Page 10 of Kicks
“I don’t expect to see this again. Is that understood?”
Scott saluted him.” Yes, sir. You would think we were living in a bloody boarding school the way you go on.”
Barry turned to Eddie. “If you want to keep fit, why don’t you sign up for my new Pleasure Seekers football team?”
Eddie shook his head. “I saw the posters. No thanks.”
“What a great idea, Eddie,” Scott said, with a malevolent grin on his face. “Did you know, Barry, that our Eddie here once got a try-out for Millwall?”
Barry’s face lit up. “I did not know that. I’ll put your name down then. What about you two?”
“The only balls I play with are more on a one-to-one basis,” Scott replied.
“Ugh, spare us,” Eddie said.
“Not for me, Barry,” Tyler interjected. “My spare time is helping Danny with the shop.”
Barry nodded. “How’s he doing? Stan is missing him downstairs.”
Danny Healy used to work in the warehouse until he took on a friend’s shop in Brighton. Now he spent his days restoring vintage furniture and selling it to the hipster community.
“Really well, thanks,” Tyler replied. “He’s talking to a new boutique hotel that’s opening. They want everything to be vintage. Imagine that.”
Danny’s shop had a workshop at the rear and was a thriving little business. Eddie had been with Tyler a few times and picked up some nice pieces for the flat.
“That sounds like a money spinner. Tell him I asked after him,” Barry said. “Right, I’d better be off. Eddie, I’ll be in touch. Scott, behave.”
He sped off.
“Thank you very much,” Eddie said. “Now he’s going to think I’m bloody Maradona.”
He stared pointedly at his brownie.
“Don’t even think about it,” Scott said with a gleeful expression on his face. “Your new boss might confiscate your half-time orange.”
Eddie glanced at the clock. “That reminds me. I’ve got a meeting with James, my actual boss, now. I’d better go.”
“In your shorts?” Scott asked.
The Pleasure Seekers offices were totally open plan. He saw his manager, James Bennett, standing up and stretching.
“No time. Here, save that for me. And don’t eat it, Scott. I mean it.”
He handed his brownie to Scott who didn’t look all that trustworthy.
“What does James want?” Tyler asked.
Eddie shrugged. “Search me. I’m leading in sales this month, so it can’t be a bollocking. He’s on his feet. I’m off.”
He flicked Scott’s ear as he walked past.
“You’ll have this brownie in your bed if you don’t watch yourself,” Scott said.
“Then I’d have to get in with you,” Eddie replied over his shoulder.
“Never!”
Eddie wandered over to his desk. Pleasure Seekers operated a hot-desking rule. The idea being that everyone sat where they saw fit. The various still teams tended to drift together. It soon became a pain to have to walk across the whole floor to grab five minutes’ chat with someone.
