stay up late, and burn the buildings

[Lainey Fletch]

Clothes && Accessories

"God I'm such a creeper.. I mean what kind of person goes to the mall in the middle of the night. Why is the mall even open this late?!" Lainey ranted quietly to herself as she stood on the escalator. Her fingers drummed anxiously on the black rubber railing and her eyes surveyed the janitors cleaning up the food court below. If only she could see how busy this place was during the day. Now that would be exciting. Ah to be young again. To be able to hang out with friends and dish about the latest preggo in school. Or the hottest guy on the football team. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest and let out a small whimper. Stupid son of a bitch coven and their high master. Without that ass she would still be living and breathing. And able to walk around the mall during the day.

Many of the stores were closed, but some of the big names were still open. Gucci and Dior being two of the remaining. She stared at the mannequin in the window of Dior and let out a sigh. Such beautiful clothes adorned the over sized Barbie dolls. A pout pushed her pink glossed bottom lip out and scrunched her brows together in an uncute fashion. what she would give to be able to ransack the store and run out of the mall, screeching into the night. The simple fantasy played in her head, and it was only when she pulled out of it did she realize she had her face pressed against the glass of the window, her cerulean blue eyes staring longingly at the red silk dress fitting the curves of the plastic doll perfectly. She pulled her face away and wiped away a smudge on the glass with the heel of her gloved hand. Glancing side to side cautiously, she made sure no one had noticed her embarrassing moment of weakness. She let out another sigh and walked toward the banister of the second story, and rested her elbows on the top. It was eerily quiet in a mall at night. No hustle or bustle. No anything.

The sound of chains and metal coming down on the tiled floor was a sign that a manager had just closed up another store. She glanced over briefly and noticed that it was the big jeweler located in basically the middle of the second story. Such a shame they didn't stay open 24/7. They would get plenty of buyers at night, especially from the vampire population. She rested her chin in her hands and bit at the inside of her cheek boredly. She had come her to buy new clothes, because the clothes she usually wore had gone missing[or were still at random bars and houses all across Europe] and most were old and over worn. But the lack of money, and lack of decent stores stopped her shopping excursion dead in it's tracks. How sad. She had been looking forward to this all day, but maybe she need a bigger city, like New York or Tokyo. They had 24 hour stores.. good ones too.

She drug her phone out of her purse and checked the time. 12:23. Way too late for any normal person to be here. But then again Lainey was a little far from normal. She ran a hand through her pin straight blonde hair, and clicked her teeth together a few times out of sheer boredom. How could she be so bored in a mall? A few laughing voices caught her attention and she turned around to see a group of goth kids walking past her. The apparent leader of the gaggle gave her a sly wink and nudged his friend in the rips. How mature. The kid looked about seventeen. Young blood. She shook her head slightly side to side and took a deep breath to clear her head. Stupid goth kid. Getting her riled up over a stupid wink. But atleast she knew she wasn't alone in the social deathtrap.

The hum of the fluorescent lights and the squeal of a rubber sole on the cold tile was slowly driving her insane. Why didn't she just leave? The doors were still unlocked, and if she wanted she could bolt through them before someone could blink. "I'll just wait till they open the stores again.. when will that be? Six?" She grumbled low to herself and pushed off the banister to continue walking down the rows of dark, locked up stores. They seriously needed to make a 24 hour mall. Then the world would never sleep.

[Elizabeth Blaine]

This is not where a secretary, on-the-clock, belongs. No, a secretary is supposed to be behind a desk, which she was most of the time, and typing up reports, sending out e-mails, and answering phone calls. When Elizabeth asked, "Is there anything else you need to me to do, Mr. Yurameki?" she expected him to reply by giving her a filing task or asking her to send out an e-mail to remind all of the clients that they will be attending a meeting, tomorrow night. If there was really nothing else for her to do, he could've even asked her to water the fake plants or clean out the empty fridge in the kitchen. No, instead he cursed, hit the desk as though it was the reason for him forgetting Amanda's birthday tomorrow, and told Elizabeth to go out and buy a present for her.

This little detail, managing all five of her boss' girlfriends, was not in the Help Wanted ad. He was lucky that she really needed the money, and couldn't afford to lose this job just yet, or else ...

Or else she still would've said, "Yes, sir." and marched her little Prada heels to the mall. She really shouldn't complain about her job. Elizabeth was incredibly lucky that Mr. Yurameki didn't didn't send her away at the interview when she was five months late, and the pay he started her out with was double the normal amount a secretary usually gets. He bombarded her all sorts of tasks, a lot of them just as useless to his business as this one was, but she was able to leave early if she finished them all, instead of sit around and be bored at the office for hours.

There was a lot of reasons she shouldn't complain about her job, so she'll stop right there. Many girls would die happy if their boss sent them off to malls and such to go shopping, and Elizabeth wasn't even paying for this present. So, it's not like it was coming out of her own pocket. And she might as well buy herself something, while she was at it. She shouldn't waste this trip to the mall, and might as well look around for some dresses and shirts she can work on at home.

Okay, one more complaint about her job. The hours sucked. Her boss was oddly noctornal, sleeping in the daytime and working with his shipping business at night. Elizabeth wasn't quite sure how Yokon Enterprises had clients who were able to meet Mr. Yurameki at midnight, but she didn't ask much questions about that. She breathed out a sigh as she entered the mall. Most of the stores had closed up for the day, and there were only a select few left. Buying a present for Amanda was going to take a bit longer than she thought. At least the few stores that were opened weren't too bad. There was Dillards, ew, and Macy's, bigger ew, but there was also Dior. Oh, Dior, bless your heart and soul for staying open this late. Her personal savior at a time like this. No woman hate Dior, and any woman that did should be shunned and cast down to hell, for Dio was heaven, and absolutely nothing less.

On of her inspirations and favorite designers, Christian Dior. It was such a shame that he didn't live long enough for Elizabeth to meet him, she would've adored that. His fashion sense was impecable, absolutely stunning. Second best to her absolute favorite designer, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. Where as most designers usually throw out a bunch of disappointments before finally showing up on the runway with something spectacular, it was rare for Dior designs to disappoint her. Mmm, the fashionista was starting to break through the secretary in her. Oh, how Amanda didn't desere Dior. No, Elizabeth would have to go in there for herself, and see if Macy's had some cheap perfume she could pick up on the way out.

Surprisingly, Elizabeth wasn't the only person who decided to enjoy some shopping at around midnight. Well, the mischievious looking kids were probably not shopping, but still, they were here anyways. She couldn't help but wonder where their parents were, and why they would let their children run around a city like London all by themselves, especially dressed the way they were. Ugh, the goth scene was so overrated, filled with kids who were dying to be so original and different from everyone else. It's funny, how they all looked so similar from one another. Nice try on trying to be unique, but not only did you fail at that, you failed at trying to look decent with that style, too.

There was another little individual who clearly stood out from the kids that looked like someone had spewed up black all over them. Her style was alright, casual, a few unique flares here and there, nothing fancy. But Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder why a girl like her, who had so much, beautiful potential was wearing ... well ... that. It wasn't a bad outfit, but she could see the blonde, almost flawless girl in something much, much better ... like a cute, short dress would go perfect with her all natural, no make-up. It would definitely bring out her innocent features. Or, you can heavy the make-up ... don't give me that look, you should see how much make up the models ironically wear ... and match her up with an evening dress; have her look like the belle of the ball. Liz paused to glance at the girl just a little bit longer ...

Actually ... she could picture quite a lot of her designs to work perfectly on the girl. She appeared petite enough to fit a few of them ... absolutely ... perfectly.

Hmmm, Mr. Yurameki might be very upset about this, but Elizabeth's trip to the mall was going to be a little bit longer than twenty minutes, like she told him. Sorry, but her future fashion career comes before anything else, and if she passed up an opportunity like this for something so stupid like buying Amanda a present, then Elizabeth would just neer be able to forgive herself.

"Excuse me, miss." She called out to the girl as she walked closer to her, flashing a friendly smile ... which was probably more creepy than friendly at nearly one in the morning. "I don't mean to just approach you like this." She reassured the blonde girl. ".. but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me talking to you for a moment."

[/size]

[Lainey Fletch]

The sound of heels clicking on the waxed linoleum floors made Lainey look over her shoulder, and she arched a brow when she noticed it was just a normal woman. What was she doing at the mall this late? She obviously wasn't part of a group, nor was she a vampire. She didn't stink of blood-sucker like all vampires did, but there was a slight hint of it. Kind of like an aura of sorts. A very noticeable one. Maybe she just had a brush with a vampire on the streets, because she looked too innocent to associate with them. But then again so did Lainey. The former beach bunny subjected to a life of never ending nights. Forever yearning to feel the sun kiss her once tan skin. To be able to play with friends in the surf one more time is all she asked, but instead she was friendless and wandered the streets at night for fun. How sad.

Lainey turned her attention back to the dark silhouettes of mannequins filling up the windows of stores and let out an exasperated sigh. How was she supposed to find nice clothes when every damned store was closed? She kicked, well more like nudged because a kick would've put a nice hole in the plaster, the wall and pushed her bangs out of her face with her left hand. There's no point in staying here any longer. Might as well go home.. She turned on her heel and had started on her way toward the escalator when she heard a woman's voice calling from behind her.

"Excuse me, miss."

She whipped around, maybe a little too fast, and stood facing the brown haired woman. She was still wondering why she was here this late, and now she was wondering why she was talking to her. All so odd.She shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts, hiding her tattoed hand, and smiled casually. This was going to be interesting.

"I don't mean to just approach you like this.. but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me talking to you for a moment."

Lainey bit the edged of her fleshy pink lip and shrugged slightly. "Not at all. Talk away."
Talk as long as you want, because apparently I no life and I have all the time in the world to do absolutely nothing. She bit her tongue on the sentence and instead smiled again, though hiding her fangs with her bottom lip. That wouldn't be a pleasant surprise. Especially if she had no clue that vampires existed. But Lainey was starting to doubt that fact. Even more now than before simply because she did reek of vampire, but obviously she wasn't one. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as she looked. Ah, decieving looks. Priceless.

[Elizabeth Blaine]

The smile on her face was hard to knock off at this point. Yes, Elizabeth made the right choice: this girl was absolutely perfect. She could see a few fashion magazine spreads with this girl's face, and a pose with that lip-teething look. Ah, perfection! Vogue, Elle, perhaps Liz will even cave and make a deal with Cosmo; the girl looked young enough for that. A little on the pale side, but a tanning bed or some well done spray ons could do wonders for her.

It wasn't an official clothing line, yet, but as a Blaine, Elizabeth wouldn't dare be caught without carrying some of her own business cards. Besides, she had more than enough designs to show the girl, and everyday she was moving even closer to becoming known. For now, however, tiny boutiques was as far as Elizabeth was with her fashion career. "Elizabeth Blaine" she introduced herself as she handed over her Liz Blaine card. Underneath her name was her title: Executive Designer.

"I know you get this a lot." She confessed. "But you really should consider modeling. I can see you becoming very successful."

Liz couldn't help but give the girl another once over. Her skin was completely flawless, and she absolutely beautiful, even though she was a little too pale. Pale seems to be a fashion trend currently, though, so that wasn't too big of an issue. Her clothes could use some work, though. Cute and trendy, appearing unique, just like every other young girls' style. Not unique or bold enough for Liz, personally, but then again ... Liz would be making the clothes, and all this girl had to do was wear them, and make her creations look fabulous...

Liz had no doubts at all. This girl would have no problem doing exactly that.

A bell rang off in the distance: Big Ben. Damnit, was it one o'clock already? Liz really should've been back at the office by now. Oh, well. If Kai calls, she'll just say that she was having trouble finding a present because they were sold out of Amanda's size or something.

"If you're interested, feel free to walk with me so we can further discuss this opportunity for you." She flashed another smile, more business like, this time. Liz really did hope that the girl would follow her. Who knows how many other scam artists have wanted her to model, but Liz was definitely not one of those, nor did she look like any of them. No, this was a genuine offer, that will prove to be very successful for the girl in the future. If she was smart or curious enough, she would follow Liz into Dior, and perhaps some bribing with a new dress could seal the deal with her now potential model.

[Lainey Fletch]

This was certainly a new prospect, and certainly something Lainey was interested in hearing out. Everything the woman said was pleasing to Lainey's young ears. Everything she said made it seem like she could lay the golden brick road at her feet and supply the midgets that went along with the wonderful world of Oz. Maybe this Elizabeth Blaine was her Wizard come here to give her a heart, brain and courage in the form of fashion.

Lainey took the business card from the woman's hand, though careful not to expose too much of her tattooed hand. It was such a stupid idea to get it tattooed. Spur of the moment kind of things were never her forte, but how would she cover it up on the runway? Maybe it was Lainey's place to worry about it. That's what they made make-up for anyways.

"Actually, I have to say your a first." She smiled cheekily, her eyes drawing up in the corners. Most people had always been to scared to approach her, especially back in her wild days. Oh what fun were those. Late nights at the bar. The blonde turned her attention abck to the present and bit at the inside of her cheek, thinking about the future. She already saw her name on posters, magazines.. so many places. Though she was getting ahead of herself a little. First she had to make a deal with this Elizabeth Blaine, Executive Designer.Lainey looked down at her frayed shorts, and her tight graphic tee. It would be a weird change going from such candied rebel attire to dresses and sassy heels. A very big change.

She too heard the sorrowful tolling of Big Ben. She pulled her phone out of her bag to double check, sure enough it was one in the morning, and sighed heavily. Though she had nowhere else to be, so it didn't matter how long she stayed here. But there was thing that didn't keep her here 24/7. The fact that she would eventually get thirsty, and feasting on young bitchy teens wasn't Lainey's idea of fun.

When Liz began to walk off Lainey was quick to follow, not wanting to fall behind. Taking one step into Dior was like stepping into couture heaven. The smells of leather, satin and so many other fabrics swirling around the somewhat stale air of the store. There were so many dresses to go with all of the smells. Flashy dresses, sleek dresses, dresses with slit skirts and ones with low cut tops. Many were gorgeous, but there was the occasional dress that made her cringe as she walked by. There was one dress that hung loosely on a mannequin by the door. The dress was stunning, even if it was pure black. It would look beautiful against her pale skin. "So what exactly would being a model entail?" There was no way that she was going to dive head first into this without knowing what she was getting herself into.