I know, I am running late today. This morning required coffee before any attempt to write instead of a reward for the prompt. I blame the rain and the thick cloud cover. Whatever the cause, lets get into it now shall we? let the morning prompt begin!
This was fun. I don’t think this is the beginning of the story. but I don’t think it is too far in. I am finishing the last edits of a manuscript hopefully today. If everything is cleared, I think I may have to work on this one later.
Friday, July 8th His personality was flat
His personality was flat. He knew that. It was something that always bothered him about himself. His brothers? They sparkled. They entered a room and people simply lit up around them. They were the life of the party, any party. He was simply to work horse gathering the facts and organizing them in an appropriate manner. He always let the others present them so they would seem interesting. He knew that when he had to present the facts, he would make even the most entertaining of facts dry and drab.
He was told this repeatedly over the years.
In their family company, he was always the one who gathered the information to pass on to the others. His parent’s insisted. They were a better face for the company. They were tall blonde and engaging, even if much of the blonde came from a box of dye now. Like him their hair started darkening from the blonde it was when they were children. While he let his go dark, preferring the darker color, they all dyed theirs so that the dark would not show. He was also, as they couldn’t help but point out, several inches shorter than they were. Mathematically it wasn’t that great a variable, but in the public eye the difference was vital. A marketing specialist from the PR firm their company used told them it did and the thought became gospel.
There were times when he wondered if people thought he was just an assistant rather than family or if they assumed he was just a research assistant.
He shook off such thoughts. Now was not the time for them. His palms were sweaty and, not for the first time he wondered about the merit of such a test. His grandfather insisted on it though and in the family his word was law. This time he couldn’t be the man behind the scene. Each of them had been given one of the smaller companies, ones that were not currently profitable. The companies were vastly different and each needed different things. He and his brothers were sent to different companies to determine what those were. Their grandfather wanted each of them to work alone. They were not allowed to pool their resources. Which meant that they all had to come to their own conclusions and present their findings before the board.
He took a deep breath. The research he found easy. The solutions had in fact been fun and challenging to come up with. He thought his innovations were exciting and fun. But he knew he was no good at presenting such things.
He shuffled his notes. The information deserved someone with sparkle to present it. ‘Just pretend you are Peter,’ he told himself as the assistant opened the door. ‘Just present it with the sort of sparkle Peter would use and you will be fine.’
He took a deep breath and followed the assistant into the room. A quick glance at his audience showed him a sea of dour faces. The board did not look happy and his grandfather looked positively livid. It was going to be a touch crowd. He smiled and began his presentation.
Later, he couldn’t tell anyone what he actually said. His mind went more or less blank as he presented his information. Any thoughts of channeling Peter fell right out of his mind. He felt disconnected from his body. The right words fell from his lips, the facts from his research and his findings and potential paths for solutions were what he gathered and prepared, but it felt hazy. He did see the faces clear and the anger dissipate. By the time he got to the question and answer phase there was feeling in his hands again and he was able to clearly and concisely answer every question asked.
Ten til Midnight 