Tears of a Young Man

Josh graduated from college and found a job at Uni-Corp and after a few weeks, he heard they were getting a new receptionist.

He walks up to the office’s front desk and sees a brunette-haired woman he had seen before.

“Amanda, is that you?” Josh asks.

She squints her eyes, “Josh? What are you doing here?”

“I work here, I started a few weeks ago,” Josh says

“How’ve you been since college?” Amanda asks.

“Good, I got this job and dated a few people,” Josh replies.

“That’s great, I’ve dated some guys and got this job. I look forward to working with you,” Amanda says.

“Alright, I better get to work,” Josh says.

“Me too. Bye,” Amanda says.

Later, Amanda sits in the breakroom eating her salad and Josh walks in with his bag lunch.

“Can I sit here?” Josh asks as he pulls out the chair across from Amanda.

“Sure,” Amanda replies and continues eating her salad.

Josh removes his sandwich from the inside of the brown paper bag and opens the ziplock bag.

“Did your mom pack that for you?” Amanda jokingly asks.

“No, I did,” Josh pouts.

“I was just joking, we can joke, right? We dated twice in the past,” Amanda says.

“That was in the past, I’ve moved on,” Josh admits.

“Oh, me too,” Amanda follows his tone.

Josh finishes his sandwich and takes out the chips.

“So, how did you get this job?” Josh asks.

“I applied online, got an interview, and got hired,” Amanda said.

Josh eats the last chip in the bag and throws out his trash, “Bye.”

“Bye,” Amanda says.

She sips her drink and watches him walk out of the break room. I see he hasn’t changed or has he? Has he moved on? I don’t know, Amanda thinks.

The clock struck three and their boss, Mr. Theodores calls them in for a meeting in the boardroom.

Everyone gathers in the boardroom.

“The first matter of business is I’d like to welcome our new secretary, Amanda Hart. This is her first day, don’t try to give her too hard of a time,” Mr. Theodores says.

Josh looks down at his notes and prepares for his first presentation.

Mr. Theodores calls up Josh to present, “Brogan, you’re up.”

“Profit margins are skyrocketing and that’s great. But with success comes costs. Everything in life has costs, groceries, bills, etc. I have a plan to cut costs by — -” Josh says before Mr. Theodores interrupts him.

“That’s great and all Brogan, but I just got word from corporate with that extra money we’re merging with Multicorp. They said there will be terminations and cut-backs,” Mr. Theodores said.

Everyone went into an uproar and Amanda asks, “Will there be a company name change?”

“I don’t know yet, there will be more details in the next meeting. Meeting adjourned,” Mr. Theodores says before rushing out.

“Josh, great job up there, but what do you think this means?” Amanda says as sees Josh packing up his satchel.

“I don’t know, but I gotta get back to work, while I still have a job,” Josh says rushing out.

The next day, at eleven o’clock, Mr. Theodores called another meeting in the boardroom to continue to discuss the merger with Multicorp. He sits in his chair at the head of the table and stands up. He leans his hands and arms on the table and says, “I know you’ve heard all the rumors, but I’m here to tell you the truth. In a few weeks, we’re merging with Multicorp to form Omnicorp. There will be cutbacks and terminations like I said yesterday, but not to any of you in the Thayton branch. Any questions?”

Everyone raises their hands and Amanda gets picked first.

“Why did they decide to merge or buy the company?” Amanda asks.

“We want to let consumers have easier access to our products,” Mr. Theodores replies.

“What does that mean for all of us?” Josh asked.

“It means — — I lied, there will be terminations or firings next week,” Mr. Theodores responds.

The employees got into a tizzy and put their heads down in sorrow.

“I know I said wouldn’t fire any of you, but this is out of my hands. Corporate made me do this,” Mr. Theodores says sincerely and nervously.

A few hours later in the breakroom, Amanda eats her wrap and Josh enters with his head down. He sits across from Amanda. They look at each other in distress.

“So, are you ready for the firings?” Amanda asks fearfully.

“No, are you? I’m nervous I’m on the chopping block. I know I am. I’ve only been here a few weeks,” Josh says on edge.

“You think you’re nervous, I’ve only been here a few days,” Amanda replies, hands shaking.

They continued eating and when they finished they both say, “We’ll get through this together.”

Next Monday, Mr. Theodores calls in Josh.

Josh walks into his boss’ office.

“Please have a seat, Mr. Brogan,” Mr. Theodores says.

Mr. Brogan sits down very slowly, delaying the inevitable.

“I’m glad you could join me today,” Mr. Theordores says.

“You called me into your office,” Mr. Brogan says.

“Let me do my thing,” Mr. Theodores says.

“Okay,” Mr. Brogan says.

“You’ve been with the company for a few weeks now and you’ve got a lot of potential. But I’m letting you go since corporate wants people with experience. I’m sorry,” Mr. Theodores says.

Josh (Mr. Brogan) rushes out of his office. He packs up the knick-knacks and keyboard he bought in a box. He walks out of the office not before seeing Amanda at reception.

Amanda looks at her co-worker with a full box in his hands and says in shock, “You were fired.”

“Yeah, looks like it and I think you’re next. It was nice seeing you again, Amanda,” Josh says before walking out.

He walks down the stairs and outside of the office building. He puts his head for a minute and sees two women holding hands. He smiles, then frowns again, and continues walking.

Back at the office.

“Amanda, can you come into my office?” Mr. Theodores shouts.

“I’ll be right there, sir,” Amanda shouts back.

She walks over to her boss’ office and opens the door. She sits down. The back of Mr. Theodores’ office chair is facing her. “Have a seat, Ms. Hart.”

“I’m already sitting,” she says.

He turns his chair around and says, “Oh, good, I called you into my office to talk about your experience here. I know it’s only been a week since you started here, but I’m letting you go. We need people with experience to deal with all the new calls and clients, so bye.”

“But — -okay,” Amanda says. She walks back to the reception desk and collects her things. She walks out of the office.

At home, Josh cries about losing his job and Amanda. He then remembers she gave him her number earlier today. He enters the number into his contacts and texts her:

Were you fired too?

Yes. :(

I’m sorry. What now?

Look for jobs again, I

guess.

Good luck.

Good luck to you. Bye.

Bye.

Amanda and Josh find new jobs and finally move on.