Page 75 of The Reboot
Jake and Kerry were busying themselves taking bottles of champagne out of the fridge and organising glasses. Ella was surprised when Gordon, beside her, passed her the signed jacket along with the fabric marker.
‘Oh!’ She took it from him uncertainly. She saw that everyone along the table so far had signed it, including Gordon. But surely they didn’t mean forherto sign it?
‘Ella?’
She looked up to see Jake watching her.
‘Problem?’ He frowned.
‘No, I just … I don’t think I’m supposed to be doing this?’ She waved the marker.
‘Everyone around this table did this,’ he said, nodding to the jacket. ‘We all sign.’
‘It’ll go into a display case in reception,’ Gordon told her.
‘Oh, okay.’ It would be there like a trophy or a work of art, and her name would be on it, a lasting reminder that she’d been part of this. She bent and wrote her name.
Jake and Dylan popped the corks on bottles of champagne, and Kerry helped pour glasses and pass them around.
‘Well done, all of you!’ Jake and Dylan raised their glasses when everyone had champagne. Then Jake went around the table and toasted each one of them individually by name, and when he got to the last person and finished ‘We did it!’ everyone cheered and clapped, and she wasn’t the only one wiping tears from her eyes surreptitiously.
They finished work early after the champagne celebration. Ella decided to use the extra time to make a special dinner. She was on a high and wanted to share the moment with Roly. On the way home she splurged on fresh salmon, tiny new potatoes with papery skins, and bundles of fresh herbs. She’d make salsa verde, and they could have a treat dinner without feeling they were completely blowing their diet.
When she got home, she set the table with candles and some flowers she picked from the garden and put in small glasses. She was in the kitchen, listening to music as she chopped herbs when she heard Roly come in.
‘Are you having someone over?’ he asked, appearing in the doorway. ‘Looks fancy.’ He nodded at the table.
She smiled. ‘No, I’m just making dinner for us. I’m celebrating. The new jackets came in today at work, and we had champagne, so I was feeling a bit giddy. I thought we could have a treat.’
‘Oh.’ His face fell. ‘I can’t.’ He grimaced apologetically. ‘Sorry. If I’d known … I’m going over to Phoenix’s. We’ve been working on some songs.’
‘Phoenix? You mean –The, Phoenix?’
‘No. Phoenix O’Reilly from school.’ He smiled, rolling his eyes. ‘Yes,thePhoenix.’
‘You know him?’ Phoenix was the lead singer of Walking Wounded, one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
‘Yeah, he’s a mate.’ He frowned. ‘Haven’t I told you?’
‘No. I’m sure I’d remember if you’d told me that.’
‘Well, he is. He helped me a lot when I came out of rehab. Anyway, we’ve been working on some stuff together, and he wants me to sing with him when they play here on their next tour.’
‘Wow! You mean … on stage? With Walking Wounded?’
‘Yeah. At the Aviva, in September. I’ll just be doing this one song with them, as a surprise guest kind of thing.’
‘That’s fantastic!’
He nodded, his whole face lighting up. ‘I know.’
‘What song?’
‘That’s the best part – it’s this new song we’re working on together.’
‘Oh wow, that’s huge!’
‘Yeah. Sorry about dinner, though.’
