Found this one harder to write and kinda lost my way a bit. Please let me know your thoughts.
*****
Laura and I had agreed that we would go out with our friends separately on Friday night and if we happened to bump into each other then so be it but we weren't going to go looking for each other. We hadn't talked about exclusivity but I knew that I didn't want to hook up with anyone else and I secretly hoped that she felt the same but I wasn't going to bring it up and put pressure on her.
I had arranged to meet Phil and Craig at our local for a couple before catching up with a few of the lads at Nick's place and then all of us were heading to a few of the trendier bars in the city and most likely a curry house on the way home. I wasn't sure of Laura's plans but we felt it was better that way as any meet up would be genuine coincidence and we wouldn't be leading our friends around just so we could see each other.
I arrived at the office early in the morning feeling refreshed after Laura and I had fallen asleep early the night before having finally had sex for the first time and looking forward to blowing off some steam later that night. My optimism was short lived though as I took my seat at my desk, turned on my computer and was confronted by an email from one of our biggest vendors requesting further information before committing to a deal which we had all thought was already done and not only that but they wanted the information by the middle of next week, which only gave us three days to pull it all together.
There were already emails circling around the office from people copied into the email asking how we were going to get this done and who's responsibility it would be but as team lead I knew it would rest on me ultimately. I called a quick team meeting and outlined my proposals, which I believed could get us the results with the minimum of fuss but it was the meeting with the boss that I wasn't looking forward to. Sure enough, as soon as he arrived in the office a little after ten o'clock I saw my internal messaging system beeping at me and when I clicked it open it simply read "My office. Now."
I always hated meetings in the Managing Director's office. It was the other end of the building and I couldn't even see it from where I sat and the walkway between workstations ran right through the middle of the office so everyone could get a good look whenever someone was summoned. I strode down the corridor as confidently as I could but I could feel people's eyes burrowing into me like watching a sacrificial lamb walking towards the slaughterhouse. I knew that there was nothing I could have done differently and so did everyone else on the project but it was little comfort as I reached the end of the carpet and turned left. Even Lynda, the MD's receptionist, looked at me with pity as I approached the frosted glass double doors and knocked loudly as I entered.
The office was large but not huge and it was full of the plush furniture including a grand wooden desk, the obligatory drinks cabinet with crystal glasses and a decanter half full of what I assumed was whiskey and an ornate bookcase filled with self-help books, various financial reporting volumes and the entire works of William Shakespeare. I suppose the furnishings had been picked to help create an aura of someone in control and knowledgeable but I always thought it looked like someone had watched one too many Hollywood blockbusters and crammed in every clichΓ© they could find. The worst of which was the grossly oversized leather chair behind the desk that was always facing away from the room so that you had to wait until he was ready to turn around and engage with you.
When he finally swung around I almost expected to see a white cat in his arms but he simply stared at me through his steel framed glasses and spoke slowly but firmly.
"Listen Dave I know this might not be your fault but it sure as hell is your problem now so you will ensure that all needs are met. I realise it's almost the weekend but I'm sure you realise the importance of this project."
He turned back to the window and I didn't need to be told it was my queue to leave.
As I walked back to my desk I could feel my weekend falling away from me as there was no way this was going to get done without some serious overtime and as lead on the project I knew I couldn't ask others to give up their time if I wasn't prepared to do the same myself. I slumped down in my chair and emailed my team the news before sending a message telling Phil and Craig not to wait for me and that I hoped to meet them in town later than planned and then set about trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get this all together.
The day was a blur of discussions and counter discussions, of frantic phone calls and more emails than I could keep track of as everyone rushed around collating as much information as possible before the close of business. By mid-afternoon we had what we thought was enough data but the real task was now only just beginning as all the information had to be collated and formatted into something resembling a professional presentation.
I began going through all the spreadsheets I'd been sent and removing the duplicate information, cross referencing them with the emails and scribbled down notes that had been passed to me through the morning as I began to drown in dates, targets and market figures. I was vaguely aware of people leaving the office to start their weekend as the sky outside grew darker as a storm rolling in from the horizon blotted out the last remaining rays of sunshine and as more chairs scraped and papers were shuffled the afternoon fast became evening and then night.
I stood up from my desk, stretched out the stiffness and walked to the water fountain surveying the surrounding desks on my way. There were still a couple of people working late with me; Danielle, as loyal as ever, was collecting the hard copy documents from the filing room and sifting through for anything that might have been missed but I knew she must have been eager to get home to her husband and young family; John, who had been staring at his computer for almost two hours trying to work out what was missed in the original presentation but I could hear his phone ringing constantly and I recognised the ringtone of that of his fiancΓ©; and Steve who I think had only stayed behind because he was still relatively new and wanted to make a good impression but I could see him glancing up at the clock while I stood by the cooler.
I walked around to where they were huddled over their desks and told them to go home.
"No point all of us being here," I said. "I've got this from here guys. Thanks for all your hard work today, now go and enjoy your weekend."
Once they had tidied up their desks and headed out of the door an eerie silence fell across the vast open space, punctuated by the occasional beep of the fax machine and the gentle hum of those computers that had been left running. I sat back down at my desk enjoying the quiet that now enveloped my surroundings and tried to clear my head from the disorder of the day and focus on pulling the presentation together as quickly as I could.
I ploughed forwards into my work, determined to get it completed and at least have some of the evening left but the more I accomplished the more I found I needed to update and expand upon and I was soon confronted with the realisation that I was going to be bound to my desk for the rest of the evening and long into the night ahead.
I ordered pizza, I made myself get up every half hour or so to stretch off and clear my head, I drank litres of water and only slightly less Red Bull and I did all I could to ensure that I favoured quality over quantity, going back and checking and then re-checking everything that I was putting together but the solitude was getting to me and as Friday turned into Saturday I was beginning to reach the end of my tolerance.
It was just after midnight that I became aware of a flashing at the bottom of my screen as my internal messenger once again sprang to life. I was pretty surprised that anyone else would still be in the building but then I couldn't see the whole office from where I sat so maybe one of the techs was still here and just seeing who else was about. I opened the messenger and had to do a double take as the message was coming from the managing director.
Still working hard Dave. Good job.
I was stunned.
Thanks
I replied, still shocked that he would still be in the office as I had never known him to work passed 3-3:30pm before and here he was working into the weekend. Unless of course he had come back in just to check on things and make sure we were still at it.
Update?