The voice chuckled. “That’s possible, of course,” she said, “but it’s not such a good idea. Especially because you’ve become more valuable than ever, Symon. You’ve built up social cohesion, not just for one of our VPs, but now for three more clients. His support staff.”
“But—wait, clients? Those guys are my friends.”
“Well, yes, they were. But are they still? When’s the last time you spent any time with them?”
“It’s been a few months,” he admitted. “But that’s because they just took these jobs. I mean, sooner or later they’ll be able to—” He trailed off. It was exactly what Andriy had said many times since they met.
“I think you understand. Your friends need you now more than ever. But that’s great for you! Your workload just tripled without any more work. How many people get paid just for hanging with their friends?”
Something sounded slightly ridiculous. And a little repulsive.
“I—I don’t know about this,” he mused out loud. “I mean, what am I supposed to do on the weekends, now?”
“Make new friends,” she said. “You were a sociology major. You’re good at people.”
“I have to say, I kind of feel like I’m getting played, here.”
“We are going to double your salary, you realize.”
Symon gulped.
“Just remember,” she said as she ended the call, “now that they’re your job, you no longer get to impose on them. Our client is very firm on that point. Besides, they won’t have the free time.”
A month later, Symon was sitting at the food court, looking out the window at his new black BMW Z8 and frowning. Natalie was supposed to have coffee with him, but she’d just dropped by for a quick espresso shot and vanished. Hadeon had blown off lunch altogether. He knew to expect that, now. But he still felt lonely.
“Big project due. Sorry!” Natalie texted.
“U R the best” Hadeon added.
Symon shrugged and put away his phone. This business of just sitting in the food court and wasting his time for so-called friends who never showed any more was starting to get old. All his waking hours were spent here farting around on Facebook instead of passing time with real humans.
Starting to not have a life either. This is actually kind of sucky. Maybe I should just quit, and move back to—
“Excuse me,” a timid voice said at his side. He was startled to see a handsome young Asian man standing next to him, impossibly fresh-faced.
“Hi,” Symon said.
“D-do you work here? I need some help.” He held out his phone as if to offer it to him.
“Have a seat,” Symon said instead, gesturing to the opposite chair. “What can I help you with?”
“Well, you see, I—I’m new here. And I haven’t quite figured out how to log into the Wi-Fi.”
1 Comment
What a wacky story!