The Façade of Quad in Nimrod ✓ | Satire, family drama, dark society

IV

The meeting Mordecai was all excited about, left him defeated. It was concluded that he either get his hands into the exotic and hope to catch up with McSneed, or just give up and be number two. But his ego would not let him be 'a measly number 2 as no Quad is ever number 2'. 

Mordecai returned home at noon just in time for a one o'clock lunch with his daughter (around the same time in which Henry was finishing dining like a king, hurrying out the door so as not to be late for his first job).

Valerie could barely hold her teacup steady or eat her scones without coughing being way too excited and nervous to finally reunite with her fiancé. 

She only received three letters from Fernando the entire year. She wanted to believe that Fernando was staying faithful to her during his time away and the absence of letters only meant he was busy, or the rest of the letters were lost somewhere at the bottom of the sea. The latter was more romantic, so she decided to imagine fish were swooning over her love letter and wishing they were human.

As she finished off her cucumber sandwiches in a rush and got started on her cake in a frenzy, her father leaned over to pat her on the hand.

"Easy now, my dear. You still have time before he arrives," he said in a consoling tone. He had noticed how excited and anxious she was which made her forget her manners.

Valerie blushed, realizing she had dropped some crumbs on her dress. Brushing them off she slowed down her pace but still found it hard not to be anxious. She wondered how he changed and how she must have changed although Valerie was no taller than last year and the only difference was how more obsessed she was with novels. 

Recently she picked up 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen and found it fascinating with all the complicated relationships going on between the characters. Although, sometimes she found herself tiring of the non-romantic scenes and wanting to skip ahead. And, sometimes, she did skip ahead.

* * *

Fernando arrived at the Quad mansion just before the two o'clock bell. He was running a little late, but that was all under his clever calculations—the more anxious Valerie was, the happier she would be to see him and probably not notice the tattoo on his left forearm near his elbow. 

It was a tribal Rajanese tattoo of an abstract tiger, which he was told, signified strength, cleverness, and leadership. He had gone to a particular tribe to persuade them to teach his workers the recipe for their 'magical' tea that was said to cure a person of his idleness. Although Fernando knew it was all just a good story, people these days would spend fortunes on the fantasies.

The tattoo was to signify his inclusion into the tribe as an honorary member, giving him access to the recipe to sell out to the world market. To the tribal chief he promised fifty percent of the profits—a bold move he knew would win him many more deals in the future as, despite being conservative and stubborn, the chief was like any man, hungry for power in the form of wealth. 

Besides, Fernando still had to get the chief to reveal the whereabouts of the ruby mine. He knew it was somewhere around the plains of the tribe, but only the chief knew the exact location, but Fernando could be cunning and persuasive. He vowed to have it by the end of the year.

When he knocked twice on the door, it opened before the third knock and there stood Valerie. Her hair was tied in the gifted ribbon. She wore a simple peach-colored dress with lace. Fernando held back his grimace and smiled.

"Well, Valerie, so good to see you." He took her hand and bent down to kiss it. Valerie, out of shyness, gave a nervous giggle. Then, she blinked her eyes startled, suddenly remembering her manners and gave a light curtsy. But Fernando wasn't about formalities. He only bothered with it when he had to.