Perfect!
That was what she thought as she checked her reflection in the mirror. She twisted and turned in her room as she double and triple-checked her appearance one last time, making sure nothing was out of place.
It's been 5 days since I volunteered to visit the shop where Leo saw Piper's advertisement, and now here she is—in her New York home, getting ready to leave.
After making sure her attire was spotless, she then checked her bag for all the necessities. Then she made sure that her small celestial bronze knife was strapped firmly to her lower leg. Once that was done, she made her way to her bed and picked up a small black box that contained one of her most prized possessions.
Inside the box lies the diamond set of necklaces and earrings her father gifted her, bought from Celestial Creations.
She opened the box and gazed longingly at the set, running her fingers over the sparkling stones. Drew thought of wearing them today but ultimately decided against it.
She closed the box, placed it inside her bag, and, with a final look at the mirror, left her room.
Outside her apartment building, she hailed a cab and told the driver the store's address. Drew looked out the car window as she thought of what she was about to do. She sent a silent prayer to her mother, hoping everything would go smoothly.
After a while, the cab stopped in front of an upscale building. Drew got out of the cab and studied the building. Drew found the window Leo described, and she watched the advertisement showing Piper's face.
Drew watched the advertisement for a bit, noting the pieces of jewelry Piper was wearing. After watching it, Drew went into the building and made a beeline for Celestial Creation's store.
Drew was greeted by three staff members when she went inside the store. Drew smiled as she started to browse the pieces on display.
"Welcome!" The three people greeted me as I entered the store.
I smiled at them and went to one of the display cases. Rings of all makes and styles were displayed.
As I was browsing, one of the staff members came near me and asked, "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
I smiled at her and replied, "I'm looking for something that will match my diamond set, actually."
"I see. Do you think you're set with me?" she asked.
"I do!" I told her while I reached into my bag for the box.
Once I brought out the box, I placed it on the glass display and opened it to show the staff.
She immediately recognized it as one of their designs.
"Oh! This is one of ours!" she exclaimed upon seeing it.
"Yes! My father gifted that to me for my birthday last year!" Drew told the clerk.
"I remember the customer who bought this had the main stones replaced with diamonds," the clerk told Drew in return.
"Really! What was it originally?" Drew asked, shocked.
"Sapphires, if I remember correctly," the clerk answered.
"It looks like I have to thank my father again!" Drew smiled.
"Now! You said that you were looking for a ring to complement this piece, right? I believe we have a number that would suit your tastes!" the clerk announced as she began to pull tray after tray of rings set with diamonds of all sizes and shapes.
As Drew was trying on several rings, she decided to try and ask the clerk about her sister.
"Can I ask you something?" Drew asked tentatively.
"Yes, of course!" the clerk responded.
"The girl in the video, who is she?" Drew asked as she pointed towards the window.
"Ahh! That's Miss Piper!"
"She's beautiful! And the items she's wearing! Just wow!" Drew exclaimed, trying to get the clerk to talk about Piper.
"Oh yes! Some of those were created just for that shoot, you know! Most of those are one of a kind!"
"I wonder how much those are?" Drew questioned. "Would it be possible to see one of them?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am; that would be impossible as they are no longer available," the clerk told Drew.
"They were sold?" Drew asked, shocked again.
The clerk giggled before saying, "Oh no! They weren't sold to anyone! They were given to Miss Piper as gifts!"
"Gifts? All of them?" Drew exclaimed, once again shocked.
"Yes! Hard to believe, right? But then again, Miss Piper is dating the boss, so it does make sense a bit," the clerk explained.
Drew's mind went on a whirlwind of thoughts as the clerk told her about the apparent relationship Piper has with the owner of the store. She was having a hard time imagining that Piper, her sister, who hated dressing up and would cut her own hair, was now a model for a luxury brand of jewelry. Not only that, but she was dating the owner of said brand.
She thought back to when Piper first arrived at camp and how Piper hated wearing any jewelry and chose to braid her hair with a bird's feather of all things. Now she is being gifted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry by her rich-as-fuck boyfriend.
Drew felt respect for her sister, albeit begrudgingly, for landing a rich guy, which for Drew was a sign of being a daughter of Aphrodite.
Drew was pulled back out of her thoughts when the clerk continued telling her about Piper.
"Did you know that Miss Piper is the daughter of a famous actor? I was surprised when I found that out!" the clerk gossiped to Drew.
"Yes, I do know that," Drew told the clerk, deciding to finally proceed with her mission.
"Tristan McClean, right?" Drew informed the clerk, "Yes, her father."
"Actually, I know a lot more about Piper," Drew told the clerk.
"What do you mean?" the clerk asked, now eyeing her suspiciously.
"I know it's hard to believe, but we used to go to the same summer camp," Drew told the clerk.
"The reason I asked about her is because it's been a while since we've been in contact, 3 years in fact, and when I saw her in the advertisement, I was shocked."
"If that's true, then why have you not been in contact with her? If you are friends, then you should have her number," the clerk asked, suspicious of Drew's motive.
"I said we knew each other from camp when we were younger, not that we are close," Drew explained.
"Is everything alright here?" Drew turned her head as she heard a second voice. Unnoticed by Drew, the clerk she was talking with called on the other staff member.
"I'm Helena, the manager of this store. What seems to be the problem here?" The manager introduced herself to Drew, taking over for the clerk.
"My name is Drew. I was just telling your staff here that I knew your model, Piper, when we were young, but I don't think she believed me," Drew explained.
"I apologize for my staff, but was there a reason for your interest in Miss Piper?" the manager asked directly.
"No need to apologize; she didn't do anything wrong. I do have a reason why I came here besides looking for a ring to match my set," Drew said, pointing to the box she brought with her.
The manager glanced at her set and nodded to her, so Drew continued to explain.
"As I was saying, I knew Piper back when we were attending the same summer camp when we were younger. I still go there as a counselor, and Piper used to visit until about 3 years ago. Then she stopped all contact 3 years ago until one of our old friends walked by this building and saw the advertisement with Piper." Drew paused, making sure the manager was listening.
"I see. I assume your being here today has something to do with Miss Piper and getting in contact with her?" Helena asked.
Drew nodded and spoke. "I know that it is hard to believe what I'm saying. Plus, given the fact that Piper's father is famous, I might come off as a stalker or some kind of paparazzi, but I promise that's not the case, and I can prove it."
Drew then reached into her bag and pulled out a small book. She opened it and flipped through a few pages, then placed it down on the counter and turned it over to show the manager. The manager looked down at what turned out to be a photo.
In the photo, there were a bunch of teens all wearing orange shirts on what seemed to be a dock with a lake in the background.
Drew used a finger and pointed at the last person on the left of the photo. "That's me," Drew said, pointing to herself. Then she moved her finger and stopped on a girl in the center of the photo.
"That's Piper," Drew said as she looked at the manager, who was looking at the photo closely.
"My half-sister," Drew said silently, making the manager's eyes widen when she heard her.
"I know, it's hard to believe, but it's the truth," Drew said when the manager looked at her.
"I cannot give you her contact details, unfortunately, but I can at least pass your details to her staff and let them decide if they will believe your claim. That's all I can do for you at the moment," the manager finally told Drew.
"Thank you! That would be very helpful!" Drew smiled as she thanked the manager.
Drew was given a notepad where she wrote down her number.
After she passed her phone number to the manager, she once again thanked her and got ready to leave.
"Thank you for your help, and I'm sorry for the trouble," Drew said.
"It's no trouble, and please feel free to come back when you've decided on the ring," the manager stated, going back to business mode.
"I will!" Drew promised.
With her mission now done, Drew walked out of the store and out of the building. She stopped at the window and watched the advertisement play. Her eyes were drawn towards the jewelry Piper was wearing, each more beautiful than the last.
Each is probably more expensive than her own by a large margin. She smiled as she remembered how all of those were apparently given to Piper by her rich boyfriend.
'Nicely done, sis! ' Drew thought as she took one last look at Piper before she turned away and began to walk back to her place.
------line break--------
It's been a few hours since Drew got back from the store; she is currently in her room. lying down on her bed, scrolling through her phone. Drew was enjoying a relaxing afternoon when her phone rang.
Drew looked at the unknown number calling her and frowned at the interruption. She answered the call tersely and heard someone laugh on the other end.
A familiar laugh.
"Piper?" Drew whispered over the phone.
Drew held her breath as she waited for a response. After a few seconds that seemed too long for Drew, she finally heard the voice she had not heard for a long time.
"Hey, Drew! I heard you were asking for me." Piper's voice sounded alive as she heard her over the phone.
"Yes, I was," answered Drew after taking a deep breath to steady her nerves for the coming conversation.
"So, how did you find me?" Piper asked.
"I didn't; I mean, Leo was the one who saw your advertisement in the city. He then told the camp about seeing you," Drew explained.
"Ah! I see, how come he wasn't the one who came to the store?" Piper continued to inquire.
"The decision of who will go was discussed during a councilors meeting. There was a lot more happening at camp at the moment Leo found out about you, so he couldn't decide on his own," Drew answered.
"And I volunteered to go to the store to try to find you, just so you know," Drew announced somewhat haughtily.
"You did? Why?" Piper asked, clearly confused as to why Drew would ever do something for her. aware that the two of them were not close to each other.
"First, out of everyone at camp, I am perhaps the most knowledgeable about jewelry. Second, I actually own a set from celestial creations." "I heard about that," Piper said, interrupting Drew.
Drew ignored Piper and carried on with her explanation: "I used that set to convince the people at the store to pass along my details to you. Since we know that getting your details would be close to impossible,"
"Lastly, I used the fact that we are half-sisters to somehow get them to do what I wanted," Drew finished.
"I understand; for what it's worth, I knew something like this would happen when I agreed to show my face. I just didn't think it would happen this soon," Piper said.
"So, when can we meet? We have a lot of questions for you, Piper. I have a lot of questions for you," Drew finally asked after a beat of silence.
Drew waited for Piper's answer, silently worrying that her sister would not agree.
"I'm booked for the next 5 days, so we can only meet after that. Would that be okay for you?" Piper answered after thinking for a bit.
"Yes! That's not a problem for me," Drew agreed, happy for her success in getting Piper to meet up.
"Okay, let's meet at Starbucks near the Empire State Building 5 days from now, after lunchtime," Piper suggested.
Drew had no problem with that, so she agreed to the plan.
"By the way, Piper, I will be reporting this to camp, so I won't be alone when we meet up," she reminded Piper.
"I know; it's ok with me," Piper accepted easily.
"I'll see you in 5 days, then, Piper!" Drew confirmed.
"Yes! See you soon," Piper replied before hanging up.
Drew smiled as she placed her phone down on her bed, happy for her success. excited about meeting Piper. She thought about Iris messaging camp right away but decided against doing that.
She would be going back to camp tomorrow anyway. She'll just tell them then, she reasoned.
Drew spent the rest of the day on her bed, feeling good about what the future holds.
Not just for her but for camp as a whole.