It was late on a Friday afternoon in the early summer when Timothy Marshal was sitting at his desk typing the last few lines of code for a payroll program he and his team had been working on for weeks. If he was able to finish the code today, they would complete this project a full two weeks ahead of schedule, but something was nagging at him. Timothy couldn’t shake the odd feeling that something was not right. The feeling was so strong that he spent the last few hours checking the code repeatedly, but every time he reviewed it the code was clean.
This feeling was causing delays that were preventing him from finishing, until about a half hour ago when he decided to accept that everything was fine and finish it up. He knew the rest of the team had finished up not too long ago and they were now waiting on him.
To add to his unease, there was one other thing that was bothering him, but he knew what this one was. Each time the team finished a big project they would all go out and have some drinks to celebrate. Unfortunately, he had made plans earlier in the week with some other friends for tonight, not expecting to finish this project by the end of the week. He speculated that the rest of the team would not be happy with him, he was going to break their tradition.
As Timothy’s mind started to drift, he leaned back in his desk chair and looked out the windows of the office. He worked on the twelfth floor of an office building in center city Philadelphia. The way the light would reflect off the other buildings and into their office during this time of day made him think of his days at the shore as a young child. Wasting away the summer days on the beach building sandcastles and digging holes, always trying to reach China but never quite getting there.
As he became a young boy, he would dive through the waves for hours as they rolled over him on their continuous parade toward the beach. His mother, always standing at the water’s edge, keeping an eye on him as she spoke with her friends.
On the weekends when his father would come down the shore, after working for the week, would take him to the boardwalk to ride the amusements or go to the arcade. When he hit his teenage years, he learned how to surf, spending countless hours gliding on top of the waves. There was a cool sense of serenity that washed over him every time he stood atop the surfboard. A feeling he sorely missed; he had not been out on the waves since he started going to college.
I should go again. I still have my board. He thought to himself.
Timothy was now twenty-six years old, stood just shy of six feet tall with long dark hair, that he usually pulled into a ponytail, gray hooded eyes and a darker complexion that suggested he still spent time in the sun. His squared off jaw line usually had a bit of stubble and he maintained an athletic build from his martial arts training as well as the gym.
He found martial arts while attending a college not too far from his current location. The college has a martial arts club that he joined in his first semester when he was looking for something to fill in his free time. Immediately falling in love with the physical fitness and self-discipline that it instilled. Relying on that discipline to this day to keep him focused and on task.
Timothy attended college for software engineering, when during his first internship, he was introduced to the database side of the software world. He found a natural connection to it and decided this was the direction he was going to take in his studies.
After graduating with top honors, about three years ago, he started applying for a few jobs in the local area. Eventually landing a job with Referential Data Services (RDS). RDS is a company that specializes in building and maintaining databases for industrial use. He was initially hired to write some basic queries, but quickly started getting promoted, receiving three promotions in just under three years.
He worked on the twelfth floor, which was mainly an open floor plan with a few enclosed offices in the center. He often dreamed that one day one of those offices would be his, but for right now he was happy where he was. His team consisted of four people, himself and three others, and over the past three years grew very close to each of them. He was not looking to leave this team yet.
One of the members of his team is Gina Murphy, a very attractive woman with dark wavy auburn hair, green eyes, tiny freckles on the top of her cheeks and pale skin. She had maybe a half inch on Timothy and was slightly older by a year or two. Her bubbly personality allowed her to make fast friends with everyone.
Today she was wearing a muted green sundress with white polka dots that complimented her eyes, making them shine. Timothy always liked it when she wore that dress, though he never told her that, thinking it would be too forward. Each time she came in with it on it made him think of the day he started working with her, almost three years ago. She was wearing a very similar dress on that day.
When he was shown to his desk, on his first day, by the office manager Jim Herring, Gina was the first to greet him. She was in the cubicle directly in front of him and, as Timothy set his stuff down on his desk, popped up with a bright smile and those gorgeous eyes highlighted by her dress and introduced herself. He found himself instantly attracted to her.
As she finished her introduction, she pointed out the other two members of the team, Josh and Todd, and then, for the next five minutes…kept talking. It was a constant stream of information about the office, the other coworkers and how she ended up as part of this team. By the time she finished he felt like he was hit by a tornado of flower petals. There was so much information thrown his way, yet Gina made it all feel soft and inviting. This is the “Gina effect” as he secretly came to call it.
Throughout the years he found himself becoming more and more attracted to her, though he was never able to muster the courage to act on it. He kept telling himself that, The problem is they worked together. Even to this day he thought, If she said no or it didn’t work out that it would ruin their friendship, but in his heart he knew the truth, he was afraid.
Todd Hailsmith and Josh Renolds are the other two members of the team. Todd is on the shorter side and a bit overweight with blonde hair, light skin and very thick glasses. A friendly man, though he can take some time to warm up to, his quick wit and sarcastic nature could turn people off at first. He is in his early thirties and usually wears a business suit, even though it is not required. Except for Fridays!
Fridays are casual and Todd takes it to the extreme, coming in dressed like he was ready for a Jimmy Buffett concert. Complete with Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals.
The man definitely has a fun side. Timothy often thought to himself.
In three years of working together, Timothy never found out why he dressed that way on a Friday. One day he would have to ask.
Most of the time Todd looked as if he was plotting something. Timothy eventually came to realize that he had some sort of prank or scheme up his sleeve, but they were always harmless. The other two members of the team already knew it was all in good fun, since they had worked with him for some time before Timothy joined the team. Usually rolling with his remarks and harmless pranks.
Timothy remembered his first week working with Todd. Todd had given him a “Welcome to the team” gift. It was nothing special, just a gift card to the local coffee shop on the first floor, but he thought it was a nice gesture. When Timothy went to use it though, the barista told him the card only had $0.02 on it. This brought a smile to Timothy’s face, figuring it was a bit of harmless hazing, as he paid for the rest in cash. The next week, when he arrived in the morning, there was another gift card on his keyboard.
Todd looked over the partition separating their desks saying, “That one has three cents on it,” as a grandmother would say when giving a child a quarter.
Every week thereafter there was a new gift card on his keyboard, always increasing in value by a penny. After the first few weeks Timothy knew he was going to like this guy. He was the right kind of troll.
Josh is a tall, good looking black man with an Olympic runner’s build, and is the team’s lead. In Timothy’s opinion it is well deserved. He seems to be able to balance the demand for excellence and the drive to get the projects done on time and on budget, with enough fun and comradery to make Timothy and the other two enjoy working for, and more importantly, with him.
He often bought them lunch or even took them out to eat when tensions started to ramp up on a project. He has a knack for knowing when the team needs to get out of the office and into a casual setting, allowing them to deflate.
Each time they finish a big project, he takes them out for drinks and dinner. This allowed the team to talk about the project they just completed in a relaxed setting. All in all, Timothy enjoys the team he is on and the people he works with.
Timothy was startled out of his daydreaming by Gina, resting her chin on her arms as she leaned on the cubical divider looking at him.
“Oh! Hey Gina,” he said sheepishly. “Sorry, I was somewhere else in my head,” giving her an awkward smile.
Gina perked up, smiling back at him. “I could see that. You really zoned out there. Thinking of the beach again?”
“Not entirely,” Timothy replied.
“What were you thinking about?” Gina asked him.
Timothy took a second, “About when I started here and how we all met,” His attention drifted a moment…
Damnit! He thought to himself, What the hell is bugging me so much? Something is off.
“Are you spacing out again?” Gina asked, bringing him back to the conversation.
Timothy blinked a few times, “Oh... Yeah, sorry.”
“It’s okay. How are you making out on finishing that code? We are all waiting for you,” Gina informed him.
“Crap!” He said, “It’s done. I just need to run it,” he straightened himself in his desk chair and clicked the button to trigger the code.
“Great!” Gina exclaimed, “We are all going out for drinks and dinner tonight to blow off some steam after completing the project. You’re coming, right?” She didn’t give him a chance to reply, “I haven’t seen you respond to the email yet. This was a big success! Completing it a full two weeks before the deadline, I am really looking forward to having some fun after the long days we have been spending getting this project completed.”
She took a breath, Timothy seizing the opportunity to get a word in, looked up at her with apologizing eyes saying, “Well…”
Gina glowered at him, cutting him off, “Well WHAT!?” the look making him flinch, “You were a big part of us getting this completed early. You are not backing out!”
“I can’t back out on something I never committed to. I was not expecting to finish up this week. I made plans with some friends tonight,” Timothy retorted.
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“What plans?” Gina said, giving him the evil eye.
“Well, my friends and I are going to get together and…”
Just then Gina’s phone rang. She put up a finger and looked over at the caller ID. “Hold that thought, this is Jim calling.”
Jim is their office manager and from the few encounters Timothy had with him, liked him well enough. Gina turned around and sat at her desk before answering the phone. After a few moments she set the phone down on the receiver, stood up and turned to Timothy.
“He wants to see me in his office. Do you think that we impressed people with this project?” Gina flashed him a big smile as she continued, “Maybe a bonus, huh?” Then she turned and started heading towards Jim’s office without waiting for a response.
Timothy sat back in his chair as she walked down the hall. Sighing softly after she left. To his left he heard Todd’s voice, “Dude, you got it bad for her. You ever going to ask her out?”
Timothy paused a second before responding, “That obvious, huh?”
“Yep,” Todd said.
Timothy tied to play it off unconvincingly, “It wouldn’t be right, we work together…Hey Todd, hang on a sec.”
Timothy took a quick look at his computer screen. The program ran without any errors, he pumped his fist in the air and stood up, turning to Todd.
“Now it’s officially done. No bugs. No errors,” Todd put his fist out, Timothy gave him a fist bump. Timothy took a quick look at the four cubicles, “Hey, where’s Josh at?” he said to Todd as he just now noticed that Josh was not at his desk.
And what the hell was still bothering me? The program ran without any issues. He thought to himself.
“You really zone out when you work, don’t you?” Todd questioned, bringing Timothy back out of his thoughts.
“Sorry, something has been bothering me all afternoon, but I can’t figure it out. It has me distracted and is pissing me off,” Timothy responded.
“This was a big project; I had the same feeling. Of course, I did have some corrections to make, but your code just ran fine. Let it go,” Todd said.
Timothy nodded in agreement, though it didn’t make him feel any better.
Todd continued, “Anyway, Josh was the first one called to Jim’s office. He left his desk about twenty minutes ago. Do you think she is right?”
“Right about what?” Timothy said.
“About the bonus!” Todd replied.
Timothy stopped and thought for a moment. “I don’t know... I mean I hope so, but it isn’t like we haven’t completed projects like this in the past. We didn’t get bonuses then,” He thought a bit more and added, “I think it would be more likely that they are looking to promote one of us to a team lead. Do you think that is why they called Josh in, then Gina? She is the target of the promotion.”.
Todd paused for a minute before nodding, “That does seem more plausible,” He thought for a few seconds before continuing, “When do you think they will tell us?”
Timothy contemplated that before answering, “I would think the sooner the better. We have a new project starting next week. We will need to know how much manpower we have so we can give an accurate timeline to the client.”
Todd raised an eyebrow, “What have you heard about the next project?”
“Probably nothing you haven’t,” Timothy replied, “Just that we are supposed to meet first thing Monday morning to go over the client’s request. Heck, I don’t even know who the client is,” They both took a second before giving each other a shrug and sitting back down.
Timothy looked around the office now that his attention wasn’t on something or someone else.
What is it that is bothering me? he pondered again.
It had been nagging at him all afternoon. Then, a few minutes later, it hit him. Timothy stood up cautiously and looked around, noticing he and Todd were the only two remaining in the office. He leaned on the partition between the cubicles.
“Umm…Hey Todd. It is too quiet in here, where are all the other teams?”
Todd, who had distracted himself by browsing the internet after sitting down, looked over at Timothy. He sat back in his chair and took a slow look around.
“Ehh, management has been letting teams leave early today. I just kind of chalked it up to the weather. The weekend is supposed to be really nice and you know how…” Todd’s phone rang. From the angle that Timothy was at he could see it was Jim.
Timothy looked at Todd and said, “You gonna give me the finger too?” Todd smiled, picked up the phone and held up a finger. Just not the same one as Gina.
A moment later Todd hung up the phone and stood up. “Moment of truth! Bonus or promotion. What are you putting your money on?” Todd said to him with a quirky smile.
Timothy’s expression went sour as he sat down and looked over to Todd, “I am starting to think neither.”
Todd did a double take at Timothy’s words, “What does that mean? Ehh…Never mind, I have to go see Jim, we can get back to it later,” Todd left his cubicle and started heading towards Jim’s office.
Timothy pulled out his cell phone and looked for the thread with his buddies. Fortunately, it was at the top. They were asking when he would be home. Knowing them, they may even be at his house waiting for him, they had the keys. He texted them letting them know that something was going on at work and he had to cancel tonight.
They are not going to be happy, he thought to himself.
He put his cell phone down and started staring at his desk phone, waiting for the call from Jim.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” He spoke aloud to the empty room.
He gave a slight chuckle; this was the first time in his life that he felt that phrase was worth using and no one was around to hear it. His mind started to wander again as he waited, thinking about where he would go next and then it hit him. If what he was thinking was true, he may only have one last chance to do something about his feelings for Gina. Were they going to stay in touch? Could this be the last time they see each other? He started thinking of ways to approach this.
“Damnit!” he muttered to himself.
Everything he thought of eventually sounded corny. Should he just cut to the chase and ask? No, he would choke on the words. Should he ask for help from Todd? Na, he didn’t think he was much better with women. Should he ask Josh for help? His desk phone rang, startling Timothy halfway out of his chair.
God, I can get lost in my own head, he thought to himself and picked up the phone.
“Hi Mr. Hollings. What can I help you with?” Timothy answered respectfully, yet there was a small tremor in his voice.
“Please, call me Jim. Could you come to my office when you have a minute?”
“Sure thing Mr. Holl…umm…Jim. I will be right there.”
Jim Hollings gave an audible chuckle, “Thanks,” and hung up the phone.
Timothy looked at the phone as it trembled in his hand before setting it back on the receiver. Then he grabbed his cell phone, dropped it of course (cursing to himself), then looked at the ceiling.
“Alright, take a deep breath and calm yourself down,” He muttered, “You don’t even know if this is happening.”
He took three good breaths, steeled himself, squatted down picking up his cell phone from the floor and started walking slowly towards Jim’s office. Taking time to quickly reminisce about the good times he had here throughout the past three years. The memories flashing through his mind as he approached Jim’s door. The walk felt like it took an eternity.
As he approached the door, he thought to himself, Should he really be this upset? It was only three years, 11 ½% of his life. Damn! Putting it in percentages made him feel worse. Three years seems a whole lot less than 11 ½%.
After a moment realizing that 11 ½% was the largest it would ever be. From here on out the percentage would only shrink. That made him feel a bit better.
The mind is an odd thing, was the last thing he thought before he noticed he had been standing in front of the door for the last minute or so, lost in his own thoughts, again. He raised his hand, hesitated for a second, then knocked.
“Come in!” He heard Jim’s voice from the other side of the door.
Timothy opened the door and slowly walked through the threshold. Jim Hollings was sitting behind his desk, stood up and gestured to a chair on the other side.
“Please, take a seat,” Jim said.
Jim was an older man, probably in his mid to late forties with short salt and pepper hair, wide shoulders and a bit of a gut. He looked like he used to play football in college, probably offensive line. He was that big.
“Can I get you water, soda or coffee?” Jim asked.
Timothy moved into the office, closing the door behind him, making his way to the chair and sat down.
He looked up from the chair at Jim, “Mr. Hollings, I am thinking a beer may be more in order, but water would be nice. Thank you.”
Jim gave Timothy an assessing look, “You know, Josh said you would figure it out before you got here. He has spoken highly of you for years, telling me that you are the one he relies on to connect the dots and problem solve for the team. He also said that I should have brought you in first, though I don’t think that would have been fair to the other members of your team. I wanted to go in order of seniority.”
Timothy looked from the floor to Mr. Hollings, “Not to sound rude, but what is next? How does this work? I am a little crossed up and can’t really see past the here and now.”
“Kid, that is natural,” Jim shook his head, admonishing himself, “Pardon me, Tim…or…Timothy, which do you prefer?”
“Either or, doesn’t matter to me,” Timothy lied. Everyone called him Timothy, except Gina. She always called him Tim and he liked it that way.
Jim continued, “Okay then. Tim. I need to officially inform you that we will be closing this division down. Today was the last day for this office and we will close the doors at 5pm tonight. We will have some services here next week, so you do not need to clear out your desk yet. I will go over those services in a few moments.”
He handed some paperwork to Timothy to sign. After Timothy finished reading through the document, he signed it and handed it back to Jim.
Jim took the papers and continued, “Now that the formalities are out of the way, let me go over the next steps for you. First you will be offered a severance package, with your years of service and your performance reviews you should net at least six months of pay. Four months guaranteed from your time here, performance can be a bit nebulous, but your reviews have been stellar. I can see you getting at least two extra months. Don’t tell HR I told you that, OK?” He said in a cautious tone.
Timothy nodded.
“Next, I arranged to have consultants here next week to help all the employees with their resumes and conduct practice interviews. There are a few people that have been here for twenty years or more. I doubt they have filled out a resume or gone to an interview for a very long time. I want all of you to have the best chance of getting hired and I would strongly suggest taking this opportunity. Lastly, if you need references, you can give them my information. Here is my card,” handing him a business card, “I will do everything in my power to help you land another good job. Do you have any questions?”
Timothy shook his head.
Jim continued, “I know this is a lot. The questions may not be there tonight. That is fine. I will be here all next week and my door will always be open or you can call me. I want to help.”
Timothy sat back for a minute, thinking. “Mr. Holl…Jim. Thank you for setting up those services next week. I will take you up on those offers,” Timothy stood up and started to turn towards the door but paused, “Hey Jim, I hope this isn’t too direct but, when did you find out about this and what is next for you?” The tension that Timothy was feeling and the look of surprise on Jim’s face made him crack a smile and laugh a bit. Jim did the same.
“I was informed earlier this week, but I was not permitted to say anything until today. My future with the company or my severance was on the line so, instead of informing any of you, I spent the time setting up those services,” Jim took a breath as he looked at Timothy, “I see why your team likes you,” he gave Timothy a grin, “You know you are the first person to ask me that. I appreciate the concern,” He relaxed back in his chair, “I am not really allowed to talk about it other than I have the option to transfer or leave. I need to talk about things with my family first. Without being too dismissive I would like to leave it at that, good?”
Timothy nodded.
“Well then,” Jim stood up and offered his hand, Timothy did the same and they shook, “The rest of your team is waiting for you in the conference room next door. It has been a pleasure working with you. Best of luck in the future and remember, I am available for any questions you might have.”
Timothy nodded again and tried to say something but was unable to think of the right words.
Jim put his hand up, shook his head slightly, “Don’t worry about it. Tonight, go out with your team and have fun. You earned it,” Timothy gave a sad smile to Jim and walked out of the office.
Timothy closed the door behind him before making his way to the conference room next door. Taking another deep breath, he turned the handle and walked in to see his teammates standing together in the far corner.
Gina had her back to him, Todd on her left and Josh on her right. All three turned to him as the door opened. He noticed that Gina’s eyes were puffy and bloodshot, she must have been crying not too long ago. He also noticed that there were no makeup smears on her face. He had always suspected that she didn’t wear makeup, this helped confirm his suspicions. She looked good, even now.
What an odd time to notice such a fact, he had thought to himself.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized Gina was scowling at him and with steel in her voice, said to him “You ARE going out with us tonight, correct?” That sentence may have been phrased as a question, there was no doubt, it was not.
Timothy scratched the stubble on his chin, gently tapped the door frame with his foot and looked up at Gina.
“Yeh…” he said in a quiet voice.
Gina’s scowl changed to the bubbly smile Timothy knew and loved as she rushed over and gave him a hug.
“Plans changed…I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he said in a low voice as he returned the hug.
Josh spoke up as he made his way from the other side of the room, “Great! I still have this company card. Let’s go do some damage to it,” putting a hand on Timothy’s shoulder.
Timothy looked over at him with a jester’s smile, “Let’s”.
Todd walked over, “This is gonna be a good night,” he said with a half smirk. “I know a good bar a few blocks away that has a Jimmy Buffett cover band every Friday, want to go there?” All three looked at him with jaws dropped.
“That explains so much,” Timothy said with a laugh.
The other three followed suit and burst into laughter, a much-needed release after the tension and heartache of the past hour.