Tornado

There was a smattering of applause, but most were too stunned to react. I heard the doors open behind me, but didn't turn to see who it was.

"Second, there's a word that will no longer be uttered in this office, or for that matter anywhere in my hearing. That word is 'tornado.' If we should experience such a weather event, you may call it a cyclone, or a rotary atmospheric disturbance, or Fred, but not a tornado. That word is now forbidden, on pain of what happened to Hal here." I gestured down at Larson, who was still out cold.

"What happened to him?" Roy Service asked.

Service had passed some of the nastiest remarks I'd heard about Mel. I bared my teeth at him. "I happened to him. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

An amused voice behind me said, "Perfectly, Mr. Cunningham. Back to your posts, everyone."

Mel squeezed my hand and hurried away with the others. I turned and confronted the legend himself.

Todd Iverson isn't a large man, but he can dominate any gathering of any size or composition. It takes one glance for you to know you're in the presence of a master intelligence, someone appreciably more than human -- and one glance for him to know whether you have the slightest chance of measuring up to the stratospheric standards he sets for everyone in his employ.

I braced for a blast, but he didn't say a word, nor did I. He merely looked me in the eyes, smiled, and nodded as if in approval, before striding down the aisle to Josh Parnell's office. I watched him recede until he was out of sight, then returned to my own desk.

Nothing more of interest happened that day, until I was home and in Mel's arms.

After we'd dined, cleared the dishes, and made love quite as extraordinary as the evening before, we held each other and conversed in the darkness.

"What on Earth got into you today?" Mel said. "I never figured you for a brawler."

"I'm not," I said. "But I had to make it plain that some things would no longer be tolerated. They'd never have believed me if I stopped at just words. I had to punish a violator and let everyone know that I'd done it, or the snickering and degrading comments would never end."

I drew a deep breath, let it out slowly. "I can't tell you how relieved I was still to have a job at the end of the day. When I found Iverson behind me, I thought I was going to need to pack my things. But he just smiled and nodded."

Mel chuckled and snuggled close to me. "That wasn't why he came to Purchasing."

"Oh? Is there other news? A promotion in the offing for Mrs. Cunningham, perhaps?"

"Well, we'll see. But Todd came to our area because Josh has finally sent in his retirement papers. The word is that he didn't nominate a successor, just left it up to Todd. So I think our genius CEO might have been smiling and nodding at the next director of Purchasing."

--- The End ---