“Was it a busy afternoon?”

Richard turned down the flame under a stainless steel skillet.

“We optimized the quarterly targets,” he said.

“The regional directors are very pleased with my operational flow.

I have streamlined our local branch metrics.”

I watched him use a pair of silver tongs to flip two thick steaks.

His hands were perfectly steady.

He didn’t look like a man who had packed up a nursery and vanished.