Taken from Jeffrey Archer's fourth collection of short stories, To Cut a Long Story Short, comes this irresistible, witty and ingenious short read.

Bill has had the same spot under the archway outside Critchley's Bank for years. He knows all the staff: the yuppies, the middle-management, the executives . . . perhaps better than they know themselves. Across the company, from lowest to highest ranking, each looks at what the other has. But with every rung further up the ladder problems become increasingly complex and more difficult to escape from . . .