Seeing red (Five minutes freewrite)

Hearing a grown man sobbing his heart out is not easy to deal with, especially when the anguished cries come from the cubicle next to the urinal where you've just popped in for a quick piss. It must be Benjy, Willie told himself as he zipped up. All the others had already gone home for the day - there were just the two of them left at the office, and the boss, Charlie, who only used his private toilet.
Poor Benjy, everybody could see this coming with that wife of his. It was common knowledge, Janice was screwing around behind her husband's back. Benjy knew it, too, that's why he kept his back turned all the time.
Still, what do you do when someone is so obviously hurting? You cannot simply wash your hands and walk out. They've been working together for five years, had barbecues together - you cannot just... piss off.

'What's the matter with you Benjy boy?'
No answer, except for a muffled sniff.
Willie knocked twice on the cubicle door, hoping to hear his friend flush and come out.
'Go away', followed for a fresh round of sniffles.
Willie knew he had to do something, even if it meant violating the sanctity of the cubicle.
He pushed the door slowly and there he was, sitting on the tiled floor, holding the cell phone in his hands, tears coursing down his flushed cheeks. Benjy was always sweating, even on cold days, but now his shirt was drenched in sweat.
He must have had some really bad news, Willie thought.
He crouched next to his buddy and put a tentative hand on his arm - 'There, there, calm down, man. I'm sure it can't be that bad...'
Benjy let out another wail, shaking the phone furiously.
'Come on, tell me what happened', asked Willie, already dreading the answer. Janice is probably leaving him. And taking the kids, obviously...
Benjy steadied his hand long enough to unlock the screen and pushed it into his face.
'Good God!' Willie cried out as he looked at the screen. Everything was red, numbers going down. Fuck, this is a bloodbath! His mind refused to believe what his eyes told him - Bitcoin was down 15% in what, less than an hour?
He hadn't invested as much as Benjy, but still the new car he'd promised his wife for Christmas was definitely not gonna happen. Not with those numbers. And it wasn't just a whim, she actually needed a new car. Her old one was a safety hazard for her and anybody else.
Willie could already see her sad eyes and the fake smile she'd put on for his sake. He sank on the floor, next to his buddy and started to sob.
In his private office, Charlie was staring at the same numbers, a look of dismay on his face. If things didn't pick soon enough, he'll have to start cutting costs. He'll need to fire a few people, unfortunately.

Story written for @mariannewest's freewrite challenge, today's prompt was: sweating! Check out her blog and join our freewrite community.

Thanks for reading!

Image: Pixabay