-1 The Necklace

THE YEAR 2365.

There was a large crowd of reporters outside the building where the revolutionary event was to take place. Lulu had been the main model who was endorsing the new revolutionary invention that was being produced by Maxia Companies.

The company had received an anonymous call from someone that asked for money in exchange for a new invention. He had listed most of the properties of the invention and ad even offered to give them the details on how to make it. Ofcourse, it was unbelievable. Maxia was not built in a day and they did not lack at all when it came to receiving such prank calls.

However, they had been convinced when the person had sent them some of the plans of how to make the product. The company had decided on buying the prototype and the plans in exchange for money. They had even offered the mysterious man a position in the company but they were coldly refused. From then on they were unable to contact him again.

Maxia then invested millions in developing the new line of products and even got the queen of the entertainment industry to endorse the product. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for when the product will enter the market.

***

Lulu was already dressed in her long black and white dress. The dress was sleeveless and exposed a decent amount of cleavage. The front of the dress was black and the back of the dress was completely white with a white train trailing behind her. After putting on a pair of diamond studs Lulu was ready to leave her dressing room.

She was getting ready at the venue since the product launching was taking place in a hotel. Before she left her manager stopped her and handed her a black velvet box. Lulu opened the box and saw a diamond studded necklace in the shape of a bird.

"Who sent this?" Lulu asked as she raised a pale eyebrow.

"The company asked that you wear this. It's the original product so you should take good care of it" her manager replied as she circled Lulu to help her fasten the necklace on the back of her slim neck.

"The original product?" Lulu asked.

"Yes, you know they spent billions on it, so take care not to lose it, we can not afford to have this kind of loss" the manager warned her again.

Lulu was happy when she heard this. She had become very vain as she continued working in the industry and at 35 she was already at the peak of her career. Although she looked like she was still in her twenties, she knew that her beauty was fading she did not look the same as she did when she entered the industry at 15.

Every movie she had acted in received awards. She had more trophies than she could count and was voted one of the most beautiful women in the word, how could she not be vain? She had plans of becoming a director and the endorsement fee she had received was her stepping stone. The product had been hyped but no one knew the functions of the product itself. Even though she was endorsing it she was not given any information on the product either.

Lulu walked out of the hotel room and went to the parking lot. She got into the luxurious car and felt it rise and hover mid air. She had to arrive to the party in such a fashion just for the pictures.

"Will we have to wait long?" Lulu asked her manager who was in the passenger seat of the long vehicle. During such events , there was normally a long queue of cars that were waiting to arrive at the venue. She knew the event was different from what she was used to but she saw that there was a queue and worried she would be tired before she even got there.

"It won't take long, there are only two cars ahead of us" He comforted.

"That's good" Lulu replied before she felt her communicator vibrate. She tapped on it and saw the message she received.

[When are you going to arrive? I have been waiting here for so long my love]. Lulu sneered in disgust when she saw the message. The one thing she hated about endorsing the product was the fact that she had to come into contact with Peter Maxia.

The man would use every opportunity he had to flirt with her and try to coax her into his bed. Her good mood was completely ruined once she was reminded that she would meet this man in the party and she felt like kicking something.

Peter had propositioned her numerous times over the past ten years but she had always turned him down. She had forbidden everyone around her from giving im her contact information but ever since she started working with Maxia he was able to get her information.

In the recent day and age it was very difficult to casually change your contact information since cyber crimes have become even more prominent but she will have to find a way to change it once the product hit the market. If the company wanted to find her, they would have to contact her manager.

She unconsciously leaned back on the car seat and fiddled with the cool necklace that lay on her pale neck. She had decided to ignore the message she received but she knew Peter would bring it up once he sees her. She could already see the sleazy smile he always had whenever he saw her. She couldn't understand why a married man like him would go around fraternising with young actresses and singers.

Lulu was soon lost in her thoughts and continued to play with the necklace. Before she knew it, she could feel a piercing pain on her index finger making her release the necklace out of reflex . She looked at her finger and didn't see anything wrong, she tilted her head in confusion but she did not touch the necklace again.

Lulu couldn't see it, but the cold transparent diamonds on the necklace had slowly started turning red. The car finally arrived in front of the venue and her manager got off to open the car. Lulu extended her fair arm out the car door and her manager held it for her as she slowly and carefully got out of the car. As she extended one of her legs out of the car all the cameras in the vicinity went crazy. She was still in the car but she was already feeling blinded by the cameras.

She stopped stalling and got out of the car completely and stood on the red carpet as the driver drove off with the car. She could hear the fans chant her name and the cameramen asking her to look in their direction.

It was always overwhelming, but every time she was on the red carpet, she was reminded as to why she has been working so hard during the year, even though in that situation she was not attending an award ceremony, it signified another accomplishment in her life.