In the Arms of an Octopus

The National Association of Proprietors has burned through its reserves and carved its annual budget to resemble a Hawaiian gourd, but it survived the recession. Now the problems are really beginning. Wayne T. Langford, a notorious hatchet man willing to slash, sell and sacrifice anything and anyone to add another bullet point of success to his already inflated resume, has just been hired as the EVP. Wherever Wayne goes, staff purging follows. Everyone at the association knows that layoffs are imminent, setting in motion a musical chair, save-your-own-neck scramble to stay on Wayne’s good side. With jobs on the line, everyone from the directors all the way down to the lawsuit happy receptionist is willing to take drastic measures to keep his or her position from being eliminated, even if it means betraying a friend or get in bed with a former enemy.