Ugh, was it really Monday morning already? I leaned across to switch off the alarm clock (which had rudely awoken me from a pretty damn good dream about a hot blonde chick), and then stretched and yawned. Yeah, it was that time again and I had the Monday morning blues before the day had really started!

I took a quick shower and then rummaged in my wardrobe for something half decent to wear. Why we had to wear shirt and tie in our office, I don’t know. It’s not like we were a customer facing office, we dealt with them over the phone. But the powers that be had decided that staff dressed casually would only mean a casual attitude towards work. It was total bullshit if you asked me!

So having thrown on a pair of trousers, shirt and a tie, I just had enough time to shovel some cereal down my throat before I had to leave. I had an eight o’clock start this morning and if I didn’t get a move on, the boss would be having words.

“Fucking great” I banged my hand against the steering wheel as I came to yet another red traffic light. It was as if everything was against me today, which is always the way when you need to be somewhere in a hurry. But before long, I was pulling into the car park and parking my car. The good thing about an eight o’clock start is that the car park is relatively empty, so I managed to find a space close to the building.

“Morning Nick” my boss, Kevin, said as he made a point of looking at his watch.

“Morning Kevin” I replied as I walked over to my desk and switched on my PC.

“Alex has called in sick, so it’s just you covering the phones until eight thirty, OK” Kevin called as I entered my password and waited for my profile to load up.

“OK” I called over the desks. I was in no doubt that Alex had probably had too much of a good time over the weekend and needed today to recover. I’d have to give him a prank call later when Kevin had gone to the cafeteria for his morning coffee. It worked like a charm every time!

I logged in to all my applications, put my headset on and then waited for the inevitable rush of calls that a Monday morning usually brought. I didn’t have long to wait. Thirty seconds after going online to be precise. Just great!

“DCWW Service Desk, Nick speaking, how can I help today?” I asked in my polite telephone voice which I’d developed since working here.

“I’ve got a problem with my screen…the writing has all turned sideways” the guy on the other end of the phone said.

“OK, well first of all, I’ll need your name so that I can get your details up” I replied. I didn’t deal with just any old member of the public. Our company provided IT solutions for businesses, many of them huge household names with offices globally.

“Phil Mitchell” he replied and I tapped it into my computer, moments later his details populated the fields of my call log.

“And can you just confirm your phone number?” I asked. Our call quality team picked up on all the little details like that.

After confirming his phone number and getting the asset tag of his machine, I told him I was going to access his PC remotely and resolve his issue. Within a couple of minutes I had a happy customer and a closed call. It was a good start to the day.

By eight thirty, I’d already had fifteen calls, most of which were password resets. Why is it that people forget their password after being away from their desks for just two days? I had passwords for so many applications and somehow, I managed to remember them all.

“Dude, thank god you’re here… good weekend?” I called across the desk to Brian, who’d just arrived. He sat opposite me and was my partner in crime in this place.

“The weekend is always good when I’m not in this dump” he laughed “you?”

“Ah, you know, the usual” I replied

“Pizza and Xbox?” he teased “you really need to get out more”

“It was Chinese actually” I replied and flicked a rolled up ball of paper at him “and what did you do that was so much better?”

“Actually, I think I would’ve preferred your weekend. I was dragged around the shops by Leighanne” he grimaced.

“Say no more my friend, I feel your pain” I empathised. I was so glad I was still single. Brian and Leighanne had only been married a couple of years but to me, that seemed like a lifetime.

At that point Brian got a call and was unable to talk any more. I pulled faces at him, hoping to distract him, but he wasn’t easily distracted, unlike myself.

“Did she have you looking at wallpaper again?” I laughed once he’d finished his call and we were back on the subject of his weekend. I knew they were planning on re-decorating the living room.

“Curtains and cushions this time…oh and she decided I needed to update my wardrobe” he shook his head “it’s pointless arguing with her, she gets what she wants in the end”

“You are so whipped” I laughed

“Just you wait till you’re married” Brian replied “then we’ll see who’s whipped”

“Not gonna happen bro, you know I don’t believe in marriage” I replied, shaking my head.

“You’ll change your mind one day” he retorted “anyway, where’s Alex?”

I got another call just then and was unable to reply, but luckily it was just to set someone up with access to a mailbox. After a few minutes I was done and replying to Brian.

“Sick” I said, my fingers doing air quotes.

“Yeah, all partied out more likely” Brian shook his head “that boy will end up on his final warning if he doesn’t watch it”. Alex was getting into the habit of pulling a sickie after a hard weekend of partying and had already had a couple of verbal warnings from the boss; the next step was a written warning and then out. The rest of us knew how to have fun in work without getting into trouble. Alex didn’t seem to give a shit when it came to rules; he liked to live by his own set of rules.

At ten o’clock Howie strolled in (he was on the late shift) looking every inch the businessman. I don’t think I ever saw the guy dressed less than perfect! Even on a Friday when we could wear casual clothes, he still managed to look smart, unlike the rest of us.

“Morning guys” he greeted us all. Howie was always in a good mood, I don’t know what his secret was.

“Morning Howie” we all called out, and then listened whilst he told us about his weekend at the beer festival. For a little guy, he could sure handle his beer and went to the beer festival every year to sample beers from around the world.

By ten thirty, the boss was on his way to the cafeteria for his coffee and now was my chance to prank call Alex. I waited until Kevin had left the room and then set my headset down and walked over to his desk.

“Nick…what are you up to?” Howie asked as he shook his head.

“Calling Alex. You know he has call minder and would recognise my desk phone number, so I’m calling him from Kevin’s” I grinned and picked up the phone.

Howie continued to shake his head, but Brian was nodding in encouragement. As if I needed any more encouragement!

The line rang a couple of times before it was answered.

“Hello” a croaky voice greeted me. I knew it was his ‘sick’ voice.

I had to stifle the giggle which was just dying to come out of my throat.

“Alex, this is Kevin” I said in my best Kevin voice “we need to talk about your adherence to your schedule, it’s becoming a problem and I’m not sure…”

He cut me off.

“Kevin” he croaked “I’m so sorry to let you down like this but I’ve got stomach flu man, I’ve been hugging the toilet all weekend”

“What is this…the fifth instance of sickness this year…I don’t think we can keep you on with a record like that” I said sternly, while all the time wanting to roll around laughing.

“Please Kevin, don’t fire me. I promise, it won’t happen again if you give me another chance. Please” he begged and at that, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I laughed out loud.

“Nick...is that you?” I could barely hear him for laughing “mother fucker”

“You should’ve heard you begging” I laughed

“Just you fucking wait Carter, payback’s coming” he said, his voice no longer that fake hoarse ‘sick’ voice, but back to normal.

“Bring it on, it’ll only make things more interesting around here” I told him. “So anyway dude, how come you’re not in today?”

“I went to that new club in town. Man, you should’ve been there! Wall to wall hotties! Anyway, I met this stunning girl and we spent the whole weekend together. I’m fucking knackered, if you know what I mean. I thought I was insatiable in the sack, but this girl, fuck me, she couldn’t get enough” he explained

“Lucky bastard. You seeing her again?” I asked. It was a well known fact that Alex had trouble with fidelity and didn’t usually see girls more than a couple of times.

“Damn right I am” he replied “she could be the one”

“Shit…dude, I’ve gotta go back to my desk, Kevin’s coming back and he’ll flip if he sees me at his desk”

Alex laughed “talk to you later, don’t work too hard”

“I’ll try not too” I laughed and we hung up. I got up from Kevin’s chair and began walking back to my desk.

“Who was that?” Kevin asked, setting his coffee down on his desk.

“Wrong number” I replied innocently.

I’m not sure he believed me, but nothing more was said on the matter. I went back to my desk, put my headset back on and got to work on another job.

“Some people shouldn’t be allowed near computers” Howie was shaking his head; he’d muted his phone so that his customer couldn’t hear him “got this woman on the phone who only needs a password reset. I’ve spelt it out to her like ten times, but she’s still not entering it right”

“Oh I hate those too” Brian agreed “remote onto her machine and do it for her, that’s what I do”

“Yeah, think I’ll have to or I’m gonna be here all day” Howie shrugged and took her off mute.

By one o’clock, I was more than ready for lunch.

“You ready Bri?” I asked as I locked my machine.

“Two minutes, just saving this call” Brian replied

“Where do you fancy going today?” I asked. We didn’t always go out at lunch time, but seeing as it was Monday, we needed something to pick us up.

“KFC?” Brian suggested

“Sounds good to me” I replied. Where our office building was located, we had a KFC, McDonalds, bakery, café, pub and a Pizza Hut just a short drive away.

“Your car or mine?” he asked

“It’s your turn” I reminded him.

“Anyone want anything?” Brian called to our colleagues, but they all shook their heads.

“Come on then, let’s go” I said. I was starving and needed some finger licking goodness!

“Don’t be late back” Kevin warned “you’ve both got a lot of calls in your queues that haven’t been dealt with yet”

He said that all the time. Did he think we were going to work through lunch? It wasn’t going to happen. No fucking way!

“I know he’s your cousin, but Kevin is a complete ass when he wants to be” I said as we swiped our ID cards to get out of the office.

“Don’t I know it!” Brian agreed. They may be cousins, but Brian received no special treatment from the boss, he was treated exactly the same as the rest of us.

The following morning was a nine o’clock start for me, which was good because I’d slept through the alarm and didn’t wake until eight thirty. With no time for a shower or breakfast, I dressed as quickly as I could (after a spray of deodorant), cleaned my teeth and then was out the door.

I got to work with just a couple of minutes to spare. That would keep Kevin off my back as he was a bit of a stickler for time keeping and I’d already been late a couple of times this month. He just gave me the look as I walked passed his desk.

“Morning Kev” I grinned

“Hmm” was all he said

“Oh, look who’s back…feeling better?” I smirked at Alex, who was on a call but stuck his middle finger up at me.

“Morning guys” I called out and waved to the rest of the team before sitting down at my desk.

I switched on my computer and loaded all my applications up, as usual, and then put my headset on. I hoped it wasn’t going to be as busy as the day before. I didn’t have long to think about that as a call came in.

“DCWW Service Desk, Nick speaking, how can I help?” I answered in what I hoped was a bright enough voice (I really wasn’t in the mood for work just yet).

“I can’t save my word file to my H drive, I need it done now” said an irate customer on the other end of the line.

“Can I take your name please?” I asked as I got my call logging form open on the desktop.

“Keith Owen…look, how long is this going to take?” he snapped.

“I need to take these details from you otherwise I can’t log a call” I responded. He wasn’t going to intimidate me. “Can you confirm your phone number?”

“Haven’t you already got that? I’m asked every damn time!” he almost yelled.

“It’s for security and also to make sure we have the correct details for you, otherwise how would we contact you?” I replied. This guy was pissing me off.

“Fine…07748 135246, it’s my mobile, it’s easier to get me on that” he rushed the numbers off, which was pathetic really, he was just making it harder.

“OK, now can I have the asset tag of your machine?” I asked

“Why? Look, I’m not being funny but this is taking fucking ages!” he snarled.

By this time we’d been on the phone under two minutes, and it would’ve been quicker if he wasn’t being such a dick.

“If I don’t have your asset number, I can’t connect up to your machine” I responded, keeping my voice nice and calm, even though I was tempted to tell him to shove his word doc up his arse!

“Look, I don’t have time for this…the number is under the laptop…hang on” he grouched.

It was hardly a big deal to turn the laptop over. It’s not as if I was asking him anything difficult.

I hit the mute button and looked across the desk to Brian “got a complete twat on the phone” I told him.

“Is he as bad as John Crisp?” Brian asked. John Crisp was the infamous customer from hell. We all dreaded his calls as he was just a difficult bastard. He refused to be civil and yet expected good customer service! Nine times out of ten he ended up being transferred to Kevin.

“Could be” I groaned and then clicked the mute button to go back to him. He kept me waiting a few more seconds.

“This is such an inconvenience, do you know that?” he huffed and then gave me the asset number.

“OK, I’m just going to connect up to your machine and take a look” I advised and entered his asset into the terminal server remote control agent software. It came up with the message ‘unable to connect’. I tried again just to make sure I’d got the asset right. Still unable to connect.

“Are you connected to the network?” I asked. It was surprising how many idiots we got on the phone complaining they couldn’t get on the network, only to find that their network cable was unplugged.

“No…I’m working from home!” he snarled.

“Well, then you aren’t going to be able to save to your network drive if you aren’t connected to the network” I replied, I resisted the urge to add ‘you idiot’ onto the end.

“Well I’ve done it before” he argued.

“You can’t have” I responded. People like him always thought they knew it all.

“I’m telling you…I have” he yelled.

“If you’re working from home and aren’t connected to the network via a RAS card, then you’ll have to save it to your local documents” I replied.

“But this needs to be done by eleven you idiot” he hissed

“If you’re going to carry on with this abusive behaviour I’m going to just terminate the call” I shrugged. I didn’t have to take that kind of shit from people. If they started getting abusive, as long as we warned them, we could cut them off.

“And then I’ll complain to your superior. What is your name? I bet you don’t even know what you’re fucking doing! Put me through to your manager right now” he barked.

I hit the mute button and shouted over to Kevin.

“Kev, got an awkward customer on the phone wants to talk to my manager” I explained and gave him a run down on the call details after he’d come over to my desk.

Kevin took my headset and put it on. I sat back and folded my arms.

“Mr Owen, this is Kevin Richardson, I’m the service manager for DCWW, I understand you’re trying to save a document to the H drive when you aren’t connected to the network, is that correct?” Kevin asked smoothly.

Obviously I couldn’t hear Keith Owen’s response.

“As Nick has already explained, you need to be connected to the network to be able to do that” he explained. I watched him shaking his head as Keith must’ve been having a rant, and then the idiot must’ve hung up.

“Phew, he was hard work” Kevin took the headset off and handed it back to me “just close the call down, there’s nothing we can do for him”

I typed in a few notes into my call and then closed it down, hoping I wouldn’t have to speak to him again.

“So Alex” I called “recovered from the weekend?”

“Shhh” he warned “msn”

When we needed to talk to each other without anyone else hearing, we opted for msn. It was supposed to be banned (as was Facebook) but we didn’t take any notice and installed it anyway.

I found out that his latest girl was called Roxanne, she was a shop assistant in one of the clothes shops in town and apparently, she was the future Mrs McLean. I’d heard that one before!

By ten thirty I was starving. I’d not had time for breakfast before leaving the house and my stomach was protesting loudly.

“Anyone want anything from the cafeteria? I’m going for toast” I asked

“Yeah, I’ll have a sausage sandwich” called Howie as he opened his wallet.

“Anyone else?” I asked before leaving. No one replied, so I took it as a ‘no’.

Ten minutes later, I was back at my desk with two pieces of toast and a cup of coffee.

“You shouldn’t be eating that when you’re online, what if you get a call? Not a very good image of the company if you answer the phone with a mouthful of toast” Kevin shook his head.

“Yeah, yeah” I muttered. My lunch wasn’t until one o’clock and I couldn’t go without food any longer.

Just after taking a huge bite of toast, the inevitable happened, I got a call. I chewed and swallowed the piece as quick as I could and then greeted the caller. Luckily it was just to unlock an account, so within a couple of minutes, I was munching on my toast once again.

By the afternoon, the phones had gone pretty quiet, so we all messaged each other rude jokes, funny You Tube links, pictures of hot girls and also fitted in a game of Call of Duty (which obviously we weren’t supposed to have on our work computers).

All in all, it wasn’t a bad day!

Every week, Alex and I always said we’d only have a pint or two, but it always turned into a couple more to wash down our curry with. So I woke up on Thursday morning with a bit of a headache and took a couple of paracetamols before my shower.

What I really needed though was something greasy to eat, so I decided to stop off at the McDonald’s drive through on my way to work. A bacon and egg McMuffin and a hash brown would sort me out! I think quite a few people had had the same idea as me because the drive through was really busy. But it was worth it. I needed a good unhealthy bit of grease to get me through the morning. I ate it as I drove so that I wouldn’t be too late getting into the office, and then made sure I didn’t have any evidence left around my mouth before I got out of the car. It wouldn’t look too good if I walked in with tomato sauce dribbled down my chin.

I was a couple of minutes late getting into work, Kevin gave me the look when I walked in, so I told him there was a queue at the petrol station. I could hardly tell him I was late because I was stuffing my face with McDonalds, he would’ve been pissed off.

“OK” he said. There was nothing else he could say, apart from I could’ve got petrol the day before.

“Here comes the loser” Alex grinned as I got to my desk and sat down.

“I’ll beat you next time” I replied and turned on my computer.

“Whatever” he laughed and then turned his attention back to the call he’d just received.

“We heard all about it” Brian said “he’s been boasting that he beat you”

“It was a fluke, I’ll beat him next time” I replied, then got a call and had to put on my business attitude “DCWW Service Desk, Nick speaking how can I help?”

“Hi Nick” my customer said “I’ve accidentally deleted an important document and really need to get it back”

“OK, I’ll see what I can do. First could I get your name please?” I asked and typed it into the computer, bringing her details up in front of me.

“Can you confirm your phone number?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s 01926 975310” Carol replied “you want my asset number too?”

“Yes please” I replied. It made a nice change for customers to be offering the information freely without me having to force it out of them. Some customers just made things harder for themselves when they fussed over giving details out. How did they expect help when they weren’t prepared to help themselves?

Although I couldn’t retrieve the file, I sent the call to the backup team who would be able to get it off the server for her. So she was happy with the call and told me to have a nice day, I wished the same for her. If only all customers were so polite! Unfortunately my next customer was one of those who made life difficult. He questioned everything I was asking him for, wanting to know why he should have to give his phone number and asset number every time he called.

“It’s to make sure we have the up to date information for you” I replied “people move desks all the time and if I don’t have the right asset number, I can’t connect to your machine and resolve your issue”

“I’ve been at this desk for five years” he moaned at me “and still you ask me”.

There was no pleasing this guy. So I sorted his problem out and was happy to get him off the phone.

By the afternoon, we’d quietened down and had time to chat amongst ourselves. It had been a busy morning. Somehow the conversation got on to cartoons we used to watch when we were kids. I could’ve talked all day about cartoons!

“Dungeons and Dragons was just awesome” I said “I always used to wish I could ride that rollercoaster and be transported to another dimension”.

“Half the time you are in another dimension” Alex threw a pen across at me, bouncing off the top of my head and onto the floor.

“Hey” I said and threw it back at him.

“I preferred He-Man” Howie said with a shrug.

“How could you prefer He-Man to Dungeons and Dragons?” I asked.

“I just do” Howie defended his answer.

“By the power of Greyskull” Brian said, standing up and pretending a rolled up piece of A4 paper was his magic sword as he posed in a He-Man stance “I have the power”

“Skeletor was a great baddie, you have to agree” Howie said

“Suppose so” I agreed

“I loved He-Man too” Alex chipped in “what about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”

We all nodded in agreement that we’d loved it.

“Anyone remember Battle of The Planets?” Howie asked

“Not sure” I replied, the name sounded familiar but I couldn’t remember the cartoon.

“It was about a bunch of superheroes called G-Force who battled this evil dude, can’t remember his name” Howie replied “it was so cool”

“I wonder if we watched them now, would we still love them as much as we did back in the day” Brian wondered out loud.

“Hell, I still watch cartoons” I replied with a grin. I couldn’t imagine ever growing out of liking cartoons and even had the script for the last ever Dungeons and Dragons episode which had never been made. The show had been cancelled.

“You would” Howie teased.

“Did any of you ever get the hots for a cartoon character?” Alex asked.

“Trust you to think of that!” Brian laughed.

“Well I know I did” I answered.

“Oh yeah, who?” Howie asked

“Daphne from Scooby Doo” I said.

“Oh yeah, she was on my list too” Alex nodded.

“She-Ra” I said.

“She was hot” Alex agreed yet again “what about Jessica Rabbit?”

“God yeah” I agreed “she was hot”

“Guys…they’re cartoon characters!” Howie laughed.

“So” I said “they were hot cartoon characters”

Howie just didn’t seem to get it, but the rest of us obviously shared the same views. Brian reluctantly agreed that Jessica Rabbit was hot.

The end of the working day arrived and I was glad to get out of there. I’d had the call from hell about ten minutes before I was due to finish and never thought I’d solve it. Thank god for Google!

Friday arrived and I was on a late shift, ten until six, so I had a bit of a lie in before getting out of bed. I needed it after a late night playing World of Warcraft, once I start playing that; I can be playing for hours and hours.

Seeing as we could wear what we liked on a Friday, I just threw on the first pair of jeans and t-shirt that I could find. They looked clean and that was good enough for me!

“Morning Nick” Kevin said when I strolled in at five to ten “late night?”

“How’d you guess?” I asked

“You look like you just rolled out of bed” he replied as he shook his head. He could be an arse when he wanted to be, but on the whole, he was a good guy. Who else would put up with the shit Alex pulled from time to time, or my pranks?

I logged on to my computer and was relieved to see that there was nothing new in my work queue just yet. Perhaps we’d be in for an easy day today.

“Do anything good last night guys?” I asked my little group of co-workers, who were also very good friends.

“Leighanne wanted to go and see that new chick flick” Brian replied.

“And Brian here is so whipped, he took her on the opening night” Alex laughed.

“Well, at least I know how to keep a woman happy…unlike you, who can’t seem to keep a girl for more than a couple of weeks” Brian retorted.

“I know how to keep them happy, I just get bored of them” Alex shrugged “but maybe this one will be different”

“Oh yeah, you seen her again then?” Howie asked.

“As a matter of fact, she came over last night” Alex grinned.

“Must be getting serious!” I exclaimed.

“We’ll see” he smiled “let me guess, you were playing games last night?”

“World of Warcraft” I replied “it was a long night”

“Guessed as much” Howie said.

“And what did you do that was so interesting?” I asked Howie who as usual, looked well groomed and out of place amongst the rest of us. We were all in jeans and t-shirts (although I have to say, the rest of them looked as if they’d ironed their clothes, whereas I hadn’t bothered), and Howie was in a smart pair of jeans with a shirt.

“I spent a nice evening in with my girlfriend” he replied.

Maybe I’d have to get out there and get myself a girlfriend, it had been a while. But on the other hand, I was also enjoying the single life and doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted to do it. Maybe I’d go out on the weekend and see if I could entice a girl back for a one night stand.

“Anyone fancy a night out tomorrow?” I asked hopefully.

“Sorry dude, I’ve got plans” Alex answered.

“Me too” Brian replied “we’re going out for a meal”

“I’ll come out for a few drinks” Howie responded “we could go to that new place; I hear it’s good there”

“Cool” I replied. Even though Howie could be quite serious, he knew how to have a good time when he let himself, and he’d keep me out of trouble, which is always a good thing.

I was on the fifth call when Kevin sent an email out to the team asking which pizza we wanted today. It was the last Friday of the month and therefore Pizza Friday. Kevin bought them for us as a thank you for our hard work during the month. He was good like that and even though we did mess about sometimes, we got the work done efficiently.

I had a quick look at the Dominos menu and emailed him back that I’d have a Meat Feast. Howie was having the Tandoori Hot, Brian decided on Pepperoni Passion, whilst Alex went for The Sizzler. I loved Pizza Friday!

About an hour later, the pizzas arrived and we dug in after thanking Kevin. It was usual for a customer to call when I had a mouthful of delicious pizza, and today was no different. I’d just bitten off a huge bite when I heard the beep in my ear to signal a new call.

I quickly swallowed the pizza down and greeted my caller in the usual way. Luckily for me it was a quick fix, I just had to reconfigure some of her settings to allow her access to the internet, and then I was able to go back to my pizza. There’s something about free food that makes it even more delicious, not that Dominos isn’t delicious at any time!

We spent the rest of the afternoon tackling the few calls which came in – Fridays were usually very quiet – and talking about food, drink, films and TV shows. Today’s topic was action films and TV shows.

“Y’know, if I was a girl, I’d totally go for Christian Bale” I said.

“Dude, that is one of the gayest things you’ve ever said!” Alex laughed.

“C’mon, you know what I mean” I defended myself. I was in no way gay (nothing against gay people, just not for me) but I could understand the attraction to him.

“Leighanne doesn’t like him” Brian added “she does like Brad Pitt though”

“He’s made some good films” I agreed “but he’s no action hero”

“Who do you reckon are the top ten action hero actors?” Howie asked.

We spent about an hour discussing who we thought deserved to be in the top ten, and then moved on to actresses and our top ten women we’d like to ‘do’. Brian admitted that if Jennifer Aniston offered herself to him, he’d take her up on it, but to be fair he’d let Leighanne have a night with Brad Pitt. Kevin was just smiling and shaking his head at his desk. As it was quiet in the office he could hear our discussion, but he had nothing against us talking when our work was up to date. In fact, he sometimes came over and joined in.

Four thirty arrived and Alex was first to leave the office as he’d been on the early shift.

“Have a good weekend guys, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” he grinned. That wasn’t leaving much!

“See ya” we all called out and then he was gone.

Working until six sucked on a Friday.

Five o’clock saw the departure of Brian.

“Have a good weekend Bri, see you Monday” I said, with Howie saying almost exactly the same.

“Same to you guys, see you” he said and vanished out of the door.

Howie and I talked between the odd call that came in, and then at five thirty, he too was on his way.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, we can decide what time to meet up” he said.

“OK, sounds good” I replied “see ya”.

Kevin left a few minutes later and then I was all on my own (although there were still other people dotted around on other teams). The last half hour of a late shift was always quiet, so I browsed Ebay for a while and then updated my Facebook and Twitter seeing as no one was about to see my screen. Before long, six o’clock arrived and it was time to switch my computer off and go home.

It was the end of another working week in the story of my life.