Jennifer worked at an employment agency as a headhunter, finding employees mostly for tech companies. Today, she was meeting a possible new client for lunch. His name was Clint, urgh, and his CV was mediocre, but if she managed to get him a contract, she would at least be one step closer to hitting her target quota.

Clint looked like your everyday nerd: a bit scrawny, glasses, covered in acne, and a bad sense of fashion. At least he wasn't fat. The only thing that really set him apart from the rest of her usual clientele was that big ring on his right hand. It had a huge, round, dark-red stone in it. super weird. She put on her fake-friendly face and started her spiel.

"Thank you for meeting me here, Mr. Armstrong. Are you working in the area here, or did you take a day off?" 

“Nice seeing you in person, Miss Coultage.” He was already gazing at her chest, and Jenny instinctively pulled her blazer together. She hated those kinds of guys. "I'm actually not working currently." 

Jenny shook her head. "But according to your CV-" 

He cut her off, "That's not what I mean. I'm technically still employed, but I just don't need to show up for work anymore." 

Jenny didn't know what to make of this statement, but before she could ask him, he raised his right hand slightly and turned it. Jenny automatically looked at the movement and noticed his ring again. She now saw that the red in it seemed to glow somehow. As if there was something alive in it. 

"Don't worry about my current employment," he said, "You're here to sell me something else, aren't you?" 

Jenny nodded absent-mindedly, still staring at the ring. It stopped shining, and Jenny instantly forgot about it, looked up at the young nerd, and said, "Right! So I would suggest you tell me a bit about yourself, your career so far, your current skill set, and of course, what you are looking for. Then I can tell you a bit about some positions I have in mind for you. Sounds good?" 

"Sure, but I'd also like to talk about you, of course. I'm not entirely convinced that it makes sense to work with you, yet." 

"Oh." She didn't see that one coming from puberty man. Did he think he was a big deal? She would expect this cockiness from someone with more than barely three years of experience. He probably didn’t realize that he was lucky if she found him a good company that even hired juniors. "Yeah, I mean, sure. I have been recruiting in the tech industry for almost two years now, so I'm kind of new to the business overall, but thanks to my employer, I received excellent training."  

A waitress came to take their orders. Before Jenny could open her mouth, Clint said to the waitress: "I'll take the steak, and the pretty lady will have the Caesar salad. Also, a bottle of white wine and two glasses, please." 

Jenny wanted to contradict him, but she was distracted by his shiny ring. The waitress asked, "Anything else?" 

Clint replied, "No, that's perfect. Right, Jenny?" 

He covered his ring with his left hand, and Jenny instantly looked up to the waitress and said with a smile, "That's perfect. Thank you.” The waitress walked off with their orders, and Jenny focused on her client once again, but something bothered her. 

"Did you just call me Jenny?" she asked, only because she was like six years older than him, and she wanted to keep things as professional as possible. 

"Yes, first-name basis is fine, really. You call me Clint, and you want me to call you Jenny, alright?" 

Jenny gazed into a strange red light that she had never seen before, but just for a second. No, a microsecond. Too short to remember anything, actually. "Yeah, call me Jenny," she smiled politely, "I'd like that, Clint." 

Jenny cleared her throat and shifted the conversation back to business. "Now, let's talk about your career path so far," Jenny suggested. "You don't have a lot of experience yet, but don't worry, in your line of work, there is still plenty of demand. We are definitely looking at a Junior position. You need to show a lot of willingness to learn new technologies in the upcoming interviews." 

Clint gave her a smile that creeped her out a bit. As if he knew something she didn't, and also a bit lustrous. She instantly felt uncomfortable. "Oh, Jenny, but my CV is impeccable. I already have experience in everything a company could wish for. I can do more than any developer you have ever seen. Don't you agree?" 

Jenny was distracted by... something, but now she looked back up at him and said, "Yes, I agree." For a split second, she didn't know what she was agreeing to, but then it came back to her. "Yeah, my bad. I had someone else in mind just now. Excuse me. You are obviously in for a senior position." 

She took out his short CV again and glanced over it again. Even though there was not much to be seen, she was absolutely convinced that "Wow! This is the most impressive CV I have ever seen. Getting you a job should be no problem whatsoever. Wha- What's your salary wish?" 

She grinned, thinking about what a massive bonus she would get out of this. He noted, "You look happy." 

"I just thought of a client who would be very interested in you." Jenny lied naturally.

He scratched his chin and said, "Tell me the truth." 

Jenny stopped looking at his ring and said, "I thought about how much money this could make me. The bigger your salary, the bigger my cut, and I would also get a bonus from my company, as well as a boost in my statistics. I actually shouldn't tell you all this," she realized and felt stupid. What a faux pax! 

She was usually better at this. Jennifer couldn’t afford to fuck this one up. "I-I'm sorry. I hope you don't think badly of me now." She gave him a vulnerable look and hoped he would buy it. 

"Nonsense, you just do your job. If anything, I appreciate your honesty, really." Jenny was relieved, and just at that moment, the waitress brought the bottle of white wine he had ordered for them and two glasses. 

She started to fill them up, and Jenny reminded herself not to drink more than half a glass. She had to get back to the office after this, so it was best to drink slowly. "Thank you," she said to the waitress, who smiled. 

"You're welcome. Your food will be ready soon." The waitress walked off, and Clint raised his glass. 

She took her glass, and he said, "To new opportunities." 

She smiled and said the same, then took a very small sip. Clint turned the glass in his hand, which made Jenny notice a shining red light in his ring. That wasn't there before, was it? 

"Wow, this wine tastes fantastic. You love it too, right, Jenny?" 

He put his glass down, and Jenny agreed. "Yes, wow. I didn't expect that." She took another sip from her glass because the first one was too small. She had barely tasted the delicious flavor, unlike now. 

"Hmmm," she said, and was convinced that she had never had a wine like this before. What a pity she couldn't drink more of it!

"Where were we?" Clint asked. 

"You wanted to tell me about yourself.” Jenny reminded him. “I need an overview of your current skill set, to be able to determine which clients would be a good fit for-" 

Clint raised his hand to stop her from talking, which was borderline rude. "You're kind of new at this, it seems. Don't you know that you don't discuss business with a potential client at the first meeting?" Jenny shook her head in confusion, while Clint played around with the ring on his hand. She noticed a strange red glow in it. She couldn't keep her eyes off of it. 

"If you want me to work with you, you need to lure me in with everything you've got. Flirt with me instead of talking about my CV and your clients. You desperately need me to work with you. I could work with anyone else, and you know it. You need to rely on your cunning, your charms, and your looks to make progress with me. You know that. It's normal. It's what you do." 

Jenny didn't even hear anything he said anymore. She was staring so deeply into that magnificent, endless red that she didn't even hear herself say, "Yes, I know that. It's what I do." The red got even more intense. 

"I am the biggest fish in the pond, and you really, really need to reel me in. It would be a massive boost to your career. All you need to do is make me happy."

Jenny absently said, "All I need to do is make you happy," while diving deeper and deeper into the realms of the ring. Then, suddenly, the glow was gone. It was never there in the first place. Clint's hand grabbed the wine glass, and Jenny wondered why he wore such an ugly ring. She looked up at her whale again. 

He smiled and said "Cheers", she reached for her glass and drank. She couldn't resist and took a big sip.

"Now, where were we?" she asked slowly and gave him a suggestive smile. 

Clint rolled his eyes. "You were going on about clients and my CV and whatnot." 

Jenny bit her lip. Rookie mistake! Never talk about that stuff at the first meeting. She waved it off and said, "Oh yeah, we can talk business another time. What I really want is to get to know you. The guy behind the CV. What's going on in your life, Clint?" She asked and faked her most interested face while leaning in. 

She considered opening a few buttons on her blouse, but that would be way too obvious now. While Clint talked about his school years and other boring shit, Jenny was determined to nod and listen intensely. She had to make him feel like he was the only interesting man in the world to her. Guys were really easy to fool in that regard. Especially the nerds. This was her expertise. He would be eating out of her hand in no time. 

"Wow, that is so fascinating. I always felt like I missed out on those Zelda games. I really need to get myself some new Hardware!" she lied. No idea what he was talking about. She could tell by the way he was looking at her that she had him, though. But he was such a big fish, she could take no risks.

"Excuse me for a second." She grabbed her purse and went to the bathroom. The first thing she did was open her hair. Buns were practical in the office, but no good when it came to luring in clients. Then she put on lip gloss and opened some of the buttons on her white blouse. A bit of cleavage usually came a long way. 

The food was already there when Jenny arrived back at the table. Clint had waited for her to start. He had some manners, at least. Jenny sat down and thought that she usually didn’t eat salad for lunch, but it actually was perfect. "Thank you for waiting." 

"Of course. I like your hair like this. You look very pretty." 

Jennifer smiled at him, feeling victorious. "Thank you so much. You are really charming, you know?" 

Clint started digging into his steak and said, "Yeah, I know." Clint chuckled, and Jenny chuckled as well to hide the fact of how cringy he made her feel. "So now tell me about yourself, Jenny. I want to know everything."

Jenny never shared that much with a client before. It was a bit odd in hindsight, but it all came out so naturally. While they ate, she basically told him half of her life story. And not just the superficial stuff. No, she went into detail about her whole family and even her long-lost dreams. It was so easy to open up to Clint. "When I was little, I wanted to be an actress. I mean, I don't really dislike the business of recruiting, but I never thought that’s what I would end up doing, you know? If that makes sense to you?" 

Clint put away his cutlery and nodded, "Totally," and raised his glass once more. He was at his second glass, and Jenny was already on the third. The bottle was empty already. She felt tipsy as fuck, and it would be an effort to hide her state later in the office, but this was more important. If she got Clint as a client, every door would open up for her. She just needed to seal the deal. The waitress came and cleared their plates.

"Now, I think we both can agree that we are extremely compatible. What do you say, Clint? Wanna work with me?" She put on her deer eyes and locked in on his.

"Let’s do it!" Clint exclaimed with a grin.

Jenny wanted to do a little victory dance, but she restrained herself. "That's great. Makes me really happy, Clint. Now..." she pulled up the contract from her bag and put it in front of him. "How about we make it official?" 

Clint glanced at it and said, "I'd like to take some time to read this." 

Jennifer's smile dropped, but she put it back up. "Well, it's actually quite standard. We can go through it together right now, of course!" 

Clint made a face and said, "I'd rather take my time with it, you know? How about this: I will take this home with me and read it. Then I will bring it to your place tonight, and we can sign it together then. What do you think?" 

Jenny had trouble keeping her face at this suggestion. She almost laughed. "Ehm... How about we meet here again for lunch tomorrow? Or you come by our office! I would love to show you-" 

Clint cut her off again. "Nevermind. I thought you were sincere, but apparently, this was all just a show." 

Jenny didn't know what to do. She would under no circumstances give him her home address, but she could also not lose him now, after all the work she put in. She needed an excuse. „You see, I would love to do that, Clint, but I am not allowed to meet clients at home. My company has a very strict policy when it comes to that. I'm sorry. But that should not stop us from teaming up together, don't you think?" 

She pushed her chest up slightly and caught him glancing down. He licked his lips. "Yeah, you're right. Your company's rules should not get in the way of us. You can give me your address. It's totally fine. I won't tell anyone. You can trust me. You are so close to reaching your goal. Just give me your address, and I will bring you the contract. It's all good." 

Jenny was too distracted by a pulsating red glow that emanated from Clint's ring. She had not noticed that before, and when it suddenly stopped glowing, she had already forgotten about it. She needed to focus now. "So yeah, just read it, take your time, and uhm...  come over to my place later, tonight, okay? Here..." 

She pulled out a Post-it and a pen. She wrote down her address and her private phone number, just in case, and handed the paper to him. "If you have any questions, you can give me a call anytime, as well." 

He took it and grinned. "Thanks. I thought you would play hard to get." He winked and Jenny faked a shy chuckle. She would need a shower after this. 

The bill came, and the waitress asked them, "Together or separate?" 

Before Clint could answer, Jenny chimed in. "I'll take that." 

The waitress turned to her and gave her the bill. Clint raised his hand, "Wait, that won't be necessary." 

Then something utterly unsettling happened. Jenny watched as Clint held up his hand to the waitress. The waitress said "Wha..." and then suddenly looked completely dazed, staring at Clint's ugly red ring. 

"It's on the house." 

He lowered his hand, and the waitress snapped back into life, saying cheerfully, "Oh, this is on the house, of course. Please come again!" She took the bill right out of Jenny's hands and walked away after Clint said goodbye. All of this barely took a few seconds, but it was enough to freak Jenny the fuck out. 

"What the hell was that?" 

Clint shrugged, "I guess we got lucky." 

"No...," Jenny said, "No, you did something to her there, didn't you?" 

Jenny felt her heart beat faster. Something was off. He had used his ring to do some sort of brainwashing on the waitress to get a free meal! 

Did that mean he used it on her, too? 

She would remember that, wouldn't she? 

Probably not! 

And why did she feel so panicked all of a sudden?

Was it the wine, or was there more to it? 

Oh, god, this was so creepy. 

The instinct to run away was strangely strong. As if her intuition told her she was right, and Clint was out to do something devious to her! Jenny felt her heart racing and her face getting prickly. She swallowed hard and got up from her chair. The recruiter grabbed her purse, not looking up at Clint. 

"Oh my gosh, I have to get back to the office!" She felt hot and sweaty. Jenny turned and almost tumbled on the first step towards the exit. 

"You forgot your wallet," Clint called, and she turned her head by reflex, already knowing it was a mistake. Jenny saw him holding her wallet with his right hand. Then she felt curious, as his glowing ring caught her attention.

***

Jenny smiled on her short walk back to her office, bathing in the warm sunlight. What a perfect day. 

Tonight, she would receive a signed contract at her doorstep, the biggest deal in her career so far! She had easily wrapped Clint around her finger. She felt completely safe and sure about that. Now, she was feeling good from that delicious wine, and she was very much in the mood to wear something sexy for some reason. 

Then she figured she would ask Malik if he wanted to see her later. It was about time to take things to the next level with him, anyway. Might as well do it tonight.

To be continued