"Do I know you?" he asked.
Jewell shook her head. "No."
“Yet you feel the need to comment on my employee's actions.” The sharp movements of his hands expressed his annoyance, but she thought perhaps she caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “And mine?"
She noted his method of signing was closer to Pidgin Signed English than American Sign Language, which made sense considering his apparent ability to read lips and use spoken language. The syntax of PSE was closer to the speech pattern of a natural speaker, and to be an effective lip reader he'd be familiar with spoken English's rhythm. His tone and inflection implied he’d been either deaf or profoundly hard of hearing for the majority of his life. It was a strange contrast; one thing implied loss of hearing after learning speech, and the other implied a lifetime without hearing.
Being a child of a deaf adult sometimes gave her more insight than was probably appropriate. But, she couldn’t just turn it off when she wanted.
Jewell licked her lips. She felt as flushed as Carol had looked before disappearing into her office. "I have a difficult time staying silent around ignorance." She paused, stilling her hands, before adding "and arrogance."
His eyebrow arched again, higher this time. "Are you here for an interview?"
She nodded.
"Who?"
"Mr. Burke."
Mr. Roth's hand shot out, palm up, in demand. "Give me your résumé."
Jewell met his stare, not willing to yield to his lack of manners. "Please?"
His lopsided smirk told her she wouldn't get the satisfaction of him asking nicely, but he also wasn’t angry with her commentary. He wiggled his fingers impatiently, and she thought she caught the instigating glint of a challenge in his eyes. Holding his gaze, Jewell crouched down to retrieve her extra résumé from her attaché case and handed it to him. After he took it and said nothing, she touched her fingertips to her lips and brought her flat hand down.
"You're welcome," she added.
