“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied.
“You know I could have invited Mr. Stubbs to stay, he would have been happy to.”
“I’m sure he would have,” I agreed.
“Well, maybe next time I’ll humiliate you with an audience as well. You have no idea what effect that has.”
I didn’t say a word, as I was busy imagining the horror of an audience. I could tell that he was deliberately instilling me with new fears to confound my already mounting apprehensions, though he didn’t waste much time on further talk.
Rising quickly from his seat, he once again placed the straight back chair in the open center of the room. Then looking at me with a strange smile, he pulled from his desk a box and handed it to me.
“What?” I questioned him.
“I thought it would be appropriate that we have our own, one just fo
