Matthew stood. "Peter, I want us to work together, but for me to be able to manage Wallaby, you need to let me have the power to do what's right from a business standpoint."
"Well forget it, Matthew," Peter said. "And let's cut all this crybaby sentimental crap too, okay? Okay. Fine. If this is how you want to play the game, we'll just go around the room and ask everyone if they want me out." He leaned against the window ledge, in the exact section Matthew had just vacated. He squeezed the ledge on either side with his hands, white-knuckled, as if this would somehow anchor his place in the room.
"All right, who's next?" Peter said, his voice bordering on hysteria. "Let's see. Denise. You. Just a simple yes if you think Matthew should have final power. No drama, please, we've all got a lot of work to do today."
Denise Campbell had started her career with Wallaby as a financial analyst. Young and bright and a genius with numbers, Denise's long record of successes had recently been rewarded by Peter, who had promoted her to the role of CFO. With anguished eyes, she faced Peter. "As a publicly held company, our first obligation is to our shareholders."
Peter held up his hand again, stopping her before she could go into a long-winded justification. "No verbosity, please, just a yes or no." His eyes blazed.
She looked into her lap. "Yes," she said. "But Peter, you have to stay on as - "
Eyes closed, he turned away from her with a disgusted expression and a quick shake of his head.
Paul Crane, executive vice president of sales and marketing, was regarded by everyone for his no-bullshit manner, which he now demonstrated with a simple nod of his head.
Matthew stood off to the side, watching the process without expression. It went on like this until the entire executive staff was polled. Then Peter queried each of the visiting directors, who had flown in from different parts of the country to attend the meeting. Not a single no was spoken. When Matthew counted all but the final response, he stiffened, awaiting the finale.
Peter knelt before Hank Towers.