It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and Judith Olson was spending it relaxing on a comfortable sofa placed in the center of the living room of her luxurious apartment. She was browsing through one of many female fashion magazines she purchased on a regular basis while sipping on a glass of Canadian wine (expensive as was typical of the country it came from). A warm breeze was blowing into the room through the partially open window and outside, the distant sounds of weak Sunday traffic mixed with the twittering of birds hidden in branches of majestic old trees that were planted hundreds of years ago and now formed part of a lavish green park that effectively isolated the house Judith's apartment was in from the busier part of the town.
Judith had just finished scanning briefly through an article dealing with the impact of the clothing worn by the Czech Olympic team during the Summer Olympics and how the designer high rubber boots had started to gain attention rapidly with fashion companies around the world. Judith paused for a moment while looking at a picture showing the boots in detail and recalled that she already had already seen one of her friends getting a pair of them.
"Yeah, right..." she thought "...that bitch Angela beat me to it when she travelled all the way to bloody London just to get a pair of them…just so she could have them before everyone else would!!" Flipping the page, Judith pushed the memory of her friend Angela away and as her eyes started to feast on pictures of the new model lines of lingerie for the upcoming season; her left hand almost automatically reached for the wine glass and raised it to her lips. To her chagrin, though, Judith realized that the glass was empty.
Reluctantly, she put the magazine down and with glass in her hand; Judith got up from the comfy sofa and glanced briefly at her reflection in the huge polished mirror that formed one whole wall of the living room. After confirming that her entire look was spotless, she turned towards the kitchen where the open wine bottle was waiting.
She managed to take just few steps when the calm atmosphere of the afternoon was violated by a sound of a doorbell. With a puzzled look, she turned her head towards the entrance hall and while putting the empty glass back on the table she tried to remember whether she was actually expecting anyone but she was not aware of no one.
As Judith passed the large mirror, she stopped briefly to give herself a good look head to toe. Her meticulously styled hair looked amazing and her makeup was perfect. Smiling and nodding in approval, she entered the hall and opened the door.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Olson" said the man waiting patiently in the corridor. Giving Judith no time to react, he carried on, "My name is Smith... Nicolas Smith and I'm here on behalf of Ms. Jacqueline Stevenson, owner of the Jacqueline's Fashion Emporium and the only heir of the Stevenson family, widely regarded as the most influential and the richest family in our beautiful country."
During his brief introduction, Judith managed to evaluate him with her eyes head to toe. Handsome, in his forties, dark brown hair, expensive looking black suit, black velvet shirt with red tie and in the lapel of the suit, Nicholas was wearing a gold pin bearing the logo of Jacqueline Fashion Emporium and lined with what looked like small clear jewel stones glittering like diamonds. He was also holding a hat that he took off immediately after Judith opened the door in his left hand and an expensive looking leather briefcase was in his right.
Mr. Smith continued to speak in a calm and very polite manner, "It has been brought to my attention that you and Ms. Stevenson have had some kind of a dispute a few days ago and Ms. Jacqueline instructed me to seek you out and give you her apology. She would also like you to accept a small token of her sorrow for your being an unfortunate target of her outburst."
After a brief pause, Nicholas flashed a warm smile. "Perhaps we should discuss this matter inside" and with that; he motioned towards the briefcase he was holding.
Smiling back, Judith stepped aside and motioned the man inside. Nicholas put his hat on the hanger in the entrance hall and silently followed Judith to the living room.
"So this is what it is all about" thought Judith as she offered him a seat. "Well, Mr. Smith, would you like a drink? I have an excellent wine imported from Canada if you are interested? " she asked him as he finished putting his briefcase on a table in front of him.
He looked her in the eyes, "You are most gracious, but a simple glass of water will be fine, thank you."
Judith nodded silently and after picking up her empty wineglass, she went to the kitchen to fetch the drinks. Her mind was racing: "You're god damned right that bitch Jacqueline owes me an apology! That woman is a psycho! She went completely nuts on me at a public reception, for no apparent reason!!"
Judith was still replaying her intense meeting with Jacqueline Stevenson in her mind when she returned to the living room carrying in one hand the water for Mr. Smith, who was waiting for her patiently, and her refilled wine glass in the other.
Judith put the glass of water on the table and sat in a chair at the opposite side of the table facing Mr. Smith, who seemed to be following her every movement with his dark brown eyes.
"Well, Mr. Smith, you have my attention," said Judith with a smile. "What exactly did you come to talk about? I recall that you mentioned a gift of some sort?..."
Silently, Nicholas picked up his glass and took few long sips of the cold water. As he put the glass back down on the table, moisture condensed on the outside surface of the glass and formed a tiny droplet that started to travel down the side of the glass. The droplet made it all the way to the bottom of the glass and silently landed on the polished surface of the table.
Without a word, Mr. Smith reached into his pocket and pulled out a delicate looking handkerchief. After sweeping the drop of moisture dry from the table, Nicholas put the napkin back into the pocket. With a nod of satisfaction, he turned his attention back to Judith.
"That is absolutely correct, Ms. Olson," he said with a smile as he pushed several buttons on the locks of the briefcase with his thumbs. There was a soft click as the locking mechanisms were released; Nicholas reached into the briefcase and pulled out a small polished metal case. After that, he closed the briefcase and put it away on the floor while placing the black metal case on the table in front of Judith, who was following his every move with clear expectation reflecting in her eyes.
The case resting on the desk was absolutely smooth and looked to be made of some kind of black metal polished into an almost perfect mirror finish. It also appeared to be solid made of one block of the metal with no visible hinges, locks... anything... Judith finally managed to get her eyes of the case and gave Mr. Smith a puzzled look.
Noticing her unspoken question, Nicholas smiled and in a single smooth motion, he swiped a tip of his ring finger over the edge of the metallic object resting on the table.
There was a soft click and the top part of the case popped open revealing the contents of the mysterious package.
Judith gasped in surprise as her eyes caught a glimpse of what had been hidden inside.
In the case, resting on a sparkling black satin surface, was a necklace that was unlike any Judith had ever seen before. A spiral-like ornament made of what appeared like hammered gold, with carved symbols running around the edge, attached to a polished golden loop. A large sparkling pearl was set in a frame in the inside bottom edge of the golden spiral. Judith just could not take her eyes of it.
As Judith looked on in barely contained excitement, Mr. Smith started to explain in his polite and pleasant tone, "Ms. Jacqueline asked me to offer you this token as a form of reparation for what you had to endure during that recent unfortunate incident. It is a very unique piece of historic jewelry that has been passed from generation to generation in the Stevenson family..."
At that point, Nicholas paused and a brief smile crossed his face when he noticed that Judith was absolutely fascinated with the jewel presented to her.
"But that is not all, my dear," he added, finally breaking Judith's fascination with the shining necklace making her to look back into his eyes. He motioned with his arm towards the stack of female fashion magazines piled on the small table on the side of the sofa and the few even scattered on the sofa itself before continuing " Ms. Stevenson also understands that you are a huge fan of fashion and so on top of the jewel – if you choose to accept it – she has instructed me to offer you a unique chance to be among the first wearing the latest fashion products created by Jacqueline Fashion Emporium before they are introduced to the general public!"
Nicholas paused for a moment to let his words reach Judith's beguiled brain, one that was working on overdrive "So, tell me Ms. Olson," he inquired, pausing for a brief moment, "are you willing to accept Ms. Jacqueline's offer?"
Judith snapped out of her reverie finally, with her eyes still drawn to the golden necklace. Almost gasping for air, Judith looking back at Mr. Smith with an embarrassed smile crossing her lips: "Oh, Mr. Smith, I'm..." she paused for a bit desperately trying to form an answer.
"...this is..." she stammered, clearly caught off guard by something she was definitely not expecting "gee... I simply do not know what to say," she finally managed to say, even as her eyes were drawn back to the shining jewel.
Judith slowly put down her wine glass and her delicate, manicured, hand started to approach the necklace as if it was drawn to it by the same force that was preventing her to look anywhere but upon the golden hammered spiral. She was simply fascinated with the simple smooth design and the symbols carved into the gold… They seemed to pulse with energy.
Her fingers were almost touching the smooth polished surface of the solid gold object when she was diverted by Mr. Smith's hand stopping her fingers from touching the necklace. He took her hand gently and kissed it with his hot lips.
"Just say yes…" he almost whispered as he slowly stood up from the chair, still holding Judith by her hand and pulling her gently up on to her feet as well while picking up the necklace from its resting place with his other hand.
Judith felt like she was floating on a cloud. There was so much happened so fast when it had started out like it is going to be just another dull Sunday afternoon. She followed Mr. Smith as he led her by her hand towards the mirror wall, stopping just few meters in front of it. He let her arm he was holding gently drop along her hip while he moved behind her and while running his gentle fingers over her breast and down over her smooth belly, he kissed her passionately on the side of her neck.
She felt his fingers through the sheer fabric of her clothes. The feeling was literally electrifying! Her nipples came erect in anticipation; Judith was breathing heavily and as Nicholas' hot lips touched her skin on the side of her neck, it triggered a wave of heat that rippling through her entire body.
"So what do you say, Judith?" she heard him whispering into her ear.
Her body was trembling "Oh yes!" she moaned "I accept!" she gasped as she felt his hot lips kissing her again – this time on the back of her neck.
"Good girl," he whispered to her ear "just close your eyes and allow me…" he continued after he landed another kiss this time on the other side of her neck.
Judith just closed her eyes. She tilted her head backwards a bit and gasped in surprise as the polished gold spiral piece touched her chest. She felt the smoothness of the golden loop closing around her neck and as the clasp locking the loop closed with a click, it sent a shiver down her spine.
"There you go," she heard Mr. Smith's voice say, but it did sound somehow different "You can open your eyes now as I'm sure that you do not want to miss this," he said and the tone was different for sure. It did sound… not right. It was, colder, somehow.
Judith's eyes fluttered open. Her body felt heavy, stiff, all of a sudden. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Mr. Smith was standing behind her. He was firmly holding her by her hips. She could not understand what is happening to her. First, she felt the weight of her body slowly being replaced by a strangle lightness. Then she realized she has trouble moving and the pearl on the necklace… The pearl was shining in a bright purple color.
"The pearl..." she managed to say.
Mr. Smith, who was still holding her, laughed "Oh, isn't that so beautiful?" he asked her while he ran his fingers over Judith's face. "I told you that the necklace is unique. The stone glows only when it is worn by a female. It draws power from the heat of her body, absorbing the energy of her every single heartbeat, using it to alter the wearer's body, to transform it into any form or shape the Stevenson family members desire. Through the generations, the necklace has helped the family to solve many delicate situations peacefully and, as Ms. Jacqueline is now the only heir of the Stevenson family, she is using it to resolve issues of her own. Unfortunately for you, my dear, you have been labeled as an issue. An issue soon to be resolved…"
Nicholas paused and whispered into Judith's ear "...permanently!"
"Try as you like, once the necklace is closed around a female's neck, her fate is sealed!" he said while he let go of his grasp on her hips. "Although now that I think about it, there is a way to stop the transformation – a safeguard built into the outcome by the Stevenson family to prevent themselves from being affected by this item by accident..." he paused while he ran his hands over Judith's firmed breasts "...but what was it?" Nicholas asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.
With his hands, Nicholas started to pose Judith's statuesque body: "Oh! I remember – to break the effect, the wearer would have only to snap her fingers! Yes, simple as that!" he laughed out loud as he finished posing the helpless girl into a very seductive stance, which she stiffly held.
"Oh, look at you! Even in this form, you look stunningly beautiful!" he said, admiring the outcome of his handiwork. "I even see you were so close to trying to revert the transformation too," he added after noticing the final pose of her left thumb pressing against the index finger "As you can see, it is already too late for that, as the jewel’s safeguard only works while the necklace is worn by a living woman… plastic display dummies simply do not count!"
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