Restructuring

“Sit down, Jeff, “ Marc said in his self-assured voice of a genuine leader. ”As you know, the company is going through hard times now. We must consider restructuring. I’ll keep it short: we have to end your employment with us. “

Marc paused to insure his words sank in. He expected some kind of reaction, at least a stir, but none came. Jeff stayed motionless and wordless -- a perfect impersonation of a freshly molded salt pillar. And really, what could he say? Beneath the stupor from unexpected news a whirlpool of questions swelled in his brain: “Me? Fired? Laid off? Whatever. Why? Why me? After ten years?”

Marc went on with the ritual, “I’m sorry, Jeff. It’s not your fault -- you did an excellent job. But we had no choice. It’s hi-tech, you know -- jobs come and go. But you can always count on us -- recommendations and all.“

Jeff could not remember how he left Marc’s office. He was sure he said nothing -- no “okay” or “yes” or anything at all, not even “good bye”. Most likely he just nodded and went away, clutching an official letter in his cold fingers.

He came back to his senses as he moved through the endless passage back to his cubicle. He felt people looking at him with a weird mixture of embarrassment and relief.

“Do they know? Already?”Jeff thought. He made it to his room, stuffed the letter into his backpack and left. He wanted to tell his roommate, “Iris, I’m fired. Good bye, wish you all the best,” but he couldn’t be sure his voice wouldn’t shake. Never mind, he would come in a couple of days to take care of formalities, to gather his personal belongings and to say his goodbyes, or perhaps he’d just write a farewell email. Yes, that would solve the problem of the shaky voice.

As most of his enlightened colleagues, Jeff had given up smoking years ago. But now he longed for a cigarette. Why not stroll down to the nearest shop for a pack of butts, then sit on a bench smoking his guts out and watching passers by. He had nowhere to hurry anymore.

Nate stood near the entrance, puffing out cloudy rings. Jeff considered asking him for a cigarette, before he caught Nate’s pitying glance. Even Nate knew. Everybody knew, except Jeff. How could that be? How--

The pain came out of nowhere, excruciating but brief. Everything disappeared.

When Jeff opened his eyes again, all was white -- the ceiling above him, walls, sheets, bandages on his body, a woman’s face. She was staring at him. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she was beautiful. And strangely familiar.

“Kate,” Jeff whispered. Every inch of his body hurt, but the only thing that mattered was if Kate was real or just a by-product of his delirium.

“I’m so sorry, Jeff. But you just popped out of nowhere -- right in front of my car. I could do nothing.”

Her voice broke. She was real.

“I looked for you, Kate. Everywhere. I couldn’t find you. Nobody could find you.”

“I thought you hated me. And now... I’m so glad you found me,” she said, reaching for his hand. “But I didn’t want it to be like that. Not like that!”

“Never mind,” Jeff said, struggling to stretch his bruised lips into a smile. “I’ll be in one piece again. Will I?”

She kissed him, lightly, almost without touching.

“Don’t disappear on me again, Kate.”

She pressed his hand, hard, like in old times.

There was a commotion outside of the room. ”Only one person,” somebody said, and Marc swept into the room, a couple of familiar faces peering from the doorway behind him.

“Jeff, how’re you, old boy? We’re all shocked. Such an awful accident. Nate saw it happened. If you need witnesses--“

“No. I’m all right.”

“The Doc says you’ll be as good as new soon. But still -- I hope there’s no hard feelings.”

“No. Thank you for--” His parched throat made speaking a torture,“Thank you for firing me.”

“The guy’s nuts,” said Marc’s widened eyes.

Jeff smiled.

First published in Ether Books in 2013.

Image Credit: Thomas Bresson - Eclairs, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6869292