The talking stopped the instant I walked to the head of the table.

My head was completely bare, smooth and neatly shaped from Rose’s scalp treatment the morning before.

Nobody said a word for three full seconds.

I put my leather notebook on the wooden podium, leaned forward on my hands, and looked the vice president straight in the eye.

“Good morning,” I said, my voice carrying clear and steady across the room.

“We’re here to go over the fourth-quarter logistics expansion across seven Midwestern territories.”