The usual melancholy feeling surrounds Gary as he begins to trudge down the seemingly endless corridor to the silver doors of the elevator. As he looks out the window into the outside world the emerald green of the park almost seems to invite him, reminding him of better, carefree days. The sound of the elevator brings him back to reality as he steps into the small mirrored cubicle.
At the office, phones were ringing, the tap-tap-tap of keyboards emitted from every domain, investors, toying with the life savings of thousands of people they will never meet, and sleep deprived employees in business suits were desperately shooting themselves up with caffeine, cursing the new violet bathroom lights. It was yet another day at TPG Investments, in one of the many 5 by 5 cubicles, like everyone else, Gary was wishing he was somewhere else. He sighed, looked up at his motivational poster (IT'S GOOD PAY!!!), and began calculating various inflation rates.
English: Downtown Gary, Indiana
Official seal of City of Gary, Indiana
English: Gary, Indiana's Centennial Statue 1906-20...The rest of the day followed similarly.
Outside was a toasty 40ú. Traffic was horrible. He had a long night ahead, filled with corn chips, soft drinks and of course, pie charts and economic prospects. A long night indeed. procrastinating as much as humanly possible, he checked for voice messages:"You haveâ¦threeâ¦new messages""Gary, reminding you that your report is dueâ¦"He ignored this.
"Remember, the night out is Thursday. Bring A LOT of money."Next.
"Hey, how are you doing Gary? Sorry to burden you with this, but the operation failed; doctors say she's got days or even hours at most. Come home."Stunned, he repeated the message. It was his little sister, the one on the other side of the country. Of course he would go. But the job; Boss's favourite, a rising star, guarantee of promotionâ¦It was an...