Chapter 12 #2
‘Right.’ And the muffin, she noticed, was blueberry – her favourite. Then Dylan presented her with the last thing on the tray, a little bowl of Smarties.
‘Brown ones only,’ he said, putting them on the desk in front of her.
‘Oh! Thank you.’ Ella was ridiculously touched.
It seemed those inane interview questions hadn’t been so pointless after all.
They’d been listening, paying attention to her answers because they really wanted to know.
It dawned on her now that it wasn’t an accident that they always had egg mayonnaise sandwiches at team meetings, and a good supply of her favourite oat biscuits in the break room.
‘Congratulations!’ Jake said, beaming at her. ‘You deserve it. You’ve done an amazing job organising our accounts. This is the first month since we started that I haven’t had our accountant shouting at me about the state of our books.’
‘And Gordon was really impressed with the work you did on our Facebook ad campaigns. He said you really know what you’re doing and they’re performing brilliantly – better than he and Philip have ever managed.’
Ella smiled. She’d been really happy with her work on those campaigns and was pleased that she’d been able to make a substantial contribution.
She’d run pay-per-click ad campaigns for some of her virtual assistant clients, so she did know what she was doing, whereas Gordon and Philip were techies who’d ended up handling the company’s marketing by default, and it wasn’t their forte.
They knew how to use the data, but they weren’t so good when it came to the creative side of advertising and their copywriting skills left a lot of room for improvement.
‘So, that’s an area you could pursue more, if it interests you. Or you could take over the accounts. Anyway, that’s a discussion we can have down the line when you’ve settled in and decided what you’d like to focus on. We’ll leave you to enjoy your break.’
‘Where did all the other Smarties go?’ she asked, peering into the bowl.
Dylan pointed to his stomach with a wry smile.
‘He’s been scoffing boxes of Smarties all week.’
‘Well, you were no help!’
‘I have to watch my figure.’ Jake ran his hands down his sides, squeezed into the slinky catsuit. ‘I’m cosplaying Deadpool this weekend.’
‘You also get this.’ Dylan produced a tiny gold cup from the shoulder bag slung across his body and presented it to her. The base was engraved:
Employee of the Month
‘You only get to keep it for the month, though – unless you win it again next month.’
‘Something to aim for,’ Jake said with a wink. ‘Well, enjoy your cake.’
‘Thanks, I will.’
‘Proper drinks tonight,’ Dylan said pointing to her. ‘You’re coming to the pub, right?’
‘Oh well…’ So far she’d avoided Friday night drinks with her colleagues. She didn’t want to push her luck and over-stretch herself, so she’d been taking it easy at weekends.
‘As Employee of the Month, you’re the guest of honour.’
‘It’s just, I was supposed to be spending the evening with my, um… the guy I live with.’
Dylan brightened. ‘Well, bring him! We’d love to meet him.’
‘Okay, I’ll ask him. But I’m not sure…’ She chewed her lip. ‘If he came, could you ask everyone not to post anything about it on social media?’
Dylan frowned, confused. ‘Sure.’
‘I know that sounds wanky. It’s just he’s kind of—’
‘Shy?’ Jake said.
‘Famous… sort of. I mean, he used to be.’
‘Really?’ Dylan’s eyes widened excitedly. ‘Who is he?’
‘Um…’ Oh God, cringe. They were going to be seriously unimpressed and this would seal her uncool rep completely. ‘He used to be in Oh Boy! Roly—’
‘Roly Punch!’ Dylan gasped, his face lighting up. ‘Oh my God, your boyfriend is Roly Punch?’
‘Oh no! He’s not my boyfriend. We just live together. We’re housemates… friends.’
‘This is amazing!’ Jake seemed just as excited about it as Dylan. These two would never cease to surprise her.
‘Definitely bring him,’ Dylan said. ‘It’d be so cool to meet him.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course. I loved Oh Boy!’
He and Jake then went into a spontaneous rendition of ‘Cool Like You’, with surprisingly impressive harmonies.
Ella laughed. ‘Okay, I’ll bring him. If he wants to come.’ She wasn’t sure how Roly would feel about it. He seemed to have a very ambivalent attitude to his fame, on the one hand not wanting to be recognised, while at the same time getting pissed off when he wasn’t.
‘Brilliant! No photos, we promise,’ Jake said. ‘We’ll be cool.’
‘Right, I’m off to start my diet,’ Dylan said, ‘or I’ll never fit into my favourite Cher suit again.’
Ella felt quite emotional as she drank her coffee and ate her cupcake. Dylan and Jake might act like eejits, but there was a lot more to them than met the eye, and she was getting really fond of them. Citizens of the Wild was shaping up to be a great place to work.
* * *
‘Congratulations on Employee of the Month!’ Kerry said to her later as she passed through the reception area.
‘Oh yeah. Thanks!’ Ella laughed to show she wasn’t taking it seriously and knew it didn’t mean anything.
‘Really, well done. I was here almost a year before they gave it to me.’
‘Oh!’
‘Although apart from the month Steve came up with the Eaziglide zipper, I’ve won it every month since.’ Kerry grinned smugly. ‘Until now.’
‘Oh. Sorry.’
‘It’s cool.’
‘I don’t feel I’ve done anything to earn it. I think they just gave it to me as a bit of encouragement because I’m new – to make me feel like I’m pulling my weight as part of the team.’
Kerry nodded. ‘Yeah, they’re very keen on building in rewards to keep everyone motivated. Maybe you did earn it, I don’t know. But to be honest, they’d probably have given it to you anyway.’
‘Oh!’ Ella had suspected as much, but she’d have thought Kerry would at least go along with the charade out of politeness.
Kerry laughed at Ella’s obvious dismay. ‘Sorry – no offence. I’m not being mean. I’m glad they gave it to you. I just think they’re worried you’re going to leave and they’re a bit desperate to make you stay.’
‘Really?’ Ella frowned.
‘Yeah, you’re the best admin person we’ve ever had here – and they know you’re well over-qualified for the job.
Dylan and Jake are great to work for, but they’re not so good at attracting the right people when it comes to the business side of things.
It’s the same with investors and bankers – they have a hard time getting people to take them seriously sometimes. ’
‘I wonder why,’ Ella said under her breath as Jake strode past in his Fortnite outfit.
Kerry laughed. ‘They’re really good at what they do, but they like to have a laugh at the same time. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’
‘No. Nothing at all. How did you end up here anyway? I mean, Jake said you studied fashion—’
‘Yeah. I knew Jake from college. I helped them with their crowd-funder, and then they asked if I’d come and work for them when they started this place.
It’s not easy to get a break in fashion design, to put it mildly.
So here I am. It was supposed to be for just a few months,’ she said with a wry smile.
‘Wow!’
‘Yeah, they kind of suck you in. Get out now while you still can!’ She laughed.
‘You’re really happy here, aren’t you?’