Life in Dulwich

On Wednesday, when the news leaked out that the company wasn't to go ahead, there was great unrest in the office. The phone rang constantly - people from the office, people stranded on business trips, people trying to confirm appointments that were no longer needed but I couldn't tell them why. L, my assistant, and I, just kept our heads down and started packing and throwing things away. It's funny how suddenly piles of paper become irrelevant.

The sales director went off and came back with his car, packed it up and drove off - all in a couple of hours, while the rest of us were still wondering if it was true. He left a big metal map of the world in the hall because it wouldn't fit in his car. He left his security pass on my desk - I guess he didn't know what else to do with it.

We stayed until the end of the day, while my boss spoke to everyone individually. It was all very sad.

I had to get a cab for all the junk I had accumulated over the year. All in a rush, madly trying to finish off last minute things, changing flights for the stranded people in China and booking hotels, rushing the boxes out to the taxi and hurried goodbyes. Then, ran to the cab and, then, quiet.

My driver was a strange kettle of fish. He sounded American - possibly Californian, but wouldn't say much about himself. He just kept saying cryptic things like, 'I'll tell you what I do for a living when I drop you off', 'I've only been with this company for three weeks', 'Please do tell me how I do, as I'm just winging it' and yet he knew all the back routes and road names immaculately. He talked a lot about the government, British society and how it's changed, City Hall, Westminster Council and the best hotels to stay in and how to get a good deal on them.

Anyway, he was very courteous, undercharged me, helped me with all my boxes and took a very good route home. His card, which he gave me at the end, was not very revealing - Tour Organiser, Life Coach, Personal Security Agent and other such vague job titles. Intrigued, we Googled his name and phone number. The results were a comment on an Irish University website and a number for a chauffeur company in South London. The world is full of interesting people.