In his own office the steady din was hardly diminished despite soundproofing, and since he was next to an outside wall he was subjected also to the noises of the city. He stood staring out of the huge window for awhile, watching the cars on the freeway and listening to the homogeneous rumble and scream of turbines.
Something's wrong with me, he thought. I shouldn't be feeling this way. Nerves. Nerves.
He turned around and got his private secretary on the viewer. She simpered at him, trying to be friendly with her dull, sunken eyes.
"Betty," he told her, "I want you to make an appointment with my therapist for me this afternoon. Tell him it's just a case of nerves, though."
"Yes sir. Anything else?" Her voice, like every one's, was a high pitched screech trying to be heard above the noise.
Joseph winced. "Anybody want to see me this morning?"
"Well, Mr. Wills says he has the first model of his invention ready to show you."