Intoxifresh 5

Chapter Five

Merrick & Smyth Pharmaceuticals

HQ

A slightly dampened trench coat was placed on the hook outside the office of Marvin Merrick as the old man’s assistant opened the office door for him. The senior partner of the firm was severely disgruntled as he slowly lowered himself into his antique Chesterfield leather office chair. He was full of disappointment at the firm’s earlier meeting at the conference centre, with his former employee’s embarrassing presentation, but also from the possibility that Mr Thornley had actually developed some kind of very profitable wonder pill.

   Before his office door was fully closed he heard his assistant ask something. ‘Is there anything else I can do for you Mr Merrick, Sir?’ He closed his eyes and almost fell asleep as he shook his head at Simon, but propping himself up again he refocused on the question.

   ‘Just pass me a couple of those pills over there,’ he demanded weakly pointing to a small bottle. Simon obliged and placed the tablets that would make Mr Merrick feel more alert onto his huge desk along with a glass of water. The door was closed and Mr Sampson strolled back towards the laboratory.

   Simon enjoyed his job, but was on a downward spiral. He’d been working for the company, as Mr Merrick’s personal assistant, for just under a year. He started work at the firm the day after he’d turned 30 and he had big plans. As he got closer to his desk he could sense that there was far more talking than usual. From the few sentences he couldn’t help but overhear, it seemed that George was the current topic of conversation. The shock of a senior manager getting the sack for being completely intoxicated at his own presentation was something George’s work colleagues found hard to believe. It was suggested that it may just be a vicious rumour, but as he was absent from work it was something they’d eventually have to accept as fact.

   Simon waited until he had privacy before making the call. He didn’t want to talk above normal volume but with the force of the charging rain non-stop against the windows he had no choice. He did his best to keep the conversation as quiet as possible between himself and Mr Santorini. ‘Yes… it’s done. All taken care of… I understand, I’ll await the transfer, Sir, and then I’ll get them secured and shipped for you.’ As the call ended he quickly put the phone down as a colleague walked towards him but then turned in another direction. The sky outside was a dark grey, showing no signs of brightening, and lightning was beginning to strike as it got close to the end of the working day for most of the staff in the building. Simon felt content as he’d almost finished his end of the deal and was looking forward to doing something else with his life once everything had been completed. He straightened the few papers on his desk and opened his top drawer to double check the couple of dozen small oval orange pills neatly wrapped up in a transparent package. He smiled to himself with a mischievous grin as he pushed the drawer back into the desk with a heavy thud, and locked it.

   During his short drive home from work, with the windscreen wipers continuing their work at full speed, Simon felt a tinge of sadness for what he’d done that day; but deep down knew that his reward would far outweigh the career of one man. He noticed a noise of greater volume coming from somewhere and a fire engine sped past in the opposite direction, he had no idea where it was heading and he didn’t care. He parked his black BMW in its usual space outside his plush London apartment, and while climbing the stairs to his floor he had only one thing on his mind; he wanted to check his bank balance.