"Michael Swanwick - Legions in Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swanwick Michael)

"Go away. Come back in forty minutes."

So she had gone out to a little tearoom nearby. She had a bag lunch back in her desk, with a
baloney-and-mayonnaise sandwich and an apple, but sheтАЩd been so flustered sheтАЩd forgotten it, and
then feared to go back after it. SheтАЩd treated herself to a dainty "lady lunch" that she was in no
mood to appreciate, left a dime tip for the waitress, and was back in front of the office door
exactly thirty-eight minutes after sheтАЩd left.

At forty minutes, exactly, she reached for the door.

As if heтАЩd been waiting for her to do so, Mr. Tarblecko breezed through the door, putting on his
hat. He didnтАЩt acknowledge her promptness or her presence. He just strode briskly past, as though
she didnтАЩt exist.



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Stunned, she went inside, closed the door, and returned to her desk.

She realized then that Mr. Tarblecko was genuinely, fabulously rich. He had the arrogance of those
who are so wealthy that they inevitably get their way in all small matters because thereтАЩs always
somebody there to arrange things that way. His type was never grateful for anything and never
bothered to be polite, because it never even occurred to them that things could be otherwise.

The more she thought about it, the madder she got. She was no Bolshevik, but it seemed to her that
people had certain rights, and that one of these was the right to a little common courtesy. It
diminished one to be treated like a stick of furniture. It was degrading. She was damned if she
was going to take it.

Six months went by.

The door opened and Mr. Tarblecko strode in, as if heтАЩd left only minutes ago. "You have a watch?"

Ellie slid open a drawer and dropped her knitting into it. She opened another and took out her bag
lunch. "Yes."

"Go away. Come back in forty minutes."

So she went outside. It was May, and Central Park was only a short walk away, so she ate there, by
the little pond where children floated their toy sailboats. But all the while she fumed. She was a
good employeeтАУshe really was! She was conscientious, punctual, and she never called in sick. Mr.
Tarblecko ought to appreciate that. He had no business treating her the way he did.

Almost, she wanted to overstay lunch, but her conscience wouldnтАЩt allow that. When she got back to
the office, precisely thirty-nine and a half minutes after sheтАЩd left, she planted herself
squarely in front of the door so that when Mr. Tarblecko left he would have no choice but to
confront her. It might well lose her her job, but . . . well, if it did, it did. ThatтАЩs how