Chapter 13 Clarice
CLARICE
Clarice floated through her morning. Veronica came in late, so she had the office to herself until nearly lunchtime.
She kept remembering how nice and fun it had been to show houses to Bruno.
Bruno, whose name meant armor. She googled her own name and found out that it meant “bright” or “clear.” She looked up Gilbert (bright pledge) and Horatio (timekeeper) before guilt drove her back to updating her binders.
She placed an optimistic “Sale pending” sticker on the Beech Street property and put it up in the window.
Veronica had done the same with less certain sales.
She took a few phone calls, and was glad to be on the phone when Veronica showed up, looking like she’d spent the morning at a salon. She waved cheerfully and pointed at her earpiece as Veronica went into her office and shut the door with the barest nod of acknowledgement.
Her lunch was a sandwich at her desk. She always brought her own meals because she often worked through lunch, and it was always something cold.
Veronica had a microwave in her office, but Clarice was never sure if she would sigh and seem put out about Clarice asking to use it, or warmly gracious.
It was easier just not to ask. A day like this would have been nice for soup, she thought wistfully.
As the day went on, her hope that Bruno would come by grew fainter. She told herself that dealing with banks could be time consuming, and Bruno undoubtedly had a job, and it was ridiculous to think that he’d rush right back to her.
She stayed open a little bit late, just in case, and then sadly closed up and went home to Horatio.
She drove past the day care and watched bundled up parents hurrying their bundled up children to cars.
Were they just a little more wrapped up than the weather required? It was chilly, but not that cold.
“Your name means timekeeper, Horatio,” she told her cat when she got home.
He yowled, clearly unimpressed, but he hadn’t thrown up anywhere that she could find, and he tolerated a few ear scritches while he was eating.
The following day, Veronica got to the office before she did and Clarice had to check her phone in alarm. She wasn’t running late.
Veronica was in one of her magnanimous moods, apparently, because she greeted Clarice cheerfully. “Clarice, I just love what you’ve done with the front window!”
Clarice rotated properties through the window displays, trying to keep a good mix of high end pie-in-the-sky mansions and affordable family homes.
She made sure there was something new on the market featured, and could usually find something that was in closing to help drive urgency with a sold or sale pending sign.
“Thank you?” she said cautiously to Veronica. She’d been doing the window that way for several months, even though foot traffic past at this time of year was quite minimal.
“It’s very appealing,” Veronica said approvingly. “You’ve proven to be such an asset to this office. I know I don’t say it enough. I can be such a… well, you have to put up with me at my worst entirely too often. You’re a dear not to hold it against me.”
Clarice warmed. “Well, none of us are our best before coffee,” she said kindly.
“Oh, I grabbed you a coffee while I was at the bakery!” Veronica exclaimed, pointing to a drink holder on the counter. “Skinny mocha with cinnamon sprinkle, right?”
Clarice preferred the whole milk drinks, but always ordered skinny around Veronica because she felt so fat and flabby by comparison. “Thank you!” she said in astonishment, hanging her coat and slinging her purse over her chair. “It’s perfect! That’s so kind of you!”
Veronica waved off her thanks. “You do so much. It’s the least I could do. Did Bruno Martin come back for the Oak place?”
“Beech,” Clarice said before she could stop herself from correcting Veronica. The last thing she wanted to do was spoil Veronica’s good mood. “He hasn’t been back in. Or called. Or emailed. I checked.” Would Veronica scold her for not following up? Clarice didn’t want to seem pushy.
“He seemed quite taken with you,” Veronica purred, to Clarice’s mixed delight and alarm. She was glad that she hadn’t completely imagined his interest, but embarrassed that Veronica might think she was being unprofessional.
“I— oh, he was very nice, I suppose.” Clarice knew that she was blushing. “He’s probably still shopping around.” She didn’t really mean property. “How did you get his last name?” Bruno hadn’t filled out any of the paperwork for them yet.
“I know people, darling,” Veronica said easily.
She did, too. She had friends at every bank and financial institute in Nickel City, and had all of the city council in her contacts.
“Which reminds me, I have extra charity concert tickets for the Nickel City orchestra this weekend. I already have plans for Friday night, but you should take someone! Dinner and a show!”
“Oh, I couldn’t. How much—?” Sometimes Veronica framed something as a gift that she later expected payment for.
“Consider it a holiday bonus,” Veronica said. “A pre-closing perk for the Beech property.”
“It might not close,” Clarice cautioned, taking a tiny sip of her mocha after checking the fit of her lid. She had been “good-naturedly” pranked that way before and she didn’t have a clean sweater to change into. “We can’t count eggs before they’re hatched.”
“You do sometimes have trouble closing the deals,” Veronica said thoughtfully. “But I’m sure you’ll get better! You’ve come so far under my tutelage.”
“Thank you,” Clarice wasn’t sure what she was thanking her for, but Veronica clearly expected it.
“Let me get you those tickets before I forget,” Veronica said. “And then I’ve got some phone calls to make.”
Clarice was still nursing the very last dregs of her mocha, staring at the tickets, when she saw a familiar figure through the front windows. She swiftly checked her mouth for chocolate with her phone camera and resettled one of her barrettes, probably only making it worse.
The door chimed Bruno’s entrance and he stomped snow off of his boots as he came in.
He didn’t have a folder or any paperwork with him, and Clarice’s heart wasn’t sure whether to fall or hammer in excitement.
He’d probably decided against the house.
Veronica’s appreciation was going to be short-lived after all.