Page 48 of The Reboot
Jake and Dylan watched, laughing.
‘Kind of fierce,’ Roly continued, ‘as you can see. Very cool.’
‘Okay, that’s a lie. I was never cool.’
‘Yeah, you were. You were so … self-contained, I guess.’
‘Unfriendly, you mean?’
‘No,’ he frowned. ‘You weren’t unfriendly. Just … not needy, like most of us were. Not desperate to be liked by everyone. You were just like “this is who I am, take it or leave it”, sort of thing.’
Ella’s smile faltered as their eyes met and she could tell he meant it.
Jake nodded. ‘I can see that.’
‘That’s exactly how you were at the interview with us,’ Dylan agreed.
‘Until I walked into the stationery cupboard.’
He laughed. ‘Yeah, that wasn’t cool at all. It was funny, though.’
‘Gosh, cool…’ She tested out the concept, trying to relate it to herself. ‘I wish I’d known that’s how people saw me,’ she said to Roly.
Ella had expected the night to be a drain, but the time flew by, and she was surprised how much she was enjoying herself. She’d had her excuses ready, but she’d had no desire to cut out early, and, before she knew it, they were calling last orders.
Dylan looked at his watch. ‘Well, at this point in the night, we’d usually go to our favourite karaoke bar—’
‘Youwere going to do karaoke?’ Roly grinned at Ella, eyebrows raised.
She shrugged.
‘She was,’ Jake said. ‘Dylan’s already bagsed her for a duet.’
‘Okay, that I have to see.’
‘Seriously? You’d come to karaoke with us?’ Dylan grinned excitedly.
Roly drained his glass and nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
‘But unfortunately, they’re too intimidated to perform in front of you,’ Ella said, nodding to her bosses. ‘Right?’ She was glad of the excuse to leave now and avoid karaoke.
Jake shrugged. ‘We’ll get over it. Come on.’
If someone had told Ella a month ago that she’d enjoy a night of karaoke, she wouldn’t have believed them. But she was having a whale of a time. She’d had enough vodkas to let go of her inhibitions, and didn’t even make a token protest when Dylan pulled her up to duet with him on ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ – though she was glad they’d hired a private room, so she didn’t have to perform in front of total strangers. Kerry sang ‘I Got You Babe’ with Jake, and Dara turned out to have a powerful voice that seemed to come out of nowhere in his narrow, wiry frame. Sarah, Mark, Catherine and Dan teamed up to do a hilarious version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. But, mostly, everyone wanted to have a go singing with Roly, and he was happy to oblige.
Now Jake, Dylan, Roly, Gordon and Philip were performing Oh Boy!’s first single ‘Cool Like You’, totally hamming it up with exaggerated dance moves and facial expressions. Ella laughed as they pointed to members of their ‘audience’, clutching their hearts and gazing into their eyes as if they were singing just to them. ‘Wish I was cool like you,’ they sang and Roly pointed at her. Their eyes met, and it felt like he was singing just to her.
13
Ella wasjittery with nerves as she walked into the coffee shop. But fair was fair. Roly had applied for Jobseeker’s Allowance, so now she had to uphold her end of the bargain and go through with this.
Andrew was already there, smiling up at the waitress who stood by his table, charming her no doubt. He was such an incorrigible flirt. For a moment, she was tempted to turn and run. She’d thought it would be easier to suggest meeting for a coffee in the afternoon; it would feel less like she was asking him on a date. But now she wanted a darkened bar with alcohol to soften the jagged edges of her nerves.
Then Andrew looked up and saw her, his mouth widening in a smile, and the moment passed. When she reached his table, he stood and kissed her cheek, then called the waitress back to take her order. By the time their coffee arrived, her anxiety had melted away. It was just Andrew.
‘You look really well,’ he said.
‘Thanks. I am.’
