need him to park the car."

Son?

"He'll be around soon. Just went out back to the burn pile," the old man replied.

"Well then here, you give him the keys when he gets back."

And with that Miss Dubois tossed the old man the keys and ran up the steps, gesturing for Jaxyn to hurry in.

"We don't want flies swarming the house," she said as she closed the door. "Del should have dinner ready by now."

Jaxyn followed Miss Dubois down several halls and as they approached the kitchen door they could hear several voices chatting happily and Jaxyn recognized one in particular. The movers were still there.

Miss Dubois wasted no time and quickly strode into the kitchen, her heels clicking on the linoleum as the door swung open, revealing three similar tanned faces with turquoise eyes looking up in surprise.

"Who are you?" Miss Dubois asked in a rather curt manner, making Jaxyn cringe from embarrassment.

"These are the movers, Ma'am," Del spoke up. "They was just staying to see if you needed any more help with anythang."

"No, I won't require their services again."

Jaxyn peered around her mother and looked at the three youths who were now standing, all with a different expression. Vin seemed calm, but certainly not pleased, Alek looked as though she wanted to smack someone with a hammer, and the third just looked surprised. Jaxyn tried to smile cheerfully but none of them were looking at her and it probably would not have made a difference anyway. They had done their job and that was that.

"We're sorry to have bothered you, ma'am," Vin said in a rather robotic voice, nudging the other boy towards the kitchen entrance.

Alek hesitated for a moment but Vin grabbed her arm and pulled her along, shoving both siblings out the door.

"Your check will be in the mail," Miss Dubois said, without looking at them.

"Thank you, ma'am," Vin replied, nodding at Jaxyn before closing the door.

Jaxyn stood in the doorway of the kitchen awkwardly as her mother grabbed a plate of food from Del and poured herself a glass of wine, sighing after a long cool sip.

"This is just what I need," she said happily. "Jaxyn dear, I'm too tired to eat down here. I'll have dinner in my room and then go to bed."

Jaxyn did not answer but stepped to the side as her mother brushed by in a wave of rose scented perfume, vanishing down the hall.

"Goodnight," Jaxyn whispered and closed the door, sitting down on a stool. "I'm starving."

Del, who had sobered somewhat, smiled and handed the girl a full plate of steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes.

"That outta satisfy your cravin's, Miss," she said, pouring Jaxyn a glass of milk.

"Thank you, Del."

"You're welcome, honey."