“Honestly, Mitchell, it’s not worth it. I’ve been through something like this before. This place will become toxic. And I doubt I’ll get more than the standard minimum amount. I’d rather be working, especially with Angel to support. But I’d still like to swat up on my terms of employment, in case they ask at the interview.”
“Don’t you have a copy of your contract?”
“Somewhere. Home’s a bit of a bomb site at the moment. I hoped you might be able to slip into my personnel file and check.”
Mitchell sighed. “You do know you have a personal copy in your private portal account, don’t you?”
“Yes, darling. But rather than me ploughing through screen after screen, unsure about what I’m looking for, you could use that huge brain of yours to dig the contract out for me.”
“Okay, Kate. Let me check. And remember, you can’t breathe a word or even entertain questions about what’s going on here. Not to the people you’re interviewing for or the recruiters.”
“I know that. I’m legally bound. But just to give you a head’s up, the recruiter did ask me a few interesting questions about rumours that have been circulating. I denied all knowledge, of course. But I don’t think the secret is as secure as our people would like us to believe. And don’t hate me, but she asked if you might ever think about moving on.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Don’t worry. I lied, of course. I said I don’t know you that well and that she’s going to have to approach you herself.”
“And so it all begins.”
“Yes. Fasten your seatbelt,” said Kate. “Shelly pointed out your nephew last night. Nice looking lad. He seemed to be having fun.”
Mitchell was thankful for the distraction.
“Apparently I got him totally wrong. He only arrived this weekend and he’s already making friends. Tommy—that teacher friend of yours—has been a big help, actually.”
“Has he now?” said Kate, with a grin. “That’s good to know. When we met him and Shelly in the café, I sensed some indifference between the two of you.”
“Indifference? Is that your polite way of saying that I thought he was a complete asshole? Turns out I was wrong there, too. He’s not so bad.”
“No, he isn’t,” said Kate, just as someone else appeared at the door to the office. She looked as though she wanted to say something more but stopped herself. “Excellent. I’ll leave you to it then. Send me that stuff we talked about. Preferably this morning, if you can.”
“Will do.”
The new arrival turned out to be a manager from the bank’s retail banking division. She’d wanted to speak to Pauline about the upcoming pay reviews. Pauline had delegated the task to Helen in her absence, but Helen had phoned in sick. He took the manager into a private meeting room to conduct the interview and sat listening attentively. All the while he felt like a fraud, knowing this woman and the staff member she had come to talk about would soon be gone, casualties of the coming cull. But he had an obligation to remain professional.
Thankfully the rest of the day went by largely without incident. But Kate had been right, and he had begun to hear whispers around the office during the afternoon.
With no Helen or Pauline around and a quieter day than usual, he left the office at about six. On his way out, he decided he needed to sound off to someone. He called a familiar number after finding an empty bench a few blocks from the office.
“Are you around for coffee and a chat, Harold?”
“Sorry, old man.” Harold’s voice sounded strained. “I’ve had a particularly bad day. Lot of pain. William’s gone to get my prescription topped up. Can this wait until tomorrow?”
Mitchell felt instantly remorseful. Friends were dealing with far more significant problems than his own.
“Of course. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Not really. Don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom. I believe William told you that they’re bringing my op forward. The specialist had a slot become vacant. I didn’t ask why. Does having a chat over the phone work for you? Would be nice to hear a friendly voice to keep me company.”
Mitchell made up his mind because he needed to share his news with somebody he knew to be both pragmatic and discreet. He looked around to make sure nobody was in earshot before beginning.
“I shouldn’t really be telling anyone about this. Everything’s still confidential. Please tell me you won’t say a word to anybody, including William. Promise me, Harold.”
“Darling, you know me. I’ll have forgotten all about it by the time I put down the phone. Especially once the pain meds kick in. What on earth has got your aussieBums in such a twist?”
Mitchell took a deep breath and blurted out his news.
“In short, the bank I’ve been working my ass off for is closing down the whole Hong Kong operation. Well, leaving behind a skeleton staff. And I’m being sent back to London.”
