"It had always worked before. You walk up to the door, breath bated, before knocking tentatively and walking inside. Make sure you keep your gaze lowered. Ask for a light. Keep your knees crossed and your lips pouty. Tell some sob story about a love interest that happened to go missing, along with his fortune. Smile demurely when he flirts. Brush the lone strand of hair that managed to escape back behind your ears. Make sure to thank him, bending at the waist just enough to show a hint of cleavage. Brush your fingertips across the back of his hand as you walk out of his office. But this time...
There was something different about this one. From the tilt of his hat to the bars of light that filtered in from the windows. It cast a knowing gleam in his eye, one that unsettled me to the core. I'd always thought myself a master manipulator. But he managed to throw me off just a tinge.
First it was the drop of blood carelessly left to stain the white stockings. Then the slip of the tongue when he asked about the account books that went missing. Small cracks in the veneer that I had worked so carefully to coat myself in. Perhaps I wanted to get caught. Or perhaps he was just that good."
There was something different about this one. From the tilt of his hat to the bars of light that filtered in from the windows. It cast a knowing gleam in his eye, one that unsettled me to the core. I'd always thought myself a master manipulator. But he managed to throw me off just a tinge.
First it was the drop of blood carelessly left to stain the white stockings. Then the slip of the tongue when he asked about the account books that went missing. Small cracks in the veneer that I had worked so carefully to coat myself in. Perhaps I wanted to get caught. Or perhaps he was just that good."