Elephant in the Room by Rhona Gorringe
“What do you think they’ll tell us?”
I knew Tom would ask this. The middle of a Friday evening darts match in the local was hardly an appropriate time to explain what we would learn on Monday. Besides I was sworn to secrecy.
I played for time and nodded to Harry from electrics who came to join us. “Brilliant score, Harry. Good to have you in the team.”
“They’ve got to do something.” Tom persisted, “Orders are down, customers complaining, competition from Bagshaws. Too much waste, suspicious time sheets and petty pilfering. Same old story, too many suits! It’s all meetings, budgets, extra training and nothing ever gets done.”
“You know how it is, Tom.” I sighed, “It’s the uncertainty and foreign imports, not enough bank lending. There’s always an excuse the management can trot out.” I stood up, “Same again? and for you, Harry after that score.? We’re doing much better than last month at The Greyhound!”
I wondered how long I could dodge Tom’s questions. I wished I wasn’t privy to such inside information but the boss had hinted as much when we went through the accounts. “This doesn’t look so good, William” he said, locking away my files,“Will have to do some reorganising, make changes.” I nodded and my throat felt dry. “Got to speak to the board so keep it under your hat till things are settled. I know I can rely on you.”
That had been some months ago and I had relaxed. Tom and I were still as friendly but there was this niggle at the back of my mind. We had been close for as long as I could remember. We had started work together, drank together and dated the same girls. I was godfather to his youngest and Ursula shared the intimacy of the school run with Jane. Monday’s meeting would surely change all that.
At home I had endless discussions with Ursula wondering how Tom would take the news. He knew the firm inside out, customers and staff. He was experienced and his memory was infallible but belt tightening and downsizing made sense. I tried to imagine how I would feel.
“Bull’s Eye”. There was a buzz around the bar. I was glad of the diversion and gave a thumbs up to Solly from packing.
On Monday morning we all filed upstairs to the Boardroom. There were a couple of new faces. The CEO began his usual hot air rhetoric about hard work and loyalty. I was prepared but still stiffened as I heard him say
“… not been an easy decision but your Chairman and fellow directors felt this was an offer we couldn’t refuse. I am pleased and proud to introduce you to our new owners.” The speaker droned on,“We have tried to keep our restructuring as simple as possible but inevitably changes and redundancies will occur.”
I saw the accusation in Tom’s eyes and knew our old intimacy could never be rekindled.
Good narrative, excellent example of how relationships can change. And quite outside Rhona’s usual topics, I felt, so well done.
From Simon: I like this a lot. It has accurately captured the casual banter of men in a pub playing darts, though we never lose sight of the narrator William’s unease. The story also points up the shallowness of much masculine camaraderie. The relationships between people working for the same large organisation are economically described by phrases like ‘Harry from electrics’ and ‘Solly from packing’. But clearly, the friendship between William and Tom is of a different order. It goes back a long way, to their drinking together, dating the same girls, then settling into marriage and their wives sharing the school run. It’s all low-key but very believable. The piece also expresses the pain of holding in a secret for a long time, a situation that most of us have experienced at some stage of our lives. And the ending has an inevitability, a friendship broken by outside circumstances over which neither participant has any control. It’s a small tragedy, but no less tragic for that. And the matter-of-factness of the narration adds to its strength. Another observation is that, if I hadn’t known who’d written it, I couldn’t have said whether it was the work of a man or a woman.