Dumbfounded

The Interview

Chapter 3

Marvel’s POV

There she is. I stare at her, still completely amused of how she looks.

How can something that looks so terrible be so funny?

From this angle, I’m looking at her back. Petite. No curves. Very edgy.

Black flat shoes…

Black stockings…

Red skirt…

Yellow blouse…

A big green hat…

She turns around…

“Waahahahahaha!”

I can’t help it! I’m laughing so hard!

I… “…haha!” cant… “wahahahahaha!” help… it…

Gosh. This girl is so funny. I can’t stop laughing. Then, that, that… teeth… it even has chocolate stains on them!

This keeps getting better! I’m still laughing…hard. I think the sound resonates throughout the department, the building even. I’ve never had a good laugh for ages!

Then she frowns, she’s on the verge of crying.

“Oh God, no.” I muttered. I don’t want people crying because of me. She looks at me, her eyes filling with tears, and then looks at the floor again. For a moment she looks so innocent…so fragile… so pure.

I head for the beverages and take a glass of water. I hand it to her.

“Here.”

She takes it and drinks it straight down.

I explained why I was laughing…then...

“Thank You, Sir.” She said then I started laughing again.

She gives me a weird look, like I’m a very wild animal, so I stop.

“Oh I’m sorry, how rude of me. It’s just that, it seems like the chocolates love your teeth.” I said, implying that little stain remains on her teeth.

She gasps and covered her mouth like a child. Now she looks adorable.

I got another glass of water and handed it to her. When she finishes, she smiles with her perfectly white set of teeth.

“Thank you…again.” She said

“My pleasure. Please, Miss Fermantes, take a seat.” I responded.

We sat and we stared at each other for a moment. I’m still bothered by how she looks, such a mess, but there’s something about her that I can’t place. She breaks eye contact first and looked at her hands, ashamed maybe, or just shy.

“So, let’s do this again. I’m Marvel Gray Collins, Senior Editor-in-Chief of UNLIMITED.” I stretched out my hands, she takes it. It’s so soft.

“Prudence. Prudence Fermantes.” She said softly. Her voice, I noticed how beautiful her accent is. She must have worked on this throughout college.

I broke the silence. “So Miss Fermantes…” she cut me, “Prudence, please call me Prudence.” She said insistently.

“Right, as I was saying, Miss Fermantes, we will begin with the interview.” I said, emphasizing her surname. She nods. “And did you know that you’ll be applying for a department that concerns fashion?”

“Yes” She said. 

“Very well, and did you know that right now, you look like a complete mess?  Like a traffic light, if you would.” she looks at herself, assessing of how she looks.