Office Life (and Death)

By K C Murdarasi

Have you ever wondered...

If your boss disappeared, would anyone notice?
How do you know your organisation really exists?
What's the company policy on screaming?

Office Life (and Death), a collection of sharp, funny short stories for anyone who has ever worked in an office. Perfect for your daily commute.

The book contains four short stories, one longer story and two pieces of flash fiction (very very short stories). It includes the prize-winning story "A Recipe for Summer".

• Language: English
• Publisher: K C Murdarasi
• Release date: Jun 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476039671

K C Murdarasi

K C Murdarasi is a writer from Glasgow, Scotland. She is a graduate of the University of St Andrews, where she gained a first in Ancient History. Since then she has been a perplexed missionary, a bored secretary and a harried nanny. She has been writing professionally since 2007. Her first novel, Leda, was published in February 2012. Since then she has written two books for the Christian Focus Trailblazers series for young people, Augustine: The Truth Seeker and Patrick: The Boy Who Forgave. She currently lives in one of the coolest neighbourhoods in Glasgow with a budgie and a collection of dying houseplants.

Book preview

Office Life (and Death)

by K C Murdarasi

Copyright 2012 K C Murdarasi

Smashwords Edition

kcmurdarasi.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover image (coffee stain) by Roger Karlsson, courtesy of Free-Photo-Gallery.org

For Mr McDonald,

who gave two very soggy girls a lift into Glencoe.

Contents

Lies

The Business Trip

A Recipe for Summer

The Job Interview

Floor Six

The Head of Inequalities

Company Policy on Screaming

About K C Murdarasi

Also by this author

Acknowledgements

Lies

The average person tells three lies a day, she read.

She resolved to tell only two.

Morning, said a colleague. How are you?

Fine, she replied.

Good weekend?

Not bad.

The rest of the day passed in silence.

Back to Contents

The Business Trip

Anne was working late for the second time this week, and it was only Wednesday. She tried hard not to show her exasperation as her boss, Oscar Thornton, chatted casually into his Blackberry, obviously in no hurry to get on with the dictation. Anne was in a hurry. She was supposed to be going to the cinema with her sister. Oscar knew that, or he should if he ever listened to her. But he just carried on swapping terrible jokes with one of his equally annoying CEO pals.

Anne stood up to go back to her desk and get on with some work, but, barely looking at her, Oscar waved her back down. Now Anne was starting to get really annoyed. He could at least let her get on with something else while he kept her waiting. There were e-mails that needed replies – he never bothered to reply to his own e-mails. There were appointments that needed to be rearranged because, as usual, he had changed his plans at the last minute. And there were reams of annoying, unwieldy flipcharts that he wanted her to type up. All of this would still be waiting for her tomorrow if he kept her in his office listening to his blokeish phone conversation.

Ha ha! No rest for the wicked! said Oscar before finally finishing his call and turning to Anne.

So, how far have you got? he asked. Anne was incredulous.

It's dictation, Mr Thornton, she reminded him, I've been waiting for you. For the last twenty minutes, she felt like adding.

Oh yes, said Oscar. Forget it, I haven't got time to finish it now. You can just type up the flipcharts for the meeting. That'll do instead. E-mail them to me before 8.30am.

Anne tried to control her breathing. An hour late – the film would have started – and now he wasn't even going to bother? Her knuckles whitened around her dictation pad. She turned to go back to her own desk.

And another thing, Anne, called Oscar, "why wasn't there any chocolate in your desk drawer today? I offered some to