Disciplinary Action/Disciplinary Office/First Quarter/Janne/Yes+
That's a rather strange thing to hear her say. You don't suppose they may be offering something to give Diya a lighter punishment or something of the sort. The ideas that do come into your head go through quite the range of ideas, but you also sense that Janne doesn't seem to want to go into detail so you don't push her. You just tell her you'll come, and when you also offer to drive Diya home with you again she tells you that would be good. In fact, her exact response is, "Yes, that would be good. In fact, it would be better if Diya is here at the same time you are for this, I was actually meaning to ask you to do something like that but... well, at any rate, I guess I'll see you here soon."
As the "mom" of the family sounds increasingly nervous, she eventually hangs up the phone after a hasty "goodbye." You go to your secretary and ask her to have Diya sent to your office after the end of the school day, and after the final bell rings the 12-year-old 7th grader shows up at your office with her jacket and backpack ready to go. Ms. Varano seems to have a somewhat disappointed face when you announce that you will be taking Diya home today but she does not object. Diya gives you a weak smile and a look of understanding, you get the impression she knows what's going on, but she doesn't say anything more than the occasional "Ok," or "yes" at the appropriate times. Overall though, she seems to be too nervous to really say anything during the trip and you eventually arrive back at the old-style large white Victorian house that serves as the brothel as well as Diya's home.
The very moment your engine turns off, Diya jumps out of the car without a word and hurries right in. You find her rushed pace affecting you a bit and, while you don't run, you certainly don't dawdle on your way to follow her and ultimately wind up trailing behind only by a few steps and are able to hear the conversation taking place inside.
"Diya! Where is Mr. Gardner?" you hear the voice you remember as belonging to Diya's "mother," Mariette, saying.
"He's just behind me." The girl croaks nervously in the most words she has said in a single sentence since coming to your office today. In the meantime, you have climbed the stairs and enter the establishment to see in addition to the girl serving as receptionist, instead of the madam who greeted you yesterday you have Janne and Mariette, Diya's "mom" and "mother," waiting for you while standing with Diya in an image that conjures the thought of them being parents who are supporting their child, an impression that does far more to peak your curiosity as to what may be about to happen than anything else so far.
"Hello, Mr. Gardner," the older "mother," Mariette, greets you, today dressed in a woman's pants-suit as though she is in proper business attire while Janne is dressed in a conservative sweater that covers everything from the waist up and a skirt that goes down to her mid-calf in the image of the most conservative and appropriate dress for a woman of this town. By that standard, really it would be Mariette who is wearing the more scandalous outfit despite it actually covering more skin. Since she is a woman wearing pants, and the garb that would be worn by a woman of high business status at that, this would be seen as a definite no-no by this town's conventions. "Janne, can you take Diya upstairs?" She asks, to which the "mom" immediately complies, and Diya is cooperative and follows her mom's lead.
With the two of them out of the room, the older well-dressed woman comes over to you into a more "intimate" talking distance. She is not in physical contact with you, but she is standing just a little closer than the typical respectful 3 ft. personal space bubble for peers having a friendly conversation. "I don't think Janne told you much over the phone, right? Did Diya tell you anything in the car?"
"Uhh, no she didn't," you tell her, "it was a pretty quiet car ride."
You can tell from the look on the "mother's" face that she doesn't completely approve of what she just heard, but she continues on pretty quickly. "There's something Diya wanted to talk to you about. Last week was... well, we wanted to make sure you were not going to hurt her first before we could let her do this. Anyway, I guess you know how that went since we asked you back here. We told her though that she would have to do all the talking, so I'm not going to prime you for her any more than this. How about you come on up?"
She begins walking up the stairs at this point, motioning you to follow. She leads you to the second floor. As you recall from last week, Diya's room was on the 3rd floor. However, she does not take you up the 2nd flight of stairs but instead turns the corner and leads you down a 2nd story hallway, a little off-shoot of the main U-shaped structure of this floor, to a room tucked away in the back corner of the house. You can see Diya having her clothing and hair fussed over by her "mom" and looking somewhat annoyed as you enter, but she backs off and stands to face you as you come in.