“It’s important for us to be vigilant,” Mr. Honeycutt was saying, “against the cost modifications eroding market share.”
“Vigilant,” Peter replied.
“Yes.” Mr. Honeycutt gave him a sideways look and then turned back to the PowerPoint graph on the display screen.
“Vii-GIL-lant.” Peter ran his tongue over his lips, savoring the flavor of the word.
Becky, sitting next to him, bumped his elbow. “Not the time,” she whispered.
“But the word,” he said, his brain fully pulled out of the meeting now. “It’s just… have you ever tasted that word before?”
Becky sighed deeply, keeping her eyes trained on Mr. Honeycutt, who was looking decidedly annoyed right now. She knew how Peter could be, but the Vice President in Charge of Financial Operations didn’t know, and most likely didn’t care.
And of course now the other six people around the boardroom table were staring at the interruption, and the interrupter, as well.
“You can tell me all about it later,” Becky said as quietly as she could while still being heard. “It’s time to focus now.”
Something in Peter’s eyes flashed, as if he had suddenly realized where he was. “Right. Sorry. Later.” He smiled sheepishly at the people who were staring at him, and after a short pause, Mr. Honeycutt continued.
“As we can see from the quarter four earnings drop, MacKenzie-Fisher has managed to pull a portion of our base.”
“Portion. Por-SHUN. Vi-GIL-ant.” He struggled to say them quietly this time, but it was still disruptive.
Becky nudged Peter again. “Are you feeling okay?”
He leaned towards her while watching the others at the table, still speaking low. “Can’t you taste it, though? It’s so delicious. Por-SHUN. Vi-GIIIL-ant. A portion of our vigilance.” The words sounded drenched in sibilance when he said them. Such tasty sibilance!
Becky sat forward. “I’m really sorry, Mr. Honeycutt, but Peter was just remembering an important report deadline. Hence the distraction.”
“I was?” He looked confused.
“You were.” And then, back to Mr. Honeycutt: “If he could be excused, I’ll give him the relevant information later.”
“Relevance,” Peter said. “Reverence. Diligence.”
“Yes,” Mr. Honeycutt said. “I think that would be a good idea.”
Becky looked at Peter until he got her silent message. He smiled awkwardly at Mr. Honeycutt, then quietly stood and left.
A few minutes later, Becky got a message notification, and read it: “A diligent portion of relevant reverence.” Followed by several laugh emojis.
Becky sighed again, set the phone face down on the table in front of her, and went back to the meeting.