Carla stood on the far side of the gray fabric partition, going over a printed copy of the final slide deck.

She tapped her red pen on her leather notebook in a steady beat.

“These freight projections look solid,” Carla said.

“The regional transport numbers finally line up with the local depot reports.”

Michael looked down at the coffee-stained quarterly budget sheets sitting on the corner of his desk.

“I double-checked the fuel surcharges for the whole third quarter,” Michael said.

“The math will stand up to any scrutiny.”