It's funny how things can change in the blink of an eye. One minute you're up there flying high. The next you're struggling to survive. Was it really only a few short months ago that Mike and Helen Grube thought they had it made?
They were living the American dream. It just didn't get any better than this. They were enjoying a rich life brought about by successful career choices, the trappings of that success manifesting itself with the expensive designer clothes, the flash cars and the large house in the suburbs.
But now it seemed that their dream life was crumbling, their recent problems were mounting and they were fast approaching a crisis point.
It had all started so well. Fresh from leaving college, Mike had entered the corporate world and starting at the bottom as a Junior Accounts Executive, had worked his way slowly up the corporate ladder before securing a position at Worldwide International Holdings. A few years in, and with hard work and long hours, he'd finally made it onto the hallowed sixth floor.
Getting to this level gave you access to the big accounts and an opportunity to earn some serious money. But for Mike, for some reason, it hadn't. His once promising career had ground to a halt. All corporate offices with a large workforce have an amount of political maneuvering going on, but sadly Mike had been unprepared for the depths to which his colleagues were willing to go. Trying to rely just on hard work and honesty had made him almost anonymous, and he'd heard whispers that he could be on his way out if he didn't bring in some big business soon.
And his story of woe was almost the same for his wife Helen. After graduating top of her class, she left college to start work at one of the biggest names in interior design. She too had started at the bottom of the ladder but had risen quickly as her work showed she had real flair, combining a vivid imagination with an exacting eye for detail.
After landing several big commissions for her employer she soon became unhappy that all her hard work and determination had not been acknowledged, as others above her took credit for her work. Her salary didn't improve much either. This feeling of being undervalued by her employer gave her the impetus and encouragement to be bold enough to get out and start her own company.
It had been tough at first, far tougher than she could ever have imagined. Her previous employer tried to undermine her work and undercut her fees at every opportunity, but eventually she had established herself and the business had slowly grown.
But times were harder now due to a downturn in the economy. People were cutting out unnecessary costs and it seemed that interior makeovers were a luxury that one could afford to do without. She had already lost two commissions in the last week and now, coming to the end of her phone call, she was resigned to losing a third.
"Shit," she murmured softly as she finally ended the call. Her hand came up to cup the side of her face as she stared glumly off into space for a moment, reflecting on this terrible news.
She finally lifted her head and turned to her assistant, Fiona. "That was the Eriksons, they've just canceled their design."
"Oh Christ," Fiona exclaimed, knowing instantly what that meant.
"I'm sorry Fiona, you know this is the last thing I ..."
"It's okay Helen, I understand, truly I do," Fiona interrupted with a weak smile. "Don't worry about me. Just promise you'll call me as soon as you need some help again."
"Of course I will Fiona. That goes without saying. It's just that I'm so, so sorry that it's come to this. And thank you so much for being so understanding," Helen said, as the tears welled in her eyes.
After hugging Fiona at the door as she left, Helen retreated to the kitchen and made herself a cup of herbal tea. It was her go to drink when feeling stressed. She'd long ago found that drinking anything stronger just made you feel worse after the initial euphoric lift had faded.
Helen truly did feel awful about letting Fiona go. Being with her since the early days, she was more a friend than employee now and Helen felt she was letting her down. But what else could she do? She'd already been paid by the Bakers and the work she was finishing off for them was just a couple of little extras that she'd thrown in for free. They'd been so easy to work with and had paid her immediately, which wasn't always the case.
As she sipped her tea she reflected on where this latest devastating news left her and Mike.
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They had met shortly after Helen left college. Although Mike was older than Helen by almost ten years, the attraction had been instantaneous. After a two year courtship they had tied the knot. Where had the years gone? Mike was fast approaching his fortieth birthday whilst she had just turned thirty. They'd had no family, always putting it off until they had more stability and money. Fat chance of that now, she thought bitterly.
In the early years it hadn't been so bad. With each promotion, Mike's salary increased quite significantly. Added to that, her business expanded as her reputation grew. With a sizable joint income they wanted to make their money work for them. Having taken professional advice they decided that there was nothing safer then property to invest in.
Initially they bought cheap houses to flip, each one achieving a small profit, which they banked away. Eventually they took the plunge and began to trade upwards each time, sinking all that profit into the next house until they had ended up with their latest home. It was a colonial style house in dire need of complete renovation. Sadly for the Grubes' it had become a money pit nightmare. Even essential work was nowhere near completed and with their savings almost non existent and the property mortgaged to the hilt, they were in virtual crisis.
And if that wasn't bad enough, it was now almost a certainty that their money was going to run out soon. With Helen's commissions canceled and her business on the verge of closure, her input was gone. And with Mike's career having dramatically stalled and his present salary unable to cover all their outgoings, they now stood to lose everything they had worked so hard for.
On a personal level too the pressures had piled up. The stress they both felt led to constant little arguments; and sex, which had once been a regular and welcome feature of their relationship; had faded away to nothing.
This frustrated both of them but mainly Helen. She'd always thought of herself as highly sexed. She'd always enjoyed being intimate and was mightily frustrated now that Mike seemed to have no interest in her, a point she made to him later that day when he returned home from work and they fell into yet another argument.
"We have no life Mike," she snapped, "and you don't even make love to me anymore."
"I know, I know, but with all the problems we've got with my work and your work and the house, I just... I haven't got ... I'm just so weary," he concluded weakly.
"Uummpphh," Helen snorted, "you didn't look weary the other day when I saw you flirting with your new secretary. Chloe is it?"
"Okay, enough, that was harmless. She was distraught because her boyfriend had just dumped her," he replied.
"And anyway, she hugged me first," he added.
"Yeah sure! You didn't seem to be too bothered about her rubbing her big breasts against your chest though," she retorted bitchily.
"Couldn't say I noticed," he replied sheepishly. "Anyway, changing the subject ... I do have some good news. WE ... WE have been invited to the next work's function that's held exclusively for the senior executives and their partners. This is the one I've heard others talk about. Even George Benson, the CEO attends this one, so it's obviously a big deal. And as we've not been invited before, maybe this is a sign things might be looking up for a change."
