Free Gloria's Revenge by Nelle L'Amour Page A

descended into another kind of darkness.
    The song “Gloria” is blasting. Sky-high flames engulf a long runway. Familiar faces flicker in the flames. Once supermodel angels, they’re now monsters, their red lipstick-smeared faces distorted and deformed, horns sprouting from their heads. Like a Greek chorus, they chant Gloria over and over.
    “Take your final bow, Gloria.” The voice is sinister. I recognize it. Victor!
    Naked, I hesitantly step onto the runway. The flames surround me, licking at my flesh.
    An apparition appears before me. Vivien! She’s clad in a black leather corset, fishnet stockings, mile high black boots, and wielding a whip. “Soon, they’ll be singing my name!” She snaps her whip at me and cackles.
    I cry out in pain. My flesh burns. I run away from her before she strikes again.
    In the distance, ahead of me, a God rises from the flames. Jaime! The flames lick at his bare sculpted body, but he’s immune to their lethal flicks.
    “Gloria, come for me,” he calls out, his voice a deep rasp.
    I want to run into his arms. Run to safety!
    I pick up my pace, propelling my legs to run as fast as they can. My limbs are burning and so are my lungs. No matter how far or fast I run, I cannot reach Jaime.
    “Suffer, Gloria!” another voice from behind me calls out.
    I steal a glance over my shoulder. Another hideous monster! Crimson blood pours out from two apertures bracketing his snarling mouth. His eyes glow pink.
    “Nobody steals from Boris Borofsky!”
    He’s after me. Oh, God, why can’t I run faster?
    My punishment: just like the lyrics of the song, I’m always on the run now.
    Running away from Victor. From Vivien. From Boris.
    Running after Jaime . But no matter how much I run, I never get closer to him. The runway from hell never ends.
    Oh the pain! My legs, my lungs, they hurt so much!
    But not as much as my heart, that aches for the man of my dreams. “Oh, Jaime!”
    “Gloria!” he calls out to me, his arms open wide.
    The choir: “Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria…”
    Writhing, I snapped my eyes open and clapped my hands to my ears. The voices in my head wouldn’t stop. “Stop it!” I screamed. At last, they faded. My breathing was harsh, and I was bathed in cold sweat. Fear sent shudders rippling through me. My dream…it was symbolically telling me something. I had to face the reality that the world was coming down upon me. Hell awaited me.

 
    Chapter 8
    M y nightmare had just given way to sleep when my cell phone rang. My eyes glued shut, I flung my arm out from under the duvet and fumbled for it on the nightstand. I put it to my ear. My eyes flew open. Kevin! I glanced at my alarm clock; it was just a little after 6:00 a.m. Kevin calling me at this still dark hour signaled bad news. My brain snapped awake, and I bolted to an upright position.
    “Glorious, all hell has broken loose. The stock market opened, and there was another big sell-off. Shares have dropped another ten points…and it could get worse as the day goes on.”
    “God fucking damm it!” The word “fuck” was going to be on the tip of my tongue all day long.
    “ The Wall Street Journal wants to do an interview with you later this morning.”
    “Tell them NO!” My voice was harsh.
    “What about Forbes? Business Week? Or the Financial Times?”
    “Tell them all NO!” I shouted each word.
    There was a moment of silence on Kevin’s end before he said, “Glorious, you’re going to have to issue a statement.”
    My eyes narrowed with rage. “Simply tell them that Gloria Long assures all her stockholders that Gloria’s Secret is poised for growth. She will not be stepping down as CEO any time soon.”
    Kevin sighed into the phone. “Got it. I’m heading into the office now.”
    “I’ll see you soon.” Nausea rose to my chest. “One last thing, Kev…could you please set up a company-wide meeting in the theater at eleven o’clock. Our employees need to hear what’s going on from me. And