The Prudence Tempest Chronicles

Part 3

No woman could be immune to Malcolm. Tall, with a broad, toned physique—from playing tennis every weekend, golfing twice a week, and swimming every single day—he epitomized masculine perfection. He wore his black hair short, but not so short that a woman couldn’t run her fingers through the locks in the throes of passion. His eyes resembled gleaming emeralds, the colour I used to obtain when I dipped my paintbrush of Viridian Green in a pot of water. A clear, vibrant, and captivating hue. And his face... Chiselled and always freshly shaved, he carried his square jaw, strong chin, and broad forehead with the poise and quiet, discreet allure of movie stars of the fifties.

 The best thing about Malcolm however was that he wasn't a pig, far from it. A man with all he had—looks, name, money—could've easily become an ass. You could think he’s a paragon of perfection; he’s not. He’s just, well, my version of perfect. Malcolm was respectful, courteous, and newly single. What more could a girl ask for?

 Maybe for the man of her dreams to notice her. Malcolm didn't even know me. I wonder if he even saw me when he came by the office. As the biggest agent for the agency, his deals happened anywhere but in the drab confines of the walls around us.

 Unattainable. That's what he was. But a girl could wish, right? A soft sigh escaped my lips, and this made Clive snort.

 “God just graced us with his presence,” he said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

The men in the agency couldn’t stomach Malcolm’s success like real men. And they had the guts to say women were biatches. Malcolm was the only person I knew who could bring Clive out of his jolly bubble. What he showed when he came out? Not that pleasant. Another reason why I couldn't fancy Clive, because he showed his true colours sometimes, and these scared the heck out of me with their ugliness.

 On the threshold of her office, Marie stopped and turned around to face us, the dozen agents who made up the work force of the agency. She clapped her hands while saying, "Meeting. Now," then entered her lair with Malcolm right behind her.

The weekly assignment of accounts. We all moved to the boss's office and stood against the wall like a lineup of usual suspects while Marie pinned her bulging dark eyes on us. She started rattling off, like a military drill sergeant, the new accounts everyone was now responsible for.

“Prudie,” she finally said.

Marie is the only one who calls me by that stupid name, and if it had been anyone but her, she wouldn’t have escaped alive. I called myself Prue. Period.

“So, Prudie, you'll be helping on the Vaulmann deal with Clive. Twin girls, eighteen, need a big place where they can entertain. I'll leave that up to you, since this is your arena, and not Clive's forte, as he’s mentioned already.’

The urge to slither to floor and disappear through the carpet grabbed me. Or if I could go up in a poof of smoke? Anything but feeling this churning nausea creeping up my throat while watching the smug smile on Clive's face.

 “Now,” Marie continued, “I guess you all know Malcolm was to meet with the directors of Waltner Informatics. The company planned on making the northern outskirts of West Haven the new Silicon Valley.” She paused. “I am pleased to announce that, thanks to Malcolm’s perseverance and hard work, we have landed the contract to find all the locations needed for this venture.”

There was a round of applause, and Marie put her hands up to make everyone quiet down.

“This will mean offices, conferences rooms, leisure resorts, houses, apartments. Everyone will have to knuckle down on their own area of expertise and make sure we deliver on this deal.

 “Everyone, except you, Prudie. There won’t be many young adults of the likes you cater for in this group, so you will be reassigned to another area.”

 I waited with baited breath for her to tell me I was going to have to work with Clive on the search for family homes.

 “Your job will be to coordinate everything and make sure the requirements of Waltner are met to the dot. For this, you’ll be working full-time with Malcolm.”

To be continued...