recommendation coming down directly from Copley, well...you were a candidate we frankly couldn’t overlook.”
The waiter brought the coffee. Mitchell wasted no time hoisting the cup to his mouth. He groaned with satisfaction. “Nowadays,” he said, “it really is about the simpler things.” He smiled, perhaps smirked, at Coe. “So how did you manage such high praise from Copley?”
Coe sipped his coffee before answering. There really was a difference in taste. He’d forgotten how good authentic coffee could be. “How did I manage the recommendation from Copley?” he asked, to buy time. He wanted to phrase his response just right. “Mr. Copley came to the attention of my work during a routine audit of the Research Department.”
There was the smirk again. “CFOs don’t do routine audits, especially of—and I don’t mean to sound hoi polloi here—less-skilled departments such as Research.”
“It was during a visit of the Philadelphia office,” Coe said, with confidence. “While touring the various departments, a representative from each section was asked to give a short presentation explaining the nature of our work. After, Mr. Copley was so impressed by my real-life example of a case file I had just completed, that he offered his assistance should I ever seek a promotion. That was two years ago. When the auditor position opened here at home office, I naturally sent him an electronic message requesting his word. I wasn’t sure he would even remember me.”
“Copley has a mind like an elephant,” Mitchell said. He laughed. “That certainly was a ballsy move, Coe. But it has obviously paid off.”
Coe relaxed a bit. He’d won him over for now.
They finished their coffee. Mitchell paid the bill. When he reached for his back pocket to retrieve his wallet, Coe noticed the revolver in the shoulder holster beneath his suit coat.
They stood under the canopy and waited for the valet to fetch the hover car.
Coe looked out over the rooftops. “It seems like a magnificent city. I’m excited to live here.”
“It rains too fucking much,” Mitchell said.
The Steele Corporation combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. Steele’s chemistry and innovation help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Steele’s diversified industry of advanced materials, agrosciences, and plastics produce a broad range of technology-based goods to customers in every country and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, and agriculture. It takes a special company to do what we do. It takes nerve. It takes STEELE...
Tony Diorenzo had a glob of mayonnaise in the corner of his mouth. “This is your mobile communicator,” he said, pushing the wireless phone toward him. “It’s NIB. Right out of the box. It has full AV capabilities. It copies, it faxes, it takes dictation, it remembers to send flowers on your anniversary—does everything but make coffee.” He scratched out the serial number on a form. “This here is your portable CRT,” he said, handing Coe a black leather briefcase.
Coe had seen them in use by the Philadelphia auditors. The briefcase opened up to reveal a keyboard and monitor. It was a fully functional CRT.
“Your desktop CRT isn’t ready yet,” Diorenzo said. “Blame that fuck-up Tate.” He caught himself. “That was crass. I apologize. I’m under the gun here to keep the equipment updated and functional. Things go a lot smoother with limited user-error. Get what I mean, amigo?”
“I will treat it like it’s my own,” Coe said.
“Most of the auditors do,” Diorenzo said. “It’s a good staff. It’s just one or two—hell...it’s not your problem.” He wrote down the portable CRT’s serial number on the form. “There’s one in every section. Archetypes. You know...Jung?
The waiter brought the coffee. Mitchell wasted no time hoisting the cup to his mouth. He groaned with satisfaction. “Nowadays,” he said, “it really is about the simpler things.” He smiled, perhaps smirked, at Coe. “So how did you manage such high praise from Copley?”
Coe sipped his coffee before answering. There really was a difference in taste. He’d forgotten how good authentic coffee could be. “How did I manage the recommendation from Copley?” he asked, to buy time. He wanted to phrase his response just right. “Mr. Copley came to the attention of my work during a routine audit of the Research Department.”
There was the smirk again. “CFOs don’t do routine audits, especially of—and I don’t mean to sound hoi polloi here—less-skilled departments such as Research.”
“It was during a visit of the Philadelphia office,” Coe said, with confidence. “While touring the various departments, a representative from each section was asked to give a short presentation explaining the nature of our work. After, Mr. Copley was so impressed by my real-life example of a case file I had just completed, that he offered his assistance should I ever seek a promotion. That was two years ago. When the auditor position opened here at home office, I naturally sent him an electronic message requesting his word. I wasn’t sure he would even remember me.”
“Copley has a mind like an elephant,” Mitchell said. He laughed. “That certainly was a ballsy move, Coe. But it has obviously paid off.”
Coe relaxed a bit. He’d won him over for now.
They finished their coffee. Mitchell paid the bill. When he reached for his back pocket to retrieve his wallet, Coe noticed the revolver in the shoulder holster beneath his suit coat.
They stood under the canopy and waited for the valet to fetch the hover car.
Coe looked out over the rooftops. “It seems like a magnificent city. I’m excited to live here.”
“It rains too fucking much,” Mitchell said.
The Steele Corporation combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. Steele’s chemistry and innovation help address many of the world’s most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Steele’s diversified industry of advanced materials, agrosciences, and plastics produce a broad range of technology-based goods to customers in every country and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, and agriculture. It takes a special company to do what we do. It takes nerve. It takes STEELE...
Tony Diorenzo had a glob of mayonnaise in the corner of his mouth. “This is your mobile communicator,” he said, pushing the wireless phone toward him. “It’s NIB. Right out of the box. It has full AV capabilities. It copies, it faxes, it takes dictation, it remembers to send flowers on your anniversary—does everything but make coffee.” He scratched out the serial number on a form. “This here is your portable CRT,” he said, handing Coe a black leather briefcase.
Coe had seen them in use by the Philadelphia auditors. The briefcase opened up to reveal a keyboard and monitor. It was a fully functional CRT.
“Your desktop CRT isn’t ready yet,” Diorenzo said. “Blame that fuck-up Tate.” He caught himself. “That was crass. I apologize. I’m under the gun here to keep the equipment updated and functional. Things go a lot smoother with limited user-error. Get what I mean, amigo?”
“I will treat it like it’s my own,” Coe said.
“Most of the auditors do,” Diorenzo said. “It’s a good staff. It’s just one or two—hell...it’s not your problem.” He wrote down the portable CRT’s serial number on the form. “There’s one in every section. Archetypes. You know...Jung?
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