The Usual Suspects
-excerpt from my novel (which I'm seeking a publisher for) 'When is Enough, Enough?'
“Christina, Christina who, are you a F$$%^ing crank caller?’
Then the line extinguished. Billy was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected Stephen to be so unapologetically insolent. Indeed, he actually sounded very irate. This seriously perturbed Billy. He quickly dismissed that investigating Christina’s whereabouts was an abject waste of time.
Irrefutably, Billy’s subpar resume was only his responsibility. Aiming to enlist another person to revise it was utterly pointless. Was his glaring lack of accountability one of the reasons why Cheryl fired him?
Since being anointed the position of senior financial analyst, at JC Stanely’s Denver branch, three years ago, it was essential that he contribute to the fortnightly reports. However, last year he began to abdicate this responsibility. Last April, there had been an influx of new reception staff. So, instead of formally writing his report contributions, he would recant quarterly statistics in an audio device, which the reception crew would transcribe. Billy would justify this delegation on account of the burgeoning demands of his new clientele. While the receptionists did make bonuses, their hourly pay rate remained abysmally close to minimum wage.
Some of these clients even demanded to venture on golfing trips that spanned the entire weekend. Then there were the obligatory three hour steak dinners at Houston’s. Admittedly, Houston’s was a generic restaurant chain. Even so, Billy couldn’t resist the invites which he habitually charged to JC Stanley’s corporate account. Every month he was allocated five thousand dollars to spend on “corporate events”, except for the month of July when the allotment increased to ten thousand dollars.
Contrarily, JC Stanley’s corporate budget paled significantly to the corporate account of Blackburn. It was a well known fact, that Blackburn’s’ top financial analysts were awarded a “Black AMEX”. Indeed, procurement of a ‘Black AMEX’ was lauded as the pinnacle of success in the investment banking world.
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