#Chapter 16 - The chips

Elijah summoned me to his office the next day to go over his idea for me to gain more exposure. I did not have to knock, because before I reached to touch the door with my knuckles I heard his deep voice calling out to me.

“Enter.” I grabbed the knob, turned, and walked in. There he was across the room from me sitting in a very prestige desk looking over paperwork. He was wearing a tan three piece suit and wrapped his frame and muscles.

Just the sight of him made me tempted. Too bad his actions left me wanting to stay far away from him. True he apologized tome and even convinced me to sign to his compnay, but I felt like I was under another man’s thumb.
True it had its perks but being a part of this company was like being apart of a wolf pact. I was at the bottom of the hierarchy because I was new to everything around me. Things seemed to change in the last decade.
Even though I was the Luna of Jacob’s pack I was treated lower than dirt. And I was soon about to be labelled a deserted and a rogue. I tried to put that all out of my mind as I sat in the chair across from my new boss.
“Good morning, Mr. Elijah,” I said not needing to get his attention. He had gestured for me to sit the moment I walked in through the door.
At least he is a gentleman. I heard the thoughts of my wolf briefly.
Since being in the human world I was hearing from her less and less. She would come out when I had nightmares to make sure I was ok, but other than that it was a whisper.
I knew that she was only resting since I did not have the option to transform and let her out to run. She tried to keep her restlessness under the rug, because she wanted me to experience my dream and I was truly grateful for that.
“So yesterday we discuss boosting your status and getting you more exposure. And I came u0p with the perfect solution.”
He looked at me with a devilish smile Elijah uttered the words that I hoped I would never have to hear.
“You are going to compete in the upcoming beauty pageant.”
My eyes widened in horror. “Absolutely not.”
“Yes, a beauty pageant.” That smile never left his face.
"I thought I could just go straight to some real roles, even supporting ones. Why would I even go to a beauty pageant?"
As Elijah lean forward in his desk, he folded his hands and stared into my soul. I knew no good could come from this look.
“Ava, I think you have forgotten that you should obey the decision of the boss of the entertainment company instead of rushing to express your own advice. Don’t you remember the contract you signed as well as the run through of said contract."
I was caught in a difficult situation, and I did not know how to move forward.
"But I need a reason before I just agree to degrade myself. Why would I ditch my acting classes and go to a competition that sells my looks?"

True I needed exposure, but I refused to expose myself in such a demeaning way. This actually began to frustrate me. I thought Elijah and I had gone through this went I entered the competition; that I refused to be just another pretty face. I was an actress dammit.
“Simple, because you need chips."
I rapidly blinded my eyes in confusion. Chips did he mean money? I thought the money that I had tucked away after I left the were world as well as the prize money that I won from Elijah’s contest would be enough until I got established as a well-known actress.
I did not need to buy food or clothing seeing as it was provided for me. It was not like I had a choice in my diet or even my wardrobe. Hell, my fridge had just been stock later this week.
“Chips? What does that mean?”
He did not show his impatience with me, but I could tell that it was there by his tone. “It's not like I'm willing to give you any role. These directors, producers are very snobby these days. It’s not like when you were a child actor. They need to see why you deserve a role."
“And you believe that showing myself off and smiling brightly with petroleum on my teeth would do that?” I tried not to sneer at my own words. The display of skin for attention was something that I never liked even as a child. It felt distasteful, but apparently everything had changed in my ten years of being gone.
But I noticed the flaw in his words. I matched his devilish grin and smiled just a bit wider letting my smile hit my eyes.
"Are you saying that your company can't provide me with qualified brokerage services?"
I saw Elijah’s tone drop and his smile fade. Gotcha.
"That’s not the issue at all. The problem is determining if you are a potential household name or a fading trend.”
Trend? Like a passing fad…. you jerk!
“I mean, I'm going to go through the marketing to confirm that you're worth it and that the massive traffic from pageants will be your first fan base for casting directors to find your edge. You aren’t afraid of such a challenge, Miss, Ava?”
Afraid? As if!
“No. Of course I am not scared of any opportunity.” This was another one of Elijah’s games and I was eager to play.
“Good, because the pageant will be held in three days. So, I need you to get out there and put on your best performance.”
Three days to prep for a beauty pageant. “No problem.” I won that star talent competition with the same amount of preparation.
Elijah’s smile returned to his face. “That’s the spirit, kitten. And if you do a good job this time, I will give you a reward.”
“What’s the reward? An actual character role? Time off from classes?”
“A yacht out to sea.”My eyes grew wide with excitement. I had never been on a yacht before in my entire life. But honestly despite my excitement, I did not want to give Elijah the upper hand in the situation.
“That’s all?” I said acting as if the prize did not phase me. “I’m not even gonna get a real character role?”
Elijah smiled at me, “Oh and I’ll even sweeten the pot—I’ll assign you an agent for the beauty pageant. She’ll keep you updated on everything.”
As I walked out of the office, I could not deny that my heart had not stopped beating. Elijah did give me an opportunity of a lifetime. I had never been on a yacht, and I was excited.
Having an agent for this pageant would help me along the way as well, but I still had a lot of doubts about competing on a contest based on my body and looks. I did not want to be thought of as a pretty face trying to use her looks to get into the industry.

Ava’s POV
I had left Elijah’s office feeling confident but still uncertain. A beauty pageant? We had discussed that I was not just a pretty face, but he believed that my looks could get me into the doors of the acting world.
As my boss, I had to agree with his ideas, but that did not mean I could not still disagree with him from time to time. As I continued to walk by, I noticed that Lily appeared to be searching for something. Even though Lily did show his dislike of me after the awarding ceremony at the competition she and I have had no quarrel since.
I also thought it would be a good idea to assist her, just in case I needed the same in the future.
“Hey, Lily,” I asked as I walked towards her. “Is everything ok?”
“No, I forgot some jewelry in the office, and I have to go get it, but I need to wait here just in case my scene partner comes in.”
“If you need me to, I can go get the jewelry.”
“Really, that is so thoughtful of you. There in the office on the far-left siting on the desk. I really do appreciate this, Ava.” Lily smile at me but for some reason I got a strange feeling as if she was concocting something. I pushed the thought out of my head.
Ever since my wolf abilities began to diminish, I feel as if paranoia was making a home inside of my head. I felt like either everyone was out to get me, or I was being followed. I tried my hardest not to let this sinking feeling interfere with my work and training.
I went down the hallway to the back office as she instructed me and there, I saw it clear as day. It was a pretty crystal colored necklace that laid flat on the desk.
Why would anyone just have something like this laying around? I wondered.
But my thoughts were clouded for the minute I picked up the necklace it shattered into pieces. The pieces dug deep into my hands resulting in bleed seeping through the cuts. That’s when it hit me:
This was a prop! This is fake jewelry that someone had destroy!
I dropped the necklace on the floor not caring about the damages to the fake. My paranoia had been realized; Lily was out to get me but for what reason I was unsure of.
I heard a gasp at the door and as I looked up, I saw a shocked and horrified Lily looking not at my hands but the prop that I had discarded.
“Ava, how could you! You dropped my jewelry and destroyed in!” Lily said as she watched me.
I glare at her; Lily was pretending to be oblivious of the wounds I was now sporting. Suddenly Elijah and the bodyguards came storming into the office. When he saw my hands, I saw Lily make her way out of the room.
She was actually going to pretend like she had nothing to do with this! I was pissed. But Elijah broke through my thoughts as he yelled for a medical kit and for the people crowding me to get out of the way.
“Clear the room!”