Room for All: Stories Round The Table 5

Lily Cathcart December 30, 2025 1 1

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Read and listen to our bonus Hogmanay themed Story Round the Table written and illustrated by Lily Cathcart and read aloud by Jack Steel.

Five donuts might seem like a lot for one person but it’s nearly New Years and I’m sitting at this stupidly large conference table because the comfy offices are busy so I think I deserve donuts, yes, even five of them.

I think I deserve them more than those jammy folks in the warm offices finishing off for the day anyway. And definitely more than the folks I can see down there on the street going home already. What I wouldn’t give to go home and start making a nice treat for supper, even a midnight feast.
But this work needs doing and none of the others are doing it so here I sit with my donuts.
Five donuts for five tasks. That seems only fair.

Oh no, Jess has seen me.
She’s waving.
Stop it!
Why do conference rooms have to have walls made of windows?
I waved back…why did i wave back?
There’s no room, don’t come in, just go home!

She’s coming in.
I bet she saw the donuts.
I should have hidden them.

‘Heya, you not heading home?’
‘Err, just got a few things left to do. You know the season reports and the stats workup, the funding summary and the two department projections for next season.’
‘More than a few. Aren’t they supposed to be for everyone to do?’
‘Everyone’s been really busy.’ I mutter trying not to sound hard-done-by.
She looks behind her as if contemplating simply going home.
I will her on in my mind.
Yes thats right, leave me alone, let me just get them done in peace.

It doesn’t work.

‘Look I’m better at stats than anyone in this office, no offence.’ She grins at me. ‘I’ll do the workup for the small price of a donut.’
I am about to answer until I realise it wasn’t actually a question.
Before I can formulate a different response she is sitting down and grabbing a donut.
Sigh.
Jess picks up her phone typing something and then looks at me expectantly. ‘Send it over to me, we’ll be done in no time.’

Ok, so I have four donuts and thats still a good evening. Five was probably going to be too many anyway.

A knock on the big windows snatches my attention. It’s Graham smiling and waving. Before I can shoo him away Jess beckons him in.
‘Grey just the man we need, how across the funding for this season are you?’
‘I’m all over it!’ Graham declares with a smile that says he has nowhere else to be.
‘Good, get your bum over here and do the summary for us before you go, we’ll pay you a donut for it.’
‘I’m in!’ He obediently sits himself down next to us and just like that my donut count is down to three.

As I send the forms over to Graham I wonder idly when ‘I’ became ‘we’ and when my donuts became fair game.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised when the door to the conference room opens again but nonetheless I am.

‘Hello you hard working lot.’ It’s Finlay and his irrepressible cheer. ‘Need any help…eating those donuts?’
‘You have to work for them!’ Graham mumbles through a mouthful.
‘There’s two department projections to choose from.’ Jess waves him into a seat at the suddenly smaller seeming conference table. ‘Take your pick and a donut will be all yours.’
‘What utter bribery.’ Finlay smiles ‘Well seeing as I’m in the marketing department I’ll take the marketing department. Now pass me that donut before I change my mind.’
I smile, surprising myself as I shove the donuts his way before emailing over the form his business like profile picture a stark contrast with the man in the room dropping heaps of sugar on his laptop.

Well two donuts isn’t bad for an evening and I’ll definitely have more evening now.

As I absorb the chatter and munching around me I can’t remember why I was so insistent that I had to do it all myself, it seemed so important. My shoulders seem to relax a little from a place I didn’t realise I was holding them and I even catch myself laughing along at one of the quips sailing through the chilly winter office air.

Another knock on the conference room window interrupts the flow of smiles as Beth pops her head round. This time I don’t wait for Jess to take the lead.
‘I don’t suppose you fancy finishing off a department projection form for the price of a donut?’
‘You had me at donut.’ Beth grins
‘That was the very last word.’ Finlay points out
Everyone laughs, including Beth.
‘Well what can I say, I’m a sucker for a donut.’
And before she even sits down I pass her the last donut and email her the form, grinning despite myself, as her profile picture pops up: a scruffy old teddy bear in dungarees.

As the sky finishes darkening to evening and my colleagues one by one finish their tasks and eat their donuts I realise that this has been, despite my initial misgivings, a much better evening than I had planned for myself. I feel, just for a moment, like perhaps God is up there looking out for me after all.

‘You doing anything for tonight?’ Jess asks as we try to wipe sugar from our mouths, and the table.

I look at the empty donut packet.

“Nope.”

Jess smiles, “come on the Grumpy Goat’s doing karaoke.”

“No!”

“They do donuts…”

I sigh, and then I smile, “I’ll get my coat.” 

Lily Cathcart

Music in the audio version 'Auld Lang Syne' by Bamtone and 'Chasing the Light' by Northern Heart, both licensed by Sanctus Media from www.Artist.io.