Right away, this alerted me. You see, I know that Bunny keeps flawless notes in her head, and the only time she consults her pad is when she’s stalling for time trying to decide whether or not to bring something to my attention. I may be slow, but I do learn.
“Welll…” she said slowly. “The only thing I show at all is an appointment with somebody named Hysterium.”
“Hysterium? Why does that name sound familiar? Wait a minute. Didn’t I see a letter from him about a week back?”
“That’s right. He’s a land speculator and developer who’s been trying to get in to see you for some time now.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. What time is the appointment for?”
Bunny was staring at her notes again.
“Actually, I was thinking of postponing the meeting, if not canceling it altogether,” she said.
“Why would we want to do that?”
I was annoyed, but curious. I really wasn’t wild about Bunny trying to make my decisions for me. Still, she had a good head for business, and if this guy made her hesitate, I wanted to know why.
“It’s like I was trying to tell you before, Skeeve. Your time is valuable. You can’t just give it away to any fruitcake who wants an appointment.”
“. . . And you figure this guy’s a fruitcake?”
“He must be,” she shrugged. “What he wants to talk about simply isn’t our kind of work. As near as I’ve been able to make out, he wants us to serve as interior decorators.”
That brought Tananda into the conversation.
“You’re kidding. Interior decorators?”
Bunny actually giggled and turned to Tananda conspiratorially.