A Large Slice of Fire
by Tony Noland
"And what do you think, Tom?"
From a distance, Tom Welscher heard his name. He looked up from his notepad, lifted his pen from his doodles. "What?"
Seth Goldberg titched through his teeth and tossed the laser pointer on the conference room table. "I said," he repeated, hands on hips, "what do you think?" Around the table, the people who disliked Tom let out exasperated sighs, while the people who felt sorry for him tried to maintain neutral expressions.
"What do I think about what?"
"Oh for god's sake, Tom, about the takeover of Enduricon! Where have you been for the last three hours?"
"Sorry," Tom said, "I was lost in thought."
"Bullshit. You just weren't paying attention. What am I paying you for, Tom? To doodle your little drawings, or to actually do the econometric analyses?"
Tom sighed. "Seth, you don't pay me. You're not my supervisor, you're not my boss and you're nowhere in the half-assed matrix management tangle that's just north of me on the org chart. I gave your boss the full analysis two months ago, and met with him to follow up last week. If he didn't choose to share all of that with you, that's your problem." He stood and started gathering his papers. "I only came here as a courtesy, and I think I've wasted enough time on this."
"You're out of line, Mr. Welscher!"
"Screw you, Seth. This takeover won't happen. As soon as you start the stock buy, Enduricon will announce the results of the FDA report on their new fat-busting drug. Their price will go up high enough to inoculate them, and we'll be left holding the bag, exposed, extended and without a fallback leverage position for the third quarter of this year. This isn't going to be a feather in your cap, it's going to be egg on your face. Your boss is setting you up."
"Sit down! How dare you walk out after making such a... a pronouncement!"
"Have fun, Seth. You're an idiot."
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Wow, Seth is all manner of dumb. Nice back and forth between the two.
ReplyDeleteGreat convo. I do so wish I could have said have that stuff in meetings.
ReplyDeleteSomebody's lost in thought. His desk may not be waiting for him whenever he gets back.
ReplyDeleteminor typo in the fifth-from-last paragraph, "managment" for "management"
I think someone has discovered the joy of not giving a damn anymore! Would love to see some backstory on this one.
ReplyDeleteI can think of times when I'd like to have said this to someone who was preening themselves in a meeting. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, guys. I will admit that I indulged my love of dialogue here, probably at the expense of actual plot.
ReplyDeleteJohn: thanks for the catch on the typo - fixed now. His desk may not be waiting for him whenever he gets back. Someone's in trouble, that's for sure. Hence the title - somebody's going to be getting a large slice of fire.
I like Tom. I really do.
ReplyDeleteGreat dialogue Tony... you make me jealous sometimes! ;)
ReplyDeleteJim
The dialogue is absulutely brilliant.And you are right about the plot. I was hoping for some sort of twist or punchline. On the other hand, this scene is very realistic. It's what we think but never dare to say. :-)
ReplyDeleteIn a fair world, the fired guy will be the idiot who's pushing the bad deal. In the real world, unfortunately it may be the guy who speaks up. C'est la vie. I like dialogue, so this was up my alley.
ReplyDeleteIt must be nice to have so much confidence in your position that you can do something like that!
ReplyDeleteThis was a painful reminder of so many meetings I endured back when I was in the corporate world. It was satisfying to hear Tom say the words I wanted to say in so many of those meetings. Good portrayal of corporate life, and great dialogue, Tony.
ReplyDeleteNow here's a nice little slice of wish-fulfillment for all us former and current corporate slaves. Good for Tom.
ReplyDeleteYes, the dialogue is great. Well-done, sir.
Now, *THAT'S* a meeting I wouldn't mind sitting in on. :D
ReplyDeleteGreat dialogue, but I don't know if I really believe this. The three hour meeting, when Tom finally saying "screw it" seems a stretch for me.
ReplyDeleteBut I did enjoy reading this, and I'd love to see somebody actually speak honestly in a meeting! This was fun.
As someone who has been in a corporate cubicle for the last decade, I applaude this story. Damn, I wish more meetings went like that! Great job, Tony.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the dialogue rang true for so many of you. Sometimes, I think I should give up on prose fiction and go into screenplays. Or speechwriting.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a bit of Walter Mitty wish fulfillment for the cubicle set. If you recall, that story didn't have much plot either, and it's one of the classics of American short fiction.
Therefore, uh, therefore my story is just as good as Walter Mitty. Right. Just as good. It stands to reason, don't it?
I think so many people would just love to be in a position to be Tom for that moment in time.
ReplyDeleteThis made me inordinately happy. A little vicarious fiction for all of us on the bottom rung. Well done. Rot in hell, Seth.
ReplyDeleteLovely stuff. If only we could all do that to corporate idiots!
ReplyDeleteI do not miss the corporate environment at all! Fuck that noise! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteOh boy, how many of us wish we could be so brave as Tom!
ReplyDeleteGood work Tony!
I love the verisimilitude you achieve with this piece. Enjoyed the conflict in the dialogue between these two.
ReplyDeleteI never liked Seth. Such a little kiss-ant.
ReplyDeleteI'm gratified (and a bit surprised) at the strong chord being struck here with all of you current or former cubicle dwellers.
ReplyDeleteI guess there's a reason Dilbert is so popular: it's so true.
This goes to show that sometimes all you need is sharp dialogue and wish-fulfillment to make a satsifying and enjoyable flash. Like a shot of flash fic espresso. Nicely done sir.
ReplyDeletePlease, indulge your love of dialogue anytime you like. It's done really well in this piece.
ReplyDeleteI can hear the disgust in Tom's voice. And I've been in meetings with Seth - I've heard that slightly desperate tone as he struggles to regain control.
Nice one.
Pretty much everyone's dream to talk to blowhards at work like this. Good story!
ReplyDeleteYou asked me to give it a re-read Tony. I've been pretty under the weather and was making my way through as many #fridayflash as possible. Back now and honestly, I can't tell what you changed. It's still tight, the nature of the dispute is still explicit and works fine in obtuse fashion. Somebody's still getting fired. If I'd been in better health this weekend I'd probably remember more clearly. As it is, it reads briskly, which is good.
ReplyDeleteTony, feels like a corporate worker's fantasy. Love the dialogue, very real and read very nicely.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many people on my last office job that I would have loved to rip into like this. Clearly you love writing dialog, because it shows. Great job Tony.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I need to hire you as a speech writer. Would save me a lot of time and effort in dealing with the idiots I wok with. Nice one Tony!
ReplyDeleteSeth is the typical middle manager, in short, an idiot. I love this! Would have loved to have told my boss on my last job this.
ReplyDeleteCorporate politics can be such a downer. This kind of sabotage happens far more often than it should. For Seth's boss to be setting him up probably means that Seth has posed a threat somewhere along the way. Lucky for him, if he can accept it, Tom told him the truth.
ReplyDeleteIn this one I think the dialogue is the plot. Good characterisation.
ReplyDeleteAdam B @revhappiness