Awakening, 2nd edition (51 page)

Suddenly, an anxious angry whisper stirred in the back of the room.

“Excuse me,” Robert called, “don ’t you think that absolutely neutral observers should not be heard?”

The voice quieted. Robert smiled and shook his head.

“What can I say? ‘Thank you for your trust ’ would sound like a cliché.”

“Then I’ll say something, ” with a gesture befitting of a professional magician , Chris put forward his hands with outspread fingers. “Four—four. And three swing votes. Unless they want to transfer , we ’re in a stalemate.”

“I guess we should all thank you for adding that amendment, ” Joan said with an indecipherable expression. “Things are getting more exciting by the minute.”

“You’ve done more for adding this rule than anyone else , including me, ” Chris retorted. “But I ’m not going to cling on to my vote. Especially because—”

And once again Alex’s low voice didn ’t let him finish.

“I’m sorry, Chris, ” he said , sounding very polite, “but I think it ’s time for me to step in and get this out of our way. Let me take care of this, all right? We all just heard Mike talking about the rules. And as you all know , I have a deep respect for rules. But sometimes, ” he looked at Alan point-blank, “it ’s important to know how to break them. Alan just broke an unspoken rule in front of us. Yes, Alan, you did. And it ’s all right. I even want to thank you for that. It was a good lesson and I will never forget it. I have a good memory for these things. Because I was thinking about doing that , too, but I guess I didn ’t have the guts to go for it. Now I confused the heck out of you all, didn ’t I?”

“You’re getting close, ” Brandon said.

“Okay, let’s cut to the chase, ” said Alex, resuming his usual tone. “Is there anyone in this room who would ’ve voted for Mike if it hadn ’t been for that laughable request? Which of course I respect wholeheartedly. Anyone? It ’s all right, don ’t be afraid to hurt someone ’s feelings . If it ’s me you ’re worried about, you surely won ’t hurt me by saying the truth. How about I show you the way? Chris, buddy, to tell you the truth I would ’ve voted for Mike had I thought it was possible.”

Chris shrugged, appearing perfectly at ease with this confession.

“No problem.”

“And now all my votes go to Mike, ” Alex finished in an even voice.

“What?” Paul exhaled.

Michael was looking at Alex without saying a word.

“Are you sure?” Chris asked , appearing honestly stunned. “
Four votes? Do you realize that you can actually—”

The smile that had vanished earlier from Alex’s face returned.

“You bet. Stella and I will make sure everything happens according to the rules. Alan will find the rules that need adjustment. You will make sure everyone knows what every rule means. But someone has to define the rules in the first place.”

“—happening here?!” an absolutely neutrally observing loud whisper came from the corner.

“Mike?” Chris said half-questioningly.

Michael smiled with an air of resignation.

“I had a single simple request, ” he said. “Can I get some respect for my wish?”

“Forget it,” said Robert. He clapped the table loudly. “And add another four votes on top that. No fine print.”

“Looks like my vote is changing hands, ” Brandon reflected thoughtfully.

But he didn’t sound too upset.

Ross was looking at Alex, not even trying to hide his bewilderment.

“There ’s nine, there ’s ten, ” Chris announced. “It was supposed to be your vote anyway.”

“Guys, would you stop?” Michael asked. “What is it? Ten votes?”

“No, Mike. Would you stop, ” Robert replied. “Who was that guy pondering out loud yesterday? ‘Can I do it? Should I do it? Am I good at it?’ You need to walk the talk. You didn ’t want people to vote for you —and you got that. Well, almost , anyway. But now why don ’t you stop fretting and start acting?”

“With a majority of the voters supporting you, ” added Kevin.

“Drop it,” Joan said, frowning. “I don ’t care for your hints. I don ’t mind seeing Mike win, but he ’s got enough votes. He wins, but he ’s not getting mine. There should be at least some minimal opposition.”

Michael ran his eyes over the faces in the room. Stella was smiling, Brandon was nodding encouragingly . . . And then there were those eyes. Eyes full of hope. Alan ’s eyes.

Michael stood up.

“Are you going to start pretending you ’re not up to it?” asked Paul.

But Michael didn’t start pretending.

“All right,” he said. “So be it. But keep in mind, ” he suddenly smiled and there was something captivatingly honest about his smile, “my managers work harder than their employees.”

Robert smiled. He was enjoying the moment.

“Don’t you think we ’ve traded places?” he asked, watching Clark ’s expression.

Clark frowned, his face confused.

“You’re trying to get some facts out of me, while I ’m speaking in riddles, ” Robert elaborated.

Clark shook his head.

“I don’t find your answers cryptic at all.”

“And yet, after a ten -minute conversation you still keep asking me the same question.”

Clark chuckled.

“I was under the impression that my questions have been varying significantly.”

“You
wording has been varying significantly, ”
Robert corrected. “As for the questions, so far I ’ve heard only one : Dear Robert, what made you lose your mind and voluntarily transfer your votes to Michael? That ’s the only thing you ’ve been asking ever since I walked through that door. And so far you ’re not satisfied with my answers.”

Clark smiled.

“What a curious theory. Unfortunately, like many other curious theories , it has a fundamental flaw. All my questions, every single one of them, are, of course, anything but random and so far I ’ve been certainly satisfied with the results. Apparently you don ’t re alize that I conduct these exit interviews every week.”

“I certainly do. What I don ’t understand is why Ed was clueless as to what room we should go to, given the frequency of these interviews. But I ’m sure this can be explained.”

“Yes it can, ” Clark said patiently. “That was a mere glitch. We changed the rooms last week.”

“Of course,” Robert agreed. “A mere glitch. Just like your somewhat stumbling concluding speech. You know, you ’ve asked me to be honest while answering your questions, so I hope you wouldn ’t mind hearing an unsolicited honest opinion: you weren ’t prepared for that speech at all and that was the first time you ’d had to give it.”

When Clark finished laughing, Robert was looking at him with the same ironic half-smile.

“So it really hasn ’t occurred to you yet, ” said Clark , still struggling with laughter, “that everything, literally everything in our workshop is intentional and well thought-through? Everything from the room assignment to the books on your nightstand. There ’s not a single detail left to chance. If you had the impression that I was giving that speech for the first time in my life, or that I was asking a single question in multiple ways, or that I was anxious during the last hour of your speeches , that can mean one thing only : it was precisely the type of impression we wanted to create. Everything that I or my assistants do is part of a complex, thoroughly designed, extremely intricate and exceedingly expensive scenario. Which has very specific goals.”

Robert nodded.

“I know. Turn managers into leaders, show them what really drives them, expose the worldwide power struggle . . . And all of this using your patented unique approach. I was paying attention.”

“That is correct, ” confirmed Clark. “Minus your irony.”

“Well, in this case you were very success ful , ” Robert said encouragingly. “I ’ve experienced many planned impressions. For example, a lasting impression was created by the fact that after the voting was over you reminded us several times, each time more convincing ly, that the voting by itself didn ’t mean much and what you really needed was an acknowledgement by each and every one of us that Michael was our leader. Ed left me with another nearly shocking impression when he said we still had one hour left for discussion. The most curious of all planned impressions was left by your heartfelt appeal to Joan in which you , for reasons unbeknownst to me , decided to emphasize that she didn ’t have to let the majority push her around. A side impression left by that conversation was a strong feeling of watching someone waving a red cloth in front of a fighting bull. If I am to summarize my planned impressions, the best word that comes to mind is bewilderment . Better yet, panic .”

“Which would be exactly what we wanted to achieve, ” Clark said , sounding pleased and upbeat. “Thank you for your honesty—after a long week , it ’s always refreshing to hear something so entertaining. I ’m done with my questions . I s there anything you ’d like to ask me?”

Robert shook his head.

“I’ll stick to my part. Thank you for your answers. Regardless of scenarios, big goals and planned impressions , I ’ve enjoyed the stay.”

He stood up and accurately pushed the chair to the desk.

“As for your real question . . . I know, I know, you ’ve never asked it . . . Still , I like to think that the best thing that can happen to a man is to be in his right ful place in life. Assuming, of course, he can find it and recognize it once he ’s found it. I ’d be bored with that job. But Michael . . . it fits him perfectly.”

“I see,” said Clark with polite interest.

He kept the smile up until the door closed behind Robert. A moment later it vanished without a trace from his face, replaced momentarily by a grimace of severe concern. He extracted some paper from the drawer under his desk, glanced over it quickly and scribbled a few notes.

“Now Joan,” he said into the handset after musing over something for a minute or two. “And make it quick.”

“How did it go?” Stella asked. “Did you also get a lecture about moral values?”

“Nah,” Robert waived away her suggestion. “I think he gave up on my moral values long ago.”

“So what did you talk about?”

“We didn’t talk. It was an interrogation.”

“Really? What did he want?”

“He was trying to figure out why all the votes went to Mike. You should ’ve heard some of his questions. He wasn ’t interested in anything else.”

“I think he should be interested only in some specific votes.”

“Alex?”

“Who else? That one must be a puzzle for him. The rest is obvious.”

Robert drummed his fingers on the dust-covered surface of his car.

“It’s obvious for us. Knowing everything we know. And I think that ’s exactly what he ’s mad about. He suspects we ’ve learned something we weren ’t supposed to know.”

“You think he ’ll be in trouble because of the leak?”

“I wouldn’t rule it out. They run a tight ship and want to keep it that way. And I just couldn ’t resist dropping a hint towards the end.”

“Was it safe?”

“Everything’s safe now, ” Robert said nonchalantly. “It ’s officially over. We are free to do whatever we want.”

“True,” Stella agreed. “There ’s nothing they can do now . . . Look, ” she said with no obvious connection, “most people have gone.”

“I don’t think so. There ’s Alex over there. I saw Joan and Alan on the way back. Mike and Ross were supposed to go in after me. They must be still around somewhere.”

“You want to wait for someone?”

“What for? We ’ll be seeing enough of each other now.”

“Right,” Stella said, her mind on something else. “We ’ll be seeing everybody.”

Robert looked at her with understanding.

“You know who that was. And it ’s better this way—now you know what to expect of people you ’re going to work with.”

“I know,” Stella agreed. “Still . . . never mind. You ’re right.”

She smiled suddenly.

“I was having doubts till the last moment. It was so farfetched, I was almost sure it wouldn ’t work. He could ’ve called our bluff.”

Robert shrugged.

“Then Mike would ’ve told the story about the pool game. And Brandon and I would ’ve confirmed it.”

“So what? All you saw was a broken cue. That’s not much to go by . What if someone broke it a month ago?”