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Daniel Hawthorne:
Hawthorne Studios was housed on the second floor of the one of the older brick buildings that dotted the area near Rittenhouse Square, with the entrance located on the first floor with a set of stairs going up. The interior was tastefully decorated, with pale walls accented by warm woods and examples of the styles of clothing - both men's and women's - that were available for purchase and further customization, along with a door in the back that marked off a staff only area and another on the side wall that led to fitting rooms.
As the studio was technically closed for the evening only Daniel was in the main area, dressed neatly as was his wont, with the faint sound of music coming from the slightly-cracked staff only door hinting at the presence of someone else there as well.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
Val had almost forgotten about her appointment today cause of the week she had been having. Luckily, google calendar exists and is a lifesaver. That does mean she wasn't quite as spiffy as she had hoped to be. She arrived about 10 minutes early. She had on jeans, bitch stomping boots, a t-shirt, and over that her leather jacket. A smile filled her face though, this was gonna be cool.
She went up the stairs two at a time, peeking around as she knocked, making sure she had the right spot.
Daniel Hawthorne:
Daniel moved to let Valeria in as she reached the top of the stairs, giving her a warm smile as he let her inside. "Hey, come on in. How are things?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She smiled as he was there to greet her.
"Heya Daniel. Up and down, decent, all those vibes. Life is lifing. How about you?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Doing well enough. Keeping myself busy, the usual." He replied, closing the door behind her once she was in the main display area.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She takes a moment to look at all the various projects and displays around the space, a smile on her face.
"Better busy than bored. These look amazing, they're all your work?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It's a mix of mine and the others here. I've got five employees at the moment, along with my sister who handles most of the admin side of things."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Gotchaaa. It's a nice place, and having seven people must make it a pretty tight group, huh."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It does, yeah. We run a pretty tight ship and our clients reap the benefits of it." He tilted his head towards one of the dressing rooms before leading the way, opening the door to reveal the space within. The decor was much the same as the main area, high-end but comfortable nonetheless, with a pair of chairs off to one side with the traditional three-fold mirror in a wooden frame on the wall. The first of the suits that she had commissioned was hung up nearby for her initial try-on, the sharp mostly-grey ensemble accented with a few pops of red here and there.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Ohhhhh, fancy. I love the red. Talk me through it, what was the idea. The vibes. That sorta stuff."
She smiles, knowing artists have all those little moments. She's one herself after all.
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It matches your complexion, for one, plus it stands out without being too ostentatious." He smirked in return, resting against the wall as he looked her over. "Do you like it?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"I do! Maybe like...sliiiightly darker red if thats an option? It pops just like...a tad too much. Ya know?"
She looks to him in the mirror with a smile....then a pause, looking like she might say something before stopping and biting her lip.
Daniel Hawthorne:
"I can do that." He nodded, his smirk growing as he watched her spot him in the mirror. "Something on your mind?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She looks back towards the door to make sure no one was there, then towards the mirror, than towards him. A bit quieter
"I can see you? Did something happen? Er, in the mirror I mean."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It's something I've trained myself to be able to do. If I put the will towards it when using the Blush I can show up in mirrors and on camera normally."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Ohhhh, that's cool. I always thought that one would be annoying, granted I'm someone who takes way too many selfies with friends."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It has its perks, but in my line of work being on camera is a big part of things so figuring out how to make it happen was a quick goal once I found out it was possible."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Yeah, definitely. Live National TV and you're blurred out, would be weird. People would start looking into it."
She nods, looking at the suit.
"Am I allowed to touch it and feel fabric and stuff?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Exactly." He nodded, making an 'after you' motion towards the suit. "All yours. Let me know if there's anything you want to tweak, and feel free to try it on as well."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Honestly, trying it on would probably make this way easier. Wasn't sure if it was ready for that one yet."
She nods.
"Sorry my hair is a little bit of a mess. Curly hair is a curse, I swear."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"No worries. You look fine, in my opinion." He smiled a touch, looking her over. "Go ahead and see how it fits."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Self doubt, yeah? Anyway, yeah, gimme a minute."
She shoos him out to change, already figuring out a few adjustments, and steps out a few moments later.
"Could definitely use a couple changes, but I mean that's why I'm here today, yeah? And looking at it, maybe a tad of red under the collar, ya know? It just looks so grey there. Thoughts?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
Daniel stepped out when she motioned for him to vamoose, looking her over with an analytical eye as he walked around her and checked the fit of the suit. "Not a bad idea...can see a few things to tweak as well. You liking the look overall, though?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"I am! Feel free to poke and prod where you need. I do love the cuffs though."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Let's get back in front of the mirror, will be a little easier that way." He motioned her to head back into the fitting room, pulling a slim notebook from his pocket and giving the suit a proper once-over, making notes as needed with impeccable handwriting if she ever glanced over. "Think we had two more in mind, right? Any preference on the colors for those two?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She definetly does glance. Note to self, get this dude to take the notes in group projects.
"Definetly want like...navy blue, no sure what color goes well with it. Third one...just a really blow your socks off one, ya know? For if I want people to be looking at me. Ya feel me?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Could either go neutral or a yellow or gold to go with navy." He replied, mulling a moment on the request for the third. "Definitely doable. You feeling more bright white, maybe an orange?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Ohhhh, gold sounds great. I love that, see, that's why I make friends with the fashion designers. They know what they're doing."
She ponders for a moment.
"I'm feeling more white than orange, but I dunno exactly how it would look, ya know? Not my usual color."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"I do my best." He replied with a smirk, nodding as she gave her response. "I think it would suit you pretty well, personally."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She nods.
"You have any of the color you're thinking here now? I don't want you to put in all that effort just for me to be bleh on the colors, ya know?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"I do, yeah. Want me to bring it in here, or I can show you where the magic happens?" He offered with a small smile.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"I mean, I'm always down to see all the behind the scenes stuff. Lead the way, my dude."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"May want to change first." He motioned to the suit still on her, chuckling a touch before he stepped outside to give her space to change.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She looks down, a laugh.
"Well that's a sign to its comfiness, forgot I was wearing it."
She heads off to change, then steps out a minute later.
Daniel Hawthorne:
Once she emerged Daniel led the way into the staff area, the music heard earlier seeming to emanate from the office on one side of the hallway while a break room could be seen beyond. The Haunt headed into the other door in the hallway, revealing the collection of sewing machines, cabinets and other equipment that served as the heart of the operation.
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She looked around, nodding slowly, a few little dance steps to the music.
"I would get lost trying to find a type of fabric or something. This is why I don't sew, well...besides me being a stubborn shit."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"It does take a certain amount of patience, comparing materials and thread counts and all that." He headed towards one of the cabinets, opening it to reveal yards of white, grey and black fabric rolled neatly onto black cylinders that slid in and out of their resting places within. "I've always enjoyed that aspect of it, though."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"To each their own. I just don't have that level of patience. But hey, that's why we have a community, yeah? So the people that enjoy those things can do them."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Exactly." He nodded, pulling out a few of the white fabrics for her to peruse. "Any of these jump out at you?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She takes a minute to compare a few shades, biting her lip.
"These two I think. I'm not sure which is gonna work better."
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Alright." He put the other rolls away, setting the two she chose onto one of the nearby workbenches. "Hold your arm in between them so we can see which compliments you better."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"That's so smart. All the tricks experts seem to pick up, right?"
She does as she's directed.
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Mmhmm. Every little bit helps to find the right fabric for the right person." He looked between the two fabrics as she rested her arm nearby, mulling quietly before tapping one of them. "I'd go with this one. Works better with your skin tone."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She nods. "Totally. Just...thing no one else would think of, ya know?"
"Aight, trust the expert. I can't wait to see the finished product!"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Looking forward to getting it done." He said with a small smile, taking a note of which fabric they went with before putting the fabric back into the cabinet. "I'll give you a call when they're ready for the next fitting."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Sweeeeeet. I'm already looking forward to it. By the way, how are we setting up payment? Some now, some then? All at pickup? Just so I can finance stuff, ya know?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"We can set up partial payments easily enough." He glanced out the door to the office across the hall, mulling a moment before tilting his head that way and moving towards it. After giving the office door a courtesy knock he opened it, revealing the young blond-haired woman sitting behind it doing some paperwork and bebopping to the music playing.
"Hey Vick." He said with a smile. "Do you have one of the payment forms handy?"
"Hmm?" She looked up from the screen, blinking a moment at seeing two people there rather than just her brother and nodded. "Yeah, give me a sec." She waved to Valeria before going on the hunt. "This Miss Rolan-Ruiz, I'm guessing?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She follows along. "So done."
She waves, a smile.
"The one and only. And I actually mean that. There's not any other Rolan-Ruiz's."
She chuckles.
"Uh...Vick." she looks between them. "Siblings, right? Or did I just make this awkward as fuck?"
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Mmhmm. Victoria Hawthorne, his younger sister." She nodded with a smile, pulling out said form from one of the neatly arrayed trays on the desk. "Nice to meet you."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"Nice to meet you too."
She offers a hand to be able to grab said form.
"This will definetly make things easier. And get you your money which is important."
Daniel Hawthorne:
Victoria handed the form over, glancing towards Daniel before looking back to Val. "He's talked you up a good bit, and I know he's enjoyed working on this far."
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
She smiles at Daniel.
"Glad its a fun project. I definetly can't wait to show off these things at the Tryouts and the Olympics. Getting closer to all of it...jitters, ya know?"
She smiles.
"But hey, I've made a good impression it seems and I'm trying to keep doing that. First impressions last forever after all."
Was that intentional? Who knows. Certainly not Ria, that thought never once crossed her mind.
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Yeah, I bet. One of my tennis instructors said that I had a shot at it if I wanted to go that route, but life took me in other directions. It turned out better in the end, though, I think." She gave her brother a smile, then nodded to Val. "That they do."
Daniel smiled quietly in return, a note of gratitude in his features before he looked to Val as well. "We should let her get back to work. Let me know when you're ready to head out, yeah?"
Valeria Rolan-Ruiz:
"That happens sometimes. I thought mine was doing that too but... hey, second chances do happen."
She smiles, then looks embarassed.
"Oh fuck, sorry I tend to ramble on. Didn't mean to bother you."
She chuckles, taking a step out of the office.
"I should likely start heading towards home to be honest. I'm not entirely a night owl, and I got work tomorrow. Thanks for showing the fitting and everything, ya know? Super duper excited for all this."
An ear to ear grin fills her face.
Daniel Hawthorne:
"Definitely. Best of luck, I'll be rooting for you." Victoria replied with a warm smile, waving off the apology. "No worries, you're fine. Have a good night."
Daniel smirked as Victoria shooed him out of the office behind Val, nodding with a smile of his own. "You're welcome, and I am too. I'll give you a call when they're ready."
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