The entire office was buzzing with a nervous energy. Two weeks ago word had come down that there would be lay offs. The usual excuses about a slow economy and depressed profits had been given but those were a cold comfort to the people who were now dashing back and forth in a desperate attempt to look like they had something constructive to do.
"So who do you think is going to be fired?" Jake casually asked while pouring coffee into his favorite mug. It had been an anniversary gift from his wife, Rena, and had their wedding picture on it along with the words 'til death'.
"I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Didn't they just promote you from the floor to management?" Ken idly replied. "Regardless there isn't a whole lot anybody can do at this point. We know that's gonna be about ten percent of us cut give or take and I can only imagine the bosses have a pretty good idea what ten percent they intend to cut. There's nothing left but the crying my friend." Ken slapped Jake's shoulder a little harder than two acquaintances ought and walked out of the break room.
Ken was right but it didn't make Jake feel any better. This wasn't a time in his life that he could afford to lose his job. His wife was pregnant with their first child; he'd just moved them out of a shabby downtown apartment and into a nice new house in the suburbs. He was still paying off his student debt loans amongst other debts so the prospect of losing his job had his hands shaking slightly. "Get a hold of yourself." Ken took a deep breath.
"Mr. Staple, Mr. Rahn will see you in his office now." Ken Staple nearly leapt out of his own skin and found Angelina standing uncomfortably close to him.
Angelina always sent chills through Ken's entire body. As insane as it sounded in his head he was sure she wasn't human. She was some kind of alien or a machine, possibly a vampire. She didn't really walk anywhere; she marched with military precision and catlike silence. Angelina always stood intimately close but there was nothing intimate about the way she carried herself. Ken always swore that the air around her was several degrees cooler than anywhere else in the building and her ice blue eyes were always analyzing everything. He'd never once seen her let her hair out of the tight bun on the back of her head or seen her remove her rectangular glasses. She didn't even seem to breathe.
"Did you hear me Mr. Staple? I said Mr. Rahn will see you now." Angelina repeated a little louder this time.
"I heard you." Ken replied trying to keep himself from stammering.
"Good, then follow me." Ken almost told her that he knew where he was going already but instead sat down his mug and fell in behind the petite woman. She was just over five feet tall with a build that was more like an adolescent boy than a fully grown woman. The only true hint of her femininity were her broad hips and the way she couldn't disguise their seductive roll when she strode through the halls. When she reached Mr. Rahn's office she opened the door and stepped out of the way.
Mr. Rahn sat behind his enormous mahogany desk with his hands neatly interlaced on its surface. He was sitting in a leather chair that was better described as a throne than anything else. Everything about the office was specifically designed to make emphasis the masculinity of the man behind the desk and imbue him with an almost supernatural virility. It worked so well that despite Mr. Ian Rahn being an average sort of man by most measures and certainly far from intimidating in his grey suit and orange tie normally behind that desk he was something to be worshipped.
"Good afternoon Mr. Staple. Ms. Deimos would you please close the door?" She consented, shut the door and retreated into a corner of the room. "Mr. Staple, please have a seat. Let us discuss your future here at Sharpe Industries." Mr. Rahn waited until Ken sat down before continuing. The chair Ken was sitting in was set a few inches lower than Rahn's own which only left the two men at eye level with each other. Unlike Rahn's plush leather chair that at times threatened to engulf him, Ken's chair was stiff forcing him to squirm slightly to find a comfortable spot that didn't seem to exist.
There was a long silence between the two men. Ken could feel the older silver haired man considering him from behind the desk. "I assume you're aware of the situation here?" Ken told him that he was. "Then you know we are looking to trim some of the fat around here. Become a leaner meaner company going forward and we only have room for the best and brightest around here. So what is it you do, specifically, that makes you someone I want to keep on my team?"
Ken's mind instantly went blank. He knew that he was a good worker and he'd had an entire speech planned with details proving he was a vital piece of the machinery of Sharpe Industries and not just another replaceable cog. "I've been in charge of several important projects." He had been. The fact that he'd never been able to remember the real names of the projects even when he was on them was a sudden problem. "And-"
"He's quite proficient in a number of areas sir. He's the one who negotiated with Tepestech to complete the integration-" Angelina began rattling off the last few years of Ken's professional history with laser precision. Mr. Rahn was nodded several times occasionally chuckling or motioning for her to continue. "Unfortunately he's not particularly involved with any of his co-workers, is often juggled between multiple projects and ultimately we don't seem to have any long term plans for him. My recommendation is to-" Mr. Rahn raised his hand and Angelina simply shut down and backed away in silence.
"Well Mr. Staple." Mr. Rahn rose to his feet and stepped out from behind his desk. "You heard Ms. Deimos' evaluation of your portfolio. What I'm hearing is that you are a brilliant young man with a lot of promise and unfortunately little in the way of social skills. I like to think of you guys as my second family and I'd like to think you all feel the same way." Mr. Rahn hopped up on the table with a wide grin. Somehow he managed to combine the condescending look of a grandfather with the energetic look of a child.
"Please Mr. Rahn. I need this job I have a wife, a pregnant wife!"
"I didn't know that. That is interesting. Of course I would have known this already if you were more involved with your co-workers." Mr. Rahn said tilting his head slightly. "I just don't think you have a future here. Ms. Deimos will you please show Mr. Rahn to the door?"
"Wait." Ken's entire body went rigid. "I need this job. I can take a pay cut or fewer hours but I need this job. I know things are tight for the company right now but there has to be something I can do."
