Page 83 of The Reboot
Roly laughed, pretending not to be offended. ‘These are actually good. Not like that shit on my first solo album.’
‘I thought it was unfair that album got such a battering. There was some good stuff on it. The production really let it down.’
‘Thanks.’
‘But maybe don’t lead with the song-writing when you’re talking to Zack. You know what he’s like.’
‘Yeah.’ He did. He knew exactly what Zack was like.
21
Meanwhile,Roly had to deal with the fallout of the news about the Oh Boy! comeback at work. A couple of days after the announcement, he arrived at the cafe to find a sign on the door saying it was closed for the morning. Through the glass he saw Ray inside with two men, one of whom was busy setting up a large professional camera on a tripod.
‘What’s all this? We’re closed?’
The two strangers looked at him curiously as he stepped inside.
‘Ah, Roly!’ Ray rushed over to him. He put an arm around his shoulders and led him into the back room, shutting the door behind them. ‘I contacted the local paper and they said they’d do a piece. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘A piece?’
‘About you working here.’
‘Oh!’
‘I would have asked you first, but it all happened much faster than I expected. I didn’t think they’d get it set up so soon.’
Roly nodded, frantically trying to take this in. Did he mind? Fuck, yes!
‘It’d be really good for business,’ Ray was saying. ‘Great publicity for the cafe, especially now with Oh Boy! in the news again.’
‘So … it’s just the local paper?’
‘Yeah. You know, the one we get here in the cafe.’
‘Right.’ Roly nodded, relaxing a little. It was just a free paper distributed to businesses in the area. They had a rack of it in the cafe for customers to take if they wanted, and people did pick it up sometimes. It wasn’t exactly theIrish Times. He doubted many people would even see it.
‘So you’ll do it?’ Ray grinned.
He couldn’t really say no, could he? Ray was a good boss, and he’d been really encouraging and supportive of Roly’s business aspirations. It wasn’t his fault Roly didn’t actually have any. Besides, he’d already set this up now, and he was clearly excited about it. He’d be gutted if he had to call it off. Ray was a decent bloke, and he worked really hard to make his little cafe a success – he deserved some recognition.
‘Yeah, sure,’ Roly nodded. ‘No problem.’
‘Great!’ Ray clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Thanks, Roly.’
They went back into the cafe, where the photographer was moving around, playing with a light meter. It was a very familiar process to Roly. He’d done countless photo shoots in his life, but it had been a long time, and it gave him a strange queasy feeling as he let the photographer order him around. He spent the next couple of hours posing in various positions – demonstrating his barista skills making coffee, pretending to serve the journalist who sat at a table posing as a customer, standing outside the cafe, Ray’s arm around his shoulders as he beamed with pride.
When the photographer had finished, they sat down with the journalist for a brief interview. Roly cringed as Ray talked him up, praising his punctuality and conscientiousness, his popularity with the customers, his newly acquired barista skills and his willingness to learn.
‘He’s a great little worker, and I’ve never regretted taking him on,’ Ray said, beaming proudly at his protégé. ‘I think he’s got a great future ahead of him in business. He really – and you can quote me on this – punches above his weight.’
‘It’s not that bad,’ Ella said the following week when she’d finished reading the article in the paper. Roly had brought it home from the cafe. To his horror, and Ray’s delight, the picture of them both standing in front of the cafe had made the cover. Ray had immediately taped it to the window facing out onto the street, alongside the article. The cafe had got a nice write-up, and Roly was happy for Ray’s sake. But from his point of view, it was mortifying.
‘It makes me sound like such a loser.’
‘No it doesn’t.’
Roly took the paper from her. ‘“While his old band mates prepare for a comeback tour, Roly’s embarking on a new career as a barista in a small Dublin cafe”,’ he read out. ‘You don’t think that makes me sound like a loser?’
