All good stories must start by introducing their characters, and this story is no different. Now, that’s not to presume that this will be a good story. It is more then likely that, in the grand scheme of things, this story will be quickly forgotten, having had no impact whatsoever, being a very mediocre tale. No, this story will bear resemblance to a good story only insomuch as it, too, will begin by introducing the characters.
Our story is about a small business and it’s four members. It is not important to our tale what this business did, we need only understand that they made a product, and had been doing so successfully for more than 30 years. The two founders of this business, Thomas and Kristina, had learned the trade form their parents and had decided to strike out on their own, to see if they could make it. This went well for several years, but as demand increased, Thomas and Kristina decided to take on two assistants, named Kyle and Alex, to help them meet their orders.
The four of them were able to keep the business running smoothly for many, many years. Admittedly, things were not always perfect, but they avoided any real problems, and their business thrived. Until it didn’t.
It is impossible to say exactly when it began, because it happened so slowly at first. Thomas began to arrive late to work. It wasn’t often, and he always had a plausible excuse, but he was late nonetheless. It was still occurring infrequently and, after all, Thomas had been responsible for the last 30 years, so little thought was given to it. Things continued to change, however. Thomas’ tardiness began to become more frequent and more severe. Then, after several months, he began to miss days entirely. It started with just a single day, every few weeks but, as with the lateness, the frequency soon began to increase.
Up to this point, it is doubtful that many of the customers noticed a change at all. The orders still went out on time, and when they saw Thomas, he seemed his regular, jovial self. It was only his coworkers who were beginning to wonder what was going on. Then came the Christmas sale.
Now, before we continue, there is one thing which must be explained about the assistants. It was never the intention of Kyle and Alex to stay at this business for the rest of their lives. Nor was it the expectation of Thomas and Kristina that they do so. It was well understood that one day, when they had the means and the desire, Kyle and Alex would leave and start up their own businesses, and this is exactly what Kyle had done. He had left the business half a year before the Christmas of which we are about to speak and was becoming quite successful on his own. He still spoke to his old coworkers often, and had heard some of the worries about Thomas, but he was largely occupied with his own work.
Which brings us back to Christmas. As you are, no doubt, aware, many businesses run large sales at Christmas and other major holidays as a way to attract more customers, and this business was no different. As such, the coworkers were always together around the holidays, as they worked to make sure that all orders were filled and that their customer’s needs were met. So strong was this tradition, in fact, that Kyle even returned to the business to assist in their work. This particular year, however, Thomas did not arrive at work the day of the big sale. When he did return, after the holidays, he refused to explain where he had been.
Kyle returned to his own business, concerned, but unsure of what to do, and hopeful that things would soon return to normal. As is so often the case, though, the situation would first have to become worse. Over the months that were to come, Thomas’ antics became far more frequent. He would disappear for days at a time, never answering a phone or checking in. Kristina and Alex continued to run the business, attempting to make it appear as though it were business as usual, but it was around this time that the customers doubtless began to notice that something was wrong. Thomas continued to miss the sales for every holiday, and even the anniversary of the business’ opening.
Kristina and Alex consulted with Kyle frequently, trying to figure out how to run the business and how to carry on now that they were understaffed. Kyle did his best to help, but was so far away and so busy that there was little he could do beyond offering a sympathetic ear. Truth be told, were it not for the fact that Kyle had a sentimental attachment to the old business, having worked there for many of his formative years, he would have advocated firing Thomas in January, but to do so would have also meant the dissolution of the business.
This entire time Thomas continued to disappeared, missing work, missing events and celebrations, and refusing to face the fact that anyone might notice or be affected. Finally, Alex had had enough and decided to confront Thomas. The arguments that ensued were legendary in proportion, as both Thomas and Alex were possessed of large tempers and little patience. When Thomas would attempt to leave in the middle of the work day, Kristina would beg him to stay, and Alex would demand that he do so, neither of which produced any results. Thomas’ demeanour was also changing towards his coworkers. He became meaner, always accusing, shouting and insulting them. It got to the point where, on separate occasions he drove into Kristina and punched Alex while they were attempting to keep him from leaving.
As you could imagine, this entire situation became very stressful for Alex and Kristina, and the business suffered greatly. It was so bad that Kristina’s physical health began to deteriorate, and Alex decided to leave to set up his own business, even though he did not yet have the financial means to support it, he just needed to leave the destructive environment.
When news of Alex’s imminent departure reached Kyle, he knew he had to come back to the business, even if only for a short while, as Kristina was going to need his help. To do that, however, meant that he would have to close down his own business, which he did. He gave many reasons for why he was closing it down, none of which were entirely untrue. The main reason, however, he kept a secret unto himself, so that neither Alex nor Kristina could feel guilty about his reasons for returning.
He returned during Alex’s final months with the business and took on much of the responsibility of ensuring the business at least appeared to be functioning marginally normally. The situation, however, continued to deteriorate, with Thomas’ absences occurring far more frequently and for greater lengths of time, to the point where it was considered a good week if his coworkers saw him for even a single day. The whole time, Thomas continued to refuse to explain where he was going or what he was doing, why there were strange charges to the business’ credit cards or even why he couldn’t explain. He even disappeared during the Grand Opening celebration for Alex’s new business.
Once Alex was gone, that left just Kyle and Kristina to keep things running. Kyle could help with the running of things and be supportive, but he didn’t know how to fix things. Kristina was feeling betrayed and abandoned by her long time partner, and Thomas didn’t seem to care.
Kristina had tried begging Thomas to stay, tried to make everything perfect so that he wouldn’t have cause to leave, as she felt it must somehow be her fault. Alex had tried demanding that things change. Both had failed. Kyle was still on relatively good terms with Thomas, and seemed to occasionally be able to get through to him on small issues. He knew he would only have one chance to confront Thomas with any hope of him listening. Once he had burned through that remaining good will, he would be as dead to Thomas as Alex was, and then he would never be able to salvage the business.
Then, one day, Kyle came in to find Kristina in tears, having just gotten off the phone with Thomas, who had been gone for over three days and had, again, refused to tell her when he would return. It was at that instant that Kyle swore to himself he would not play this scene again. He would no longer be the one who just consoled Kristina in the aftermath. He was going to force Thomas to listen to him. Things were going to change. Thomas would make things right, or he would leave, but things were going to change.
Sleep well,
DTE____________________
Songs of the moment:
DJ Champion – Knock You Out feat. Emily Haines, Maurissa Tancharoen & Jed Whedon – Remains, Placebo – Running Up That Hill
Music while I wrote:
Vince Guaraldi – A Charlie Brown Christmas
