Snowfall

[r_Masquerade2 98]

Snowfall

 

The elevator doors flung open, releasing anxious prisoners to busy themselves with their bold and audacious tasks. Little did they know of an impending disaster, a disaster not of defined danger, but of concepts and numbers. One well-dressed man strode into a spacious office, carefully shutting the door behind him. The familiar sight of an ancient typewriter and a computer greeted him, along with a fresh new pile of paperwork. Pulling off a heavy coat to reveal a trim, perfectly ironed business suit, he brushed past the window, ignoring the frigid kaleidoscope of city towers. Settling back into a chair, eyeing the papers suspiciously, he decided to check the state of the company’s affairs on the computer before setting to work on the files. There was nothing new in his email inbox. It was all running smoothly: information about new press releases, the marketing department’s semi-annual report, news of a branch opening in Dublin. Everything was at ease, other than an email from Auditing marked as “Urgent”, but of course everything sent by Auditing was urgent. 

 

He switched off the computer monitor and began sorting through the papers, mostly reports from employees, when the door was abruptly opened and another man stomped in. He dropped a folder labeled “Letter of Resignation” onto the stark-white desk and turned back out the door, briefly muttering something inaudible. Immediately afterward, another employee walked into the office, parodying the previous routine with almost exact precision, leaving nothing but a concise letter of resignation. The man continued to sit at his desk, stunned. Two of his team members had just left without a word; something must have happened. Impatiently he waited for the monitor to boot up, frantically opening the cloud spreadsheet. The disaster was diagramed before him: Shares were worth less than the man had ever seen, the shareholders dropping them like they were on fire. But was this just an absurd scare of the stockholders? 

 

He re-checked his inbox, searching for an explanation. It was soon found. “Vertrauen GmbH dissolves after rumors of international market-fixing.” Two thoughts struck the man simultaneosly: How could this have happened? This is my fault! Only a few weeks previously, the man had signed off on an investment of a record-breaking $300,000,000 into Vertrauen GmbH, after observing their enormous growth and dividend yield. It was a flawless, absolutely foolproof investment. But everything has risks. Price fixing- it did explain their spectacular revenue. But the man’s company couldn’t take this loss, especially in such a narrow-margined line of business. The man would certainly be fired for being the cause of such a catastrophe, even as the crippled corporation slowly recuperated. It was just a fact. He would lose his job, his enviable salary, his week-old Mercedes Benz. He wouldn’t be able to pay for any of it. What about his family? 

 

The businessman’s eyes drifted out the window, gazing at the icy metropolitan panorama. Even his $8,000,000 life insurance policy would need renewal in a week, and there was no way it would be recertified. His wife, his kids, he couldn’t support them. Everything that the man had attempted to achieve would be destroyed. The man’s eyes glanced lower, knowing very well that he was 66 stories above the bustling streets. But then there was that life insurance policy....

 

The man stood up with morbid determination, folding his suit jacket and laying it across the desk. He deliberately marched to the enormous glass window, unlatching the hinges with surprising difficulty. Gusts of wind sent papers scattering all over the office. Snowflakes silently fell to the tile floor. The man was calm, curious even, asking himself how he had come to this macabre decision so quickly, and wondering if he would find something beyond the leap, beyond extinction. Could he do it, for the money, for his family? Could he commit the one unpunishable crime?

 

Of course he could. 

 

The man took the step into oblivion.  

 

More Stories from Masquerade:
Just a Crosshair [Part One]

The Money, Sir? [Part Two]

[VaudeVille 1,428]

Great..

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

Good ...

[Blackdrakon30 2,943]

+1. Well portrayed.

[Raisin 1]

Very nicely written. Loving the cliffhanger aspect of the piece, an alluring read indeed. Well done. 

Edited September 16, 2016 by Raisin

[AverageDavelaar 89]

Not bad create more awesome stories?

[Ninja 10,468]

Freak, damn good story, but a rotten ending. O_o

 

Great to see a third-person story, they are the only ones I enjoy.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Ninja