Page 2 of On The Edge

2

Aweek later, back in the office, Cat looked at the calendar on her desk. It was only Wednesday. How has the week taken this long? She mentally counted through the days in her head, hoping her calendar was wrong and it was really Friday. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice that Shelley had been trying to get her attention.

“Psst!” came the sharp noise for a third time from across the desk.

“Oh Shelley, I’m sorry I was far away there!”

“You normally are darling,” Shelley responded, in a short manner. Her lipstick was a pink shade that Cat would never dream of wearing, and her cream blouse clung to her torso, showing all manner of curves, with her large cleavage spilling out from its ruffled collar. Shelley looked around quickly, and then said mysteriously: “Meet me in the ladies, in ten minutes”. Cat, feeling confused but intrigued at the same time, nodded promptly, and Shelley went back to her phone call.

Cat waited in the girl’s loo for some time. After playing with the hand dryer and looking at her pores in the mirror, she decided the star tele-seller had forgotten all about their meeting. Just as she was about to leave, Shelley flung the door open dramatically, then closed it gently just as suddenly, all the while suspiciously looking around the door for passersby. She peered into each toilet cubicle ensuring they were the only occupants. Cat couldn’t help but feel that she was a spy, and a top-secret unmarked envelope was about to switch hands.

“We are alone, Miss Money-Penny!” Cat joked, but judging by Shelley’s blank face she wasn't quite on the same page.

“Cat darling, you’re doing it again”

“What?”

“That look! What goes on in that head of yours?” Shelley put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation.

Cat reddened. “Oh I don’t know... I just daydream a little.”

“Where do you go?” Shelley raised one eyebrow, but her expression had changed to one of mild concern.

“Anywhere but here,” Cat sighed. “So - what have you brought me in here for?”

“Oh - just that I heard a bit of gossip, and I'm only telling you as I couldn’t actually believe it.” She paused a little, with a pregnant suspense. “Well, Tim, Jane, Francis and Joan know, but I told them not to tell anyone else, so you can’t either, swear it!” She pointed at Cat, waiting for her agreement. Once she had received sufficient proof of Cat’s intent at silence, she continued. “My friend Lucy is going out with the guy in HR, you know, the one with the goatee and the glasses? Well, apparently he’s told her that the company will be letting a lot of people go. They’re giving the business a restructure, it seems they have too many people employed in the life insurance department, or something, I don’t know.” Shelley rattled on while Cat listened numbly. “It ties in with what Adam said the other week, he emphasized to our team that we need to work really hard to get even more sales... I think he knows what's going to happen. He wants to see who’s the best, so they can be the ones who get to stay”.

As the news washed over her, Cat couldn’t find any words in response, humorous or otherwise.

“Oh is that the time?” Shelley looked at her watch. “I have a telephone interview, must start looking for another job before everyone else does!” Shelley glanced in the mirror and, appearing happy with the reflection that looked back at her, marched out of the toilets.

Cat went back to her desk. For the rest of the day there were whispers around the office of the latent redundancies. Some people actually hoped they would be included in the casualty list. James, who sat across from Cat, mentioned to her that he would welcome being let go. He felt confident his payout would be good, since he had been with the company almost ten years, and had been looking for a new job recently anyway. Cat couldn’t share his optimism. Only a SunnySkies employee for a few months, she was sure she would be “last in, first out”, as most businesses operate. She was distracted until the clock struck five, and having made no sales that day, she felt thoroughly depressed. There was only one person she could talk to at times like these, so she picked up the phone and called Johnny.

“Hey J! Could we meet for a drink? I've had the week from hell and I need to drown my sorrows in company,” Cat asked the receiver.

“Of course! Usual place, in twenty minutes?” came the familiar voice.

“You're an angel.”

Cat sat in her damp clothes nursing a beer in front of the fire. Ben, the barman, chatted to her about the weather until Johnny waked in. Wearing a dark blue suit and burnt orange tie, his movie star short blonde hair and fresh face always turned heads, and Cat noticed the few other girls in the room turn to admire the professional-looking man in the doorway. Cat had met Johnny at college, and the two had hit it off almost instantly, principally, to the surprise of both parties, because Cat had found herself immune to his extensive charms. Johnny shook his umbrella and left it dripping at the door. She noticed Ben perk up immediately.

“Hi Ben! Urgh, terrible day, isn’t it? Could I get a beer? And better make it another for Cat here!” came the thick Glasgow accent. Johnny pulled a chair around the table to sit next to Cat, and put an arm around her. As their drinks arrived, he nodded at Ben, and watched him go back to serve a fresh group of patrons.

“It doesn't mean it’s definitely going to happen, people say these things all the time.” Johnny reassured his friend kindly.

“I don’t know... it would just be my luck, after leaving a job to come to this one, only to be laid off before the end of my probation!” Cat sighed despairingly, and gulped at her drink.

“It was better money though, the last company didn’t value you anyway.”

“This company doesn’t value me either though - I thought it was a customer service role; instead, they shoved me into cold call sales! You know how that grates against my whole existence!” Cat almost felt like crying.

“I know, I know,” her friend murmured in soothing tones. For Johnny, cold calling was no big deal, he thrived off making sales. “Listen, don’t get yourself worked up. This news is from a bimbo whose friend is shagging the guy in HR. He could be saying anything; she could be saying anything. She probably loves gossip and will spread anything just to feel good about herself!” Johnny spoke so jauntily it made Cat’s head spin.

“That’s mean, how can you say that about her? She told me because she cares.”

“Don’t start that Cat, she doesn’t care!”

Cat gasped. “You are too blunt sometimes!”