Amorous Goods: The Cameo Pendant

A lifelong collector of goods and objects from far and wide has passed and left the entire collection and the business built around them to the only remaining relative, a niece on a career path of her own. Vikki has taken on the task of administering the estate and liquidating the business and collection. However, she has come to find out that many of the goods have been cursed or enchanted with amorous powers that affect those who encounter them. These are the stories of some of those encounters with objects found at Amorous Goods.

****

After Holly finished correcting and checking some transactions recorded in a client's bookkeeping records she checked the time on her computer and was surprised to see it was already midday. Holly knew she had gotten a lot of work done but it still seemed like it had only just been a short time since she had logged on in the morning. Lately due to the amount of work there was to get through Holly was having trouble keeping a handle on the time.

Looking outside Holly saw that it was a nice and sunny day, she then turned back to her computer screens and the stack of folders filled with client documents on the desk beside her and sighed. Holly decided it was time to take a break and felt the need to get away from her desk for a bit. It was a little earlier than she usually took her lunch break but if she got started on a new task she might end up working through lunch again. Holly quickly got up, got her handbag and headed out. It was nice to have lunch outside for a change and as the temperature was cooling with the approach of winter it was pleasant to be out in the sun. When Holly finished eating she found that she wasn't ready to head back to the office just yet so she decided to go for a walk around the downtown area.

Just around the corner from the main street fashion boutiques and trendy bars and cafes Holly passed by a store with a large sign that in old fashioned text proclaimed it was called Amorous Goods. The store had been there for as long as Holly could remember and she had always been curious as to what the store sold but had never gone in. The store's display windows always had an eclectic assortment of items that to Holly never really fit with the store's name. Holly noted that she still had plenty of time left for her lunch break and so on a whim Holly decided to take a look inside.

Pushing the door open, Holly was startled and then amused to find that the door had an actual bell attached to it so that it rang when the door was opened. Entering the store there was a slight but noticeable difference in atmosphere. The store was warm but not stuffy and stale as Holly had imagined it might be. Instead of the smells Holly associated with antiques Holly noticed a hint of the scent of cinnamon. It was an uncommon scent but one that was a favourite of Holly and she could feel her mood lift.

The only person in the store that Holly could see was a woman who looked to be around her own age carrying a notebook around and who appeared to be cataloguing the numerous items in the store which Holly was surprised to see was quite larger than the storefront seemed to suggest. Toward the back of the store there was even a staircase that went both upstairs and downstairs.

The woman stopped what she was doing and walked toward Holly to greet her.

"Hi there, welcome to Amorous Goods, Is there anything I can help you with, something you're looking for in particular?

Holly shook her head,"No, I just thought I'd take a look around."

The woman smiled, "That's no problem. My name's Vikki. If you need any help just call out for me."

Holly smiled in return, "Thanks Vikki, I will."

Looking around the store, Holly was fascinated by the wide range of items to be found. On one table was a vintage typewriter and an assortment of fountain pens and even a quill pen. There was a section of the store filled with racks of clothing. Holly also saw a shelf with books and ornaments including an ornate arrow, a tea set and bizarrely what appeared to be a white bear skin rug hanging on the wall.

Holly wandered over to a glass case containing some display busts with necklaces draped on them. The necklaces hadn't been arranged neatly, with a number of them laying on top of each other on the busts. There were a few pearl necklaces, some lockets, pendants with precious stones and some pendants of carved jade or ivory. On one of the display busts almost buried under the other necklaces Holly's attention was drawn to a cameo pendant. The full carved picture was obscured by the other necklaces, only the profile of a woman's head could be seen. The sight of the cameo jewellery combined with the scent of cinnamon triggered memories of Holly's grandmother and the beautiful cameo brooch that she had in her jewellery collection. Her interest piqued, Holly wanted to get a better look at the cameo pendant.

Holly turned to look for Vikki and saw her by a table holding a random assortment of items.

"Excuse me, Vikki?"

Vikki looked up from what she was doing and turned toward Holly.

Holly gestured towards the display cabinet, "Can I please take a closer look at one of the pendants?"

Vikki paused for a brief moment before smiling and nodding, "Sure, I'll just go get the key for the cabinet ."

Holly watched as Vikki walked to a counter with a computer and cash register on top. Vikki opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys which while not comical in size still had a good number of keys on it. Vikki then pulled out a pair of white cotton gloves and put them on before joining Holly at the display cabinet. Holly was a little impressed when Vikki was able to quickly identify the correct key to open the display cabinet.

"So which necklace did you want a look at?"

Holly pointed at the display bust with the cameo pendant on it, "The one at the bottom with the cameo pendant please."

Vikki grabbed the necklaces that were on the display bust and Holly was concerned that the chains would be all tangled. However, Vikki was able to extract the cameo pendant and hand it to Holly without any trouble.

The pendant's fine gold chain was in good condition as was the setting for the pendant. Holly's focus though was on the cameo pendant itself. The carved picture turned out to be of a slender young woman in a sitting position. To Holly's surprise the woman was half naked with a long flowing robe or dress sitting halfway down her back leaving her shoulders and breasts bare. The white carved image was sharply contrasted by the deep dark blue glass surrounding it.

This cameo pendant was a lot different from her grandmother's brooch which from Holly's memory wasn't quite as detailed as this and certainly didn't have a half naked woman on it. Holly looked closer at the image and was fascinated at the level of detail that had been carved into the glass.

Holly's examination of the cameo pendant was broken when she heard the front door bell ring. A young man dressed in smart casual clothes entered the store, when he saw Holly and Vikki he nodded and then headed behind the counter. It was clear that he must be Vikki's co-worker but Holly found it strange that two people their age would be working at a store like this and briefly wondered where the owner was.

Holly returned her attention to the cameo pendant and lightly traced her finger over the carved image. Holly turned to Vikki, "I really like the pendant, the carving is amazingly detailed.

Vikki nodded but appeared somewhat unimpressed, "It's a charming piece, they all are in their own way."

Holly found Vikki's description a little odd, but maybe the pendant just wasn't to her taste. Personally Holly thought it was like a work of art and something she would love to have for herself. Holly knew that a piece of vintage jewellery like this could be pricey and likely outside what she would be comfortable spending but she felt she at least had to ask what its price was.

"How much are you selling this pendant for?"

Vikki furrowed her brow in thought before turning to the man at the counter, "Dylan, do we have a price for a cameo pendant necklace with a gold chain?"

Dylan was leafing through a large ledger when Vikki called out to him. Dylan looked up briefly, "Way ahead of you, I'm looking now."

Vikki turned back to Holly with an apologetic look, "Sorry. This could take a while. The previous store owner wasn't one for technology so everything was written down. We're digitising the records but as you can see there's a lot to do."

That was something that Holly could empathise with, a few of her accounting firm's clients still kept handwritten ledgers. Holly nodded with a smile, "That's okay, I can appreciate what a massive job you have ahead of you."

While they waited for Dylan, Vikki made an attempt to rearrange the necklaces on the display busts and Holly looked around her at some of the other items in the store, she then caught a stronger burst of the scent of cinnamon and looked around to see if she could find the source.

"I really like the cinnamon scent you have in the store, is it a candle or an air freshener?"

Vikki looked at Holly with a puzzled expression for a moment, before realisation dawned on her, "Oh! Sorry, I don't really notice the scent any more." Vikki then walked toward a table nearby and pointed out a round metal container with a handle in the shape of a crescent moon on top. "The scent would be from this censer. I've looked inside and it has been cleaned out but it still retains its scent."

Dylan suddenly called out to Vikki and Holly, "I think I've found it. Cameo pendant of disrobing woman on a gold necklace?"

Vikki called back, "Yes that's the one"

"Okay, the ledger says it was obtained 10 years ago and has an appraised value of $200. Let me check what it should be now" Dylan pulled out his phone and started looking something up. After a moment Dylan looked up at Holly, "The current value is about $302,but let's call it $300 even."

Holly was surprised, what they were asking for wasn't a small amount but she had expected something a lot higher for a pendant like this. The gold chain and setting alone probably would be worth that much.

Holly had a good amount of money saved up and no large expenses on the horizon so she could easily afford to buy the pendant. Holly smiled at Dylan, "Oh, I'll take it please."

Dylan nodded, "Cool, I'll record the sale and prepare an invoice for you."

Vikki approached Holly and held out a hand to take the pendant, "Let me put the necklace in a box for you."

Vikki then led Holly to the counter and opened a drawer to get out a box, while Dylan processed Holly's payment and entered the details of the sale for a receipt. Vikki placed the pendant into a box and with the receipt handed it over to Holly.

"Thank you for your patronage. Have a good afternoon."

Holly smiled, pleased with her purchase and the bargain she believed she had gotten. " Thank you, you too."

Vikki and Dylan watched with interest as Holly made her way out of the store.

When the store door closed behind Holly, Dylan turned to Vikki, "What was with all that talk about the pendant being 'charming'?"

Vikki shrugged, "I don't know, she seemed nice. I guess I thought I should give her some kind of warning about the pendant."

Dylan laughed, "If you wanted to give her a warning you should have been more explicit."

Vikki raised her eyebrows at Dylan's choice of words which just caused him to laugh again.

Vikki sighed, "I didn't want to freak her out. I mean, the pendant was in the store so it should be relatively harmless. Margot said that all the serious stuff is at the mansion."

Dylan looked skeptical at Vikki's reasoning but then grinned, "Harmless like the music box?"

Vikki flushed and looked away from Dylan. "Anyhow, if that pendant does have a major effect we'll hear about it soon enough, one way or another."

****

When Holly got back to her desk at the office she opened the box and took the pendant out to look at it again. It really was an exquisite piece of craftsmanship and to her mind, worth a lot more than the price she paid for it. Holly was keen to see how she would look with the pendant on, she was initially going to wait until she got home but looking at it now she couldn't see any reason not to try it on now.

Holly took the pendant to the bathroom to put it on. Holly was glad that the clasp was in good condition and opened easily. Holly bowed her head forward and made sure her shoulder length auburn hair was out of the way before fastening the necklace chain around her neck.

When Holly looked up at the mirror she saw that the pendant sat midway between her neck and breasts. While the dark blue pendant looked good against her white blouse, it just didn't look right sitting on top of her clothes. Holly frowned, she always wore her blouse buttoned up to her neck she felt it helped make her look professional however in this case it just wasn't working with the pendant.

Holly unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse and repositioned the pendant so that it sat against her skin. Holly opened up the sides of her blouse so the pendant would be visible but it was still partially obscured by her blouse. Holly undid another button and adjusted her blouse so that the pendant was in clear view. The open top also brought a hint of cleavage into sight but it wasn't a revealing view and Holly reassured herself it was a lot less than what other people's clothes revealed.

Looking at her reflection Holly was a lot more pleased with how she looked with the pendant. Holly was about to take the pendant off but stopped herself, was there any reason why she shouldn't wear it at work? Holly's only misgiving was her open blouse, she had never before worn anything to the office that exposed her chest. Holly had noticed how the pendant inevitably brought attention down to her breasts but as they were practically fully covered it was nothing to be worried about.

That afternoon her co-workers Tom and Scott dropped by her desk to talk. Scott immediately noticed Holly's open blouse and the pendant. "That necklace, you weren't wearing that this morning were you?"

Holly shook her head, "No I bought it during my lunch break. I saw the pendant and just had to get it."

Scott leaned in to look at the image on the pendant, "It's a nice picture, I didn't think you would be interested in something that risque though."

Holly didn't know how to take Scott's comment but was saved from responding by Tom.

"Scott, I doubt you think much at all."

Tom pushed Scott out of the way playfully and came closer to Holly to look at the pendant himself. Tom spent a good moment studying the pendant, enough that Holly started to feel a little odd being under his scrutiny. When Tom looked up he smiled at Holly, "It's not risque at all, it's beautiful, like a piece of art. It looks good on you."

Holly smiled, "Thanks Tom."

Holly could feel a little heat in her face, she wasn't used to getting paid compliments regarding her appearance. Looking to change the subject Holly asked what they were up to. Scott then relayed some office chatter about a big meeting that the two of the firm's partners, Andrea and Harrison had attended with potential clients. The three of them then had a quick discussion about what they thought it would mean for their work.

When Scott and Tom left Holly returned her attention to the folders on her desk but rather than feeling pressured by the amount of work to do she felt unusually upbeat.

The rest of the afternoon whenever Holly came across another of her co-workers they would invariably notice the pendant and compliment it. Holly also noted that a few did a quick double take at seeing her loosen her usually strictly conservative standard of dress.

At the end of the day Holly found that she was in a pretty good mood, usually she would be feeling a little rundown after spending all day in front of a computer. Holly thought about it for a moment and put it down to all the compliments she had received for the pendant.

The next morning as Holly was getting ready for work she decided to wear the pendant again. When Holly put on her blouse she kept the top few buttons open to ensure that the pendant would be visible. All through the day Holly noticed people glancing at her, their attention undoubtedly caught by the pendant, however a number of them, mostly men, let their gaze linger. Whether they were admiring the pendant or her, Holly couldn't help but smile. When the person realised they had been caught looking and saw her smiling they ended up smiling back.

That afternoon Holly took a short break and went to the office break room for a coffee. As she sat down to drink it one of her co-workers, Danny came into the break room. They greeted each other before Danny busied himself with making a coffee and Holly turned her attention to a newspaper that had been left on the break room table. A moment later Holly could feel she was being watched, when she looked up she saw Danny looking at her. When their eyes met Danny averted his eyes but then looked back, "How has your day been?"

Danny seemed a little flustered and Holly had to keep her amusement from her face, "It's been pretty good, thanks."

Danny nodded, "That's good."

Just then the coffee machine stopped, Danny quickly turned around and took his coffee. As he went to leave the breakroom Danny briefly looked to Holly and wished her a good afternoon. As soon as Danny was out of sight Holly broke out into a grin, she couldn't tell what had made Danny act so awkward but it was amusing to think it was because of her. Looking down Holly saw that by leaning forward to read the newspaper she had given Danny a good view down her blouse. He wouldn't have seen much except for her bra but it explained why he seemed to be flustered. Holly actually felt a little flattered by Danny's attention and smiled at the thought of the effect she apparently had on him. That smile didn't leave Holly's face for the rest of the day.

When Holly got home that evening and took off the pendant she thought about all the attention she had gotten that day. As beautiful as the pendant was, Holly was aware that some of the glances and looks were likely to have been focused on her. Holly liked that her male co-workers treated her with respect but she was finding that it was quite gratifying to have them check her out with some sort of attraction.

The following day Holly didn't even think about what she would wear, she automatically put on the pendant and a blouse like she had the previous day. Holly inspected her appearance and noticed that the bra she was wearing today was peeking out slightly in the open space of her blouse. It was a minor thing but it really bothered her, Holly ended up changing her bra to one which had cups that plunged toward the centre. When Holly checked the mirror she bent forward slightly and saw that the inner curves of her breasts could be seen. Holly wondered if she should change again, however a glance at the time showed that she was cutting it close if she wanted to catch her usual train. Holly accepted it was too late to change but was satisfied with her decision, feeling that showing a little more skin was better than having her bra showing. Holly made a mental note to try and avoid bending over.

Late in the morning Holly met up with her boss George, the other partner in the firm, to give him an update on her progress with the jobs she was working on. During their meeting George took out a folder with documents for a new job he wanted to give to Holly. As Holly leaned forward to reach for the folder she caught George's gaze quickly flick downward but immediately came up again. Holly realised that she just gave her boss a good glimpse of her cleavage. Holly felt herself flush a little and when she met George's eye she gave him an embarrassed smile. George raised his eyebrows and shook his head good naturedly before they both laughed. When they were finished with their meeting and Holly was leaving his office George called out to her, "Holly It's good to see looking happier these past few days. I know you've been under a lot of pressure with the work we have on and I was worried you were starting to burn out. Whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it."