"What's the matter? Didn't you get enough handouts at the party? Did you come to the front door to mooch some more?"
Poisoned darts, every word. People entering and exiting the building slowed to watch.
My son's face darkened. He looked even angrier than he had the night of the banquet.
He stormed over. Disgust radiated from him in waves.
But he didn't speak to me.
Instead, he turned his fury on the security guard.
"What is wrong with you? What do I pay you for? How can you let random vagrants block the entrance? Do we care about the company image or not? Get him out of here! Now!"
Only then did he turn to me.
His eyes were shards of ice.
"Sir," he said, the word dripping with distance. "I am very grateful for the care you and the villagers showed me in the past."
"However, this company has standards. Even a security position requires professional skills and education you do not possess. You don't meet our requirements."
His jaw tightened.
"Please understand and do not come here again. You are affecting our business."
*Sir.*
He called me *Sir*.
*Affecting our business.*
My heart plunged into a frozen lake. I couldn't even shiver.