The Very Important Job

Malcolm emerges from the stairs and heads down a corridor with his earphones in. As he walks down the corridor, he is followed by Linda. Malcolm tries to ignore Linda, but she gets her way and catches the attention of Malcolm. Malcolm seems short with Linda, whilst she explains the severity of the situation. Malcolm is tasked with completing the “very important job”, the details of which are not revealed. However, his frustrations and impatience with Linda seem to be due to major cuts from his team whilst the expectations remain the same. Linda doesn’t match the attitude of Malcolm and plays the situation off to be because of funding. Linda also reminds Malcolm to be careful of voicing his frustrations, due to the funder of the job being nearby. Malcolm and Linda both look down the corridor and see the funder standing there ominously. Malcolm shrugs it off and shakes away from Linda to get into the room and meet the team of Adrian, Lily and Elsie. Malcom enters his office and deals with taunting from his team as he is late, due to Linda. He is crude and tells the team to get on with the job. Malcolm explains that there can be no interruptions and that they must be 100% focused on the job to ensure that it is finished in a timely manner. The door is then knocked on, Malcolm then sees Linda. Linda is stood with Frank, a young lad. Linda explains that Frank is here to help get them over the line. Malcolm does not appear to be pleased with Frank. Frank walks in the room, the team do not appear to be happy with his presence. Malcolm then preaches about teamwork, to urge everyone on to get the job done. The team reminisce over the old team members and seem disinterested in Malcolm’s speech. They trot on with their work. Frank is trying to be helpful but is met with hostility. He is then sent out to get coffee by the team, as they do not believe he is of any use. Malcolm is not happy with how the team have shrugged off Frank but cannot dwell on it as he must answer the phone. Malcolm puts the phone down and is irritated when he notices that Lily has gone to the toilet and that Frank has not returned since getting the coffees. Malcolm orders Elsie to go and get Lily from the toilet. Adrian and Malcolm discuss how angry Malcolm is getting over the situation, until they are disrupted by Elsie returning in tears. Elsie explains that Lily is dead in the toilet. Malcolm, Elsie and Adrian head to the toilet and find Lily dead on the floor, with her purse emptied. Adrian and Elsie panic, whilst Malcolm acts smoothly. Malcolm gets the three of them to move the body into the cubicle and then aims to leave her. Elsie and Adrian are confused until Malcolm explains that there is no time to sort this now and that they need to complete the job before they get caught up in this. Adrian and Elsie are not happy but head back to the room with Malcolm. Frank is in the room with the coffees. The team are shocked and dismiss Frank. As Frank rambles on about Lily’s whereabouts and her coffees, Elsie explodes and reveals she is dead. Frank panics and gets worked up until Malcolm gives him working instructions and asks him to calm down. Instantly, Frank calms himself down and gets back to work. Adrian is shocked at his instant acceptance and then is enraged when he sees Frank drinking Lily’s coffee. They argue and Adrian threatens Frank. Malcolm defends Frank and asks Adrian to restrain himself. In disgust, Adrian marches out of the office, having lost faith in Malcolm and what he wants. Adrian tries to convince Elsie to come with, but she feels pressured by Malcolm to stay. Adrian then storms out. Malcolm looks stressed out but is then questioned by Frank. Frank’s line of questioning brings Malcolm to the realisation that Frank hasn’t the faintest clue what he is doing and that this is his first experience in the line of work. This enrages Malcolm. Frank offers to get Adrian back so that they can do the job, until Elsie then suggests that she should go instead of Frank, as she believes Adrian wouldn’t listen to Frank. Malcolm tells Frank to look busy so that he doesn’t annoy Malcolm and then goes onto another phone call. As Malcolm is on the phone, Frank looks at pictures of dogs on his computer. Malcolm gets off the call and is annoyed to just see Frank. In a moment of panic, he realizes he has now lost Elsie and Adrian. He gets up to go and find them. Frank joins him as he is no use in the office. The two of them go up and down the corridor, each covering one side, checking all the rooms. They get to the end and they both say they have had no luck. Malcolm questions Frank to ensure he checked every room. Frank says yes, but then adds that he obviously didn’t check the women’s toilet, as he is not allowed in there. Malcolm doesn’t respond to Frank and marches over to the toilet. He opens the toilet door to then see Adrian and Elsie both lay on the floor, dead, with their wallet/purse robbed. Frank then comes into the room and sees the tragic scene as well. Malcolm now gives up and breaks down, as he cries and mourns over their bodies. Frank then tries to suggest to Malcolm that he needs to get back and sort the job. Malcolm is far too gone now and dismisses Franks plead. A gun clock is then heard, and Malcolm believes this to be Frank. In anger he turns around but instead sees Frank with his hands up, as the funder from the start is now holding a gun on the two of them. In outrage and confusion, Malcolm shouts at the funder, trying to understand why he has sabotaged his own project and murdered his team. The funder does not speak but instead shoots Malcolm in the knee, sending him to the floor. Frank wets himself and steps to the side. The funder approaches Malcolm and looks in his wallet. The funder takes all the cash and cards from the wallet, before shooting Malcolm dead. The funder then looks to Frank for his wallet. Frank passes it promptly. The funder opens the wallet and sees no cash and one card, alongside a student ID. The funder throws the wallet down and leaves Frank. Linda then walks into the toilet and sees the funder and Frank. She is annoyed at the funder and complains to him, but she is silenced as he gives her money. After enough is given, she sighs and the funder leaves. Linda puts her arm around Frank and walks him back to the office. Frank is in shock, but Linda explains that the job is now down to Frank. Frank is speechless and is then left on his own. He sits back down at the office and turns on his computer. As the screen opens, he sees the pictures of the dogs and says to himself, “fuck”.