I practically trip over my own feet when the sight of Henry standing there,<em>waiting</em>for me, stops me in my tracks.  I guess it's a good thing I didn't try to sneak on out after all - that would have been<em>awkward</em>...<br/><br/>I'm feeling a lot better after talking with Pegge, but she's always been good at redirecting my energy into more productive tasks.  I'm almost eager to sit down with Henry and get to the bottom of things now. Thankfully, he doesn't waste any time leading the way, although I can't shake the feeling that something is really<em>off</em>about him.  He's not usually a weird kind of guy, at least not in my interactions with him, and today just doesn't strike me as the kind of day for goofing off.  Stress does weird things to people, though.<br/><br/>Thankfully, there's no one else in his office.  I had half-expected someone from HR or Legal to be sitting there, waiting, with the requisite manila folder and red-and-white striped 'Confidential' envelope in hand.  But no, it's just Henry and myself... weird, anxious Henry Case.  I offer him my own smile, but it doesn't seem to get through.<br/><br/>I can't help myself - I give the office a quick look around, to see if someone is hiding in the corner with a gun trained on him or something.<em>Why is he smiling like that?</em>It's super creepy.  And the way he's just expecting me to speak up - am I supposed to apologize or something for forgetting my badge?  I didn't lose it at a Tech conference or anything, I just left it at home.  Maybe I should look back through the employee policy guide and see what sort of corporate felony-level infraction I've committed.<br/><br/>The whistling nearly startles me from the chair. I can feel my eyes widen even as I fight to keep a more neutral look on my face. At least it's not the<em>Twilight Zone</em>theme. He makes some innocuous comment about the type of day it is, and it suddenly strikes me that maybe I'm not the<em>only</em>person having an off morning. Still - he's my boss, and we're at the edge of a possible PR crisis.  It's probably not going to do me any favors if I start asking nutty questions of my boss.  I definitely need to feel out the situation a bit more first.<br/><br/>This time when I smile back, I make sure to nod my head a little, giving Henry some serious,<em>'I know what you mean,'</em>eyes. "Yes," I respond, in precisely the tone necessary to convey my deep understanding and solidarity with... whatever it is he's dealing with, while subtly coaxing him to<em>go on</em>. "It<em>is</em>shaping up to be some day."<br/><br/>"And bright!" I tack on, squinting at the shafts of sunlight reflecting off windows across the avenue.  It probably wouldn't hurt to lend a positive spin to things right from the outset.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Choice:<br/><br/>A.  Play it cool -- match his small talk with small talk, let him guide the conversation for now