Page 5 of The Reboot
‘Really badly,’ she replied, unwinding her scarf as she walked down the hall.
‘Oh no.’ Her mother and her Aunt Nora turned to her as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen. All her annoyance melted away, and she couldn’t help smiling. They were sitting at the table, a bottle of red wine open between them. They were keeping vigil, she realised with a pang of tenderness. She felt bad now that she’d delayed coming home straight after the interview. But she’d felt in need of some time alone to decompress, so she’d walked through town and had a look around the shops, then treated herself to an early evening movie at the cinema. She’d always enjoyed going to the movies on her own, and loved being able to indulge in such simple pleasures once again.
‘Have a glass and tell us all about it,’ Nora said, lifting the bottle.
Ella nodded and took a glass from the cupboard. She shrugged out of her coat and sat down between them.
‘Have you eaten?’ her mother asked. ‘There’s some lasagne in the fridge, if you want it.’
‘Thanks, but I had a hot dog at the cinema. I’m not hungry.’
‘So, tell us about the interview.’ Nora poured a glass of red and slid it across the table to her.
Ella did what she always did when sharing something painful or humiliating. She turned it into a joke. She was fully aware that she used humour as a defence mechanism, to deflect mockery and hide her hurt. Did that self-awareness make it okay that she was turning her life into a comedy routine? It was probably only a matter of time before she started doing bits about her period.
But true to form, she was funny and self-deprecating as she recreated her dismal attempts to field Jake and Dylan’s bizarre questions, and her mother and Nora were an appreciative audience, laughing in all the right places.
‘We never got asked things like that in our day, did we, Ruth?’ Nora said, turning to her sister.
‘No, we just got asked if we were planning to have children.’
‘That’s illegal!’ Ella said.
‘Oh, I’ve had worse.’ Nora topped up her glass. ‘I was once asked if I’d be willing to dress sexy and flirt with customers to get them to spend more. It was for a job in a car showroom.’
‘That’s outrageous!’ Ella shrieked. ‘I hope you told them to shove it.’
‘Of course I did.’
‘You worked in a car showroom.’ Ruth narrowed her eyes at her sister.
‘Well … I said they could shove it unless they upped my commission.’
Ella tried to look disapproving, but couldn’t help smiling.
‘I made a fortune at that place. The blokes I worked with were furious! They were on fifteen per cent, and I was on twenty-five. Ritzy place it was too – Mercedes and BMWs and that, so there was good money to be made.’
‘Well, itisa bit unfair, I suppose,’ Ruth said.
Nora shrugged. ‘They could have worn low-cut tops and short skirts if they’d wanted to. Though much good it would have done them. None of them had my assets.’
‘So when will you hear about the job?’ Ella’s mother asked her.
‘Oh, I don’t need to wait to hear. I know I didn’t get it.’
‘Come on now,’ Nora said. ‘You never know. Think positive.’
Ella shook her head. ‘No, I definitely didn’t get it. I walked out.’
She watched their faces carefully, and there was just a second where she caught a flicker of disappointment, worry and confusion. It was gone in an instant, but she still felt she had to explain herself, to make them see that she hadn’t recklessly thrown away an opportunity to earn some decent money and get back on her feet. ‘I knew it wasn’t going to work out. They wouldn’t have hired me anyway, so I called an end to it before they did.’
‘Good for you!’ Nora said staunchly.
‘Absolutely!’ Ruth agreed. ‘You don’t need those silly boys with their idiotic questions.’
‘So you just walked out?’ Nora was looking at her admiringly, which made Ella feel very proud of herself, because her aunt was pretty sassy.
‘Yep. I thanked them for their time, said it wasn’t going to work, and walked out … straight into the stationery cupboard.’
