Printer-friendly version

---

Lesley Smith had arrived back in his one bedroom apartment an hour earlier. He was still sat in in the same chair, in shock after the afternoon's events.

That lunchtime had been like any other Thursday. Lesley had gone to get a sandwich and had returned to his desk to eat it. He could have taken an hour for lunch, but never did. He could have left early each afternoon, but never did.

Today, after lunch, Lesley had been called to his manager's office. The manager explained at length how the, economic situation he called it, had caused problems for the whole sector, how the company was restructuring, how savings had to be made.

The manager could have saved his breath and just said to Lesley that he was redundant, but no. Lesley was sat there for half an hour before the formal redundancy notice was handed to him.

Lesley read the paperwork and signed his name on the slip, pushing it back across the table.

The manager looked at the slip and saw the date was missing, so completed it; 24th December 2009.

Lesley was told his pay had been credited that morning and was handed a redundancy cheque for £4000, apparently this was more than he was entitled to. Lesley had no idea what he might be entitled to, never having had the reason to work it out. Of course, he was asked to sign a receipt for the cheque. The slip said 'payment in full'.

That was all done by 2pm and Lesley was asked to clear out any personal items before leaving the building. He'd driven home but it was now too late to pay the cheque into an account.

So, what should have been the last working day of the year had just become Lesley's last working day.

So, he was now sat in his apartment at four o'clock on Christmas Eve, alone and jobless.

Lesley took another look at the cheque, wondering if it was going to be worth anything when he finally got to a bank the following Tuesday. Then he noticed it has been made out to Leslie Smith.

Was this a genuine error? Did it matter right now?

He reviewed his situation: unemployed, 32 years old, divorced, alone. Worthless.

Lesley opened his eyes, realising he'd fallen asleep in the chair. The clock said 5.35. He'd slept awkwardly and was stiff. Stretching, he fell from the chair, landing on the floor in a heap. He felt embarrassed, even though there was no-one there to see him.

The phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"Lesley?"

"Yes Karen."

"You sound awful. What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, I'll probably just sit in front of the box."

"Come on Lesley, what's up?"

"I was made redundant."

"When?"

"Today."

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"I hadn't told anyone"

"Look, we're meeting at the Red Lion at seven. It's a pub crawl, we're all dressing up."

"I don't feel like it."

"Don't you dare mope. Look, did they pay you?"

"Yes, at least I think so."

"Right, I'll meet you outside at 6.45 and we can go to the cashpoint together, you don't have any cash right now, do you?"

"No, how do you know?"

"You never have any cash. That's how. Now, have a shower and get your glad rags on."

"I'm not sure."

"Look, what have you got to lose? Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Hey, let's have some fun tonight."

"Alright, alright."

"See you at 6.45."

"OK"

An hour later, Leslie Smith was waiting by the kerb outside her apartment when Karen came past.

---

If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudo!
Click the Good Story! button above to leave the author a kudo:
And please, remember to comment, too! Thanks.