Non-compliance Grows Like a Cancer - So It Seems

Last episode, Ben got the bad news that Ernie had been fired for no reason. He had not had the chance to share the good news with Ernie that he was leaving Fartbender to go to Laxo Smut Klump. Ben's life is in chaos, but he clings to Tina's return. He gets ready for his first meeting with Tina after returning from China.

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Ben's life was in total disarray. His best buddy Ernie was nowhere to be seen after delivering the news that he had been fired; Ben was worried. They had not left on good terms, and Ernie seemed very upset with life. Ben had no idea where he was and had tried several times to contact him without any success.

“He's been kidnapped," thought Ben. "Those crooks have taken him!”

He gave his resignation to Fartbender, but didn't get the response he expected. Ben didn't think of himself as a key player. He felt confused. Why did he have to discuss his resignation with the CEO, Lucifer Defabricata?

He couldn't think about that or about Ernie. Tonight was special—he was having dinner with Tina, fresh from China. He could not wait. He most of all wanted to see her face when he told her he would be working next to her in Laxo Smut Klump.

What a long way they had come since that first date, he pondered... At least that's what he kidded himself. They had only gone out three times. Still, he wrote to her almost every week she was away. Now, he was excited to see her again. He had arranged to see her at the restaurant where they first met. What a romantic little jellybean he was!

He opened the door, eager to get to the table before Tina arrived. As he turned around, he almost lost his lunch! What in the hell was Jock Strap doing there?

Jock was the head of security at Fartbender. "Relax," he said to himself. It was a popular restaurant, and he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He turned around, and for the second time in a minute, he almost lost his lunch again (and his breakfast). There in front of him was Mary Uselessmeeni!

What on earth was he going to say to her?

“Sorry I got you fired?"… “Shredded any good documents lately?"

"Could things get any worse?" he thought to himself.

He spied Tina just about to cross the road… Oh yes, they could…

Think, Ben, think, you idiot - say something!

“Hi there, Mary, what brings you here? I heard you left.” Not exactly his best line, but he figured she did not know that he had reported her, and why would he have anything to hide? He had done nothing wrong.

“Yes,” replied Mary, very cool, calm, and collected. "I am having dinner with Jock. He asked me to meet him here; he said he wanted to talk to me about what had happened, something about a whistleblower."**

Ben pondered. Was this like a trumpet player who had gotten him out of sorts with his mate Ernie? He made a mental note to check with Tina about this whistleblower thing.

God, I’ll have a whole orchestra by the time I am finished.

“What has happened?” asked Ben as innocently as he could.

"You'll find out, I am sure,” she said. “I need to go. See you round, Ben," and she walked off in the direction of Jock. Jock looked across and tossed Ben a casual wave. Ben responded and turned around just in time to open the door for Tina.

“Hi there, Gorgeous!" It was out before he realized it. Tina gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek.

“Lovely to see you again, Ben; I have missed you."

Alright!!, thought Ben, life is back to being good!

They sat down and made small talk until dinner arrived. Ben was chomping at the bit to tell Tina his good news, but did not want to seem overly eager. Every time he looked across the room at Jock and Mary, they were looking at him. He felt very self-conscious.

He looked across at Tina; she seemed different somehow. She had lost her confidence and almost seemed to be expecting someone to jump out and grab her at any time.

"I've got some great news, Tina, but first I want to hear all about China!”

Tina burst into tears. Well, that went well, Ben thought to himself. He had not had much experience dealing with crying women.

“What is wrong, Tina? Why are you crying?”

“China was terrible," she said between sobs, “just terrible. I have resigned because of it, but my life is a mess. I don't know what to do, Ben. It's just a mess!”

For the second time, Ben's plans had been short-circuited, and he thought it could not get any worse. How wrong he was.

Tina stopped crying at last. She credited Ben for it, but he wasn’t sure he’d done anything. Why did Mary and Jock keep staring at him?

"Let's try and have a nice dinner, Tina - forget about all that other stuff tonight.”

Tina agreed. “So tell me your news. Ben, you said you had some good news!”

Ben did not know where to look. Couldn't the ground just open up and take him? He looked across at Jock and Mary. As he did so, he saw Mary passing Jock a manila envelope. Strange, he thought.

“Come on, Ben, what is your news, and how is Ernie doing?"

Till next time,

Calvin

[A/n: ** A whistleblower is a person—often an employee, contractor, or insider—who exposes illegal, unethical, or unsafe activities within an organization to authorities, regulators, or the public. Several employees became whistleblowers during the early twenties when the pharma industry was full of corruption.]

Next Episode: Episode 6 - Would you like ketchup on your corruption?