I felt the color leave my cheeks and rose from my seat so quickly it toppled over. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What I mean to say is there has to be some mistake.” Was this some kind of sick joke, and now he was going to tell me I’d lost my job? I turned to my department head. “Mr. McCormack?”
“Sit down, Matheson.” He glanced at me casually. “We’ve had our eye on you for some time, and frankly, we were interested in seeing how you reacted to a scenario in which you were passed over for a position for which you were eminently qualified.”
“You…you expected me to change the program?” I righted my chair and sank back down in it, dazed. I thought I’d covered all my bases. I must have screwed up, although I couldn’t figure out how.
“Mmm, rather let’s say that if you hadn’t exhibited some
