Raelyn Evie Adrienne stood on the edge of the clear glass wall of a sky lobby atop the Luminique Atelier Company, otherwise known as L.A. The high-end fashionable jewelry chain store headquarters.
The lobby was on the 60th floor of a skyscraper, and even then, it wasn't the tallest building around. It was a floor only accessible to the owner of L.A.
I was indeed the CEO and sole Founder of the company which was known for its brand, Luxe.
I was among the young yet aspiring businesswomen.
I grew the company from a very small business to a multi-billion business within five years of working. I was just 21 when she started and was now 26 years old.
It was nostalgic to overlook the streets below and bask in my short-lived glory as I would soon retire.
Sigh!
The rare amethyst irises gleamed like a saturated layer of crystals encased within siren eyes adorned with smokey highlights behind the long eyelashes. My gaze traveled beyond what the eye could see.
I wore a black dress with long sleeves, a high thigh slit, and a plunging V-neckline. My neckline was adorned with a sparking yet elegant diamond necklace. The delicate balance between seductive and elegant highlighted my charm. Objectively saying, my beauty could be said to be unmatched. I was, after all, the Luxe brand cover.
Clack! Clack!
The shimmering silver heels clacked on the marble tiles as I trailed the window edge scaling the view more as I let my mind wander.
I reached the other end by the end of my reminiscence. Looking back, the whole floor that had come to be familiar with was within view. A fairly large space. I took in as much of the view as she could.
This building was soon to be sold, along with the brand and everything else I had built up until now.
Sigh!
"Now, the last thing," I said in a soft and mellow voice, unlike my cold indifferent expression.
I glanced at an invitation letter in hand and walked to the elevator at the center of the floor.
***
Several days back;
Knock! Knock!
"Come in!"
A man seated behind a working desk answered. His deep sapphire eyes briefly glanced at the guest and continued to sign documents while updating information on his computer screen.
The secretary that had come in instantly felt intimidated but willed himself to do his report.
"Sir, a new company has been listed up for auction!" He announced.
If his boss wasn't interested, then there was no need to go into details. He was one of many people who knew just how fickle the esteemed big boss was.
"Which?" A detached voice replied.
The secretary gave a careful glance at his boss who was perusing papers while scribbling now and then.
'Is he even listening?'
He shrugged it off and continued with his report.
"The Luminique Atelier Company, Sir. It has enlisted a full handover to whoever wins the bidding. The brand, logo, staff, remaining stock, and supply chains included, Sir. The bidding price starts at 14 billion £. This is the investigation report." The secretary handed over a folder with the title L.A. on it.
The man behind the working desk paused before sending off his secretary.
Thud!
When the secretary was gone, he took the folder and opened it reading the report with utmost concentration. His interest stemmed from the fact that the company's owner was a mysterious figure. Their identity was completely blank, hidden from the public. It was difficult to believe the company had a CEO but the fact that it kept running and growing at a tremendous rate stated otherwise.
The report had no issues, any non-idiot entrepreneur would want to bid for it. It was a profit bucket.
The profit chat was literally skyrocketing. It seemed like L.A never experienced any loss in its years of operation.
On top of that, it held a clear record.
There was no loss, no illegal involvement, no crime record, and no loose ends.
"Too perfect…" he muttered.
His eyes narrowed as he scanned the details again and again but to no avail. There was no loophole. Somehow the report seemed artificially manipulated, however, if it was, it wouldn't go past his eyes. At last, he raised his brow in intrigue.
His eyes landed on a name he never thought he would see.
"Evie Adrienne." He muttered, raising the report while staring at the name.
The owner was none other than the brand cover model of the company.
'Who would have thought?'
It made sense at last, why every past investigation gave no result. The one they were searching wasn't even trying to hide.
His deep sapphire irises shone with a sharp glint as they stared at that particular name.
"I guess I have to see you in person."
The man placed the folder aside and continued with his stacked-up work. He had briefly left the office and this is what happened. His hands moved tirelessly as he multitasked between work on the screen and signing documents. The rest of the sorting would be done by his high-paid competent secretaries.
***
I sat on a desk with nothing more to do for the company. My handover preparation was over a week ago, back when I was functioning with gallons of coffee.
Good Lord, it was over.
Now, that I was done with everything else, it was time to begin the preparations.
In my hand was a pen tapping on a new pocket notebook.
On the very first page was the title: How to prepare for the end of the world.
Or in other words, could be called an apocalypse.
I glanced at the calendar and felt pressed for time. Having never done such a thing before, I was unsure where to begin.
"Ah!"
An idea came to me as I reached out to the laptop and then stopped…
'This is the company PC, can't mess with that.'
I quickly shook my head slightly.
The second option was my phone. Quickly finding the search engine, I copy-pasted the notebook title;
-How to prepare for the end of the world?
The results didn't even take long to bring up nearly 200,000 results. I was dazed for a while since this was a rather peculiar statistic.
'Are so many people so indulgent of the idea of an apocalypse?'
The fact that I was searching for similar results made me less prejudiced. Judging them was like judging myself. I had good reason to and so did the many others all across the seven main districts.
I spent hours reading through different websites and finally had a good grasp of what I wanted and needed. My next plan was formulated.
My eyes were heavy and slightly stung from staring at the screen for so long. My thought process was broken with a light knock on the door.
"Come in!"
A middle-aged woman in her forties came in and bowed slightly at the younger lady to show respect as she held her tablet. The younger lady was me of course.
"The bidding has been finalized, Miss." The woman stated with a modulated voice.
"So soon?"
This was a bewildering piece of news. As much of a pleasant surprise as it was, it was never a good thing for the bidding of companies to end so quickly.
'Maybe it didn't value so much?'
Just as Raelyn was letting my thoughts get the better of me, the secretary interjected.
"Yes, Miss. The Highest bidder is none other than Mr. Asher Von Demir. CEO of the Demir Vox Vantage Co-operate D.V.V. His bid closed the competition at 80 billion £. That is so far the best profit, far surpassing our former estimate. Mr. Demir has requested an audience with the miss in two days. How shall I respond, Miss?" The secretary carefully asked glancing at me who could now be called the former CEO of the L.A. company. One could think I would lash at her from how careful she was being.
'I can never understand the eccentric nature of young ones these days,' the secretary solemnly sighed inwardly.
Her facial features, however, didn't betray her sentiments.
Hmmm!
That familiar sound of when the Founder Lady was in deep thought.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
As usual, three measured rhythmic taps on the desk, and I was done sorting out the thoughts and ready to make the decision.
"I will meet him. You can leave."
My cold voice responded. My smoky siren eyes held a sharp glint.
The secretary silently bowed and left the office.
'I wonder what game you are playing at, Mr. Demir.'
I thought of past cases where Asher Louis Von Demir got what he wanted either by force or wealth. There was never a good thing about offending a man like that, for the meantime, at least.
That being said, I had never met the man in person but I was fortunate enough to know about his other identity, Heir Demir.
Mostly, it was curiosity at play here. I simply wanted to see the man behind the biggest multi-trillion company.
In a sense, they were both curious about each other.
But that was it, business came first.