Paranoid: Short Story

A realistic fictional story

Paranoid

John rushed to get back to his PC. His boss, Adrian, would be at the office any moment now, and he didn’t have the time to complete the In-House Shop. There simply wasn’t enough time. The business had to carry on. Sales needed to grow, the new premises required various checks and crosses, plus his customers still required his service and assistance.

Adrian knew they were bombarding him. Their requests were simply impossible to realistically achieve.

As he furiously typed away, he remembered, ‘Make a note. You have to note your every move.’

Two weeks earlier, Adrian dropped by. He wasn’t happy with the Branch's overall performance. A debate ensued which ended up leaving a big red target on John’s back. He knew too much about the company, and they knew it. It was then that he realized they wanted to get rid of him. He just wasn’t sure how. That’s when he decided to note his every move.

• 8am – Checked and responded to emails
• 8:10am – Checked on Debtors Department. Debtors actioned follow-ups from yesterday
• 8:15am – Checked on Procurement/Stock Department. Supplier still not responding to shelving required. Two other suppliers contacted as well. Stocks checked and balanced.
• 8:20am – Physical stock spot checks. All seems in order.
• 8:45am – Follow up on customer quotes. BAT said prices are out. Kontract Quip hasn’t checked yet. Follow up next week. David too busy this week.
• 8:55am – Shop stocks packaged, marked and ready.
• 9:00am – Branch report
• 9:15am – Customer issue. Harrold’s. Requires check ASAP. Feedback to follow
• 9:20am – Branch report
• 10:00am – Harrold’s
• …..

John was being meticulous. He wasn’t going to allow them to just get rid of him. Not that way, at least.

As he was busy checking on the Delivery Team, Adrian arrived.

“John, how are you doing?”

“Hi Adrian. I’m good thanks. I just need to check the loading schedule quickly. Did you see Sally on the way in?”

“Yes, she’s at the reception.”

“Great. Ask her to fix you a cup of coffee if you’d like. I’ll be done in about 5.”

“Okay, meet me in your office.”

With that, Adrian headed off. John knew something wasn’t right. His body language and tone were off.

‘I have my notes,’ he thought.

As John reached his office, he was met by Adrian, and two men he’d never seen before. Each of them had an earpiece and was well dressed. Adrian sat with his back towards him, facing John’s side of the desk.

“Who’s this?”

Adrian didn’t budge. Instead, he continued looking down at a notebook.

As John made his way past the men, he realized it was his notebook Adrian was flipping through. He took a seat at his desk, looked at Adrian, then back at the two men.

“What’s going on Adrian?”

Adrian let off a sigh, “Well, John, your performance hasn’t been up to the standards we require. I need you to hand in your resignation.”

With that, Adrian closed the notebook and chucked it on the table.

“I’m sorry. Did you just say resign? I’ve been working for this company for over 10 years. I built this branch from nothing into a multi-million a month turnover. I can’t help it if Head Office takes all the -” John bit his lip. In his anger, he almost said too much. He knew the Branch’s profits were sucked up by overinflated costs.

“What did you want to say?” Adrian asked, however, John simply didn’t respond.

“You were also instructed to implement the In-House-Shop, which you haven’t.”

“There simply wasn’t enough time. It will take at least another week. I mentioned the progress concerns to you last week. Did you see the notes in my book? Do you know how many balls I have in the air on any given day? What you’re asking for-“ Adrian interjected.

“We’ve made our decision.”

“What?”

“Please leave the premises immediately and all company property must stay behind. Gentlemen.”

With that, the two men approached.

“Cellphone,” one demanded.

John shook his head as he handed his phone over.

“This is ridiculous Adrian. After all these years of service, you’re treating me like an imbecile.”

“I’m sorry John. The decision is final. Here is the resignation letter. Sign it and please leave.”

“I’m not going to sign that without speaking to a lawyer.”

Adrian sat there for a second, just staring at John, before responding.

“Very well. If that’s the route you want to go. Gentleman, please escort him off the premises.”

John picked up on the hostility in his voice, and the equally hostile approach from the two men.

“Don’t touch me! I can walk on my own.”

John snapped up his notebook, looking straight at Adrian still sitting with his legs crossed in the chair. Adrian refused to look at him, however, he could see he was seething.

As John walked out of the office, Adrian commented over his shoulder, “Before you leave, remember one thing, John. We have a lot of money and power behind us.”

John barely stopped, however, it sounded quite threatening.

‘What does he mean? How far are they willing to go?’ he thought.

John decided to reach out to some lawyers. They were recommended to him by a friend. The first meeting went well, and they assured him that they didn’t follow the necessary procedures, therefore they couldn’t force this on him.

‘What are they going to do then?’ he thought.

“It’s going to be a bit of a drawn-out process,” said Mr. Gie, “You need to hang in there and let us take care of it. Legally, you may return to work. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

‘What? How? This is going to be torture,’ John thought.

The next day, John clocked in, right on time, as usual. When he got to his office, his cellphone and laptop were on the desk.

“This is just weird,” he whispered to himself.

His day continued as per normal, except there was no communication or responses to his emails from Head Office. He continued noting his every move, making sure he didn’t give them an inch. He was already exhausted by the feebleness involved; however, he wasn’t going to give up.

That evening he decided to pop in by one of his old friends and colleagues. The company had forced him out a few months earlier, so John figured he’d pick his brain.

The conversation went as expected. They all formed part of the older crew, who had in-depth knowledge of the company. It appeared as if they merely wanted to weed out the knowledge and replace it with more malleable people who didn’t pose potential opposition or threats.

“Just watch your back,” Paul said, as John left.

Paul was always very cautious about things. His army background had likely changed his views on things. He had machetes stashed all over his house. One under each bed, in the garage, and in the backyard. No matter where you were, there was always easy access to a weapon of sorts. Aside from this, his high walls were electrified, and security cameras covered just about every part of the property.

John and Paul enjoyed each other’s company though and spent many evenings rambling on about work, life, and woman. They had a certain bond and trust, which was one of the reasons John was both livid and cautious about the company he was working for when they forced him out. His position in the company had simply become redundant and replaced by the farce named Adrian, simply under a new title.

As John drove home, he could swear he saw the same car he had twice earlier. The first time was when he left his home in the morning, then later in the day at work.

Initially, he drove slowly, keeping an eye on his rear-view mirror. After a few turns, the same car was still tailing him. John was quite a solid driver, so he decided to speed things up.

He suddenly accelerated, quickly overtaking a few cars. When he looked back again, the tail was missing.

When he got home, he had to unwind. The kids were settled, dinner was done, and he poured himself a strong mixture of Vodka and Cola. John’s wife sat with him the rest of the evening as they discussed the concerns at hand.

“I just don’t know what they’re capable of. They know I know that the company’s funds have been abused. If it wasn’t for their misconduct, we would still have the production facility and all the people working there wouldn’t be left destitute.”

“John, you need to relax. There is nothing you can do about that.”

Sarah was concerned about her husband. He had been overstressed for weeks now and sometimes he’d ramble on for hours, not always making sense. She did agree that what happened was wrong. What she wasn’t too sure about was John’s reaction about it at times.

“I think someone was tailing me today. I saw the same car at the office earlier and then they started following me when I left Paul’s house.”

“I’m sure it was just a coincidence.”

“Perhaps.”

The next morning, John woke up, feeling quite hungover.

‘What is happening with the lawyers? I haven’t heard from them,’ he thought.

‘I’m sure it’s fine. They said it would take time.’

When he got to work, he noticed a black car parked outside with dark tinted windows. Sally was already in the office, so he decided to ask her.

“Did you see the black car outside?”

“Yes, it was here when I arrived.”

“Hmmm,” John rubbed his chin.

He decided to head out and see what was going on. He walked out of the office, into the parking bay, and pressed the remote to open the access gate. As the gate opened, he heard the car’s engine starting up. John stalled for a moment, and as he started walking toward the car again, they made a U-turn and drove off.

That’s when his thoughts started steamrolling in, one after another.

‘Did they put a tracker on my phone?’

‘They’re following me.’

‘What if they’re remotely accessing the laptop’s camera and microphone?’

‘What if they’re capable of accessing the phone’s microphone?’

‘Could they be watching and listening to everything I’d been saying?’

‘Just keep doing what you’re doing. Legally, it can’t be used.’

‘What if they have other plans? I need to be more careful.’

John quickly jumped into action. In-between juggling his tasks at work, noting his every action, he stuck putty on his laptop’s camera and feverishly checked his phone for any strange apps.

“Shit!” he shouted, as his daughter was constantly busy on his phone, downloading apps for games.

“How many pages of apps are there?”

He realized it was futile. He hardly had time for coffee, never mind filtering through apps.

Later that day, he had to fetch his wife from work. John decided he would make a detour first and called Paul.

“Paul, can you pack a bag with some goodies?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think I’m being followed and need to head into town to fetch Sarah.”

“Okay, no problem.”

Whether Paul believed him, no one would know. He was a good friend, nonetheless. When John arrived, Paul jumped into the car with a black duffle bag.

“Let’s go,” John said before speeding off.

They didn’t speak much on the way, as John kept zipping through the traffic, trying his best to get there on time with ever-increasing concerns crossing his mind.

‘Surely they won’t go after my wife and kids,’ he thought.

When Sarah got into the car, she seemed a little perplexed. After the regular greetings and noticing that John had been driving faster than usual, she had to ask.

“What’s going on? Why is Paul here?”

“Don’t worry about it. Everything is fine.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Everything is fine, okay!” John snapped.

Sarah decided not to probe any further. She figured it must have something to do with how strangely John has been behaving lately, and just pushing things could escalate into an unnecessary fight.

After dropping off Paul, fetching the kids, and heading back home, John picked up nothing untoward. This made him feel even more uncomfortable.

‘What are they planning?’

‘Am I just being paranoid?’

By this time, a week had passed since he contacted the lawyers. Any communication he received, he copied them in as requested. Most of it was standard communication, however, it was few and far between. It all appeared to be only what was absolutely necessary.

When John got up the next morning, he felt even more tired. It wasn’t just the usual lack of sleep kind. His heart, mind, and soul felt drained.

‘Just keep pushing,’ he thought, ‘Let’s bang out those emails.’

To try and make up time, he’d start early before the kids got up.

• 5:30 – Responded to Micky regarding possible stock for HO
• 5:40 – Replied to incorrect payment allocation. Needs to be allocated to HHH – Beams, not HHH. Delivery needs to proceed to HHH today. Account in order
• 5:45 – Replied to Adrian’s request for an update on In-House Shop
• 5:50 – Compiled report relating to competitor’s movements

When the kids got up at 6:15, John rushed about with Sarah, trying to get everyone done on time. He noticed a car pull up into their driveway. He paused for a second, watching a guy in the driver's seat chatting on his cellphone. He seemed to end the call, then held up the phone, appearing to photograph the front of the house. Before John could react, the driver put the phone down, reversed back out, and drove off.

John could feel his blood pumping again. It reminded him of how he felt previously when he thought he was being tailed. Without mentioning anything, he dropped Sarah off, then headed towards the kid’s school.

As per usual, he took them to their respective classrooms. Only this time, he stopped at the main office to speak to the Head of Education.

“Hi Mrs. Wilson,”

“Good morning, John. How can I help you?”

“Yes, uhm, I don’t really know any other way to say this.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, well, I’m not too sure. Can I just ask you that if anyone other than myself says they're here to pick up my kids, you would notify me immediately?”

“Of course. We only allow parents to fetch the kids and will only allow anyone else to do so with permission from mom or dad. Are you referring to your wife?”

“No, no, of course not. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure. Hmmm, you haven’t received any communication from our emails relating to someone else fetching them?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but I’ll check with their teachers as well.”

“Thank you and sorry again. I’m just being cautious.”

With that, John left. He was already running late and with the extra traffic now he’ll likely only clock in at 8:15, instead of 8:00.

“For fuck’s sake, drive!” John yelled at the guy hogging the traffic light.

When he managed to get to work, it was 8:17. He rushed into the office, determined to catch up on the lost time.

“Hi Sally. Sorry I’m late. Any news on those shelves.”

Sally smiled and pointed towards the back end of the reception.

“There they are. It was installed late afternoon when you left.”

“Fantastic! Get the guys to fill out the stock as we discussed, and don’t forget about the informational video I gave you.”

“The flash drive is in there already. Here, let me hit play.”

John watched the large display light up and saw the video being displayed. It automatically repeated through the 5-minute cycle, and his team arrived with the first stocks to fill out the shelves. Everything was barcoded, loaded onto the system, and In-House Sales would be able to commence straight away.

“Perfect, thank you, Sally,” John said before rushing off to the office.

He had a notification email ready to send out to all the customers, inviting them over for a celebration of their new premises. Of course, this was also to show off the new In-House Sales display.

‘Finally, something’s going right,’ he thought.

When he started up his laptop, he saw two new emails. One was from Human Resources and another from his lawyers. He opened the first one. It stated that his position had become redundant, however, he would receive a substantial payout based on the years he’d worked for the company. Should he discuss any of the details pertaining to what had transpired, legal action would be taken. They also stated that his cellphone, laptop, and any other company property in his possession would be collected that same day.

Then John opened the email from his lawyers. It was very similar in detail; however, it described the fact that had he not stood his ground and opted to resign, the company would have walked away, without having to pay a cent. They were also legally bound and not allowed to employ anyone in the same position for 2 years and should there be any infringement on his rights, further legal steps would be taken.

John felt both a sense of relief and disgust. He was glad the ordeal was over, however, disappointed that he had to leave.

When he got home, he told Sarah the news. She was ecstatic about the financial pay-out, however equally disappointed too. She knew how much that branch meant to him.

“What are you thinking, John?”

“Well, there are some extra funds available now. I think I’m going to start my own business and compete against them.”

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Cheers!

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