Page 1 of Whiskey Neat

ONE

INDIANA

“I’m really sorry to tell you this, team, but today is our last day.”

My heart sinks at the news. I knew it was coming, on some level we all did, but that doesn’t make it easier to hear.

“We tried,” our CEO, Brian, continues. “Unfortunately, they have more funding resources.”

A somber mood settles over us as reality sinks in. This is my fourth layoff in ten years and I’m fucking over it. I thought this company was gonna make it. It had such promise, and the public stock offering was gangbusters.

Rubbing my forehead, I slump in my chair. I’m on the edge of defeat, and I don’t think I have another job hunt in me. I look up when a hand lands on my back.

“Yeah?”

“Come on, Indy. We’re day drinking.” Chris flashes his big smile. “First round is on me.”

“Why the fuck not.”

I pull myself up, only to be subjected to a bunch of HR nonsense about paperwork and security. I’ve heard it all before, so I just wave on the way out of the conference room doors. Yeah, yeah, we’ll get packets and severance packages and yada, yada bullshit.

“Lee cut us loose for the day,” Chris says as we walk down the hall. “But we have to come back tomorrow for the formalities.”

“I’ll be hungover and surly, but that’s fine.”

“We all will be,” Bill says, scrunching his nose. “This blows.”

“I’m so fucking over it.” We stop off at our desks where I grab my keys, coat, and phone. I don’t even bother to log out of my computer. Fuck those overnight updates.

A large group of us leave the office building—a rented space that didn’t comfortably fit all the staff, but we made it work. Across the street is our hangout place, and we battle the falling snow, slushy streets, and traffic to make it to the other side. No one bothers with crosswalks in New Onyx.

Once inside the bar, Twenty and Six, we choose a table big enough for our group. My mood is plummeting quickly, and I’m three drinks away from turning into an asshole. I make a mental note to stop at two and take my pity party to go.

“What are you guys gonna do next?” Stephanie, the only woman on our team asks. “Any ideas?”

“Work for the assholes that bought us out?” Chris offers. “It sucks, but they’re officially the biggest kids on the tech campus.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Jayson says. “Could we even fake it through an interview with them?”

“Right?” Bill says. “I loved working for Lee. It felt…” He shakes his head. “Brand new again. Exciting.”

“It’s not a good sign that the new company didn’t headhunt any of us,” I point out just as the server delivers our standing order of pitchers of beer and a cocktail for me—a whiskey neat. It’s all I drink anymore. Beer makes me bloated. Yay, forty. “They either don’t trust us, or we don’t fit their culture. Either way, I’d steer clear of applying to work with them.”

“Then what?” Jayson asks.

“Maybe it’s time to head west,” Bill says. “There’s plenty of tech companies in Cali.”

“Yeah, and twice the layoff rates,” Chris says. “I came from there, remember?”

Everyone falls silent, but my thoughts are as loud as a rock concert. I told myself if I got laid off one more time I would do something radical. This is that time.

“I’m quitting the industry,” I announce, swirling the amber liquid in my glass. “I’m out. I’m not fucking doing this anymore.”

“What are you gonna do instead? Retire young?” Chris asks.

I scoff. “Not quite set enough to do that.” I exhale slowly. “I have a few ideas. Entrepreneurial shit.”

“Oooh,” Stephanie says. “Like what? Your own tech company?”

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