Anne’s image popped back into existence. “Alan, should I have Lewis removed?”
Cantner’s head swiveled. “Get out of here, you meddlesome bitch!” he bellowed.
Anne’s eyes narrowed. Her voice became dangerously quiet and controlled. “Lewis, I’ve never liked you, but I was always willing to tolerate you. But I’ve got news, fella. You just made yourself an enemy.” She vanished.
Cantner snarled. “Jesus! You think you’re the greatest, don’t you? Sit here in your little office and run peoples’ lives for them. Well, maybe some people don’t mind, but I’m here to tell you I do.”
Alan pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to maintain his mental balance. “Lewis, should I assume that you came here to tell me something? Can you do so in plain English? You’re yelling so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
“Smartass,” Cantner grumbled, but he moderated his tone somewhat. “I just came from closing the doors to my restaurant. I’m out of business and it’s your fault.”
Alan nodded slowly. “I see. And, of course, that means you’ll have to resign as president of the Crisium Business Group, since they don’t have members who aren’t active businessmen or women. Especially the president.”
Cantner glared at him in silence.
“So you’re hurt and angry because you’re losing a position of power, and you’re here to take it out on me.” Alan leaned back in his seat, and gazed at Cantner contemplatively. “Seems to me I recall predicting that you’d have trouble along these lines, Lewis. Your restaurant never was as good as your competitors’. If everyone else felt that way, then you were bound to go out of business sooner or later. Frankly, I’m surprised that you’ve lasted this long.”
“Well, of course I went out of business, Lister. You made a point of forcing me out. You never did like me.” “Lewis, this is not the first time you’ve accused me of having some kind of personal vendetta against you. I’m only going to say this one more time, so hear me well—I did nothing, repeat nothing, to force you out of business. You brought it upon yourself. Simply put, the food served in your restaurant wasn’t up to snuff.”
“Says who? Your opinion doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.”
Alan gave him a thin-lipped smile. “Tell you what. We don’t live in the twenty-first century for nothing. Have you got the guts to put it to a vote? We’ll put it out on the city network for discussion. Question—was the food good or not? I’ll stand back. We’ll let someone else write it up and supervise the tally.”
“Wouldn’t prove a thing,” Cantner grumped, arms folded.
Alan looked surprised. “The citizens of Crisium, whether individually or in groups, were the people who decided whether or not to eat at your restaurant, Lewis. If they’ve got something to say about the situation, let them.” His eyes narrowed. “Tell you what, I’ll go you one better. If you get, let’s make it, 75 percent of the vote in favor, I will spot you the money to reopen out of my own pocket.”
“It’s too late, Lister. You closed the Holmes Door, and things haven’t been the same since.”
Alan blinked in surprise. “That’s the first true thing you’ve said since you entered this office. Although, as usual, you’ve got it backwards.”
“I mean it. There’s no traffic.”
Suddenly weary, Alan rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “This couldn’t possibly be related to the fact that there’s a full-fledged Depression down on Earth, could it? Lewis, we’ve been over this before. People can’t spend what they don’t have.”
“Some have money!” Cantner insisted.
“If you’re so all-fired certain that there are crowds of people on Earth with fists full of money, then I’ll give you some free business advice… have you thought about advertising on Earth?”
“I already have.”
Alan couldn’t help himself. He laughed. The patent foolishness of advertising to people who were in no position to respond was just too choice. The look of outrage on Cantner’s face was so comical that he laughed even harder.
“What’s so damned funny?” Cantner demanded angrily.
“You! I told you once that the forces of evolution would take you out, and you just proved it conclusively. Now, rather than take the blame, you’re pointing fingers at everyone else. Lewis, no one made you spend your advertising dollars on Earth. You thought it over, came to a conclusion which any child could have told you was erroneous, and wasted your money utterly. You couldn’t have squandered your advertising budget any more efficiently if you had burned it.” Alan shook his head. “Lewis, you’re a fool. You’ve done yourself a favor by going out of business.”
Cantner surged to his feet, glaring down at Alan. ‘You haven’t heard the last of me!”
“I believe you. The offer to spot you the money to reopen stands until seventeen tomorrow afternoon. The challenge to put it to a vote on the city network is good indefinitely. Now, get out of here. I have work to do.”
Cantner stalked towards the door. It opened just before he got to it. Samuel Watts was standing on the other side.
Watts looked over Cantner’s shoulder to Alan. “Everything OK?”
Cantner stared at him. “I was just leaving.” He pushed past Watts.
Watts grunted, watching Cantner’s retreat, then turned back to Lister and said, “Anne called and asked if I would drop by and show our friend Cantner the way out. Looks as though you did OK without me.”
Alan took a deep breath. It was less steady than he would have liked. “He’s promised me that I haven’t heard the last of him. For the time being, though, I think he’s run out of steam.”
“Lousy coffee that man served,” Watts observed, as he entered the office. He lowered himself into the chair across from Alan. “As long as I’m here, what do you want to do about these paintings in the corridors?”
“Honestly, I haven’t had time to think about it. What do you recommend?”
Watts grinned. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think we ought to leave them. They’re good, and they brighten up the corridors.”
Alan chuckled. “I hear there’s one of me, now.”
Watts nodded. “It’s cleverly done. You’ll like it, I think.”
“If you think they won’t hurt anything, let it go for a while. If nothing else, it sounds like it will be good comic relief.”
Watts nodded and left.
Seconds later, Anne’s face faded in slowly, on Alan’s side of the desk, for a change.
“Are they gone yet?”
He glanced at her. “Who? Cantner and Watts?”
She nodded. “I thought it might be a good idea to send for reinforcements.”
“Fortunately, I didn’t need Sam, but I appreciate the thought. It could easily have gone the other way.”
She grimaced. “If I miscarry, it’ll be Cantner’s fault,” she said, and disappeared.
Reg Arnold ran through the rain with his coat pulled over his head. On reaching the door to Conner’s Corner, he skidded on the wet sidewalk, caught himself on the jamb, and hurriedly slipped inside. He barely grunted at the bartender as he passed, and slid into the empty booth at the back. There were few patrons on such a wet night.
“What’ll it be, Reg?” the bartender asked.
“Gimme a Busker’s, I guess,” he said morosely.
Moments later, the ale arrived. Nursing it slowly but steadily, he looked around. None of the traditional crew were in; if they had been, he would have found them already seated in the booth. He didn’t recognize anyone else.