Send alt! to be introduced to a muse that I have played in the past, would like to play in the future, or that I have thought about writing.
Laura walked among the guests, smiling, chatting, and shaking their hands. She wasn’t here to make friends or to admire the other young women’s dresses. She was here for a job.
She didn’t have to wait for the billionaire’s smell in order to track him. He was standing right in front of her. He was a rotund man probably in his mid-seventies with a little pointed beard. He could have been her grandfather, if she ever had one. “Hello,” Laura said with a smile. “Mr. Pierce, my name is Angela Hawkins from Forbes Magazine. I tried calling your office earlier today for an interview, but I couldn’t manage it.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not here for interviews,” the man replied.
“I understand that, but my editor is breathing down my neck and it would be really nice if you could help me.” She had learned a long time ago that if she begged enough, she would get what she wanted. Or, rather, what they wanted from her. “Two minutes, Mr. Pierce.”
“Fine. All right.” The man turned to his security guy. “I’m going upstairs, Ken. I’ll be back. Tell the quartet to play Beethoven.”
“Thanks so much,” Laura said as she followed the man upstairs in the beautiful ball gown that her bosses had purchased for her. “I really appreciate it.”
Pierce led her to his library. In the evening light, Laura could make out the spines of various books. Her eyes drifted to a well-worn copy of Pinocchio. “One day, Laura, you too will be a real girl.”
“So, what do those asshats at Forbes want to ask about?” Pierce asked as he sat down on one of the leather armchairs. “Is this about the merger?”
“Yes. How do you feel about the SEC getting involved in it”
“I don’t really care. As long as it passes scrutiny, then…” His eyes looked up in terror at the beautiful girl in the red dress. Something metallic was glinting from her hands. “What is this? Who…?”
“I am Death,” Laura whispered into his ear as she stabbed him in the neck with her claw. “Destroyer of worlds.”