Alex followed Walker into his office, blood rushing to her cheeks, and adrenaline churning her stomach. Had she done something wrong? Had she tipped her hand somehow? Racing thoughts were speeding by, in a desperate effort to anticipate what this conversation might be about. She remembered clearly how easily Walker could inflict psychological pain; she had seen him casually turn the vice president of manufacturing, John Dunwood, into a trembling, disarticulate wreck, in just minutes. She sat where Walker indicated with his finger.
He closed his office door and got right to business.
"Who exactly are you, Miss Hoffmann?"
"Huh?" Surprised, Alex tried to gather her thoughts. What would prompt Walker to ask her that question?
"Yes, you heard me, who are you?" Walker pressed on.
"How do you mean?" Alex asked, slowly but surely regaining her cool. He was just another mean bastard, and she was not going to let her intimidate and bully her as he had Dunwood.
"I've been watching you, since you came here, and there's definitely something off about you."
Oh, God, Alex thought, I'm blown out of the water. That didn't even take long.
"I still don't get it," she probed, mimicking surprise. Tom had taught her to stand up to a bully, or if need be, even bully the bully. He had said that most of the times it worked. She hoped this was going to be one of those times.
"You are not affected by anything that affects the rest of us. You're watching us just as much as I'm watching you." Walker stopped, expecting an explanation.
"Who's us? Who do you think I'm watching?" She continued her line of questioning, causing Walker to frown.
"Today, in the executive meeting, you were carefully studying the reactions of everyone present. In my operations meeting, you were undisturbed, just like watching a game on TV."
"And this is wrong why, exactly?" Alex pressed back.
"Even now, you see?" Walker said, his anger rising and his clenched fist finding its way to the desk's innocent surface. "You are not intimidated by me at all. You are… unafraid. This is not normal."
"Ah, I see how that can bother you," Alex said, at the risk of being rude, thinking just how wrong he was.
"Unbelievable," Walker responded, riddled with anger. "So, who are you exactly? Why were you studying the reactions of everyone in there today?"
Alex realized she wasn't going to get away without providing explanations. She constructed her explanations carefully, making sure they sounded plausible enough.
"I am new here, as you might have noted. I'm learning about the company's culture, from people's reactions. Some of the things happening around me are more serious than others; how can I tell which ones I should be concerned about, unless I let the reactions of my colleagues guide me?"
"So that's what you're doing? Learning about our culture, huh?" Walker frowned some more, not buying it. "But why aren't you concerned? Everyone in my operations meeting was intimidated, except you. Even now, you're composed and fighting back, instead of fearing for your job."
"Why do you want them to be afraid?" She pushed back, buying herself time to think. "If you knew they were intimidated, that means you are doing this on purpose, and I can't see why. Fear stifles growth and creativity."
"I'm not running a kindergarten here, where all kids have to be happy and tell nice stories about it when they get home. I run a business, a complicated business that needs to make me lots of money. No one gives performance, unless they're pushed. No one gets to come to me and say goals can't be achieved, or the job can't be done. If they do, I get someone else in their place who can do the job. Why the hell am I explaining myself to you, instead of you to me?" Walker resumed his angry outburst, raising his voice to thunderous levels. "You still didn't tell me why you're not intimidated, or compelled to change your relaxed demeanor to a more focused or concerned one. So?"
"First, again, I am new, so I don't have a lot invested in this company. If I were to lose this job today, it wouldn't mean a big emotional loss for me. If you were to fire me now, I wouldn't even list this company on my résumé. Second, I'm financially secure," she said, humorously thinking of The Agency's credit card, the one with the unknown spending limit, hoping this stunt would work.
"Ah, you're rich!" Walker said, clapping his hands. "How unfortunate."
"I wouldn't call myself rich," Alex clarified.
"Then what?"
"Financially secure. If I don't have to work for a while, I can be all right."
"Still unfortunate. I have no use for people who can't be pushed as hard as they need to be pushed to be successful here."
"Well, I don't work for you. I work for Sheppard," Alex said bluntly.
"How wrong you are. You report to Sheppard, but you work for me. What else do you think you were doing in my operations meetings? You are my support person for infrastructure. Without my say-so, you won't even make it past your ninety-day review. Considering how financially secure you are, you probably won't make it anyway."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because I am going to push you, as hard as I can, and being that you're so damn financially secure, you'll walk out of here on your own, before I even get the pleasure of firing you."
"I love a challenge," Alex said, with a crooked smile, "I'll think I'll stay for a while."
"Be careful what you wish for," Walker concluded.
She stepped out of Walker's office, allowing herself to breathe again. She was hoping this explanation had put his mind at ease, at least for a while. Very perceptive, this son-of-a-bitch Walker. Gotta be super careful around him, she warned herself, heading toward her own office on the third floor.
"Hey, I was looking all over for you," Louie Blake, her analyst, said cheerfully. "Where have you been all day?"
"Around," she said casually. "What's going on?"
"I was trying to get you set up on the printers," he said, following her into her office. "You need to log into your laptop, so I can map the printers." He stood there, waiting for her to put in her password.
She looked down at her laptop and cringed. The clone laptop was on her desk, not the official NanoLance one. She quickly balanced her options. Sending Louie for coffee would not work; she had her own coffeemaker hidden in her closet, and he knew about it. What else could she ask him to do, to get him out of her office long enough to get the two laptops switched? She opted for a different approach: stalling.
"I was just heading out again, Louie, but thanks."
"How about your printers?"
"Louie," she said, with humor in her voice, as she was leaving, "are you a good techie?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Louie replied, executing a perfect military salute.
"Then why don't you go ahead and hack into my laptop and get the job done?" she said, laughing out loud.
"Ha, that's a good one," Louie said, exiting her office and laughing as he walked away.
She breathed easy again, heading for the smoker's area. He wasn't going to come anywhere near her laptop. He wasn't going to hack into anything. After all, it was illegal.
Passing through the large, sun-filled atrium on the way to the rear exit, she checked out the long line in front of the coffee shop. She was looking for familiar faces of interest, someone with whom she could discuss the announcement regarding the sale of the stock and the upcoming change in company ownership.
Outside Alex's line of sight, on the other side of the café, through the tinted windows facing the parking lot, a gray sedan became visible, pulling behind Alex's car. The man behind the wheel stepped out and looked briefly around, to see if anyone was paying attention. Satisfied with his observations, he pulled a small camera from his pocket and started taking pictures of Alex's car. Full front. Full right side. Full left side, with some difficulty, because the car parked next to it had parked too close. Full back. Close-up shot of both license plates, back and front. Once the job was done, the man climbed back in his car and drove away.