2016 – Day 10

Start writing a story that...

Step 1: begins with this sentence: He got the message

Step 2: include this sentence: it had been nine years

Step 3: include a dialogue that begins with: Any questions?
----------

He got the message about the reorg on Friday. At 4:30 p.m.

"That ain't good," he said to Dave, who sat in the cube to his left. "They only give bad news on Friday afternoons."

"Chill out, Frank," Dave said, not looking away from his screen where an animated penguin was boxing a robot. "They haven't given any real information yet."

"What do you know?" Frank said, standing up from his chair and leaning over the cubicle wall. "You're, what, 27?"

"I'm 25."

"Even worse. Well, I'm 57 and I've been through these before. Somebody's losing their job."

"You're 57?" Dave said, looking up from his computer and regarding Frank over the wall. "Huh."

Frank's already rosy face turned redder. "'What do you mean 'huh'?"

"Nothing. I just had no idea how old you were."

"I'm old enough to know that this management team has their heads up their asses and hiring some outside "experts" isn't going to fix anything."

"Maybe they've figured something else out. You never know."

Frank shook his head and returned to his desk. As he sat down, he picked up a pen and began to fiddle with it. Still open on his monitor was the email from his department director announcing the upcoming changes. Dave wasn't wrong. There was no real information about the reorg in the email, other than the fact that it was happening, but Frank hated any change. It had been nine years since his last promotion, and he was fine with that. More money would have been good, of course, but he and his wife were comfortable enough, and he thought it more important to stay off the senior leadership's radar. The more seniority and responsibility you were given, the more chance there was of screwing up and finding yourself out of a job. Frank had no intension of starting over now that he was just 10 years from retirement.

Monday morning the team gathered in the conference room. Frank squeezed in toward the back, but made sure he could see what was happening at the front. The meeting began with Ed, the department director, giving a short speech about the importance of their work and staying current with trends. Frank half-listened as he scanned the room for any unfamiliar faces. He figured if anyone was brought in to downsize or manage the group, this would be their introduction. But after looking back and forth several times, Frank had to conclude that there was no one he didn't know.

After about five minutes, Ed concluded his speech.

"And so we need new ideas," he said, pounding his right fist into his left hand in excited emphasis. "New understandings of our users and and their ever-changing world. And the ability to look for new opportunities in the burgeoning markets. That is why I have appointed Dave Etger as our new Managing Director. Please join me in congratulating him."

The room filled with polite applause. Frank joined in, but he wasn't sure he understood what had just happened. The kid who sat beside him was his new boss? Was that possible?

"Any questions?" Ed asked.

The room was quiet. Frank wondered if others were speechless from shock, or if they, like him, were now replaying every conversation that they had had with Dave.