Finally, Frank answered. “So, what were you doing talking to those ACME guys on Friday? Not to mention leaving work early to go down there.”

The color drained from Ben’s face as he began to get queasy.

Frank continued: “Listen, those guys seem to make a sport of low-balling the price here in town just to come in and take business from us. We can’t make a profit that way so we turn those gigs down. It’s not a good situation. And there you were, hanging out down there.”

Ben knew he’d screwed up. Not only by being unaware of what he had gotten into on Friday, but for trusting David. “Never again,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” asked Jack, still glaring at Ben. “Were you saying something?”

Ben decided at that moment not to sell David out, even though he easily could. Instead, he decided to do his best to take it like a man, and learn a lesson from this debacle.

“Nothing,” he replied. “I was just saying to myself that I needed to pay more attention next time…”

Frank was only half listening before he started to speak again, cutting Ben off: “So, were you angling for a job with those guys? I wouldn’t be real happy about that.”

This shocked Ben into defending himself a little more. “Wait just a minute. I may have screwed up by ignoring my better judgment, but I was not at all looking for a new job. This is where I want to work.”

Jack calmed down a bit, but Ben could tell he was still ticked off. As was Ben. He knew then that he’d been set up, and he couldn’t let it happen again. He’d have to stay on his toes and not get burned like that again.

As the week wore on, the only thing he had left to decide was whether or not to get some payback on David. But those thoughts ebbed as he realized that David was his own worst enemy and didn’t need any help ruining his own career.

And for the first time all week, Ben felt a measure of satisfaction.

Taylor Jensen is a freelance pro audio writer.

Go to Sound Mountain, Part 6: The Big Time

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