leethet | This is a test

To see if I've done this right.

Extortion

This is set after Cathedral

Andrew Gordon entered his boss' office without knocking -- a privilege he had earned -- his arms full of urgent paperwork. And stopped in surprise.

Fat guitar chords chunked over a driving rock beat, throbbing in the air, filling the sleekly stylish room with rough and loud contrast.

Andrew spotted his boss on one of the long sofas in front of the windows. He sat cross-leggged, staring at the glass in his hands as if he couldn't hear the rock song pounding against the walls of the expensively paneled room. No foot tapping, no movement at all, just heavy focus on the glass, or on the two hands clenched around it.

Andrew set the files on the big marble-topped desk. Rock and roll. Vodka in the daytime. You didn't work for this man for a decade and not know that meant trouble.

He knew where the stereo was, of course. He knew better than to touch it. He knew his boss had been aware of his entrance -- he'd learned the hard way that the man saw everything, heard everything, and had hair-trigger reflexes and a temper to match. Thinking back to the first -- and last -- time he'd awakened his boss injudiciously, Andrew winced. He'd learned a lot of painful lessons from this man. He looked harmless -- a small blond man in blue jeans, curled up now on a couch. Andrew shook his head. Harmless as a fucking cobra.