"Anyway, back to Mrs Green. I hope, Peter, that you can find it in yourself to forgive her. I know that it was only me under the influence of the drugs, but she was constantly bombarded by information from Manson, backed up by his smooth talking. While it's no excuse for her behaviour towards you, I'm absolutely convinced she only acted that way because she thought you were out to harm me. Ludicrous to believe now of course with hindsight, but not so at the time."
Garrett indicated with the crook of his finger for Peter to come closer, and then looked around the empty office suspiciously to make sure no one was about.
"To tell you the truth, the reason she acted that way was because of her feelings towards me. We, that is, Mrs Green and I, have a very complicated and unusual relationship. More than that, I really can't say."
Peter sat there agog.
"Anyway, I hope you can see your way to forgiving her, and everyone else that may have treated you badly during that period."
"I think I can," he replied, nodding.
"Good lad," ventured Garrett, shuffling through the papers on his desk. "Now what was next on the agenda? Ahhh that's right, I remember now."
Fiddling with a loose thread that had come away from his black trousers, he twisted it with two fingers, trying to belie the nervousness he felt sitting in front of his boss.
"Protecting the laminium like you did Peter, saved the company and myself a whole lot of money. More than you could ever know. If Manson had got away with everything that he planned to, then almost certainly the insurance wouldn't have covered us, which may even have resulted in the company going out of business."
Shocked, he hadn't realised the situation had been so finely balanced. Garrett continued.
"Anyway the fact of the matter is that Manson only stole a very insignificant amount of laminium."
'Not insignificant in the dragon world, I can assure you Mr Garrett,' he thought.
"And the company itself is now as sound as ever. All of this is down to you young Peter. So... I feel the need to ask you if there's anything I can do for you, anything at all?"
He wasn't sure he'd heard Garrett right.
'What is he trying to say?'
'Bald Eagle' sat stock still, gazing keenly over his glasses at his employee. Peter didn't know what to say, still not quite sure what Garrett was offering. After an uncomfortable thirty seconds or so of total silence, Peter felt compelled to speak up.
"I'm not quite sure what it is you're saying sir... um, I mean Al."
Garrett smiled across his desk.
"What I'm saying son, is that your actions and your actions alone have saved this company millions of pounds and that I want to reward you. Would you like a new car, your mortgage paid off, the holiday of a lifetime, a lump sum of money? You name it."
Unable to believe what he was hearing, he wondered what he was he going to do. All he'd done was his job... his dragon job anyway. And certainly didn't feel that he was owed any sort of reward, let alone the kind Garrett was talking about. But if he didn't accept something, then maybe it would look suspicious. What exactly should he do?
Sitting across the desk from Peter, Garrett could sense his employee's turmoil.
'This young man,' he thought, 'is unlike most ordinary young men. Anyone else in his position would have already grabbed the cash, yet he seems almost reluctant to accept anything.'
"Perhaps you need a little more time to think about it? There's no rush of course. When you've made up your mind, or think of something, then just come and see me. A decision like this should be well considered."
"Thank you... Al," he whispered.
"Now," said Garrett, moving on. "Is there anything I can do for you at work? Any equipment or staff you don't have to do your job effectively? If there's one thing you've shown, it's that you know what you're doing when it comes to protecting this company. Anything you need, you just have to name it."
Peter considered what Garrett had just said... carefully. Part of him was once again blown away by the generosity of it all. The sensible side of him knew that this might be his one chance to make the company's security as good as it could get, and prevent anything like the Manson fiasco from ever happening again. Thinking hard, he tried to come up with anything that would make a difference on top of all of the state of the art equipment and great personnel they already had, but found with his boss staring at him from the other side of the desk, that his mind had turned to jelly and all he could think about were the armed goons that Manson had used to do his bidding, and he certainly didn't want to go down that route.
"Is it possible for me to think about this and get back to you... Al?" he said, a little sheepishly. "It's just that nothing springs to mind right now."
"Of course," replied Garrett sincerely. "Take as long as you need."
As he breathed a sigh of relief, something did spring to mind. Something Garrett could in fact do for him.
"Sir... um... I mean... Al, there is something I'd like to ask for," Peter stuttered, awkward at having to ask. Garrett leant back in his chair, eyes wide in surprise.
"Go ahead son."
"Well, uhhhh when all the things with Manson were going on, and I was sacked and escorted out at gunpoint, one of my men stood up to them. He didn't have to, he just did, totally out of nowhere. Not only was it great judgement on his part, but at the time it gave me comfort and a certain amount of hope, maybe even spurring me on into coming back. I was wondering if it was possible to see your way to offering him a... promotion."
"And just who would this be?"
"Owen Brown."
"Ahhh," sighed Garrett. "The big burly fellow who's normally on gate duty in the mornings."
"That's him."
Garrett sat back in his chair, scratching his chin. Just as Peter started to wonder if he'd overstepped a boundary, the old man cracked a smile and nodded.
"Sure, why not. Might as well make it two promotions instead of just one."
Peter screwed up his face, not really understanding what his boss was saying.
"Two promotions si... Al?"
"Of course my boy. You'll take over as departmental head, responsible for security throughout the whole of Cropptech. Owen can then step up into your current role. How does that sound?"
Not knowing what else to do, he nodded his agreement.
"Good, good," mused Garrett. "I'll make the necessary arrangements, and hopefully everything will be in place by the end of next week. Is there anything else Peter?"
"No Al," he replied, shaking his head.
Garrett thrust out his hand and shook Peter's, as they both stood up.
"Don't forget son, think about both of those things we talked about. My door is always open to you. Have a good rest of the day."
With that, the old man sat down, picked up the white phone on his desk and started dialling. Turning around, Peter made his way out of office, and back into the plush corridor, all the time in a kind of daze. Smiling at Garrett's secretary as he made his way to the lift, he pinched himself on the wrist, as he pressed the button to go down, wondering if it had all been a dream. The 'ding' of the elevator announced its arrival and proved that it wasn't. Stepping into the lift, he pushed the button for the ground floor, silently staring at his reflection in the mirrored walls as the doors slid shut behind him. Instinctively, he adjusted his light blue tie, straightening it ever so slightly. Continuing to stare at himself on the short journey, for the first time since he'd taken human form, he decided that he needed a... haircut. His long, dark, wavy hair, flowing down just beyond his shoulders, didn't really fit in with the post he now held, but it certainly didn't fit in with his promised promotion. On the walk back to his office, he thought about having a haircut, particularly whether he should let a human hairdresser do it (a lot of dragons do it this way) or whether he should see if Gee Tee had a mantra that could help. Opening the door to his office, he stepped inside.