Journey into the Mind, Part 9

The crowd sat, many sharing a look of bemusement, as the speaker stood frozen in his spot. He didn’t know what to say, and his mouth hung open like a rusted gate. He couldn’t believe what he had just read from his prompt; all employees in the local branch would be fired with no benefits given. In an effort to cut costs and save money, the company had decided to close several office branches without so much as a moment’s notice. Only those branches that had a certain sales number were able to avoid downsizing.
“This is ludicrous!” one audience member yelled. “How can you judge our sales based on some arbitrary criteria that has no basis in reality? Our branch sold twice as much as the Little Rock branch did! How dare you!” The audience began to grow restless and murmurs began to grow. The speaker, still frozen, looked to his manager off the stage who stood as stable as a boulder with his arms crossed across his chest. He only gave a stare to the speaker, as if willing him to continue with the speech. The speaker looked back at the crowd, and then back to his boss. Closing his mouth, the speaker nodded his head and gripped the podium.
“I quit,” he said calmly to the audience, and walked off the stage.