THE CONFERENCE ROOM II

Zoe was surprised to see Kearney sitting amongst the host of departmental directors.

"When did he become one of them?" she wondered, but she remembered Mr. Andre saying something like Kearney would make a good director.

"So Kearney is indeed the next in line. Well, it isn't such a bad thing, although I will miss Mr. Andre. I preferred him as my departmental boss, but I will have to work with Kearney since Mr. Andre had so much faith in him." All this and more thoughts rolled into her mind like mighty waves from an ocean crashing onto the ocean bank.

All eyes were on Zoe when she plodded into the room. She immediately felt uneasy. She remembered her days in high school when she had to give a presentation before a large audience. She would usually look over the audience's heads and not directly at their faces to avoid seeing the lion faces that took form in place of theirs. She was doing it right now, keeping her eye level just above the director's head. If she were looking at their fac