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eleven in the morning; the knowledge gave me a pleasant surge of moral confidence.
    I settled against the slippery wooden back of my chair and crossed my legs. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there. What did they make of the revenue projections?”
    “They had a few questions.” He drummed his fingers against the table and peered outside at the narrow swarming sidewalks. The Sterling Bates headquarters were located only one block down from the New York Stock Exchange, which meant we were among the relatively few people working on Wall Street who actually worked on Wall Street. My folks got a kick out of that.
    I sipped at my mocha and waited for him to continue.
    “Katie,” he said finally, “what are your plans for next year? Business school?”
    “I think so. I just sent off the last application on Friday.”
    “Where did you go to undergrad, again?”
    I hesitated. “University of Wisconsin.”
    “That’s right. I remember. We don’t usually recruit from there, do we?”
    “No,” I said. “Not usually.”
    “Well, I’m glad we made the exception. You’ve been a remarkably productive asset for us. We’d hate to lose you.”
    I laughed politely. “Even after this morning?”
    “Especially after this morning. Don’t think I didn’t see how Alicia sandbagged you in there. I’ve been around here long enough to know a thing or two.”
    “Hmm.” Probably not the right moment to make my
j’accuse
just yet.
    His eyes latched onto mine, trying to connect; I raised my coffee cup again as a buffer. “Now, that’s what I like about you,” he said. “You don’t waste your killer instinct on office politics. Unlike most of the jackasses around here. Myself included,” he added, with a laugh. “Anyway, you got out of there with poise, Katie. Real poise. Laurence was impressed.”
    The coffee caught at the back of my throat.
    “Very impressed. He was asking me a lot of questions about you at lunch.”
    “Really.” Cough, sputter. “What kind of questions?”
    “Just questions. Here’s the deal, Katie. I’d like you to take the lead on this thing. Rework the numbers, get something back to them in the next day or two.”
    “What?”
I wheezed out, through the coffee droplets. I set down my cup and wiped at my watering eyes, not quite sure I’d heard him properly.
    He leaned forward across the table, until I could count the stress lines cutting across his forehead. “We need Southfield in on this deal, Katie,” he insisted, pressing his right index finger into the wood veneer. “If Southfield’s in, others will follow. Fucking lemmings. You know that.”
    “No, I get it.” I edged back my chair as discreetly as possible. “I’m really flattered. It’s just… are you sure you want
me
taking the lead? I’m not exactly senior. I wasn’t even in the meeting.”
    “If you’re worried about Alicia, I can promise you she won’t be a problem.”
    “No, no,” I said swiftly. “I can handle
that
.”
    He paused for a beat or two, inspecting my expression, and then his face eased into a smug smile. “Relax, Katie. Laurence likes you, and it would be a good high-profile project for you. Pretty straightforward, too. And I’d be one hundred percent behind you.”
    “Wow,” I said. I was beginning to feel like one of those poor schmucks in the
Godfather
movies, being made an offer he couldn’t refuse. I ran my finger delicately around the rim of the plastic coffee lid and tried to think of something more to say.
    “Good, then.” Banner sat back. “Consider yourself the point man. I’ll give Laurence a shout to let him know it’s coming.” He stood and picked up his cup with a wink. “Now, try to go home early and get some beauty sleep.”
    “S O, DUDE ,” C HARLIE SAID , around one o’clock the next morning, “what’s the fucking deal here? Banner’s not pimping you, is he?”
    I swiveled my chair to face him. “
What?
Oh please. Not that Banner wouldn’t try if he could,” I