C4 antho - Chamber Four

American Subsidiary ~289~
“We have a new project in need of the highest-quality
translation, and I’d like us to work on it together, you and
me,” he went on, speaking German now.
Herr Halsa went so far as to clear his throat, but Joseph
heard the softness in it, a touching womanliness that would
mean to Herr Doktor Hühne, if he happened to hear, that
Halsa intended nothing peremptory. On the contrary, it
brimmed with comic lightness, the kind of mild rebuke that
one might direct towards an old woman, perhaps a receptionist
who had chosen this inopportune moment to dust the
plants.
Joseph nodded with grave interest―he enjoyed being
important; who doesn’t?―and stood up to match Herr Doktor
Hühne’s height, making certain in his American way to
advance this relationship by allowing his arm to bump a few
times against Herr Doktor Hühne’s while they reviewed the
as-yet-unreleased German prospectus for a new overheadrailcar
system.
Herr Halsa appeared briefly at his door, then pulled
back. Joseph saw his image there, the faintest double exposure,
wearing the fine Italian jacket that usually hung behind
the door.
Once Herr Doktor Hühne returned to Halsa’s office,
where the German salesmen were now gathered around the
conference table, Herr Halsa grew expansive and host-like.
At these times his bearing made Joseph proudest to have this
unexpected opportunity, which had come up almost by accident
six months before, to be the translator here instead of a
mere secretarial temp. Joseph sat off to the side, his favorite
fountain pen poised for note-taking. The Americans on staff
were excluded from these meetings for the simple reason
that the conversations were conducted in German, and for
the complex reason that the Americans were American.