“The messenger said…” More hesitation.
“Just tell me,” I snapped.
“Yes, sir. He said that he was still in the lobby when the lady came…flying out of the elevator. Agitated, he said. That she shoved it at him and said, ‘Take it back.’ I’m sorry, sir,” he said again. “We’ll credit your account, of course.”
I didn’t answer. I was already hitting the End button, getting my pilot on the phone.
“Warm it up,” I said. “We’re going home.”
Maybe I couldn’t do it. Maybe it was going to be the thing that defeated me. The thing that crushed me.
But I was going to do it anyway, or I was going to die trying.