The Way Down

The Way Down
She had never really understood how it all worked. It was difficult to spot when your own star was on the up; but she watched it with others.
There was Bill,the new boy in the sales team, as brash and bold as them all but with a little something extra. She watched him meet his monthly targets until he caught the eye of the leadership Team and then,whoosh, he was off. Off,she supposed, to better things. And George,he hadn't stayed long in the 'starter' office. He had come,been a bowl of dynamite and sped on up and off somewhere. What she didn't know was where they all actually went to. She could only imagine the super army of the super smart, super clever staff, stashed away somewhere, producing reports and giving results. But Grace didn't really understand, what did they actually do?
She wondered sometimes what it was that she did. Endless days were spent checking figures,watching money pour into their accounts and leave again with startling speed.
Grace felt uncomfortable much of the time, getting more money seemed to be a constant aim, with little notice taken of how it was spent and what good it would do. Grace was careful with her money,she had what she wanted to eat and as many clothes as she needed. Her house was rented but it was in a good area and she kept it nice. She often walked to work and kept her old Audi for very wet days and for visiting her mother at the weekend. She wasn't either up nor down really.
But he had said 'Did you know that we're on our way down?' Grace at first thought he meant the lift was going down but she realized he meant the company. 'Oh,down? How did that happen?' she replied.
'We're all doomed, the bubble has burst, we're going down and we'll be out'
So it was common knowledge,she was always the last to know what was happening. She hated talking about this sort of thing but she couldn't really hide this time. 'Tell me,' she said,'what is the way down and where exactly are we going and for that matter, why?'
'It seems that some thieving bastard has been shifting money out of the accounts and our systems are so poor no one had noticed. Bloody incredible. I want to get my hands on him, I can tell you. ' he ranted and carried on, full of bravado. Grace went quiet and thought a bit,considering the best way out.
She picked up her Burberry bag,amazing that no one had commented on it - they were such plebs. She thought of the others at home,with great affection. The tidy row, all of them good names,she would stroke them all when she got in.
'Thanks Peter,I'll be off'. He called that it was only 4pm and really not time to go yet,but Grace kept on walking. She knew she didn't really need quite as much as she had acquired,but her mother was frail and would need care, her car was old and would need replacing. It was all just 'rainy day' funds. How was she to know that the company would hit hard times just as she decided to make herself secure? How was she to know that they were on their way down just as she had decided that it was time she was on her way up?