‘Great, great,’ Bryan replied. ‘I’ve always thought it’s a great place for our talent to start. Really teaches you the ropes of the business. Get to know the customer.’ He leaned back on his chair again. It was richly padded and looked a lot comfier than the one that Jack was sitting in. Bryan glanced at his laptop screen, frowned for a second, and then rearranged his face again. ‘Well, look, Jack, I’m going to cut to the chase –’

Wildly, Jack interrupted. ‘I do really like my job, it’s just that sometimes I’m bad on the phone, but I’m getting a lot better –’

‘Deepti mentions you’d be interested in moving over to the social team,’ Bryan said, as though he hadn’t heard anything. ‘She said you’ve got a good knack for it, and you’d be a really good fit for that team.’

Jack opened his mouth and tried to swallow at the same time.

Bryan smiled indulgently. ‘So, what do you say to that? Ready for the challenge?’

There was a roaring in Jack’s ears, but he managed to say something. ‘I’d really love that.’ He swallowed properly this time. ‘To join the social team.’ His voice strengthened. He repeated it. ‘I’d love to join the social team.’

‘Great,’ said Bryan. He clapped his hands together. ‘I think it’s a really exciting growth space for this business – now that we’ve moved into television marketing too, I think there’s a lot more we could be doing with social.’

Jack was nodding, really fast, to show he was keeping up. He wondered if his head would fly off his neck.

‘We’ll need to hire a new Human Bean to replace you before we can move you over, so I’m going to get Kaspar on that ASAP’ – Bryan said it strangely, like ‘ae-sap’ – ‘and then once we do, we can get you sitting with Deepti and the rest of the gang on social. So, sound good?’ He was prodding at his Apple Watch with his forefinger, squinting at the small screen.

‘Yes,’ Jack managed. ‘That sounds great.’

‘Ace,’ said Bryan, looking up. ‘Glad to have that sorted.’ He looked through the glass at the rest of the Green Genie team, who were milling around the kitchen.

Flora and Kamal had returned with the drinks.

‘Shall we go get a beer, then?’ Bryan asked, gesturing towards the door, though not standing up.

‘Great,’ Jack said, quietly. ‘Yes. A beer.’

‘I’ll follow – just need to do a few emails,’ Bryan said, looking at his laptop. ‘But you go get stuck in.’

Jack stood up. ‘Thank you, Bryan,’ he said, shyly.

‘No worries.’ Bryan was tapping at his keyboard. ‘I think it’s a great move for you.’