Midnight Toxicity

2.

Andy Golding gave me a thorough once over while I did the same. His tan skin gleamed where the crisp shirt collar met his neck, and dark chocolate eyes rested beneath salt-and-pepper-styled locks. His height dwarfed everyone in the room, forcing me to crank my head back. Extending a hand to me, his diamond pinky ring twinkled. I offered my knuckles as a lady should. His lips ticked upward as we eyed one another.

"Nice to meet you, Charlize." his smooth voice rolled over me and my shoulders relaxed. "Please, sit. Oh, these are my assistants, Gary and Marie."

I sat in the chair by Gary. "Hello."

"You may leave," Golding dismissed Derry with a bored glance after sitting.

Derry nodded, scramming without argument. I watched the interaction with a sense of outrage. This whole situation rubbed me the wrong way. Marie opened a briefcase, extracting some papers while her boss spoke. Gary studied me almost critically, causing goosebumps to break out on my arms.

"We are behind schedule, so will be blunt," Golding began, meeting my nervous stare, "I'm going to ask personal questions with the hope you'll answer truthfully."

I plastered a fake smile on my face. "Let me know when it's my turn, okay?"

He grinned, his perfect white teeth glowing under the low lights. "I didn't offer Derry much information before agreeing to see you. He is your stepfather, yes?"

"Yes."

"Your eyes... are remarkable," he murmured, leaning forward in his seat across from Marie at the head of the table. "Achromatopsia? Wow, I've never seen ones as deep gray as yours. Beautiful."

Deuteranomaly specifically, but I'm sure he didn't want to get into details. Many confused my condition as more severe than it was. Sometimes grass appears orange in a certain light, and I have to double-check the color choices I wear. But technology has come a long way, proving, 'there's an app for that', where I don't feel disadvantaged. My mother carried the gene for my vision disorder, but my father passed down his intense gray orbs. The sclera and my iris often blended, leaving the pupil freakishly displayed. The possessed-by-the devil look came in handy since I enjoyed scaring the bejesus out of creeps.

"Thank you." I acknowledge the compliment with a nod, having heard how my eyes have tripped people out all my life. One second, they were pearly, nearly translucent, then black as night, "I'm not entirely color blind, though."

"We're aware. You're nearing the end of your senior year, correct? Are you planning to attend college?"

"No." I left it at that.

"You turned eighteen last month?"

"Yep." My gaze roamed to where Marie tapped furiously on an iPad. "Excuse me, but Derry said you are recruiting. What for exactly?"

Golding glanced at Gary, "I search for diamonds crusted in filth, so to speak. Would you take a test?"

"What kind?" I frowned, stopping myself from fidgeting with the nervous energy coursing through my body.

"All viable employees must visit a doctor for a battery of tests. If we do not choose you, consider it a free health exam."

"Free? Who's delusional enough to believe anything in life is free? But my answer is yes."

As if Derry would allow me to say otherwise. He smiled at my response, then nodded at Marie. She set papers on the table before she and Gary exited, leaving me alone with Golding. Those two gave me the heebie-jeebies.

This man didn't waste time. He arrived with an agenda. I sat perfectly still, hiding my nervousness with practiced ease. My flippant comments held his interest, increasing my curiosity. I'm great at observation, and if he required an innocent babe, he called for the wrong girl. I was certain Derry filled him in on my lifestyle, but even with his skewed opinion, I couldn't deny my rep was pretty terrible.