Work Related Stress (standard:drama, 3148 words)
Author: Rene Amador	Added: May 12 2002	Views/Reads: 4840/2823	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
There's only one position available and two people interested.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


Karen replied, “I’m not sure, but I can definitely take that off your
hands and pass it around, okay?” 

“Great!  Thanks a lot Karen.  Keep an eye out for me, will you?” 

“Sure thing.  Take care, Robert.”  Karen then filed the resume into the
IN box. 

Later in the day, Tom had put some time aside before he went home and
typed his resume up and printed four copies.  He, too, went up to the 
HR department to pass his resume along. 

“Good evening, Karen,” Tom said in a halfway decent impression of Alfred
Hitchcock.  Tom wasn’t as socially outgoing as Robert was, but he was 
able to bypass that shortcoming with his sense of humor. 

“Tom, how have you been lately,” she asked. 

“Fine.  Can’t complain, but I should,” Tom replied. 

“Well, we’re in a good mood today, I see,” and giggled. 

“Yes we am.  Anyway, Karen, I wanted to drop off my resume.  The word
floating around is that there may be some positions opening up soon.” 

“That is the rumor going around, but I’m not sure.  I’ll take your
resume and pass it along, okay?” 

“Cool.  Thanks, Karen.  I’ll see you later.” 

“Bye, Tom.”  Karen filed Tom’s resume into the IN box, immediately on
top of Robert’s resume. 

The next few weeks, neither Robert nor Tom had heard anything from the
other departments about positions opening soon until a Wednesday 
afternoon. Tom came back to his desk after running some forms to 
distribution and noticed a message on his voicemail.  He dialed his 
mailbox and listened to the message. 

“Hi, Tom, this is Geoff in the marketing department.  I received your
resume and it turns out we are interviewing for a marketing assistant’s 
position.  I would very much like to schedule an interview with you.  
I’ll be in the office until seven this evening.” 

Tom dialed Geoff’s extension and after speaking with him secured a
timeslot for an interview, next week Thursday at one in the afternoon. 

An almost identical message was left on Robert’s voicemail the next day,
Thursday.  Robert came back from lunch and listened to the new message. 


“Hello, Robert, this Geoff in the marketing department.  I received your
resume and, in fact, we do have a new position opening up.  This is a 
marketing director’s assistant’s position.  Give me a call back and we 
can schedule an interview.  I’ll be in the office today until six this 
evening.” 

Robert called Geoff and scheduled an interview for next week Thursday,
two in the afternoon. 

The following week, Monday, Robert and Tom came into work in especially
good spirits.  The news of a possible job higher in the company had 
excited both of them.  It was the only thing that either of them could 
think about. Each of them noticed the other’s good mood. 

“Hey, Tom, how was the weekend?” 

“It was good, excellent even.  How was yours?” 

“Very good.  The beautiful weather helped out a lot.” 

“Yeah, could you believe it?  Who would have thought, eighty degrees in
the middle of April?” 

“The good news also helped out, too.” 

“What good news,” Tom asked Robert. 

“Well, I typed up my resume and passed it along to the HR department
upstairs.” 

“Yeah...,”  Tom had an idea where this was leading up to and the thought
of it made his stomach turn over on itself. 

“I got a call from the marketing department, you know, Geoff?  Well, it
turns out that they have a marketing assistant’s position open and I 
have an interview with them this Thursday afternoon.” 

“Is that so?  Well, you’re not going to believe this, but, I got a call
from Geoff too about the position and I have an interview also this 
Thursday afternoon.” 

“Huh.  Weird.”  Robert’s thoughts at this moment were very brooding, as
if something disastrous was waiting to happen.  “What are the chances 
of that happening, about a million to one?” 

“I’m not sure.  Well...I guess I should do something now... but I don’t
know what that would be.” 

“What do you mean,” Robert asked. 

“No, just thinking if there’s some work that I forgot to do from the
week before.” 

“Oh...well, I’ll let you get to it then.” 

As they parted, both Tom and Robert could feel something heavy hanging
in the air, almost like a fog rolling in from the lake masking 
everything. Something was not quite right but neither of them could put 
their finger on it. 

The next few days at work were uncomfortable for both parties.  Both
felt as if they were in direct competition with each other.  
Competition is not a bad thing necessarily, it’s just that when two 
people who know each other compete it puts a great deal of stress not 
only on their individual lives but on their relationship as well.  Tom 
and Robert had very little contact with each other on a personal level. 
 Professionally, they treated each other coldly, as if each had to 
prove something to the other. 

Monday found the two trying to out do each other in the amount of
purchase orders processed.  As soon as Tom finished his stack he went 
and gathered more orders.  Robert would do the same but not only did he 
process them but also passed some along to the others in the 
department.  Tuesday Robert took it upon himself to file all of the 
orders that awaited shipping payments in the filing cabinet but it took 
him about twice as long as Tom to file away the same amount of orders 
that Tom had.  On Wednesday, the two of them almost drove their 
supervisor mad by running back and forth all day long asking for 
anything to do. 

Finally the day of the interviews arrived.  Tom had his interview at one
and Robert had his interview at two.  Tom had thought he had the upper 
hand because he was going to have the first chance to make a good 
impression.  He walked into Geoff’s office and took a seat in front of 
his desk. 

“Hi Tom.  I’ll be with you in a second just let me find your resume...” 

“Oh, don’t worry about that.  I have an extra copy here.”  Quickly, Tom
handed a fresh copy to Geoff. 

“Great.  This saves me some time.  Let’s get started.” 

The whole interview was normal.  Geoff asked Tom all about his
references and job experiences and Tom answered all the questions.  He 
wowed him with his additional job skills.  Geoff then caught Tom 
completely off guard with the next question. 

“So, tell me.  You know that Robert is up for the same position.  How do
you feel about that?” 

Usually Tom was able to bluff his way out of many questions with some
imaginative double talk, but this question made him speechless. 

“Well,” Tom began to answer, “I don’t know quite how to answer that
question because, frankly, I never gave it much thought.”  Tom’s fists 
clenched fiercely as they rested on the arms of the chair. 

“I suppose that I’m a little nervous.  It’s one thing to be up for a job
and not know the other people.  This changes things a bit.” 

“How do you mean,” Geoff asked. 

“Well, on one hand I really have my sights set on this job opportunity
and can see that it will have great effects on my career, but on the 
other hand, well, you know, I just don’t know what to expect.  I’m 
sorry.  I’m bringing this interview on a personal level.  Let’s forget 
the whole thing and move on to some other topics.  If you don’t mind, I 
would like to ask some questions about the position.” 

As the interview came to a close, Robert was sitting outside of Geoff’s
office.  He arrived about ten minutes early.  He wanted to make a good 
impression.  The tension between Tom and himself was eating away at him 
for the past two days.  At first the news didn’t phase him much, but 
the more he thought about it, the more he realized just what was at 
stake.  Robert had just begun to calm himself down when Geoff walked 
Tom out of his office down the hall, their arms draped on each other’s 
shoulder as if they were the best of friends. 

Tom chatted a bit with Geoff about when to expect a response when he
caught sight of Robert out of the corner of his eye.  A shot of 
jealously struck him in the chest and left a heavy mark behind.  As he 
entered the elevator and the doors closed, he could feel himself sink 
at about the same rate as the elevator down the shaft to the fourth 
floor.  He wondered how it was that he could feel jealousy about 
something that he didn’t possess yet. Tom went back to work at his desk 
but he was so shaken up that he couldn’t even hold a pen in his hand. 

Back in Geoff’s office, Robert took a seat in the same chair that Tom
had been sitting in before. 

“I have your resume here, Robert.  Shall we get started?” 

“Sure, fire away.” 

Geoff again went through with Robert about the job and the
responsibilities and he asked him the same question that he had asked 
Tom just a while ago. 

“Are you aware that Tom is up for the same position as yourself?” 

“Yes, I am,” Robert answered. 

“How do you feel about it?” 

“Excuse me,” Robert asked. 

“What I’m trying to ask you is does this situation seem awkward to you?”


“Now that you mention it, it does seem somewhat awkward.  It has almost
a different meaning when you say it out loud, doesn’t it?” 

“I’m not sure I follow you, Robert.” 

“It’s just...it’s just that, how would this effect the office
professionally?  I certainly see some sort of adjustment period for 
both parties involved.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that how 
would it effect work relations.” 

“I see what you mean.  Well, before we finish, do you have any questions
you would like to ask?” 

“Yes, actually.  In this new position, how much contact would there be
with the processing department?” 

“Not too much.  The position would be almost exclusively interior; you
would be dealing with others in the marketing department for most of 
the time.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

“Do you have any other questions?” 

“No,” Robert said. 

“Well, let me walk you to the elevator.” 

The doors shut and Robert faced his thoughts.  He thought about the
whole job situation, about how he might not be able to handle the 
situation if one of them got the job and about how things would be 
different after all was said and done.  The severity of the situation 
had just dawned on him before the interview and now intensified in the 
elevator.  He could feel things beginning to fall apart as the elevator 
reached the fourth floor. 

The rest of the day was uneventful.  Both Robert and Tom quietly worked.
 Each had wanted to say something to the other person but just couldn’t 
find the courage to say anything.  Meanwhile, Geoff was faced with a 
decision.  He realized that he was between a rock and a hard place.  He 
thought about both Tom’s and Robert’s responses to the questions he 
asked. This was definitely a time that he had to exercise his executive 
muscle. 

On one hand, Tom seemed to be very organized.  Immediately he had the
resume in hand when the resume was nowhere to be found.  He was a 
little nervous, which is to be expected in an interview, but he carried 
himself professionally.  He was able to operate under pressure.  Robert 
on the other hand was more relaxed and confident.  Every answer of his 
had conviction behind it, almost overflowing with confidence.  He was 
also very sociable but not to the point of being unproductive.  Both 
were caught off guard with that last question.  Unusual, Geoff thought. 
 They both had the talent and know-how that the job required, but there 
was something else there and Geoff couldn’t quite put his finger on it. 
 He decided to think things over and hoped to reach a decision by 
Friday. 

Friday arrived and started like any other day.  Projects from the
beginning of the week were being finished and the paychecks were 
distributed after lunch.  When Tom or Robert walked around the office 
and saw the other approaching, they both changed directions.  At the 
end of the day, Robert noticed the flashing light on his telephone and 
checked his voicemail.  It was from Geoff.  He wasn’t expecting a 
response so quickly. 

“Hi, Robert.  This is Geoff from upstairs in the marketing department.
Unfortunately, the department and I have decided to offer the position 
to another candidate.  We will keep your resume on file in case 
anything else turns up at a later date.” 

Tom was just about to leave when he too noticed a voice mail message on
his telephone.  He picked up the receiver and listened. 

“Hi, Tom.  It’s Geoff from the marketing department.  Unfortunately, we
in the department have decided to offer the position to another 
candidate we interviewed.  We will keep your resume on file for future 
reference if something else becomes available.” 

Tom left his desk and entered the elevator.  It was empty.  Just as the
doors were closing, Robert slipped in between the doors and made it 
just in time.  The two looked at each other for a second.  Tom’s gaze 
fell to the floor while Robert stared at the numbers lighting on the 
descent. 

“So, what’s new?”  Robert was the first to break the silence. 

“Nothing.  How about yourself?” 

“How did your interview go?” 

“It went all right, although after the message I got...” 

“What message,” Robert asked.  He wondered what Tom received. 

“They decided to give the job to someone else, I don’t know who.  Geoff
didn’t bother saying.” 

“I got the same message.” 

As the elevator’s doors opened, the rush of the breeze hit both of them
in the face.  It was slightly warm and refreshing.  They stepped 
outside. The sun had almost set, covering all with a bright orange 
light that felt warm. 

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?  I was thinking we should get together
on the weekend.” 

“I don’t think I have any plans.  Sure, let’s get together in the
afternoon and get some grub and a drink.” 

“All right.  Give me a call around one.  I’ll talk to you later, Tom.” 

“See you later, Robert.” 

Tom walked to the train station.  As he waited for the train, he felt
relieved about the whole mess of things.  The jealousy he felt before 
was gone and in retrospect it was childish of him.  So what about the 
job? There would always be job opportunities, but not people in your 
life that you could get along with so well. 

Robert stood at the bus stop and thought about the whole day again.  He
felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, that there 
was one less thing to worry about.  He didn’t care that he lost out on 
the job, but he did care that he didn’t loose a friend in the process. 


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