A Deadline

It was now Thursday the seventeenth and the outlook for my future employment was grim, the five of us had spent every waking hour for the past few days working and the stress was starting to take its toll. We were nearing the middle of the night and had been working since sunrise yet the end of our project was nowhere in sight, we were getting desperate. The team was so desperate in fact we had been sleeping on the floor of the office since Tuesday as well as cutting back on meals to further maximize the time we could spend working and it just wasn't enough.

I could see the cracks beginning to show amongst us but I couldn't do anything to help as I was the one pushing them all so hard. Emily has started silently crying while slowly typing away at her keyboard looking fragile enough to breakdown at any moment, the only thing I had seen Ian consume in the past two days had been energy drinks, one after another he downed them creating a pile of empty cans on the ground next to him but his bloodshot eyes and shaking hands betrayed the exhaustion that was seeping into his bones but despite that soul crushing tiredness Ian was working just as hard if not harder than before determined to finish the project and keep his job.

Jeanette as far as I could tell had given up, for the past few hours she had just been staring blankly at the screen in front of her making no effort to keep working instead opting to focus on whatever daydream was filling her mind, or maybe she had fallen asleep with her eyes open I had no way to tell. Rod was faring the best by far in our little group, his livelihood didn't ride on our success like Ian, Jeanette, and myself and he wasn't nearly as kindhearted as Emily, but Rod had been working corporate jobs for nigh on thirty years and was simply used to living up to unreasonable demands, at the core of it though he was also working less than the rest of us. Rod was old enough to retire and I think he mostly viewed this as his last hoorah in the workforce, even if we somehow were to succeed I imagine Rod would be retired in a few months anyways.

As for myself I was trying my hardest to put up a strong front for the others but cracks were starting to show through my mask. I had my own pile of energy drink cans large enough to rival Ian's, my desk was covered in empty takeout containers, and I had taken just a few to many breaks to cry in the bathroom. But I still tried my hardest to keep up a positive front. It was my responsibility as team lead, the four around me had placed their trust into me and my hail Mary so I was going to do everything and anything I could to meet their expectations.

Despite my effort though the finish line kept getting further and further away, it felt like every time we cleaned up one problem two more would take its place, we had our very own spreadsheet hydra and nothing we tried seemed to hurt the beast. With a seemingly never ending workload and rampant exhaustion taking hold it was only a matter of time before someone threw in the towel. As I was contemplating ways to lighten the workload on the others the door to our office opened and in walked Dean. I could feel the atmosphere in the room turn tense, while Dean expected perfection from his employees he was notoriously hands off when it came to actually doing work, so his presence here could only spell disaster.

“Claire, I’m checking in to make sure you guys are on schedule. Show me what you’ve got.”

“R-right away sir.” My heart sank, there was no way Dean would be satisfied with where we were at, if he had stayed away until tomorrow we might have had a chance but now that shot was gone so I decided to focus on damage control. “ As you can see we’ve been working hard but the gaps left by the other team just can’t be filled this quickly.”

“Don’t make excuses kid, I've heard 'em all before. Just show me.” I hesitantly brought up all the files I had on my computer tracking our progress before standing up and letting Dean take my place so he could scroll through them. I could see the rest of the team, Ian had gone white as a ghost, Jeanette looked worried, Emily I could tell, was biting her tongue, she had always made her dislike of our elderly owner clear and was now making a tremendous effort to keep it from boiling over, and Rod while he had a small frown looked wholly unworried, reclined in his chair with his fingers crisscrossed together on top of his gut. Silence filled the room as we all waited for the hammer to fall and Dean to decide our fates. It felt like hours had passed before Dean spoke again, though I knew it had only been a few minutes.

“Is this it? What have you people been doing?”

“Sir we’ve been working as fast as we can but there’s only so much we can do.”

“So what was your plan huh? Wait until tomorrow, show me some half finished product, and expect me to just go along with it? Did you think I wouldn't notice Claire? You think I’m an idiot?”

“No Sir, we were hoping to make as much progress as possible and ask for an extension.”

“An extension? While the hell would I give you an extension, all you’ve been doing is sitting around pissing away my money. I guess a half-assed job is what I get for trusting a bunch of half-assed workers.”

“Dean if you give us just a little more time we can get it done I promise.”

“Enough, I gave you time, people and money, and you did nothing with it. I'm not going to give your incompetent ass a chance to waste more of my money.” Before I could respond and keep trying for more time Emily’s frustrations finally boiled over.

“Lay off old man Claire’s been working herself ragged while you’ve been rotting away in your office.”

“What the hell did you just say to me?”

“You heard me, or are you old enough your ears are giving out.”

“Grab your shit and get out, you’re fired.”

“Good, I was gonna quit this shitty job anyway.” And with that Emily quickly gathered what little personal belongings she had on her desk. She unceremoniously shoved them into her bag and stormed out of the room, flipping Dean off on her way out. What I was surprised by was Jeanette getting up and following her out. I wasn't sure if she was going to try and talk Emily into apologizing or if she was just fleeing the conflict. Either way I knew deep down neither of them were coming back, our team of five was down to three.

“Bunch of no good ingrates.” Dean scoffed and shook his head before turning his attention to the other two in the room. “What do you two have to say for yourselves? Give me a reason I shouldn't fire you as well." Rod just shrugged his shoulders looking almost amused with the situation. Ian tried to plead his case but I already knew it was hopeless.

“We’ve been working almost twenty four seven for weeks now, we’ve practically had to restart the project from scratch. Please just give us a little more time and we’ll get it done.” Ian was begging by the end but Dean looked completely unfazed by the man’s plea.

“You know what, I don't want to hear it. All of you get out now, You’re all fired.” I couldn't just let that stand so I tried to argue.

“Dean, please reconsider, without us there's no way you can finish the project. What are you going to do if the company goes under?”

“I’d rather go bankrupt than have to put up with you idiots any longer, just get out.” Dean stormed out of the room as soon as he was finished with his tirade, probably off to drink himself to sleep now that his company was doomed.

“Well, I guess that's that, see you guys later.” Rod said, giving a flippant wave as he left the room.

“Ian, you doing okay?” I asked.

“No, I'm really not okay. Just leave me alone for now.” He said as he also left the room, leaving me as its sole occupant. I took my time gathering my affects to give myself time to calm down and think about what I would do now. Without this job I could stay afloat for a few months off savings but I need to find something temporary for now. As I finished gathering my items and came up with some semblance of a plan for the near future I began to make my way out of the building and towards the parking lot.