Something big was up.
Two heads moved, distorted by the fly's-eye effect of the glass. Larry was in too but that wasn't unusual. Larry always got in early; he was afraid client checks would dissolve if he didn't pick them up early.
"It's 'er." The voice was soft, but came clearly over the partition.
Her. That tone was not good.
"Right. Less 'ave a talk."
The door opened and Larry motioned to her. "Rune. You come in for a minute?"
She walked into the office. They both looked tired and rumpled. She began an inventory of recent screwups. It was a long list but included mostly minor infractions.
"Rune, sit down."
She sat.
Bob looked at Larry, who spoke: "What's happened is we got us a call from the client."
"Both of us," Bob threw in. "At nine this morning."
"Mr. Wallet?"
Son of a bitch, the postpro house missed the shipment. She said, "I told the postpro to ship it right away. I threatened him. He absolutely guaranteed me--"
"The tape got delivered to the client, Rune. The problem was they didn't like it."
They want me to take a cut in pay. That's what it is. House O' Leather's talked down the fee and they're going to cut my salary.
She sighed. "What was it he didn't like? It was the dominoes, right? Come on. I did the setup three times. I--"
Larry was playing nervously with a coin in his hand. "No, I think the dominoes were okay. "'E said the logo was still a bit, you know, dodgy. But 'E could live with that."
Rune said, "The transitions? I did the dissolves real carefully...."
Bob said to Larry, "Show 'er what he wasn't too 'appy about."
Larry hit the play button of the Sony three-quarter-inch tape player. A colorful copyright slate appeared. The countdown from ten began, each second marked off with an electronic beep. At three, the screen went blank. Then: Fade in: the smiling daughter, explaining how House O' Leather wallets were handcrafted from the finest cowhide, treated and dyed according to old family traditions.
Cut to: Factory workers making wallets and billfolds and purses.
Cut to: The daughter caressing a wallet (Model HL/ 141).
Dissolve to: The dramatic domino shot.
Cut to: Two women performing oral sex on a water bed as the closing credits for Lusty Cousins come on the screen.
Rune said, "Oh."
Fade out.
Larry said, "'E fired us, Rune. They aren't paying the fee, they aren't paying expenses."
Rune said, "I guess something kind of got mixed in."
"Kind of," Larry said.
Bob added, "So we're out the profits and also out of pocket about seventy-five thousand."