"
Denise Campbell had started her career with Wallaby as a
financial analyst. Young and bright and a genius with numbers,
Denise's long record of successes had recently been rewarded by
Peter, who had promoted her to the role of CFO. With anguished
eyes, she faced Peter. "As a publicly held company, our first
obligation is to our shareholders."
Peter held up his hand again, stopping her before she could go
into a long-winded justification. "No verbosity, please, just a
yes or no." His eyes blazed.
She looked into her lap. "Yes," she said. "But Peter, you have to
stay on as - "
Eyes closed, he turned away from her with a disgusted expression
and a quick shake of his head.
Paul Crane, executive vice president of sales and marketing, was
regarded by everyone for his no-bullshit manner, which he now
demonstrated with a simple nod of his head.
Matthew stood off to the side, watching the process without
expression. It went on like this until the entire executive staff
was polled. Then Peter queried each of the visiting directors,
who had flown in from different parts of the country to attend
the meeting. Not a single no was spoken. When Matthew counted all
but the final response, he stiffened, awaiting the finale.
Peter knelt before Hank Towers.
"Hank," Peter said, his voice a desperate croak.
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