Surplus to Requirements


Close to the Edge
Steve and his wife Karen had a son in July. It was a joyous time for them, and Mary, it seemed. Mary, for once, sounded almost human when she broke the news. Human in the respect that she was demonstrably happy. Karen had been the only one who came to the office, apart from when Steve was required for something technical. So it was no surprise when we were left to our own devices. Nothing was heard by telephone and it was assumed they all wanted to bill and coo over the newborn. It suited me, because Mary had often contradicted plans from afar. She knew nothing of the business and had never set foot in the office, yet had managed to screw up some deals I'd begun. Of course when they failed to materialise it was my fault. No matter what I said in my defence, my place was definitely in the wrong. I could take it, it didn't matter as long as the business was going forward. One deal I did manage to conclude was worth in the region of 22,000 dollars, which pleased the old bat a little. Another, was the introduction of a World Wide Web specialist, into an adjacent office. It was an Englishman by the name of George (the hat) Hellis. He knew Dublin and its businesses very well, owing to having been a disc jockey on one of the more popular radio stations in town. We supplied him a free feed in return for his sales and marketing expertise. One Saturday morning, my phone rang. "Can I speak to Chris please", a female North American voice asked. I told her I had no idea who Chris was. "Chris Ellis" she insisted, "he gave me this number to call and said you would take a message from me. My name is Laura from Canada." The penny dropped. Our friend George, who was married, was playing around. Telling her I would give him the message I rang off.
I next saw George on the Monday following and told him what had transpired. Scolding him for not warning me, I asked him who she was. "Some silly cow from Canada I met on I. R. C." he replied. I knew nothing of Inter Relay Chat (irc) so he explained all about it. I simply wasn't interested in messing around on this medium to meet other people. I was far too busy and told him so.
Lightning Strike
It was three weeks after Steve and Karen had their baby, before I clapped eyes on them again. It was the beginning of August and there'd been no phone calls from Mary in that time. That was definitely strange. I was worried that something was about to happen. That old inner sense of mine was twitching like crazy. So I asked Steve if I was about to be dismissed. " Not as far as I know," he replied. Thinking that I must be paranoid, I dismissed the idea from my head and got on with the rest of the week. Mary called later that day, to tell me I had to move out of the office and into an apartment as soon as possible. The landlord was apparently getting annoyed about my living down there in the basement. I found one the very next day. A self contained one bedroom place very close to Phoenix Park. It was on Friday evening that I got another call from Mary, inviting me to see the baby and to a meeting on Sunday. I happily trotted along that Sunday afternoon, met the baby and returned downstairs to meet with Mary and Steve. Mary began with pleasantries, asking how my apartment suited me, telling how happy they were with the baby and so on. Looking back I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. She quietly began to criticise my work. I wasn't making enough sales. There had been deal which I'd blown, according to her. I answered smoothly, that I felt we were making progress and that deals were being made and patience was required. "Well," she said, nodding to Steve opposite her, " Steve has something to say to you." I looked at him. He was lounging in his chair stroking his red beard in the way he always did when agitated. He almost choked as he spoke, "You're fired," he said into his beard. "What did you say?" I couldn't believe my ears. He repeated it, this time with a little more conviction. Well, I am afraid I fell apart. I gabbled away in disbelief until I'd convinced myself they meant it. Both of them sat there whilst I rattled on. Eventually they asked for my office keys and sent me on my way, telling me I should go and obtain unemployment benefit.
The rest of the day and the two which followed, passed in a blur of misery. I was in total shock that my brother could be so deceitful.
New Beginnings
On the Wednesday I called George. He listened in amazement to the account of my dismissal. "They told me you was ill", he growled in his London accent. "Still, don't worry, I'll give you a job. Come and work with me. I'll square it with Steve and Mary and you can start work sellin' web pages. We'll make a lot of money, you an' me," he asserted. Any port in a storm, was my attitude to his offer, which I accepted, provided he could clear it with the family. After all I would still be in the same suite of offices. George did clear it the next day, so I began work with him. Internet Eireann fed us leads and we developed them. The first deal I landed was worth ten thousand dollars, courtesy of Internet Eireann. It looked as though this arrangement would be fine, as long as Mary stayed out of the picture. But of course she couldn't