Living with Yourself

American accent

Everyone at the table was smiling. Everyone except Martha.

“Martha, this is your night!” her boss said. “You should be happy.”

“I am,” Martha answered.

But she was not happy. In less than an hour, Martha was going to get an award for her work. She knew she did not deserve it.

Six months earlier, Martha worked in the office of a large building company. Part of her job was to check invoices before the company paid other companies for their work.

One afternoon, Martha found a problem. A small building company wanted payment for some work. But the work was not finished. Martha called the owner, a man called Steve.

“I can’t pay this,” she told him. “The work isn’t finished.”

The next morning, Steve came to her office.

“I need that payment,” he said.

“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

Steve looked at her for a moment.

Then he said, “Maybe I can help you.”

He offered Martha five thousand pounds. All she had to do was change the papers and say that the work was finished. Martha said no.

But that evening, she thought about the money. Her rent was high. Her car needed work. She also had money problems from the past. Five thousand pounds could change many things. The next morning, she called Steve.

“I’ll do it.”

Martha changed the papers. A week later, Steve gave her the money. Nobody knew.

Then, a month later, there was an accident. Part of a wall fell at one of the company’s buildings. A worker called Peter was badly hurt. He spent three weeks in hospital.

Martha was terrified. The company checked the accident, but nobody found out about the money or the papers.

In fact, Martha worked long hours after the accident. Her boss was very happy with her work. And now, six months later, she was getting an award.

Martha looked across the restaurant. Then she saw Peter. He was sitting at a table near the back. He now walked with a stick. Martha quickly looked away.

Her phone moved on the table. A message.

Congratulations on your award.

She did not know the number. Then another message came.

You must be very proud.

Martha felt cold. She looked around the room. Who was sending them? Her phone moved again.

Do they know what you did?

Martha almost dropped it.

“Are you OK?” asked Jenny, the woman beside her.

“Just nervous,” Martha said.

The lights became darker. Her boss walked onto the stage.

“And now, our final award of the evening.”

Everyone became quiet.

“This person helped us during a very difficult time.”

Martha looked towards Peter. He was watching her.

“And the award goes to Martha Green!”

Everyone clapped. Martha slowly walked to the stage. Her boss gave her the award.

“Would you like to say something?”

Before Martha could speak, her phone moved again.

Tell them.

Martha looked at the people in front of her. This was her chance. She could tell them everything. But she thought about her job, her home and the police.

“Thank you,” she said. “This award means a lot to me.”

Everyone clapped.

Martha returned to her table. She had made her choice. She would say nothing.

Ten minutes later, Peter came over.

“Can I speak to you?”

They walked into the hall outside the restaurant.

“Were those messages from you?” Martha asked.

“Yes.”

“What do you want?”

Peter took some papers from his pocket.

“I wanted to give you a chance to tell the truth.”

Martha looked at them. They were copies of the papers she had changed.

“How did you get these?”

“After my accident, I started asking questions.”

“You can’t prove anything.”

Peter took out another paper. It showed the five thousand pounds Steve had paid her. Martha’s face went white.

“Peter, please. I made a mistake.”

Peter shook his head.

“No. You made a choice.”

Two people appeared at the end of the hall. One was the head of Martha’s company. The other was a police officer.

Martha looked at Peter.

“You told them?”

“Yesterday.”

The police officer walked towards her. Martha looked down at the award in her hands. A few minutes earlier, everyone had been clapping for her. She slowly put the award on a chair. Then she walked away with the police officer.

Behind her, the restaurant door opened. Her boss stood there, watching her. Martha did not look back.

For six months, she had tried to live with what she had done.

Now everyone else would know about it too.

📒 Key vocabulary

• award – a prize given to someone for doing something well
• invoices – papers that show how much money someone must pay
• owner – a person who has something or a business
• rent – money you pay to live in a house or flat
• hurt – injured or in pain
• found out (find out, found out, found out) – learn or discover something
• stick – a long, thin object used to help someone walk
• stage – a raised platform on which people perform, give presentations, or make speeches
• prove – provide evidence to show something is true

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