Claire held back her laughter when she witnessed Mary's antics while getting ready for going to Cobblestone Inn's bar. It was clear that Mary was nervous. Mary, who was always so calm and collected, was nervous. Claire understood being nervous around men, before she became Cleo, Claire had been terribly nervous around men. Even now, she still found herself being quite nervous around some men. Jill had always been the more outgoing of the two sisters.
"Do I look okay?" Mary asked. Mary had put on a worn pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. It was the first time Claire had seen Mary in anything besides the skirts she wore to work. Mary had a subtle beauty about her.
"You look wonderful," Claire assured her. There was a strange bond and understanding between both girls, as if their slyness gave them a camaraderie.
Mary smoothed the brush through her hair, typically she would wear her hair in a braid, but tonight, she decided to wear it down. Her hair tumbled down her back in soft waves. Mary had never thought about men. But then again, there had never been a man who had interested her. When Jack had walked into the library, she had felt an odd feeling in her tummy. She could not stop staring at him. He grew only more attractive when he started talking. He spoke like man who was educated.
"You really like this guy huh?" Claire asked Mary.
"Um... I'm not sure. All I know is that I would love to get to know him better," Mary admitted. She frowned.
"What?" Claire asked.
"I just don't know if he would be interested in getting to know me more," Mary sighed.
"If he doesn't, then he's missing out," Claire replied. Mary gave her a shy smile in return.
OOOOO
Karen Shaw was tired of country living. Everything bored her. She hated working at her parent's store. Nothing ever changed. She'd hoped When Kai Saloma had started coming around, that he would be her ticket out of town. They had started a hot and heavy romance, and yet, in the end he had fallen in love with Popuri. Popuri had been the innocent one. She never did anything wrong, it was what had attracted Kai to her. Now there was a new man in town. He had inherited the old farm in Mineral Town. Karen had caught a glimpse of him at the supermarket when he'd come to buy seeds. She had almost started drooling. The man was was gorgeous. Karen was known as the town's "beauty." The problem was, that men were willing to sleep with her, even sone of them married, but no one ever wanted to settle down with her.
When Karen saw him enter the inn, she was overjoyed. He looked as handsome as he had earlier in the day. She was glad she'd opted for the tight white tank top, and cute pink mini skirt combo tonight. The tank showed off her cleavage perfectly. He came up to the bar to order a drink.
"Well hello there," Karen purred. She leaned forward to allow him a better view of her chest. Karen knew how to use her assets.
"Hi," he replied quickly then turned his attention to Ann. Karen frowned. He hadn't even taken one look at her chest.
"You must be the new farmer, my name is Ann" Ann greeted cheerily. Ann was no one's idea of a classical beauty. Most of the time Ann wore men's clothing, and always had her hair in a braid.
"That would be me, name's Jack," Jack said. "What's a recommendation for a drink?"
"We've got local wine from the Aja Winery, or there's out Homebrewers beer," Ann informed. Ann was completely unfazed by the man standing in front of her. She vaguely recognized that he was what most women would find attractive. Her heart had long ago been stolen by Cliff, the shy vagabond who'd settled into Mineral Town. She was still trying to get his attention.
"I'll try your beer," Jack stated.
"Oh my goddess, it's good stuff," Karen interjected, trying one more time to get his attention. Jack turned to her.
"You're the girl from the supermarket aren't you?" Jack asked.
"Yes, I'm Karen," Karen said nodding.
"Jack. Nice to meet you," Jack said.
"Care to join me?" Karen asked.
"Thanks but I am meeting some people here," Jack declined politely.
"Whoever it is, won't be as fun as me, why don't you ditch them and join me," Karen cooed. She leaned closer to him and placed her hand on his arm. Jack looked at the girl who was obviously hitting on him. Girls like Karen drove him crazy. They used their bodies to get what they wanted. Karen reeked of desperation. It was clear in the way she dressed. He would run into girls like this in the city all the time. Most of them were goll diggers, who didn't care about who they hurt in the process of trying to find a rich husband.
"Thank you, but I'll have to decline," Jack stated firmly. He took his beer Ann gave him, and quickly paid her. He wanted to get as far away from the girl as possible.
Karen pouted, men didn't turn her down very often. She looked around at the patrons of the bar, she needed a little confidence booster after that. She saw Duke, he was always willing to have Karen. Karen sauntered over to him. Karen knew that the only reason that Duke wanted her was because he was in love with her mom, Sasha, but she didn't care much. Duke was always a good lover, even if he did call out her mom's name. She gave him the customary look.
"Meet me in the wine cellar at midnight," Duke growled.
Jack watched the exchange from the table he'd sat down at. It looked like he was right about Karen. She didn't seem to care that the man she was hitting on now was married. He rolled his eyes and waited for the rest of his party to show up.
OOOOO
"I've given you enough time!" Mr Harrison shouted. Hamilton stared at his boss, who'd cut off his time limit by a week and half.
"You can't expect me to find then right away!" Hamilton argued.
"Do you even have any leads?" Mr. Harrison sneered.
"I have a few," Hamilton lied.
"I don't believe you, I gave you a chance because you're my wife's cousin, but I can't keep doing this! Do you know how much money you've cost me? Why on earth did you not draw up a contract with them like I asked you to?" Harrison ranted.
"They needed the money, I never thought they'd just leave like that," Hamilton stated.
"That's the problem! You never think! You're fired!" Harrison shouted. He walked away from Hamilton. Hamilton stewed. He had loved being a part of the most popular, successful talent agency. Now he was jobless. He wanted to find those girls now more than ever.