My voice quavered as I tried to keep my temper under control. I had more important things to do than to spar with the multinational bank that held my now useless credit card. The tip of my pen tapped a frustrated beat on the desk. Turner had no right to bring up my past, blindsiding me like that. It had left my nerves badly shaken. The woman on the other end of the call apologized and politely assured me that the bank never canceled credit cards without a good reason. “Have you recently moved?” she asked. “About three months ago.” “That may be it. Please hold.” I heard her typing on her keyboard. As I waited, Gordon walked by and dropped a newspaper on my desk. The pages had been folded back to an inside section. The headline before the break on that page read: WHITE HOUSE GARDEN EXTRAVAGANCE STIRS OUTRAGE. “While Congress penny-pinches, White House spending spirals out of control,” proclaimed the article, written by Griffon Parker from Media Today, who probably disliked puppies, growled at children, and weighed down social events like a miserable storm cloud.
