Page 125 of The Reboot
‘What? I don’t—’
‘Your replacement is crap at karaoke.’
‘Oh.’
‘Hasn’t got a note in her head.’
‘Sit down,’ Dylan waved to the sofa opposite them and she lowered herself into it uncertainly, not sure what was going on.
‘Sorry, we were just kidding around,’ Jake said. ‘Of course we want you back.’
‘But you said … you can’t just give my replacement the sack. You said she hasn’t done anything wrong.’
‘No, we can’t give you your old job back,’ Dylan said. ‘That part is true.’
‘There’s another position we’d like to offer you.’
She looked at them in bewilderment.
‘It’s something new that’s just opening up,’ Jake told her.
‘Oh?’
‘Like I said, we’re getting ready to launch the urban collection, so we’re going to be expanding, and we’d love for you to be part of that. How would you feel about taking over as Head of Marketing?’
‘Oh!’ she gasped. ‘Seriously?’
‘Would you be up for it?’ Dylan asked eagerly.
‘It would mean a lot more work,’ Jake said.
‘And a salary increase, of course.’
Ella smiled. ‘Well, I still think your interview technique needs a lot of work. But I’d love it.’
‘So that’s a yes?’
‘Yes please! I accept.’
‘Yes!’ Dylan pumped a fist triumphantly. ‘The gang’s back together.’ He and Jake high-fived each other, grinning, then turned to Ella, palms up.
‘Seriously unprofessional.’ She laughed as she high-fived them both. It felt good to be back.
If only she could fix her relationship with Roly so easily, she thought as she made her way back to work. But she didn’t expect him to forgive her. There was a limit. She’d just have to accept that and move on. At least she’d be kept busy at Citizens. She’d have no time to mope about Roly. Now she just had to break it to Hazel.
‘Oh thanks goodness!’ Hazel’s reaction to the news that she was leaving wasn’t quite what Ella had been expecting. She was relieved her friend wasn’t upset, but it wasn’t very flattering.
‘Not that there’s any problem with the job you were doing,’ Hazel hastened to add, reaching out across the table and putting a hand over Ella’s. After work, they’d gone for a drink in a little wine bar off Grafton Street. ‘You’ve been nothing but conscientious, and I can’t think of anyone who’d do a better job.’
‘Oh. Okay…’ Ella frowned, confused.
‘But your heart isn’t in it. I can see that you’re miserable, and I feel guilty that I pressured you into it and dragged you away from a job you really enjoyed.’
‘Sorry. But you didn’t pressure me into it – not at all. I really thought it was what I wanted. I guess I wasn’t thinking very clearly at the time.’
Hazel nodded. ‘You shouldn’t make big life decisions when you’re heartbroken.’
‘That’s what Dylan said.’ Ella sighed. ‘I guess I needed to feel I was in control of something in my life – that I could go after what I want and get it. So I changed the thing it was in my power to change. But what I really want…’ She shrugged. ‘There’s nothing I can do about that.’
