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Despite the recharging from his daughter, Norman was exhausted by the time he got the kids fed and put the dinner for Gwen and him in the microwave. He sent the kids to get ready for their baths and went to unload the dishwasher. He had a fistful of forks and spoons when Gwen came through the kitchen door.
Norman didn't drop his silverware or allow her to set her briefcase down before he grabbed her and kissed her deeply, seeking yet another charging for his dying battery. She responded warmly to the kiss. As soon as it was finished, she began talking about her day.
"It's finally happening," she said. "Rod asked me to honcho the Human Resources accounting project. He said to me, and these are his exact words, he said to me, 'I want real accounts set up. I want something we can manage.' "
Norman liked to see his wife happy. And he was glad she was too excited to remember their argument from the night before. Maybe they would be able to bury it again.
"Gee, that's great. The kids are getting ready for their baths."
"I'll just say hello to them." She finally began unbuttoning her coat. "You finish making dinner." She hurried toward the doorway, shucking her coat as she walked, then stopped. She turned around, one arm still in a sleeve, and her eyes shone as brightly as they had the day their daughter was born.
"I'm supposed to give a presentation on it this weekend at the company-wide meeting. If I can make it work, it could mean a vice presidency."
"I know you can make it work." Norman had forgotten about her company-wide meeting. He had gotten Gwen to agree not to stay over Saturday night, but she was going to have to be there all day both days of the weekend.
She smiled broadly, then headed off toward the bathroom.
Norman wondered how Gwen would have liked working for Pierce--whether she would be able to tolerate his extraordinarily intelligent perspective.
Half an hour later, Gwen had extracted a promise from the kids to put on clean pajamas after their baths were finished, and she came into the dining room to sit down at the table Norman had laid.
"Anything new on the acquisition today?"
"I met the new owners' hatchet man today," said Norman.
Gwen lit up at the prospect of new information, but before she could pump Norman for details, the telephone rang out in the kitchen. They looked at each other.
"You got dinner." Gwen stood up. "It's my turn for the telephone."
Norman shrugged and sagged back against his chair.
He could hear her talking in the kitchen, although he couldn't make out anything specific. But she was gone for more than a minute, so he assumed it was her call. Probably someone from her staff making more arrangements for the weekend meeting.
He was chewing his third or fourth bite when Gwen returned to the dining room.
"It's for you."
He looked with both annoyance and puzzlement at the remaining chicken. "Is it Pierce?"
Gwen nodded as she sat down. "What a charming man."
It's funny she would describe him that way. Norman felt rather like that about him, too, and he and Gwen didn't often like the same people. He tossed his napkin on the table without folding it and stood up. "Don't wait for me."
Norman wondered if Gwen had pumped Pierce for information about the acquisition. He wouldn't doubt it. Gwen was pretty good at getting information from people. It was one of the things that made her so effective in her job. He found himself struggling with irritability when he picked up the phone.
"Norman. You called today." Pierce's soothing voice made him forget about his annoyance and his unfinished chicken. "What can I do for you?"
Norman described to him Jacqueline's pitch for reorganizing the department, reminding him at several points in the story that Pierce had asked him to help find employees like Jacqueline.
Pierce questioned him a little then made a decision. "Bring her to my office tomorrow at six p.m. The three of us will talk about this together."
The next day, Jacqueline seemed pleased at the idea of meeting with Norman and Pierce, and it occurred to Norman that she felt it as important to get close to power as to have her ideas heard. In fact, it was probably even more important. Maybe she would grow out of that some day.
It was Friday, and everybody else cleared out of the department by five. Norman sat at his desk, doing nothing as the darkness crept over the parking lot outside. It was said Ackerman's car had been in the nearest row of the far lot when he got in it and blew his brains out. Norman hadn't seen it happen, of course, except in his mind's eye, which replayed its own version of the event for him at times he least expected it.
He saw the Ackerman leaving Pressman's office with a stony face. Pressman might even have been a little concerned that he looked like he was taking the news of his layoff too calmly. The man didn't go back to his own desk, but after giving Pressman his i.d. card, walked out to his car. He climbed in the car, opened the glove compartment, and took out a pistol he kept there. It was a .38 probably, or maybe a nine millimeter. Norman imagined the Ackerman then turning the gun upside down and putting the muzzle into his mouth. It clicked against his teeth, and its metal taste was strange but not really unpleasant. He moved the muzzle around a little until he was sure it was pointing directly at the roof of his mouth, then he pulled the trigger.
Norman wondered if he had closed his eyes before he pulled the trigger. He wondered what went through the man's mind. How could he possibly think a job was important enough to kill himself over? He and Gwen had argued about Ackerman several times. Norman was of the opinion that Ackerman's suicide was the inevitable consequence of losing one's perspective on his job. Gwen tried to insist that he was obviously unbalanced to begin with.
Of course Gwen felt that way. She'd long ago lost any perspective on her job, and she didn't want to believe she was at risk. He wondered what would happen if Gwen were laid off and committed suicide. He wondered what he would tell the kids if that happened. Norman sighed. At least she didn't own a gun.
"Norman?"
He looked up, and Jacqueline was standing in the doorway, staring at him with eyes the color and intensity of the flames on a gas range. He glanced at his watch and saw it was a few minutes to six.
"Time to go, huh?" He got up and looked around his office. He decided he'd just leave his coat and briefcase here and stop back to get them after the meeting. "I imagine an evening meeting spoils your weekend, Jacqueline." He hoped Gwen got home early to be with the kids, as they'd agreed. The nanny didn't like to have to stay late, and they couldn't afford to lose this one.
"You don't have to worry about that, Norman."
He looked at Jacqueline, and she looked as serious as ever. She was wearing another power suit. He wasn't sure, but he thought the stripe was even more pronounced this time. Norman wondered if Pierce would be equal to dealing with her. For that matter, he wondered if anything would come of her re-engineering plan.
"Shall we go then?"
Jacqueline stepped out of the doorway to let him pass and lead the way to Pierce's office on the fifth floor.
They walked in silence to the elevator. Norman knew he should probably make small talk with her, but he also knew she wasn't much better at small talk than he was. So they rode without speaking.
The fifth floor was as deserted as the Human Resources Department on the third floor, and most of the lights were off. Norman and Jacqueline walked through the gloom to Pierce's office.
They stepped around the secretary's empty desk, and Norman tapped on the door. It was almost thirty-six hours since he had last done this.
"Come in," said Pierce's voice, and the door opened into the same inky shadows Norman had seen in here before. Jacqueline seemed taken aback a little, but Norman walked into the darkness toward the halogen desk lamp as naturally as if he'd taken a B-school course on meeting your boss in the dark.
Pierce was standing in the shadows behind the desk.
"Pierce," said Norman, "this is Jacqueline. She's the Assistant Manager of Human Resources."
"Please sit down," said Pierce.
There were two chairs facing his desk, so Norman sat in one. He noticed as he sat that the desk lamp was arranged to shine directly into his eyes. He looked away and saw Jacqueline fumbling a little to seat herself in the other chair. She was not unattractive in this light. From the side, Norman couldn't see her contact lenses. Her black hair gleamed where the light caught it, and when she turned her head to look away from the desk lamp, she showed an expanse of creamy white neck.
Norman thought he discerned movement on the other side of the desk, and he wondered if Pierce might shake hands this time. But the movement stopped.
"I'm glad to meet you, Mr. Pierce," said Jacqueline.
"That's right," said Jacqueline.
"There's been an acquisition." Pierce did not step into the light, and he looked as featureless as a shadow--a short one--behind the desk.
"An excellent opportunity for reassessing the old structures," said Jacqueline.
Norman, first squinting into the desk lamp, then looking back at Jacqueline, felt more like he was watching television than participating in a business meeting. He wondered if he should try to contribute anything.
"All the budgets are currently being reevaluated," said the shadow.
"I'm not talking about more money," said Jacqueline, "just a new way of looking at our work. Have you ever heard of re-engineering?"
Norman expected Pierce to whip out his blank paper, but his boss just sounded cagey.
"Fads and fashion," said the shadow.
"Not at all," said Jacqueline. "It's an idea whose time has come. At least for this company."
Norman thought Jacqueline was getting dangerously close to threats here. He didn't know Pierce yet, but he didn't think he was the type to intimidate easily. In any case, an employee is not supposed to criticize the company to the head of the company. Norman wished Jacqueline were more diplomatic.
That was a pretty clear threat. Nobody spoke for what seemed a minute or more. Norman looked at Jacqueline, who shaded her eyes as she stared defiantly toward the desk lamp. It's not a well-accepted management technique, but he wanted to get up and shake her. Just shake her until she began to get some perspective and behave like a more responsible person. What was so important about her idea that she could risk disrupting things over it? Jacqueline continued to stare into the shadows where Pierce was standing. Norman concluded that she knew just how risky this behavior was; she just didn't care. He looked back toward the desk lamp and the dark shape behind it, but he couldn't see anything back there now.
Then things happened too quickly for him to comprehend. He thought he heard a rustling off toward his side, but before he could look over, something passed in front of the halogen desk lamp, and he realized it was Pierce's head. The man's face, completely enshrouded in darkness, was suddenly directly in front of his own, about six inches from it, blocking out the desk lamp and filling his field of vision, such as it was.
"I must tell you," said Pierce in a soft, relaxed monotone, "how gratifying it is to see such self-assertion in the junior management staff. Where have you been hiding this young woman, Norman?"
Norman smelled the soapy odor of his breath again. He started to say something, but his tongue and lips were too dry. A kind of grunt issued from his throat.
"Oh, I wasn't asking for an answer, Norman." Pierce's voice was both soft and soothing. "I just meant this is an unexpected level of management talent. Ackerman's treachery led me to believe this organization had no spine."
Norman wanted to ask Pierce what he meant by treachery, but he didn't feel it was polite to cough or clear his throat when Pierce's face was so close to his.
Then, without making a sound, Pierce moved off toward Jacqueline's chair. Norman thought this was all very strange, and he felt unaccountably sleepy. Sluggish with fatigue, he managed to look over at Jacqueline in the chair beside him. She was staring at Pierce, who was approaching her just as closely as he had approached Norman. Pierce's white hair gleamed in the light of the desk lamp.
Pierce bent low over her, and moved around so his back hid her from Norman's view. Norman was exhausted, and his mind began distorting his perception. He thought it looked as if his boss was getting ready to embrace the woman. She was an Assistant Manager of Human Resources, for goodness' sake.
A soft moan sounded. It was not a sound of pain, but the sigh of one who has given up control. It was not a sound Norman ever would have expected to hear from Jacqueline.
Norman could feel himself surrendering to his exhaustion. He hoped they wouldn't notice he was falling asleep during a meeting. Then he thought he heard Jacqueline moan again, but he didn't know if he wasn't already dreaming.
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