Day eleven: Water lilies and new neighbours

Unusually, Barry’s mind was occupied with family, rather than work drama in our next meeting.

Erin had met Barry’s sister that morning during an outing to Kew Gardens with their daughter Clarice, who loved looking at the water lilies. Just like at work, Barry couldn’t seem to do anything right in his family’s eyes. Barry’s sister continually criticised him and never failed to remind him that her children could walk, talk, sing and write haikus at birth – unlike Clarice who still refused to utter a single word (despite seemingly being able to read already).

Barry’s brother-in-law Harold, whose success often depressed Barry, had just moved his family into a smart new neighbourhood with smart new neighbours – including Jeffrey Drum and family. That wasn’t all.

“It’s not at all snobby,” Barry’s sister had said. “Some of our neighbours are real professional high-fliers, with villas all over, but others are what I’d call self-made people – real rags to riches, can’t-read-or-write-but-made-millions. Salt of the earth, though they mostly bring mud in on their shoes”.

“Sounds like half our clients,” Barry muttered.

“Exactly”, Erin had said. “Charlie Tams lives almost next door. So I suggested Harold should make a series about CTT&Co. He could shoot it partly in the office and partly tracking the clients at work - a sort of business reality soap. It’d be good news for the firm and good for the clients”.

Harold, I gathered, was a star of television programme-making.

“He just phoned me”, Erin continued. “He’s very interested. He suggested that I script it, particularly as there’s a possible tie-in with my lot”.

Barry obviously understood what Erin meant; at this stage I still had no idea. However, I did ask Barry later if he’d missed some tricks here...Where did this latest business development fit in with his map of the future?  Did Barry have any aspirations of switching from passenger to driver - at home, at work, or in life? 

“Forget about losing your job”, Erin had told Barry. “Just tell CTT&Co about this TV series and ask for a rise”.

“And promotion?” Barry suggested.

“Just the rise. And there’s something else, Barry...are you alone?”

He wasn’t! The phone was burning its way through his hand as he realised that, just then, Jeffrey Drum had entered his office to enquire whether he’d have everything he’d asked for by Christmas and, if so, which Christmas.

Simultaneously Barry was aware of a separate conversation taking place in the corridor. Had he just heard the words ‘institute’ and ‘complaint’?

By the time he resumed speaking with Erin, Barry was a wreckage...

Find out why next week.