Vince and Joy by Lisa Jewell

Author:Lisa Jewell [Jewell, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 0061137464
Amazon: B006G8J1UA
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: 2005-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The reason for the strange atmosphere in Vince’s office made itself known after lunch.

Melanie announced a departmental meeting at three o’clock, which was unheard of on a Friday afternoon.

The team filed into her office exchanging questioning looks and shrugged shoulders. Gill Pearson, the scary Personnel Director, was stationed at the head of the table, smiling benignly in a navy polka-dot blouse.

‘Hello, everyone,’ she said. ‘Thank you all for coming at such short notice.’ Her smile was so forced it looked as if it had been stapled on to her face.

Vince fiddled with the pointy bit at the bottom of his tie and glanced around the table. Everyone was engaged in some kind of displacement activity – nibbling at fingernails, twiddling hair, drumming Biros, shuffling papers. Everyone knew something bad was about to happen. That’s what personnel directors were for.

‘As you might be aware, Coalford Swann Collectibles has experienced something of a downturn in profits over the course of the past eighteen months. This is in no way attributable to the quality of the product or the dedication and hard work of our staff, all of which are beyond reproach. The economy simply isn’t healthy enough to support our customers’ luxury spending, and collectibles are always hardest hit in tough times like these. So, inevitably, we have had to look to the bottom line.’

Vince felt his gut clench.

‘Coalford Swann is renowned throughout the world for the quality of its marketing and publicity. And rightly so. Melanie has worked incredibly hard over the course of the past three years putting together the finest team of marketeers in the industry. Which is why the decision we’ve reached has been so painful.’

Oh, for God’s sake, thought Vince, just get on with it.

‘As of Monday morning, the marketing and publicity departments will cease to function. Therefore, I am sincerely sorry to announce, your jobs are effectively redundant as of today. I’ll be speaking to you all individually over the course of the afternoon, so if you’d like to return to your desks and stick around until I’ve had a chance to have a chat, that would be very much appreciated. In the meantime, please keep this to yourselves. An official announcement will be made on Monday morning. And can I just take this opportunity to say how much I and the rest of the directors appreciate all your hard work and commitment over the years.’ And with that she smiled tightly, gathered her files and left the room.

The whole team collapsed like a snapped elastic as the door closed behind her and exhaled as one.

‘Fucking hell,’ said Demetrius.

‘Shit,’ said Sian.

‘Fantastic!’ said Billy.

Vince didn’t know what to think. He’d fantasized about something like this happening so many times, dreamed of the rush of adrenalin that sudden freedom would unleash, the things he could do, the places he could go, but now it had actually happened he just felt vaguely hurt. They didn’t want him. They hadn’t made an exception for him. They were happy just to

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.