Epitaph Read Online Free PDF Page B

How’re things with you?’
    ‘I’ve been busy. Things were a mess here. I don’t know how the hell they managed. I spent most of yesterday trying to get their office in some kind of order.’
    ‘And how’s New York?’
    ‘I haven’t really seen much of it apart from what I’ve seen from the cab going from the hotel to the office. But it’s so, I don’t know, so alive. There’s a fantastic vibe here. I thought I was going to be jet-lagged when I got off the plane but as soon as I got to JFK I just felt so . . . energised.’
    Paul nodded as she continued. Normally her enthusiasm would have made him smile. But not tonight.
    ‘A couple of the people in their marketing office have promised to take me out for a meal, show me some of the sights, that kind of thing, but I don’t know when,’ Amy went on. ‘I mean, I’m only here for another two days and there’s so much to see. And I wanted to do some shopping, too. I mean, you can’t visit New York and not buy something from Bloomingdale’s or Macy’s, can you?’ she chuckled.
    ‘You enjoy it while you can.’
    ‘I just wish you were here with me.’
    ‘Yeah, me too.’
    ‘Maybe we could come here for a long weekend or something. The flights aren’t too expensive and the hotels are really reasonable considering how good they are.’
    There was a long pause.
    ‘Paul?’ she persisted.
    ‘Yeah, I heard you,’ he said flatly.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ Amy asked.
    ‘Nothing,’ he lied. ‘I’m all right. I went for a drink earlier and I think I had too much. I’ve got a lousy headache.’
    ‘Who did you go with? Someone from work?’
    ‘No. I went on my own. I didn’t feel like company.’
    There was a moment’s silence at the other end of the line then Amy spoke again, her voice lower.
    ‘Paul, something’s wrong,’ she insisted. ‘You sound really down and you never drink alone. Not unless you’re really, really pissed off and then you only do it in the flat. What’s the matter?’
    ‘I’ve lost my job.’
    There you go. How hard was that? Better than bottling it up, eh?
    Silence at the other end.
    ‘I found out today,’ he continued. ‘They made me redundant. That’s it. End of story.’
    ‘Oh, Christ, Paul, I’m sorry. Did you have any idea?’
    ‘If I’d seen it coming I’d have been prepared for it,’ he said, cutting her short. ‘I’d have made plans.’ He smiled bitterly. ‘They said they were very sorry to lose me. That they wished me all the best but that they had no choice. That the company had to make cutbacks.
    The usual bullshit.’
    ‘Who told you?’
    ‘Oh, Mr Banks himself,’ he exclaimed sarcastically. ‘Wasn’t that an honour for me? Getting the bullet personally from one of the directors of the firm. Fucking shithouse. I never liked that bastard from the first time I met him. You know you get gut feelings about people? I had one about him when I first took the job. He’s a cunt.’
    ‘So what happens now?’ Amy asked.
    ‘You tell me. All I’ve got to do is find a job that pays comparable wages in a market that’s more depressed and recession-hit than anything in living memory, find someway of paying my mortgage and bills or try to sell my flat. Piece of piss.’
    He sucked in an almost painful breath.
    ‘Listen, Amy,’ he began. ‘I don’t really feel like talking about this, babe. I’m sorry but it’s hit me much harder than I realised. I’m going to lose everything.’
    ‘No you won’t. You won’t lose me and you’ll find another job, Paul, I know you will. Just because Meyer and Banks don’t want you doesn’t mean someone else won’t. There are plenty of other advertising agencies out there.’
    ‘And none of them are hiring,’ Paul interjected.
    ‘You don’t know that until you start looking,’ Amy countered.
    He exhaled wearily.
    ‘You can’t take this lying down, Paul,’ Amy insisted.
    ‘You’ve got to fight. If only to show those bastards that they were wrong to get