Page 19 of The Reboot
‘Well, it’s there if you ever change your mind,’ Dylan said casually, but she could see he was deflated. Dylan’s default expression was less ‘resting bitch’ and more ‘excitable puppy’, and it didn’t hide disappointment well. He always on the verge of a grin, as if he was constantly poised on the brink of a roller coaster or about to hear some juicy gossip. Right now he looked like a very dejected puppy who’d failed to please with the wonderful offering he’d dropped at her feet. Even Jake, who exuded an air of profound gnomish calm, looked a bit hurt. Ella felt bad.
‘But I love board games!’ she said, pointing to the shelves.
‘Really?’ Dylan cheered up immediately, and she was rewarded with a toothy grin. ‘We’ve got loads.’
‘So I see.’ She inspected the boxes, genuinely pleased there was such a wide variety of games – all the old favourites, plus some more obscure ones. Maybe she wouldn’t be such a total misfit here after all.
‘All the classics, and a lot more besides,’ Jake said proudly. ‘Whatever your pleasure, you’ll always find someone to geek out with.’
‘Kerry is our resident Scrabble champion.’
‘And there’s a Dungeons and Dragons club if that’s your thing.’
Beside the shelves there was a notice board with a sign-up sheet for a hike up to the Hell Fire Club on Saturday.
‘You’re welcome to come along, if you like,’ Jake said, nodding to the board. ‘You can just go at your own pace – no pressure.’
‘Thanks, but I don’t think I’d be up for that just yet.’ It wasn’t just the hiking. The thought of doing group activities with a bunch of people she didn’t know was daunting. She was so out of practice.
‘We do something most weekends,’ Dylan said – a hike or canoeing, sometimes a swim in the summer or a game of rounders. Feel free to suggest anything.’
‘And there’s karaoke on Fridays, of course,’ Jake said.
‘Kiki Dee, don’t forget,’ Dylan said with a grin. ‘Don’t let me down.’
Oh god, karaoke! How could she forget?
‘Before you go, let me give you one of our jackets,’ Jake said as they led her back to the main space. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a big cellophane-wrapped packet.
‘It might be a bit big,’ he said as he handed it to her, ‘but try it out anyway, and see what you think.’
‘We don’t have many left because we’re working on the Heatsmart Neo at the moment, and we’re expecting to get the prototypes in any day now.’
‘But give that one a wear and let us know if you have any feedback.’
‘Thanks. I will.’ Ella was surprised how light the jacket was as she took it from him. But then she remembered from her research that that was one of its big advantages over previous state-of-the-art heated jackets.
They walked her back to reception, making the inevitable jokes about wanting to avoid her ending up in a cupboard.
‘Right. We’ll see you Monday then,’ Jake said at the door. ‘Any other questions?’
‘Um … just one.’
‘Shoot.’
‘A penguin walks through that door wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?’
Dylan threw his head back with a shout of laughter.
‘Touché,’ Jake said, smiling. ‘Welcome to the team, Ella. I think you’ll fit in here just fine.’
7
The followingFriday Ella breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the hall door behind her and was greeted with the delicious aroma of herby tomato sauce and melting cheese. Her mother had promised her homemade pizza to celebrate her first full week of work, and Ella had been looking forward to it all day.
‘Tired?’ her mother asked, turning from the oven as Ella flopped into a chair at the kitchen table.
Ella nodded. ‘Knackered.’ But it was a good kind of tired. Working a full week had been exhausting and she’d conked out every night almost as soon as they’d finished dinner. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t used to going out of the house and working full days, it was the level of social interaction too. She’d found it a strain, though not as much as she’d expected. Her first week at Citizens (as everyone casually referred to it) had been surprisingly enjoyable, and she’d been pleased with how well she’d coped.
