Mark suddenly became aware of Greg’s presence and turned to face him in a full-blown panic.
‘Matthews, what are you doing? Don’t youseewhat’s happening? There’s another goddamn issue with the euro and oil prices are going nuts because some new shit-storm is brewing in the Middle East! You’d better get on the phone with Carmichael, he’s going to be pissed off if you aren’t on this rightnow!’ Mark picked up a bottle of Tums and flicked it open with one hand before putting it to his mouth and pouring several tablets down his throat.
Greg stared at Mark, feeling a sense of disconnect. Sure, he should probably get on the phone with his biggest client, Leonard Carmichael, and tell him what they needed to do to protect his investments, but he found he didn’t want to, that it didn’t matter. There was always some new crisis, something that caused fortunes to collapse or developments that created windfalls and landed vast amounts of wealth into the laps of people who did nothing but push buttons and issue orders.
He shook his head; he was tired of the constant state of panic that everyone here operated in, including himself. He was sick of the stress and the stale air of the office. There was more to life than this.
He left his cubicle as Mark shouted behind him. ‘It’s your ass, Matthews! It’s your ass Carmichael will have for breakfast if you don’t tell him about this shit NOW!’
Greg ignored Mark’s message of impending doom and walked straight forward, with conviction, towards Dave Foster’s office. He saw the man sitting calmly at his desk, seemingly oblivious to the meltdown that was occurring just outside his door.
It was the way it always was, though. The rest of them suffered heart attacks, panic disorders and acid reflux disease, while Foster sat at his desk thinking about the next yacht he was going to buy.
As he closed the distance between him and the door to his boss’s office, he caught the eye of Foster’s bulldog executive assistant, Claudia. Fiercely protective of guarding the inner sanctum, she could melt the skin off your face just by looking at you. Usually Greg worked to stay off her radar – there was no denying she was a cow; he had the attitude that if he didn’t get in her way, she wouldn’t get in his.
Today, though, was a different story.
Greg continued to march forward, even after Claudia stood up and took her usual vicious canine pose.
‘I have to see Dave,’ Greg stated in a voice that meant business.
Claudia placed her hand up. ‘Mr Foster is busy. You can’t go in there.’ Greg kept walking. ‘Hey, stop,’ she ordered.
He pushed past her, reached for the doorknob to his boss’s office and turned it. It was open.
‘You do not have an appointment. You cannot see him!’
He ignored Claudia completely and went into Dave’s office uninvited. Sure enough, he could see what Dave was looking at on the Internet. OK, so he wasn’t shopping for a yacht, but a villa in Tuscany. Same difference.
‘Ah-hem,’ Greg cleared his throat and the noise startled his boss. The man quickly turned around and met his employee’s eyes.
‘Matthews. What are you doing? I’m up to my eyes here.’ He quickly minimized his screen.
‘Mr Foster,’ Claudia huffed as she pushed past Greg, ‘I’m sorry, I told him he couldn’t come in, that you were busy. I apologise. Do you want me to call security?’
Greg rolled his eyes and put up his hand.’ ‘No need for that, this will only take a minute.’
Dave puffed up his chest in an attempt to gain control of the situation. ‘I don’t have a minute. And what the hell are you doing in here anyway? Look at that out there, it’s chaos! Get to work!’ He pointed to the office as if he had been monitoring the situation this entire time, instead of only just noticing it.
Greg shook his head. ‘No, Dave.’
His boss’s eyes bugged out. ‘No? No? I’m going to tell you what you are going to do rightnowand that’s—’
‘No,’ said Greg calmly. ‘I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do right now. I quit.’ He smiled pleasantly at Claudia’s shocked expression.
‘Can’t take it no more, huh?’ Dave said calmly, in one of his infamous mood changes. He nodded briefly at Claudia who got the message and left.
Greg shook his head. ‘Nope.’
His boss calmly took out a cigar, lit it and blew the smoke up at the ceiling. Greg knew he had dismantled the smoke alarm ages ago. Dave wasn’t much of a rule guy, which is probably why he had got so far. ‘Must admit, I envy you.’
‘Why?’ Greg asked, surprised. ‘You want out too?’
Jeff slapped his hands down on his desk. ‘Nah, I love the job. It’s dangerous, always unpredictable … addictive. I’d just like to know that if I did walk away I wouldn’t be ruining so many lives.’
Greg nodded. ‘Right, wife, kids … ’
Jeff chewed madly on the end of his cigar and waved his hand, ‘ … mistress, and her kids, and my sister who can’t hold down a damn job, and my mother-in-law who always needs surgery on something or other and … ’ He stopped short and grinned at Greg’s surprised face. ‘What got you? Mistress, or the fact that I’m keeping my mother-in-law maintained?’
