Percy Seaton, A tall handsome man, in his 30s, clearly successful, dressed in a dapper suit sat back on his office chair behind his large oaken desk. Behind him was a large window that gave an impeccable view of the entire sprawling metropolis. Art pieces that projected wealth and power adorned his walls. A full bar of fine liquors was to the left of him and to the right was a leather sitting chair.
His cell-phone rang and casually Percy answered, "Percy Seaton Investments, this is Percy."
After briefly listening, and smiling Percy replied, "Excellent, the background check is complete, bring me the dossier at once."
After hanging up the phone, Percy put his feet up on his desk and leaned his leather chair backward, daydreaming about days gone by.
Percy remembered growing up in Dullsville, yes that was his hometown's actual name. It was, predictably a standard midwestern town, just about an hour and a half from Capital City where he now ran his investment firm. Back in Dullsville Percy was devoid of any friends, it wasn't that Percy was small, ugly or unintelligent, he was just different. Percy didn't participate in sports, which seemed to be a Dullsville requirement if you wanted to make friends. He didn't seem to really make too many emotional connections with most people, this much hadn't changed. Percy was considered odd, and if it wasn't for his wealth he would still be considered odd. Because of this fact, he did not date much in high school. This is why Percy found it odd that the head cheerleader, who was stereotypically dating the highly scouted Quarterback seemed to take an interest in Percy. Her name was Danielle, and despite the fact that Percy found almost nothing in common with the cheerleader, he couldn't deny her attractiveness. She was tall, blonde and physically fit, her normally aloof nature and arrogant attitude made most of the boys in her high school class pine for her simply for the fact that she was unattainable.
It wasn't until after Percy was strong-armed into helping Danielle with calculus work, that Percy got to know Danielle, still, Percy was surprised to get an invitation from Danielle to go on what seemed like a date. Of course, Danielle insisted on going to the town's most illustrious restaurant, a steakhouse called "Imperial Steaks" and after spending an exorbitant amount of money on Danielle the two parted ways. Percy did find the date odd and didn't particularly find any connection with Danielle, but he felt as though the date went well enough. Percy left the situation, expecting a second date, Danielle said as much.
The next day Percy was confronted by Danielle's boyfriend, the highly recruited quarterback, a letter jacket wearing jock named Chaz. It was then that Percy was insulted for going on a date with Danielle and punched in the gut with such force that Percy urinated himself in front of his classmates. Percy realized as he was crouched over recovering from both the pain and humiliation that Danielle had intended this to happen from the start. Her wicked smile and stare permeated Percy's soul as he watched her put her arm around Chaz and walk off laughing as Percy crouched down in pain and humiliation. Percy would learn later that this was a favorite trick that Chaz and Danielle played on classmates they deemed odd or nerdy, a similar humiliation had happened to at least five other classmates.
Although Percy did endure teasing afterward for his unfortunate reaction to being punched, he left the situation with more curiosity about Danielle than he had before, the act of sadism was quite brutal and unjustifiable and therefore very puzzling. Percy realized at this point that he indeed did have something in common with Danielle, although Danielle did not seem to know it. Percy, like Danielle, was not terribly concerned about other people. Percy would use this trait to eventually become rich, investing in securities, shorts and various companies and projects that many investors stayed away from for "morality reasons." Percy never thought twice about breaking the law, if he knew he would not face consequences
Percy ended up attending prestigious schools and eventually ended up getting his MBA, he rose up as a broker through various companies, before he acquired enough capital to create his own firm. Now in his early 30s, Percy was rich, and he heard that he was a minor celebrity back in Dullsville. He had made it into some financial magazines, which always seemed to mention the fact that he was a handsome bachelor. Percy had gotten contacted by many women back in Dullsville that claimed to have been his friend, but he had no recollection of. They all seemed to want to date him, some even seemed like they just wanted to fuck him.
Through Percy's journey to his own fortune, he had all but forgotten about Dullsville and its citizenry and he ignored his admirers back home. His daydream only recalled Danielle because she had re-emerged in the form of a prospective employee. Danielle had a weak resume, but since Percy was familiar with her and still curious about her nature he invited her to an interview. Danielle, was as beautiful as ever, the normal weight was put on, that would be expected, she, of course, did look older and in some ways sadder. Yet that devious beauty that she used to possess still existed, and she clearly put an emphasis on her looks, Danielle made sure to present herself as stunning as possible during the interview. Her personality was still hard to grasp, she still presented as the unattainable beauty of her youthful days.
Danielle never mentioned the incident in which Percy was struck by Chaz and referred to Percy as an old friend, clearly, Danielle wished to gain employment through her past connection with Percy. Percy could tell that Danielle wasn't above using sex to get what she wanted and wondered if Danielle's ulterior motive was to sleep her way into Percy's money. Percy did not ask her any questions about her personal life and interviewed her just like he would have interviewed any other applicant. At the end of the interview, Percy explained to Danielle that he would be performing a background check and would call her back when it went through. All common things that prospective employers tell their prospective employees. This wouldn't be any ordinary background check, however. Percy's background check would be a private detective by the name of Dan Reagan, who would follow Danielle and collect any and all information on Danielle for the next two weeks. This was the contents of the dossier that Dan Reagan was couriering over to Percy at this very moment.
In fact, Dan Reagan knocked on the door just as Percy finished his recollections, Percy quickly let Dan in. Dan was holding a thick folder, he dropped it on Percy's desk before sitting down on the leather chair and wiping his brow. Percy sat down and simply said, "Give me the scoop." Dan wasted no time, Dan was direct and to the point.
"Okay Percy here's the deal, let me just go in a linear fashion, I'll start after high-school. Chaz and Danielle went to different schools. Danielle never had the grades and went to community college, dropped out after two semesters, she always banked on Chaz making the NFL and making her rich. Chaz, he went to one of those big southern colleges to play football, the competition was too much, he was never more than second string, but he partied like no tomorrow, probably cheated on Danielle and had to drop out of college after year two. Remarkably Danielle and Chaz stayed together, Danielle got a job with Imperial Steaks, Chaz worked for his dad's car lot, as a salesman. The two of them bought a house, way more than they could afford, even now it's barely furnished, but it looks immaculate from the outside, they seem to be big on appearances. Danielle got caught stealing from Imperial Steaks, stealing A LOT, they slapped a felony on her, she got probation, I don't know if you want to hire a felon?"
"I am generous, I'll consider it," Percy replied and motioned for Dan to continue.
"Okay, it kind of went downhill for Danielle and Chaz after that, Danielle hasn't worked since the steakhouse, she hasn't been able to get employment on account of the felony, she even got a few more shoplifting-misdemeanors. Chaz, he gained a lot of weight and started working two jobs, he also works at a sporting good store, the guy's got to work 60-80 hours a week, but still, it's not enough, they don't pay utilities all the time, they borrow money from their parents still. Yet after all of this Danielle, she doesn't want to move, she want's to maintain this facade that she is keeping up with the Joneses. Danielle blames Chaz for their problems, the house even has had three DV calls, each time with Danielle being arrested, of course, Chaz never presses charges. I heard her screaming at him from my car outside their house. Nothing that fat ass does is good enough for her. Danielle is stuck in the past, puts no blame on herself and says that Chaz should have tried harder way back in college, or that he should be more ambitious.
"Jesus, a husband beater!" Percy said smiling, slightly laughing. Dan shook his head and continued.
"Jesus, you're sick, this shit ain't funny... On top of all of this, Danielle cuckolds Chaz regularly, she parties going to local bars and picking up men, usually married. She's got no respect for her husband, there doesn't seem to be any intimacy between them. Look this lady, she's unstable, I am sure she present's well, but that's just because she is obsessed with putting on a good front for people, her personal life is a wreck. Neither she nor her husband can suck it up and leave each other, these people are obsessed with their image. Look, man, if you expect this lady to be a reliable employee that comes to work on time and doesn't steal from the considerable amount of money she will have access to working for you, you are going to have another thing coming. My recommendation is to stay away from this powder keg as far as you can."
"Thank you, Dan, I'll keep your recommendation in mind," Percy said as Dan walked out the door. Almost immediately after Dan closed the door Percy pulled out his cell phone, he dialed Danielle.
"Is this Danielle" Listening Percy smiled and then replied. "Congratulations, you're hired!"
***
Danielle arrived twenty minutes late on her first day to work, she knocked on Percy's door.
