"I'm sorry that I had to waste your time like that, but the items you were looking for are already sold. Hopefully, this won't change our business relations in the future, though I have doubts that our social circles will cross again soon."
I had to force myself to stop my pleasant smile from changing into a scowl. That man!.. What a haughty old bastard. I didn't miss how he kept throwing glances at my chest when he thought I wasn't looking, either. Now I wanted to sic Avarice on him twice as much, and therefore was twice as disappointed when I found out that the set of furniture he had on sale was already out of it and out of his hands.
And double that once more for the fact that I made today's appointment this Tuesday, before I left for Ivana-Kupala, and rushed to it as soon as I rested after it. I even put it above dealing with my new coven, despite their urging that I talked with their head witch as soon as I could.
I've met her on Ivana-Kupala as we travelled back to the city, but we both were too tired for organising anything. From what I glimpsed, though, she seemed to be a decent person. With any luck, a decent enough one to understand that I had my job to work and I won't just drop it.
In this moment, working my job meant smiling and playing nice and not mentioning an old geezer sneaking glances down my low collar. Instead, I leaned a little closer on the table, giving him a better view. It was only further stressed by the way my clothes, wet with the sweat from the heat outside, clung to my skin. "Well, then can you please tell me who you sold this furniture set to?"
The pervert stared at what I presented just a fraction of a second longer than he should've if he care to not to be noticed before meeting my eyes again. I felt like there were bugs crawling all over skin. Damn, all the disadvantages of being a woman in a business world. Even when used for my gain, they felt awful. It was a lose-lose situation.
"Of course. I see that for whatever reason, you are very passionate about buying the items. I don't understand why. They look so out of place in any modern house! The paintings I bought in their place fit my dwelling much more. Look at that one, for example," he pointed at an abstract art hanging from a wall of his office. It did fit better with the post-modern style of it. "Much better, isn't it? Would you want to look at the rest of them, Diana?"
"It would've been a pleasure, but I have other appointments and can't spend so much time here," I said, straining to keep smiling, and sat straight again. "Please, just tell me who bought it. I wouldn't want to waste your time, either."
"If you insist so much, Diana." The pervert didn't look very pleased, but didn't pursue the matter either and reached to write a name on a sticky note paper. "Kudryavtsev Denis Sergeevich. I'm unsure if you will be able to contact him, as he is quite an important man. If you need my help with this…"
"Thank you for the thought, but I will find a way myself," I interrupted before the pervert could come up with another proposal that, no doubt, would turn out to be indecent as soon as I accepted. I stood up from my seat and smiled wider, with a sincere relief of getting out of the man's office. "Have a good day."
I left in carefully measured steps, not running away but wanting to very much. Only when I was out of the doors did I relax and continued in a more carefree manner.
It was still only early afternoon, and I had time to deal with the witches to investigate the name I got. I reread it from the paper. The handwriting wasn't the neatest one I've seen, but I could understand the letters well enough. "Kudryavtsev Denis Sergeevich". It wasn't a familiar one, and it told me nothing.
'Well, I already lost one chance,' I thought to myself as I walked out onto the street, hiding from the mercilessly harsh midday sun next to a wall. It wasn't of much help. 'I should at least check on the guy right now so I wouldn't need to tell myself that I lost another one.'
I returned home. A quick Internet search from my office told me that Denis Sergeevich was no one else but a CEO of the biggest chain of art supply and stationery stores in Russia. For me, that meant that the chances of getting these damn chairs (and a sofa) from him were dismal, as he certainly had all the money he wanted. It was hard to contact him in the first place, but I had to try. This was the only lead I had for now.
It took me an hour of insistent calls, but eventually I got to the man's secretary, and then under his skin, until the secretary agreed to pass on my message. I expressed my desire to purchase the set I was hunting for, but didn't mention the top price. Five hundred thousand didn't seem like that much to a billionaire. I left on that, hoping that I will get a call back. After that, I still had third of the day to spend.
I sighed. I felt disgustingly sweaty, and my calves were screaming at me after yesterday, and the last thing I wanted right now was to go any more places, but damn me if I would drop dead just because of that. The only allowance I made for myself is a quick shower before going out again, one that made me feel cleaner, if only until I will spend ten minutes outside.
Next stop—my new coven. Maybe they will have some spell that could cool me without me having to concentrate on supporting it as the chill I drew in the air dissipated under the sun's rays.