Nothing … I get nothing. Sixteen years and I get nothing.”

“They can’t give you nothing, what about the legislation, man?”

“What it amounts to is nothing. One weeks pay for each year, capped.”

“Shit!”

“Exactly.”

“Is there anything you can do?”

“Yeah, but it would probably cost me more in legal fees. I don’t have the motivation. I worked my arse off every year. I played the party line, looked to gain experience and respect. I always tried to do the right thing. Put up with long hours at the expense of my family, and now this. What the fuck am I going to do?”

“Something will come up, man.”

“I am forty seven. I haven’t been in the outside world for over a decade. I don’t know what the outside world is. I’m institutionalised. It’s like leaving prison. Everything I know is here. Everyone I know is here.  What the fuck am I going to tell my wife?”

He planted his head in his hands. His face seemed stretched over the bone of his skull, and his eyes seemed to retract back into his face, looking for a place to hide. The colour looked like it was being sucked out of his skin by some supernatural spectre. Tears threatened to spill, but held back by fear, even they were hesitant. The fear of the unknown permeated every cell of his body, and the tears could feel it. They poked their head out to look, but were paralysed.

“Did they tell you why it is you?”

“The whole department’s going. It’s being outsourced to India.”

“India! How is that going to work?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care. I just want this nightmare to stop. I want to wake up and go back to my routine. What I know. You know?”

Silence

“So what happens next?”

“I have to go home and take a few days off. They said I would need time to take it all in. I have to come back on Monday to meet them to discuss details.”

“Is there any way out of it?”

“I don’t think so” he sighed.

He looked like he was going to vomit. He rubbed his left arm, the bicep, over and over again.

“You alright, man?”

He raised his head, a ghost. The eyes pleaded. Somewhere behind them there was anger, so much anger. But it passed, replaced by confusion.