The Voicemail

INT. PUBLIC BATHROOM. DAY.

Tom, a middle aged man aged very plain looking stares at his

reflection in a mirror.

He bends over the sink and splashes water in his face.

A Soulless office building bathroom with urinals and stalls

lining the wall.

Tom looks at himself with a wet face. He reaches over and

grabs the paper towels without looking and wipes his face.

He looks at himself one last time, readjusts his tie, sighs

loudly, and nods to himself.

Mark enters the bathroom at this point. Mark is also a

middle aged man who is slightly larger than Tom with dark

hair and glasses. He looks over at Tom with an annoyed face,

he rolls his eyes and starts walking over to Tom. Once he

reaches Tom he smiles and looks friendly.

MARK

Come on Tom it’s time to go to the

meeting you’ll do fine.

Mark picks up Tom’s briefcase from the floor and hands it to

Tom. Tom grabs the suitcase and follows Mark out of the

bathroom.

INT. MEETING ROOM. DAY.

Mark enters first.

MARK

He was in the bathroom.

Mark rolls his eyes to the rest of the group and proceeds to

sit down at his chair surrounded by Tom’s other coworkers.

You can see that some of the coworkers have annoyed

expressions and some are tapping their fingers on the desk.

Tom walks in after Mark and everyone is staring at him with

a blank expression. Tom is standing just inside the frame of

the door not really knowing what to do. He then looks around

makes eye contact with Mark who gives him a thumbs up and

makes his way to the front of the desk where he will be

giving his presentation. He props his briefcase on top of

the table and struggles to take out his laptop and notes he

has prepared for this meeting. He pulls out the correct

folder but it’s upside down and all of his papers fall out.

Some of the coworkers glance at one another giving each

other a look of annoyance.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.

TOM

Sorry.

He mutters this and looks down again and gives an

embarrassed grin and bends down to pick up the papers.

INT. RECEPTIONIST OFFICE. DAY.

Sarah is sitting at her desk when she sees Richard,

Nicholas’ business partner, get off the elevator and walk

into the boss’ office. She stands up and tiptoes quickly

over to the office door. She presses her ear up to the door.

INT. BOSS’ OFFICE. DAY

The boss calls in one of his business partners. Richard is

the superior to Tom and Mark. He sits down on one of the

chairs in front of the boss’ desk.

RICHARD

Have you decided who is getting the

promotion?

BOSS

I’ve thought a lot about this and I

think Tom would be the best fit for

the job.

RICHARD

Good choice Nick. I’ll have Sarah

call him to come to your office

Monday morning.

Nicholas nods and Richard stands up and starts to leave the

office.

INT. RECEPTIONIST OFFICE. DAY.

Sarah hears Richard making his way to the door and runs back

to her desk and sits down. Richard opens the door and walks

over to Sarah’s desk.

RICHARD

Call Tom and let him know to be in

Nicholas’ office first thing Monday

morning. Thanks.

Sarah nods and Richard makes his way to the elevator. Once

the elevator door closes Sarah scrambles to get the phone.

She dials Mark’s number and whispers into the phone.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

SARAH

Meet me in the break room

immediately. I’ll be there in 5

minutes.

Sarah hangs up the phone and stands up. She readjusts her

skirt and fixes her hair. Sarah walks over to the the boss

door and hesitantly knocks on the door. Nicholas calls her

in. She peeks her head through the door.

SARAH

I’m going to run to the bathroom quickly. Do you need

anything before I leave?

Nicholas glances up quickly at Sarah while on the phone and

looking at his computer. He nods to her and shoos her away

with his hand. Sarah nods and softly shuts the door. She

races over to the elevator and repeatedly hits the down

button.

INT. BREAK ROOM. DAY.

Mark is waiting for Sarah when she arrives. Sarah quickly

shuts the door and locks the door. They stand in the middle

of the office break room and Sarah keeps looking over her

shoulder to make sure no one enters.

MARK

What happened in the meeting? Did

you hear anything?

SARAH

Tom got it. They’re announcing it

Monday and I’m supposed to call him

now.

At this Mark looks down at the floor in concentration. He

looks back up at Sarah with a mischievous smile on his face.

MARK

I have an idea. Leave it to me.

Call Tom immediately and suggest

he’s being fired.

Sarah starts to understand what Mark is suggesting and nods

her head. She turns around and leaves the break room.

4.

INT. TOM’S DESK. DAY.

Tom is sitting as his desk. There are papers coming out of

the drawer and many stacks of papers. He has lot of sticky

notes on the desk to remind him of things he has to do.

There is a picture frame on the side of the desk but there

is no picture in it just the standard photo that comes with

the frame. He has a mug full of pens next to it. Tom is

going through the papers in one of the drawers and is making

a mess you. You can see lots of other worker’s desks that

are very tidy.

All the sudden Tom desk phone starts ringing. He quickly

looks up and locates the phone at the other end of his desk.

He tries to reach for the phone. He pushes his rolling chair

across and finally reaches the phone.

TOM

Hello?

SARAH

Hi Tom, it’s Sarah. I just wanted

to inform you that you need to be

in Nicholas’ office first thing

Monday morning. He has a matter

that needs to be addressed.

TOM

Have I done something wrong?

SARAH

Sorry Tom I can’t release anything.

I’m having Heather bring down some

boxes though and you’ll need to

have packed up your desk by the end

of the day.

TOM

Ok bye Sarah. Thanks.

Tom hangs up the phone and looks down at his hands. Tom

starts rearranging the papers into stacks to try to clean up

his desk. A few minutes later Heather, and assistant, comes

over to Tom’s desk carrying 3 flat brown boxes with a roll

of tape. She hands them over to Tom, gives him a sad smile,

and walks off. Tom gets down to the floor and starts to put

together the first box. At this point Mark comes over.

MARK

Did you see Heather carrying those

boxes? I’ve heard they only use her

when someone is being fired. I

would hate to be in their position

right now.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

This whole time Mark never made eye contact with Tom and was

looking over his desk to see if he could find where Heather

had gone to. Mark looks down at Mark and sees him setting up

the boxes.

MARK

Oh shit Tom I’m so sorry. I didn’t

see you down there. I’m sure you’re

not being fired. Here let me help

you pack and once we’re finished we

can go out for drinks.

Mark starts handing stacks of papers to Tom and the picture

frames. Mark has only helped Tom for a minute when he makes

an excuse to leave. Mark looks down at his watch.

MARK

Oh no I’m late for a meeting. How

about after work you can meet me at

my desk and we’ll go to the pub

that’s around the corner.

TOM

Ok thanks for all your help Mark.

You’re a really nice friend.

Mark smiles at Tom and waves goodbye. Once Mark has turned

around his smile is gone and he walks off to his desk.

INT. PUB. NIGHT.

Mark and Tom have been in the pub for a few hours now. Mark

is still on his second drink while Tom has had a few shots

and 3 strong drinks.

TOM

I hate him! I’ve worked so hard in

this company and sure I might not

be the best but I do try!

Tom says this while stuttering and swaying.

MARK

Come on up you get we’re going to

Tesco’s.

Mark grabs Tom by the arm and pulls him off the bar stool.

TOM

Why are we going there? I’m not

hungry.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 6.

MARK

Just trust me ok.

INT. TESCO’S. NIGHT

Mark leads Tom over to the dairy area and picks up 2 cartons

of eggs and hands them to Tom. Tom takes the eggs and walks

up to the cash register. Tom also gets a bottle of whiskey

and immediately opens the bottle and takes a sip.

EXT. BOSS’ HOUSE. NIGHT

Mark is driving as they pull up to the boss’ house. Tom

turns to Mark.

TOM

What are we doing here?

MARK

What do you think the eggs are for?

Tom looks over at Mark surprised, takes a big gulp of

whiskey and gets out of the car holding the Tesco bag. He

staggers over to one the boss’ car and sets the half empty

bottle onto the sidewalk. He opens the Tesco bag and pulls

out the first carton of eggs. He opens the carton and looks

at the eggs for a moment with a look of hesitation before

INT. TOM’S APARTMENT.

Tom arrives to his apartment after work. He lives in a

standard building with only a narrow staircase that leads up

to the each flat. He fumbles for his keys and puts them in

the door.He opens the door and the audience can see

inside the tiny room. There is only a small living room,

small kitchen, and a small bedroom with a tiny bathroom

attached. The living has a two person couch up against the

wall with an arm chair next to it and there is a TV just

opposite of the couch. There isn’t much space to move as

there is also a coffee table in front of the couch. Every

available space is covered in tissues, take away boxes of

Chinese and other similar types of food. There are also a

few pizza boxes piled up in the corner. There are also a lot

of clothes thrown across the room. He walks over to the

couch and throws himself down on it. He grabs the remote

control and turns the tv on. He tosses the remote to the

side and starts taking his tie off. He shrugs his suit

jacket off and throws it onto the chair that next to him. He

then kicks off his shoes and can finally relax. Right as he

is getting comfortable his phone starts ringing. Tom sits up

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 7.

and grunts annoyed. He starts going through his jacket

pockets and then looks over to his briefcase that is across

the room. He gets up and hurries over to it. He is having

trouble finding his phone and starts pulling out all the

papers that are in it. His phone is lying on the bottom and

on the screen it says that his boss is calling. He grabs it

and swipes the screen to answer the phone. Right as he

swipes the call ends. Tom goes back to sitting on the couch

and keeps looking at his phone to see if it rings again. A

few moments later a notification appears on his screen that

his boss has left a voice mail. Tom immediately unlocks his

phone fumbling with the pass code and listens to the voice

mail on speaker.

THE BOSS

Hello Tom hope you are well. I need

to see you immediately in my office

first thing Monday morning.

The boss has a very serious tone to his voice and Tom

immediately assumes the worst. He gets to his feet and

listens to the voice mail a few more times. Tom runs his

fingers through his hair and looks very distressed. He

immediately walks to his kitchen and pulls out a bottle of

half finished cheap Jack Daniels whisky. He doesn’t bother

getting a glass and just takes the top off and throws it to

the side and takes a swig. He continues drinking as he gets

food out of the fridge and walks back to the living room. He

sits back on the couch and watches tv.

EXT. BOSS’ HOUSE. NIGHT

Tom is swaying slightly and is looking up at his boss’

house. The boss lives in a big manor with a two really nice

cars sitting outside the front door. You can see a Tesco bag

in one of Tom’s hand and a new bottle of whiskey in the

other. Tom sets the bottle down and opens the Tesco bag and

pulls out a carton of eggs. He starts throwing the eggs at

the cars and the house yelling incoherent words. The lights

come on the front porch and Tom quickly grabs the whiskey

and runs away while stumbling.

INT. TOM’S APARTMENT.MONDAY MORNING

Tom is asleep in bed and his alarm clock goes off saying

it’s 7am. Tom rolls over and hits snooze. He keeps hitting

snooze until it’s 7:45am. He finally wakes up and jumps out

of bed. He races to the bathroom and splashes his face with

water. You can see that Tom is very hung over. Tom stumbles

trying to get to the living room and throws on the same suit

he wore on Friday. He isn’t able to do up his tie so it just

hangs from his neck.

8.

EXT. OFFICE BUILDING. MORNING.

You see Tom running across the road and pushing past people

to enter the building. He keeps glancing at his watch and

sees he’s 10 minutes late.

INT. ELEVATOR. DAY.

Tom enters the elevator and mutters for someone to press the

top floor. Everyone looks around at him and looks disgusted

at his appearance and smell. As the elevator goes higher in

the building more people get on and off at different floors.

One of Tom’s work friends, Mark, gets on the lift. He walks

over to Tom and slaps him on the back with a look on

congratulations on his face.

MARK

Congrats Tom! You earned it!

Mark gets off at the next floor. To starts to get less

nervous and thinks he has received a raise.

INT. BOSS’ RECEPTIONIST. DAY

Tom enters the receptionist area and there is a large pair

of double doors which is where the boss’ office is. He walks

over to the receptionist and gives him his name. The

receptionist gestures for him to take a seat and calls into

the boss’ office to let him know Tom has arrived. A few

minutes later and the receptionist tells Tom he can go in.

INT. BOSS’ OFFICE. DAY

Tom enters his boss’ office slowly and takes a seat at one

of the chairs in front of the desk. The boss is sitting in

his chair looking with a blank look on his face. The boss is

looking at his computer screen seeming to be watching a

video but Tom can’t see what it is.

BOSS

So Tom how was your weekend? Do

anything fun?

Tom looks very nervous at this point and looks down at his

lap then back up.

TOM

Hmm what? Oh nothing. I just stayed

at home and rested.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 9.

BOSS

Well that’s interesting think you

could explain this then?

The boss then turns the computer screen around and Tom can

now see the video of himself throwing eggs at the car and

yelling.

Tom hears the office door being opened and he turns around.

Two police officers walk in.