The Taming of the Shrew

Chapter 2

2
Around the same time that Miriam was receiving her dreadful news, her second in command, Wanda Fortune crept gleefully towards the water cooler.  This was a signal to the staff, which scurried to gather around her, curious at her cheerful expression.  Wanda was a tall and beautiful black woman, whose sharp wits were matched only by her skills of observation.  It was she who often fed the staff bits and pieces of information which trickled down to her.  Of course, today’s tidbit was particularly juicy.  She was surprised that she didn’t blurt it out to the first person she saw.
“Alright Wanda, out with it already,” Guy Yearwood declared, pushing a lock of honey brown hair out of his face.  He worked in Receivables, and in his spare time, which was often, he enjoyed flirting with women who were either ignorant of his ways or didn’t care.  Wanda was surprised an outbreak of chlamydia hadn’t occurred as yet.  What women saw in him, she had yet to spot.  Wanda was the type to delay information in order to create suspense. So she waited for a few seconds longer till they practically fidgeted with anticipation.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she began finally, “the most fantastic news has come to my attention.”  She paused again to gauge their attention level.  Satisfied, she continued.
“Our most esteemed assistant vice president,” she paused again to allow for the scoffs and scornful laughter, “has been assigned a consultant.”
“The poor devil,” Penelope Davis, a chubby blonde said sympathetically.  Others voiced their agreement.
“Not so, my dear colleagues,” Wanda corrected, “for our new consultant will be one and the same with her, our assistant VP.”
“Will you stop talking in riddles and just say what you have to say?” said Alicia Templeton exasperatedly.  Her curly dark hair – the product of her mixed heritage- bounced as she spoke.
“What I said, or am trying to say is, the consultant will be her equal,” replied Wanda, feeling slightly fatigued.  Gosh, these people here were slow!  The company was stunned at first, then excited chatter followed.
“Gosh, what do you think will happen now?”
“She must be shitting bricks by now.”
“I’d have loved to be a fly on the wall when she received that news.”
“Serves her right, the frigid bitch.”  Wanda grinned at the remarks.
“It gets even better,” she said.  Everyone simultaneously leaned in to hear.  “The consultant is coming here…”  Wait for it, she thought, “…tomorrow.”
A chorus of excited voices assaulted her ears in response.  Wanda didn’t stay to hear anymore remarks.  She walked slowly back to her desk, enjoying the furor she caused.
‘Take that,’ she thought, grinning as she walked.

********************* 

In a hotel not too far from downtown, Dexter Barnabas finally relaxed himself on the bed and turned on the TV.  Since his arrival two days ago, he had been familiarizing himself with Knightons’ finances for the past 5 years.  They were definitely impressive, he thought, and with a few, of what he thought, minor changes, they would be poised for a possible takeover of the North American market.  He had some suggestions, but preferred to wait till he got an overall feel of the department.  ‘And that starts tomorrow,’ he thought.  Flipping through the channels aimlessly, he managed to find the Bloomberg channel, which he watched distractedly.

He switched off the television after a half an hour, now bored and tired.  He wished he’d thought of bringing a few books to read.  He wasn’t hungry- room service saw to that.  There was nothing left for him to do but go to bed- and technically, he was.  He jumped off his bed and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and relieve himself, then returned to his spot.  Better go to bed early to rise early well rested and refreshed, he thought as he pulled up the covers.  They don’t need to see Mr. Hyde so soon, and that’s exactly who he was whenever he was sleep deprived.  Clearing his mind of any thoughts, Dexter concentrated on counting backwards slowly from 10,000 and was soon fast asleep.