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unwritten rules. With time, the supposition becomes reality. It is much easier to believe nonsense than to search out the truth, and most people are either too lazy or too comfortable to look for truth any further than their front gardens.” He cast a careful glance Jeffrey’s way. “I do hope I’ve not offended you.”
    â€œSounds to me as if you know them perfectly. The family never visited you, did they?”
    â€œNot in years, although I must admit that I have not made an effort to visit your clan since Piotr’s untimely departure from this earth. I tried to keep in touch, in my own feeble way, but your own family seemed to hop across the nation at such speeds that I would receive the latest address only to learn that you had already moved elsewhere.”
    â€œYeah, that was Dad’s life. When I was a kid I thought for a while that he was paid to move.”
    â€œAnother of the prices for being an American executive. He was with IBM, I believe.”
    â€œStill is.”
    â€œOf course. Well, enough about the various kinfolk, as you say. Tell me more about yourself, Jeffrey.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œWell, perhaps a bit more about your work.”
    Jeffrey leaned back in his seat and took a moment to gatherhis thoughts. Alexander Kantor offered a sense of immediate intimacy. He invited a frank discussion by offering the gift of intense listening. Jeffrey found it immensely satisfying to have this chance to speak with someone who understood .
    â€œWhen I started out, the work at the big consulting groups was already shifting—only I didn’t know it then. We went from helping companies identify problems and learn better management techniques, to simply growing bigger faster. Mergers and acquisitions became the name of the game in the eighties. Those words alone are enough to start a consultant salivating.”
    â€œChange is inevitable,” Kantor said. “Why should you be disturbed by an altering of direction within the consulting industry?”
    â€œMergers tend to wipe people off the map,” Jeffrey replied vehemently. “It brings out the worst trait of business, lack of concern for the little person. And even the people who are left after the firing squads have worked their way through the companies—which was one of our jobs—still end up feeling either left out or squashed down. People are so shaken by this change in their working life that they forget about other people. I only see it inside the businesses, but I’ll bet it happens in their families, too. They don’t have time anymore for other people’s feelings, fears, ambitions—anything but their own skin. I hate what it does to people, and I hate the misery it causes for everybody but the handful of top executives who skim off the cream. It’s become about seventy percent of our business, the most profitable section. If you’re a trench worker like me, the best way to make it to partner is to get yourself attached to an M and A team. You can always tell who they are, too. They’re the ones walking around with blood on their hands.”
    â€œHow remarkable,” Kantor murmured. “A businessman with heart. Tell me, Jeffrey. Do you like dealing with people?”
    â€œI’ve always thought so. That was why I got into management consulting work in the first place, so I could deal witha lot of people and a lot of issues. Maybe somewhere up the ladder that’s the way it is, but right now I spend so much time in my little cubbyhole, I’m not sure I even remember how to be cordial.”
    â€œYou’re doing quite well, I assure you,” Kantor said. He reached for an inner pocket, drew out a slender metal tube, and unscrewed the cap. He drew a cigar from a paper-thin screen of wood. “Do you mind?”
    â€œNot at all. My grandfather used to smoke them.”
    Kantor smiled. “He most certainly did.”
    â€œI