James Clove

James had been eating peacefully in the lunch room when Jane stumbled in to find him. ?Hi Jane? he said casually while eating his homemade tuna sandwich. ?I?m so sorry James, but Ms. Swanson wants to see you? she explained as she looked at him apologetically. ?Why are you sor... oh? he said as the realisation dawned on him.

A sick feeling gripped his stomach hard as he understood what this meant. He was going to be fired. The company had started laying off people in rounds for a few days now, but he had thought that he was safe. He had always thought that he was a fine worker and a great addition to the company, but apparently he was wrong.

James scrambled to think of a possible reason for his termination while he meekly followed Jane out of the break room and down the halls to his boss?s office. In the end, he couldn?t rationalize it; there was no good reason that he was being canned. There was no good reason, but he definitely knew the bad reason. His boss had always had it out for him, again, for reasons he couldn?t explain.

He had always been one of her favourite targets to pick on, yelling some days and cutting break time the next. Some of his best memories working at the company were when she had been on vacation, when he could finally have some peace.

He had been reflecting on this so hard that he hardly noticed when they pulled up next to the door and entered, wordlessly. His boss, Cornelia Swanson seemed a bit flustered but James was barely aware, as the shock was beginning to really grip him and he stared aimlessly into space.

Sitting down, he vaguely heard his Ms. Swanson say the words:

?Mr. Clove you?ve been let go?