Page 17 of Storm of Bells
I lowered the horn. Just before I put it downonto its holder, I heard a faint cackle.
Oh dear.
Could it be that my brilliant advertisingcampaign hadn’t gone quite as expected?
Nonsense! I was a strong, confident woman! Ihad to believe in my work and myself. Stepping forward withdetermination, I approached Mr Ambrose’s office door and raised myhand to knock—then hesitated.
Cautiously, I drew my hand back.
Then moved it forward again.
Then back.
Hm…could you knock at a door without actuallytouching the wood? Could you be a strong, confident woman whilehiding under a desk? Maybe it was time to do an experiment on thesubject.
I took a step back.
‘Come in, Mr Linton,’ came a cool, commandingvoice from the other side of the door.
Crap, crap, crap!
Grasping the doorknob and praying it gotstuck, I pushed.
The door swung open.
Thanks so much, God!
‘Mr Ambrose?’ Cautiously, I stuck my head inthe door and immediately noticed the freezing temperature. Oh dear.This was not good. ‘You, um…wanted to see me, Sir?’
‘Indeed. Close the door.’
‘Certainly, Sir.’
‘Aftercoming inside.’
‘Oh.’Damn!‘As you wish, Sir.’
I stepped inside, and the door closed behindme with a click.
Mr Ambrose was sitting at his desk, hisfingers steepled, a newspaper lying in front of him on his desktop.To my surprise, I noticed it was this morning’s newspaper—notyesterday’s edition retrieved from a public waste paper basket, asusual. However, that small irregularity soon ceased to matter whenI noticed how he was looking at me.
Oh dear…
I could feel ice crystals forming on myeyelashes. Not long, and an icicle would start growing on the tipof my nose. I rather liked my nose the way it was. So I squared myshoulders and stepped forward.
‘Yes, Sir?’
‘Ah. Mr Linton. Thank you so much for gracingme with your presence.’
My oh my. He was beingpolite. Thishad to be serious. But for the life of me I couldn’t imagine what Icould have done wrong.
‘It’s my pleasure, Sir.’
‘It is?’ His eyes sparkled icily. ‘I thoughtyou were far too busy for the likes of me these days. After all,you’re working on your advertising campaign, are you not?’
Ah. That.
All right, maybe my idea had been slightlyunconventional…but so what? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
