Men at Work [Quick Read] by Mike Gayle Read Free Book Online

people’s computers like that is hardly likely to have the guts to own up, are they?”
    Ian shook his head sadly. “No,” he said. “They probably aren’t.”
    Emma barely spoke a word on the way into work. She sat on the bus with her head against the window staring out into the traffic. Arriving at the office at five to nine, Emma was met at the door by Douglas. Without even a hint of a smile he led her to a room in which four members of Senior Management were seated, and closed the door.
    “This is mad!” said Amar sitting down on the edge of Ian’s desk. “Everyone knows that Emma would never do what they say she’s done.”
    “You don’t need to tell me that,” said Ian. “What do you think will happen? A slap on the wrist?”
    “More like a punch in the face, mate,” said Amar. “If there’s one thing they hate in the Civil Service it’s people messing about with the internet at work. Add to that the fact it was a picture of a manager stuck on the body of a nudie model and I don’t see how it can help being the sack.”
    “What if she got the union involved?”
    “Is she even a member of the union?”
    Ian shook his head. “The papers you’ve got to sign for the direct debits are still on the kitchen table.”
    “Then that’s it,” said Amar. “Game over.”
    ********
    An hour later the door to Douglas’s office opened and Emma came out in tears.
    “What happened?” asked Ian. “What did they say?”
    “I have to leave immediately,” said Emma. “My contract has been cancelled.”
    “They can’t do that,” said Ian. “Not for one lousy email!”
    “They can,” said Emma, “and they have.” She looked up at Ian and shook her head. “Do you want to know what the worst thing about all this is? I never really wanted to take this stupid job in the first place. I thought the pressure of us spending so much time together would mean we’d end up fighting all the time, but it never happened. You were always so sweet and kind to me. You never made me feel like I was in the way. You always made me feel welcome. And although I won’t miss the job, I’ll miss you, Ian Greening. I’ll miss you every minute.”

Chapter 14
    This time, Douglas wouldn’t let Ian go home with Emma no matter how much he pleaded, so he had no choice but to say goodbye to Emma in the downstairs lobby.
    “Everything will be all right,” said Ian hugging her. “It will, really, babe. This was a rubbish job anyway. You’ll get a better one. Just you wait and see. Then you’ll look back on this moment and wonder what the fuss was about.”
    Emma nodded and kissed him, but he could tell that she didn’t believe a word he said. She was worried about money. She was worried about finding another job. But most of all she was worried that getting sacked would stop her from ever getting a decent job ever again.
    “Text me if you need anything,” said Ian, feeling like the lowest of the low. “Anything at all. Just let me know and I’ll sort it out for you straight away.”
    “I’ll be fine,” said Emma trying to put on a brave face. “You just make sure that you work as hard as you can today. The last thing we need is you getting sacked!”
    For the rest of the day Ian stared blankly at Emma’s empty chair wishing that he could turn back time. If only he could take back his actions and stop this terrible thing. What had been going through his mind? How did Emma deserve this? How could he ever look her in the eye when he had been the cause of so much pain? Ian wished he had never heard of the fourth floor of the Department of Work and Pensions. And even though he had got what he had wanted, now there was no way he could enjoy a single moment at work, knowing what the true cost of his actions had been. Life as he knew it was over. There was no chance of getting it back.
    He picked up Emma’s cat calendar. The picture for the month was of a tiny grey kitten, all soft fur and big eyes, poking its head out of