Red hand

In a small office a young man is working with a mountain of paperwork to either side of Him. The phone rings repeatedly until he picks it up.

Young man: how is speaking…? No, I won't be home till late… I am lucky if I'm not still here in the morning… No, we'll put the tv up tomorrow night when I get home… (The door to the office opens and the assistant enters. He is pale and visibly shaken)

Assistant: Noor, we've got a situation… I think you might want to come and have a look…

Noor: (Looks up but continues to speak into the phone) I'm sorry darling, I'll have to call you later…

Assistant: We've found a… We've found something in the bathroom… It looks like a bomb… There was a note with it… (Young man slowly puts down the phone- Assistant holds up the note- it reads 'RING +47 34253454 FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS' in large black lettering) What shall we do

Noor: I… I don't know… Where… Where did you find it…?

Assistant: The bathroom… Behind the toilet… Taped to the back of… the… the back of the toilet…

Noor: (Staring in disbelief at the note) Shut the doors… Don't let anyone in or out…

Assistant: But it's only just past five… Shouldn't we call the Boss…?

Noor: (Shakes hes head) No, Not yet… Maybe it's just somebody playing a trick…?

Assistant: I don't think this is a trick…? What are we going do in this situation…?

Noor: Wait… Wait just a moment… Let me think… (Noor lifts the handset of the phone. he presses the number for an outside line, then dials the number on the note, then presses the loudspeaker button)

Caller:(Metallic distortion) Hello…? Who am I speaking to…?

Noor: My name is Noor… I'm the manager here…

Caller: You got my note…?

Noor: Yes… We did… What do you want us to do…?

Caller: What do I want…? I'm going blow your fucking brains out!!! That's what I want…!!!

Noor: Why… Why are you doing this…?

Caller: I'll give you a clue… I used to work for you guys…

Noor: You did…? I don't understand…?

Caller: I made a mistake two years ago, and I almost lost my life … Remember…?

Noor: Aaah… Maybe… But I'm not sure if I remember your name…

Caller: No, I was just cheap labour… Straight out of street… And you didn't know me from a bar of soap back then, so why would you remember me now…?

Noor: Actually, I have a close relationship with all our staff… We are always ready to listen if anyone has a problem… Are you still there…? (Slightly panicked)

Caller: Yes, I'm still here…

Noor: Oh… good… Look, I think I know why you're doing this…

Caller: You do…?! Well, let's hear it then…!

Noor: Look… I do remember the what you did… I remember it quite well actually… And we have taken steps to prevent that situation from occurring again…

Caller: So… How does that help me…?

Noor: I… I believe we offered you a chance and your old position… Yes, I distinctly remember that an offer was made to you along those lines… Even if our people was not happy and that it was unnecessary…

Caller: Yes… You did offer me a chance after knocking the shit out of me!!… After two years of doing the same job… two years of doing the graveyard shift… You know why they call it the graveyard shift…?

Noor: I don't think I do…

Caller: They call it the graveyard shift because the only people out of bed at that time of the morning are fucking zombies…! I was walking out the back door every morning while you were walking in the front… I tried to kill myself Noor… I was clinically depressed… That's what two years of starting work at midnight does to you…

Noor: I'm sorry, but…

Caller: And after I was forced to go, I couldn't get a job anywhere else… Because all I'd done was the dirty work for you guys hmm… And I had to leave Noor… Remember…? I got caught hiding a bit of money… and Everyone treated me like death meat…

Noor: Yes, well… that was an unfortunate incident wasn't it… But I don't believe we made you leave… You left of your own accord, didn't you…?

Caller: All I wanted was back-pay Noor… I wasn't asking for much…

Nigella: Yes, but we had paid you… The same as all our other guys… We have hundreds of locations in this state and the same offer was made to all off our other guys… Measures were put in place to prevent the situation from occurring again… That was the result of your bad judgment… You made that happen…

Caller: You paid me less than everybody the was new for a hole year… And now you're sitting on a home-made bomb and I'm going to blow your ass all over the ceiling if you don't stop talking shit to me… I've got my finger on the 'send' button right now…

Noor: (Jumps up off chair like a scalded cat and waits near the door while his Assistant examines the chair from the furthest possible distance) NO!!! There's no need for that!!! Please…! Just tell me what you want…!

Caller: What do I want…? I want revenge… That's what I want… I want you to lay awake at night thinking about how all of this could have been avoided for thirty thousand dollars… Have you called the police oo you cant can you …? (Pause)

Noor: No! We haven't called anyone…! Honest to god! We haven't called anyone but you… (Pause)

Caller: Who's 'we'…? (Pause)

Noor: Oh… My Assistant is here… He found the device… (Takes his seat at the desk once again) Please… We just want to resolve this as quickly as possible…

Caller: I'm sure you do! But there's another little package waiting for you in the office next to you… You might want to go and have a look… Give me a call when you've found it will you…? (Noor waves his Assistant out of the room with desperate haste)

Noor: Wait…! You haven't told us what you want…

Caller: Oh, but I did… I didn't sleep properly for two years… I still don't sleep properly… I can't even get an erection… That's what depression does Noor, it completely fucks your life… I want you to know how that feels… (Phone goes dead)

Noor: No… Please…! There must be some other way… Hello…?! Hello…?! No!!! Don't hang up…!!! (Noor goes through the different lines on the phone, saying 'Hello?' then hanging up as soon as he discovers that it's not the caller. he stops at the last one) Aaah… No darling, I can't stop now… We have a potential disaster on our hands… No, I've got to go… Really… Get the guys to sort it out can you…? (Hangs up on wife. Turns to computer screen, begins typing. An email to somebody important)