A/N: Ok people, new story! First chapter, it’s not much now but I promise I’m just doing a little character building. Well…you’ll see.

Danielle was not having a good day. In fact, it was downright horrible. Every word and every sentence was agonizing. Who knew her usually lax father could be this severe on his favorite child! His only child! She was his princess, always was and yet today, here he was, her loving gentle father admonishing her for such a minor thing…sort of.

“…for God’s sake Dani! What were you thinking? Have you totally lost your mind?”

“Dad! I just had one…”

“DANIELLE! We are not talking about tic tacs! You took ecstasy! I don’t care if it’s one pill or a hundred, the bottom line is, you took it didn’t you? Do you have any idea what was in that pill? Do you know what could have happened to you, hmm?”

Gregory Pierce ran a hand through his graying hair; with a weary expression he surveyed his only child and could do little more than shake his head in dismay.

“What possessed you?”

It was whispered with such an exhausted tone that Danielle instantly felt a wave of guilt sweep through her. Through clenched teeth, she was able to mutter a barely audible answer.

“Brendan.”

Mr. Pierce’s head instantly shot up. He threw a disgusted look towards her and emitted a defeated sigh.

“Of course, that useless boyfriend of yours. I should have expected this. Good for nothing waste of space. Well! From now on, you are forbidden to see him! Is that understood? Should you break the law like this ever again, I will disown you!”

“Daddy! I’m your only child! Where would the money go?”

Gregory Pierce almost smirked. “Oh, I’m sure my charities will have a field day.”

Danielle paled at the implication and pouted at her father. However, Mr. Pierce ignored the look and ploughed on.

“As of now, I am canceling all your credit cards.” A muffled shriek met this announcement. “And you may not charge anything to my accounts.”

“Daddy! Be reasonable.”

An icy glare met her exclamation and she instantly fell silent.

“However…” Danielle’s eyes brightened in hope. “I am aware that a girl of your age has certain monetary needs.”

As Danielle’s hope rose, she moved towards her father to enquire of her allowance when a smirk once again alighted from his face.

“Which is why, I have decided that you are going to work for your money.”

Danielle’s mouth dropped open in shock as she silently gasped at the concept. Instantly, images of passé uniforms and greasy food popped up in her mind and she forced herself to suppress a shudder of disgust.

“From this Monday, you will come to work with me.”

A stab of relief assaulted her, but she continued to frown, from confusion or distaste, she could not say but either way she was not pleased with the idea.

“But daddy, you have a multi-billion dollar company and well…I really have no clue about business. Plus, this is my gap year, I plan on enjoying it before you force me to go back to University.”

Her father approached her and gently caressed her flushed complexion. “This is really all my fault,” he sighed, “I have let you grow wild, without your mother…”

A shadow passed over his features before he composed himself.

“Well anyway, some of the blame lies on me. So you will come to work with me, I will dispense assignments and tasks and…you will be paid.”

Instantly, Danielle brightened. “How much?”

Her father glowered. “Depends how well you do, does it not my child? Also, due to these new circumstances, I will be opening a savings account where your earnings will be deposited. From now on, apart from living expenses, your own money will cover all else.”

Danielle almost whimpered but her father rightly ignored her.

“9:00 am sharp, my girl.” Gregory Pierce turned and strode from the room, closing the grand double doors behind him.

Inside, Danielle sunk to the floor and placed her head in her hands and silently sulked. Her sense of justice was fully incensed and she thought her punishment far too harsh to warrant the situation. Rising in indignation, she approached the gilded mirror and nearly screamed at the disorderly image staring back at her. Her black hair was almost static and dark circles framed her brown eyes.

Acting on impulse she almost banged her head against the mirror in frustration and disgust. Rushing over to an adjacent door, she threw it open and was greeted by a stunning marble bathroom. Paying no attention to her surroundings, she rushed to the bathroom counter and hurriedly surveyed the contents. Brand names and bottles of all shapes and sizes greeted her as her hands hovered over them until…Yes!

Anti-Frizz serum. It was a round green bottle and in Danielle’s opinion, an absolute must have. She practically lived off the stuff as she had, albeit unwillingly, inherited her mother’s wild dark curls. Blending the concealer under her eyes, she again surveyed her appearance.

Better. Not great…but passable. Running her hands over her designer summer dress and smoothing away the small wrinkles produced from her impromptu trip to visit her Persian carpet, she nodded at her reflection in resignation. She never thought herself as overly beautiful like you would expect an heiress to be, but she was pretty, some might even say very pretty. The only time she’d ever been called stunning was at a business function her father had insisted she attend where she had met a middle-aged mogul who had indulged in the sparkling wine.

Suddenly she was shocked out of her reverie when her hot pink cell chirped and buzzed. Rushing over, she flipped open the little device and eyed the caller ID flashing on the screen. Raising the speaker to her ear, she greeted the person.

“Hey baby, how’re you doing?”

“Oh Brendan, daddy found out and he…and he…he cut off all my money! And…and…he said I’d have to work and…” She bawled into the phone as Brendan made non-committal soothing noises from the other end. Once she had calmed enough, Brendan was finally able to speak.

“Hey Baby, it’s going to be ok. Tell you what, why don’t I come over and get you then we could go out for ice cream or something? How about that babe?”

Wiping away her more recent tears, Danielle could not help but smile.

“You would do that for me?” She squeaked.

“Absolutely babe.”

Danielle beamed at the phone until a memory hit her.

“Oh no! Daddy banned me from seeing you! If he catches me, I don’t know what he’ll do next.”

An impatient sigh answered her. “Babe, he won’t catch you. He probably thinks you’ll spend the rest of the day sulking in bed!”

Indignation rose in her throat and she practically screamed. “I do not sulk! I find it passé to sulk! I…”

“Okay babe, okay. My bad. Come on babe, live a little.”

“Yeah, you said that last night and look where it got me.”

Brendan chuckled. “I’ll meet you out front in half an hour.”

And that was it. Brendan hung up and Danielle just shook her head and ran to her wardrobe. Smugly, she strutted into the small room and surveyed rows and rows of tops, bottoms, shoes, bags and jewelry. All of it, she noted arrogantly, was arranged by color and category. Lightly, she brushed her fingers over the clothing, all of them labels and renowned labels at that.

Picking out a light blue jacket, she threw it over her dress and picked out a cute little tote bag. Stepping out from the wardrobe, she eyed her canopied bed in interest. Dropping the bag, she rushed over to her bed as quickly as her stilettos could carry her. Quickly, she shoved a stuffed animal and a pillow underneath her covers and ruffled the rest of her bed. Stepping back to admire her work, she nodded confidently and rushed to pick up her dropped bag.

Swiftly, she stuffed the bag with her wallet, her phone, lip gloss, concealer, all the things she thought she needed. Then, almost as an afterthought, she approached the gilded mirror near her bed and ran a hand across her curls and smoothed them. They may be unruly sometimes, but they gave her an exotic look and that made her smile snidely at her reflection while she contemplated Anna Sterling’s fake, limp locks.

Sighing petulantly, she turned and walked out the double doors of her rooms. Eying the corridor in suspicion, she turned left and strode quietly down the carpeted floor and eagerly approached the elevator. Nervously, she pushed the down button repeatedly, half expecting her father to spot her immediately.

The elevator dinged and the door slid open. Stepping into the elevator, she pushed the ground floor button and leaned back against the railing. Yes, okay, so she happened to live in a hotel. Technically, it was her father’s hotel; they lived on the top level where there were penthouse suites. It was strange, more than strange really, it had raised a few eyebrows when she told people, but hey, it was right in the center of the city and rather convenient in her opinion.

Ignoring the concierge that held open the door for her, she exited the hotel and scanned the area for Brendan.

Standing, more like leaning really, in front of his lemon of a car, his dirty blond hair looked casually disheveled and he was eying the passer bys with an air of disgust. Almost teetering on her heels, she scampered towards him and threw her arms around his neck, pecking him lightly on his cheek.

As she felt day old stubble graze her cheek, she giggled and buried her face in the nook of his neck, almost giddy when he grabbed her hips and swung him around to meet his eyes, she giggled and leaned into him.

He smirked and planted his lips hard against hers. She almost squealed in excitement. She felt so rebellious, so wild doing this, especially right under her father’s nose. When she first started dating Brendan, her friends were so jealous. Her very own bad boy. Totally cliché in its own way and yet, the novelty never wore off and neither did the envy of her friends. Amy Darling still attempted to snatch him away every time Brendan came to some gathering.

Finally, Brendan pulled away and watched her reaction. She pouted at him but he simply smirked and gestured for her to get into the car. Almost sniffing in disdain, she slid into the passenger seat, careful not to stain or wrinkle her summer dress. Brendan quickly hopped in after her and started the engine. Revving the car, he pulled away from the curb with reckless abandon, leaving beeps and profanities in his wake.

Danielle just smiled with the thrill and leaned back against the seat.

As they drove, rock music poured from the radio and Danielle scrunched her nose in distaste. Leaning forwards, she promptly changed the station. Coming upon a popular love ballad, she leaned back satisfied with her choice and turned to stare out the window as she listened to the lyrics.

Suddenly, blaring rock music interrupted the ballad and Danielle turned to stare at her boyfriend. She frowned peevishly but Brendan ignored her and drove on.

Huffing indignantly, she looked away and ignored him until the car began to slow from its reckless speed. It quickly pulled to a sudden halt in front a small-whitewashed building.

Scowling impatiently, she turned towards the man beside her. “Where the hell are we?”

Brendan returned her scowl and said with irritation: “We’re a few blocks from my place.”

Danielle opened her mouth to question him further but he had already slipped out of the car and came around to her side of the car. He knocked on her window and beckoned her to get out.

She sat primly and stared at him from beyond the glass and waited for him to open the door but Brendan simply raised an eyebrow and walked into the whitewashed building.

She sneered with annoyance and pushed open the side door. Following Brendan into the building, she immediately spotted the freezers, which held various flavors of ice cream as well and wire framed tables and chairs.

Brendan was already at the counter, handing over money as the attendant smiled at him. He spotted her from the corner of his eye and gestured for her to sit down. Danielle made a show of sniffing disdainfully at her surroundings and picked a seat near the window. Sitting impatiently, she glared at the attendant who seemed too friendly as she handed over the purchases.

A moment later, Brendan arrived before her and set down a milkshake. Immediately she took a sip as she watched Brendan take a bite from his ice cream cone. He seemed jumpy and slightly distracted and seemed to be in no mood to talk. Sighing tiredly, she continued to survey her surroundings and within a short time she had grown impatient from her boredom. Quickly, she finished off her milkshake and looked expectantly and Brendan.

He annoyingly raised an eyebrow and raised his arms in surrender. It didn’t seem to matter though as he was rather eager to get out of there. He eagerly pushed her out the door and both got into the car.

Pulling on her seatbelt, she laid her head back and waited for Brendan to start the car. However, after several moments, the noise of a choking engine still had not invaded her thoughts. Looking enquiringly at Brendan she spotted him staring back at her. He watched her with an odd look on his face but rapidly turned away when she caught his staring. She smiled smugly and moments later, the car was struggling along into the more suburban streets near Brendan’s apartment.

She yawned, her mind becoming fuzzy as her eyelids drooped. Smiling tiredly, she turned to speak to the man beside her.

“Baby…I’m feeling really tired. I don’t even know why. I guess it must be the stress of the day. Do you…do you think you could drop me home.”

Brendan looked over and smirked. “Baby, we’re nearly at my place. You can just stay there for a while then I’ll drop you off later okay?”

Danielle barely responded when her eyes became too heavy and she succumbed to the dark haze behind her eyelids.

What idiot had left the curtains open? It was her first thought as the glaring light pierced through her eyelids. An excruciating headache greeted her and she could not help but groan in pain. Her mouth tasted disgusting and her teeth felt disgustingly furry. Delicately, she opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.

Sighing in relief as she was met with the sight of her room. She carefully raised her head and looked down at her attire. Frowning, she realized she was still in yesterday’s clothing, he little tote bag thrown at the foot of the bed.

Unexpectedly, the doors of her suite banged open. Groaning as a stab of pain shot through her brain, she turned her head to the sight of her father.

As always, he was impeccably dressed in his usual tailored suit, this morning it was accented with a navy blue tie and one very livid expression upon his face.

“DANIELLE ANNETTE PIERCE! How dare you!”

Danielle whimpered in pain. “Daddy, daddy…could you tone it down a little? My head really hurts.”

“God Dani, I’m practically speechless. Do you have any idea, what you have done? You have managed to destroy your own reputation in one night! How could you? Especially after yesterday!” Groaning in frustration, he ran his hands through his hair and stared at her with annoyance.

“Daddy. I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

“Oh, then the fact that you turned up at the hotel last night, passed out in the back of a cab means nothing does it? God Dani, I had to have a bellboy carry you up here! What the hell were you doing? And not to mention the newspapers. GOD! Why Dani? Aren’t you satisfied with your life? Did you ever lack anything you wanted?”

“Fine. I went for an ice cream with Brendan, but that’s all. Actually…I don’t remember anything after that.” She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion until something else hit her. Shocked, her head shot up. “What do you mean about the newspapers?”

Gregory Pierce sent her a withering look and threw the newspapers at her feet. Shaking his head, he stalked from the room.

Danielle braced herself on her elbows and raised herself into a sitting position. Reaching out, she grabbed the wad of papers and pulled it towards her. Instantly her eyes landed on the bold print on the front page.

SCANDAL! AN HEIRESS GONE WILD!

Danielle Pierce, daughter of billionaire magnate Gregory Pierce has shocked the world with her outrageous and out of control behavior!

Beneath the headline were two large colored photos and Danielle burst into wracking sobs as she stared. The first she instantly recognized, it was one of the photos taken at the club she frequented, it simply showed her, half drunk, dancing heatedly pressed between Brendan and some other random. It really was the second that shocked her. It took her a few long moments before she could admit it was indeed herself. She was clad in nothing but a matching lacy set of bra and knickers, as she lay sprawled out on something smiling drunkenly up into the camera.

She almost couldn’t believe her eyes. She honestly did not remember the second photo. She would never do anything like that! Never! Passing her eyes over the front page she spotted a little comment down the bottom of the page.

Further details, Pg 3.

Oh God. Oh no. Oh…

Turning the pages with a rising sense of dread, she came to page three and could not muffle the scream that rose to her lips. Not only was there a full news article questioning her sobriety but more photos. Photos, which were obviously too graphic to put on the front page. They were similar to the second photo, except this time, she was lying on her side, her bra gone. Out of censorship, the newspaper had blurred the image around her exposed breasts, but it was quite obvious she was fully bare from the waist up.

Suddenly, she felt bile rise in her throat. Throwing down the newspaper, she lurched toward the bathroom. Silently, she dry heaved into the toilet. Her stomach was empty and all she could taste was the bitter sourness of her stomach acid. After a few moments, she rose from her crouched position and flushed the toilet. Slowly, she stumbled to the sink and rinsed her mouth. Staring up into the mirror, she eyed her reflection with disgust. Turning away, she slowly made her way back towards her bed.

Despondently, she lipped out of her dress and shoes and crawled under her covers, curling into a small ball as she cried. Her mind screamed in the turmoil and she felt an intense feeling grip her.

Shame.

It felt like shame. God she felt so dirty, so used. Thinking back to the photos, her mind immediately recoiled from the consequences of such news and bile began rising in her throat once more. Moaning in desperation, she tried to ignore thoughts that someone might have done more to her than take photos.

Throwing off the covers, she ran once more to the bathroom. Stripping herself of her underwear, she turned on the shower and stepped under the warm relentless spray. Staring frantically around her shower, she spotted her exfoliating brush and started to scrub herself. She had to clean herself. Had to get rid of any traces of filth. She was so dirty!

She scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin glowed pink and it hurt to scrub anymore. Sinking slowly to the ground, Danielle let her tears mingle with the water as she stared sightlessly out shower’s glass door.

Just outside the glass door, her underwear lay discarded on the black tiles of the bathroom floor. Hunter green.

Hunter green! That was the color of her underwear in those photos! Struggling to stand, she impatiently shut off the water and wrapped herself in a robe. Sprinting to her bedroom, she scanned it for the discarded newspaper. Spotting it tucked halfway under her bed, she leapt towards it and brought it close to her eyes.

Yep. She was definitely wearing hunter green underwear in those photos and…yes! That necklace, she was wearing the very same one yesterday. These had to be taken yesterday! But how? When? All she remembered was going with Brendan…

Brendan! How could she be so slow? Upon closer inspection, she noticed one more thing. What she was lying on, it looked like…oh god…it looked like the covers off Brendan’s bed!

That Bastard! The utter little shit! He did this!

Quickly, she walked towards her tote bag and ripped it open, dumping its contents unceremoniously onto the floor. Rifling through the contents, she spotted her pink cell phone and flipped it open.

32 missed calls. 59 messages.

Danielle swore. Obviously everyone had heard. Without bothering to check who had left the messages and the calls, she scrolled down her menu and found Brendan’s cell number.

Waiting as the cell dialed the number, she clenched her hand in her wet curls, ready to curse at the Bastard. However, it didn’t even ring, instead, the call went instantly to a recorded message.

The number you have called no longer exists. The number you have called no longer exists. The number you have called no longer exists. The number you have…

Panic rose in her throat as she heard the repeating message. Instantly ending the call, she searched for Brendan’s home number, dialing that, she waited in frustration until finally a male voice answered.

“Hello?”

“BRENDAN! YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE HELL…”

The voice on the other end suddenly sounded panicked.

“NO! NO! This is not Brendan. I’m his flat mate Darren! What the hell…”

“Darren? Darren! This is Dani! Put that son of a bitch on the phone now!”

Suddenly the boy on the other line sounded nervous. “I…I can’t.”

Danielle was losing her patience. “What? Why the hell not?”

“Well…he’s not here.”

“Then where the hell is he?”

“I…I…I really don’t know. He moved out last night. I thought he would’ve told you.”

“!#. Did the bastard leave a forwarding address?”

“No…”

Danielle hung up. Stewing in anger, she hurriedly dressed and picked up the newspaper. Storming from her suite, she sought her father and found him slouched in his armchair in his private study, staring unblinkingly at a glass of brandy within his hands.

Upon her entrance, he barely looked up. He just addressed her with a listless voice.

“Danielle. What…”

“Dad. This isn’t my fault.” She stated bluntly.

“How the hell is it not?!”

“Dad, these photos were taken yesterday, that was definitely what I was wearing!” She said pointedly. “But these photos I never consented to! Hell! I don’t even remember them! All I did yesterday was go to meet Brendan.”

“So you got extremely drunk and posed for indecent photos? Brilliant!”

“Dad, listen. All I had to drink was a milkshake. No alcohol, none whatsoever! The last thing I remember was falling asleep in Brendan’s car as we were driving to his apartment. That’s it!”

This finally seemed to catch his attention. Gregory Pierce stared seriously at his daughter.

“You are serious? You have no recollection?”

“No, none at all.” Danielle held up the paper for her father and pointed to the second photo. “See this, this is what I was wearing yesterday. And see that, that was definitely taken at Brendan’s apartment. He did this!”

“How can you be so sure? It could…”

“No! It definitely was him! He could have slipped something into my milkshake, he brought them. Then when I tried to call him just then. His cell phone had been canceled and he had apparently moved out from his apartment and left no contact details! Surely, this isn’t a coincidence!”

Her father considered her for a moment and nodded. Picking up his phone, he immediately contacted the police.

“Are you absolutely positive miss?” The cop repeated for the fifth time that minute.

Sighing in frustration, she turned and gave her direct attention to the skeptical figure before her. “Yes, I’m sure.”

The policeman hesitated. “You do realize Miss, that this is a very serious accusation…”

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. “Yes, I’m absolutely positive! And don’t you think that it is slightly suspicious that he happened to disappear the day these bloody pictures are printed? Hmm? Look, just take my blood. You should be able to test for the presence of drugs and stuff right?”

The policeman regarded her a moment longer before waving the medic forward who smiled sympathetically at her and knelt to open her kit of medical items.

Swallowing her nervousness as the needle was presented to her, Danielle stretched out her arm and looked away as she felt a prick on her inner arm. From across the room, her father met her eyes and offered a weary smile before turning his full attention to the police officer that was questioning him.

Sighing as the medic withdrew, she held the proffered tissue to the small needle mark to stem the bleeding. She stood and nodded silently to the policeman and the medic as they left the room.

Proceeding from across the room, Gregory draped an arm around his weary daughter and steered her to a seat by his large mahogany desk. Taking a seat behind said desk, he steeped his fingers and observed her downcast face as she sat silently studying the carpet.

“You violated the rules I set you.”

Danielle simply nodded.

“I told you not to see Brendan again.”

Again a silent nod.

“I will not punish you.”

Danielle’s head shot up in disbelief.

“For now.”

Danielle bit her lip and nodded.

“As it is, nothing else has changed. You will still come to work on Monday. Please be prepared Dani, this is for your sake.”

She didn’t protest as she quietly excused herself from her father’s study.

“Dani, wait.”

Danielle was instantly engulfed in a bone-crushing hug as she stood rigid. After what seemed like an eternity, she turned in her father’s arms and hugged him back, the dam of tears breaking free as she sobbed relentlessly onto his shoulder.

Gregory Pierce felt no need for words. He simply rubbed her back as she cried and waited patiently for her tears to subside.

All done! Chapter one! I’m rather proud of it, but it’s only the beginning. What did you think? Ok? I promise the story line is not too much of a cliché and hopefully it will qualify as somewhat original. Please REVIEW!!

Love Clouds.