I Sharmi Diamond Ep-37
- Me
The room the manager led me to was very small. A table and sofa were arranged in the same manner as downstairs, with the tabletop illuminated by a spotlight. I felt a bit nervous until the manager returned. I looked around. There was a rotating CCTV camera in that room, taking approximately 45 seconds to turn from right to left and back. Despite the nervousness, I had been repeatedly instructed not to show it. I casually crossed my legs and sat back expansively on the sofa, chewing my gum regally with both arms spread out.
The manager returned with a smile, as if he had thoroughly inquired about me and was now convinced. I smiled too. The salesman came in carrying two trays. He opened a small velvet pouch, showed it to me, and then gently released the diamonds from the pouch onto the velvet tray placed on the table. As the diamonds, freed from the pouch like stars, displayed their spectral colors under the spotlight, a slight shiver ran through my body. There were 20 stones in total. I took another chewing gum from my pocket and unwrapped it, putting the wrapper in my other pocket. The salesman and the manager watched my every move intently.
He showed me each diamond and offered me a jeweller's loupe, which magnifies for close inspection. I put it in my right eye like an expert, held the diamond at the tip of the tweezers he gave me, pretending to hold it loosely above the tray, and brought it close to my eye. The cut design of the diamond, magnified by the loupe, was even more precise. I didn't have time to check how many carats it was, its worth, or the special features of its cut. All these preparations were just to take one stone. But I had to act as if I knew all this. I had been told not to rush.
I picked up each stone, pretended to examine it intensely, and then placed it back in the same spot. "I don't like any of them," I said. There was disappointment on their faces. The salesman was showing each diamond again to the manager, who was near the velvet pouch, and putting them inside. As I got up, saying, "Shall I leave?", the manager's hand pressed down on my shoulder, making me sit back down. "Sir, one diamond is missing, sir," the salesman said.
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