Sunday 16 June 2019

SAFE GROUND: Flash by Sheheen

Flash Flood is continuing its 2019 National Flash Fiction Day celebration with a day of flash written on the theme of 'epiphany' by men at HMP Wandsworth who were participants of Safe Ground's Flash Fiction Project workshops.  You can read more about Safe Ground and the story behind this work in our introduction to this series.



Flash by Sheheen


Another day, up early, black coffee in bed, Bloomberg in the background. The markets will open soon. Emails will come flooding in. I may need to make a call – Hong Kong or Singapore.

It’s cold outside, two block walk and I am at the gym – shoulders and biceps today.

Home again, more emails flood in. Shower, get ready for work – it will take me forty minutes to get ready. No time for complicated decisions. It’s a grey suit or black, white shirt and tie, laptop in bag, blackberry in hand and I’m off...

Will it be a black cab or the Jubilee line? I will decide when I get to the underground station. It’s the tube. Much quicker.

I get off at the other end, short walk to the tower. Now need to find a desk. It’s a hot-desking policy at work. I’m called into a meeting, one of many today. Outsourcing to India, talent management, performance reviews, quarterly business planning. Quick check – more emails, and more. No time to check when unimportant. If it’s important I’ll be paged.

Working lunch at Sushi Sumba. Stress increases. Can’t remember much of it. All I heard was ‘Get rid of him!’ Have to find a way of getting rid of him. Need to put a call into the lawyers. Will have to park this for now.

Pay review meeting all afternoon, then a call with New York ‘til 7pm.

It’s Thursday once again, drinks with friends. No late night for me.

8 bottles of Bollinger and two bottles of Grey Goose and I’m on the dance floor at China White, checking email. Everything is urgent. I will deal with it tomorrow, more alcohol, I think.

3am in taxi, need to be up in four hours. Alarm goes off, headache. Still fully clothed on my bed. I crawl into the shower.

Thank God it’s Friday. But my diary has Monday written all over it.

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You can follow Safe Ground on Twitter @Safe_Ground.

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