Lying back on her childbirth bed, she looked up in disgust at her husband. She flicked a hand at the handsome Ce'al sculptor with the hang dog look an... then motioned for her two eldest daughters to approach her. Before they could, the healer brought the swaddled babe over to show the sleeping male child. Shiena's lip curled in disgust and waved the shocked healer away. Her daughters approached, their faces blank, looking down upon their disheveled matriarch. Her sweat-soaked hair was now so. ”“Remember,” I said, “this isn’t about treating the new folks differently or holding them to higher standards, which is something we need to convey to all the managers. This is about ensuring that everyone is held to the same standards. That’s the one point I continually make to Bob, and I know he’ll hear it from everyone - we are NOT lowering our standards just because we have to hire more. I hate turnover, but if we allow mediocrity to creep in, we’re toast. We have to deal with it quickly. You hold stock in Covington Shoes, don’t you? Could you get me a copy of the annual report so I can show them exactly where their reasoning is wrong? Then when the company comes to the bargaining table, it will be much easier to negotiate.”“What makes you think the company will come to the table. Fergie is convinced that another week without a paycheck will put an end to the strike.”“Fergie?”“Yes. You need to pay more attention to the business, Liam. Fergie is the CEO and majority shareholder. She talked about wanting a boy to ask her, and the boy never did. She had been waiting for my call, but mine wasn’t the first call she’d been waiting for.” At that point, they were parked in the driveway, but Dad made no move to get out.“Yeah?” He got enough history in school, but there was a point to this -- a point Dad was avoiding. They had had that talk already, and it had embarrassed Dad as much as it had embarrassed him. If Dad was leading up to a second round, he was putting it in a.