The Headhunters Read Free Page A

‘There must be something better than a line of bloody penguins walking across the screen.’
    ‘It’s good,’ Jake said.
    ‘What—the penguin film?’ Rick said. ‘How do you know, mate? Have you seen it?’
    Jake nodded.
    ‘You wouldn’t want to see it again, then.’
    ‘Would.’
    ‘Oops, I’m forgetting. Hands up anyone who wants to look at the penguins with the bird man of Chichester.’
    Jo hesitated. She’d become increasingly irritated by Rick’s attempts at humour. She said, ‘If you and Gemma would rather see something else, maybe we can all meet up after.’
    A pivotal moment. Rick looked shocked, Gemma disbelieving. To Jo it seemed obvious that she wasn’t making a play for Gemma’s Neanderthal boyfriend, and at this minute she didn’t care what Rick thought. Besides, Gemma hadn’t declared yet. She had the chance of seeing the penguins if she chose.
    Rick recovered enough to say, ‘Fair enough, but count me out. Don’t know about you, Gemma, but I’d like to find out what else is on.’
    ‘Suits me,’ Gemma said.
    SO IT WAS that Jo found herself seated next to Jake in a dark, almost empty cinema. He watched the film intently. Jo, too, was absorbed in the drama of the penguins’ long treks across the ice. It was only towards the end that her attention strayed as she tried to think of her strategy for when the lights came on. She couldn’t get up and walk away. The others had gone to see the latest Russell Crowe on Screen 3 and she’d noticed the running time was at least an hour longer than the penguins.
    ‘Amazing,’ she said after the credits had rolled. ‘What an existence.’
    ‘Migration,’ Jake said.
    ‘I know, but under those conditions.’
    ‘They get on with it.’
    ‘Yes, I suppose it’s a mistake to think of them in human terms, but I can’t help sympathising with them. How about you?’
    ‘I’d like—’ Jake said, and stopped.
    ‘Yes?’ She almost completed it for him by saying, ‘A drink?’
    ‘—to turn off the commentary.’
    She had to think for a moment. ‘But it needs explaining to people, doesn’t it, or we wouldn’t appreciate the distances they march and the reasons?’
    ‘I can watch the pictures.’
    ‘True, but . . . ’
    ‘Don’t need the voiceover.’
    ‘I suppose it would grate a bit if you’ve seen the film before.’
    ‘Five times.’
    ‘ Five? ’ She laughed and Jake gave a faint smile. Next time you’d better take earplugs. Do you fancy a bite to eat? After all that ice and snow I’d like to get something warm inside me. The others won’t be out for some time.’
    He thought about that and gave a nod.
    They went to Frankie & Benny’s, where the music was from the fifties. A Johnny Mathis CD was playing.
    ‘How did you and Gemma meet?’ Jo asked.
    ‘Print job,’ he said, as if that explained all. She wasn’t going to get the romantic version, for sure.
    ‘I think that boss takes advantage of her,’ she said. ‘He leaves all the decisions to her and if there’s any credit going, he takes that for himself. I wonder if she’ll leave.’
    He didn’t seem to have an opinion.
    After they’d ordered, she tried another tack. ‘Do you live in Chichester, Jake?’
    ‘Selsey.’
    This, at least, was a place she could talk about. ‘I like Selsey, the seafront, anyway. I sometimes go there for an early morning walk. Doesn’t matter if the tide’s in or out. Always interesting.’
    ‘Seolesig.’ His eyes focused directly on hers for the first time and weren’t so off-putting. Dark and deep-set they might be, but now they wanted to communicate, as if to make up for his halting conversation.
    ‘What was that you said?’
    ‘Anglo-Saxon. Seolesig.’
    He’d surprised her. ‘Does it have a meaning?’
    ‘Seal Island.’
    ‘But it isn’t an island, is it? Oh—did it used to be? Of course, you can see when you drive out there. The road is raised up in parts, like a causeway.’
    ‘Big question,’ he said.
    ‘What