smudges #1: negotiation

He refused to sit down. He refused to maintain his silence. He walked away from the table, dragging the cheap folding chair. He raised it over his head and smashed it to the floor. Once, twice, thrice. The legs bent and warped enough that he was able to tear a leg free.

Everyone else around the table backed away. One fled for the door to call in security. Henry, jagged chair leg gripped tight, leaped onto and over the table. Jean-Paul bumped up against the conference room’s wall, eyes looked in terror on the improvised weapon.

“I didn’t mean it, Monsieur. Not in that way.”

“I know,” Henry declared as he jabbed the chair leg through what had been, a moment before, Jean-Paul’s left eye. He turned back to the rest of the room. “Ok. Let’s continue the negotiation.”

Copyright 2010 Jason Wade
***

Sparked for some reason by this tweet from Wolven (but not the article to which it links). Normally I’d just save this piece and move on, but figured why not share it.