Salvador and Dar&o

or... more proof that I live in a comic book

Here then, The Adventures of Salvador and Dar&o,
(disguised just enough to avoid search engines)


# 27: Showdown on the Bridge

INTERIOR SKYBRIDGE

Water drips through the walls of a skybridge above the millpond, and splashes into the plastic linings of the trashcans against the scaffolded walls. Dar&o, Chief Global Somethingorother, pinches an unlit cigarette between finger and thumb and stares out over the parking lot. He flips an object into the air, head-over-tail like a coin. It is a souvenir poker chip, bearing the name of the company he now leads...but only in part.

D: My abbreviation looks like an emoticon.

Bender: Stop commenting on the text. It annoys the reader.

(His nemesis enters from the bridge's other end, his loafered feet scraping the ground.)

S: What are you looking at?

D: The water. It used to run this building.

S: Imagine that.

D: I don't have to imagine it. In my country, industry is still run by water, and sweat, and the tears of many hunchbacked women.

S: (pausing) ooooo....kaaay.... (a beat). I'm glad you were able to come on-site. I am looking forward to partnering with you.

D: Partner is a noun, Brooklyn.

S: Have I offended you in some way?

D: This whole country offends me.

S: (noticing the cigarette) You can't smoke in here---

D: You can't smoke anywhere! (Throws cigarette as if into the pond. It bounces off the bridge window.) You promised me a company meeting. To meet my people.

S: Yes, well, we just had one you see, and we can't do it more than once a month. It upsets the facilities people. I can get you a WebEx...

D: Don't you know the Global business will bury you? The North American customer is dead.

S: You're a very angry person. Try winning the people over with love. I told them how important they were, how they are the heart of the business, how nicely they fill out a room...

D: So did your predecessor!

[BRIEF DISSOLVE TO...]

D (contd): But in the end, it was his inability to please EUROPE that brought him low. Try pleasing them with a few well-placed wife jokes -- you will feel a litre full of disdain.

S: Is that a lot?
D: SILENCE! (strides closer) You may have won for now, my clever little colleague. But your days are numbered. The future will be mine!

S: (hands in pockets, rocks on heels). No, lunch then, I take it?

NEXT TIME:
#28 Arrival of the Snooker Table