Allure

~ a story ~



As he walked down the street, no one took notice of his form. He glided over the concrete, barely making a sound with each footfall. He wore a suit, though it was wrinkled seemingly from his day. His hair was mussed, almost as if he were in a fight, but not as messed up as one would assume such activities would entail.

I noticed him from my car as I drove by. While no one else seemed to know he even existed, his form caught me, almost startling me.

I recognized his face immediately, though I only saw part of it as my car approached. Instinctively, I applied my accelerator, putting myself as far away from him as possible. He was dangerous, calculating, and never to be underestimated.

Yet that was what everyone he encountered seemed to do. Others had discounted his influence and had paid dearly for their naivete. I only missed his shock wave by accident. I didn't come to work that day; I had the flu.

When my boss first saw him, she recalled his warm manner and even nature. That day his suit was pressed, his shoes shiny, reflecting the amber lights of our lobby, making his honey gold eyes sparkle even more.

My boss liked him immediately, and invited him into the small conference room. The haze of his sphere of influence drifted throughout the office as he passed by the sea of cubicles, eyes turning as he moved. My boss recalled his motions being catlike, with an inhuman smoothness and predatory stature.

Yet she couldn't help but nod and smile as he made his proposal, barley glimpsing the paperwork he placed in front of her before she signed, shook his hand, and then invited the first person in the waiting line that had formed during their meeting to enter and have their own little chat.

When he was done, everyone in our company was swooned, and swindled, yet none could say no. His fancy talk, his calm and comforting air, and the smile; he was a devil cloaked in fairy dust, sprinkled over all he encountered.

When I came into work a few days later, the mood was somber, reflective. No one wanted to talk to me, to talk about him. No one wanted to admit their err, their stupidity, their new woes ahead. And none really understood how it had happened.

I finally got the story from my boss, who showed me the surveillance video, showed me the evidence of his allure right there in snowy black and white. The turned heads. The line outside the conference room. And his face, a face I made sure to remember.

I couldn't believe it. To look at him, he wasn't much. How could he cast such a spell over them all?

I didn't want to know. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

Even in a wrinkled suit. Even with mussed hair and a slow unassuming gait. Even with his back to me, I knew a predator when I saw one.

I floored my car, raced away, and hoped I would never spot the man again.