Awakening, 2nd edition (22 page)

She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was clear that she had lost the momentum. The contact with the audience that she had just managed to establish began thinning rapidly and in less than ten minutes was gone altogether. She saw clearly that they were listening to her with cold, polite attention—but without a hint of interest. Of course, they didn ’t stop smiling; Chris ’s smile alone could ’ve illuminated the room had the sun decided to hide behind the clouds. But these smiles were fake, and their boredom was shining through. Only the expression on Brandon ’s face and the intent gaze of Robert ’s eyes remained unchanged .

These fake smiles maddened her. And once she beca me angry, she turned into the woman they had seen for a second in front of them ten minutes ago when she was speaking about a greedy power-seeking corporate monster —a decisive, rigid and uncompromising woman . Someone commanding respect, but not sympathy. A whistle -blowing bitch. And it was as a whistle -blowing bitch that she delivered the rest of her story, smiling almost furiously and barely concealing her irritation. As she was walking back to her seat, there was only one thought on her mind: Now these rascals will never vote for me!

“Time for a break?” asked Chris, checking his watch. “We ’ve been talking for two hours now. The stories are marvelous, by the way. Stella, you rock. So, back in ten minutes?”

“How do you like it so far?” Joan asked.

“It’s okay, ” said Stella. “At least it doesn ’t lull me off to sleep. What about you?”

Joan waited a second before answering. They were alone in the boardroom . Alex had disappeared somewhere as soon as Chris had uttered the word ‘break ’, closely followed by Robert . A s for everyone else, Chris had taken them to the balcony , “For a breath of fresh air .” Stella ’s initial inclination was to join them, but the fresh memories of her fiasco made her change her mind and stay indoors .

Now the two women , smiling sweetly at each other , talked at the deserted table. Something in the way they spoke and held themselves made them look like a couple of watchful cats, circling each other, ready at any moment to spring away or to attack with their razor-sharp claws.

“Yeah, it’s okay, ” Joan said finally. “Not exactly what I expected, but okay.”

Stella nodded in understanding.

“Yep. It was hard to expect anything , actually. What they had given us upfront was too murky.”

They went silent.

“That thing you said this morning . . .” said Joan, cautiously breaking the silence. “So, do you know anything?”

“What’s that?”

“You said something about playing fair, about the line you don ’t want us to cross . . . Was this just in case, sort of preventive medicine, or do you know for sure that something sleazy has been going on?”

“Ah, that,” Stella smiled lightly. “Funny, I had the impression you weren ’t too happy about that discussion.”

“What?” Joan was clearly surprised by this observation. “No, not at all.”

“Is that an honest answer?”

Joan’s smile vanished.

“Yes, it is, ” she said, with haughty notes in her voice. “I don ’t see why you would doubt my honesty.”

“Fine,” Stella didn ’t mind smiling alone. “Then you can safely assume that it was pure ly in terms of preventive medicine.”

“Safely assume . . . What ’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that my answer is as honest as the one you just gave me. There are only two of us in this boys ’ club, and of course we support each other wholeheartedly. So we ’re done, right?”

Joan sighed heavily.

“All right. Suppose I was irritated by your little speech this morning.”

“Suppose I have some information.”

Stella fell silent again.

“And?”

“And what? You and I have just shared our hunches. Is there anything else to talk about?”

“I wasn’t happy, ” Joan said grimly, “because it seemed to me that you were trying to turn everybody against everybody else.”

“The information I have is rather curious, ” Stella parried.

“But now I see that I was wrong about your intentions.”

“But come to think of it, this information may prove to be completely useless.”

“What else do you expect me to say?” Joan asked dryly.

“The same thing Clark wan ted from us yesterday : t he truth.”

“I’ve already told you the truth.”

“And I’ve told you everything I kn o w, ” Stella rose to her feet, setting her jacket straight. “Guess we can go and get some fresh air.”

“Fine,” Joan ’s voice became unmistakably stiff. “I wasn ’
t happy about your speech, because it was taking attention away from me. Although it beats me why you ’
d want to make me say that.”

Stella returned to her seat.

“Because there ’s enough scheming going on here without us adding to it .”

“What do you make of Michael?” she asked without any segue.

“He’s good, ” Joan said briefly. “Why?”

Stella studied her accurately manicured fingernails with utmost attention.

“In case you ’ve been considering, ” she lifted he head, “voting for him, there ’s an interesting piece of information to take into account.”

A wary expression appeared on Joan’s face.

“Are we talking about voting already?”

“Oh no, of course we ’re not , ” Stella once again studied the results of her manicuring efforts and apparently found them satisfactory. “You ’re right, it ’s too early to talk about voting. But there ’re things you may find useful.”

“Like what?”

“Like the little conversation that took place yesterday at the bar. After you and I left, Michael waited until half of the guys left too and then gave everyone who stayed an earful about his relationships with his wife. The way he put it, he used to show that woman her place on a regular basis. In other words, he had been abusing her for year s . He spent at least half an hour telling them how important it was to teach women a lesson and how they should be forever grateful to men for letting them have fun at men ’s expense. His wife had finally had enough and filed for divorce and took everything poor Michael had been sweating for, but he hired a good lawyer and once again put her where she belonged—this time for good.”

Joan shook her head in disguise.

“What a pig. He seems like such a nice guy. But why did he bother to boast about it? And what does this have to do with the voting?”

“Everything. Some of our boys liked the story. Our fearless cutie leader Chris, for example, said that this was the only way to treat those bitches. And our manliest man on Earth Robert didn ’t mind hearing the story either. He was very pragmatic about it and reminded everyone to be always watchful with physical abuse. In this country, he said, you can take anyone to court and prove anything you want as long you have enough money. Michael said that was exactly his point. Anyway, yesterday night a close-knit fraternity was formed at the bar , with Michael as the founder and life and soul of the party.”

Joan looked askance at the balcony, where Michael was discussing something with Chris.

“You’d never think he ’s a wife-beater. So if he— Wait, ” she glanced at Stella with doubt. “How come you know about this?”

Stella opened her hands.

“Michael miscalculated the reaction of one of his listeners.”

“Who?”

“Would you tell me if you were in my place?” Stella asked innocently.

Joan’s face lengthened.

“I think you would, ” Stella was thinking out loud. “So, I ’m going to tell you , too. Kevin.”

“Kevin?”

“That’s right.”

“And why all of a sudden did he decide to tell you?”

“Who knows,” Stella ’s jovial eyes were sparkling as if saying , “You ’re not the only one who get the men ’s attention here .”

“Do you believe him?”

“Pretty much. Something bad had happened to his family and he was extremely pissed off at that story. Said Michael was an animal .”

“What about
his family?
”

“Can’t say, he was very vague about it . It ’s definitely an effort for him to discuss the subject. All I gathered from his mumbling was that there had been an accident and his wife had died—either alone or with the kids. And it wasn ’t too long ago.”

“Oh my . . . What a shame.”

“It is,” said Stella. “So he of all people is not going to vote for Michael.”

Joan fell into thought .

“Speaking of voting, ” she said finally, as if still in doubt whether it was wise to continue, “what if—”

But she had to break off—the boys ’ club emerged boisterously from the balcony.

“No way,” Chris was saying, continuing the conversation that had been started outside. “They don’t stand a chance this season . Not with that roster.”

“No so fast, ” Brandon was objecting . “What about Kremer? This is the first time he’s ever played for them.”

“Kremer’s good, but one man can ’t save them.”

“Of course he can. And he will!”

“Shall we start?” asked Stella.

And she added in an undertone to Joan , “Later.”

“Right, it’s time to get started, ” Chris agreed with a loud enthusiasm. “The break is over. Who ’s next?”

“I am,” Paul said lazily. “But you ’re dead wrong about this season.”

Paul’s speech turned out to be a shocking surprise. What they’d expected : a sarcastic narrative full of caustic comments about a boy who ’d grown up fighting tirelessly against an army of idiots and lousy workers . What he delivered : well thought -through, captivating, ironic, but at the same time in no way cynical story of someone who had decided what he wanted to do with his life while still a teen and who by his thirties was leading a large team of first-class professionals working on challenging and interesting problems. And although Paul didn ’t match Alan ’s soft humor, his speech definitely stirred more interest than just Stella ’s.

In one aspect, though , Paul ’s performance seemed to match Alan ’s precisely. His eyes were pausing on Joan ’s face much more often than anyone else ’s. As for Joan, she was smiling enigmatically throughout the entire presentation.

Brandon was next, and this time there were no surprises. He had plenty of stories to share, and he was laying them out one after another with the simplistic attitude of a man who knows his worth and doesn ’t care about draping his words in nice outfits. He spoke of ruthless loans, endless and tiring attempts to combine college studies with night shifts, and of that stupid broken bone that almost made him walk away from his degree at the end of his second college year. There were the first screw-ups at work , and first conflicts , and the first non-trivial decision, which in the end was nothing but the impetuous impulse of an inexperienced youth. There was a great deal in those simple words and short phrases. He talked sparingly and not nearly as vividly as those who had spoken before him, but his sparse speech hinted at the kind s of dramas that made others ’ challenges look easy and insignificant.

“Very impressive, ” said Chris when Brandon finished. “Our process works, no question about it. Mike, you rock. Now let ’s go get some food.”

The process works, the process works . . . Exactly! The damn process works! That ’s the whole point! Chris gloomily looked out the window at nature having its summer fest. That ’s the point . . .