Striper Assassin by Nyx Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

reminding Enoshi to smile as well.
    “It is my pleasure to announce,” he then says, looking from one member of the group to the next, “that for the third month in a row the clerical support group assigned to Mister Bernard Ohara has achieved a significant increase in productivity. Congratulations.”
    Enoshi makes a point of showing appreciation by answering a few quick, somewhat awkward bows with a bow of his own, and then by going down the line shaking hands and again offering congratulations. Several of the group seem quite delighted, and this pleases Enoshi as well. People should be happy with their own superior performance, and that performance deserves to be recognized. When everyone performs beyond expectations, the corporation excels. He does not even really mind when a few of the women, rather impulsively, given him quick hugs.
    Back in front of the desk again, he says, “Now I believe it is time to hear a few words from Ms. Stevenson.”
    Enoshi leads the group in a brief round of applause, merely to encourage this morning’s speaker. Laura Stevenson, the receptionist, by far the most attractive woman in the group, is always a bit a nervous about giving the morning address, though she has done it many times before. Enoshi is encouraged by such nervousness. It is rewarding to see that a woman of obvious European ancestry should be so concerned about her words that she actually gets nervous.
    Stevenson joins Enoshi in front of the desk and there spends a few moments pursing her lips, adjusting her hair, her suitdress, clearing her throat…
    Enoshi smiles and touches her shoulder. “No need to be nervous. We’re all family here.”
    Smiles flare brilliantly all around, and several of the group chuckle or laugh, just as Enoshi had hoped. If he chooses his moment correctly, he is usually able to inspire just such a reaction, even if the joke is not really a joke at all, but merely kidding around.
    Ms. Stevenson blushes and nods, her smile gushing wide. She seems embarrassed but not uncomfortably so. “Well,” she begins, consulting her notes, “what I want to talk about, I mean what I’m going to talk about, is the importance of always trying to do your best.”
    Enoshi nods, and remembers to smile, smile with approval. Ms. Stevenson’s theme is one he considers of vital importance, and he is always pleased when the morning speaker chooses to expound upon it. He often does so himself when he feels the need to personally give the morning talk. A corporation is no better than the sum of its parts. Every part, every individual, must always strive to give the best performance if the corporation is to succeed in the very competitive global marketplace.
    “It’s so easy to get complacent,” Stevenson continues. “I see myself doing it sometimes. Oh, that’s good enough, I say to myself. But then I realize, no, that’s not good enough. It’s not as good as I can really make it, and that’s how good it really ought to be…”
    Stevenson concludes before long. A lengthy speech is not necessary. The idea is to inspire hearts or jog forgetful brain cells, not to put everyone to sleep. Enoshi leads the group in brief applause, then adds his own voice to the woman’s words. “I believe it was the Italian artist-scientist Leonardo da Vinci who said, ‘Details make perfection, and perfection is no detail.’”
    The quote is well-received with smiles and nods of the head, even another little burst of applause. Nothing more need be said, Enoshi decides. He must remember to thank his wife, for it was she who came across the quote in her reading.
    Time now for the corporate creed, the “pledge,” as some of the employees call it. Enoshi takes the printed notecard bearing the creed from the inside flap of his pocket-secretary and leads the group in reciting it. He of course knows the creed by rote, backward and forward, as he has since the first day of his employment, but he does not wish to appear pretentious