(Author's POV)
When he pressed the stub into the ashtray, Phineas was already on his feet.
"I've got a board call in ten minutes," he said pleasantly. "I'll walk you out."
He did. All the way to the elevator, with the same easy, unreadable smile.
Jonathan stepped out of Everett Global's lobby into the afternoon air and stood on the pavement for a moment, genuinely baffled. He went over the entire meeting in his head and came up with nothing. No ask. No proposal. No veiled threat. Just a cigar and an hour of his life he wasn't getting back.
He shook his head and flagged down his car.
Upstairs, Phineas walked back into his office and closed the door.
"Benny."
Benny appeared from the side room.
"The ashtray," Phineas said. "Get it to the lab. Rush order. I want results in forty-eight
