The club lights flashed and waved to the beating music. They washed the dancefloor in neon colors, in time to the heavy vibrations of the giant speakers. Surprisingly, Toby admired the bright lights, how they illuminated the huge space and modern architecture. Though he found himself nursing a headache at the bar.
Jan from accounting had organized the “bonding time” for the office, saying how it’d bring everyone closer together. Toby had been devoid of any good excuse, so now he was stuck between a beer, clubbers, and Jan, with her volume louder than the pounding speakers.
“And so that’s when I said, ‘Kevin, that’s the wrong variable!’” She snorted in laughter at her own joke. Toby managed a smile. “You see, he made a simple mistake!”
“No, I get it. I think Susan’s around here somewhere, she’d appreciate hearing it too.”
“That’s a good idea, but I can tell her on Monday!”
Toby took another drink. He liked Jan well-enough at work, but tonight was proving a little more difficult.
“That does bring up a good point, though. I haven’t seen many people from the office here." Scanning the room, she asked, "Do you think they're stuck in traffic?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Toby answered, knowing full well it was more a case of empty promises. Still, there was something about the disappointment in her eyes that struck him. “But hey, you got some of us here.”
She gave a small smile and looked around again, this time lingering towards the lights.
“Hey, let’s go dance!”
Before Toby could gently protest, she’d swept him onto the floor, beer and all.
MY ENDING:
Toby could not hear anything Jan was saying so he just swayed moved his legs a little, in time with the pounding beat. He thought about three years ago when he had taken over the company from the geek running it, or rather trying to run it. The business was good and Toby had not only made a profit but also sold important patents to his other company who now charged this one royalty. Also the office was owned by Toby personally and the company paid him a princely rent. So though the company was making amazing profits, the money never reached the employees who were also the major shareholders. He had also made the employees sign contracts that they would have to surrender their shares if they left the company or were fired. Toby had not tried to scare the employees away but neither had he cared for them much.
A smile creased Toby's face. He screwed over the original investors including Jan from accounts. He was about to take a swig of his beer when something hit the bottle and it broke with a jangle. He had half turned when a shove in the back sent him sprawling into Jan, who gave yelp and tumbled to the floor with him on top. The next thing he saw was Jan's shirt blooming red as blood welled from what looked like a gash in her stomach. He was already shocked and then he saw that the broken bottle of beer he was holding. The jagged broken edge was dripping blood. Toby threw the bottle away and stumbled away from Jan, fell and puked. The lights were now on and people were shouting.
Toby was on all fours trying to get his head around what had happened, when Susan came over.
"I have called 911. ambulance is on the way. Toby, listen! Go home and don't talk to Anybody till I call you. Go."
Toby had gratefully ran. After three hours Susan called him.
"Jan is stable. But... A punctured kidney and multiple lacerations. There can be a lot of complications."
Toby replied. "I... This was an accident. I did not.."
"Jan's husband is a criminal lawyer and works at the DA's office. He was talking about suing you for criminal assault and damages of $5 million."
"What! Hey this was an accident. Shit, I am not a..a.. hoodlum or a goon. You know that."
"Tell that to the slick criminal lawyers who will charge you 10K an hour. Listen Toby, this is not a good place. And if even if the criminal charges are dropped, the kidney will cost you nearly a million all by itself. Then there is fees and trauma and recuperative therapy and a dozen more things; not to talk about the time you will be spending in the courtroom."
"They can't do this to me. I was just dancing."
"The bar was not licensed. And why the bottle? And why did you run?"
"But YOU told me to go Susan."
"My mistake. I am sorry. But you are still in trouble. Look Toby, think about your future, your company, your employees. Give me a figure, I will talk to him about a settlement."
"No! Why should I have to pay?"
"Fine, anyway. A heads up for you; the TV guys are trying to talk to Jan. Maybe tomorrow when she is better she may speak to them, so don't antagonize her husband."
Three days later Susan sat across Jan and Rene, Jan's husband in the plush lounge of the City Center Marriot. Jan beamed at Rene and said.
"You did it!"
Rene shook his head. "I just set it up for you. You and Susan did it. You got Toby to settle for a Million dollars"
Susan laughed and replied. "OK lets share the credit. But If your make up and setting up the fake accident had not worked, we could never have pulled this off."
Rene worked as an FX makeup artist. A month ago when he had found Jan and Susan ranting about how Toby was looting them, he had offered help, giving them the initial idea of staging an accident and con Toby out of the money they rightfully should have gotten- One million.
THE CONTEST: https://steemit.com/wewrite/@freewritehouse/we-write-14-at-the-club
PICTURE CREDIT: pixabay.com