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think your dad might have thought of his oldest friend in the banking industry perhaps?’

      Ballard was laughing at George, as George slowly put two and two together.

      ‘You’re an executor? You knew I didn’t have any money? Then why did you let me buy the company? Why didn’t you put it into receivership as you’d planned?’

      ‘Two reasons. First one is, I got thirty-six grand out of you.’

      ‘And the second?’

      ‘Second, I figured that Gissings was so far gone, it’d take a genius to save it. Your dad would have saved it.’ Ballard shrugged. It was the bank’s money, after all, not his. ‘I thought I’d take a chance on you.’

      George was stunned, stunned and flattered. He slowly worked Ballard’s logic through to its conclusion.

      ‘So you won’t close us down when we can’t pay you?’

      Ballard shrugged. Once again, the banker had taken over from the genial uncle.

      ‘I may close you down or I may not. It depends on how the business is going and which way I expect to get the most money back. But so far, George, you’re doing OK.’

      4

      Nine o’clock came and went and there was no sign of Zack. Hanbury and the two men from personnel looked at their watches and tutted.

      Hanbury sat in the corner making incessant phone calls. The two personnel people chatted and fiddled with two pieces of paper which lay in front of them. One was the sheet of A4 on which Zack had written his message of ‘apology’ to Hanbury the night before. The other was a letter, which began: ‘Dear Zachary, we regret to inform you that your employment with Coburg’s Bank plc has been terminated with immediate effect.’ The letter was not signed.

      Finally, forty minutes late, Zack arrived. He hadn’t shaved. It looked like he hadn’t slept, and he certainly hadn’t changed his clothes or showered. He smelled of alcohol. Hanbury, experienced in these things, guessed it was champagne. The older of the two men from personnel waved Zack to a chair.

      ‘Now, Zack, we’ve had a long talk with Piers here, and heard his version of events yesterday. We also have – er – a document you wrote last night. Now, we want to be reasonable about this …’

      ‘Well, I’m sure Piers and I agree on what happened,’ said Zack. ‘He screwed up a major deal with an important client and refused to listen when I came up with a way to rescue it. I assume he’s come to apologise.’

      The two men from personnel looked at each other. Hanbury stared into space. He was going to enjoy this. The man from personnel tried again.

      ‘Now, Zack, be sensible. We haven’t made any final decisions about your future, and if you behave sensibly now, I’m sure we can find an area suited to your talents.’

      ‘Uh-huh. What did you have in mind? The catering department? Or was it the loo-cleaning team?’

      The man from personnel pushed the unsigned redundancy letter across the desk.

      ‘This isn’t effective until it’s signed. You are at an early stage in your career and you don’t want to blow it all up now. A full and frank apology will give you a second chance that you’re lucky to have. I doubt whether you’re cut out for a front office job, but if you are, we’ll give you the chance to prove it. We need somebody to beef up the settlements desk and somebody with your abilities could do very well there. I must warn you though, your last chance is about to expire.’

      Hanbury was loving this. The way he saw it, Zack had no choice but to take the offer. He’d urged personnel to make the offer, because he thought Zack’s humiliation would be more complete that way, locked up in a dead-end job without prospects. And if Zack stayed with Coburg’s, Hanbury could keep an eye on things. He’d make sure Zack never escaped to the front office, make sure Zack was always the last to be promoted, the last to get a bonus.

      Zack had been right. Hanbury was not the cooling off type. He planned to imprison Zack for the rest of his working life, and he, Piers Hanbury, would relish every second.

      Zack quickly scanned the letter. Immediate termination. Six months’ salary tax free. The services of an outplacement agency for up to twelve months. It was a good package. Coburg’s hired and fired as much as anyone else these days, but they still aimed to be decent about it. Zack paused for a long while, then turned to look at Hanbury. Hanbury looked straight into the younger man’s eyes and gloated openly.

      ‘I withdraw the words I wrote about you yesterday,’ began Zack.

      ‘Quite right,’ Hanbury smirked. ‘Settlements will suit you to a T. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the challenge.’

      Without altering his expression, Zack continued. ‘On second thoughts, I’m not remotely sorry that you’re a pompous dickhead. You’re such an ugly sod that nothing else would really suit you.’

      There was silence round the room. Hanbury was visibly astounded. The man from personnel laboriously withdrew an antique fountain pen and signed the redundancy letter. He shook it dry and slipped it across to Zack.

      ‘You are a very foolish young man. You will live to regret this.’

      Zack grabbed the letter.

      ‘This is binding, right? Irrevocable?’

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘Six months’ salary, tax free, no questions asked?’ The man from personnel nodded.

      ‘Good. Then you won’t be needing this. Merry Christmas.’

      So saying, Zack took a sheet of paper from his pocket. He tore it in two, down the fold. He dropped both halves on the table and walked out of the room, without so much as glancing back.

      Piers Hanbury put the two torn pieces of paper together. It was a letter from Zack to personnel. The text read simply:

      As I have just been offered a superior job in a superior bank on a superior salary and with a significant signing bonus, I feel obliged to tender my resignation with immediate effect. For the record, I have not enjoyed working with Coburg’s. I do not respect its leadership. And I shall look forward to competing vigorously and successfully against it in years to come.

      The letter was not signed. Piers Hanbury read it through slowly, then walked out of the room without a word. The two men from personnel read it through, too. They read it a second time, then the older man picked up the two pieces of paper, walked over to the dustbin and dropped them in. Really! Sometimes he felt he no longer understood the City these days.

      5

      It was a vile December morning. Cloud wrapped the village and the factory with it. Everything was clammy and cold. The gunge covering the factory yard was frozen with a sort of oily crust. From the moors, a north wind whipped down and snuck its way through Gissings’ decaying windows. It was a grim and depressing place to work. A grim and depressing way to earn a living, especially if you didn’t draw a salary and your current account was written in shrill red capitals.

      George started work early, and punctually at eight thirty loud footsteps down the corridor alerted him to Val’s return. She marched in, dressed in the kind of tweed they wrap horses in. Square and crudely cut, her suit brought out her shape to perfection, thought George unkindly. The contrast between her and Kiki was so extreme, George could hardly help comparing them mentally every time he saw Val or thought of Kiki. Nowadays, both happened often.

      ‘Are you taking the piss?’ she asked George directly. She’d seen her name above the gate, then.

      ‘No,’ said George. ‘Anyone with your degree of loyalty to this company deserves recognition. If this company had any cash, I’d happily give you some of it. But since I

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