My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:  Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! (Proverbs 6:1-3).

Jim could hardly believe his ears.  Not only was his boss offering him the position; he was actually encouraging him, urging him, practically begging him to take the promotion.  The hair on his scalp tingled and tensed.  He felt a wash of adrenaline, and he resisted the urge to yelp that he'd take the job, right there on the spot.  It was a great position -- one that he felt he was made for -- but he also knew that he'd better take some time to think it over.  He asked his boss if he could have 24 hours to consider the offer, before deciding anything official.  And though the question warranted a raised eyebrow, the request was granted with a wave of the hand.  Closing the door behind him on the way out onto the main work-floor, Jim let out a sigh, exhaling relief, exhuberance, frustration, and stress.

"What was that all about?" asked Phillip, one of Jim's long-time friends and colleagues.  They had joined the company at the same time, even meeting each other in the waiting room before their interviews.  And when they had been both hired and processed in the same week, they quickly learned that they shared many interests -- racquetball, Kung Fu films, hoagies from Bartlett's downtown -- and ambitions, namely to become directors at the agency.

But Jim didn't want to talk to Phillip at the moment.  "Umm, well... he wanted me to think about a new job assignment," Jim muttered vaguely.  "I'll tell you about it more some other time, but I've really got to make a trip to the men's room right now."

He knew that he needed time to think, to strategize, to reconcile his ideals with his realities.  Phillip made things much more complex than they would have been otherwise.  The decision to take the assistant-director position at the agency would have been a no-brainer -- were it not for the foolish pact that had been made between Phillip and Jim, over a year previously.  The pact to climb the corporate ladder together, to look out for each other in the dog-eat-dog business world, to not take promotions unless they could do so together or unless they had the blessing of the other.  But Jim knew that he couldn't ask Phillip for his blessing on this particular position because it was the very one that Phillip himself had been going out of his way, applying for it.  He had sounded so confident last week, when he had made the decision to go for it.  He said that he'd be able to look out for Jim that way and figure out a way to get Jim into another assistant-directorship.  And besides, he needed the pay raise to pad the budget in anticipation of Phillip and Debbie's first child, due in October.  So if Jim were to tell his friend that the position had been offered to him -- even though he had never applied for it -- he knew it would be heart-breaking for Phillip.  He'd be more than miffed; he'd be furious.  And there was no way that a furious Phillip was going to give his "blessing" for Jim to take the job within the next 18 hours.

Jim walked into one of the stalls in the men's bathroom and bolted the metal door behind him.  He sat down on the toilet seat without raising the lid and just looked at the beige-colored door in front of him.  He didn't know what to do.  He had given his word to Phillip -- but he knew that offers like this one just don't come along very often, and that he would be sending mixed messages to management if he turned down the position.  And besides, there was no guarantee that the job would be offered to Phillip anyway, even if Jim turned it down!  Most likely, they'd give it to Nick -- that butt-kissing sleezeball -- and then things would be a whole lot harder for both Jim and Phillip.  As he considered the situation, Jim realized that the pay raise would be equally useful for himself, even though a mortgage payment was not nearly as "noble" a responsibility as Phillip's iminent parenthood.  If he took the position, he could try to do what Phillip had promised he'd do:  looking out for his friend and finding a way to pull him into an assistant-directorship as soon as possible.  Maybe it would be the best thing for both of them, if he took the job...

Jim sighed.  As much as he could rationalize taking the position in his own mind, he knew he just couldn't bring up the subject with Phillip.  At least not with any expectation that he would be released from their pact.

Twenty minutes passed, with Jim fixed to the stall in the men's restroom at his office.  He hadn't moved.  When the main door to the restroom creaked open, however, Jim startled.  It was Phillip.  "Are you all right, buddy?" said Phillip.  "You've been in here for quite awhile, man."

Jim said, "I'm fine, Phillip.  Go back to work."

"What's going on?" asked Phillip.  "It's obvious that something's bothering you."  The sounds indicated that Phillip had stepped into the adjacent stall.

"Indigestion," said Jim, desperately hoping that his friend would go away.  "Diarrhea."

"You're suffering from diarrhea, and yet you haven't even pulled down your pants?  Dude..."

Jim winced as he looked up to see Phillip's head craning over the diving wall between their stalls.  Phillip had stood up on the seat of the toilet in the next stall over and leaned over to peer into Jim's stall.  His friend was smiling, but his eyes betrayed confusion.  "Are you sure you're all right, man?"

Jim decided that he had no choice but to present the situation to his friend and see where things led from there.  "Actually, Phillip, we need to talk.  It's about that job opening..."