The Industry

--Maharet 22:23, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Billy snatched the paperwork from her tray, read the request and began typing furiously on her desktop. Her fingernails clicked away until her work was complete. Double checking for any errors she held her breath and pressed enter.

Breathing a sigh of relief she said, "There, all done." Not feeling satisfied, she checked the numbers again. Having found no errors, she moved on to the next bit of important work for the day: reading today’s top news stories. There was nothing to do and the boredom of watching the stock market move up and down, up and down was just beyond belief. She sat motionless at her desk staring into the depths of her computer monitor doing her best to look like she was doing something productive. She was sure everyone that passed by could see right through her, but she didn't care. Better this than getting into trouble for talking to anyone that dropped by her desk.

Her attention was jarred by the shrill ring of the phone. The familiar voice on the other end was curt and short which meant that upon entering the managers office the door would be slamming directly behind her. She would have to be subjected to some sort of reprimand in the precense of his assistant for being 15 minutes late, taking too my sick days, too many last minute vacations or worse - blogging.

Feeling her legs warbling beneath her, Billy marched into the office and sat right down; steeling herself against whatever was about to be thrown her way.

Craig looked straight at her and in the most stern voice said, "Sorry, but we're going to have to let you go."

Billy didn't budge an inch. She didn't even bat an eye. Billy had a lot of pride and she never bothered hiding it. She said, "May I ask why?" with an unwavering stare.

Craig’s mouth cracked open wide enough to fit his fist in it and belted out a huge laugh. Billy imagined she may be leaving something behind in her chair, but waited patiently. "I'm just teasing you Billy! Happy Birthday!!!" he said, beaming with self absorbed enthusiasm.

Billy then slid over his desk knocking everything over. Craig’s face dropped in confusion as the tiny creature slammed his belongings out of the way. This blond little ball of fury was heading straight towards him and there was no time to react to the fist that was about to slam straight through his skull. The bone crunching sound of Billy's fist cracking through his skull reminded her of the sound celery stalks made when snapped in unison. Unfortunately her fist had gone straight through Craig’s mouth and right out the back of Craig’s head.

Craig blinked at Billy horrified that her entire hand was lodged in his mouth and said, "Billy... I... Billy? Are you okay, Billy?"

Billy blinked once more and only once more continuing to stare right into Craig’s beady little eyes.

"So, as I was saying Billy, I'm sorry to give you the news on your Birthday of all days, but there's really nothing else that we can do. The firm just isn't going to make it through this and we're just downsizing as much as possible before things really begin to hit the fan. I thought it was best that I tell you myself and at least make sure that you're compensated properly. I'll have Sally put the package together for you before you go and we'll get everything else sorted before the end of the week. Okay?" said Craig.

All Billy could manage to say was, "Well, okay, it was great working for you. Thank you for the opportunity and I wish you well in all your endeavors."

Craig looked down at his paperwork then fiddled with his computer mouse as he said, "No Billy, it's us who should be wishing you well in all your endeavors. If there was anything I could do you see. You know what they say huh? A few rotten apples..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah. Well, to be honest, none of us are all that far behind you so if you find anything good keep me in mind too huh?" he said breaking out into his loud irritating laugh.

"Of course Craig, well I better clear out my desk then. Have a good one." and as she got up to walk out turns to Sally and said, "Take care, Sally."

Sally gave her a weak smile and looked back down at her fingernails.

"Oh, you can pick your things up later if you're not up to it Billy. Just take the rest of the day off and we'll finalize everything tomorrow."

"Um, no, that's okay. I don't have much." Billy walked out of the office feeling drained. Her head was buzzing and her vision was beginning to blur. She went straight to her desk, grabbed the two pictures she kept and once piece of ceramic one of her brokers brought her from Peru and her purse.

She never looked back. Never said a word to any other co-worker. She just left. Deep down inside, she was glad because she wasn't going to miss them. The world could implode around her at that very moment and she wouldn’t give a damn. Not one little bit.

Those were the longest fifty four floors she had ever taken, but when the sun beat down on her face as she left the building the relief was staggering. She'd never realized it before. She REALLY hated that job.