So it was while I was in that better mood that I made the delivery to Sarissa. She was a lovely lady who had moved into an empty house a few blocks from the shop about four months ago, along with her brother. Both were friendly enough, with golden brown hair and tanned skin and easy, charming smiles. They turned heads wherever they went, that's for sure. Wherever Sarissa went, men's eyes followed. And wherever her brother Salazar went, women's eyes followed him.
To be honest, I hadn't really interacted all that much with Salazar. He had a habit of giving me a weird look like he was imagining doing terrible and awful things to me and that kind of creeped me out.
Now, Sarissa though. She never creeped me out like her brother did. Really, by all rights, she probably should have intimidated me. Sarissa was an incredibly attractive woman. Her face was perfectly symmetrical, her body perfectly curved, and her eyes seemed to pierce into the soul of any man (or woman, really), she looked at.
The thing about Sarissa is that she was too attractive, and a part of me didn't really believe that she was really a real person. If she was only slightly less gorgeous, then the mere act of meeting her eyes would send me into spiral of terror, and I would do everything in my power to escape the interaction as soon as possible before I made a complete fool of myself. Luckily, since Sarissa looked like a slightly ridiculous person's erotic artwork, it was easy for me to interact with her without fear of intimidation, if that makes sense.
I'm rambling. The point is, I generally liked interacting with Sarissa.
She and her brother lived in an apartment over in the Barrows. It was a neighborhood composed primarily of buildings and homes that had been constructed haphazardly over many decades with no foresight or planning. Consequently, all the buildings gave the impression of having been tossed into a big giant pile and squeezed together.
They had a crate of potions on order, small enough that I could hold it under one arm while only kind of pretending that it wasn't heavy at all. Carrying it up to their door, I used my free hand to knock, then waited.
After a moment, the door opened, and I found myself looking into the most divinely crafted face I had ever seen.
"Hello, Corvus," Sarissa said with a smile, so soft upon her perfectly red lips. "What brings you here today?"
"Wanderlust," I said flatly.
She laughed. "You're so funny."
It was definitely one of the weirder things about Sarissa; she seemed to think even my lamest jokes were hilarious. I guess she was just easily amused.
"Thanks," I said with a smile of my own. No matter how lame my jokes were, having a beautiful woman laugh at them was always an ego boost. "Anyway, I've got your potions here." I gestured at the crate beneath my arm.
"Oh, that looks heavy," Sarissa said. It really wasn't that heavy. "Come in, come in, you can set that down inside." She placed her hand on my arm and gently guided me inside. "Put it down on the table," she told me, gesturing to the table in question. "You must be tired carrying that around. Would you like anything to drink?"
I shook my head. "No, thank you," I told her. "I'm alright. I only actually carried it for like half a minute."
"Well, stay here for a moment," Sarissa told me. I'd already put the box down, but Sarissa only just now took her hand off my arm. She was very touchy like that, I'd noticed. "Now, just wait here, I'll be right back."
She headed out of the room, walking in that sway she did that drew attention to her rear. I always wondered about that; surely she'd get exhausted walking like that everywhere? Honestly, there was a lot about Sarissa I didn't understand.
I stood in her apartment, looking around. This wasn't the first time I had been here; Sarissa always invited me in whenever I delivered to her. And then she always offered me food or drink. She was friendly like that. I breathed a sigh of relief that her brother was nowhere to be seen. I could never quite shake the feeling that I'd done something to anger him.
Sarissa returned a moment later, holding out a pendant. It looked like a simple trinket; a thin leather strap with a small clay plate hanging off of it. "I made this for you," Sarissa said. "It's a good luck charm."
I blinked. "Thanks," I said, uncertainly. "I, um, I don't have anything for you."
"That's alright," Sarissa said. "You brought me potions."
"You paid for those."
"And you brought them," Sarissa said. "This is a thank you gift for always bringing me my orders."
"It's… my job." This was uncharted territory for me.
"Still, let me say thanks," Sarissa said, shoving the pendant into my hands. She met my eyes. "Thank you."
Since I had no idea what was expected of me in this situation, I said the only thing I could think of. "You're welcome. And, um, thanks."
"Put it on."
I nodded, and looped the pendant around my neck. It hung loosely off me, the clay plate falling beneath the collar of my shirt.
Sarissa smiled at me. "Be sure to wear it," she said. "I promise it will bring you good luck." There was something in her voice that I couldn't quite place, but I couldn't stay and wonder about it. I had more deliveries to do.
"I will," I promised her. "But I need to go finish my deliveries."
"I know," Sarissa said. "Goodbye. I'll see you again soon."
In retrospect, I probably should have stopped to wonder what she meant by that.