One-sided Triangle
ONE-SIDED TRIANGLE – September 4, 2025 – Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Important meetings, like the Thursday afternoon sales report, took place in the company’s nice conference room. The chairs were plush and fully adjustable. The wood table’s surface was polished and scratch-free. And for those distracted by scenery, the full-length windows provided a shaded view of the forest bordering the building.
The CEO and founder of Kelvin Furnaces, Kyler Neville, walked toward his usual seat at the head of the table. He knew more about laboratory-grade ovens and furnaces than anyone on the planet. He understood what every screw and circuit board did in every model they sold. He also knew most of their customers and what they did with his ovens. After taking a risk and borrowing money to make his first design, he had grown the company to 600 employees with their own manufacturing plant and sales reps around the country.
Kyler’s leadership philosophy was that he should know more than anyone around him. He could never step back and simply let people do their jobs, which made him constantly suspicious and more than a little paranoid. As he entered the conference room, he immediately sized up everyone already there. That included a pair of sales mangers wearing ties with loose knots. They laughed over some conversation that surely had nothing to do with work.
One of the salesmen, Troy Streeter, had not been hired by Kyler. Troy was young, not far removed from college, and known for being something of an athlete. He effortlessly flaunted his good looks and build. Kyler flashed him a resentful glance before sitting down and setting up his laptop. He pretended to review his handwritten notebook as he eavesdropped on the conversation between Troy and the other sales manager. They were comparing places they had been with the funniest names. The topic started with odd places they had visiting during sales calls.
“I still remember this trip through West Virginia,” Troy said with a chuckle. “We must have been lost. The deeper into the hills we went, the weirder the towns. We got to a place named Cucumber. No electricity. No running water. No soap.”
Troy giggled with his colleague over what he thought was a harmless memory. Suddenly, Kyler interrupted from the end of the table. “I’m from Cucumber, West Virginia,” he said loudly and seriously. He stared at Troy, waiting for a reaction.
Troy looked up hoping his supreme boss was kidding, but he saw zero humor on Kyler’s face. By that point, almost twenty people had gathered for the meeting and all of them turned their attention toward what was happening between Kyler and Troy. Everyone who had read Kyler’s biography on the company website knew he was from Boston so they recognized his West Virginia declaration as some sort of test.
Troy blushed and squirmed. He grinned weakly, hoping Kyler would match the expression. The CEO’s face remained rigidly offended. Inside his head, Troy asked himself whether he should challenge his boss and say something like, “I thought you were from Boston.” The alternative was to grovelingly apologize. After a few awkward seconds, Troy attempted the apology.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Neville. I was trying to be funny, not offensive. I’m sure Cucumber is very nice if I got to know it better.”
“It is nice,” Kyler snapped in reply. “People are honest and down to earth. But you probably judge me for being from Cucumber like I’m a dumb hick.”
“No, I don’t. I would never think that. I wasn’t serious about what I said. I’m sorry. It was a mistake.”
Kyler glared at Troy until everyone in the room was uncomfortable. Then he motioned for the meeting to begin. Troy remained embarrassed and miserable. Kyler enjoyed the fleeting thrill of superiority. He would not admit it aloud, but humiliating someone like Troy felt like the perfect payoff to all his years of relentless work. It proved that knowing something and building something were more valuable than being born like some Adonis and handed everything.
The sales meeting ended with mostly good news for the company. Anyone who spoke sought Kyler’s approval and he dismissed them with his version of a motivational message involving never resting and swallowing up the competition. His day ended when he left his large corner office and received respectful greetings from those he passed on his way to his Porsche SUV parked next to the building’s front door.
Kyler carefully chose the dark gray color and make of his car to match the persona of a successful business owner. The same thing could be said of his house, which any reasonable person would classify as a mansion. He had most of the original property torn down and rebuilt so he could add a circular entrance and carriage-house garage. He liked lots of brick, including on the driveway’s surface. He walked from his car into the house and was immediately enveloped in all the climate-controlled living space.
After traipsing 200 steps, Kyler found his wife reading a book in what she called her “sun room.” She looked up at him from the couch indifferently, as if he was a grandfather clock that had just gonged. “Is it already time for you to be home?” she said.
Kyler looked down at his expensive mechanical watch. “Yes. I’m a little later than usual.”
“I suppose I should think about dinner.”
As she was finishing one last page from her book, twin daughters, Haley and Laurel, invaded the room. Completely ignoring their father, they simultaneously complained about their new shoes not fitting right.
“I thought you liked them,” their mother replied.
“Until we started wearing them around,” answered one of the twins. “Now they feel too tight.”
“Shall we send them back?”
“We’ll keep them, just in case. But we found some new ones that are better.”
Both thirteen-year-olds held their phones up to their mom to show their latest must-have accessory. They had no doubts their mom would order the shoes. Being indulged that way was the one thing they could count on. When they were home, they knew they were the most important things in their parents’ lives.
Kyler stayed quiet during the shoe discussion. He knew better than to ask about prices. It would only upset him. When Haley and Laurel appeared to be done and on the verge of leaving the room, he attempted to engage.
“You do anything interesting in school today?”
“No,” one of the twins replied.
“Who’s your best teacher?”
Shoulder shrugs.
Kyler looked at the shorts they both had on and said, “Is that what you wore today? Aren’t those a little too short to be comfortable?”
The apathetic looks on the twins’ faces was immediately replaced by rage. “Why do you always have to criticize what we wear?” Haley spat out.
“What would you know about being comfortable?” Laurel whined. She looked at her father with his frumpy suit and tacky gold cufflinks and added, “I’m not taking fashion advice from you!”
“Okay, sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Kyler said meekly, wearing a face similar to the one Troy used for his apology during the sales meeting.
After the twins stomped out of the room, Kyler turned to his wife for sympathy. “The only people who don’t treat me nicely are in my own family. It’s depressing.”
“You should know what to expect by now. They’re like any other teenage girls.”
Kyler made a sound like he was experiencing indigestion.
“And don’t forget you need to take them to late soccer practice at 7:30.”
“Ugh. Why me?”
“Why not you?”
Kyler looked at his watch. He did not argue although he could think of a hundred more productive things he could do with his time.
Ten minutes before they were due at the soccer field, the twins dragged themselves and their gear to Kyler’s Porsche. They threw their cleats and water bottles inside with no regard for the car’s leather interior. Haley hurried to sit in the backseat and Laurel reluctantly took the passenger seat next to her father. Neither girl said a word on the way and kept their faces buried in their phones.
“Practice is only an hour. Don’t make us wait around for you to pick us up like last time,” Haley said when they reached the field.
Kyler decided it was wasteful to drive home and back. He pulled out his phone, determined to answer a pile of email messages while he sat in his car.
Across the parking lot, Troy Streeter, stepped out of his Hyundai Sonata wearing soccer shorts and a tight shirt. He took a long sniff. He loved the smell of fresh cut grass when summer was turning into fall. The overhead lights at the sports complex were on. He strode toward the field reserved for his team’s practice, acknowledging greetings from people who recognized him. His gate resembled a lion crossing the savannah.
He was a bright star in high school and college and barely fell short of finding a place in professional soccer. He loved the pressure and adrenaline rush of burying the ball in the net. He never intended to be a coach but it was one way to stay close to the game. He liked the extra money and he loved the near-celebrity status he enjoyed while strutting around the sidelines of the youth league. Every mom and teenage girl had an ego-stroking crush on him. Catching their nervous stares felt invigorating after spending his days at a soul-crushing job that could be done by anyone with a pulse.
Troy blew his whistle and motioned for his girls to line up. Two of them were not wearing the correct uniform and Troy chastised them good-naturedly. Then he started with a pep talk about challenging yourself and being a good teammate. The girls ate it up, staring back with worshipful eyes.
“Alright, let’s do our standard kicking and dribbling drills before we practice some set plays.”
Haley and Laurel Neville took their usual spots and concentrated on passing the ball back and forth. Troy paid particular attention. He obviously knew exactly who they were, but before he ever learned their names, he recognized they were clumsier and heavier than other players on the team. He liked to think he treated everyone fairly, but he never said anything uplifting to the twins. He meandered over to where they practiced.
“Have you been working out at home?” Troy asked them both.
“Yes,” Haley replied.
“You’ve been running?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t show yet. You’ve got to be lighter if you want more playing time. I can’t have the other ream running right past you.”
The twins’ faces sunk. As Troy walked away, they fought back tears as they pretended to still care about soccer. He put on an intense face and told himself the advice was for their own good. Someone had to teach them they did no get everything in life simply by being born into it. A little disappointment would do them good.
As the team joined together for simulated game play, Troy purposely kept the Neville sisters away from the action. When they did see the ball, he was quick to shout corrections. He chuckled to himself as he noticed their brightly colored cleats. They seemed to have new pairs every practice, as if their shoes would help them run faster. Sorry girls. This was his world. He had earned the right to speak freely whenever he was on the field. Maybe that was not the case elsewhere, but the field was his.
Kyler recognized the end of soccer practice because the team began collecting water bottles and phones. He walked over to where they were huddled and arrived in time to watch Troy chew into his daughters about running toward the ball. They kept their tormented heads down.
And then in a soulful moment, in concert the girls lifted their eyes to see their father. He glanced between them and Troy. Troy’s gaze darted between the twins and his boss. Kyler nodded at Troy without smiling and Troy nodded back. The twins shuffled forward and Kyler called to Troy, “See you tomorrow.” It almost sounded like a warning. The cycle of abuse would continue.
Troy’s expression no longer resembled a lion. Kyler dreaded the ride home with his miserable daughters, but he turned and followed them toward his car. In an instant, his mind flashed through all the abuse he had dished out and taken and he did not want any more of it. In that moment, he saw himself as the kind of CEO who got the most out of people, who earned their respect but did not demand it.
Kyler turned back toward Troy and said in a voice loud enough for the soccer coach and his daughters to hear, “You know, I forgot to tell you what a good job you’re doing with the Pennsylvania accounts. You’re just the guy we need there.”
Troy smiled in surprise. It was the first hint of approval he had ever heard from the CEO about his work. “I am? Well, thank you. I didn’t know you noticed.”
Kyler smiled back. “I notice everything. It’s kind of an obsession.”
Troy picked up a soccer ball and walked toward him. When he got close, he spoke directly to Haley and Lauren. “I know I’ve been kind of hard on the two of you. I know you’re trying. I think you both deserve more playing time during our next game.”
The girls swooned and promised they were ready. By the time they got to the Porsche SUV, they were all smiles. Laurel hurried to sit up front next to her dad. As they pulled away from the parking lot, she asked him a question.
“You wanna hear what we did in science today? You like science, right?”
“I sure do,” Kyler said with an enlightened smile.
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