"Splendid. Incidentally, that bit with the blonde was superb, Heck. I mean, the way you sold yourself. At the beginning she didn't even like you, you know."
Heck beamed. "Seduction, like selling—" he began, then scowled. "Let's just hear your proposition," he said.
"First, a question. What would you say is the chief factor in selling over which the salesman has no control?"
"Location, of course," Heck said promptly. "You've got to be where the customer is. You've got to get that old foot in the door, as the expression goes—"
"Precisely. But I can go you one better, Heck. Could you sell bottled water to a thirsting man? a greasy-spoon hamburger to a starving man? life insurance to a man who's just learned he has an incurable disease?"
"You wouldn't need much of a salesman. Anyone could make sales like that."
"Heck, what's a salesman's dream?"
"Walking through walls, I guess. Getting at the customer no matter what."
"But we're grown men. We know that walking through walls is impossible."
"It was only a matter of speaking," said Heck, downing his fifth martini and thinking of Patty. If Patty ever learned about that blonde....