white tile through the kitchen to her small gray-carpeted home office. She laid her purse and briefcase on the desk, tore her coat off, and threw it into the desk chair. After that she made her way to the living room, unlocked the front door in anticipation of Eileen’s arrival, kicked off her shoes, and flopped on the blue-flower-print couch.
She took a deep breath and forced the tension to leave her body. “Oh, that’s better.” She closed her eyes.
Two minutes later, a quiet knock announced Eileen’s arrival.
“Come in, Eileen! It’s unlocked.”
Eileen entered and sat on the arm of the couch. “Are you all right?”
Mary Lou sat up. “I’m at the end of my rope. Can’t you tell? I’m so ready to quit this job. If I didn’t make so much money, I would leave. Walt is unbearable. Usually Joe stands up for me, but I think even he’s getting tired of all the drama.”
Eileen slid from the couch arm onto the cushion. “Does Walt have a woman problem?”
Mary Lou scooted over to give Eileen more room. “What does that mean?”
Eileen shrugged one shoulder. “Some men can’t work with women. It’s a pride thing. Women scare them. And with you being so successful, Walt could feel threatened.”
“Threatened? He hired me. How could he be threatened? He owns the company. Besides, Walt Pederson is twice my size. He takes every opportunity to make fun of how short I am. No, you’re wrong there.”
Eileen grinned. “Yeah, well, elephants are afraid of mice. Go figure.”
Mary Lou welcomed the humorous thought. “Oh, I should remember that one. Next time Walt teases me about being short, I’ll just call him Dumbo.” She giggled. Then her face turned somber. “He would fire me. But you might be right about the woman thing. His wife is the quietest woman.”
Eileen nodded. “I’ll bet he’s intimidated her into submission. She’s as tiny as you are—no, she might be an inch taller than you. I remember her from high school. Not exactly a wallflower. She always had the popular girls around her. You know, the beautiful people. She was not the quiet woman she is today. I saw her and Walt at the country club a few weeks ago. Talk about Mutt and Jeff. But tell me—what happened today? What brought out all this anger?”
Mary Lou sucked in a deep breath. “Walt’s looking at the sales numbers for last year. From my monthly observations, I should be leading the team by quite a bit. Especially after the Zedlav, Alaska, fiasco.” She smiled to herself. “I’ve had a very good year. Anyway, he called a sales meeting just before quitting time to give his projections for year-end totals. About a month ago, Walt announced that the prize for top sales this year is a cruise to the Bahamas. Anyway, everyone’s excited to hear their numbers. I would love to win a cruise.”
Eileen leaned back into the couch. “Okay. Why are you so mad?”
“Because, after we got in there, he spent an hour telling us that he wasn’t going to give us the numbers until Friday. Then he said for us to get out of the office and make some lucrative deals for this year. He stuck out his foot and tripped me as I left the room. I fell flat on my face. I can still hear everyone laughing. And he says, ‘She’s all right. Didn’t fall far.’ He treats me worse than a dog.”
“The Bible says, ‘In your anger do not sin’—Ephesians 4:26. Be careful what you say and do when you’re angry.”
“I’m not going to do anything stupid. I like my income and everything else about the job. Besides, my credit card bills are staggering. Suing him would only make my life more miserable. Thank Heaven I have a sister to talk to. Otherwise I’d go nuts.”
Tuesday, January 15
Denver, Colorado
Before going into her office the next morning, Mary Lou stopped by Joe Gillespie’s office. She stuck her head in the door. “How we get any work done around here is a mystery to me.”
Her boss looked up from his computer. “Are you referring to all the practical jokes and partying? Well, yes. They certainly impact productivity.”
The latest joke had been on Joe. His expense account had been returned by Accounting, and Walt had brought it up at the meeting in front of all the agents. Mary Lou would never forget how the room literally shook as the six-foot-four three hundred-pound Walter Pederson used his booming voice to accuse Joe of abusing his expense account by including a new suit as a business expense. The look on Joe’s face had been priceless. Obviously, he didn’t have a clue as to what Walt was ranting about.
Walt loved center stage. Mary Lou remembered bracing herself, thinking that Walt would fire Joe. Instead Walt ended the tirade by telling Joe that if he needed a suit that bad, he would donate one of his personal suits to Joe. Walt’s roaring laugh then filled the room, and the rest of the men nervously joined in. Joe could fit in Walt’s suit with ample room left over for any of the other men in the room to join him.
Later, Mary Lou found out one of the salesmen had doctored Joe’s expense report as a practical joke.
Joe and Mary Lou shared the disability of being “vertically challenged,” as Walt referred to their heights. Joe’s stocky frame and dark, curly hair only added to his good looks. Between their similarities and the camaraderie from suffering from Walt’s frequent remarks, Joe counted on her for input every now and then.
Mary Lou shook off the remembrance. “Especially the practical jokes.”
Joe answered her with a serious expression. “Our job is to sell. What Walt does is his business. We need to sell enough to keep up with expenses, and that’s a challenge at times. That’s not why I called you in here. I wanted to give you a heads up.”
Yes, about what?”
“Walt hired another salesperson.”
She tilted her head. “He hired another salesperson? Why? We’ve got too many now.”
Joe grimaced. “He didn’t consult me. You know Walt. This fellow is originally from Texas, and I guess he knew Walt in college. In any case, Denny Adams starts Friday. I’ll be sending a memo out this afternoon. You’re assigned to show him how we do things here.”
Chapter Six
Friday, January 18
Denver, Colorado
Friday morning, Mary Lou made a special effort to get to the sales meeting early, anticipating her cruise to the Bahamas. One by one, the other members of her department ambled into the sterile conference room and found seats at the oversized table. Joe sat next to her. After all nineteen of them had arrived, Walt Pederson appeared in front of them.
Another man, unfamiliar to Mary Lou, walked into the room and took a chair against the wall. He nodded at Walt. Walt nodded back and smiled.
Mary Lou pressed her five-foot frame deeper into her chair. Is Walt Pederson the cross I must bear? God, I want You to deal with this man. After working for him for five years, I still have no idea what he will do or say. Just look at him, standing up there like
