Rick McGee and send him to my office. Do that now.’
‘Okay,’ I said, walking away. ‘Thanks.’
‘Onward and upward, Mister Dante.’
My boss spent the rest of his day conducting interrogations.His secretary, Elaine, was up and down his office steps twenty times, a yellow legal tablet tucked under her arm. Jimmi and McGee were called in. And a guy in the parking lot that afternoon who had seen me with my face bleeding as I left work, Bowen Kessler.
The next morning, Tuesday, I was writing up an order when Kammegian’s secretary tapped me on the arm then stuck a ‘Post-It’ note by my telephone. The Post-It read, ‘8.17 a.m. You’re wanted in Mr Kammegian’s office.’
Upstairs, my boss was waiting, hands folded on the desk in front of him. ‘Sit down, Dante,’ he snapped.
I did what he said. But as I did, he lurched to his feet, then paced to the bay window overlooking the sales floor. He began flipping the blind open and closed by pulling its strings one at a time. An imitation of Field Marshall Rommel pondering a Panzer deployment.
Nervous, knowing something bad was coming, my eyes came to rest on the shiny pencil holder by his desk. The supply had been replenished.
Finally, he abandoned the window to walk around behind my chair. I could feel him there, his hands on the backrest near my neck. ‘Does the name Todd B. Baskin mean anything to you?’ he half hissed. ‘Has Frankie Freebase ever mentioned that person?’
‘No.’
‘This spring, Dante, a low snake coward saboteur named Todd Bennington Baskin betrayed me, violated his fiduciary responsibility to Orbit Computer Products, and was arrested for theft. Baskin was once a highly-respected commando at Orbit Computer Products. My V.P. of Marketing with an income of over 200k per year. My left hand.
‘Left hand?’
‘My higher power, the God I’ve come to know and experiencethrough the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, is my right hand. Baskin was my left hand.’
‘Okay. Right.’
‘Question, Dante: Why would a man, a highly successful, trusted man, a man with a 2,200 square foot condo in Beverly Hills and partnerships in three shopping centers, a man with an honorable discharge from the United States Navy, risk everything, his entire career and his freedom, over a petty obsession? Can you answer that?’
‘I have no idea. Was he a wine drinker?’
‘Baskin burgled his reorder account books and several vital account history CD’s from these premises in an attempt to open his own computer supplies operation: a felony. Of course, his attempt failed and he was apprehended.’
‘And I hope the jerk got what was coming to him.’
‘May I continue?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘A staff sales person who was working late the night of the crime witnessed Baskin skulking around outside in the parking lot, then smuggling a box of company files into the trunk of his car. The act was later verified by our exterior surveillance video camera. The point, Dante, is that someone stepped forward. That person knew Baskin; they were friends actually, but his loyalty to Orbit Computer Products exceeded his personal concerns.’
‘Great. Crackerjack.’
‘Stand up, please.’
I stood up.
Kammegian was in front of me. He started to say something then paused a moment—the death pause—then he handed me an envelope.
‘What’s this?’ I asked.
‘Open it.’
Inside was a payroll check for three hundred and eleven dollars along with a pink form paperclipped to the top. The form read NOTICE OF TERMINATION. I tried to hand it back. ‘I want another chance,’ I said.
‘You’ve been writing front-call orders for Ms Valiente. You’ve been fucking her. Both you and McGee. You erased your own name on your sales orders, then filled in her I.D. number.’
‘I’m in love with her.’
‘You’re fired. Get out of my office.’
Chapter Ten
YOU SLEEP.
Sometimes, in a panic, you wake up in the middle of the night, not knowing where you are. Bolt
‘Okay,’ I said, walking away. ‘Thanks.’
‘Onward and upward, Mister Dante.’
My boss spent the rest of his day conducting interrogations.His secretary, Elaine, was up and down his office steps twenty times, a yellow legal tablet tucked under her arm. Jimmi and McGee were called in. And a guy in the parking lot that afternoon who had seen me with my face bleeding as I left work, Bowen Kessler.
The next morning, Tuesday, I was writing up an order when Kammegian’s secretary tapped me on the arm then stuck a ‘Post-It’ note by my telephone. The Post-It read, ‘8.17 a.m. You’re wanted in Mr Kammegian’s office.’
Upstairs, my boss was waiting, hands folded on the desk in front of him. ‘Sit down, Dante,’ he snapped.
I did what he said. But as I did, he lurched to his feet, then paced to the bay window overlooking the sales floor. He began flipping the blind open and closed by pulling its strings one at a time. An imitation of Field Marshall Rommel pondering a Panzer deployment.
Nervous, knowing something bad was coming, my eyes came to rest on the shiny pencil holder by his desk. The supply had been replenished.
Finally, he abandoned the window to walk around behind my chair. I could feel him there, his hands on the backrest near my neck. ‘Does the name Todd B. Baskin mean anything to you?’ he half hissed. ‘Has Frankie Freebase ever mentioned that person?’
‘No.’
‘This spring, Dante, a low snake coward saboteur named Todd Bennington Baskin betrayed me, violated his fiduciary responsibility to Orbit Computer Products, and was arrested for theft. Baskin was once a highly-respected commando at Orbit Computer Products. My V.P. of Marketing with an income of over 200k per year. My left hand.
‘Left hand?’
‘My higher power, the God I’ve come to know and experiencethrough the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, is my right hand. Baskin was my left hand.’
‘Okay. Right.’
‘Question, Dante: Why would a man, a highly successful, trusted man, a man with a 2,200 square foot condo in Beverly Hills and partnerships in three shopping centers, a man with an honorable discharge from the United States Navy, risk everything, his entire career and his freedom, over a petty obsession? Can you answer that?’
‘I have no idea. Was he a wine drinker?’
‘Baskin burgled his reorder account books and several vital account history CD’s from these premises in an attempt to open his own computer supplies operation: a felony. Of course, his attempt failed and he was apprehended.’
‘And I hope the jerk got what was coming to him.’
‘May I continue?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘A staff sales person who was working late the night of the crime witnessed Baskin skulking around outside in the parking lot, then smuggling a box of company files into the trunk of his car. The act was later verified by our exterior surveillance video camera. The point, Dante, is that someone stepped forward. That person knew Baskin; they were friends actually, but his loyalty to Orbit Computer Products exceeded his personal concerns.’
‘Great. Crackerjack.’
‘Stand up, please.’
I stood up.
Kammegian was in front of me. He started to say something then paused a moment—the death pause—then he handed me an envelope.
‘What’s this?’ I asked.
‘Open it.’
Inside was a payroll check for three hundred and eleven dollars along with a pink form paperclipped to the top. The form read NOTICE OF TERMINATION. I tried to hand it back. ‘I want another chance,’ I said.
‘You’ve been writing front-call orders for Ms Valiente. You’ve been fucking her. Both you and McGee. You erased your own name on your sales orders, then filled in her I.D. number.’
‘I’m in love with her.’
‘You’re fired. Get out of my office.’
Chapter Ten
YOU SLEEP.
Sometimes, in a panic, you wake up in the middle of the night, not knowing where you are. Bolt
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