[for explanation, disclaimers and (possibly) what came before, see the last couple of days. And I know that the cover above does not exactly fit... Oh, it clashes!!!! ]
His wife’s ideas weren’t always brilliant, he thought as he angrily punched the elevator button, but they were a far sight better than those held by his co-workers. I mean, where did that receptionist woman come up with the idea of putting a frilly brown cover on the waiting room couch? Not only is it frumpy on its own, but the picture on the wall depicts a modern steel sculpture, full of sharp lines and sophisticated curves. So the couch now sits, ignorantly clashing with its surroundings. As the elevator doors opened, he straightened his tie and squared his shoulders, prepared to stride coldly past the uncultured receptionist. But when he passed her desk, he gave her his usual nod and wink, not precisely flirting, but if she chose to interpret it that way, he couldn’t help it, could he.
“Good morning, sir,” she simpered. She pushed a tall cup of hot coffee across the desk towards him. “Fresh and hot for you.” “Why thank you Miss Martha,” he said, deliberately keeping at bay the sneering tone she deserved for trying to bribe him. You really did need the receptionist on your side. When he had left the night before, a passing thought told him he had let just a tad too much scorn regarding her decorating skills poke through. But her servility this morning told him that he must in fact have played exactly the right tone, all the while keeping the exact subject of his scorn unspoken. It was better not to let a person know precisely how he had failed to measure up. Keeps them on their toes, just to know that you have an edge.
He stepped briskly into his office and set the coffee on the desk. He carefully hung his coat on the door and took the papers out of his briefcase, aligning them precisely on the empty desk. Always leave the desk empty when you go home. He rolled up his sleeves, a moment in the day that he always enjoyed. It showed his co-workers that he was getting down to serious work. As was his habit, he did not turn on the computer until he had reviewed the last night’s work and made a plan for the day.
“Good morning,” said his boss, poking his head in the door. “Getting down to some serious work, I see.” Chump, he thought, but out loud he said, “Good morning sir. I’ve got the numbers ready for the 9:00 meeting with Dyson’s. Did you want to review them ahead of time?” “Are they what we expected?” “Exactly what you said they would be.” “Then I don’t need to see them. Just make sure they’re well-formatted and be ready to summarize them in a couple succinct sentences.” “Yes sir.” His boss walked away. Really. What did the boss think he did? Not well-formatted? That he was ever not succinct and clear? That the boss should even tell him something like that was insulting. If the man would stoop off his high horse and deign to look at someone else’s handiwork he could see beautiful formatting for himself. See how it’s done.
The morning email was quickly disposed of. He didn’t understand why people said never to answer email immediately. If you know what you want to say, say it efficiently and press send. He went to the conference room, inwardly groaning at the motley crew that had been sent as a delegation. You couldn’t criticize a client, of course, but no one should wear sneakers with a business suit. The meeting droned on and on. Perhaps there was some negative reinforcement here on how not to run a meeting that would serve him well at his next position. He made a suggestion that he knew would speed matters along. His boss was polite (couldn’t be rude in front of the clients of course), but rejected his contribution so smoothly that only he knew how rudely dismissive the man had been of his excellent idea.
Hi Francoise, looks like you have got really into the challenge. It an interesting cover in that (as you say) - the cover is at odds with the title but that in itself represents the title! If you are seeing the covers as a series of books it fits into the set beautifully as well.
