‘Miss Kapp is obviously not our type of person, Newman. I mean she’s obvious. Her name must be Kapinsky or something.’

‘But she can’t be, I …’

‘I can’t sit here arguing with you …’

‘No sir, I’m not arguing. I just can’t believe she …’

‘You can’t see, Newman. Will you tell me why in the world you don’t get glasses?’ Suddenly Mr Gargan’s tone changed. ‘It’s nothing serious, is it? I don’t mean to be …’

‘No, I just haven’t had the time, that’s all. Drops and everything. It puts you out for a day or two …’ Mr Newman tilted his head to the side and started to smile away the importance of his failure to get glasses.

‘Well, take the time. Because you know what this kind of thing does. It throws the whole office off, having somebody like that around. The girls spend half their time in the rest room talking about her. And you know the job it is getting rid of them. I don’t want it to happen again. We just aren’t set up to take that kind of person.’

‘Oh, I know …’

Gargan broadened his neck, leaned his head closer to Newman, and smiled charmingly.

‘Well, don’t let it happen again, will you?’

‘I won’t. I’ll attend to her today.’

‘That’s all right, I’ll take care of it this time,’ he said, satisfied, and rose. ‘I think I can do a better job of explaining. The wrong kind is liable to take off out of here and make some kind of a story for the newspapers or something. I’ll attend to it.’

Mr Newman nodded. They were together again as of old – in league, as it were. The less said the better now. He felt a certain importance and instead of smiling with the joy that was in him, he peaked his brows. At the door Mr Gargan looked down at him.

‘Because we really don’t want that happening. You know what I mean.’

‘Oh, certainly. I’ll see the doctor tonight.’

‘Take the day if you have to.’

‘Too much work on the desk. I’ll go about four.’

‘Fine.’ The door opened under Mr Gargan’s hand. ‘You don’t feel it’s anything personal, do you?’

‘Oh, God, no,’ Mr Newman laughed.

Smiling, he made his rapid, short-stepped way through Miss Keller’s office and out onto the floor. Once out of the office the feeling of comradeship he had known with Mr Gargan dropped away, and with it his smile. He walked quietly to his cubicle and entered. He sat a long time staring. It was impossible to work. Finally he moved, brought his watch up to his nose and studied it. Only seven hours to go. The watch slid out of his hand and hit the desk. He picked it up and held it to his ear and then studied the crystal, which was slimy with perspiration.

Chapter Four

HE did not go at four. He waited until five.

The optometrist’s office was one flight up over a fancy leather goods store. Mr Newman found the large square waiting-room empty. At one end of the room was a doorway masked by a large black curtain. Behind this the examinations were made. He sat on a chair beside the wide store window at the front of the waiting-room, and with his second handkerchief of the day wiped the sweatband of his hat and set it on his head again, horizontally, as was his preference. (His skull being flat at the sides he could never wear a hat tilted, as it always slid over to the horizontal after a few minutes anyway. In time he had come to believe, and obdurately advised others, that tilting a hat on the head put it out of shape.)