The Fourth Estate

Sally stood shaking in front of his desk, and stared at him in disbelief. Benson must have been right all along. “It’s that girl, isn’t it?” she said. “What was her name? Sharon?” Sally paused before adding, “So that’s why she hasn’t been in to see me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” shouted Armstrong. “I simply feel that…”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” snapped Sally. “You can’t fool me after all these years, Dick. You’ve offered her my job, haven’t you? I can hear your exact words. ‘It will solve all our problems, darling. That way we’ll always be together.’”

“I said nothing of the sort.”

“Used a different line this time, did you?”

“I just feel that I need a change,” he said lamely. “I’ll see that you’re properly compensated.”

“Properly compensated?” shouted Sally. “You know damn well that at my age it will be almost impossible for me to find another job. And in any case, how do you propose to ‘compensate’ me for all the sacrifices I’ve made for you over the years? A dirty weekend in Paris, perhaps?”

“How dare you speak to me like that.”

“I shall speak to you in any way I like.”

“Carry on like this and you’ll live to regret it, my girl.”

“I am not your girl,” said Sally. “In fact I am the one person in this organization you can neither seduce nor bully. I’ve known you far too long for that.”

“I agree, far too long. Which is why the time has come for you to leave.”

“To be replaced by Sharon, no doubt.”

“It’s none of your god-damned business.”

“I only hope she’s good in bed,” said Sally.

“And what do you mean by that?”

“Only that when she temped here for a couple of hours, I had to retype seven of her

nine letters because she couldn’t spell, and the other two because they were addressed to the wrong person. Unless of course you wanted the prime minister to know your inside-leg measurements.”

“It was her first day. She’ll improve.”

“Not if your fly buttons are undone the whole time, she won’t.”

“Get out before I have you thrown out.”

“You’ll have to do it yourself, Dick, because there’s no one on your staff who’d be willing to do it for you,” she said calmly. He rose from his chair, red in the face, placed the palms of his hands on the desk and stared down at her. She gave him a big smile, turned round and walked calmly out of the room. Fortunately he didn’t hear the ripple of applause that greeted her as she walked through the outer office, or several other employees might have ended up having to join her.

Armstrong picked up a phone and dialed an internal number.

“Security. How can I help you?”

“It’s Dick Armstrong. Mrs. Carr will be leaving the building in the next few minutes. Do not under any circumstances let her drive off in her company car, and be sure that she is never allowed back on the premises again. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” said a disbelieving voice on the other end of the line.

Armstrong slammed down the phone and immediately picked it back up again, then dialed another number.

“Accounts department,” said a voice.

“Put me through to Fred Preston.”

“He’s on the phone at the moment.”