The confrontation

This piece was written for the Dialogue 500 contest. Everything must be dialogue; no tags allowed.

The confrontation
(word count 499)

"That summarizes our last quarter. Are there any questions?"

"You made some good points there Johnston. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you Mr. Morgan. Your guidance earlier with regards to the portfolio consolidation was crucial to last quarter's numbers. Without your insight and
expertise, I am certain that we would not have experienced such great success."

"Excuse me. Mr. Johnston, may I ask a question?"

"Miss Avery, can you make it quick? Please speak up so Mr. Morgan can hear you up front."

"Yes, it's just that I am not sure I understand point number three."

"Point number three is the R.O.I., the return on investment. This is one of the key measurements that Mr. Morgan expects to see on every presentation. You should know that. Maybe some training is in order. Are there any more questions?"

"I don't want to be a bother; it's just that I think in this instance the R.O.I. may not be the right standard to use."

"Miss Avery, are you trying to say that you know better than Mr. Morgan, the man
personally responsible for our firm's rise to greatness?"

"Perhaps you are right. I just thought..."

"Well maybe you should spend more time learning and less time trying to disrupt my meetings."

"Hold on a minute there Johnston. I would like to hear what Miss Avery has in mind."

"Yes, of course you are right sir. Miss Avery, would you care to entertain us a little further?"

"No, I'm sorry. I should not have brought it up."

"Listen young lady. If you cannot stand up for yourself, then I don't need you in the room. I have enough yes-men surrounding me. I need new ideas from people that can think for themselves. Now out with it."

"Well sir, it's just that the NPV would indicate that we would be better off after two quarters if we did exactly the opposite of what you recommend. We should diversify evenly between the service sector and manufacturing sector. If I could just demonstrate on the white board, you will see why I say this."

"Mr. Morgan, I see no need to listen any further to this nonsense. Your initial idea to consolidate was well received by all of our senior analysts."

"Johnston, sit down. I want to see what she has."

"Thank you sir. Now, as you can see, the trend line indicates that my path is more than fifteen percent more profitable with much less risk. I don't mean to say your idea is not a good one sir. It's just that the math would indicate it is not the best path forward."

"Johnston! How is it that Miss Avery found a flaw in my plan that was overlooked by your entire staff of analysts?'

"Good question sir. I will look into it right away."

"Good! And while you are at it, I want you to look into a better office for Miss Avery."

"Good idea sir. I will do that right away."