All We Know Is Falling

“Ian, you’re wife’s here to see you. She says she needs something signed,” Ian’ secretary said, ushering in ‘Ms Watkins’.

“Actually,” Ivy said, with a smile on her face, “We’re getting a divorce. No hard feelings though.”

Ian nodded, pulling out a chair for Ivy and walking round to sit in his own. Ivy pushed the papers over the desk to hi, and Ian thought it was a bit quick, but at least they were getting on with it.

Divorce Papers. Ivy had signed her name, in the black ink that was tearing them apart. Ian quickly signed his name on the Husband part and pushed them back to Ivy. They both breathed a small sigh of relief, unknown to the other. Ivy leaned across the desk and gave Ian a quick kiss on the cheek, and thank you, and stood up, walking out of the room quickly.

Ian took out his phone and quickly text Sean:

It’s done. Divorced already. Can’t wait to see you, love you. Ian x

Just as he sent the message and pushed his phone back into his pocket, his secretary came back in, followed by his boss.

Oh God, what’s going on?

His boss was frowning deeply.

“Uhm, Mr Watkins, your boss is here to see you.”

“Thanks, Terri,” Ian mumbled as she walked out quickly, shutting the door behind her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at ian weakly, before walking off.

“Right then, Ian,” his boss said, getting straight in there, “as we both know,” he paused, taking a deep, sad breath, “the shares are down. They have been for months now.”

“I know, sir, they’ve been creeping up recently though, I have some figures right her-“

“Don’t fool yourself, Ian. We both know what’s happening. The company; it’s going bankrupt. You know what needs to happen. We need to sell now. We need to pull out now while we can. If we declare bankruptcy, we’ll be ruined, and we’ll be getting only a percentage back of what everyone’s put in. Especially you, Ian.”

Ian sighed. He knew this had been coming, but why so soon? He rubbed his forehead with his hand, and felt a lump in his throat, before creaking out a “fine,” and trying to force a smile.

“It’s a deep shame for all of us, Ian. This business has been in my family for generations.”

“I know, sir. It’s just- I’ve just lost my house. And my wife’s just left me. Mutual decision, of course, I just- I don’t understand things at the moment. It’s confusing.”

“Well, you get your share of the profit. Do you know how much that is?”

Ian shook his head solemnly. Right now, he didn’t care. He just wanted to get home to his Sean. He wanted a cuddle and to be told that it was all okay.

He was slipped a piece of paper from Mr Johnson, his boss. Ian opened it carefully, not really knowing what to expect. His eyes shot open when he saw the amount.

“Sir, this isn’t right. It can’t be right!”

“It is Ian. You’ve paid in over a million pounds of work and money into this company, and it shows in your current position. It used to take people about 10 years to get from assistant of an assistant to nearly top dog. It’s taken you a year and a half!”

Ian looked at the amount on the paper, and then at his boss again, who simply said “Mr Watkins. I think you should sign this check and then go home. Tell your family, tell your partner, tell whoever. Just, go home, and rest. You’ve done this company so well. If it wasn’t for you, we would have been in this situation long ago, and we wouldn’t have as much money to give out either.”

Ian stood up, signed the check, grabbed his coat, and walked out. His boss told him to expect the check in the post, and had the job of going round telling everybody that they’ve got a tonne of money but actually have no job.

Ian walked home, the piece of paper with the sum in his pocket. He buzzed on the communicator and Sean let him right in, and pulled open the door when Ian knocked.

“Why are you home so early, honey?”

“It’s over, Sean. We’ve gone fucking bankrupt.”

“Oh, baby!” Sean exclaimed, pulling Ian into a tight hug, and stroking his hair softly, swaying him, “It’s okay! You’ll get a new job straight away!”

“Seanie,” Ian whispered, “It’s not that I’m worried about,” Ian pulled out the paper, “It’s this.”

Sean looked at the number. He frowned, wondering what Ian was on about. It was just a number with a load of zeros at the end, “What is it, Ian?”

“Its my final-“ Ian breathed deep, “-my final pay cut. This is how much I get for having no job.”

Sean opened his eyes wide, and slowly him and Ian, together, began to smile. Sean leapt up, and pulled Ian into another hug, wrapping his legs around him.

“Ian, this is crazy! This is insane! All that fucking money!”

“Yeah, but, Sean, I don’t have a job,” Ian laughed.

“You’ll get one! Who even fucking cares? You have-“

“We have.”

“No, you have! Don’t think I’m taking a single penny of it!”

“Well, I figure some of it has to go to Ivy, right? So I say a couple of grand to her. Maybe 20 or so. Then we buy a house. A little house, a cosy house for us.”

“Ian, forget us for a minute, forget Ivy! This is about you! You. You’re a fucking multi-millionaire!”

“I still don’t have a job,” Ian giggled, ruffling Sean’s hair.