Those Eyes

That little niggling feeling you get when something just seems to be off.  Some call it intuition.  Some call it street smarts.  Whatever you call it I was experiencing it right now as I looked across my desk into a pair of ice blue eyes.

He had introduced himself as Alan Martin.  He was only in town for one day and had very little time to look for a home that would suit he and his family when they all moved here in a month.  He had just accepted a job at a nearby company and would start in a few short weeks.  His family did not want to stay behind while their house sold, so he was on a mission to find that perfect home.

My name is Jane.  I go by Janie, since I've grown tired of all of the "plain Jane" references.  I'm a realtor and I desperately need some sales.  I'm working on moving up the ladder in my office and I'm doing a fairly good job at it.

I looked away from his eyes long enough to glance down at my schedule.  Yes, just as I thought,  I did have an appointment with a long time client in about twenty minutes.

"Mr. Martin, I'm afraid I have an appointment in a few minutes but I would be glad to take you out to view some houses after that, if that's alright with you?"

I saw a look flit through his eyes.  I wasn't sure if it was disappointment or something else. I was just about to apologize and see about changing my current appointment, when it happened.

It, was Caroline.   Caroline of the too short skirt, too high heels, too sweet southern accent that turned extra syrupy as she swooped in for her latest kill and she was swooping in on my prey.

Caroline was the office top seller.  For many months in a row, maybe even years and  I had my eyes set on toppling her from her lofty perch. 

As her too bright smile flashed at Mr. Martin, she asked if there was a problem and if so if she could be of any help.  Before I could open my mouth, suppressing the fury from her interruption took a few seconds, Alan, as he introduced himself to her, explained his situation and his time constraints.

"Well, Oh my!  I think you are in luck because I have some free time right now and I'd be more than happy to show you some fabulous homes.  Before we're through you will have found the perfect place for you and your family."

My mouth dropped open but something stopped me from speaking up.  My other client was, after all, a sure sell.  It might not be the biggest commission on the book but it would be another sale for me and I didn't really want to cancel on them.

Alan was already standing and reached across the desk to shake my hand as he apologized and said he really didn't have the time to wait.  I said I understood and watched as a good potential sale followed Caroline out the door.

Looking at my watch, I grabbed my belongings and headed off to my appointment.

Three hours later, or maybe it was more, Caroline stared up at those cold, emotionless, ice blue eyes.  As her vision blurred and so did her mind, her last living thought was that maybe she should have listened to her intuition instead of her ambition.