"I walk ever so lightly," the woman said, standing hip-shot in front
of the desk, "and pounce ever so hard." She smiled. Opulent, Orison
thought. Built like a burlesque queen. No, she thought, I don't like
her. Can't. Wouldn't if I could. Never cared for cats.
"I'm Orison McCall," she said, and tried to smile back without showing
teeth.
"Delighted," the visitor said, handing over an undelighted palm. "I'm
Auga Vingt. Auga, to my friends."
"Won't you sit down, Miss Vingt?"
"So kind of you, darling," Auga Vingt said, "but I shan't have time to
visit. I just wanted to stop and welcome you as a Taft Bank co-worker.
One for all, all for one. Yea, Team. You know."
"Thanks," Orison said.
"Common courtesy," Miss Vingt explained. "Also, darling, I'd like to
draw your attention to one little point. Dink Gerding--you know, the
shoulders and muscles and crewcut? Well, he's posted property. Should
you throw your starveling charms at my Dink, you'd only get your little
eyes scratched out. Word to the wise, _n'est-ce pas_?"
"Sorry you have to leave so suddenly," Orison said, rolling her _Wall
Street Journal_ into a club and standing. "Darling."
"So remember, Tiny, Dink Gerding is mine. You're all alone up here.
You could get broken nails, fall down the elevator shaft, all sorts of
annoyance. Understand me, darling?"
"You make it very clear," Orison said. "Now you'd best hurry back to
your stanchion, Bossy, before the hay's all gone."
"Isn't it lovely, the way you and I reached an understanding right
off?" Auga asked. "Well, ta-ta." She turned and walked to the elevator,
displaying, Orison thought, a disgraceful amount of ungirdled rhumba
motion.
The elevator stopped to pick up the odious Auga. A passenger, male,
stepped off. "Good morning, Mr. Gerding," Miss Vingt said, bowing.
"Carry on, Colonel," the stranger replied. As the elevator door closed,
he stepped up to Orison's desk. "Good morning. Miss McCall," he said.
"What is this?" Orison demanded. "Visiting-day at the zoo?" She paused
and shook her head. "Excuse me, sir," she said. "It's just that ...
Vingt thing...."
"Auga is rather intense," the new Mr. Gerding said.
"Yeah, intense," Orison said. "Like a kidney-stone."
"I stopped by to welcome you to the William Howard Taft National Bank
and Trust Company family, Miss McCall," he said. "I'm Kraft Gerding,
Dink's elder brother. I understand you've met Dink already."
"Yes, sir," Orison said. The hair of this new Mr. Gerding was cropped
even closer than Dink's. His mustache was gray-tipped, like a patch
of frosted furze; and his eyes, like Dink's, were cobalt blue. The
head, Orison mused, would look quite at home in one of Kaiser Bill's
spike-topped _Pickelhauben_; but the ears were in evidence, and seemed
normal. Mr. Kraft Gerding bowed--what continental manners these bankers
had!--and Orison half expected him to free her hand from the rolled-up
paper she still clutched and plant a kiss on it.
* * * * *
Instead, Kraft Gerding smiled a smile as frosty as his mustache and
said, "I understand that my younger brother has been talking with you,
Miss McCall. Quite proper, I know. But I must warn you against mixing
business with pleasure."
Orison jumped up, tossing the paper into her wastebasket. "I quit!" she
shouted. "You can take this crazy bank ... into bankruptcy, for all I
care. I'm not going to perch up here, target for every uncaged idiot in
finance, and listen to another word."
"Dearest lady, my humblest pardon," Kraft Gerding said, bowing again,
a bit lower. "Your work is splendid; your presence is Taft Bank's most
charming asset; my only wish is to serve and protect you. To this end,
dear lady, I feel it my duty to warn you against my brother. A word to
the wise...."
"_N'est-ce pas?_" Orison said. "Well, Buster, here's a word to the
foolish. Get lost."